Rodney (Balls) Grinter

In my view these days Max does meet all the criteria of competitive, self disciplined beast, speaking well and with the required diplomacy, whilst still being able to be his own very unique and entertaining character. It takes quite some intelligence and character to be able to do all those things at once. It would only be a second consideration, but I imagine that the regular press conferences required of a captain figure will now get a heap more interesting and entertaining - might even draw some more media exposure for the MFC and our sponsors. At the same time, it may also be something that we need to consider sharing around some of the exposure as the media often sought out Max anyways, no doubt chasing some more entertainment factor. Conversely it probably wouldn't hurt for most of the team to remain more focused on footy and winning games.

Agreed. If the young guys and new commers to the club can't work out that you take a lead from the senior guys with the track record and right attitude, then they have rocks in their heads. Informal leadership groups still exist outside of the captain, VC and coach.

The ex public school boy and pizza delivery guy leading the MFC. I think this is actually a good thing culturally to be able to shrug some of the blue blood, private school elitism that the clubs stereotypical image is built around.

MAXXY!!

He was pretty bloody good for the majority of last year as well though. I think that's when he actually put it all together and what we are seeing now is the fruits of the 100% attitude that he has established last season and then applied to the entire preseason just gone. I've seen enough. You obviously haven't in your mind and that's fine too. Hopefully one way or another he has an outstanding season and signs up to the MFC on a long term deal - happy days.

I would have put AVB somewhere between our 6th to 10th best performers for game impact and contribution in the practice match just gone. I'm guessing with the reduced training, he probably won't have the same capacity to pump out the kms in games, but he doesn't seem to have lost much/if any pace which is pretty impressive. I don't think it matters so much if he can't cover as much ground in a game as he seems to have such good footy brain for where to position both himself and where he kicks the ball to. Some have a bit of a chip on him for his disposal, but I think he generally makes pretty good decisions using the ball, and facilitates such good ball movement by busting tackles and breaking lines that he doesn't need the silky skills that some have. He's a fairly decent shot for goal from what I recall too. In just hope beyond hope that he can stay fit for the most important parts of the season.

So, if Trac is ready to sign now, do you propose that we say "just wait until mid season Christian, we are not sure that you can sustain this attitude if we sign you up now". ...and then let every other club in the comp go sniffing around and promise a better deal than what the MFC can offer. Sorry, that just doesn't make sense. It doesn't make sense either that if we sign him up that he will slacken off and go back to old habits. Trac is a competitive beast, I think the next level that he is evidently taking his game through a combination of natural maturity and lifting his training intensity is entirely self driven to attempt to become an elite player and it's just that it's taken a while for him to both build a base post knee reco and to realise just how hard he needs to work to become the player he probably sees himself as. I doubt signing up to a good price for his new contract would have any bearing on his output. Conversely, continued speculation on his playing future with the MFC could have a corrosive effect for both the club and him.

I don't really want to start or add to an Oscar pile on, but was quite disappointed in not only his game, but Hibbo's as well. Thought that Hibbo turned the ball over galore by foot and sold team mates into trouble by hand, in the first quarter in particular. Oscar played with a real lack of confidence, intensity or both, typified by spilling an absolute sitter of a mark over the boundary line under little to no pressure in the last quarter when we had the game well under control. I really do hope that both these players can find confidence, form and turn things around quickly and hopefully May and Hore back into the side will steady the side down back, because I think we looked pretty exposed down there, particularly against good opposition.

I think you can just about kiss goodbye to that. On a similar note, it's hard to believe that Slone got picked to represent the big V over either Trac or Oliver. Blinkered selectors much? I'm quite ok that Trac doesn't play in this game for now though.

Just point him to our 2019 and remind him what Feb/Mar sub par means too!

Trac was a machine and Jones did some good things. T Mac was well held in the first half, but had a great presence in the second half. Not only did AVB get through the game, but he laid his usual big tackles (the forward half pressure he adds is really important), a few strong contested grabs and generally had a good impact on the game I thought. Interesting to hear him say in the interview that he's feeling the best he has in three or four years - let's hope some of that rubs off Benell as well.

