Rodney (Balls) Grinter

First time I've watched the side at the G in a few years. Just get the FFFING job done Demons.

North can have a try to get into Clarry, but I get the impression that he actually likes the rough stuff, so good luck them. This has to be a real line in the sand moment for the MFC to stand for something. Like the talk from Goodwin in the week, empathizing the need for a win against North, rather than the olf cleché of this just being another game. Would be another psychological monkey off our back to smash this second rate team Nth today, which would mean more than just the 4 points.

I'd be happy if we made no unforced changes for this game. We certainly had under performers against the Lions, but I didn't see any obvious cases of lack of effort/intensity and think there is something to be said for giving players a good opertunity to establish some individual form and stability for the team overall.

They didn't play Daw in Rd 2. He was probably a 4 or 5 goal advantage to us in the JLT game.

Pedo also played that Hawthorn game and in my veiw actually played alot better than Weid. There is a great passage of play where Weid roves a loose ball running through CHF and either delivers deep forward or kicks the goal himself, I don't fully remember. What I do remember is Pedo competing arially crashing a pack for that loose ball to spill to Weid and also the several other big contested marks that Pedo took that day. That game against Adelaide was the benchmark by which Weid should measure himself at AFL level. Unfortunately I also remember him being bog ordanary and meek in our early games last year he was called upon, one being against Geelong (suggestions he was injured, so maybe some reasonable excuse) and I forget the other, but as much as he has played some good games and shown some good signs, there are an equal or more number of games he has highly under delivered at the top level to date. Now that it's all in the past (at the time, I've felt some of his selections over others have cost us games), I'm ok with putting his bad games down to development opertunities, but I really think the selection committee and coaches need to think more carefully about how and when to introduce him back into the side. I definitely see potential in Weid, but I'm fully in the camp of him needing to show consistent form, preferabbly against some quality/big bodied defenders at VFL level before he is reintroduced at AFL level. When he is, we shouldn't be viewing him as a solution to a forwardline deficiency, so I think he plays along side Pedo, T Mac or possibly even both. But when he is selected, providing the required intensity is there, he should be given a decient period of 4 - 6 weeks to properly establish himself at the top level. As an asides, I think people are scared by Lucas Cook story and relating that to Weid. I take a bit of a Paul Roos view on this and who cares what number they were drafted at and which top draft picks go on to have great careers and those who don't is just such a lottery. Even if Weid turns out to be the wrong pick available at No. 9, I'll always be greatfull that our recuitment team saw something special and picked Clarry at 4, because if he wasn't there by our next pick and we missed out, then that would have been a real loss.

Looked at the title and I thought this was going to be a thread about Chris Fagan venting his anger and nearly breaking his hand on the desk last night.

Yes, Jetta is probably struggling the most, not sure why. The way Charlie Cameron was playing on Saturday night, I think Jetta was constantly on the back foot and Charlie seemed to be much quicker than Cyril and Betts are these days that Jetta usually does so well on, so it makes a pretty tough assignment to judge Jetta on. He wasn't his usual self against Geelong either though. However, whilst he is possibly down on form and beaten on the night, I was still impressed that his effort and commitment to the contest was their. The way he put his body on the line in that marking contest in the second quarter was outstanding. Bodes well for the weeks and months ahead, when I'm hoping that him and others find their mojo back again.

Yup. That's really throwing the magnets around.

Got to love some of the collective hypocrisy going around on this forum Re Frost and Lever. A few weeks back the story was Frost is a liability and not best 22, Lever a total gun, going to be soo great for us. Now it's - gee, we need Frost because Lever isn't up to it one on one and needs Frost so that he can play his natural game. Pretty easy for players to look like superstars when others are doing all the heavy lifting and they don't have to be accountable for a man. Personally I think somewhere in between is where the truth of all this sits. When he's on his game, Frosty can be a real asset in his own right, but I do think it has been shown up how much people underate his contribution to team ballance, because he give us a third genuine tall, without sacrificing run and mobility. Ironically, as much as it could help Lever, having Frost, I think it could also help Hunt, because I suspect he is also attracting the oppositions best/quickest defensive forward at the moment. For the record, I also think Hibbard and Jetta have got form issues and have been solid without being at their normal output levels and that also won't be helping the Lever situation. I don't think Wagner isn't as bad as some people make out either.

