DeelightfulPlay

Sorry to bear bad news everyone, but Clarry has an infected blister 😩 https://twitter.com/melbournefc/status/1665988235028475904?cxt=HHwWgMDRzaLe454uAAAA

No question, just thanks! Super keen for a bumper episode!

One of my coworkers never misses a game, but he'll be missing the Collingwood game because last year the Filth supporters abused my coworker's son (who has Down Syndrome) to the extent security was called and the family left at half time. Unfortunately there are some pretty shocking supporters out there (not limited to Collingwood)

I misread Tmac as Trac and freaked out for a moment there 😂

I'd reckon even with a smaller supporter base, a lot of Demon fans have been making the effort to attend games this year. At work we have a Demons chat of about 20 people (tiny, I know), mostly based in Melbourne. At least 5 of us are interstate and we are all travelling down and meeting family / friends to support the Dees at on Monday. Further, at least 3 or 4 of us (myself included) all independently arranged to go to the Suns game. Now, obviously this is an incredibly small, anecdotal sample size... but none of us spoke to each other about whether we were going to games. So the effort is heartening to see!

I was speaking to a colleague who is a WAFL umpire about the professional vs part time debate for umpiring. He said most people were against it because they want to have other careers alongside umpiring. He additionally wasn't keen on it since focusing on umpiring all week would probably lead to overthinking, he prefers to have the change of focus. Apparently they now have two umpiring apps to lead to more consistent umpiring outcomes and better umpiring training / development. One app provides individualised feedback about performance on the weekend, and the other app has footage from the games with snippets based on the umpiring decisions being made. Don't know how long this has been in play, but maybe it will help things in the long run?

From my coworker in Melbourne who is a mad Dees fan and has a friend at the club. Us lawyers call that hearsay evidence... but my coworker did fly to Perth for the 2018 final so I'd hope he's checked properly with his mate

Can't say I have much in the way of proven footy connections so we'll see 😂 as an optimist this mail certainly fits my confirmation bias

My mail is that BBB will come in after the bye. Apparently he is doing a mini pre-season again like in 2021 and they want him firing for end of year

Yes, they all for a second took the idea of a bribe seriously 😂 Not surprising given some of the tripe that gets served up as journalism for the footy

May Petracca McVee Lever Salem Gawn Honourable nod to Sparrow, Bowey, Spargo, Hunter

Gosh just love Maxy. From wheeling little Charlie the kid they've had around the club this week into the team song huddle, to a positive but humble interview. Although in the course of writing this he made a terrible joke about trying to pay Jordan to say something positive 😂

Gosh even after we've won it the commentary were barracking for the Blues. Looking forward to escaping to a game in Melbourne next week to avoid the inane discussion

I'd hoped for more from our boys but I'm okay with the game ending this way. Hope next week we put on a real showing

That was nice from Trac! Pity Kade couldn't finish 😬

Seems to be managing for KB based on the MFC website: "Michael Hibberd will also miss the game with the club taking a cautious approach and managing the Demon. " https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/1348296

Probably Utopia! Or that's just my confirmation bias working haha

It hurts to see Oliver low on this list :')

On the Magnet Balls interview, Viney talked about the changing approach to tackling and the need to ensure juniors are being taught appropriately since at the end of the day, it's a split second decision and it's easy to revert to what you were taught growing up in terms of tackling. He doesn't quite call it a confusion but it's evident that behind the scenes there's a lot of discussion about tackling atm. (See @Rab D Nesbitt's thread for the interview) Doesn't help that MFC players, even at VFL level, are guaranteed to get done for tackling! No wonder the boys are so tentative... good observation from Redleg Edit: maybe this is why Kozzy was BOG in round 1 - early on he knew he would get done for that bump, and so the worst was likely to happen and it freed him up to take on the game without worrying?

I thought we'd begun to move past the 'bomb it long' strategy. I even thought we might move beyond the 'boundaries at all costs' mantra. Until we learn to effectively use and exploit the corridor and lower the eyes (two things you'd think would be pretty basic - not easy, but basic) then we've got no chance. This one sounds just like us!

I think it might have been the North game? From memory it was not a game where we needed the extra goals (compared to Suns or our more recent losses 🥲)

But if the effects of concussion make your decision making worse over time... then maybe it's not surprising he's making the bad decision to continue playing? (Edit: which is why the community needs to step in to support him, rather than allow it to continue and then act surprised and sad at the worst case scenario when it happens)

Highly recommend getting a DA membership! Everyone is so lovely, and if you're going to interstate games (or live interstate like me), it makes a difference to have a passionate crew to sit with.

Digby seems like a real sweetie, so sorry for your loss!

Here's Sunny the day after the Grand Final!