Adam The God

I'm sure we wouldn't be the only ones to offer him a contract...

Yeah, shithouse rumour.

Haha, HH. Youse are funnys.

Did he knock back our offer too? Intriguing what has happened here.

During a discussion ON THE COUCH this evening, it was interesting to hear Roos proffer and then promote the idea of playing Jesse at CHB. I got the feeling that this is what he'd try if he were still coaching. Garry brought up Jesse's lack of forward half pressure and how the forward set up had improved since Jesse's injury. This is undeniable IMO. But the others interjected and rightly said our Jesse-less forwardline also coincided with us playing 6-6-6, so it wasn't as simple as Garry suggested. However, I'd say at least playing Jesse at CHB would ensure more combativeness from him and the need for a pressure game. His lack of tackling is really an issue for us IMO. And after playing a few games down back, he could then take this back to the forwardline with him. Although, I'm still not convinced you can take a 40+ gun forward out of your forwardline... On the fence as usual, A F.

Here's the thing about VDB. He's probably the worst handballer of all time. Seriously, so bad. He's not a great kick either. But his tackling in a tight congested game makes him worth it. He did give away two goals though from turnovers. However, his tackling has the capacity to lift him out of our bottom 6.

Bring tonight's pressure game and convert a bit better and we should account for Hawthorn. Anything less than that though and we're in trouble. But on tonight's performance we were brilliant. Weideman, Harmes and Max were the standouts for me. Quite incredible to think Weed could stand up in a final like that and Harmes is a truly dominant mid now. He is matching it with Clarry and Gus. When you add Viney's tackle pressure, our midfield really could rip any other midfield in the comp in two. I want to see more composure inside 50 next week, but generally, they made us proud on the big stage. We go again. And how was that MFC crowd!? Incredible. At least 65-70,000 were Melbourne. At least. We keep this up and we'll walk in 50,000 members next year. It shows that if we can have some sustained success (and I mean flags), our dormant supporter base has the capacity to reach at least 65,000 members. And if you win flags, you get the kids jumping on board and 70,000+ becomes very attainable in the next 5-10 years. The most exciting aspect about tonight was ticking off the mental barrier of winning a final. We saw what impact that had on Richmond for years. Well, we've ticked that off now. The other thing this victory tonight does is really announce us to the footy world and stamp us as contenders over the next 3-5 years. We play a brand that stacks up in finals and will only get better as our younger players develop. This finals experience too will hopefully hold them in really good stead for next year, whatever the outcome from here on is in 2018. And if I'm an opposition player, I'm wondering how do I get to Melbourne to play with these guys. Andrew Gaff, Dylan Shiel. These types. Lever saw it. Lewis saw it. Nights like tonight I'm front of 91,767 put us in that destination club conversation even further. Well done, PJ! And well done MFC.

Good post as usual. Who are our top 6 and do we have enough star power to get the job done this September? Gawn, Oliver, Viney and then maybe Brayshaw? Hibberd? Petracca? Jetta? TMac? It's possible, but I don't think we have enough at this stage. We'd really have to play out of out skins for the next month.

Yeah, sorry. Hannan would be ahead of JKH and probably compete with Spargo.

Jetta Omac Hibberd Fritsch Frost Lever Salem Oliver Brayshaw Harmes Hogan Melksham Petracca TMac Weideman Gawn Viney Tyson Jones ANB Lewis Spargo Emergencies Hunt AVB JKH

I wouldn't be taking one of our biggest strengths (a 40+ goal CHF beast) and playing him in the middle unless we were trying to get him into the game. And even then, once he gets a few touches I'd be telling him to go forward.

None of those midfields were having the same dominance that we've had though. I reckon it'll work. Jason Taylor has been building to this since he arrived. Except, unless we could trade those two top 10 picks that'd be a terrible deal for us. Lose a young gun CHF for two kids that take years to develop, while we're inside our window. Dumb list management IMO.

