kev martin

Is there a wind advantage to the Cats?

They are giving Geelong a talk up after beating up on the Tiges. Hope they don't get consistency and the saints come waltzing in.

We are getting a good draw! Perhaps the AFL are kind of apologising for last years horrible draw for us. Still more draws to come and favourable could change to bad.

The Sunday games are also underwhelming, Sunday, June 13 North Melbourne v Greater Western Sydney, Blundstone Arena, 3.20pm AEST Sunday, June 20 Hawthorn v Essendon, MCG, 3.20pm AEST All stand alone games, although, Hawks v Bombs could be close, but full of errors. I guess it is lucky the round starts on Thursday.

C'mon, pull back from those veiled and open threats. You are both fiesty individuals. "Walk away", it will be better for yourselves, the resultant mental stress and for what the song, "you will never walk alone" is meant to reflect. It is also uncomfortable and a little embarrassing for the browsers to witness. Conflict doesn't have to arise because we have differences. Make some peace within, share that with the community. I hope you are both OK. @Sir Why You Little @Craig Hutchinson

Will the song be natural voice of the crowd or will it be led by sound through the loud speaker system? The open sparse areas of the G's seating, may not resonate a strong sound. @Craig Hutchinson Gee, the thread took a quick fall to the gutter. Be friendly, everyone has a right to an opposite opinion.

Opened this topic and didn't expect that a song, sung by the faithful, would be the straw that breaks the curse. I think the curse has broken already, fifty five years, all the 5's later The MCG missed us. We played last season without touching the hallowed turf. It missed us, and has now given us back the sense of it being a fortress for us. The curse has lifted or at least lifting. We will know, either this or the next year. Time for a dominant decade. That is if you believe in the warm fuzzy's.

We were flat against North 2 weeks ago. We will be up, since this is a danger game and we just got through against the Swans, after playing their style. Assume we will come out and play our brand of win the contest, force it to the fwd arc, get repeat entries and not let it out until we score. We will outmark the Blues and so minimise their ability to get going.

More than likely.

Agree, big issue in the marking contest! Also seems to have his arms straight above his head and not extended out in front of eyes, so as to make it a more difficult to spoil. Hope they have worked with him and he surprises us with his craft. I think he knows he needs to clunk them, he told me so early on in his career at a training session.

Sam is an unselfish player and his score assist may be pretty good. The difference would be goal assist and involvement from outside the 50m arc. Where Jackson could excel.

My original post said to bring him back after the bye. Manage the young man playing against those big bodies. Give him lots of time to refresh, hang out at home and allow the other talls a run at it. It is a bit of a risk to have him out for that extended period, but I believe he will be better for it come the second half of our year. The discussion also touched on what to do when he comes back in. Do we play with an imbalance in the line up? I thought yes, experiment. Set him up as a midfielder. With Max and Jackson following the ball then it is so easy for Max to drop off fwd or back and know the stoppages are covered. What a headache for the opposition. Some thought the imbalance of too many talls would be detrimental, especially when we play in the wet and the big boys start losing their footings and going to ground when contesting.

The post got out of hand when I suggested we give him some days at home during the injury period. I still think they should encourage him to go home to catch up with families and friends. Good player management is required so as to keep them happy and to know that the MFC have their backs.

Can we build facilities over the railway lines behind the arts area of federation square and Birrarung Marr? A CBD training and home centre would be great! Melbourne FC in a real Melbourne address.

Some movement from and to clubs is about the culture, player management and success. Hoping we are ticking most of the boxes in those areas and are becoming a destination club. If I look at GWS and the Suns, so many of their players have moved Home sickness may not be a major problem for the mature, but those clubs from the players origin state feel they have more capacity to lure the player back. There is a good chance the interstate stars will be hunted.

There is a chance both Jackson, Pickett and Rivers could return to their home state if not managed well. This concern was well before his finger injury. I saw in a video from the club, loyalty written on Picketts arm, hope that is the same their thoughts for all of them, on the MFC. Yet, big bucks could be knocking on the door.

