Rodney (Balls) Grinter

I'm less interested in potential than I am seeing that translated into actuality. That said, I do have high hopes that we are building towards becoming a champion team. 2018 was a small teaser of what I think the team is capable of. When you look at how we played towards the end of that season, I thought we had a team that was capable of beating any other. In my view, the preliminary loss was at least partly the result of playing like our season depended on it for every proceeding game for the last 6 or 8 games prior to the prelim, playing on the eagles home deck and them having earnt the weeks rest prior to playing us. For us to truely deliver in September, which is the only thing which could set the current side as being better than any that came before it in the past 50 years, they need to put together a consistent season and finish top 4. When you look at the age profile of our key mids, they are now at a point where they have mature bodies and could really start to dominate the best midfeilds in the competition on a regular basis, so I don't think we are too far off what we can become. Many teams win premierships without necessarily the best key forward, but most have a pretty solid defense, so I think we are doing ok in these respects. The other thing I think our list currently has is pretty good depth - there isn't a fit player on it for us that I would have a concern in playing, including the Wagners if required to fill in and play a role (could be pretty important across the next 4 games). I was ok with writing off 2019, but have been a bit disappointed by our faltering start to 2020. I do think we have been hurt more than most by the interrupted start to the season (Essendon debarkle included) and shortened games, but that only goes so far. To me our performances over the next 4 weeks will show if we are ready and capable of delivering on our potential. For me the pass mark is winning 3 or 4 out of the next 5 games, i.e. beat at least 1 or preferably 2 of the in-form sides of Brisbane, Port and Collingwood without getting smashed and totally by any of them and putting away both of the two bottom sides of Adelaide and North. Do that and I'll start to believe we are on our way.

Totally Norm. Like I said, I think was a technology problem - too smart and too complicated for it's own good sometimes. Tracy was great - many thanks and give her a bonus (I get the feeling that a win on Sunday might suffice). GO DEMONS!

I'm a Queensland MFC member. Another couple of phone calls and emails to the club over the past few days and all sorted. Something screwy going on with email systems (don't you love technology!). Anyways - GO THE MIGHTY DEMONS. P.S. I recon it will be a good game, but I think we are every bit capable of beating the Lions. Thought we almost could have won last year at the Gabba with half the list to select from that we do now. T Mac to kick 5.

Exactly a two hour flight Melbourne to Gold Coast is basically 4.5hrs out of your day door to door once you add in travel to and from the airport and check-in time etc. Hopefully Melbourne can fly direct from the Sunny Coast airport to Adelaide/ Tassie. Benifit of exclusive use and familiarity with the facilities at Maroochydore is pretty important I think.

So on a related note, being up here in Bris Vagus I was watching the local Seven news and they were going on about what a boon it is for Queensland to have all theses Victorian teams up here. They then went on to say that with all the extra games being played at the Gabba and Carrara that they will need to manage the grounds well to keep them in good nick and that as such the Lions might need to give up 'some' of their training sessions on there. You would bloody well hope that the Lions have to give up pretty much all of their training sessions on the Gabba, given MGC tenants rarely get the oppertunity to train on their home deck. I also think this period could be a good oppertunity for the MFC to get comfortable playing on both the Gabba and Carrara, which of some importance given that both the Lions and Suns look like being pretty decient sides over the next few years. Having said that, I think that we play both the Gabba and Carrara pretty well as it is and have a decient record on both grounds over the last few years.

9th - 12th works best for me. Not good enough to genuinely contend, but not low enough to get first dibs at the creme de la creme of the best talent at the draft either. Unfortunately/fortunately I can see Hawthorn really bottoming out over the proceeding period, quite possibly to the point of being gifted numerous priority picks again as well. You just need to look at the sheer numbers of aging players they have which will retire in the next year or two and with no more trade or free agency currency, I can't see how they won't take a huge dive once their side is flooded with undeveloped kids, frindge top-ups from other clubs and the state leagues.

Absolutely. And don't get me wrong, I thought Weid was great. I just thought it has also been a really good sign for the side over the past two weeks and particularly against the Hawks how they have been unselfish in sharing the ball between themselves to distribute the ball to a player in a better position in front of goal. Fritsch, Hannan, Kosi, Bennel, Trac and Weid have all been great for each other in this respects I've thought and it seems to have really clicked. Also agree that some of Weid's crashing of packs and bringing the ball has been great and really impactful to our forward play.

I think it's also been a function of playing in a congested forward line where the ball is just bombed in long to frequently as well. What I saw a lot of against Hawthorn was backman being forced into leaving their forwards to pressure the ball carrier running into an otherwise fairly open forward line. It's amazing what quick clean ball movement up the ground can do. Probably also helps when our forwards have the smarts to hang back for longer and not get sucked too far up the ground. Will be interesting to see if we can still achieve that well and hold our structures and two way run against Brisbane.

Took a great clean grab drifting across the front of the pack in the last quarter and then proceeded to miss the goal which I had expected him to kick based on his simple, confident, reliable goal kicking up until that point. Hopefully T Mac is there also to take some of the Harris Andrews heat off the Weid.

Yeah, but to be fair, I think I recall he was on the end of a few easy over the top type hand balls and/or kicks to him loose in the goal square as well. All in all, I think this kind of play is a great sign for how the team played to be creating the loose players up the ground through hard running, then a willingness to use team mates in a better position, the skills/confidence to pull it off and the resulting high percentage shots on goal. It's something which has been missing from our game and present in our opponents for a lot of last season and is just starting to find it's way back into our game again now.

