Rodney (Balls) Grinter

Seriously, what is the AFL thinking letting the current serving president of one particular club serve on this panel? A bit like Scomo letting an ex-oil and gas executive loose with public policy. Conflict of interest much?

Merge that finacial black hole of GWS with Hawthorn and send them to Tassie. There, that solves it Jeff, now F#%K off.

Are we still going on about how to pronounce Hadley's last name? @Demonland , I think we need to pitch to get Harley on for a podcast interview just so we can set this straight ?. Plus, he hasn't even played a game for us yet and I sense he's already becoming a bit of a fan favorite (watch out Nev).

I probably could have come to respect that somewhat. At least Nic Nat wouldn't have just been leaving because he was a money hungry slimy little turd.

Rivers looks like he has a pretty mature head on him. Kosi looks like he belongs. Harley knows how to play the game and probably is the sort of player who you would rarely play a game in the seconds if you thought he was fit and conditioned. The way I see it Jackson is mainly there to just bring the ball to ground, but then will probably also stretch your average key position back for mobility once it hits the ground. I don't have that many concerns in that regards. Seven changes is a lot to make to a team at once, from the perspective of team cohesion, but I think most teams will be in a similar boat having not played in months, except for the really mature ones like WC, Richmond and perhaps Geelong and Collingwood.

Somewhat surprised with the selection of Hunt, but in other ways not. From the vision of practice match I saw of him against North, he didn't exactly set the world on fire offensively, but I thought his pressure acts, chasing and harassing of the opposition were pretty good. On his day he can be pretty damaging as we saw from his ability to provide a target and kick goals for us last year. In summary I don't have any real concerns of him holding his own and with his inclusion in the side, it could give us a good opportunity to at the least match them or more probability stretch them for pace all over the ground and give either him or one of our players a good oppertunity to cut loose.

That wouldn't surprise me. My recollection isn't that great on this matter, but I think Garry and Brett are/were in-laws too, so there may also be a natural affection on that basis too.

I get the distinct impression that we haven't paid overs for Harley though. Not sure there will be any GC or Freo supporters dumping sacks full of 20 cent pieces at HB's feet and not just because there will be no supporters at the game. ...and I also get the impression Harley can still kick well over 35m too!

It always amazes me listing to Sky News commentators endlessly bleating on about the neutrality of the ABC (or lack there of in their eyes), yet Sky News doesn't even pretend to be a fair and neutral presenter of news. Listening to guys like Paul Murray, Andrew Bolt, Mark Latham etc endlessly bleating on about bloody lefties etc. I think it speaks volumes to their lack of intellect. As a paying customer of theirs, I'd really like to remove Sky News from my Foxtel subscription and redirect those funds to a genuine news service like the ABC, perhaps I should write them a letter - would be interesting to see their response.

One of the interesting considerations I think will come into play for backline selections is having players to lockdown both Betts and Jack Martin. No doubt, Nev will get assigned Betts, but that will leave us needing someone to play a role on Martin. I'm tipping that with his reported pace, Smith and/or Lockhardt might be the option for Martin.

Not on this issue perhaps, but I do recall his departure being pretty acrimonious.

If Lockhart is left out, like many are suggesting, he would be extremely stiff. Was one of our best performers over the whole preseason and my recollection is that he did ok in Rd 1 as well. I'm not necessarily saying he won't be left out, because it's a pretty dam good side we have to pick from on paper. Personally I'm betting on Lockhart retaining his spot. I think Rivers inclusion will come at Hibberds expense. The are both around the same height (well Rivers is actually slightly taller), with Hibbo probably being a bit stronger. From what I have read, Rivers is rated as having good footy smarts, similar to Hibbo. From what I have observed though, the area that Rivers really stands out is his penetrating kicking out of defense. Whilst this was something Hibberd was once highly rated for, I think it's actually now somewhat of a weakness, with way too often his kicks going to 50/50 contests or turned straight over. Conversely Rivers kicking out of defense is both penetrating, sublimely accurate and creative. Good forward entries start from the back half and similarly Hibberd's rebounds that themselves get turned over and counter rebounded can really cost us. I'd likewise see the kicking efficiency of O'Mac as one of his assets compared to Smith, but it seems like Smith may have prevailed (perhaps at Oscar's expense) on this occasion.

...for mine so proud of Harley as well to make it back this far and so proud that he will be running out in the mighty red and blue. I would have been so stoked a few years back if we could have nabbed him from GC a few years back when he decided on Freo. Just hoping that this operation has totally fixed his calfs, because it looks like he has his lifestyle issues sorted now. Could turn out to be one of the recruiting coupes of the decade. It was simultaneously heart breaking and inspiring to watch Jack Trengrove fight his way back from his long term injuries, only to never really impact as a footballer in the same way he once had. I get the sense it's going to be different for Harley and he will still be a gun player.

