binman

23 hours ago, The Jackson FIX said:

Bugger. I was desperate to hear what Binman is going to wear to his first board meeting

Loafers, chinos, open neck crisp pale pink shirt (new), suit jacket (expensive but looks gritty), no tie and MFC pin.

40 minutes ago, WheeloRatings said:

It's our equal highest points from defensive half after we also had 51 points against West Coast last week. It's our fifth highest points from turnover:

• 12.10.82 v Syd, R11

• 11.5.71 v WC, R21

• 10.4.64 v NM, R18

• 9.8.62 v Bris, R10

• 9.5.59 v WB, R22

The problem for us, as always is we gave up 67 points on turnover.

That's the game right there

(Funnily enough they scored 49 point from their defensive half, 2 points less than us. Taken together- ie scores from turnover and scores from defensive half - you get 6 points, which was the margin).

5 minutes ago, Ghostwriter said:

My boy Luker won’t be debuting this season. He’s not as disappointed as I thought he’d be. He said they don’t want him in his debut going up against Barrass and Battle, or Collingwood. LOL… they didn’t specify filth players, they must mean the whole side.

I was keen to see him in the ones to get a look at him. But on reflection i'd much prefer he play out the season at Casy and continue his development.

Doing so also supports Casey finishing off the season strongly which i think has an outsize importance with all that has gone on. A strong finish by Casey puts a pep in everyone's step, partic if we also have a strong start to our AFLW season.

And it creates an opportunity for our young players to gel, develop their own game and have a shared experience they can carry forward in their time at the dees. Plus it creates an opportunity for Fullerton to continue to thrive down back which could be a lifeline for his AFL career.

@Ghostwriter do you know if Kolt, Sharp and Howes are eligible to play VFL finals (i'm assuming Cullley is)?

4 minutes ago, Sideshow Bob said:

Too early to start the "Is Nathan Buckley the right guy" thread??

No.

But can we modernise and call the thread "Is Nathan Buckley the right person?"

1 hour ago, Ghostwriter said:

Fitting typo 😂

I wish i could say it was deliberate,

Actually stuff it - it was deliberate!

12 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

If this is referring to me, you’re helping me out. We’ve quietly enough put 85 on GC, 90 on St Kilda (who love to stifle their opponent) and 99 on the Dogs (bad defence but a much better side than us overall). Plus everyone gets to play the bad sides (and whilst we got North twice, we got smacked by them the first time).

My point really is that I doubt many on here would think of our 2025 as being high scoring to the point of being 10th overall.

I think jnr was responding to my post that we have averaged 92 points in our 7 games since the bye

But your point remains valid, everyone gets to play the bottom sides. And besides our high scores in the game against the roos and Eagles was a function of our method and being attacking.

Is also note that that strech of games included our game against the blues which was played in wet and windy conditions.

I5s interesting that we are 10th for total scores but are also 18th for accuracy.

That inaccuracy could well have been the final nail in Goody's coffin.

7 hours ago, DeeGee said:

I don’t get why many on here pot Viney as much as they do. Sure - his season this year hasn’t been his best but he is our reigning B&F so he’s not totally useless.

Good reminder about Jack being rhe reigning beast and fairest.

He's a terrific player, a warrior, not to mention a heart and soul player who bleeds red and blue.

For me the issue is as a mid he is a first class butcher, which is compunded by the fact he cant get deprh on his kicks.

That wouldn't actually matter much if the other key mids were all elite ball users, leaving Jack to be the in an under grunt player all midfield need (eg libba).

The problem is of the regular mids only koz is an above average kick, and as we saw on Sunday even he turns the ball over too often.

Tracc and Clarry are both horrible kicks overy any distance unless less than 50 metres. Windsor is playing mid but his kicking us also hit and miss.

Rivers last year, but is also a butcher (tgough does get depth woth his kicks) and realistically can't go into a midfield that has viney, tracc and claz in it.

