Deemania since 56

Yep, Spargs and ANB have to stay. Their workrate is enormous and oppositions know they can cover the ground to compete in many on-field locations before the oppo-kick is delivered. Melk cannot do that. Other smalls can, but Melk doesn't. Just the same, I regard Melk as a good choice for tactical sub - for other reasons - but not this week against the Eagles.

I'd like to see some comments from Yze and Chocko in regard to Sestan - a talent well and truly 'on-the-way' who could be enormous with some addition seasoning.

We really must retain and further develop/encourage JJ to do his thang. He is a rilly goodie.

Really good at the weekend against Sydney. JJ is a second Chandler with an array of alternative skills. He needed to learn to play on rather than to go back and take a kick (after trying to visualise a target from the over-covered static forward lines last year) and has achieved that - and shown that aptitude to very good effect this year. JJ is a dangerous player with perceptive skills execution - and finds targets very well. He's also a bit taller than expected from a distance, capable of good intercepts and spoils on the opposition - and nearly always lands on two feet, ready to take off or scrounge for the team taps. Oh, I forgot: JJ goes vertical for the spoil - he ain't huge or gravitationally challenged - and the 2-feet landing enables him to utilise a great first two/three steps with possession of the ball, and this reminds me closely of one of our great backmen of the past who did the same to win heaps of the ball and its delivery - Brett Bailey.

I think we all are nervous on game day. By thinking positively of success, I can justify optimism to some extent and thus, reduce the stress of those realities I have been attempting to ignore. It also provides a deeper analysis when the game is finally on - soon after the first bounce - making me appreciate what our players are attempting to do under all circumstances and processes. However, each to their own, I guess; we all have mechanisms unique to our own psyche.

Tag with Chandler - the two add dimensions not yet considered from the centre field to the goal mouth.

Chandler was great. At the game, I was impressed with the effort of JJ, as well. He was not phantastique but he did try some things that sparked interest and was solid in some defensive efforts. More experience for him, please! I can imagine both Chandler and JJ being a rather varied, potent and successful tag-team on the forward line.

Percentage gains on the horizon! We could find such boosters very useful on top of the four points and it could last for quite a few weeks.

Ain't it the truth!

If there can be a singularity for the turning point, that kick to that guy making space all alone was the moment.

Yes. Melksham is an ideal 'tactical' sub and injected skill set.

As a club, I really hope that we can squash the jinx that the Swans have over us - it probably cannot be put down to some talent differential between 'us' and 'them', we just seem to capitulate at various points of games that we play against them. I'd hope that the coaching staff have been thorough in this assessment - onfield, we are a better team with a losing mantra, and our game plans and outcomes seem to lack buoyancy when it matters. Across recent encounters, we seem to situate ourselves in a sink-or-swim catharsis, the latter seldom producing recoveries and ascendancies that matter in order to achieve the four points. Why, for example, do we seem content to search for 'learnings for next time' rather than play consistently to dictate our terms of these encounters? We can humiliate most teams but the Swans, so often, have our measure and abundant luck in the conduct of the game after the main interval.

The mobility of the smalls in the forward line - and yes, we have plenty for the Swans game - could be very effective if they realised that will take very little part in the marking contests (but perhaps and only if the ball is consistently brought to ground) and in reality, that should in itself be a cue for the swarming and balanced ants to stream to the 50m line and beyond to spaces or leading to spaces for the rejuvenated ( ? ) game plan of the midfielders to hit any of multiple targets streaming towards them. Gus, Clarrie, Tracca and JJ all have the skills to do this as a strong aspect of the forward team retention of the ball. Ya carnt kick 'em goals if yas don't have the ball! FFS. Footiskry do it with 7m kicks, almost always paid as a mark by the snot goblins. So, let's win and keep the ball rather than have 'hopeful' retention from one possible target with fluttering wings up deep forward.

Really agree with all you have indicated. Exciting times ahead, multifunctional and dedicated across the field - a symbiosis that only the long-awaiting fans could (and historically did) imagine.

Yep, and he popped up across the game in isolated spaces quite regularly. Kicking, passing and backing-up have definitely improved and he seems to be on his way to some valuable consistency. Happy for him, a really nice fella underneath, as well.

Observed. Internalised. Just knew something would activate the snotty-goblinized 'string-pullers' and their attempts at showcasing.

We have a good deal to look forward to in the coming month and a bit. JVR in, Kozzie back, May back, Salem almost back, Gawn on the way back, Grundy getting re-settled as a decided talent, JJ coming in, Verral looking ominous, and so the story goes.

Nicely done!

There is hope. Mongrel don't come easy, but we need it in bucketloads.

No, Max cannot be covered. HIs talents are more than just his playing onfield; he is a true leader and statesman for his players; hell, when he is on the field, he is the perpetual role model and standard-bearer for the whole MFC. Let's hope that on his return from injury, both Max and JVR can play together as teammates. At the same time, hearty congratulations to young JVR for (finally, possibly too finally) making the team at AFL level - an outcome long-awaited and long-desired by us, the humble fans. You must be rapt, Jacob - we are so affected in support of your talents - go out an make yourself smile on gameday and the week that follows.

Fairy Nuff.

I'd think he does.

This game against the Swans is a baptism of fire (and what could be better training and development for some of our promising newbies when aged performers mellow as if the bottle has had a split cork for the past two years?)

Clarrie and Trac are going to have to be on their best form to tear the Swans midfield apart - it's not going to be a ruck superiority effect although Grundy will give his all - it is going to be a 'reading' outcome of Swans at centre bounces and around the ground, plus a rather impelling desire to win the ball and use it well. Could be a very good game for Chandler, JJ if he gets a guernsey and Sparrow. Harmes will be needed for shut-down roles; Hibberd is essential. Shattered from the performance last week up until the blackout, it is difficult to make a judgment on the outcome of the game; at least the drop in form is occurring at a stage of the season from which we can recover and live up to the reputations we all expect. Go Dees, hard, lethal and make the plays that matter.

I'd play a close-checking, defensive JSmith on him in the first quarter and see where that takes us in terms of 'driven' opportunities upfield.