old55

Well the club hasn't sat on its hands after the disastrous 2018 - new captain, new senior assistant coach, new fitness manager, 3 new senior recruits (Langdon, Tomlinson, Brown), taken an uncharacteristic but welcome risk with Bennell, traded up to have 2 early first round picks. Mahoney and Goodwin are the main constants from last year and I appreciate that some here would have had them first out the door. I don't believe in changing everything at once, you need some continuity and I'm a big believer in Mahoney and Goodwin. It will be interesting to see how we go - their reputations and jobs are on the line.

Price and term heading north quickly. Sign him long term now.

Drafted by big bad Barry Prendergast.

I thought it was an element.

No our 2019 was horrible but so was Richmond's 2016.

I was there in 72 when we stormed home only to lose by a point. And again in 91 when the Saints stormed home and we held on by a point. Lucky to get up Clay St alive. If we'd gone up Linton St I wouldn't be here posting.

... era.

Yes I agree that the Saints should have won the 2009 flag. I think if Geelong had won as they should have in 2008 then the Saints probably would have won in 2009 - justice would have been done and Ross would have a flag. That's the most star-studded line-up not to win a flag since Geelong under Malcolm Blight in 1989-1995. Malcolm went on to get his flags, Ross - not so much.

Jimma and Gazza dayz. I believe we have progressed. I wouldn't want Ross, defence is very important I believe you have to attack at least at some stage to win the flag.

Agree, it could get interesting if as we both think Jones and ANB are in competition for the defensive forward role. It's guaranteed that at least one of them will play IMO.

Will Ross be good replacement selection for Goodwin?

We effectively traded Frost for Langdon.

Strange, it reminds me of all the years you relentlessly bagged Neale Daniher and favoured Terry Wallace. How has that wine aged Champ?

Where are Melbourne going to finish this year Rono? I don't really expect an answer and I deliberately avoided "we" in the question.

Great to see Langdon, Tomlinson, Brown, Jackson and Pickett in red and blue. And AVB, Melksham, Lever, Jetta and TMac all turning out for the opener. Exciting times. Strap in for the ride.

Probably more likely than a Spargo, Kossie, Lockhart combo.

I guess Mario lost his reason for existence in 2017.

I can't see why he couldn't play v Hawthorn that's an 8 day break. He gets a 6 day break to the Vic game - that may be enough, he will probably play limited minutes in the Vic game and could do that in the MFC game too. maybe he'll play all 3.

Suspect Jetta may miss since he probably has Vic responsibilities on Fri 28/02? Lockhart in?

I did look at that on Sportsbet but they won't allow the multi because they are not independent events. I do think Petracca at $501 is good value though.

Nice right and left hand breaks off Greens Point.

notsureifserious? just add 3 to the age at the start of each line. delist any of the non bolded players you definitely don't rate bold Petty, Jackson and Pickett, some love Jordon too but all are early calls who knows who else we might add via trade, FA and draft

I need to eat my own dog food, I reckoned we could win the flag this year if everything went right but while we've had a good pre-season enough things have gone awry to cast serious doubt. Gawn injured and then Preuss injured hinders our ability to practice midfield cohesion at this crucial time. Similarly May injured hinders our ability to practice backline cohesion which is absolutely vital. I think we can have a very good year but flag is a bridge too far now.

Yes Richmond lost by 113 in R23, can we just ignore their other losses by 88, 70, 70, 68 and 46? By contrast last year our biggest losses in this range were by 80, 53, 43, 41 and 40. At 3 quarter time we were in front or within a goal of our opposition in 12 matches for only 5 wins. It's well documented that our poor pre-season and injuries meant we weren't able to run out games.

I think the 4 year horizon with finals each year and a flag is very reasonable looking at our list age profile. I've tried to make a graphic representation below of the age of players at the start of the 2020 season. I used 5 characters per player name so it works like a graph (yes I know it's not exact because it's not a mono-spaced font). I have also bolded (who I believe) are locked in best 22. I think this data shows that we've definitely entered the window now and the current group has 4 years to deliver. Nev is the only lock who is guaranteed to be gone. The next set of Melksham, Gawn, TMac and May have 3-4 good years left - at the start of year 4 none will be older than 31. We've got an absolutely fat line now at 24 that is going to move through to 27 across this period. It's also reasonable to expect that some best 22 locks will emerge from the 18-21 set e.g. Petty, Jackson, Kozzie. 32|Jones 31| 30|Jetta,Hibbo 29|Brown 28|Melks,Gawn-,May--,VdB-- 27|TMac-,Benne 26|Tomli,Hanna 25|Viney,JWagn, 24|Salem,Harme,Petra,Brays,Langd,Lever,Hore-,OMac-,Hunt-,Preus,Kolod,Neal-,Lockh,Smith 23|Frits 22|Olive,CWag-,Weide 21|Baker 20|Petty,Sparg,Chand 19|Niets,Bedfo,Bradt,Sparr,Dunkl,Jordo 18|Jacks,Picke,River Data source: https://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/tp-melbourne-demons?year=2020&sby=15