Ron Burgundy

I reckon he will be a favourite player by around, say, round 6. That said, no one can compete for my 6 year old’s son’s affection - it was initially Bernie Vince and now it is the Trac. He is the youngest ever member of this club. Signed him up as a 20 week foetus, and the club accepted his application. Not necessarily fraudulent, but plainly desperate. It was during the Neeld years, They were desperate at the time, and I took advantage of it. I’m super proud of this fact. It’s almost worthy of a documentary (even though it’d probably be really boring). God bless us all, eh. We’re top 4 this year.

I’ve already renewed everyone in my family, irrespective of whether they actually support (or have heard of) the club. A good mate of mine just had a son two days ago. My mate’s a passionate Blues supporter. There’ll be an MFC Baby Dee membership on its way to his house for little Leo within the week. Got to get em early.

Tom McDonald to recapture (and potentially even exceed) his 2018 form and become AA.

I’d had a few beers.

Absolutely agree. I think this guy could be the steal of the trade period. We got him for a bag of peanuts. I’m still surprised Essendon delisted him. One of my mates is a passionate Dons supporter (he used to run and own a very well known sports betting agency, so he knows a thing or two about footy) - he cannot believe Essendon got rid of him. Brown has a long and accurate kick. He presents reasonably well, and he runs hard, all day. There’s perhaps a knock on his contested marking ability, but he’s an AFL standard second or third tall forward (which we need). While he’s not an AA blockbuster forward, I reckon he’ll be very effective for us, and he’ll surprise quite a few pundits.

Geez I hope this bloke makes it back. There’d be nothing greater than to see him sprinting off the wing following broken play, in a tightly contested Grand Final, enter the forward fifty, look for pass options, and then slot the winner from a tight angle in the final seconds of the game. Next stop, Hollywood. Short of that, I would love to see him as a regular in the red and the blue by round one next year. It’d have to be one of AFL’s great comeback stories.

What was with trying to drown him again? It’s really hard to see any benefit in that.

I really like Trac.

Surely it’s got to be Tom McDonald. If not him, then Mitch Brown. I’m still stunned that Essendon delisted him. He’s a really decent forward - and they need him. I find it entirely bizarre. Did he take Mrs Worsfold on a dinner date or something? It doesn’t make sense. I reckon he’ll play 25 games for us in 2020.

Then round one ...

I don’t know why exactly - but I always enjoy reading the reports and seeing the pics from the Maroochydore Training Camp each year. It seems always to be a happy and positive time.

And for Trac to then commit to the Dees for life.

We weren’t even the slops on a butcher’s floor when Roos came in. It’s remarkable how he turned us around within such a short period of time. It wasn’t a rebuild designed to win us a flag in the next 3 years though - it was a rebuild to help us move from the VFL to a consistently competitive standard in the AFL, from which we would then have a base to launch for finals and hopefully a flag. I suspect we slightly over-performed in 2018, prior to the Greek tragedy that was last year. We’re now in the zone though. Flag aspirations prior to this season was just dreamin’.

Great thread Optimus D - it brings back memories, about one’s own life really. Some of those players mark the different chapters. Bernie Vince heads the list, but a few of those players are definitely amongst my favourite ever Demons.

This is a cracking training thread - thanks for the reports. Fingers crossed on May and Smith, but I’m no longer as worried about our forward line and our ability to score goals than I was about 3 months ago. T Mac seems to have rediscovered his mojo, Melksham is back to his best, Fritsch is in superb form, Brown will be an effective tall forward, we have plenty of other decent options (tall and small) to rotate through, and we now have good wingers and attacking mids who are fit and who will be able to effectively deliver the ball. This represents such a big change from last season. As an aside, I’m glad I’m not an Essendon supporter - apparently one third of their list is not able to train at the moment. If I were Worsfold, I’d be handing over the baton right now.

No doubt someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think May's injury history was relatively sound prior to last year. I was absolutely stoked when we landed him. Even though his season last year was underwhelming, I remain super positive about this guy and the contribution he will make to the MFC going forward - he's just the sort of player we need marshalling the defence.

