binman

A good idea i think. He will be a player, of that i have no doubt. But he way down on confidence it would seem. One of his strengths as a junior was attacking the ball in the air and crunching packs. Playing at CHB for a while in the VFL will enable him to attack the ball in the air without the pressure of having to clunk the mark. And his KP would be to negate the opposition forward which if he can do might build his confidence. It is cliche but none the less true for being so (which i guess is why it is a cliche!) but key position forwards take time, even the high draft picks. Look at Patton, Boyd, McMartin, Moore etc, etc. Hogan is a total outlier. Plenty of time for Weed to come good. We may not even see hi play regular senior footy for a couple of seasons. Which is fine. Pedo is good insurance.

Still waiting for goddard. To not be a [censored]. By the ash i agree, his passion is admirable but his on field body language and his propensity to berate team mates has akways shst me

Some bands only release their music on cassete. Obscure bands

Good post. It absolutely takes time for a game plan to become second nature to a team. We are probably at least a season away form that being the case. Some argue that Bevo got the dogs to that space within a season but i don't think that is true. He was very much building on the model and game plan Macca put in place, with a focus on the so called 'building from the contest out' philosophy, then all spreading super hard. In some ways despite the fact it wasn't a planned transition like Roos to Goodwin their development is very similar to ours (well ours to theirs to be fair). ATM, when it does it does 'click' in game it looks automatic and can be devastating. We hold the ball up and then go bang and move it so quickly down the ground. Great to watch and is the reason i think we have been able to peg back 4 or 5 goal leads so often this year as we can score quickly and in bunches, which is critical as the good teams make use of the periods they have momentum. But then we have periods where it doesn't click and teams can get some easy goals over the top of our press. Its amazing actually i was looking at the ladder in the Age and our lowest winning total thus far is 22 and i'm guessing our average winning score is around 30. Which is pretty impressive.At some point we will click early and stay switched on really put a side to the sword. All that said i think our biggest issue is turnovers. It is an issue we have to sort out. We have too many of the unforced variety (with our manic, flip it around approach a certain level of turnovers are inevitable).

Yes i assumed you were joking. But to paraphrase my favourite film, only a true hipster would deny his hipstervinity. And not having an ipad is post rock ironic and therefore proves your hipster credentials. Do you ever shop at the organic shop in Thornbury village?

I was thinking exactly the same thing. I'd add we struggle in the rain too. I wonder if it is because we are in the early stages of bedding down our game plan under Goody and so it is isn't yet 100% instinctive and until such time as it is it is hard to make the sort in game adjustments good teams make when the weather throws a curve ball.

Are you a real person?

And as Ashton has so reasonably said on any number of occasion you can't address societies issues through arrests. A great example of the problem of the 'law and order agenda' and 'get tough on crime' platitudes is the failure of this government to make the correct policy choice and trial (or god forbid just implement it without a trial, given the evidence of efficacy is crystal clear) a safe injecting facility in Richmond. They are too frighted to be seen as weak on crime so instead leave it up to the police, paramedics, health services and local residents to deal with the problem of people shooting up in the alleyways and dying in their neighborhood. In the 1990s Victoria became one of the first jurisdictions in the world to provide clean and free needles to injecting drug users. Why? Because it was good policy. Leaving aside the moral argument about a communities responsibility to keep its citizens healthy and saving lives it made economic sense. It stopped the spread of HIV in its tracks and dramatically slashed the number of people with Hep C. Both of these diseases are incredibly expensive to treat. In the intervening two decades or so that decision has saved Victoria billions in health care. And for this reason the Needle Exchange model has been adopted in all states and territories in Australia and in hundred of cities around the world, even in many US cities. It is crazy to think that if proposed now the Needle Exchange program would likely not get up for the same reason that the safe injecting room is not being supported - it is might be seen as not tough on crime and legitmising drug use. Crazy stuff. As an example of the craziness not one government in Australia, labor or Liberal would roll these needle exchange programs back now. To do so would cost them way to much money in increased health costs.

Not that close to Coburg i would have thought - but the hipsters do like to be seen getting their falafels and multi cultural vibe up the Coburg end of Sydney road! I lived in Thornbury for several years in te early 2000s and it wasn't hipster central yet. But you could tell it was not far away. had to laugh the other day reading about the hipster fungas spreading up high Street to and across Bell Street into Preston - an area that a long way from hipsterville when i lived in Thornbury

Hogan will be an interesting one. The magpies would be unlikely you'd have to think but the following game would have to be a chance as it gives him two and half weeks to get into the routine of training.

I don't envy your son in law iva. The police are not just the frontline of ensuring the public's safety they are also the front line and patsy for the puerile and frankly dangerous political posturing on both sides of politics of the 'get tough on crime' song and dance. A pathetic situation that is being fueled by the Hun (who before our very noses are shaping our key social policies) and run hard by the Liberal party because it is the only chance they have of winning the next election and then of course matched by the labor party who want to avoid losing the next election. Result? Poor policy. That does not work.

Coburg is hipster central? Times have changed.

