Dee Boys

The Dunning Kruger curve in full effect. ”McQualter can’t be blamed, he needs some cattle to work with” as if the blokes under his tutelage don’t have FOURTEEN All-Australians between them. But yes, let’s leave it at that.

You are talking absolute drivel. Richmond’s midfield was never flying. Even during their golden era their supporters used to lament the fact that they got annihilated at clearance every week, which is why they brought in Taranto and Hopper in an attempt to rectify that. You’re also talking as if our midfield is a group of plodders which is clearly absurd - it’s the best group we’ve had in the club’s history. People’s issues with the midfield this year is largely down to the structures around stoppages. It’s incredibly evident when you’re at the games how nonsensical and reactive our starting positions are. That’s down to the midfield coach. In the game against Freo they won the first EIGHTEEN clearances of the game. There is no excuse for that. None. That is abysmal coaching. The bottom line is a previous strength of our game has become a glaring weakness in the space of a season since McQualter took over the reins.

Chandler’s got some weaknesses but pace isn’t one of them. He’s the fastest player at the club, as confirmed by Windsor who said in an interview that Chandler “smokes him”.

Christ, that’s bad news. If we give up pick 5 for him I’ll be apoplectic.

Convincing Kalani to come to the club was always going to be a challenge, and will be even more so after the last month or so that we’ve had where we’re probably on the nose more than any other club in the competition. People seem to think that just because he’s grown up as a Dees supporter that it’s a done deal that he’ll choose us. I hope they’re right. But the lure of being able to play in front of his family and friends in his home town with mates that he’s grown up playing footy with every week would be really significant too. These kids aren’t nuffie supporters like us - they’re becoming more and more professional at a young age and he’ll play where he and his family see the brightest future for himself. Keep in mind that Nick Daicos wasn’t even a Collingwood supporter growing up, he followed Carlton! Rightly or (largely) wrongly there aren’t many mothers who’d want to send their kids interstate to play for us at the moment with the amount of scuttlebutt floating around about the off field culture of the club. So I’d suggest those thinking Kalani to the Dees is a fait accompli might be advised to lower their expectations a little just in case they get burnt.

Can’t pretend I’m any sort of expert on indigenous culture but the woman who died was Kozzy’s “old mum” who was in fact his aunt (Byron’s sister). His birth mother is still alive.

He’s at the pub today with the other players

Huh? Brad Green is the managing director of a fire safety company and is on the MFC board.

Thanks for the update @goodwindees. I was interested to hear on the channel 10 report tonight that the club was unhappy with some of the advice Petracca’s been getting “from people close to him”. Would this be his management, his fiancée or his parents do you think?

Archie Perkins?! The same Archie Perkins who currently can’t even get in the Essendon side?

Richardson joined the club before the start of the 2020 season, a year before Choco.

Hi mate, did you (or anyone) happen to catch these games? Keen for a bit of good news and hoping he and Kalani continue to progress along nicely…

Melbourne will not trade Christian Petracca under any circumstance with Demons powerbrokers on Monday night emphatic that suggestions he could play elsewhere in 2025 were wildly inaccurate. Petracca, 28, attended Saturday night’s match against Port Adelaide at the MCG as he recovers from a lacerated spleen and was walking laps of the tan in the hours before that clash. The 2021 Norm Smith Medallist is still not allowed to get his heart rate above 110 and the family was disgruntled with his medical treatment following internal injuries sustained in the King’s Birthday blockbuster against Collingwood, where he was allowed to return to the field. A major part of the Petraccas’ frustration was the isolation. In the first 10 days following the injury he had not seen anyone other than his parents and his fiancee. But senior club sources were at pains to stress that Petracca was not going anywhere despite reports he was disillusioned with the club’s direction. While Petracca was disgruntled, it is understood there is no bad blood that would result in the four-time All-Australian demanding an exit. Petracca is contracted until 2029 on a $1 million per season deal and remains critical to the club’s hopes of rebounding up the ladder in 2025. The Demons are confident they will remain in premiership contention and have rejuvenated their playing list this season. The club has handed five players their AFL debut – behind only Richmond, North Melbourne and Collingwood (all six) – and have repeatedly fielded one of the youngest line-ups in the AFL. New players Blake Howes, Caleb Windsor, Koltyn Tholstrup, Kynan Brown and Andy Moniz-Wakefield have all displayed encouraging signs. Petracca’s injury also opened the door for Trent Rivers to shine as an onballer while Judd McVee has also had brief stints in the midfield where he has shown similar promise.