Burgess told Melbourne Media. “Maysie had a cyst pressing on the nerve of his knee which required some treatment. His pre-season has been outstanding so far and this won’t affect his program going forward." I cannot agree with this. I reckon this guy will be one of our most important players for quite a few years going forward. He's very good player - and I suspect every MFC defender stands taller knowing May is lurking around near them.

I don’t really care about the personal barbs - I just don’t think they’re especially necessary. I have a full kit bag in terms of friends and life experience, such that getting invested in petty stuff with people on a footy forum who I don’t even know is just a waste of time and energy. ProDee took the time to step out his views, and I actually like to read considered (albeit differing) perspectives on matters of interest - hence, the thank you.

Why do you say things like this? I’ve not ever suggested that Goodwin cares about my opinion or sought to make this an issue. It just takes debates into an unnecessarily personal realm. Quite frankly, I don’t know anyone here (or Simon Goodwin) and I certainly don’t crave any validation in this aspect of my life. I am a passionate Dees’ supporter and merely come here to find out stuff about the club and the list etc, and to otherwise have a chat with people who seem also to support the club (which is my only avenue really given that my wife has zero interest in AFL and I live in Sydney where 100% of people of zero interest in the Melbourne Demons). That said, I appreciate your response. Thank you.

For me in 2020; - finishing top 4 is a success; - finishing top 6 is a pass; - finishing below this is underwhelming; and - finishing outside of the 8 is a war crime.

Plainly we don’t agree on the value of Watts’ attributes.. In short, I think his attributes have value, it seems you don’t - not at AFL level at least. Relevantly, a good mate of mine (who’s a Port supporter and who’s very well connected at the club) told me that Watts is well regarded at Port and that they were expecting him to have a really good season in 2019 off half back. Despite his well documented activities in Munich immediately following season 2018, he apparently had a great preseason and was set for a big year. A badly broken leg put paid to that. Make of this what you will. I expect you’ll attribute zero credence to it. The fact is however that Watts has skills which are recognised by knowledgeable people in the industry. This is a fact, not my opinion. As an aside, I remain a Goodwin supporter, but I think even he would acknowledge that he has adjusted his settings on contested beasts and that he now (partially) respects players with good foot skills - i.e. he may now have more respect for Jack Watts’ attributes than he did a couple of years ago. Anyway - Jack is not the enemy. Against his will, he was traded to another club. He seems to have accepted it and moved on. Why keep bagging him?

I think we both agree that Angus Brayshaw is a very good player. He too was dropped last year on the back of poor form. Doesn’t mean he hasn’t got an important role in this team going forward though. It just won’t be on the wing.

He was dropped for the very reasons which are well known here and which I expect you wish to highlight. He is not the complete player. I also suspect he’s matured since 2018 and he’s no longer taking things for granted. He had an impressive start to 2019. In my view, if Watts is used effectively, he can be a very valuable player. He possesses skills which I think are relevant to modern day footy i.e effective disposal, decisions with and use of the football etc. Clearly many experts do not share my view. That said, some do - for eg, Paul Roos. 2020 will obviously be the big test for him.

Yep, Watts plainly should’ve done much more even though he suffered a badly broken leg and dislocated ankle in round 2 and was in rehab for the rest of the year. As an aside, in 2016 and 2017 Watts was ranked #2 in the competition for effective kicks inside 50. I reckon it’s fair to say we could’ve used a player like that last year.

Even though we got knocked out in the semi final prior to the preliminary final in 2002, I reckon it was one of the most enjoyable seasons I’ve watched in my time supporting the club. We just kept coming from behind in the last quarter to overrun teams including beating the Lions at the Gabba that year (who were unstoppable). I seem also to recall cracking wins against North and Carlton that year when we were well behind at three quarter time, but you just knew we would win. And we did. The loss to the Crows in the semi final was just heart-breaking. But that season, following an ordinary 2001, represented the best of Daniher’s attacking game style IMO. I reckon Fagan had a big hand in it too. As an aside, I’d really like to see Daniher inducted into the MFC’s Hall of Fame. IMO he needs to be acknowledged during his remaining time on this planet. If there is merit in this (and it is achievable and others agree), is there any chance we can start a petition here (or something like that)?