Nasher

That run-up put Benny Brown to shame there, @Demonstone!

Did you hear Max's comment about May having a hard time getting Smith to stand in the right spots the last few weeks? I chuckled.

Weid or TMac for Brown. Toss a coin. Smith won't play as per the Goodwin "ain't broke don't fix it" rule.

I think so. Thought he really stood up on a night where Petracca, Oliver and Brayshaw were all (relatively) quiet.

Agree on this. It's obvious they're both at least a class below Brown. Can't wait for him to come back.

SACK GOODWIN amirite? Far out. The bar has gone through the roof with some of you people. It was a good, strangling win. Not great, not particularly exciting - the Jordon touch on the line was the only time my heart rate got above resting, but we got the job done. I'm just waiting for someone to say we're the worst 4-0 side of all time or something.

Tokens than you can’t funge, obviously.

Or it’s just the truth.

Picked a spot roughly in the middle, scrolled all the way to the end to find my name was like the second name on the next line. D’oh. Got goosebumps when I found it. How good. I’m part of it.

We had a VFL team called the Devils too in the early 00s. We were pretty strong for a few years with the likes of Ben Beams kicking around. I doubt defunct teams get to keep rights to names.

North Hobart Oval is too small and pretty run down now, and there’s nowhere to park. Pity as that’s where I grew up watching the North Hobart Demons (and how I came to barrack for Melbourne). Back to back flags in 91 and 92 were awesome as a kid. Good omen - 21 and 22 for us? The public would flip their lids of the state government committed funds for a new footy ground. There’s just no appetite for it given the state of our health and education system here. If an AFL team came to town, it would have to be based at Bellerive Oval (currently named Blundstone Arena).

Hard to believe he’s 19 years old and 10 games in to his career, he looks like a veteran. I reckon he’s an example of what happens when all the blocks are in place. He’s developed as a player at the fastest possible rate, because the system surrounding him has allowed him to. I can’t imagine him playing like he is if he’d walked in the door in 2012.

Let’s not get too carried away Sue.

No chance in the world B.Brown doesn’t play. Assuming he was just a close contact and didn’t actually have COVID, I highly doubt he’s been sitting on his bum playing Xbox. He’ll have been on the treadmill or running laps of his yard, or something. He’s a professional, and he was in great form that he will want to continue. In: Lever, Brown Out: Hunt, McDonald

On the umpiring: why doesn’t the AFLW draw from the same pool of umpires as the blokes? Not that the men’s umpires are always that good either, but if the AFLW is the elite competition, they should have access to the supposed best umpires in the business right?

I support for Melbourne. Always have, always will. Just about everyone I know is in the same basket for whatever filthy team they go for.

No way mate. You’ve just forgotten what losses feel like.

Garbage opponent turned it in to a scrap. I actually enjoyed it.

Hardly got out of second gear, still won by nearly 30, and the scoreboard flattered our opponents. Super happy for Weid. Showed why many have backed him, even if those of us who have had started to doubt. Excellent game.

Bernie for me was the sugar hit to make the medicine palatable. While Lewis was there to help plant the seeds of work ethic and attitude, Vince was there to make us immediately better, which he did. Both excellent signings at the right time.

Yep, you can almost pinpoint the moment the penny dropped. So good.

Hadn’t seen this thread before but Gawn isn’t even the best player we’ve got right now, let alone the best ever. But by and large, it doesn’t matter. Gawn, Oliver and Petracca don’t belong in the same conversation as drought-era greats such as Flower, Stynes, Lyon etc because they’ve been able to do what others haven’t: form the nucleus of a TEAM that at the very least is extremely powerful, and has the potential to be great. It’s not important to decide which of the individuals is the best, it’s what they add up to that matters.

I don’t think he forgot his helmet, seemed more to me that he’d cast it aside and didn’t have time to get it, because Rivers came straight off. I’d say his return to the ground was very hastily arranged (“quick, get back on now”) given he’d only been off for about half a second himself.

Out: Hunt In: Hibberd I’ll be really surprised if they pull any levers on the talls (TMac). I don’t think you can make decisions for talls based on a game that really didn’t suit aerial contests and I think Goody largely errs on the side if “if in doubt, leave it alone”, especially when we’re winning.

Why worry about things that couldn’t be helped? Retaining Pike was never an option for the MFC given his behaviour at the time, nor would it have brought us any closer to a flag ourselves.