Where Demons Dare

Gawn said he was giving up his captaincy in 2025, so there must be someone waiting in the wings. Whether it be Viney for a couple of years or they go with Trac or Lever or both, I believe those are the likely outcomes. I feel a Co-captaincy of Trac/Lever would be the best result rather than an individual captaincy as Lever is injury prone and his form has dropped significantly. While we all know what happened with Trac and going rogue against the club has made it hard for supporters and the club to trust him again. Having both of them sharing responsibilities could help ease the load and commitments of the captaincy.

I think Melk and Tmac get a 1 year extension. They're playing good footy and still important to the team. Billings, Woewodin, Hore, Laurie and possibly Brown on the chopping block. I think McAdam survives the cut this year considering we gave up a second round draft pick for him, so club has to honour the full contract. Sestan, Adams and AMW safe for now as we believe they have good potential. Most likely scenario is we draft 2 and trade for 1-2 players and upgrade Sestan to the senior list.

Time to even the W/L ledger today and keep up our winning form. We simply can't afford to lose this game if we want to make finals. Let's go Demons!

Another week off for Viney wouldn't be such a bad thing given the severity of his concussion. We want him cherry ripe for King's Birthday. Laurie or Henderson seem the likely options for Spargo's replacement and both are in good form in the VFL. The same goes for May, if he needs a rest this week Tmac comes back in.

Danger game this one. The Saints back's are against the wall and only 1 win behind us and on similar percentage. Ross Lyon has copped a bit of criticism during the week with his comments lately (even though I totally agree with him) so his chargers will be fired up I'd imagine. If Melbourne want to play finals they need to put this game to bed early to avoid a St. Kilda resurgence after half time. As Goody mentioned on 360 last week "Take it one game at a time".

The next three games can really set us up for finals. Sydney, St. Kilda and Collingwood are all gettable at the moment with their injuries or form. Our team is just starting to come together nicely, and with very few of our best 23 players uninjured we can build on what has already been 4/5 wins on the board of late. My mates thought I was off with the fairies when we were 0-5 and I said we can still make finals, and yes it will be very tough to get there but we're definitely still in with a chance. We just have to want it bad enough!

As Goodwin said a few years ago "it's all Fugazi" we need to block out this outside noise who continually try to bring us and Oliver down. We've won 3 in a row and are looking to take a big scalp with the Hawks. Let's focus our energy on what we can control.

Richmond had a 5 day break as well, and blew us away in the last quarter. I wanted to see a commanding Melbourne victory, but all we got was a mediocre one.

Hopefully the lads are over the illness that spread through the group last week and are fresh and raring to go. Gawn and Petracca especially with a point to prove. We may not win this one, but we'll definitely have a crack like we did with GWS. Dees by 3 points!

Welcome aboard Jai! I remember watching him play in match sim a few weeks back and he was dominating in some parts of the contest and I was thinking to myself 'why isn't this guy on our list? he can seriously play'. Thankfully, now he is.

I just watched the highlights reel and he reminded me straight away of Nibbler and his run down tackles and opportunistic goals. An important role to fill. All the best to Jack!

I don't see how Kozzi can txt his friends that he expect's to play for Freo next year. He's contracted for several more years with Melbourne and unless we get something extremely good in return, I just don't see us entertaining the idea. Sounds like a bit of 'fugazi' to me. Who leaked the message? what was their desired purpose? Will Kozzi feel awkward now returning to training with his team mates and coaches? very poor form from whoever spread these rumours.

It's not Brayshaw clearly. And I highly doubt he would go to the club that essentially ruined his career.

Sydney - (Best team of 2024, but failed at last hurdle, contender) Carlton - (A strong team with many elite players, contender) GWS - (Experienced team with good players on all lines, top 4) Fremantle - (Added good players, a very well rounded team, top 4) Melbourne - (Last chance saloon, still has many elite players, a good balance of young and old) Brisbane - (A drop off after the GF heroics, Daniher a big loss) Port Adelaide - (Ken’s last chance, has to make finals, and win a final) Gold Coast - (Surely their time to make finals with it’s strong list) Western Bulldogs - (Another side with a great list, should be in the mix for top 8) Adelaide - (Rising steadily, added good players, finals should be the goal this year) Hawthorn - (A good side, Barrass and Battle makes them a stronger team) Collingwood - (An ageing list but plays a good system, expect a drop off this year) Geelong - (Ageing list, a bit of an unknown, Smith a good addition) St. Kilda - (Some good players, but lacks talent across all lines) Essendon - (Worst list in the comp for many years now) North Melbourne - (Lot’s of young guns, but can’t see them rising) West Coast - (Rebuild mode, has some good players developing nicely) Richmond - (Starting from ground zero)

It's terrible news. But there's a tiny silver lining in that bad things can happen at any moment that you can't control. I'd rather he crack his ribs in training now, than in another game against Collingwood. Get the monkey off the back, own it, and be ready to 'knock em stiff' come game day.

As 'GW' already mentioned, we spoke with Petty and tried to get a bit more information out of him on where he will be positioned next year and asked if he'll be our swingman next year? with a wry smile he said he'll be "happy to play anywhere." So he's not giving anything away for now.

It seems to be his right Hammy/Glute. Every session the Physio is getting his elbow into those areas and working hard on it. I overheard him with one of the rehab trainers saying that they want him to focus on his running today at a higher pace, so hopefully he isn't far away from main training. Selection is looking very tight already so he'll have to push himself even more this year if he wants to play 5+ games. Good luck to him though, I think he'll be a good player for us in the future.

