Thrice

2 minutes ago, rjay said:

Gresham wasn't in the same draft 'AF' so maybe he was talking Billings...

Yes, we were looking at Billings over J Kelly. Lewis Taylor was the smoky if Salem was gone by pick 9.

Billings and Gresham have genuine talent. Petracca has maybe 80% of Gresham's mercurial, but can genuinely go through the middle and has the power game than Gresham will never have. Oliver is way, way ahead of any mid they have coming through.

Dunstan will be de-listed by the end of next year.

No one has even bothered mentioning North, and for good reason. They have a pile of meat and potatoes types under 23: McDonald, Dumont, Turner. Probably the best couple were imports: Marley Williams and Hrovat. Mason Wood has a bit of x-factor, but hardly an A-grader in the making. 

11 minutes ago, deespicable me said:

I like your idea. I've often thought of how could Melbourne expand its member base. I never thought of the indians. Or the cowboys for that matter. boom tish!

Some of you guys are quick to attack our esteemed Mr Dees2014. 40 year supporter is worth some respect. Rather than criticize why don't you guys come up with an idea to get us to 50,000 members.  Nothing wrong with his trying, and it is bad form by the club not to reply.

Whilst my last line was perhaps a little churlish, I was sincere when I suggested running for the board with the idea.

TL;DR

Put your money where your mouth is and run for the board with this as your platform and see how you go.

I know how i'd feel if some bloke off the street who doesn't work in my industry wrote me a report telling me how to do my job. 

1 hour ago, Nasher said:

I think so long as he finds himself on the inside, he's always going to default to handballing. It's how the game is played - you don't kick from congestion because it's too risky - and it's his strength.

If we want to see him getting more kicks, he needs to get the ball in space more. This really is splitting hairs, though, when talking about a 19 year old midfielder. He'll find the balance soon enough - it's not like the team is suffering until he finds it.

As he builds a tank he'll be able to get that balance and find more footy in space. The kid is still only playing about 70%TOG.

He'll be the new perma-captain in fantasy footy once he has an AFL standard tank.

48 minutes ago, beelzebub said:

Thrice , it's just possible  BBO and Diamond are right concurrently.  BBO's caveat  is the explanation. Further to that  I'll repeat the gist off something i wrote earlier:

In order to be half a chance  Sat evening we need to ....

Come out of blocks switched on and accountable, yet to do

Not play rubbish football the first 1/2 qtrs  ,  yet to do

Play ALL  FOUR qtrs  , no naps , yet to do 

Play on road well,  not overly known for it

Win on the road, again not our forte

Beat an arguably superior team.....nupp, haven't done that this year

So, being realistic I can't see us getting up.  I'm not suggesting an honourable loss is fine, they never are  but I want to see us play PROPERLY not like some fumbling clown outfit who only gets going after a good wind up.

Adelaide at Adelaide is a hard game even when they aren't travelling too well.  If not  careful we'll be lambs to the slaughter and then ALL we will see is the cue back in the rack, and the FD trying out everyone to see who to keep and bump up market values as Finals will be a pipe dream.

It was generally accepted that we had to make the very best of the first half of the season as it would be harder in the second. We needed that foundation of wins and percentage to assist us through to September. Well that's all gone by the wayside I'd suggest.

For what it's worth and I take no pleasure in writing it I think we're about to get a Football lesson.

 

I wasn't really including tomorrow as a winnable game. 2 of the next 3 will have us at 5-6.

I understand the comment about making the best of the start of our season. But GWS (who are a rung above us) and Sydney aside; no team has been as hard hit by injuries and suspension to key players. Our best is right up there with the best in the competition and that with a full complement we would be at least 5-2. 

It is this that makes me bullish about the return of Gawn. He shifts the balance of our stoppages from being reactive to proactive: instead of planning to shark the opposition we can back in our set plays to execute clean clearances. Whilst currently we are still winning clearances in the strictest sense, the next possession is under pressure (hence the ring-a-rosie handballs) and the momentum from the stoppage is lost.

We've got on top against Bombers and Hawks when their pressure dropped and we were able to get clean clearances. GCS and Pies, in particular, are not pressure sides, so I reckon our chances are solid against those two.

3 minutes ago, Diamond said:

It's already over for mfc. Finish at ladder position 11--13 likely.

Ridiculous comment. BBO is spot on.

