Mel Bourne

I know it’s all been said now, but what a heartbreaking thing we witnessed yesterday. Melksham had to fight hard to get through the Essendon rubbish, then harder to cement himself at a new club. A player of his talent shouldn’t have had to overcome such hurdles, but he just dug away like the dedicated professional he is. For his last few games he was at the pinnacle of his exceptional form, and that’s something else we all got to witness. I’m gutted for the guy, but I’m glad he can go out feeling like he was giving it his all, at the top of his game.

I had a glance through the AFL injury lists before typing this. Our list is short compared to a lot of other clubs. Where it’s sucked for us is that they’re targeting our forwards. Edit: so I guess not so lucky then. I’ll get my coat.

We’ve been kinda lucky really.

Avatars are funny. After reading that I was visualising George Bluth Sr. playing AFL and doing his meniscus.

Docs and physios of DL, is it pretty common to see somebody with an ACL/MCL walking around without crutches and joining in the team huddle? Seen plenty on crutches after such an injury. I know walking is possible after one of these, but surely the club doctors wouldn’t be taking any risks letting Melk wander around in the throng. Unless…. It’s understood he’s gone for the season and there’s no need for cotton wool 😢

Feels like we got a good look at our finals campaign today. And I love what I saw.

Wow. You lose a Milkshake, you gain a Fritter. But I want that milkshake back.

Melk looking pretty casual on the bench. No crutches. Relaxed demeanour. Either it’s not as bad as we fear or he’s being the ultimate pro. I fear the latter.

Look, I realise the English language is in a constant state of flux but I’d be letting down my fellow Gen X-ers if I didn’t put up a futile objection every now and then.

I totally agree, except for the bit where you used “cringe” as an adjective (and yes, I know, I know, but they’re wrong too). First year at the club. People need to chill.

Thyroid issues can really kick one’s butt. I suspect that’s been the major cause of Salo’s problems this year.

Port are really going to want to steady their ship today. Only two wins out of the last six matches (and neither of those wins against top eight sides). They are not going to want to enter finals at 2-5.

Go Dees Go Power

There’s still time for Mason Cox to hurt himself.

Tippa should be allowed to have his own personal sub.

I am not going to question the powers of the Demon Army! Maybe (definitely) I’m biased, but there’s a particular energy behind the goals these days that we haven’t seen the likes of for a long time, and I’m certain it plays heavily into exactly what you’re talking about. Keep doing what you’re doing!

WCW, I get where you’re coming from. You’re a lot more involved with the club than I am, and it’s important that you maintain the directive. As for me, I choose to believe my comments in a quiet corner of the internet don’t actually have any bearing on our finals campaign whatsoever, and I would regard any opinion to the contrary as being more than a tad irrational. I genuinely believe we’re a contender, but as for the “fear factor”, I also believe Fagan, McRae, Hinkley and Voss would well and truly be ratcheting-up the same methods of psychology at their respective clubs. Some seasons this factor has more weight to it than others. If one team has shown a particular dominance over all the others during a season, the fear runs high among their opposition. The point I’m trying to make is that with regards to this particular season, I’m genuinely not feeling the fear-factor emanating from any club. It’s more a “respect” factor. Again, I really do believe we can do it this year, but I’m not under any illusions that another club couldn’t either. I hope this doesn’t read as negative. It’s actually a positive, as I think the tight nature of this year’s season (and the mutual respect it breeds) has made for a really enjoyable one.

Melbourne hadn’t won a flag for quite a while before ‘21. Do you think they were “worried” about the other teams going into those finals We’re talking about elite athletes in professional organisations here, not “The Karate Kid”. All the contenders know that on the right day, it’s theirs to win.

Ha! I think the only thing the players are genuinely afraid of is the score review system.

He’s really the one player I’d like to see rested this week. As we’ve seen in the past, Maysie’s body doesn’t seem to hold up as well as others come the pointy end of the season. He’s lost a noticeable amount of mobility in recent weeks. Though many will argue that playing through his soreness is optimal. I just worry about that hammy of his.

I’m not sure I really buy this. Whoever we play first in the finals is not going to be afraid of us because we beat the Swans. I don’t think any of the top teams would have any of this so-called “fear” going in any direction. Everyone is gettable this year. There are no true monoliths, and it’s made for a great season.

Form - true, continuity is important, but all teams are about to have their continuity halted after next weekend (which is why some coaches have come out against it). Fitness - the risk of fresh injuries after being rested - is their much evidence of this? Coming off an injury, and being brought back too soon, sure. But getting injured after being rested for a week (while still maintaining peak physical fitness)? I’d need to see the stats on that. Again, the Cats employed resting their older players throughout the season last year. And key players, at that (Selwood, Hawkins, Dangerfield and Isaac Smith, who was rested in Rnd 22 and went on to win the Norm Smith). It was all about making sure they had the best team available in the final game of the year, and didn’t see the above issues as much of a threat to that aim Gawn and May would be it. No need to go crazy.

What’s the argument for not resting players? Is it the risk of a potential “rustiness” when a rested player returns? If so, isn’t this negated somewhat by all finals teams forced into a supposed rust-onset via the pre-finals bye? Sure, in that regard it’s two weeks vs one week. But we’re talking about elite athletes here. I have trouble accepting that such a break would create any significant drop in form. They’d still be training and keeping their skills sharpened. But it’s more than merely resting a player. It’s insurance that we have them playing finals. As for any suggestion that the AFL would come down on a club for employing such a tactic - did they “come down” on the Cats last year?

Careful. A lot of people here think that resting players is a cardinal sin or something. It’s almost like they know something Chris Scott wasn’t aware of last year.

Make no mistake, I do not want to see him go. But what did you make of his move to the centre bounce against the Tigers? The lead-up to it was interesting. It essentially was the first time the football media had put him in check, and the club’s response wasn’t exactly along the lines of “he plays a role that you don’t understand”. They responded in a way that seemed to indicate they saw a concern too.