Skuit

And the personnel involved. Predicting both teams will start with a midfield star in the forward line for at least the first bounce.

ProperDee - just because aeroplanes didn't exist when you were born doesn't mean that anyone else thinks boarding one is worthy of boasting about.

Cheers London Demon. But it's not a matter of rejoining. I'm engaged as ever, but I've avoided the Gameday thread as best I could for the past three years. It's basically pointless but as an emotional outlet. I have bricks and TV at home for that.

Like the thread, don't like the team.

Done. And to think my current job title is Chief Editor. I've gone the early Hutchy on the nerves.

Didn't fly before and probably won't again. But . . . Myself, and probably a few others on here, kindly ask our fellow Demon/land supporters that this thread be reserved for an in-game discussion of tactics and so forth, as free as possible from emotion and dire statements or sweeping generalisations. I've deliberately chosen to not watch this game in public, as I'm not sure that I can control my emotions in such a domain, and if I'm arrested I will probably be banned by my girlfriend from watching any further finals football for now and into the future. Still, I like to dissect what's unfolding before me, and can at least keep a poker-face on paper, and I would happily watch with some informed fellow Melbourne fans but there's only four or so of us in Amsterdam. As such, you're my only community. Let's keep it rational but with a rebel yell. Go Dees!

Irregardless of the nail-biting finishes, and the timing of the fixtures, the two matches against the Cats this season are the two I've been most tense during from cover to cover. I think I usually get a fairly good read on how things will pan out early on - not necessarily the result but if it'll be close one or not and the potential for either team to make a comeback. The Geelong games not so. Both teams in both matches were close at times to breaking it wide open, but couldn't quite take that last step; a teetering balance throughout. We may have dominated larger swathes against them over the past two years, but we match up well, and have played well, and Geelong aren't as weak across the lines as many of us would like to hope. I expect this will be another nervous one. Whatever happens, I'm sure every Melbourne player will put in and make us proud. Go Deees!

Now that we're becoming more of a threat this notion that we're built on AFL hand-outs in beginning to resurface. Irks me no end. And I'm pretty sure these halfwits aren't referring to PJ. We received one priority pick nearly ten years ago - which has ultimately served us well but failed to have any direct impact. Hawks had two pp's running around in their flag years. Blues still have two. Other flag winners this century to have featured a pp player include West Coast and Collingwood and the Bulldogs and Richmond traded out the year prior. Saints had two during their failed attempts. Don't let these half-truths about the Dees become facts. We built this team from scratch.

Can't believe it's got to the point where I'm relieved we got Chamberlain.

Brad Green is the key prosecution witness and appears close to forsaking the footy omerta. If we snag a flag I think he could be turned, and then the dominoes will right up the ranks to Don Schwab.

A club's supporters are a part of its culture. Roos tried telling us that on more than one occasion. Abstract, but when a notion such as Goodwin can't coach and should be sacked for example picks up steam you can end up with idiotic administrative fixes like . . . Neeld. Everyone was saying we needed some tough love. So Schwab, Lyon and co. set that as a coaching parameter and selected whoever could pitch a tough act (and a rookie who could be controlled - but that's another story again). This fantastic post from JK below provides a brief example of the prevailing supporter-base thought at the time:

I'm starting to get the heebie-jeebies regarding the tactical build-up to this match and the respective coaching/playing experience. Geelong, even throughout their most dominant period, have been happy to concede the centre clearances - although they're capable if required (see last quarters v MFC 2017 and 2018). Now they're preparing to play a three-game rookie against Max, far and away the best tap-ruck in the league, and are expecting a hard tag from Harmes on Selwood. I can see the hours of centre footage in my mind and I don't like what they're cooking up. The centre is so crucial to what we do. Goodwin, however much I love him, has always been about playing the game on our terms (although I do think he tightened it up at crunch-time leading into the finals). I don't expect our message will change much leading into the game, and that leaves Scott to purely prep for us. We talk a bit on here about who we need to stop, but how do we counter how they're likely going to attempt to counter us?

I blame half of the posters here for Neeld. Schwab - our clueless former board - a Demonland representative supporter faction - and Lyon - in that order. Is Goodwin the right guy thread . . . Neeld. We were tracking as could be realistically expected in 2011 and not beyond repair. But - we have a soft underbelly and poor culture! Let's get a school teacher in to straighten em' out. Well done to whoever you are.

Worked a treat during the year.

Your notion that 'the elite player group ie top six, will fire in big games' - 'otherwise they would not be classed as elite' and 'basically cancel each other out' has so many logical flaws I'm not sure which one to highlight. P1: The top six players are elite (false premise) P2: a. Elite players perform in big games b. otherwise they wouldn't be elite and thus top six (a. assumption b. circular logic) P3: Any given club's elite are equal (false premise) C1: The top six players cancel each other out in big games Can you name three occasions where our top six have all fired in the same big game? Or, three recent matches when the top six players of each club have cancelled each other out in their performances? Who do you find it more important performs next Friday - Angus Brawshaw or Charlie Spargo?

Talk of the bottom six winning flags is simply a short-cut to refer to depth. If two teams somehow had an even spread of talent, it's not the performance of the bottom six that will decide games/flags - it's the performance of the top players. We may target our lesser lights in the event of a loss, but besides Petty getting horribly exposed vs. the Saints, it's not the JKHs losing us games - it's our top tier failing to fire in unison.

I'd like it on the record that I nominated James Harmes as this year's surprise packet. Oh wait, it was already on the record.

I'm always a drunk 36 year old sitting at a pub in Amsterdam and Oliver is always my favourite.

Introducing the Zooper immigration criteria checklist: Nine bonus points if you're French. Nine for being a girl. And automatic repechage if you work for the big end of town.

Max, Weids and Petracca all had pretty decent games v GWS. Maybe we've cracked the latest revolution in footy attire? Out skin-tight guernseys, in pajamas.

Every player should be assessed relative to price. But I'm not sure why people pipe up that we should save our money for elsewhere. I'm pretty confident in our list management team getting it right nowadays. Some upside favourites may get squeezed out the bottom, but multiple flags are the goal, and if we lose someone with potential we get it back in longer term cookies. First-world list management.

I'm not sure if it was the jumper but he was looking like that NAB kid version of himself on the weekend. Has he lost even more weight over the season, at the same time as extending his beard?

Fantastic trailer. When does the movie hit cinemas and is it scheduled for release in the Netherlands?

We countered this very well at the Cattery last time out, blocking their path out of defence and through the middle, but when they switched tactics in the last and took risks we weren't prepared or couldn't defend. It will be interesting if they head directly for this playbook this time - and then it's absolutely a matter of negating their mids in the centre and defending quick forward entries (e.g. by manning up a bit more).

Update: So immediately prior to the Gaff-bash (copyright pending) I posted a cross-reference to a wild rumour on another shall remain nameless website re.Gaff crossing to the MFC - primarily to dig out our own inside connections and stir up some action, but which was immediately called out by Ethan the Newsbreaker among others as baseless. The original poster has now openly revealed himself as an outright troll - quoth: "I posted a scandal not a rumour. There is no differentiation. It was a complete fabrication loosely linking a few wild comments by others. A simple moment taken to type up a possibility to see how it travels. 13 pages or sometimes emotional ranting is enough for me." I would ordinarily call for a lynching if such passed muster on this beloved site of ours, but I don't want to propagate any notion that Lynch may be coming to Melbourne. Otherwise, I remain convinced that Gaff will be in the red & blue as of next year, despite the trolls and own special Picket.