Mel Bourne

As does Viney. How can players be inspired by “Les go boise!” rubbish when a great deal of them are more intelligent than the guy saying it?

When you consider that a fall on a hard surface can actually kill you, a significant blow to the head could obviously do serious damage which reveals itself over time. Sure, the body can be resilient, but it can also be quite fragile. Plus in KK’s case, it wasn’t just one hit.

Yeah so from what I can gather, there’s speculation that GWS will have to turf a player at season’s end to accomodate a re-contracted Whitfield, and that player is Tomlinson. Might’ve been a little ugly over there when word got out. So they played Deledio in his place and he got injured, so they’ll likely have to put AT back on the field (pending Deledio’s scans). Awkward! But take what I say with a grain of salt. A lot of the time I really have no idea what I’m talking about. I’m just riffin’ here.

It would seem so.

It seems the reasons for Tomlinson’s absence last weekend weren’t necessarily form-related. He’ll likely play against the Lions this weekend anyway, so we can all pay attention to him.

I was shouted down for suggesting this a couple of weeks ago. I bet he has a great year!

Should we do a benefit gig or something?

Can somebody shed any light on the club’s progress here? Was more land acquired? Or is it still just the Cheltenham Under 15s facility for the next few years?

Yeah I was a bit blazed.

Despite your protestations of innocence Sue, I’ve decided the blame for the Melbourne Demons’ sixty-three-year-long dearth of premiership flags lies squarely on your shoulders.

After 45 years of being a Demons supporter, I’ve found it pretty crucial to find other areas of interest besides winning flags.

I think everyone would be hoping we’re only appointing quality staff. But c’mon, it doesn’t hurt to have a little romance in the game!

Interesting take from someone with over 13,000 posts to their name.

Dusty-like? I don’t reckon. Just because we project a Dusty-like image over him as he fearlessly breaks through a pack then finds his balance with lightning pace in order to summon a handball like the crack of a whip to nobody in particular, doesn’t mean he’s Dusty-like.

Agreed. Some pretty questionable moments attitude/ego-wise throughout that season. I hope he irons that stuff out as he improves.

Great stuff. Troy Broadbridge with the final mark of the game. So sad what happened to him.

Ok you people have convinced me. Who will our small forward be though? I’m not sure I could stomach watching another season of this club playing the game without such a key ingredient.

Though I agree in principle and the logic there is faultless, part of me just wants to win a flag next year. I’ll also be fine if that’s it for the rest of my life ?

Likewise, it’s hard to fault what you’ve laid out and it’s quite possible I’m pumping up EB’s tyres because he’s simply one of those kinda players. Curious to know who you’d nominate for such a role, should the trade period bear no small forward fruit.

Interesting. Do we rate Viney as a crumber? I must admit I draw a blank when I try to recall any “crumb-snap” goals of his (that could be due to a host of reasons that have nothing to do with Viney/AFL though). And I can’t say I’d ever feel too safe in the event of a set shot from him. Lockhart is an interesting choice but if it’s gonna happen, they need to start priming him for such a role immediately, and they need to commit to it. The crumbing small forward role takes a lot of time to perfect. Not an easy role for a player to dip in and out of. Jetta has the smarts, experience, and is as we know, hard as nails. Does he have the zip though?

He kicked six of his 37 in that match. Whereas our star forward saved the game against the Suns by kicking a point in the dying minutes.

He kicked 37 goals (some magical, some just plain useful) which is 15 more than our highest goal kicker this year. And Eddie’s reputation as an off-field asset is almost as strong as his reputation on the oval. If it looks like we haven’t nabbed any other small forward by the end of the trading period, and Eddie has his hand up, would you guys still say “hard pass”? And if so what’s the option? Go into another season without somebody filling that role? Try somebody like Neville Jetta in that position, as has been discussed here of late? Would Jetta do a better job than Eddie in that role?

I’m not sure stating somebody’s age and the amount of games they’ve played constitutes a strong argument for retirement (Dustin Fletcher). We saw some pretty wonderful passages of play from Eddie Betts this season. I believe he’s still got that incredible capacity to make all the difference when scores are level with a couple of minutes to go.

I can’t help but feel that if Gus wants to stay, he’ll also want to redeem this year’s season. I cant imagine a player going from a season like he had in ‘18 to the one he just had, and thinking there was nothing to prove. Everybody around him would have been so stoked about being 3rd in the Brownlow that year, and the silence around him this year would have been deafening. He knows what he has to do next year, and if he wants to do it the MFC then by all means let him.