Are there any indicators from the emergencies that did or didn't run out yesterday as to the full extent of the side that will take to the field today? Seeing that side named, whilst not totally unexpected for the likes of T Mac and Melksham, was like an early Christmas present with respect to the likes of AVB. I guess we will see by the end of the day if that named team was just a dream or turns out to be a nightmare.

I agree with pretty much everything you have stated above. I see a lot of Viney and Jones leadership (or apparent lack there of, which I don't personally buy into) being made scape goats for our entire 2019, which is pretty unfair really. Similarly, I don't like the idea of the captaincy being shopped around every year as a popularity contest as the most popular guy at the club isn't alway the best leader. I love Max as a character and a player and I think he has matured into a great leader. However, he does also have his flaws in this regard and now watch every dummy spit and bit of bad body language or some other weakness get put under the microscope. I think it's too fickle to be continuously chopping and changing captain just because they have a bad year or one flaw or another to their leadership style and I don't see why Max couldn't remain an unofficial leader and support Viney and our team in this respect.

Well that means he definitely won't play then. We'd rather leave someone running around on the ground with a broken leg in a practice match than play short or call up an emergency. ?

Paging Joel Smith!!

Well, going off the side picked, we can expect indefinite to mean available by around Rd 4 or 5 - great news!

Which would also sort our run for position 1/2 as well.

I'm quite interested to see how they go too. ...but I know what you mean. ? Darn autocarrot!

I think it does the Weid good to get pushed into the ruck a bit - gets him a bit angry, fired up and into the game physically.

This will be one of the things I will be watching most intently on Saturday night. We will need key back depth. At his 2018 level O'Mac was good enough. If he can improve a few notches on 2018 through that long maturity curve of KPPs, then I do think he could be a very important yet underrated part of our success going forward.

Bulldogs were what the only team to win a flag from outside the top 4 in 20 years? Don't get me wrong if we repeated what the Bulldogs did, I'd be estatic, but it's not the percentage play by a long way. 2018 was a drought breaker and I was very glad to see us just make finals and each to their own, but as a supporter, I no longer see just making finals as a very worthy achievement or representing much of a step forward.

Aims can't just be finals though. Finals without a realistic oppertunity at a flag, are a frustrating waste of time. I could handle finishing in the top 4 and getting knocked out, because that would suggest that we are actually close to winning a flag. The MFC consistenly made finals for the best part of 20 odd years, but never really had a serious crack at a flag, because it almost always stumbled into the top 6/top 8 and even when it made it through to the last game in September the team was physically stuffed and played up against well rested outfits. Same deal in the 2018 prelim. If the club and the players give themselves a pat on the back for making the bottom half of the 8, then to me that would say they are not fair dinkum. Time to get serious and raise the bar. I want the club to be ruthless and relentless in pursuit of that illusive flag.

With a bit of a segway over to the Burgess' Management Plan for Preseason Games thread and as indicated by @Kent and @spirit of norm smith, my take on the injury list and those missing full training is that having put in a solid block of preseason training before Christmas, we are now in a conservative injury management mode to make sure that we have as near to a full list as possible for the start of the season and aren't playing catch-up all year getting back a critical mass of top line players or carrying as many injuries for those that play week to week throughout the season. At least that's what I'm hoping.

I guess making finals might mean something to our membership, sponsorship and perhaps some revenue from playing a couple of finals, but asides from that finishing in positions 5 - 8 is pretty much meaningless and hardly worth any more than finishing 8 - 12. The club has stated in recient days that it has an aim of a mens premiership in the next 4 years. Premierships don't happen from outside the top 4, so if the club is serious, then just making finals can't be an achievement of any real significance.

My general reactions to the this topic are: 1. So much better to bring back state of origin which actually meant something to the football public than have that other AFLX rubbish with the Patrick Dangerfield Lightening bolts or whatever; 2. Would be better to have the Vics playing WA or SA than this concocted 'All Stars' thing; 3. Perhaps if it is a huge crowd drawer and ratings puller, the AFL could/might consider dropping a few home and away games (thus creating an even draw) and substituting them with a few SoA games - perhaps even a series; 4. If we win a flag or two, I couldn't care how many of our players get into the state of origin games - heck half the side could be made up of MFC players for all care and if we were to get a few minor injuries out of it, then so be it.