Who is Liam, and why can't players go home? State borders aren't closed. (Jurrah?) and why?

I was writing about homesickness not politics, and how to keep interstate players.

Carlton have been a good marking side, in the back and up fwd. They will suffer more from the rain (if) then us. Carlton are rattled until Cripps and Williams fire, although on paper they look pretty good. Perhaps the buy in isn't there yet. I didn't know the weather forecast. I'm stuck in thailand till covid fears are finished with. Our talls did alright in the wet against the Swans.

I just feel we can experiment a bit. The backline is strong, we are not relying on perfection from the mids or fwds. So, the balance can appear out of whack but it might come off brilliantly.

Assuming Weids gets a call up. Weids is ok below his knees and has been out at Casey (wet and windy), so could be used to challenging conditions. The very least, his will bring the ball down in front of himself, giving the crumbers a go at it, or following up himself. Hoping he clunks his marks. Who do Carlton send, Weitering, Jones, maybe Omac? Wouldn't want him in the seconds, comes straight back in, after training load is right. Play him as a mid, rotations to forward area. Do you mean Viney (Jack). Have to play him as well. The team balance is not all that important, if they are playing well find a place for them all, reward performance. We can restructure and vary the system. It will give us flexibility for our game plan. Keep the opposition guessing so they can't get a read on our blueprints. The coaches can keep innovating, and come the end of the home and away they will know our best match plans and match ups.

Can't be paranoid about the virus. Get him home before any homesickness sets in. He can have a chat to family and friends. Get that reassurance, he is doing well and that Melbourne is a great place for a young man to bloom. Could save us further down the track when contracts and free agency's come up. We have to be very accommodating with young players away from home. I don't want to see the Hogan stuff again or even Scott Thompson. Make sure we have made it comfortable for him, at MFC.

Bad luck for Jackson, though could do with a rest. Young body, playing a tough game, bring him back after the bye. Send him home to WA for a while. Weids in, let's see how he goes paired with BBB. Our mids will have tinkered with the centre bounce and I expect lots of service for the fwds,. Weids will be well freshened, due to the VFL cancelled game last round. Tmac and possibly Petty to relieve in the ruck. Max to dominate the central area.

It is tough for our depth to break into the team. Sparrow, Jetts, Weids, Lockhart, Chandler, Jones, Bedford, Majak and Baker. Soon with Viney, J Smith and Vanders. Twelve that could play a role. Are they going to rest a few before the bye, gets some games into some fresh legs and set us up for the second half? If our depth is to be valuable when injuries strike, then some of them need AFL games so they know the system and structures. Jetts and Jones are good with our way, as is Viney (no need to rush). I would get more games into Sparrow and Chandler, Weids, Bedford and Lockhart. Melksham and ANB know their roles well, omit, and bring in Chandler and Sparrow, this week. Jones the med sub.

Our game against the Swans was the most challenging so far. The coaches turned the game plan on its head. Minimal centre clearances and repelled from the half-back when they kicked it to us. I wonder what style MFC will play against the Blue's? The Blues have good players in the forward and back line taking marks, and a midfield that can move the ball quickly. Though, not a full side, as they have some passengers who aren't up to AFL standard yet, but since they are young must still be seen as possible threats. Furthermore, they will miss Silvagni's drive and composure. I can see us getting our centre clearances right and giving our marking forwards the best chance to strut their stuff. I hope we blast them away with 4 quarters of effort and skill. Would love to see us put a master class together. Though expecting, the same as before. We will stay in touch, if the Blues get rolling, catch them on the scoreboard and then proceed to slowly accumulate a good lead. I want to see, a few more breaking the line runs from Hunty, Fritta to pick himself up after a bad one last time, Tracc and Gawn to be in competition for BOG, and Petty to take some contested marks. Go Dees