Engorged Onion

some may see it as a monkey - some may see it as context...

@Binmans PA Ahhhh, I just wanted to open up a meaningful conversation on it, rather than the slagging off of Petty that occurs in some other threads…

Slightly disappointed the word ‘engorged’ was not evocative enough for people 🥲

Demonland pulse check 😘

Well I never, Clayton Oliver is a List Clogger... 🫠

I'd be hoping Goodwin reviews it ... eh! eh? eh!! 🫣

Some thoughts to consider… We’re a rabble - 2 games and % off second. Seriously, if you’re up in arms about Goodwin or the team, you’re not one to take on context of how tight the season is, or the industry is - nor the factors of significant injury and retirement to effectively 4 of our top players for significant amounts of the season (Petracca Lever Brayshaw Gawn). if you were to be told we’d be missing those players at the beginning of the seasons - I’d imagine you’d adjust your expectations… but perhaps not… Id say it’s Swans, Freo then Carlton then the rest. Freo are a very good team, and they match up well with us in midfield even when we have our best 22.they have done for 3’years now I remember watching Voss, Black, Brown etc absolutely beating up on Ablett Jnr, Chapman, Scarlett etc - fast forward 3 years later and the tables had turned. This is where Freo is at with their midfield. And this is the cyclical nature of footy. not to say things don’t need tweaking, but sometimes you’re hands are tied with personnel… we may make finals in ‘24 but I’d be looking at ‘25 and giving the team the best opportunity.

Do we think this a direct reaction to not having petracca and at times brayshaw (when he would roll through the midfield), so the evidence being that without the holy trinity operating (Oliver, Viney, Petracca, and Barayshaw) anymore, or at least at reduced capacity (Oliver) there is less likelihood that we a) win the clearance and b) disrupt the opponents first clearance, thus we need the extra (no longer -1) at stoppages. So not changing due to a change in just game plan, but personnel to execute the preferred game plan in the first place… Is that Goodwin being flexible 😏

20 point win circa 80-60’ takes us to to the realm of 107.5% and what will likely be 4th on the ladder but potentially 5th with an unlikely Brisbane win over Sydney

By luck do you mean umpiring equality? 🤷‍♀️

Melbourne's biggest challenges lie in the middle and potentially the weather. Without Max Gawn and Christian Petracca, our dominance around stoppages and ability to transition the ball quickly are significantly compromised. Fremantle's midfield, boasting Serong and Brayshaw, could exploit this weakness, feeding their potent forward line with clean entries. It was only 3 years ago that we bullied Freo's midfield - and they've got 3 more preseasons into those younger players (it's the circle of life)... they're a fine outfit. The key battleground will be the clearances and the quality of them. If Melbourne can find a way to mitigate Gawn's absence through a collective effort or a strategic shift, which might look like assuming we lose most ruck contests and shark the ball (shoe on the other foot), then we may be able to win our clearances, or have cleaner post clearance possessions. The rain, if it arrives, could be a double-edged sword. While it might favor the contested style which matches well against us, Fremantles outside game might struggle as well. Our backline will have our work cut out for them regardless of the conditions, but a typical strong defensive effort could keep us in the contest. Looking for Knuckles to continue strongly and hopefully May not looking too banged up. The outcome hinges on our ability to adapt. Can we find a way to win clearances without a designated ruckman? Does that even matter? Can our remaining midfielders step up in Petracca's absence again? How well will we handle Fremantles outside game, especially if the rain disrupts both teams' flow? I'm hoping for the best and dampening my expectations that this is one match we can afford to lose - but as someone else said on here - what an opportunity. Perhaps some TMAC or Dean Kent last quarter heroics get shown! Cheers and Go Dees EO

Love the weekly enthusiasm SN34 💪

So with Billings playing ahead of Laurie (not quite like for like) - I am assuming that the MFC doesn't see a future for Laurie?

It’s ok chook, I was extracting the urine.

What does any of the trade conjecture matter... it's not like it destabilises the players or the team, just the supporters who are particularly invested...

I like my revisionist history of that time, where historically it was spoken about how instinctive Jackson was, and what leadership it was by him, "he is such a unicorn". On further reflection, and inspection, it was clearly the Dogs midfield positioning (looking at you Bont and Treloar) which Melbourne as a team capitalised on, it could even have been Mark Jamar rucking (no disrespect) and the ball still would have been fed out to our marauding midfielders. The mythology of Jackson rests on him merely being at the right place at the right time, as Gawn needed a rest.* 🫣 *not that I am bitter...

Touché

I've only heard people use [censored]ming Dumpster in terms of degrading women... is that your angle on the nickname?

Perhaps we can start a thread, about how upset we get about the people that push trade rumours about people that we find important to our club?🤷‍♀️ I do forget that AFL long ago moved on from it's tribal nature (not the supporters), the corporate bohemoth that IS the AFL and how it views itself as merely entertainment and a product for the masses. And that includes the media snippets and articles and airtime, that we digest from the marketing machine that is the AFL, that perpetuates our anxities and causes us great distress. So much time wasted on Clayton, will he go, will he stay? Charlie Cameron 3 weeks?? WTF ,oh it's 0 Weeks still WTF?? Jack Crisp, will he break Jimmy Stynes consecutive games record? What a grub! Random random clickity baity bits n bobs...

Must have being high or [censored] as @binman The Collendina is in good ol' Ocean Grove. It was a classic stop for, Midnight Oil, The Hoodoo Guru's, Hunters etc etc...

aaannnnd??

Which Pod is this mate?

I thought dazzle was adamant and said he was definately called Silk?

I think that this is the first acknowledgement I have ever seen on Demonland in the maybe 8 years I have been on here, that someone has acknowledged you can perform well and still lose. It’s typically not that nuanced and rather binary. Bravo 🙌🏼

He’ll need to meet certain physiological criteria + biological markers and then his own internal sense of where he is at. If all are positive, it’s a straight forward answer. If one is negative, it’s a straight forward answer.