Haha newsflash if needed - players don’t communicate their future plans or disgruntlement with the club to members of the cheer squad!

Well you're right about one thing - that certainly doesn't read well on paper. It reads absolutely disastrously on paper.

With the obvious caveat that a lot can change in the space of a year, where do you see their draft range at the moment Daz? Sort of 15-35 for both?

Some really interesting points made, great thread. Coming round to the idea of F1st or nothing for Houston. Definitely don't want to give up this year's pick with all the gun mids in it.

Clayton Oliver (Melbourne) Edmund: “He is contracted until 2030. “The smoke continues to waft around the competition.” Morris: “It does. As best I can read the situation, and I’ve made a lot of calls on it the past couple of weeks, the best gauge is what rival clubs think. “Because in all likelihood they’re the ones being told the truth. They believe Oliver is very much open to the idea of a move. “While the Demons are simply saying no, that could easily be a negotiating tactic. The Demons said no that they were trading Jesse Hogan and he went to Freo. “Clubs say no all the time.” Edmund: “They could not be more categoric and concrete when they say, ‘He’s going nowhere’.” Morris: “I’ve been told that as well. “But rival clubs believe there’s still a possibility.” Edmund: “How is it so? So Clayton’s talking…?” Morris: “Clayton or his management or people close to him… I’m not sure. “But either way, rival clubs believe it’s not dead in the water. “At this point in the season there’s no way Melbourne could say, ‘Actually, yeah, we’re considering a trade’. There’s no way they could say that because that would just make them look silly. “The biggest impediment here is the cash, clearly. People have said $7 million over seven years. Nah nah, full TPP, this is closer to $10 million over seven years. It’s an unbelievable deal. “He’s got six years left. Which club has the space and who could fit this bill? I really think the Adelaide conversation is outdated. I don’t think the Crows are in this at all. They can’t afford him and they don’t necessarily want him for that price. “I’m just looking at clubs like Geelong, Essendon and St Kilda. But I think Essendon and St Kilda wouldn’t take him because of the off-field stuff. “It really limits the options if he did want to go.” Edmund: “I’d be staggered if he wasn’t in red and blue next year and beyond. “It’s as close to impossible as it can get for mine and the conversations I’ve had.”

Sorry WCW, I'm a bit confused. How did this player mishear Demon Army as Demonland? Army and Land sound nothing alike...

God this is overly simplistic rubbish. When you win a premiership a couple of things happen. 1) You need to reward these premiership players. Stands to reason that they’ve had great seasons and deserve to be paid well for it. This then takes up a good chunk of your salary cap. We’ve got some of the best players in the club’s history playing for us at the moment. They want, and deserve, to be paid as such. 2) Other teams come calling for your fringe players. This happens with every successful team. Look at the players Richmond and Hawthorn had to let go during their eras of success. We’re not alone in not being able to match the offers from less successful clubs while in win flag mode. Because of point 1, there’s not a heap of money left to attract A grade talent from other clubs. All you can do is hope to replace your backups with equally good backups. But you’re trying to do this while only being able to offer minimum wage. I’m not saying Tim Lamb is above criticism but expecting us to be able to have a list of 40+ excellent league footballers - 20 of which are happy to play VFL - while keeping all their salaries under the salary cap, is incredibly naive.

Agree wholeheartedly with your first paragraph, but disagree wholeheartedly on your second. Not only are Freo the best contested possession and clearance team in the competition this season, their differential for both stats is the best the AFL has ever seen since they began to be recorded. Good luck "beating up" Sean Darcy, Nat Fyfe, Hayden Young and Andy Brayshaw around the ball. Serong's the only midget, but he's a tough little bugger too.

We got two firsts and a second for Jackson.

Cal and Riley on Gettable think two first rounders would be a fair price. He's a gun but not sure giving up that much for a soon to be 28 year old would be great business.

Nah he's better than just a good player. He'd be in the top couple of HBF's in the comp. A lot of Port supporters are saying he's their best player, which is high praise considering they've got the likes of Butters and Rozee.