spalding

Yep it was a free - exactly the same as the airy josh Jenkins had in the middle of the ground earlier in the game (which was ruled okay on)

Been handy in the last 2 weeks with vineys absence. I haven’t noticed him being caught with the ball as much or turning it over by foot. Perhaps his brief at Casey was to give the first option by hand and avoid the dump kick out of the packs. It seems to me our individual development is working really well. Stretch (run and take the game on) JKH (tackling and defensive running) and Tyson (disposal) have all looked more like AFL standard after a period at Casey.

Make that the last 4 goals. Gws have gone from being in control to in the headlights. Seems like it’s not just us.

Last 2 goals for port caused by umpires - crowd now up, intensity up. Where have I seen this before?

Not sure how it will end up after the roller coaster that the next 5 weeks will be, but I think that it is becoming clearer that richmond and eagles are the likely gf if they finish 1-2, but collingwood and gws are the danger. I think we are the next best, and the clearest risk to the above 4 - if we can make the 8. Port have seriously loaded up to have a go this year, but are kidding themselves and will fall short, and Geelong are squeezing the last drops out of their top end talent before the inevitable slide that hawthorn have undertaken. Sydney are beaten up, and can’t be carried by their kids (like we can). Let’s hope the hawks get Tom Lynch so they have more years of mediocrity until they bottom out - the pies and Richmond are going to be hard enough for us to beat in the next few years

No-one below the age of 28 did much for Geelong. We will own them in the years to come. whilst they weren’t our best players Spargo, Fritsch and Smith all showed they weren’t overawed. Whilst there were a few mistakes, all had some pretty good moments. Harmes has improved a heap this year, and his development as a run with player could be crucial. i will get abuse for this, but with the exception of umpire no13, I didn’t think we suffered at the hands of the umpires as badly as I was expecting. At least it wasn’t as bad as the port game. Maybe we will start to get a better run as we get recognised as one of the better teams.

In 2019 I will do something I haven’t done before. put on some decent size bets on demons for the premiership, top4 and top8 and no13 to win the Brownlow.

This omac witch hunt is just crap. the game plan was working at 3 quarter time. We were beating the cats with their preferred system of play - and although Hawkins was dangerous, he was their only forward. Remember Rd 1 - where he was quiet but Menzel and others got off the chain. tne cats rolled the dice at 3 quarter time and went to all out attack at the stoppages - which worked. Omac was isolated versus Hawkins and got smashed, but just about every full back would have been. He needed more support from either some midfield defence or a spare in the hole. We were too slow to adapt. Hibberd probably would have make a difference here, and been a fair chance to spoil Tuohy. i think his first 50 games have at least been the equal of his brother - and his decision making and disposal is much, much better. I wish some of his teammates showed his composure with his mark and kick in the last couple of minutes. A couple more years and 5-10 kg and he will be our version of Daniel Talia - who is the cornerstone of the crows defence and an all Australian.

I’ve been quite impressed with Harmes when he has played back as well. Did very well when he covered for lever the first time we played the Dogs. May be an option too. Like Brayshaw, his improvement from the start of the year to now has been significant. It’s why we shouldn’t be categoric about how good (or bad) a player is until they have played 50 games.

Not a bad winning percentage either. I think he is 8 wins from 9 games.

I really hope you’re right - but the way he puts his body on the line every week I worry about his longevity

only clarry possibly has him covered for clean hands, and he is arguably our best kick. He and Spargo have been great pick-ups and will be a key part of our growth and development (which is far from complete). whilst demonland has been its usual bipolar self in reactions to wins and losses, I still think we are continuing to build nicely. Unfortunately it will probably be too late for chunk and nev, but when the likes of Fritsch and Spargo have played 50 games I think we will be peaking. no doubt there will be lots of dummy spitting happening before we get there.

If we bring the same effort as last nights game to the rest of the year we can win any game anywhere. we need more science with our forward entries, but last nights game was finals intensity - around 100 tackles to 90, so it was never going to be clean entries. port primed themselves for this game, bought their maximum intensity for the full game, and still needed the rub of the (men in) green and crowd to win it. would love another crack at them in a final anytime anywhere. I think we have heaps more upside than they do.

I think the issue is more about the quality of the older experienced guys - who boost up the average. Jones, Jetta and Hibberd would probably get games with the better teams, but I doubt Vince, Lewis, Pedo, and maybe even Garlett would. Compare this to Sydney, Richmond, Geelong and their oldest players are champions. More clearly for us than perhaps anyone else besides Carlton and Brisbane, our best players (or potential champions) are less 23. having said all that I’m sick of bloody waiting like everyone else!

On my way to the dawn service I got a text from a Richmond tragic mate of mine (who is the most emotionally and financially invested supporter I know), who said “chin up mate, it can turnaround real quick, trust me, it does seem darkest before the dawn”. He’s really good mates with Peggy O’neil and also commented about how much pressure she, Brendan Gale and Dimmer were under 18 months ago. He says that their inner sanctum really rates the Demons in the mid to longer term and this is why. last night their experienced leaders, probably with the exception of Houli were not dominant - but still played at the minimum standard you expect each week. This includes the big 4 plus Grimes, Edwards, Grigg etc. Melbourne have no equivalent (yet), except for Jones and Hibberd They think melbourne players don’t trust their system (yet) - too many fly in the backline, too many sucked into the immediate contest. They implicitly trust each not to be beaten in the contest - so don’t all fly in the backline, don’t all get sucked to the ball or into a tackle but start to spread etc. its not such a leg speed issue but speed of ball movement - no fumbles, no hestitation to move (trust again) after telling him to go and gf, he said that with the complete confidence and trust they have a heap of guys that he thought were spuds (grigg, houli, mckintosh, lambert, Lloyd) who actually look good now their in a good team. As angry as i was last night I still think there is enough for us to work with. I’ve been a member for 35 years, and 6 weeks before the 1987 finals. Suddenly the young guys clicked and we played finals for 5 years (and missed a golden chance in 1990). I think this will happen again - hopefully starting this year. for all those who have said they are chucking it in, as I felt like last night, I hope you can hang in there

It’s all about midfield depth people!