For me the logical role for Viney is a high pressure small forward who occasionally tags an oppo gun mid.

We need such a player, particularly if koz is going to be a full time mid. He has the discipline fir the role, would be frightening for oppo defenders and actually has pretty good hoal sense.

He is also a much better set shot than field kick and I'd he does turn it over at least it's deep on our forward line not thru the centre.

And if Jack goes forward it frees up a midfield spot, which I reckon should be filled by Lindsay who is a beautiful kick, had the ability to weight passes, is tough and has played as a mid at junior level.

2 hours ago, nextskipclaz said:

I come from the point of view of

1: behavioural science ala Chase Hughes 'The Behaviour Ops' and

2: ancient chinese philosophy of Taoism - which describes such events as even 1 or 2 pieces of a whole destabilising the potential of the whole, and USUALLY these 1 or 2 pieces are only subtly perceptible.

and what I think Chandler has brought into our team is subtle but widely detrimental. His raison d'etre on the field (unlike a Mcvee, Windsor, Langford even Rivers) is unstable, uncertain, and pretend (always 'trying' to show' his made of the right stuff, without actually just BEING the right stuff.

And because he has such an enthusiastic energy, his hesitant and insecure playing style (both with ball in hand and when running around 'defending' is MUCH harder to read for the average supporter.

He is not providing the Alex Neal Bullen type honesty and APPROPRIATE enthusiasm. It is all INAPPROPRTIATE enthusiasm and while it looks good while we're up, it only breeds an AVERAGE in-game responses when the heat is on, when we are under true adversity, and when the game is there to be won.

Many will say: Kade Chandler is the least of our problems.

My philosophy of subtle energetics and behavioural imitation in groups (mimetics) makes Kade Chandler A BIG MOLE and a dsignificant problem for our culture that should be head down bum up and less flighty [censored] gesticulating , random celebrating, and then just NOT IMPACTING the [censored] game bar a 'cheeky goal' (which UNFORTUNATELY is the only thing most clueless fans care about)

Are you Dermott Brereton?

Roos:

"I think Melbourne is a different kettle of fish," he told the ABC AFL Daily podcast.

"I think they're way better than people are giving them credit for. If you get the right off-season moves, I'll go on the record, they could win a flag next year. Not the year after, they could win a flag next year. 

"They've got 14-16 premiership players on their list right now. They won a premiership in 2021, they're not super old, so I think this is a different one."

"If I'm someone like a Nathan Buckley, I'm not taking this job to resurrect this team. I'm taking this job to win a premiership in the next two to three years," Roos said.

"That's the mandate, for me."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-11/afl-paul-roos-melbourne-premiership-coach-hunt-buckley/105639016

21 minutes ago, sue said:

Surely that was a one-off set play which would be dangerous to repeat and a surprise to the oppos. If they saw Gawn heading to the centre again...... Probably also done to give Jed some fun in his first game. After that a return to kick-ins as usual is not surprising. But it would be worth doing more than once a game if it was planned carefully to ensure we controlled the middle and all players including backs were on board.

They did the exact same play last week with Bowey kicking it to Maxy from a kick out, maxy marks (curiously on his chestvlike yesterday) handball to a receiver who kicked it to Melk who went back and kicked the set shot.

7 hours ago, beelzebub said:

Maybe the mind set etc..

You're not stupid... don't act it

Really?

Oh yeah, different directive - the mindset.

Boys play better footy today. Play with a different mindset. Be different to last week. And the week before that. And the week before that. Hell, play different to how we have since the bye!

What's that Max? Ok sure, you've averaged 97 points since the bye, coming off the highest score of the season, including a 10 goal quarter. Sure, it snowed in Haddes the last time we scored 10 goals in a quarter. But i want a different mindset - be even MORE attacking.

5 hours ago, Fork 'em said:

Pre-game on MMM Chaplin declared they planned to be more attacking.
And I thought .... Good.