It all comes down to when Gawn is back. Misson's update was he is travelling well and is now saying 4-6 weeks, which puts him about Rd 13-14. I'd back us in to win 7 of those 11 with Gawn (at least). If we win 2 of the next 4 (against Crows, GCS, Pies, Nth - so three very winnable games) then we are right on track.

A spanking this week makes it hard to back up for next week against North, not to mention the dint to our very healthy %.

Chalk it up as recovering one the two losses to Hawthorn and Freo that shouldn't have happened.

Then sing the song very quietly buried in the cheer squad and take off my jumper for the walk back to the hotel.

28 minutes ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

Today we lost the hitouts but won the clearances fairly convincingly but agree Jacobs is another story.  Our midfield needs to continue their good work reading the op ruckmen. 

I think we are going to challenge teams simply because our structure now is unconventional and it will take them by surprise a bit.  I'm optimistic on how we match up vs Adelaide.   It will be a terrific game and a lot closer than some think.

I hope so, I'm taking my little bloke for our first boys trip. I've never seen us lose interstate, which included a win over the Swans in 2005 - that's all I'm holding onto at present!!

We wouldn't have best 22 players in Hogan, Tyson, Frost and Salem plus solid fringe players in Bugg, OMac* and ANB*. Pick trades with them and GC were instrumental in netting Oliver and Weideman.

(* steak-knife picks)

We would have Josh Kelly and probably Ollie Wines (on the assumption would would've got him and Toumpas if we had picks 3&4 in 2012) and Lewis Taylor instead of Salem. Instead of Oliver and Weid we'd likely have Francis.

Hogan > Wines

Tyson << Kelly

Salem > Taylor

Oliver >>>>>>>> Francis

The Frost pick got them McKenna!!

+ Weideman, Bugg, ANB, OMac.

The reality is we've been one of the greatest beneficiaries of trades with GWS. 

3 hours ago, Gorgoroth said:

Not a great kick.  Bombs it quite often, but early on so did Nate so that can approve.

Tbh, if we get him for a third round pick sure.

He would be far more expensive than a third round pick, even if he nominated us! A third round pick is speculative and he has a solid 150 game career ahead of him. 

Even accounting for a discount because he's being squeezed out for salary cap it would still take a pick in the late teens or early 20s and late pick exchange in their favour to give them some more academy points to get them interested. 

11 minutes ago, Skuit said:

We're #1 for marks so far this year. The key though, we're just about bottom for contested marks alongside Hawthorn and Essendon. With Gawn out, this isn't getting any better, and Spencer has the opposite problem to Dawes - his hands are too soft. The issue is, it alters our outlet structure when under pressure or kicking in from defence (see Freo 3rd qtr.)

Hogan out for half the games too.

We led contested marks against both Saints and Blues.

15 minutes ago, rpfc said:

Nathan Jones crossed my mind...

My mind went immediately to the poster's namesake: Powell

12 hours ago, Pates said:

He was definitely a player well loved by the Melbourne faithful but probably not well recognised by the wider AFL community. He was rarely beaten and played a big role in mentoring Aaron Davey, I was felt if Flash was ever feeling the brunt of the opposition it would be Wheels who'd be the first there to defend him. 

Anybody know what he's up to now?

He's rejoined the club as Indigenous Project Officer: http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2017-02-17/whelan-rejoins-melbourne-in-new-role

30 minutes ago, Akum said:

The other factor here is that clubs like the Blooze believe, rightly or wrongly, that we're their one big chance for a win this season, and that if they come prepared to hit us hard and to take the game up to us, we'll fold. IIRC Woosha said something like this last year.

At the risk of going too early: this may have been the case last year but we've moved to the next bracket up. The clinical evisceration of St Kilda (after 1/4 time) has only confirmed that. I suspect that mantle has shifted to Tigers, North, GC / Brisbane / maybe freo (if played at home): they will be getting themselves up for games against each other. Then there is Bombers and Pies that are the 'traditional' rivals. 

Is it phone only? Or tablet also? 

I am a Telstra customer, so have the live pass there, but am looking for a tablet option that isn't foxtel.

6 hours ago, Redleg said:

How can you be pretty clear favourites, against a side that has beaten you 14 times in a row, at the ground we are playing on, when we also play that ground terribly anyway. 

Money talks... well, I'm sure you know the rest.

(I'm the messenger on behalf of Messrs SportsBet, CrownBet, Ladbrokes et al).

57 minutes ago, Redleg said:

We actually have to find a way to win. Our record against them at ES is abysmal. Our record at ES against other teams is terrible as well. 