Exactly - there has been a lot of things that need fixing in the first 3 games. From Goodys presser he and everyone at the club knows it. Yet we have won two games and lost one to a team that will play finals by a kick. A pass mark so far, but the next 3 games will tell us a lot. as we have seen in the last 2 years you need to win enough games to get in the finals and hope to hit peak form in September. It’s only April so it’s good to bank the wins without playing that well. we got a lot of improving to do - but let’s enjoy the ride!

Maybe we paid overs, but let’s revisit this in a year or two. i keep thinking of Alex Rance’s first 3-4 years. His disposal was average at best, and he struggled as a one on one defender. Now he is easily the best defender in the league and the Tigers would not have won a premiership without him.

They haven't given up much to have a shot at the title, so their strategy is perfectly understandable, but I think they will crash hard after the next year or two. Boak, Ryder, Gray and Westhoff are all 30+ next season, and Ebert, Broadbent, Hartlett. Dixon and Jonas are all around 28. So who is left to lead the club, besides Wines, after that/ Watts, Motlop and Rockliff? Probably not a good sample, but gee their backline looked poor to me when we played them at the MCG. Nothing has improved in regard to their defensive pressure from this year's recruits.

I vote for this as the best post of the 200 pages.

Exactly This message would have been delivered at his exit interview. Probably not for the first time in his career. he was told to consider his options outside mfc. jack would have been hurt - probably surprised, and felt victimised as his loyality wasn't being rewarded. Unfortinately for jack the club's standards are being raised - and the coaching stuff doesn't believe he can lift his standards to the level required once this happened it was always going to be in the public domain (visiting other clubs - such as the doorstop interview in Adelaide) via his manager, jack is pleading his case in public - just as much as the club is. I'm not sure who started this, but there is no way it couldn't be in the public domain if jack has been told to look for other options. this is now an emotional debate amongst us all - but I can't see how Goodwin or the club can be accused of making a mistake or being unprofessional. It couldn't play out any other way once that message was delivered. The only downside for the club, besides the angst of supporters (which will be temporary if the club continues to improve), of what is happening now is a possible slight reduction of jacks trade value. The upside is that we get into an auction that gets us what we want/need for other trade targets, or jack ends up staying because we don't get want we want and his near death experience (in a football sense) sees a change in attitude that results in him delivering on the FDs expectations. It's a decent risk/reward imo. So, do we have the stomach to make the hard calls to be an elite organisation? Looks like the Footy department does - but it's going to be harder for us supporters (who are probably more emotionally invested in individuals like Jack). too many brackets and hyphens - (sorry!)

If what GNF said is true, then the key to this whole debate, imo, is who was behind that fluff piece with channel 7 re queens birthday a week or so ago. if not club sanctioned, or if Goodwin wasn't aware or advised of the content, it would seem like an effort by jack/manager to gain support from some inside the club and those outside (like us) for him to stay after getting some home truths at his 2017 exit interview. Perhaps he was spooked by this and what has happened with stringer. if he is playing politics we have no choice but to seperate him from this playing group. having said all that, I would love him to be contrite in the background begging for one last chance from the coaches/leadership group, putting in place a mentor etc to push him to where he needs to get to. I know that I am probably in fantasyland, and that if he could change he would have by now, but I'd love him to have the ultimate success with us - but perhaps those outcomes are mutually exclusive.

interesting seems like he doesn't want to get out of his comfort zone and that living in Melbourne is a priority over footballing opportunity.

Like many here I am emotionally invested in Jack Watts and would like for him to be part of a successful MFC team after all he has been through. but there will be no successful MFC team if there are any passengers who do not commit 100% - plus our emerging talent has to see that they cannot take any shortcuts and be elite no matter how much talent you have. so either jack has just been given a massive rocket (and shock) and commits totally to the rest of his career at MFC, or more likely, we get something useful in a trade AND the rest of the playing group sees that this football administration is ruthless in its pursuit of success - so they can get on board or be moved on. If any of the players don't like it they will be moved on as well. emotionally I would grieve a bit if Jack goes, but I love the club more, and I wrapt that I think we are finally doing what needs to be done to be successful - rather than a nice club that perennially makes up the numbers.

We're much too quick to write off kids. Only a few freaks have much impact before they have played 30-40 games such as Clarrie and Petracca. stretch showed enough in his first 20 games to suggest he will be ok when his confidence is up. For example when he had the shot on goal (on the run) to put us in front versus the hawks last year his confidence was up and you knew it was a goal before he kicked it. at moment he is second guessing himself and fumbling under pressure. He seemed much more composed last year when he probably felt more secure in the team: ANB was the same earlier in the year - but now he has confidence he is much more composed, taking the instinctive option rather than second guessing himself, and seems to cut out the errors. Harmes is similar. Both these guys now look like good like long term told players who can supplement our potential stars. i think our depth will be a real weapon for a serious tilt at a premiership in 2-3 years. Stretch definitely has a role to play in this regard