Only a Melbourne supporter would put it this way. ?? I think the point about all three of them offering something slightly different is a great one. I also concur that we'll set up with three talls next year too. Players like Harmes and ANB, coupled with a new speedster or two at the feet of these guys will be pretty deadly. We may well be able to get away with not having speedsters and rather just hard runners, given the mobility of the three talls we have. Hogan and Tom need to start tackling more in the forward half though. Weideman, when switched on and confident, is really good at this. Particularly, as it allows me to develop and ultimately shine, by getting the third best defender. You beat me to it, mate. Spot on. If I were Melbourne I'd still be saying, look, Jesse, if you want to play in flags and dynasty's like Geelong and Hawthorn, they all took pay cuts to stay together, so you do the same.

Equally, it might be better to play more pressure smalls in that situation. It'll be interesting to see the rule changes and the evolution of the game from there.

I reckon we can play them all in the one forwardline and we showed this earlier in the year. Jesse switching from a wing, midfield, CHF and deep forward. Tom switching from ruck, CHF, CHB (this bit will happen, despite him not being a good defender) and deep forward. Weideman switching from ruck, CHF and deep forward. The beauty of all of them is that they are mobile beasts. Weideman is terrific below his knees as he demonstrated on multiple occasions against GWS and the other two have never had a question mark over them in this regard. In fact, it's probably their key asset. I think we'll look back on Jesse's injury at the end of 2018 and see that it enabled Weideman to gain some confidence at the top level. This will be invaluable for next year when all three play together. I'm pretty sure Goodwin would have kept playing all three together in the same forwardline had we not had injuries and Weideman struggle with form. Richmond changed the face of the modern forwardline last year out of necessity and it may well snag them another flag, but I think Goodwin and his set up will transform the modern game again. Our sheer weight of numbers as we win it at the contest infused with three mobile talls. It's Adelaide 2017 on steroids.

May well have played his breakout game today. Is building really nicely. Was always in front, brought the ball to the ground when he needed to and took some nice marks. Well done, Sammy.

Why would Hannebery leave Sydney for St Kilda? Far more likely to come to Melbourne if he were to leave Sydney. St Kilda makes no sense.

Or there could be equal blame?

Paging our man @Chook in Perth. Heard anything around the traps, mate?

If only we could keep Viney out there, a midfield of Gawn, Oliver, Viney and Brayshaw is A grade if they can improve on their two-way defensive running.

Is that gronk Boomer Harvey in the media is he?

He deliberately pulled his kick because he looked up and saw Bulldogs all down the line. We were right behind it and saw what he saw. It was a deliberate skill error.

I'm confident that the club will have factored in Gus' rise. He's a top 3 pick. It's not like he's really come from the clouds. This was expected when we drafted him. He's finally starting to fulfil the potential he has and we've now invested time in him too. He'll sign and for a fair deal. This is a guy who we stuck by despite his career being on the edge of a precipice last year and even early this year. He'll sign a 2-3 year deal (it may be 3 to give himself a bit of security in case the head stuff flairs up again). As for Fritsch, he's another one who we gave a chance to through the Casey system and then backed him in through our AFL system. I can't see him playing us too hard either. As we've heard multiple times from the club since Roosy arrived, we have a no [censored] policy and good characters are sought. As long as Bayley is being paid fairly, he will not hold the club over a barrel. Which, leaves plenty of money for Gaff. The more talent we have in this side, the harder it is to fail. Gawn, Oliver and Brayshaw are starting to show some leadership, which coupled with Viney and Lever, means we have a terrific young leadership group to guide this talented side. And when Vince, Lewis and Jones go over the next 1-3 years, I'm starting to believe these guys will more than fill the void, they'll demonstrate the leadership we've been calling out for.

Oliver, Viney, Brayshaw, Petracca, supported by Gaff and Salem, all being fed by Gawn. Drool.

I'd rather play me at full back. The bloke is so overrated. Big bloke but soft.