Though Weid was great on the weekend in combination with Jackson and think he could be downright dangerous as the season progresses and he builds more confidence and form. If he had have kicked just a little straighter, I thought he could have kicked 4 or 5 goals against Hawthorn. Anyway, good little article on him in the Fairfax online. 'She sometimes is in the COVID ward': Why Weideman's partner won't be joining AFL hub https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/sport/afl/she-sometimes-is-in-the-covid-ward-why-weideman-s-partner-won-t-be-joining-afl-hub-20200720-p55dq7.html After the headline part about his partners nursing, there is also a pretty good write up about his football struggles over the past 18 months and the support he got off team mates and the club.

I personally thought Brayshaw was ok against Hawthorn and actually had some really good involvements in passages of play. That one where he pick pocketed the Hawthorn bloke off half back was a ripper. Yes he had an element of luck with the ball spilling to him, but he was still there and then had pretty clean skills to gather the ball, accelerate down field, kick the ball into a good spot for Fritsch to run onto and from memory we went coast to coast and got a goal out of the play. Also recall another pin point pass he put on the chest of Weid or someone, but there were certainly other occasions where his kicking let him down and overall, I think his disposals yesterday could best be described as a bit hit and miss. One of the most encouraging things I saw yesterday was that he was starting to get involved in plays breaking lines and moving the ball through the centre square, which I think he does quite well and was somewhat a signature of our dominant 2018 performances.

Has Ben Stratton got anything for his habitually clumsy front on head high impact with Weid?

So sad for two footballing families, both the Tucks and the Abletts who have already had their share of family tragedies in recient years. My recollection of Shane as a footballer is of him being a down to earth battler of a player that forged a pretty decient AFL career through hard work and resilience as opposed to being 'naturally gifted' so to speak.

Thanks guys. Just to be clear, my somewhat frustrated response was more so directed at the AFL, because I had assumed that the club would have sent me some sort of info email, as I specifically updated me email with them on the Friday. Understandable if things get a bit messed up with all the staff cuts and chaos, even for the AFL I guess.

Did you get your tickets through your MFC membership or just GA? I called the club on Friday and they said they were still waiting for information from the AFL with an email to be sent out to mebers expected on Sunday night, but still nothing. Pretty poor.

We basically went coast to coast a few time on Sunday, not always with flawless execution, but it was a pleasure to watch.

As MFC supporters, we have often bemoaned the lack of quality delivery into our forward line. Whilst the Hawks did deliver it into their forward 50 a few times with good intent and precision, there were so many times they just kicked long around the boundry to Max Gawn or one of our other key backs who easily out marked them. On a few occasions, they kick it straight to our backs who were floating loose in a paddock in Hawthorn's forward 50m. Would have loved to have been a fly on the wall to hear the Hawks supporters moaning about kicking to packs or kicking it straight to us. It's nice to be on the right side of that problem for once and I hope it continues.

Hopefully it's the new/improved Hawthorn that the rest of the competition has been waiting for. It could (and I'm certainly hoping it is) a loooong way back for the Hawks. I really do hope what we are seeing is the beginning of the end of anything like competitive team for Hawthorn. I think that they have now been tipped over the precipice that their list of aging once great stars has been staring down for the past few years, combined with a policy of trading away top picks for ready made players at the expense of going to the draft for young tallent. Asides from Gunston yesterday, I can't think of any of their older or mature players that actually contributed. Actually feel a bit for Frosty, that he will now likely have endure a long list build for the third time in his career.

Sorry if it's been said before in this thread, but how bloody good is Max Gawn? Not only was yesterday a master class in ruck work and marking around the ground, but his collection of the ball off the ground and general play with the ball are stuff that ruckman are not suppose to do. At one point he out manoeuvered $culley for a ground ball as if he was a nimble 5'10" rover. Oliver did one of his occational hand balls out of know where to a totally unexpecting Gawn deep in the backline (who I actually suspect was trying to recover he breath from copping a hard knee to the back of the rib cage) and Gawn sucessfully moves on to a team mate and out of the area. You could tell that in the second half Hawthorn were trying to double team and were putting in a concerted effort to try to take Gawn out of the arial contests, but were mostly hapless to stop him. I temper this somewhat that while McEvoy was a quality ruckman at one point, like a fair percentage of Hawthorn's list he is clearly past it and was pleasing to see Gawn towl him up. I was also glad to see Gawn rested for reasonable periods and Jackson give him a chop out int the ruck (of which he did quite a credible job). Huge game against Steff Martin next week.

Copped a nice shiner along the way there too somewhere, but it's not hard to see how. Asides from the fact he got on a few good leads and pulled down some good marks, I thought he provided a great physical presence. You could see the genesis last week, but this week, I thought he stepped it up a notch again. Some great crashing of packs led to valuable crumbs for our suddenly in form forwards to swoop on and move quickly and dangerously into our forward 50, with great effect. WEEEEEID. (P.S. I'm guessing the shiner came courtesy of that pos Straton hammering into him front on - should be looked at by the match review panel as careless/intentional, but I doubt it will be).

6 Gawn 5 Trac 4 Oliver 3 Viney 2 Weid 1 Langdon

I get the impression that Max isn't the type to measure happiness and sucess in life in $.

No, if the legend is true, I recon that Gawn got the last laugh on $culley!

I actually think we got close to it in 2018. That season we put away almost all of the bottom teams we needed to beat and really only had a couple of major slip-ups against St Kilda and Sydney. Even the top teams often have one or two slip-up when they are upset by a lower side. We just hadn't put away enough of the top teams along the way in 2018 to have the tolerance to loosing the odd game but still finishing top 4. To me 2018 showed that the core of the team have the mental toughness and capacity to be a genuine finals contender. It's consistently beating or at least breaking even 50/50 against top 4/8 teams along the way that will mark the next step in our progression.