Rodney (Balls) Grinter

Nah, I'd take the inland route and avoid the toll roads.

Was really impressed with our centre clearances and how we moved the ball through the centre in the second half. I thought there were a few players contributing to that, but most notably Max and Rivers. Generally thought Rivers played close to a blinder, but the one chip I'd put on his game was that he seemed too indecisive when running through our attacking 50 and in positions to kick a goal. He's Generally a great shot for goal from that range and on the run, so in most instances I thought he should have just had a ping. Ironically the one shot he had was towards the boundary and which could hive iced the game for us, he missed.

Generally agree, except that at this point Langford has better composure in front of goal and The Bison 🦬 is more of a physical brute.

I'm not sure that's 100% how it played out though is it? From what I've read, Collingwood raised the matter with Adelaide, who then took the high road and self reported to the AFL, knowing the likely match ban consequences. I do think it still shows a huge hypocrisy with Collingwood though. For quite a few years under Goodwin, the MFC pretty much accepted whatever sanction was handed to it by the MRO / tribunal whenever it was related to protecting the head. When the Maynard KOed Gus, Collingwood could equally have put player welfare before their own interests, but did pretty much the opposite. Eddy's "justice has been done" reaction highlight that self interest. I'm not sure if Collingwood reporting to the Crows made it inevitable that the AFL got involved, but I really do doubt Collingwood would have behaved the same way if the shoe was on the other foot.

Yeah, agreed, but I think there's actually quite some realisim to my thinking as well. We all saw what happened with Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, then us loosing Mac Andrew to GC. Already Ross Lyon and others are calling out that the academies and FS are not serving the equalisation measures in the AFL well (which to a certain extent I think is true). I do foresee huge pressure to roll the FS concessions back at some point in the future.

Conversely, it could be pretty cool to have a contemporary version of the Feby twins in the red and blue.

If they are any good, the AFL will probably restrict access to the father sons rule than let us have the next Ascrofts.

Love the reverse side of the banner tonight Ghosty: "Our partners support us through lows and highs, let's say thanks by smashing the pies"

Similar story in the Southern. Only seats on level 4 between the goals and HFF. Watch a bunch of good seats go empty that could have been used by people who actually wanted to watch the game. By God I hate the amount of reserved seating that is allowed these days. It's not really the every day man's game any more.

Hope Langdon annoys the F out of Daicos again and Maynard does try to have a crack at Linggers, which should light a tinderbox of aggression towards that scum. Don't really have any expectations of our performance tonight, but really do hope we dig deep and smack the c##p out of this mob. Such is the hatred of those filth since 2023.

Lol. That's a but harsh Ghosty. They all look pretty fit as if they still in their prime to me. Hardly how I'd refer to our former captain, caretaker coach and last Brownlow medallist.

Somewhat conflicted by the AFLs latest ruling on Rankine. On the one hand, I totally support the AFL for taking a stand on unacceptable standards of behaviour with respect to discrimination and vilification. On the other hand, it twists the knife in again that Rankine gets suspended for a finals campaign, yet Maynard got let off and allowed to play in a premiership after carelessly ending Gus's career. Don't think I'll ever forgive Maynard, the AFL, Eddy or Collingwood supporters for what happed before our eyes at the MCG that night and then in the aftermath.

Best footy news all week. Would love a photo of Kalani, Kynan, Taj, Jack and their respective fathers all in the same shot. I don’t know how realistic the chances are, but it would be even better to have them all on the same team sheet one day.

Jury is still out for me on a couple of fronts: Is he a better natural forward than Disco? Will Disco be a reliable key back option? While Disco's intercept marking and general defensive work have been good, his disposal and target selection in the backline seem to let him down alot. Reminds me a bit of a young Tommy Mac in this respects. I do think alot of Tom's early disposal / turnover issues were due to us being woeful as a team over all and him being constantly under pressure and similar could be true for Disco. However I think Tommy's passing out of defence has also got better as he's aged. I guess we'll never really know the truth of all this, because the experiment playing Tom forward started around the time we became compeditive as a team. Hopefully Disco can tidy up his disposal in defence as he's got alot of other good attributes down there. Conversely, I feel Harry is a more reliable option by foot in the back half. If anything, I think we have a few options that can play either end of the ground and will be interesting to see if a new coach is willing to use that on a more regular basis.

