Mel Bourne

This ??

Maybe not a tank per se, but if he plays 23 games in his first year I’ll be very surprised. He’s gonna get hit by some big blokes this year, and that’s gonna be tough on his developing frame. Resting will be required.

And that may very well be true, but are we expecting Kysaiah to play a full season in his first year? I’ve got my doubts that he’s got the tank for that just yet. And when he needs resting, we’d surely still like to have a SF option. But this could all be moot, as the word is Jay is being groomed as a defender (depth for Nev). Having him as depth in different areas of the ground could be an option though. I just feel like he shouldn’t linger in the background (I feel he’s a better option than Spargo, anyway).

This is a concept that I am very guilty of harping on about. There’s a good little clip here of his highlights playing the small forward role... https://www.reddit.com/r/melbournefc/comments/defpnf/crystal_ballin_with_his_first_preseason_at_the/ There are some very classy, instinctive passages of play here (with the kind of results you want), and to think he was only settling in without a helluva lot of game-conditioning behind him, it’s gotta be an option worth exploring.

Not sure if it’s an infection (fluid build-up can often not involve an infection), but the club seem to be playing it down, regardless. Mind you, they kinda have to.

Steven May is requiring further surgery. Fluid build-up. Another week off the track. https://www.afl.com.au/news/371681

I enjoyed it. I’m pretty excited to see how this fitness regime is going to affect our matches. The impression we’re getting more and more is that these players have never had to push quite this hard in a pre-season. The players are indeed looking in ripping nick, and will hopefully have tanks like never before. It will be interesting to see how we compare to other teams this year in the same respect. Are we pushing harder than the rest of the comp, just the same or finally catching up? Slightly frustrated with the drip-fed-morsel approach, so I might just wait till the whole thing’s out.

Mind you, there’s no questioning the “hell” bit. “To Hell...And Back?”

I think a question mark at the end of the title would fix everything.

Jack Handey joke. Genius. Also... “I want to die peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather. Not screaming in terror like his passengers”

How do folk who strain their knee like this actually keep fit during rehab? Is it just upper body stuff? Are there any ways to keep cardio fitness up while it heals?

Alright, this is the kind of off-season banter I can really get behind. Of the quintessential Expensive Winos line-up, none that I’m aware of have actually lived here, but Charley Drayton frequents these parts fairly regularly. He was married to the late great Chrissie Amphlett and officially opened Amphlett Lane in the CBD. He now plays drums for Cold Chisel (!), though in the Winos he mostly played bass. Oh and he also played the drums on “Love Shack”. Ok, back to footy (if we must).

My wife just asked me why I’m watching a video of a bunch of hunky dudes working out to a generic, slightly eastern-influenced piece of trap music. I must admit that I didn’t have an immediate answer.

He deleted several years of his twitter content, and affixing the word “dumb” to some of said content is very, very lenient. It wasn’t exactly a small news item at the time. Serena Williams had a lot to say about it, and with good reason. The story about his club visit went up on the AFL reddit page, and a few supporters of opposition teams didn’t exactly let it go unnoticed. Not a great look.

So what you’re saying is we shouldn’t have any standards?

TIL that Tennys, who plays tennis, is from Tennessee.

With regards to athletes I’d be more inclined to go with physical capability than age.

Your version of “prime” is a little different to mine.

I say blow some whistles. Spill some beans. Emancipate a feline from a sack. You’re not exactly revealing the identities of undercover operatives in war-torn territories, and you probably won’t suffer a Chelsea Manning-like fate if you actually tell us something useful. Until then, nobody here is going to share your specific concerns, because they literally have no idea what those concerns are.

Obviously there will be people here claiming varying degrees of connection to the club. Some of it legitimate, some of it rather lofty. But regardless of the poster’s authenticity, innuendo and allusion seldom serves to enlighten others in any genuine sense. I read through your posts, and all I could take away from them was that you’re not happy with the sponsorship department of the club, but you’re unwilling to state exactly why. I’m not sure if this constitutes “saying something?” You can’t expect people to just take your word for it on what is, for the most part, an anonymous Internet forum. And you certainly can’t get frustrated when they don’t.

If you take a look at Lockhart’s reel while playing in the forward line (in particular vs Dockers/Bombers), you’ll see a player who showed enormous potential in this position. (especially given his lack of pre-season and experience in the big league). Seems however that he’s being groomed for defence (possibly taking over from Nev when the time comes). My 2¢: if somebody else seems like a good fit for this defensive role, then start grooming Lockhart for the FP role immediately.

Have any of those with theirs ears close to the ground at Gosch’s heard why May left early in the last training sesh? Obviously hoping the big chap has an uninterrupted pre-season, so slightly perturbed by this being mentioned the other day.

Well sure, if that guy stated something then I’m going to sleep well tonight.

What is the sitch with Mr. May? For the love of jehovah, tell me the bugger ain’t hurt.

Full-scale telethon involving a re-creation of Ch7’s “World Of Sport”. Handball comps, wood chopping, stationary bike racing, coach’s corner with many, many Ballantyne gift packs and Patra Orange Juice Carton’s about the place.