Go Ds

I really feel like there'll be considerable improvement this year - good young (improving) players, some luck with injuries, better pre-seasons/fitness. Surely we make the 8 and maybe even win the whole thing. But sport is so unpredictable. There'll be plenty of moments where teams' fortunes/expectations will change this season - same as in every other. Cliched as it is I'll be taking it one week at a time.

Yep, spicy pizza and maybe teams can provide some old tubes of Deep Heat to really make it feel like 'Demonland'. 😂

What did you ask the chat GPT? Literally "who will win the 2025 AFL premiership?"?

I met a guy who was friends with Max at primary school. He said back then he was a very ordinary footballer.

Who knows? But people tend to write players off too quickly. If McAdam is fitter or Billings either realises this is his last chance or something else clicks for him they will be more valuable.

Yes, it is a great name. I know you're not at fault.

Ok. It's just nice to read posts without having to chase things up. Sure, you mention something like the Western Oval in '87 or the Cordnors and some people will know about these and some won't - and that's fine. But a vaguely obscure nickname for a main player is a little silly.

I realised seconds after posting. :) But I doubt I'll be the only one wondering for now. (If he gets referred to as The Duke in the media that'll change.)

Please add The Duke beside Windsor's name. I just realised 'post-post' that that's who it refers to, and I saw it on here months ago too.

I won't, I guess. Who is he?

Please, no. Clarry's problems were bad enough last year without him being stuck at a typewriter with broken ankles.

It's all good. My brain immediately guessed you meant Lindsay (though I quickly confirmed with Google the blurred memory of the name Xavier Francis being famous.) I sure hope XL ends up with a better nickname than X. There must be something at least those initials could lead to (e.g. Jumbo - xtra large, Spreadsheet - Excel or Gunner or Rose - Axl Rose) Then again most nicknames end up being uninspired such as Smithy or Bluey. BTW love your work. I wait patiently for the next podcast.

I honestly don't know what would be accurate, DJ. There are plenty of games where within minutes you can see if one (or both) teams are on or whether all your expectations need to be thrown out the window. I think most seasons start the same way (though that may change a bit as the seasons just about start before Woollies sell hot cross buns and teams need to pace themselves even more) I won't bother with this guy's other YouTube predictions for this year.

Yes and no. Once i saw names such as Chin and Lingers pretty quickly they were lodged in my memory AND I am used to them. But I can also understand a new fan getting on here and giving up on posts (and possibly this site?) if they keep wondering who is being referred to. Anyway it's a first-world problem - it was a slight nuisance at the time and was never gonna stop me visiting here from then on. (And it's very hard to go at people giving their time for free.)

Yep. Most teams' supporters would have a feel on whether their team will improve, or not, in the new season. But trying to predict the top 8 (or every team's fortune) can only end in tears. It's almost become a given that each year 3 or 4 teams will take the place of some of the previous year's finalists. On top of that we've just seen two defending premiers drop out and plenty of teams jump way up the ladder in a single bound. I'll still ponder each pre-season on how our team will go. But you may as well as try and predict the weather for New York some day a few decades away for all the good it'll do.

There was a lot of talk but I'm not sure it signifies that much. I noticed the guy thought we lost by 7 points in Round 3 to Port (which we won, of course). Did he make any other errors? A bit like 'forgetting to carry the 1' in maths it wouldn't take much for this analysis to be quite inaccurate.

Yes, STAFF call him Chin. I just don't have any involvement with staff. On TV he's just Chandler. Obviously there's plenty of things you'd expect almost any Melbourne fan to know. But sometimes it's easy to forget some things aren't. BTW I found this. All it needs is the new recruits to be added. I think someone called Xavier Lindsay 'Francis' (which again I had to work out). I can only guess the rest.

No, I meant BACK THEN I had to work out those nicknames. (Actually I still think I've only heard the nickname Chin on here) And, yes, a list would be useful.

Nothing's gonna stop us now.

Hmm, I reminded of an IT Crowd episode. Also while pronounced differently it's kind of weird/ amusing that Salem's nickname is spelled the same as a notorious debauched film.

It's all good. I know ultimately that if people feel like their reports are not appreciated they could easily not bother.

I've been enjoying the training reports for a couple of years and ultimately you track watchers have the upper hand on whether we get to read them. But there have been times where I've had to go check the Melbourne FC website to work out who Chin or Disco or, say, CS is (or hopefully in the subsequent posts). As I was getting at, you guys give and us readers just receive. So thank you, thank you, thank you. But it would be nice if it was always obvious which player is being referred to (so just the obvious nicknames like Trac, surnames and perhaps acronyms for the triple-barreled names such as Moniz-Wakefield's would be an improvement). For the sake of typing a few extra letters suddenly nearly every Melbourne supporter would recognise, say, it's Chandler you're talking about , rather than having to scratch their .... chin. (Oh and these days I'm guessing most players are into that hippety-hop stuff and I'm not sure there's now many NWA's, Wu Tang Clan's or Public Enemy's alongside the Kendrick Lamar's and Drake's. And would every player's favourite film still be The Shawshank Redemption. I haven't looked at a Record in years. :) )