'Fellow big man Jake Spencer is closer to a return than Gawn, with the back-up ruckman completing the majority of the drills with the main training group. Spencer did not join in the contact-based match simulation transition drills, but moved well early in training as the Dees had a focus on skills and moving the footy in tight spaces.' 11 days out from the game and by the sounds of it did almost the whole session. Plenty of time for introducing contact drills.

From that sounds pretty likely Spencer will be good to go against the pies.

A good review from anna harrington, who i think used to work at the dees? https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=/amp/s/coupler.foxsports.com.au/api/v1/article/amp/afl/midseason-report-card-melbourne-in-midtable-position-despite-loss-of-key-players-through-injury/news-story/2f3b01e4afae837d947d5912e5abb441&ved=0ahUKEwib5fCZ_5vUAhXFE5QKHY8dCcYQFggvMAE&usg=AFQjCNE_IQoDMEo7L0R4EZh8KYz4jNyzuw&sig2=9vXGw0ZPlHAvhfEBq86vvA

Yep points for trying a different lens for the review to the season thus far. But not sure it works. But applying the golf analogy to the team as whole how about: The season represents a major golf tournament (Demons1858, a professional golf tournament involves four rounds of golf, with the lowest score winning). Perhaps the US Open, which is arguably the most difficult to win because they make the course super hard, for example by letting the the rough grow really long, making the fairways super narrow and choosing ridiculously tough courses. The winning score of this tournament will be 4 under par (-4). Remember it is a tough tournament to win. After two rounds, the halfway mark, one third of the field is cut. In our tournament that means one third of the teams are cut as they cannot make the finals. Four over is the cut mark. The dees have made the cut. At this stage of the tournament the Crows lead at 4 under and are deserved favorites. GWS are second at 3 under and a group of other teams are at 1 under. The Lions have been cut with a score of 9 over. The teams 1 under or better are in good positions to finish top 8. The demons are at 1 over, five from the lead and unlikely to win the title. The last rounds are always harder and will be for us. Pin positions are trickier and the pressure builds. Though crazy things can happen. Last year the tournament was won at 4 under by a team that came from even with the card after two rounds, so it can be done. We have had some good holes but missed a couple of short putts we should have made, put a couple of balls in the deep rough and missed a couple of opportunities to take advantage of good drives. We have left at least 2 or 3 shots out there. We have been inconsistent and at times our aggression has meant we have found ourselves in the rough. On some of those occasions we have down well to get out of trouble and save par. We have a good caddy. Our statistics show we are doing most things well but still miss too many targets to really be pushing for a win. But still, we are some chance of making the top 8, which was our pre tournament goal. We will need to get to 1 under to finish the tournament in the top 8. To do that we will need to make all those short putts and stay out of the rough. If we do finish top 8 we will be well positioned for the next 2 or 3 majors to come out on top. Here is a better review, form our caddy: http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2017-06-01/goodwin-eager-for-second-half-of-season

Same here. Though 99.9% of people know that having a mental health issue says zero about someone's mental strength. Well perhaps not zero. It suggests perhaps they are in fact likely to be very mentally strong given how difficult it can be to live with mental health issues. By the by the sun in dag control: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/more-news/herald-sun-chief-football-writer-mark-robinson-apologises-for-alex-fasolo-tweet/news-story/de44beae7097ce7e4e5a3b93120cb7a7 What a moron. They shouldn't let him file his articles from the pub.

Agree. I'd add mentally weak players don't gut run the way Watts does or consistently take the risks Watts often takes with his kicking, for example kicking into the corridor. Yes he has the skills to do it but it take mental strength to take that risk as often as he does and block out the fear of making a mistake that could cost us a goal, particularly given the scrutiny he has always faced and that fact that some football fans seem to revel in any mistake he makes. The other thing that takes mental strength is backing up week in week out in one of the most physically taxing professional sports. I have made this point before but Watts must incredibly resilient and obviously very professional in terms of how he prepares and recovers. Since his debut in mid 2009 the dees have played somewhere in the vicinity of 176 games. Watts has played in 147 of them, including every game last year and every game this year. That takes mental strength.

Actually ANB kicked to garlett for the easy goal. My mistake

Yep. I reckon watts makes Hogan 20% more potent too. It was amazing how many of Jessie's goals last year came from Watts assists. On that front i think Watts's 'laconic' (yes, yes i know its the wrong word) style means some of his work goes unnoticed. Two bits of play really stood out for me against against GC. The goal he set up for ANB looked like he was in slow motion but he held his handball and put into the perfect spot for ANB who did did not have to break stride, in fact had to accelerate which put him the perfect spot to run into an open forward line and score. Great stuff. The second was the perfect example of things he does that many seem to miss or under appreciate. In fact i have only read one reference to it on DL. Harmes' third (?) goal was set up by a sublime deflection from Watts who had gone up for the mark. Funnily enough, given what a nong he is Dermie notices it and wondered aloud if he did it deliberately saying if he did it was genius. Well it was. I've watched it a number of times and there is no doubt he meant it. Watts does those sort of taps and deflections a lot and it is one reason he does ok in the ruck. I am convinced it a skill he developed playing basketball. Trac is terrific at it also. On Watts, i have no doubt at all he is carrying an injury and has done for a few weeks. You can see it in his movements. He is an incredibly resilient player. Rarely misses games and in this day and age that only comes through super professional preparation and recovery.