Lol

Agree all of the above. I personally had some very mixed feelings about our chances of winning yesterday. Leading up to the game, I thought it was a game we should win, but one that we also stood a fair chance of stuffing up and loosing. Even at half time I thought that we had a pretty good chance of getting back into the game and getting into a match winning position, but I still wasn't overly confident that we would actually pull it off. My rationale being that for us to play so poorly and below our ability for a quarter like that, but still only be 27 points down, it was very doable to peg that back over a half of footy. Personally I don't put much weight on Geelong finishing top 4 last year. We had them on toast with a very depleated side minus Max/ruck pressence for most of the game, until we ran out of tank in the last quarter, similarly us against Richmond (who I likewise don't really rate that high). We win both those winnable games and the two North ones and we would have been the ones finishing top four - North would have finished on the bottom. The comp is so tight at the moment that mental application over 4 quarters is crucial. I take some positive from the fact that Richmond were perennial chokers for the first half of last season, but were able to turn that around and win a flag. I really think our team has the ability and is on the cusp of something special, but for some small further improvements in the maturity og the playing group. Per one of the other threads, it's just those odd bad quarters now which are hurting our ability to win consistently, which I see as something very fixable that should come from players better reading and responding to those slides within quarters and from further beleif within the group (i.e. improved mental maturity). Much of our playing list is at or coming into their physical prime, whilst I see the likes of Geelong and Hawthorn dropping away in this regards. It is very frustrating to watch the team faulter though. P.S. sorry for this post, not succinct, not all positive, but a bit like our game yesterday, still some positives within it.

Hence my comment "from the limited exposure I've had to him)" i.e. O'Brian. But O'Brien wasn't even clucking his grabs when we played the 2016 (granted it was a shiity wet game). Also I get how the mode game needs pretty reasonable mobility (which Weid actually seems to have in spades for a guy his size), but I really still think you want your key forwards taking a good contested mark, otherwise you would just have a team of Jeff Garlets. Think you are missing my main point about big guys typically taking longer.

Have great faith in Pedo, he crunches packs like few of our other players do. I actually think he is a better pack mark than Hogan at this stage. Still I get your point about him seeming to perform better when given ruck duties. In this regard, I think the team should actually be looking to use that to best effect in the circumstances. I see a huge potential for Gawn to be targeted by opposition rucks this year, so I think it would be more than handy for Pedo to come in and give Gawn a bit of a chop out and take some of the pressure off him at times. Will keep the oppositions resting ruck more honest and possibly also mean that they will need to keep their main ruck on Pedo at times. Gawn can be pretty handy resting and drifting into the forwardline in his own right.

I've certainly been critical of the club playing the Weid over other players at times last year, when I didn't see him as being anything like ready and it costing us games. Still think we would have beaten Geelong and Richmond last year if Pedersen had played instead of the Weid. That said, it's more a criticism of our coaching and selection than anything directed at Weiderman so much. Like most big guys, I think this guy needs time to develop and establish his game. Tom Hawkins is the classic, but the more recient example I can think of is Tim O'Brian for Hawthorn. When we played Hawthorn for the first time in 2016, I thought O'Brain looked like a passenger in their side, failing to make much of an impact (ironically, asides from one late goal which helped sink us that day), but watching him last year, I think he started to look much more imposing as a player and gave me the impression (from the limited exposure I've had to him) that he looked like he might have a good future as an AFL player. O'Brain is 3 years older and longer in the system than Weid. If we can pick up guys with gammy hamstrings from GWS and keep them on our list for a few years on the basis of potential, then I think it's well worth continued perseverance and patience with the Weid.