More attacking than the previous week where we kicked 10 goals in a quarter, had our highest score for the season, scored 3 goals from a kick out and repeatedly went thru the corridor - including a carbon copy of the play down the middle yesterday (ie kick out to Max in the centre square, who gives off to a running player and kicks inside 50)

And two weeks after going all out attack against the Saints for three quarter, kicking 13.8 by 3 quarter time?

23 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

Here's one.

We know there's a top 9 and a bottom 9 this year.

The top 9 scoring sides this year are, funnily enough, the top 9 on the ladder.

Guess who's 10th?

You guessed it - us.

Would you instinctively believe we're the 10th highest scoring side in 2025?

To be perfectly honest, 100% yes.

Completely aligns with the fact that, as i have been at pains to point out, we have really improved our transition and ball movement this season, particularly post bye - our average score in the 7 games post bye is 92 points.

Our increased scoring is function of that improved ball movement and Goody deserves credit for his work implementing a different method, one that is really different to a method that brought senior players a flag.

24 minutes ago, beelzebub said:

Game plan ? Well you were never going to get an overly different game plan. Funny you say that as I DIDN'T.

What i referred to were the nuances .

There was , imo, certainly a different directive out of the coaches box.

If you feel compelled to hang onto Goodwin that's your call.

Different directive from the coaches box?

Do prey tell, what was that?

11 hours ago, Hopeful Demon said:

It was a shame about the final outcome and I really wish we would sort out our inability to win close games but I actually really enjoyed today. We played fast, free flowing and daring football. I haven't seen us play with such an attacking mindset all year.

I'd much rather lose a game trying something new than repeatedly losing games playing the exact same style.

Whatever people think about Goody's sacking I really hope that false narratives and myths don't take hold on Demonland.

The post above is an example of such false narratives.

We have been playing fast, transition footy all season and playing with an attacking mindset all season. In fact it's been one of our problems - we don't have the cattle to not cough up huge scores on turnover, as we did again yesterday.

Tactically and method wise, yesterday's game was no different to how we've played all season, particularly since the bye.

In fact, we have been really improving our transition game in the second half of the year, as evidenced by a raft of stats, for example scores from defensive half.

I mean we did some of our best transition and ball movement all season in 7 of our previous 8 quarters before yesterday's game,

8 minutes ago, Garbo said:

Cully another great game always gives 110%, makes you wonder how many other players have been stuck in the vfl that haven’t been able to get a game due to goodwins loyalty to the premiership team that could also have what it takes

Let the rewriting of history begin.

9 minutes ago, BoBo said:

Would Maxy (or any senior Ruck) have input with the mids coach as to the set up? Or is there no collaboration and it’s totally dictated too by said coach?

I would be shocked if they didn't, particularly maxy.

But it's not Maxy's job to coach them and ensure they are so well drilled they could set up with their eyes closed. Or for that matter to coach mids not to get caught behind their opponent.

5 minutes ago, Maldonboy38 said:

Re Gawn's ruck work in the last quarter, have a 2nd look. On most occasions he tapped to the exact correct place, but our mids were a step behind, and/or the Dog's mids were reading it off his hand. Our setup and system 3-5 metres off contested ball was really poor today, so I reckon our midfield woes rest on the shoulders of the mids, not the ruck.

I reckon the responsibility for our midfield woes, today and all season, in large part falls to Jones, who is charge of stoppages and the other midfield coach (whose name escapes me - Sam ratcliff?).

Our set up and structures have been woeful all season.

I went to a player sponsor event last year and Maxy was on our table. I was talking to him about stats and whether he is into them. Short answer is yes (he noted every player has access to an app with the full stats the club keep, team wide and for each player - he showed me the app on his phone).

I asked him if hitouts is the most useless stat in footy - leading question but he agreed.

