Demons1858

Unless Bradshaw wants out, it would be tasteless of the MFC to trade him out when he is struggling with concussion issues

I think they would have told him he is only a chance to play if a really specific role can't be filled by someone younger than him of roughly equal ability. Similar to Grimes. Is a good mark for his height so imagine he might be a good replacement for Watts but its not going to happen. In any case its better he doesn't get selected in the squad if he isn't going to play. Don't need him travelling to WA again to sit on the bench like they did in the JLT. Media should ask or club should explain in the VFL reports what he needs to work on to make AFL

Ideas like this have the potential to go viral on social media ... lets have more of it ... sensational in every way

The modern shorter formats that have been launched for pre-existing sports such as cricket and rugby tend to work I believe as they give more of what the fans want e.g. higher scoring rate, fast paced, lots of boundaries, wickets, and close competitive matches as teams typically can't be bowled out. AFL is well paced as it is especially with the rule changes that have come in over time. Image the AFLX will endeavour to be even more fast paced and have rules that are designed to keep the footy alive for as long as possible. There should also be more opportunities to run and carry and less stoppages with a higher scoring rate. The down side might be that we lose the marking as there won't be many packs forming and also less 'contests within an contest'. There will probably be a market for it for someone although not sure the likely mix of attributes above will work from me. Have seen short formats of aussie rules played at corporate sports carnivals and I didn't find it that interesting. Will still give it a chance though.

That Collingwood game couldn't have been scripted better. Was sitting with a Collingwood mate of mine and he was giving it to me until half time. I think Jeff even got dragged from the field which was rare for him in those days. His goals after half time and the Melbourne win gave me plenty of ammunition. Like the stories I read about the past players reuniting at local levels to play with each other. Shows the bond and respect that happens when players work hard and make sacrifice for each other to achieve a level of success. In those days we played finals regularly. Happens at AFL and local levels

Its also a credit to Jayden that he can go forward and test the oppositions defensive structures with his pace in open spaces. He has reignited us a few times this year doing so. Would love to see what he could playing in the midfield as well, if it wasn't for that fact we need his pace in defence also.

True but Max will be back the following week and they will overlook Spencer altogether

Hey binman, you are probably reading a little too much into all this. This year Frost and his brother are well ahead of him for key backs. His form slump lasted 10 games plus preseason and we persisted with him early expecting him to return to form and then later due to injuries to backs and now rucks. While he plays like last week and last year he would get a game in my starting line up not because we want to develop him but on merit. He will also get a game when we have injuries to bigs if a little out of form as there is no one in the 2s left

Yes, you read that correctly but don't take my word for it. Josh Mahoney said in 2016 ... "He's had a frustrating run with injuries, but we think having Jake as part of our ruck division is important for the club, given his age and experience." Mahoney said. http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-05-12/melbourne-resigns-back-up-ruckman-jake-spencer-for-another-season Dave Misson said in 2014 ... “He had a further scan and review with a surgeon last week, who said that the crack in his ankle had actually increased, so he’ll actually have to get that surgically repaired and [he] will miss the rest of the season unfortunately." http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2014-06-17/spencer-out-for-season-hogan-progressing He's had plenty of other injuries also not least of which is a knee reco in 2011. I can go on ...

Last years form is irrelevant. He deserved his place then. Like alot of players that are on the fringe they get games when they are in form and are dropped when not. Better players can sustain form slumps. My prior post is consistent with Macca's views I would say

Spencer's last game round 5 Oscar's return game round 6

One thing the season highlights is that there is no point having a back up ruckman that is injury prone and therefore is unable to complete the role he has on our list. I have no doubt we will be out there looking to recruit another back up ruckman come this years draft. Spencer might get another shot this year and will need to be very good in those games

Oscar was lucky to came in when we were short of rucks and we needed to throw in his bro for coverage. Since then I would say he has been not poor but just average. Against the Pies he showed signs of his early form last year where he was backing himself a bit more. He is still 21 and as a tall has plenty of upside still but it could go ether way. Having better coaching/development resources could just be the difference. Wouldn't have liked his chances of becoming an AFL standard player in year gone by. In any case most teams have 2nd or 3rd best defensive tall that don't set the world on fire

Team dynamics are a funny thing sometimes but the vic side is chock full of awesome talent and is clearly the best side on paper. Also highlights we need a few others to step up for the remainder of the season if we want to go 7 and 5 or better to have a crack at finals. Gawn would be there if not for injury

Thanks, I've edited it. Truth is I don't play much golf but thought it might be a simple way to assess where the players are at