Yeah, me too 😂

There are also other rules for rookies. The one which I thought might have applied to Judd probably doesn't: A 2nd year Rookie not accepting a further Rookie contract will be considered a Delisted Free Agent, and therefore will be an Unrestricted Free Agent. There is also the delisted free agent that after being delisted will be a perennial free agent for life after expiry of a contract. It's possible we might have somehow delisted Judd in order to draft and promote him to the senior list, but I'm not sure on that one.

Everyone is asking AI everything these days, so thought I'd ask the question. Not too bad a summary, if a little vanilla in parts. Got to say, I like the part about resilience and hope, which is a somewhat overlooked part of MFCSS. The "Melbourne Football Club supporter syndrome" is not a recognized medical or psychological condition. It likely refers to the emotional rollercoaster that many supporters of the Melbourne Football Club experience, given the club's long history and sometimes turbulent performance. Wikipedia says the club is the oldest professional sporting club in the world, but it has also faced periods of significant on-field struggles. Here's a more detailed explanation: Long and Storied History: The Melbourne Football Club, also known as the Demons or Dees, has a rich history, being the inaugural team in the Victorian Football League (VFL), now the Australian Football League (AFL). Emotional Connection: Supporters often develop a strong emotional bond with their team, shaped by shared experiences, victories, and losses over many seasons. Ups and Downs: The club has seen periods of great success, including premierships, but has also faced extended periods where they haven't made finals or achieved consistently high results. Resilience and Hope: Despite challenges, Melbourne supporters remain passionate and hopeful for future success, demonstrating the enduring power of fandom. "Narrm" Recognition: The club acknowledges its Indigenous heritage by using the name "Narrm" (a Woiwurrung word for Melbourne) during Indigenous Rounds, demonstrating a commitment to inclusivity and respect for the traditional owners of the land.

I'm not 100%, but I think he qualifies as a restricted free agent because we originally recruited him off the rookie list or something. It's kinda perverse in a way - give a player a break that others are not willing to, then they are basically free to walk at the end. Honestly, I think if he nominates a move to another club, we should play handball, match the order and see if he really wants to play roulette in the draft.

Lol, yeah, because he has the best premiership winning ratio out of all of them and it's just data driven. ...incidently I wounder what it would conclude if it were to analyse the "Is Goodwin the right guy" thread? Can someone good with AI get it to do that, I wounder?

It also makes me wonder if it's important to keep someone like Chapman on board to provide continuity from how we were transitioning to a transition game plan is so far as to provide a smooth transition from that transion to how we want to transition under a new coach. Do we want to go to a totally new gamestyle for the third time in 2 years or just make tweaks to the direction we were headding with a fresh voice? So much transitioning.

I'd really like us to give Adams more exposure at the top level, but agree it's hard to justify his spot with the available senior players. Play him as sub maybe? Sharp is the next closest to winning a permanent spot in the side. He actually reminds me alot of ANB era 2020 when he was on the frindge, but had the weapons and application to become a perminant senior performer by developing just that bit more to take him to the next level.

Todd Viney officially coached as a care taker for a five games back in 2011.

From the net Re Gus - Salary Cap Relief: The AFL granted Melbourne salary cap relief to help manage the financial burden of paying out the remaining portion of his contract. Timeline: The relief was structured over three years, with 90% of the contract paid outside the cap in 2025, 75% in 2026, and 50% in 2027. My thinking is more did we bring some of the backhanded payments for Trac and others forward to 2025 and 2026, so we could reallocate that down the track, since because of the timing it wasn't really possible for us to offer that to attract other players in 2025 (could have retained Jordan or Bedford) and probably similar for 2026.

Please, if a similar thread starts up again, shut it down. In my view, that was the epitome of MFCSS and not something that sucessful clubs supporters would focus on. Really hope we can move on from that rubbish after this saga.

He came to us in 2023, so would have been McRae. Edited. Even more McRae