Demon Dude

yeah I think the practice game is best used as to working out who's in the best form and likely to step up if needed out of the fringe players that are around the mark, like Sparrow, Lockhart etc. and those that are recognized best 22 that still look a bit short of a decent gallop, like Melk, Harmes etc, that could play half a game or so and it wouldn't do their preparation any harm.

of the guys that played Saturday id have Melksham, Harmes, ANB, Sparrow, Lockhart, Spargo, Brown and OMac go around again. save the rest for MS2.

yeah I agree on Brown. despite his height, he looks more of a player in the mould of a Fritsch or Melksham than a key forward to my eye. handy enough depth, but i'd still be going with a forward line of TMac and Weid as the keys, and Fritsch and Melk as the mid sized forwards. also possibly with Jackson in the team as an option who can fill in up forward if needed too. so no need for Brown unless there's injuries.

yeah, I think its important to note that Spargo has had an injury, so probably hasn't had as much game sim and ball work as others have, which likely contributed to him being a bit rusty yesterday. I don't know what ANBs excuse was though.

i thought he was good. he's under sized for a ruck but he battled manfully all day. dropped a couple of marks but really offered something at ground level around the stoppages I thought.

I think the main thing to learn out of todays game is that people will now be scrambling to get Trac into their fantasy teams.

ok then, good for you.

relax, its the first hit out of the year, players are gonna have some rust.

lets see how our zone defence stands up when the crows have the wind this qtr.

you'd think that Friday practice match vs the Bombers will probably only have about 6 MFC players in the team if most of the squad are playing the next day vs the Crows, and also with a fair chunk of players still not looking ready yet.

i'm not sure what you're getting at. 4 guys have to start on the bench every game last time I checked, so I did literally mean i'd start him on the bench. wait about 10 minutes for the initial sting to come out of the game then throw him on and he's away.

I've enjoyed most of the 2 videos so far. thought ep1 was just a bit average with Jones coming across as a bit of a 'woe is me' type, but no real surprise there. the second episode was better, though I thought some of the questioning of Harley by Goodwin we could have done without, but watching the training and rehab stuff I personally find the most interesting. Burgess sounds great. the sort of no nonsense bloke who is immediately likable and a hard working professional.

i disagree about Jackson only playing if TMac and Weideman don't. the key to Jackson playing is his versatility. he can chop out in the ruck for 5 minutes a qtr, which Max needs, or go forward at times to stretch defences as a 3rd tall, or at least help keep the forward structure of 2 talls when one of TMac or Weid is off the ground. he can also be used on the ball, or even as a winger if needed. he's like having 3 players in one. i'd have him in for R1 starting on the bench and just use him for limited minutes wherever he fills a need.

so did we play an intra club game today or not? training? anyone see anything, or has this man been silencing the witnesses?

id go Gawn C. Viney VC. TMac, Lever and Jetta to round out the leadership group.

id be surprised if he's not in the team r1, but I doubt he'll be in the side at the end of the year. the struggle will come for Jones when the grind sets in after a couple of months and he struggles with the pace again. just like Vince and Lewis who both went on 1 year too many. I think he should have probably bowed out last year.

yeah that's great, I've got no problem with the promo video, but naming it "to hell and back" and the timing of its release is very questionable imo as they haven't even made it 'back' yet. we are still 17th on the ladder last time I checked. its called getting ahead of yourself and that's something the MFC does all to well. for our sakes I hope we have a good year because if we don't we are going to look like absolute fools yet again.

I'd have to agree with Cornes about this. he gave us a whack and its well deserved imo.

there's better up to date, and more interesting, reports and photos to be found from our track watchers on the Demonland training threads than anything up on the MFC site.

Yeah, i reckon Hibbos got a bit of life left in him yet too Vagg. There's a bit of a hole left by Frost that hopefully Rivers can fill first. But if he's not ready maybe Smith can fill the void.

Haha Fritta looks a lot like Butt-head in that pic!

The way some people carry on about Weideman on here you'd think he was the only one on the list who had a poor year and not 95% of them. I'm more inclined to cut developing players slack rather than put the boot into them though, because the club clearly stuffed up pre season and its not what the young guys need. They need linear progression year on year. At the end of 2018 Weideman was showing good improvement and 2019 was a total [censored] show from start to finish which wasn't his fault. im backing him in to go to new heights this year now he's fit again and has finally developed a footballers body under a new fitness regime.

I'd say that's some smart behaviour on their part.

With Harmes playing a more half back role I'd say Sparrow might get some time in the midfield maybe rotating with Petracca from half fwd. He might also get a bit of a run with role at times to teach him the ropes.

I suspect Chandler will take the spot to start the year. While Bedfords running ability will keep him firmly in the frame also. and they'll be keen to get Picketts obvious talents into the team when they think he's fit enough. I would love to see 2 of those guys out there pressuring oppo defences, crumbling goals and earning their spot every week. But our excellent track watchers/reporters would have a better idea than me on who is likely in pole position at this stage.