Classy comments from Nic Nat. Like a few others, I rated and still rate Watts, his kicking efficiency and ability to hit-up targets inside 50 is something the side could well do with now. But I also get the impression that Nic Nat is a pretty solid citizen and we would have done well to pick him also.

Probably not permitted due to the contamination risk.

Until this point, the MFC has kept Harley pretty well shielded from the media glare, so his interview earlier today was one of the few times we've actually heard him speak. A few other key things I took away from the interview with Harley: 1. He is clearly someone who loves footy and playing footy; 2. When he spoke of the emotional response of those close to him about the news of his selection, it's pretty clear how much playing again means to Harley and he seemed genuinely greatful to the MFC for the oppertunity to have another go; 3. People often question Goodwins worth. It's well acknowledged that one of Goodwin's strengths is to build strong relationships with his players. To hear Harley speak of Goodwin as being like a father figure to him outside of the game, to me having that kind of respect from your players is exactly one of the qualities which good senior coaches have. I also got the impression that this life mentoring from Goodwin has been one of the keys to Harley getting back to where he is now. Just imagine if he got that sort of guidance and made that kind of connection with Guy MeKenna and others at Gold Coast - his career might have turned out quite differently.

And in Kosi, hopefully we have a fine young padawan to learn under the tutelage of a master.

Regarding Harley, I get the impression that:

Just watching the way Harley caries himself in this interview, you can tell that he is a player that oozes confidence in his own ability as a footballer. Even after all this time out, he seems 100% ready to go about business and put his talents on show for all to see. Not in an arrogant cocky kind of way necessarily, but in a very self asured confident kind of way. We haven't had too many players like that at the MFC. So stoked that he has got this far, particularly given that some people thought the exercise was a complete waste of time. Really looking forward to seeing Harley play again and even better it being in the red and blue. Whether it's for 1 game or 100, I get the sense that it's going to be a great ride and as a supporter I'm just going to sit back and enjoy it without worrying how long it might last.

Not sure if there is sarcasim intended in your response Rjay, but I'm tired of hearing that excuse for the performance we put in. The team had just spent the whole summer apparently working their butts off to try and atone for 2019 and get back to being respected. They had pleanty to motivate them and play for. If we are going to be that mentally soft to get rattled by the COVID distraction (which I don't think they were), then how will we ever stand up in finals. That said, I'm not overly pessimistic about our whole season based on that one game. We were out played by a well organised, established top 4 team on their home deck and they got on top of us on the day, but I hardly think we were disgraced. Rectifying our own game style isn't necessarily something which can be fixed overnight during match simulation and a couple of practice games. I'm happy to see how we settle down over a decient block of games before I call curtains on our season. One thing is for certain though - we have a pretty darn fit list to pick from and take the feild, so if they don't perform, there can be no excuses in that regard, unlike 2019.

https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/703366/round-2-injury-update-three-dees-sidelined Reading between the lines of what Burgess has stated in his injury report and Goodwin's rap for him, I think Harley will be picked against Carlton.

Would be great if they did. Perhaps they could get the guys that did the Nth Melbourne practice match back in. That was a great little production really. Always like to see the reserves and I'm glad the AFL and the clubs have got together and enabled these games to happen. With a nearly completely fit list (for once) but also plenty of developing talent and depth, I think it's an advantage for the MFC for these games to be going ahead.

Now that we are within the last week before the restart of this season, I'm finally getting excited about footy again. It's definitely been a weird few months as a supporter. I was itching all summer for us to get back into the season proper and start to make amends for 2019 and despite the Rd 1 loss to WC, I'm still holding out hope that we can get it back together and have a decient 2020. But when the virus stoped games, I actually found it quite easy to almost completely lose interest in footy, until we were given a firm timetable for restarting games again. Asides from the increasingly promising signs from Harley Bennell and Max's hair cut, even the chatter on Demonland has mostly been a boring regurgitation of gripes about forward entries and reliving 1001 historical games, seasons and drafts. Not singling out anyone in particular about this, it's just amazing how difficult I've found it to find any of these conversations interesting or entertaining without having any current footy events to speak of for relevance. ....Anyways, looking forward to the weekend as I recon we will beat Carlton convincingly, if not smash them out of the park. GO the MIGHTY DEMONS!

Clash of the clash jumpers!!

Much prefer Smith as a forward. Thought he was looking really good as a deep forward in that fated practice match in 2019 ...and then 2019. His foot passes in defense have never looked very convincing or confident to me. Seems to be too slow to move the ball on and then either picks the wrong option or it isn't a great kick and he turns it over. Hope he gets a decient run at it wherever he ends up playing, builds some confidence and does finally develop into the player he has been promised to be all this time.