Agree. Terrific post from Akum. I think the key reason we often fail to convert the on-field dominance into scoreboard dominance is that we have too many poor to average kicks, and even handballers, in the team. With that ultra aggressive high push so well described by Akum we are exposed by turnovers more than almost any other team. In thinking about what sort of players we need in the side a premium must be on players with, dare i say it, elite kicking skills like a suckling. It is one reason why Hibberd has been such a revalation. He is both a long, penetrating, zone clearing kick and a very accurate kick. Great combination. Funnily enough whilst there is no doubt Lewis' leadership has been great (well except for getting suspended!) and some of his attacking kicks can really create scoring options i have been amazed how often he has turned the ball over. I expected very few clangers of the variety that gifted GC a goal on the weekend. Clearly our best and most dangerous kick (and until Oliver came along handballer too) - and by some margin - is Watts. Which makes any suggestion we should trade him utterly absurd. He is critical to our chances of winning a flag. If we lost his foot skills we would be rooted. I'v said it before but you only need to look at a random selection of the 'all the goals videos' to see one element of how critical he is to our fortunes.

When watching live it is hard not to focus on the possibility of losing, particularly when you fall behind. Live i was worried we would lose but i could see we were working hard hard and my opinion was we were switched on and ready. That was not the case against the hawks in the first quarter or against Freo in the third. The issue was consistently missing targets,and making basic disposal which hurt us big time on the rebound as it always will with our high press, It also meant we didn't maximize our many scoring opportunities, either because we missed targets going inside 50 or missed getable shots at goal. All that said i was terrified we would lose and found it hard to focus on the positives - for example as Goody pointed out 32 inside 50s to half time (which surprised me) and a high tackle and pressure count When i watched the full replay i could see Goodies point about being happy with our effort and that we were on the right track. It was about keeping that pressure up. I predicted pre game we would be too hard at the ball for them and they would crack. That is exactly what happened. And it was the pressure in that first half, which continued into the second half that caused them to crack and play so poorly. That pressure made GC completely lose their structure But many want to think that we didn't show up in the first half and just flicked a switch in the second half.

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/video/2017-05-29/rd-10-all-the-goals

Good post and i agree with all your points. The coaches would be thrilled about how well their ins worked for them. All had stand out games. In addition to having one of the key rucks back Watts will also benefit hugely from having Hogan back in the side. They work brilliantly together and Hogan takes the best defender. There is no doubt having to play out of position is taking its toll so a two week break and Hogan and a ruck back in will be terrific for him. It was also mean he spends more time up forward where he is so much more damaging in terms of setting up scoring opportunities. It is remarkable, when you watch any of the weekly 'Haynes paints all the goal video montage' (which i love - i can't watch replays of the games we lose but still watch that video) how often Watts is involved in the scoring chains and how many goals he gives the direct assist for. There were at least three of those on the weekend. Spending more time up forward will mean more assists and more goals from Watts.

My final word OMac. I promise. Because i admit I've been more than a bit repetitive. If OMac is actually playing as badly as some posters are claiming, and in particular his game on the weekend - 'actually the worst player in the league', 'Oscar would be near to the worst player in the comp. Would not get a game in any other team', 'He was spectacularly woeful', 'He is so far off the pace of an AFL standard key defender it's not funny', 'he needs more time to develop, in the twos' etc etc - they will not select him against Collingwood. Full stop. Goodwin has made it crystal clear since he taken over that NO player will be selected unless they play their assigned role, play with the required intensity and competitiveness and earn their spot. Sure development is important but at this level they are not going to play a player who is not at AFL standard and who is not playing their role to at least an acceptable level. It is absurd to suggest they would. We should have Spencer back and possibly Hogan. They only have one tall forward and he is just a young fella. So two talls are not required. Salem has to come back so someone has to be dropped. If they really want another big defender, Pederson can go back. The team will be well rested, they have multiple fit players to bring in, don't need his height and they won't want to take any passengers into a critical game for our season And one likely to be played in front of 70, 000 people). If they are ever going to drop him it this this week. The 'no other option' palaver makes no sense in this context and i hope that line is not trotted out by posters if he does get selected. As Ted Fidge has said they have the opportunity to let him continue his development in the twos. They can then give him an extended run in the twos to continue his development. As they have done with Weideman. And i can only assume those that are so scathing of him think they should indeed drop him. Now i might prove to be wrong - and if so i will acknowledge my error - but i don't think they will drop him. And if they don't it should be a clear message to fans that the club believe he is indeed playing his role to the required standard. So lets see what Goodwin's verdict on OMac is. I for one will be more than happy to accept his assessment of OMac. I wonder if others will.