But of more interest he volunteered that by far his least favourite stat was hitout to advantage as it's dependent on the mids being in the right spot - that's to say he hits it to a designated spot on the clock (his phrase) and a mid is supposed to be there.

In games that's mainly on the mids but it also comes down to how the midfield coach sets up structures etc and how well drilled and coached the mids are.

9 minutes ago, sue said:

Good grief. Can you list 3 things that the Goodwin era has done right? Even one would impress.

Goody being sacked and getting bagged for not selecting Lindsay when he's no longer at the club at Casey is peak Cranky

My only feedback would be to narrow down the focus as governance, transparency and accountability are interrelated but separate things.

Ideas covering all three areas run the risk of being too broad and nor sufficiently targeted.

Transparency relates to communication and governance is very broad.

I'd recommend constructive ideas on how the MFC can be improve its level accountability to its fans and members.

18 hours ago, picket fence said:

He is massively overated IMO

Good lord you post some nonsense.

8 minutes ago, Demonstone said:

Horse scratched.

Bit more time in the paddock before returning for the Tasmanian Cup.

My take on the next coach:

Short version:

Despite my misgivings about Buckley i think appointing him coach would be a good move and i'll fully back him in if they do.

Long version:

I'm ambivalent about Buckley. He was a famously defensive coach that, yes came close to a flag but was sacked on the back of a woeful season and his replacement turned much the same list into a competitive unit immediately.

And the knock on him as a coach was that he wasn't a great manager of people and had a propensity to judge others by the myopic, hyper driven standards he set for himself as a player.

Add to that I've never much liked him.

Against those misgivings i think the following counter arguments hold significant weight:

• Personally i think we need to go with an experienced coach like Buckley or Longmire that has gravitas and would not need to 'earn' the respect of players the way any new coach would

• I agree with Goodwin and Langdon that we're actually not far away from being a contender again, meaning we are not in full rebuild mode - a scenario that suits an experienced coach

• (on that point, the fact that Buckley is even interested suggests he also believes we are not far from being a contender - no chance he is up for years long rebuild like McQualter and Yze)

• An experienced candidate like Buckley or Longmire would also have the power, within limits, to call the shots on key hiring and firing decisions which will be important as we need a broom

• Buckley would demand veto on assistant coaches and no doubt create his own team of line coaches, something that i think is very much needed (ie new assistant coaches)

• I think some tough calls also need to me made about our high performance program - Bucks, who was ahead of his time on the fitness front, will have firm views in that space and I suspect would drive change

• It is reasonable to think Mcrae built on the foundation Buckley built - I think that's particularly true in regards to driving training standards

• They were clearly already a super fit team when Mcrae took over and their success under Mcrae's would simply not have been possible without that base given his method is so aerobically taxing

• Landing Buckley soon would go a long way to assuage my concerns the executive made an ill considered, vibe based decision to both sack goody and do so three games from the end of the season

• Many have noted Buckley has mellowed and he himself has acknowledged he has to chill a bit in terms of his interactions with players, particularly those that are perhaps less driven than he was as a player

• He was on a bit of a hiding to nothing at the Pies as the whole legend player becomes coach of their team narrative arc often has an unhappy ending (Voss being one such example)

• Buckley is unquestionably a good media operator and whilst it would be great if that wasn't such an important KPI for s senior coach the reality is it is - particularly for a club that has relied on the senior coach and captain to front the media for the last three years

So, all things considered I hope we land Buckley and I'll fully back him in if they do.

There would certainly be an irony in Buckley coming in and having immediate success with a team that had struggled in the previous two seasons.

By the by, in terms of choosing bucks, or indeed any coach, I'm of the view that whilst the coach is of course important the impact of an AFL coach is hugely over rated.

I'm more concerned the clubs sorts its governance and get the high performance stuff right.

33 minutes ago, Cranky Franky said:

Worst list management decision ever by us.

Weed says hi

It will be Sparg's call but we do not have the luxury of trading out a player who is far and away our best kick inside 50.