Not alone Olisik. I also think there are times that he is too stationary, looking for options, trying to do to much with it, holding onto the footy for too long and gets caught. But I think we just have to cop that every now and then, as I think it happens to all players, even the best of them and Trac has the ability that most times he uses he uses it well or better than most with his vision and ability to hit up players in good positions. It's also something about the way he moves in those situations where he looks like he is just walking around players, looking like he'll get caught, but often evading them. Brett Lovett use to be a bit the same, but I think Trac has definitely got better leg speed.

In typical media sensationalisim, modern click bate style, the headline doesn't really match the content and tone of the article, although Caro being who she is as a writer is trying to stir the pot and create more inuendo than probably really exists. Apart from that, reading the article actually gave me some better insight into why the players were so cautious and aprehensive. The previous and proposed camps sounded like pretty extreme kinda stuff, almost bordering on torture. It's fair to say that all clubs are looking for an edge, but somewhere along the line you wonder if a line has to be drawn on what's unreasonable. For all the people critical of the players and club for pulling the pin, be prepared to suject yourself to same experience as the players on this issue before you have a right to criticize. As for Danny Frawley, pfft he was a cheap bordering on dirty player of marginal toughness and a dead set failure as a coach, so who is he to put scorn on Goodwin and the MFC - he wasn't called Spud for no reason.

Just saw this headline on the AFL website and freaked: 'I'm keen to play on': Tyson's tough blow

Personally didn't want to see us trade Jack Watts, but please lets not have this commentary everytime he plays well, poorly or indiferent. Good that this has happened in preseason so it doesn't take up discussion space during the season proper when I will only be interested in our current listed players and how the team is traveling towards the ultimate success - move on Watts lovers.

Watched a few replays of or better 2017 games over the summer and one thing which really stood out is how much pace Hannan has. Would have to be up there with the quicker players in the side. Certainly like his work inside the forward 50 arc, good mark, good positioning and both a good set shot and oppertunist goal sense. Another great signing by the club.

Agree. I personally think our midfield has been lacking one or two players that can really pack a punch moving the ball forward. I always thought Salem was slated as a future midfielder when we recruited him. I like his toughness, compeditiveness and his class with his disposal. Reminds me a bit of Jimmy Bartell in his prime. As much as I understand the need for players with quality foot skills down back, I've often thought Salem was wasted down there and he looked like he didn't really enjoy or was fully suited to the fully defense mindset down back. Besides, we have medium sized backline players to burn these days. We really do need players that can deliver well and find targets inside 50 as so often we have dominated time in forward half, only to miss targets and waste opportunities for quality shots on goal. I also think the club has taken a conservative approach, holding back some younger players from having big midfield time/roles too early in their career when they were physically and psychologically less developed. I think it's now time to throw guys like Salem, Brayshaw and Harmes in there and have them bust it up a bit and hopefully take some opposition midfields to pieces.

I think what was implied is that he wasn't expected to be rushed into the side as an 18yo and be one of the saviors of the team.

What is up with Frost? Fit, but not considered for JLT 1? In form and/or with some minor further improvement in his game I think he could be an important part of the team.

I'm not sure that JKH and Kent are really being talked about for selection at the moment (not that I'm writing them off either though). But I was really quite pleased with the performance of all our small-medium forwards yesterday. Pressure without and execution with ball were excellent I thought.

With the royal blue jumpers, it may even be possible to adjust the colour/contrast settings on your TV to turn them back closer to navy blue as if we have no clash jumper at all!

In all honesty, my era of becoming a serious MFC supporter immediately followed royal blue jumper era in 86/87 and I think the number 2 jumper I has was a bit of pre loved hand-me-down or op-shop special so it's hard for me to comment with authority, but my old man reckons that for the preceeding period of doom and gloom, wacko Jackson gave him the only reason to turn up to games, so perhaps there were a few with 25 on them. Before that big Carl Detterich had been a bit of a favorite in 10.