It’s been a mixed season so far. Funnily enough we are in exactly the same position to last season - placed 9th on the ladder with 5 wins and losses and a similar percentage. Surprisingly we are also only 1 win away from 4th place such is the closeness of the comp. Finals? We finished last season 5 and 7 and looked tired. Reversing that and finishing 7 and 5 would give us 12 wins similar to North finishing 8th last season ahead of St.Kilda on %. 8 wins would likely get you a spot in the 8 further up the ladder. While we need some luck, we also need to improve our own team’s performance and that of individual players. So … who do we need to lift. Golf scores below. While injury to key players have played their part, it highlights to me that not enough existing young talent have stepped up this season and if not for the recruitment of Hibberd, Lewis and Hannan we may well be out of finals contention. The positive is we have the 2nd half of the season to grow across the playing list and embed our game plan for an assault on the finals. Mids, Wings, Quarter backs Golf score Defenders Golf score Forwards Golf score D. Tyson +1 J. Hunt -2 J. Garlett -2 J. Viney +1 S. Frost -1 J. Watts par N. Jones par N. Jetta par M. Hannan* -1 B. Vince par M. Hibberd* -2 J. Harmes +1 J. Lewis* -1 O. McDonald par ANB par C. Pedersen -1 T. McDonald +1 C. Petracca -1 C. Oliver -2 J. Melksham +1 S Weideman +1 J. Spencer Par C. Salem par D, Kent +1 A. Brayshaw missing J. Wagner par J. Hogan missing M. Gawn missing T. Bugg par JKH +1

For Green to suggest Dean's game plan was ahead of his time is strange at best. The 'attacking' game plan suited the cattle we had but wasn't going to propel us forward. Many like Brett Moloney were one way mids so when things went wrong in 2011 we got smashed on the score board. We often won or lost by big margins. Makes our current team look super consistent. The margins leading up to 186 were: Draw, -45,+11,+90,bye,-54,+96,-41,-20,-47,+33,-88,+89,+27,-64,bye,+21-54,-186 The game flows from 'defensive minded' to 'offence minded' every few years but when it comes to grand final day the defensive minded teams typically win out. The reason offensive play seems to be more evident now is more about the rules committee and not forward thinking. The club made many bad decisions during this time. Sacking Bailey was an acceptable and not unexpected outcome. The problem is that the rift between the players and Schwab was not addressed and it should have been at least by seasons end. Hiring Neeld was another terrible decision. Tanking is also likely to have played its part in fracturing the relationships at the club. Gary Lyon was said to have influenced the club to only sack one of Schwab and Bailey to not look like a basket case club and Jim agreed. Another of Gary’s great ideas

Did anyone else think that Misson looked dejected this week? Seems to had done an ok job from afar but some key injuries this year have hit us hard. Some were unavoidable AVB needing surgery is obviously a last resort and its not looking good for him. I think they have put some fat on gawns return date on the website. Should be 3 weeks away going by Goodwin last week.

Kent can play but I think his attitude is out at the moment, I'd give him this week to show he can be stronger in the contest and not pull out knowing everyone will be looking to see if can redeem himself

You might be right. When the back up ruck (Keilty) has more disposal and tap outs than you then you probably aren't ready yet. Like that he is building though given he has been out so long and bigs do take longer

Harmes, Melkshem, Kennedy, and Stretch are all ahead of ANB for the simple fact he hasn't fixed his delivery from midfield into the forward line - see the VFL report. We are already wasteful in that area and don't need him adding to the problem again. Kennedy got a mention for his delivery into the forward half and is generally pretty clean with his disposal

He mentions his upbringing in the NT in the article. No one has greater involvement there than the MFC with 2 games and our Next Gen Academy in Alice Springs Done deal !

Apparently May is "planning to start contract talks with the Suns in the next three to four weeks" and wants to focus on his performance. As captain the Suns will offer him an attractive longer term deal. If the deal doesn't get done then and negotiations stall he is likely to be out the door. I guess we will watch this space in a few weeks time ... http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/gold-coast/gold-coast-cocaptain-steven-may-stalls-on-new-contract/news-story/378f5e68a64db5fff3519daf71271061

For mine, this season has highlighted some areas we need shore up. The issue is that each year there are only a certain number of players coming out of contract and that are gettable. While the MFC will try to fill all of the deficiencies you can't be too picky about the priorities unless of course you are Hawthorn or Geelong and you have a leading reputation of performance and culture over a long period of time. So we need some of the following to become an elite and serious finals team not in any order of priority. We need a decent back up ruck or decent forward / ruck that can ruck all day if we have injuries the cupboard is bare on our list (Spencer isn't dependable and King is a question mark). We can't have another year derailed like this one. We should poach a teams 2nd ruck like Preuss or rookie a more mature player at VFL level. If Spencer is injury prone there is no point having him on the list We need talent and speed at the fall of the ball in the forward half Have liked Kent in the past but we should shore this area up by focusing on rookies next year e.g. Garlett, McDonald-Tipungwuti, Davey were all rookies Any high quality established key back/key forward/midfielder would add to the list at the right age (not interested in mid range quality types for this category) Midfield: Lewis, Vince and even Jones aren't getting any younger. Brayshaw looks to have issues Forward: Weid might not make it and is atleast another 2 seasons away before he can be assured of starting in the 22 Backs: Frost and OMac are showing some promise but are not guaranteed to make it The reality however is that there isn't a large pool of high quality established players wanting to come to MFC or any club for that matter, so we need to consider any that might be interested. If we can get May interested then we go hard as he fits one of our needs. That would leave OMac or Frost to develop and compete for the remaining key defensive spots or be traded if they aren't up to it

Point taken JV7. No probs