The Chazz

I would actually say that he is the most versatile of our mids. Can play inside, outside, and can go forward and hit the scoreboard. You would expect/hope Petracca would become our most versatile in due course, but Dom has him, and the rest of them, covered for versatility at this stage. I mentioned recently that Tyson reminds me of Bartel in that he will likely get pushed out of the inside mids group, not because he is significantly weaker than the others, but more that he can play just as effective in other roles. If by some fluke we were able to get Kelly, I would love to see Purple's face when the trade is signed off, given how vocal he was when the initial trade of Tyson/Pick 9 for Pick 2 took place.

My biggest disappointment in the $cummy situation was that I allowed myself to believe him. Learnt that lesson, hence why I never believed Frawley would stay. These sort of things are pretty clear when you let yourself see them.

I think that's what has impressed me over the past couple of years, it's our ability to know where we have some deficiencies, then we go out and do something about it by targeting specific players. Examples; When Frawley was on the way out, we had to make sure we got maximum return, which netted us Brayshaw, while we went searching for a replacement, which was why we chased Frost. We did all this while playing Frawley up forward, which meant we could still spend a season developing our backline without him in it. Not long after that we realised that we needed better foot speed and kicking coming out of half back. We chased Melksham to do this, and in turn, Hibberd as well. We got both our targets. There are other, lower profile examples (Bugg). I didn't include Lewis because that was out of left field. We did all that while stocking up on the best "top end talent" available. What the football department has done over the past 3-4 years has been simply incredible.

Welcome to Demonland, Robbo.

Depends on the position. Could be Trengove. Could be JKH. Could be ANB. Could be Kennedy.

I said a few years ago that Tyson would make some of our other midfielders look good, and still am of that opinion. He's almost got a bit of Jimmy Bartel about him. Very selfless, can bring other players in to the game. I rarely go the early crow, but I've seen enough of Dom to know he will be a regular best player for us for many years.

It was shoulder surgery, not lap band!!!

I was thinking the opposite actually. Thought with him dropping a couple of kegs, and building his tank, it might make him a very appealing 2nd ruck option. He's always good for a contest, so if he can make more ruck contests because of an increase in fitness, then it has to help keep Watts forward.

Stay, any idea if there is an intraclub game this year?

U18 coaches are renowned for pumping up kids. I know one at the Rebels who thought Lucas Cook would be a star for us.

I've heard the total opposite from guys that played with both at Edenhope.

We will be the first ones that he turns down? So much for being a "destination club"!

It's an understandable stance, but reality is, there will be a leadership group, so best you start thinking of a few other players to add to the list!

If Gawn goes down, and we rely on Spencer to take ruck duties, we need to do these two things; 1. Spencer needs to compete. He doesn't need to dominate, just compete. Gawn was the number 1 ruckman in the league in 2016. He rarely lowered his colours, and dominated a majority of the finalists. Point is, they still managed to play finals with a ruck that didn't dominate every week. 2. If Spencer can compete, then our mids need to be smarter, and start reading the opposition ruck, especially now there is no third man up happening. Sharking opposition rucks is something that the good teams do, actually, even poor teams do it (see Carlton v Melbourne this year). This is where Craig Jennings (Game Analyst) and Ben Mathews (Stoppage Coach) will need to earn their money. While it would be preferred that Max didn't go down, we follow the above two points and there's no reason finals can't still be achieved.

I'm glad the "a" wasn't autocorrected with "u"!!!!!

I think some players just need to focus on their game, and be the best they can be. The likes of Jetta fits that category in my view. He's the unofficial leader of our indigenous boys (albeit not a huge group), so that's an important role for him. I mean all that in a "nice, lovey-dovey" way, not a "Jetta's not a leader" way! At this stage I would have the likes of Watts and Tyson in said group.

Capt - Jones V/C - Viney LG - Gawn, Lewis, McDonald, Vince That's all it needs to be (I would actually give Vince the opportunity to decide if he wants to be in it or not). Lewis doesn't need to be in the top 2 positions to still be able to use his voice. I'm sure any player is encouraged to speak up at any time, especially if they are walking the talk.

Channel 7 will be doing games. Not sure if it's all games, but saw them advertising the other day that they will be televising the women's league.

I've always thought Fed Square would be the best place - it's central, accessible, and there's always something happening in that area. I've also always said that they should sell MFC merchandise where the Tour of the MCG ends. They may well sell stuff there, but it's an ideal place to have some apparel available to purchase there.

Don't be too sure of that, Ross. Have recently had friends from O/S staying in CBD Melbourne. They wanted to by a MFC polo shirt, and could not find one anywhere. Every time they come over (once or twice a year), they will buy a Melbourne Storm top. They have even been in to some of the general sports stores in the CBD and reckon they can't find a MFC top anywhere. As others have posted similar stories, I've been to the USA a couple of times in the past few years, and each time I've been, I've bought something team related from the city I have been to (i.e. Yankees cap and Knicks singlet while in New York, Maple Leafs shirt with in Toronto). If you're a sports nut, and you're a tourist, you will often spend money on apparel. Also, I couldn't tell you the last time I went to the Dees store (I can't actually tell you if I've EVER been). I can assure you, if there was one in the CBD, I'd visit it every time I was in town (coming from Geelong).

Stuie, while I did question your source, it was more pointing out that it was part of a chain of events that went from a general rumour (which may in fact be true), to Kent having another hamstring related injury. Just highlighting how a rumour can get twisted so much, so quickly, with so little solid information. FWIW, if I had solid information to pass on, I would do it, and I don't need your permission to do so. Good day.

No disrespect Dub, but we've gone from a rumour that 'stuie' heard/read about Kent's back (source unconfirmed, possibly via Facebook) , to you jumping to issues about his hamstrings, to this... Offseason is alive and well!!!

I believe Peter Highman will be in Melbourne that weekend and will need a lift back to Perf. You could try and work something out there?

I cringed when I read that. Have we not learnt our lesson from previous doses of the Messiah Syndrome?

We play the "censored" at Etihad too... (Presuming you mean Geelong?)