Bring-Back-Powell

I'd say May's tummy isn't the only one that's full going by the past 2 weeks.

I initially thought it was Clayton Oliver who was suspended when afl.com.au went with the headline "Gun Dee suspended" and Oliver was in the photo next to May.

And yet DeGoey lands himself in a New York clink and Collingwood don't suspend him from any games.

Maybe we're just not good enough at the moment. 2/2 tests failed at the home of footy. If we lose to the Pies can we stop blaming loading and just declare that the 2022 Demons are not as good as the 2021 version?

I thought the Freo crowd was a good effort considering the timeslot and lack of Freo numbers in general (although they'll start to get a big fan base if they win a flag). Caroline Wilson was off the mark to express concern with the number of 29K. The Sydney crowd was a real let down. Marquee timeslot, no community sport to contend with, two top 8 sides etc...

Did not Carlton V Sydney get about 45K in addition to the two you referred to?

They should’ve gotten more than last year’s game given we have a premiership under the belt this time around.

I don’t think we would’ve won the flag last year if the finals were at the G, if our form there was a strong guide. In the second half of the year we had poor/average wins over Essendon and Adelaide, somehow drew against lowly Hawthorn and got done against the Dogs and were extremely poor against the underdog GWS. Meanwhile our best regular season wins were against the Dogs, Brisbane, Geelong,l and Port - all away from the G. I think there’s something in this, given we’ve dropped our 2 biggest tests of the year at the home of footy.

Who do we hope wins out of Freo or Brisbane? Do we hope Brisbane wins and therefore get 2 games clear of 3rd place but be equal on points with Brisbane? Or do we hope Freo wins and we get a game clear on top but be only one win clear of third. I would suggest the former as it’s more critical to finish 2nd over 3rd rather than finishing 1st over second.

Gerard Healy just mentioned (on the Fox Footy pre game show) something about Mitch Brown possibly getting an opportunity tonight. Sounds like this T Mac out rumour has been leaked far and wide.

Yeah in fairness last years night game followed a 20 degree day, and although it drizzled throughout that game, the weather is far worse today. Hopefully they get in the low 30’s at worst, when accounting for the average weather.

We got 35,000 to the corresponding Saturday night match last year against Sydney. Anything less than 30K would be a failure. A big mid season Saturday night game against a side that always draws a crowd down in Melbourne really requires at least 40,000 if we’re to be considered a big Melbourne club.

Looking for big games from Jackson and BBB.

Absolute full credit to Geelong tonight. Lost their best defender and arguably best player in Stewart which could’ve had the potential to destabilise their structure and had 5 of their best 22 out. Not to mention they had their big lead pegged back but had the character to hold on and never give up.

Is it fair to say the Dogs are officially out of the premiership race? Need to go 9-1 to sneak into the top 4.

Let’s call a spade a spade- BBB is having a poor season. Nowhere near the Coleman contenders for someone that’s a professional goal kicker.

You can't hear the chanting of the MFC cheersquad and general crowd with all the 90's nightclub songs blasting over the speaker after each goal. Not a great initiative that the club has brought into the home game entertainment package this year.

I've had the opposite feedback. The night after we beat the Dogs in round 1, a couple of non Melbourne supporters I work with commented on how unnecessary and mean spirited we were with our booing of C Weightman and B Smith. With regards to the Freo supporter raised in the opening thread, I guess it's easy to be magnanimous when your team won. She probably would not have been so complimentary if the scores remained the same from half time to full time.

A salient point made, sir.

If Dogs lose tonight, they'll be 6-6 and probably have to go 9-1 in the last 10 games to finish top 4, and thus have any genuine hope of winning the flag this year. No team has ever snuck into the top 4 with 14 wins. Even if they win, they'll still have to go 8-2 to make top 4 with Melbourne, Brisbane (away), St Kilda, Fremantle, Sydney (away) and Geelong (away). I'm ruling out the Dogs to win the 2022 premiership.

Spot on. A+ is too generous. Us and Brisbane have the toughest fixture on the run home, closely followed by Bulldogs and St Kilda in that exact order. Excluding the bottom 6 sides starting from Hawthorn and below who won't be playing finals, Gold Coast have by far the easiest draw while Collingwood, Richmond and Geelong have the next best runs home in that exact order.

If Casey were playing after the seniors, I could see a situation where he starts as a medical sub in the seniors and plays up to a half of footy if we cop an early injury. However given that Casey play before the seniors, I'd expect he plays one game at Casey and returns for Queens Birthday. If Rivers has another poor game this weekend, he goes out for Salem for Queens Birthday.

Disagree.

Unless the VICS are struggling for numbers I wouldn't have Lever in there. Has missed a handful of games, and some of the games he's played have been un Jake Lever like.