Saints smashed Blues by 92 points compared to our 54 point win. They are travelling well at the moment.  

They are the favourite against us in round 1. 

Except that we are now pretty clear favourites, after starting evens pre-JLT.

The Blues rested most of their senior players and played 9 who had never played at AFL level before. It was a far weaker side than the one that played us. I'd be nervous as a saints supporter if they didn't win by 15 goals.

14 minutes ago, Wiseblood said:

You can add Sam Frost as well, considering he played the majority of games last year.

We are going in with a pretty strong side, although we are still missing 5-6 of what I would consider our best side.  I'm very interested, and a little nervous, to see how we go on Thursday night.

And is this the final squad, or do two players get left out before the game?

I count 24 and they still have the extended bench, so it looks like they are all playing.

I'm Interested in who you think are the 5-6 who aren't playing and who they will displace. Surely a few of those will be shuffling of bottom 6 players with fringe 22 players (e.g. ANB, Bugg, Harmes, Trengove, Spencer, Melksham, Garland c.f. VDB, JKH, Jetta, Kent, Pedersen, Frost). Hibberd and probably Garlett would be the only players not named that I would call clearly best 22.

And another point: is it really any less accurate than general punditry? 

Even people on this site were lining up to lay the boots into David King over his assertion that we are the toughest midfield in the league. You can only imagine the reaction of 17 other clubs supporters.

At least CD stand by their claims and methods rather than changing their mind half way through the season when their prediction fails.

It highlights the folly of using past results to try and predict the future. It does prove that we've been pretty avaerage over the past 2 years, so no surprises there.

But, there is not much that is inherently wrong in the assessments. It is uses the AFL player ratings, which is highly skewed toward scoring involvements. It's based upon statistics analysis of matches as to which acts are the most crucial in determining the outcome of a match. It's also why players like Trac and Hunt rate as above average after 1 season - I'd expect them to be edging elite by the end of this year.

Those bemused by Hogan need to remember who he is being rated against. 40 goals from the no1 kpf is the very definition of average. 

And as for TMac: being the primary intercept player leads to him being the beginning of many scoring chains. And think about that role across the league - who's better: Rance obviously, but then who? Jeremy McGovern? well he's elite too. The only other might be Steven May. 

On 2/26/2017 at 6:46 PM, cooko said:

Sorry to drag this one up again, but has anyone else confirmed that using an iPhone/iPad to a Chromecast does actually work with the new AFL app restrictions? I just want to be sure before I go out and buy one!

Thanks

No, you can't only mirror an android device through Chromecast Home. I looked for it on my iPhone (already have a chromecast) and couldn't find it. A minute of googling confirmed it.

You may like to try one of the third party apps on the app store which may offer screen mirroring - although its probably more of a firmware / operating system restriction than a software one. My iPhone is supplied by my work and I'm restricted from downloading the 3rd party apps, so I can't test this theory myself.

On 2/28/2017 at 1:01 PM, Clintosaurus said:

MHL can only supply 40 watts of charging - thinking this is probably not enough for most phones?

Most phone and tablet chargers are rated at 2.1 Amps @ 5.2 Volts. Applying Year 10 science of W=VxA the charger would be drawing about 11W, so 40W is ample. The charging circuit is actually in the phone/table itself and will limit the current draw to what it needs, so the fact its max is 40W won't kill it.

No Watts, Tyson, Hibberd. Kent we know about. 

Squad of 28. You'd reckon if we're going best 22 (24 for preseason?), as per Drunkn's wink wink that the likes of ANB, Garland will come out. 

I'll be intrigued to see if we trial Gawn and Spencil in the same side.

MFC Squad for the game v Western Bulldogs

1. Jesse Hogan
2. Nathan Jones
3. Christian Salem
5. Christian Petracca
6. Jordan Lewis
7. Jack Viney
9. Jack Trengove
10. Angus Brayshaw
11. Max Gawn
13. Clayton Oilver
15. Billy Stretch
18. Jake Melksham
20. Colin Garland
22. Aaron Vandenberg
23. Bernie Vince
24. Jay Kennedy-Harris
25. Tom McDonald
26. Sam Weideman
28. Oscar McDonald
29. Jayden Hunt
30. Alex Neal-Bullen
32. Tomas Bugg
33. Jake Spencer
36. Jeff Garlett
37. Dion Johnstone
42. Josh Wagner
43. James Harmes
44. Joel Smith