Nice meeting you too today 31. 👍

Quite a few players out there today on individual programs and training in and out of the main squad. In rehab we had the 5 regulars being McAdam, Lever, Spargo, XL and Sestan doing their thing. While May, Campbell, Melksham, K.Brown doing a lot of boundary running but also involved in lots of the main squad drills. Fritsch and Salem training fully with the main squad which was good to see. Today the group focused a lot more on ball movement and various kicking drills, working the ball from the back pocket diagonally across to the other side of the forward line. I think our players will start to get the hang of the new tactics soon as it looks as though we will be more attacking next season and understandably takes a bit of time to adjust. Last month I was there at training they were doing a lot more running drills, but now they are more focused on ball movement. Fullarton surprised me today, he was involved in quite a few things and outclassed his opponent. One to watch. Trac again continues to impress me and is in for a big year, showing great leadership and very vocal. Turner keeps getting better and better and will do nicely this year as the 2nd key forward to JVR. JVR was a no show today so hopefully he is okay. I was also surprised with Kentfield's speed. He raced Windsor over 80m from the centre square to the boundary line and they drew even going flat out. Gawny is really taking a step back this year and letting others lead the way. You can see he is much more relaxed and will ramp things up closer to next season. There's definitely a vibe in the air that everyone knows their role and is executing it to a good standard. Maybe a bit more maturity in the group. You can sense that whatever came out of the review a few months back is already in play.

We can still have 3 Tall's at either end of the ground and use Petty as a utility/swingman from the bench and interchange him with a tall coming off the ground at either end. This could give May a bit more time to rest and keep him fresh while protecting his troublesome hammies and even chop out with Gawn and JVR when they need a break. This could be a real weapon for us if used correctly, we could really stretch opposition defences with our height.

He was the one I wanted. I'm disappointed we didn't take him. But there's hope for us yet in the rookie draft but that would mean we miss out on Noah Yze I think? not sure how many rookie picks we have available?

I made my way down from Wodonga to watch training for the first time since 21' and brought my wife along with me which she enjoyed. Fritta and Salo were there well before the rest of the boys had turned up and had worked up a real sweat. They finished their training with some goal kicking games trying to out do one another. The boys were aiming to hit each of the 4 posts and whoever hit it, won the game. They followed that with some drop punt kicks from the boundary where Chocco came over and offered some guidance he said "kick the ball high up in the air" which they both did and totally shanked the kick. They were quite animated about and I could hear them laughing away at each other so it was good to see them in high spirits. The rest of the boys started making their way to the track around 10am about 25 all up in attendance and I saw Tom Campbell doing his rehab in front of me. He didn't look to be in any discomfort, I think he just has some catching up to do. Tom is waiting to get a new training kit, which won't come out for a while yet so that's why he's unfortunately stuck in his casual gym clothes. Sestan, Spargo, Howes, Lever and Windsor on occasion also in the rehab group doing individual routines. Spargo had mentioned how bored he was with his rehab as he was limited in what training he could do, so I felt for him. TMac on the boundary watching on. I met the lovely Walking Civil War and her friend Ros, which was an absolute delight. We were so engaged in conversation that I missed a fair bit of the drills the players were doing, but I'm sure others will be able to report on it. Some observations I did notice were that the players are still sprinting to the boundary line for a drink and taking a minute rest break. Viney had called everyone in to chat about one of their drills and he was talking about how well the players in the white bibs were performing and that everyone else had to work harder to cover ground and defend better. Bowey spoke up also showing his leadership qualities followed by McVee. I was impressed with Turner during some of the sims, you can see him improving each time and even did a fancy double spin to evade two tackles but then got pinned on the ground by McVee. Some of the hits were pretty physical this early in the pre-season which was good to see. Jeffo is filling out nicely, he's a confidence player so I hope he can learn from JVR how to be an aggressive forward but he'll come good this year I believe. Sestan and Laurie looking leaner now so I expect them to get a few games this year. Kentfield has a really nice size about him but just needs to working on his fitness/conditioning. Verrall a good size also. Important to note that Petty was in everything today and in really good shape. He was even in the second best running group when they were doing half ground 80% pace running on the boundary towards the end of the session. He's in for a big year if he stays injury free! I also heard Oliver is in a really good space and his hand is the best it's been in years so he is fit and firing to go. Anyway I'm on my way back to sunny Wodonga now. I'm backing us in to have a big year in 2025 and playing finals. Let's Go Demons!

He's been open and upfront with the supporters with the happenings of the MFC. As supporters we want to feel included in the direction taken by the club and board. Can't fault him so far, he's done a lot more for us in recent times than any other President. Keep it going Brad.

Depending how our cards fall, I see us taking one of Smith, Langford or Draper with pick 5. If we pick Langford I don't see the need to go for Smillie with pick 9 as they are like for like players. I also don't see St.kilda taking Smillie either, as they got Phillipou last year who is a 194cm mid, which many on here have predicted St.kilda will select. Reid I'm not sold on with pick 9. I get Toumpas vibes from him... skilful player yes, but doesn't like the contest. Richmond and St.Kilda will probably take one of Armstrong or Tauru with their selection before our next one so that leaves us with Allen, Lindsay, Travaglia, Hotton or Trainor. My gut feel is we go with Trainor, who is an excellent key defender but will be watchful of as he has already had concussions recently. Either way we will get 2 fantastic players and will help us contending for years to come.

I don't think anyone has mentioned it so far, but from what I've seen of the footage I get a real Pendle's vibes from Smillie. The way he is able to get out of heavy traffic with ease and then dispose of the ball to advantage is brilliant. Not the fastest player, but has good evasion skills and footy IQ. I would be happy to take him at pick 9 if we weren't able to get Langford with pick 5. Smillie mentioned he can also play forward or back which is handy, he could rotate with Petracca or Rivers when resting forward or back.