Pates

I think what really annoys me about this situation is that there’s trading in good faith and good practice, and then there’s trading in a dirty prickish way which is what Freo are doing IMO. The money and contract they are putting in front of Jacko is not what is matching what they are offering us, and it’s twice that they have put work into a young player of ours only to low ball at the trade table. The only reason why we accepted the Hogan trade was to get May over the line and into the Red and Blue. This time they are low balling because his out of contract status gives them that upper hand but it doesn’t give them the license to not put something closer to what he’s worth. Now if they sweetened the deal with future 2nd round pick (with us giving future 3rd back) then that at least offsets the non top 10 pick but for the work they’ve put into obtaining Jackson they could’ve at least put some work into trading into the top 10 to get him.

I’d personally love to see Petty played as a forward and Tomlinson step in to fill his role. It should’ve happened late last year when we were crying out for someone to be a target in the forward line. I like Goody, but his lack of outside the box thinking until 3min to go in our season cost us big time.

It’s a fair point, again you can only hope that the club spoke with him to see what he was thinking. Now let’s keep in mind this is a very young man still working out who he is but if he had an inkling that he would want to go home it seems massive own goal on our end not to push the deal then and there. I don’t any Melbourne fans would’ve begrudged it as well as we still would’ve been riding the premiership highs.

I have been wanting this for a while, I know last year it was probably too late in the game to try it for 2022 but if Weid is staying with us and he has clearly shown he is not an AFL standard forward I think it’s time we try him as a defender/ruck and I would really like to see it free up Petty to go forward. The double advantage is that it might teach him a bit of a different game that could aid in him being a swing man. He’s not making it as a forward, it’s time to try something new.

I’m so over Freo being twats about this, they know they are getting a future superstar, possibly 200+ game legend but what they are putting up is saying “meh he’s alright”. Pull you’re F-ing fingers out and do a proper deal that’s befitting the deal they have put in front of LJ. I know this is irrational but I’m at a point where I’d rather him go to WC for nothing than end up at Freo with them being such fI0gs about it. Offer up next years 2nd rounder and I’ll take the deal, I wish (I would hope) we did some research on their list to try to find players that we could poach for this deal to happen. Is there no Melbourne born players on their list that we could get them to hand over as a deal finaliser?

Melksham turning back the clock, doing things he’d do on a regular basis in 2018. That mark at the end was absolutely ridiculous, in no way should he have marked that. Kozzy is such a special talent, haven’t seen a small forward as special as him since Flash (not being disrespectful to Jeffy and Aussie, but Kozzy is another level). As mentioned by others, the commentators were friggen awful but you could tell they wanted the story of Carlton getting into finals so stuff em!

This season aside from tactical things of forward connection being an issue, the thing that has frustrated me was we seemed to fall back into old bad habits of teams taking the lead in the final quarter and our players giving up in a sense. Yes they would keep playing but they didn’t seem to be playing with any thought or genuine will to get over the line. The last 2 and a bit minutes we were in 6th and staring down the barrel of being a memory of 2022, but the players played with a hunger I hadn’t seen in those previous losses. It was like they were fully aware of the stakes and didn’t want to leave anything out on the field. Call me crazy, but I really hope this could kickstart something.

I remember I tried to explain this to an interstate fan, they were saying "oh there's no travel factor" for Victorian based teams. While this is true, I said them that I would gladly take a Perth trip vs Fremantle any day of the week over an away match at KP. It is the single best home ground advantage BUT it has the disadvantage of it never being a home ground for a final except against a non-Vic side. Personally I have always felt if it's an AFL venue than it's an AFL venue. They play all their home games there, BUT they have to provide a significant amount of seating for away fans, particularly in finals. The fact that we get shafted there every single year while the "big clubs" avoid it is tantamount to cheating by the AFL.

I want Sam to succeed, but he just doesn't seem up to it on a consistent basis. Sucks but AFL footy is a tough business, can't have passengers.

I love hearing the players talk about the run home and relishing the fact that we have a run that is against the better teams of the competition as opposed to a soft finish like what the cats have. The talk and attitude (and way we played on Friday) is so much more like what we experienced in 2021 as opposed to what we've seen for much of this year. This Friday will be like a final, the winner comes close to banking a top 4 finish, loser goes back to the pack. Cats by contrast will have to go from having almost practice matches to finals atmosphere, away from their home.

Cox is such a wildcard, he can be the most useless player one week and then be the game changer the following week. Credit to him he was excellent against us earlier in the year. Much like the Freo game, it's easy to forget we had a lot of injury issues/missing players that day. Starting with May, then Petty during the match, then Disco Tuner, then Gawn (played on but shouldn't have). Much like Freo, they took advantage, can they beat us when we have those players available? We'll see next week. The one thing that concerns/frustrates me about them is that they have had the wood over us lately, even when we have been significantly better.

Will be interesting to see how that works, does Sparrow make way for Harmes? Does Harmes have to earn his way back in through Casey? Either way glad to here that Gus will remain in the midfield for a while yet.

Seeing him in the midfield vs Freo was a joy to behold, would love to see him stay but I suspect Harmes is a favourite of Goody's and Gus has had an outstanding year is defence. I'm not going to lie, part of me was worried he would leave, but he's invested in the club. Ultimate club man.

I'm over here working on the Commonwealth Games and had the privilege to be working on the Marathon today, I was absolutely stoked for her. Out and out champion, ran an incredible race. Bronze medals in her previous Commonwealth Games, today she struck gold!

I'm up for JvR making his debut, it's not the same situation as Watts. We threw him to the wolves with him covered in sauce to be eaten up by the Pies, they try the same **** with JvR they will have Gawn, Viney, Petracca, Brayshaw, May, Pickett, and more to deal with and you can guarantee whatever they dish up with be met tenfold at the next contest. I dare them to try it. But I also agree with an earlier poster that we don't make him the only key forward, at least one of Brown or Wied must play beside him so he is at least getting the second defender. If Jackson isn't 100% don't risk him, play Weid as a back up ruckman and make sure Jackson is cherry ripe for the finals. A lot of the changes I suspect will depend on how certain injuries are tracking.

BT is disgracefully bad, I can only imagine the reason he still calls is because he has a contract and probably has something on some high ups at Seven. Funny that Rex Hunt chose to direct his issues towards Daisy and not the fact that there is a commentator who is so far behind the game it makes me cringe any time he speaks. I finally managed to watch the replay, the way we played was the "Melbourne way" that Goody has instilled. We controlled every part of the contest, and save for a period in the 3rd quarter where Freo were pressing but not getting reward we never looked like being in any kind of distress. Does make you wonder if the Freo loss earlier in the year was over rated given we were missing May for most of the game and Petty for a large chunk including their burst. Fair play they took advantage but they had no chance of breaking our defence. These away wins can mean so much and can be the perfect springboard for the next few weeks, if we can bring that game plan and pressure against the Pies, we win. The Pies have been hanging on in ridiculous fashion since the bye, but I would not be wanting it to go down to the wire as we have recently panicked with close games. One thing I have to mention is Gus in the middle, Harmes has provided a great option for giving him jobs to do, but I have to say the fact of it is that Gus is a better player and if we can cover him in defence (which I thought Hunt was really good) then I would love to see him stay there for the rest of the year. He's had a stellar year as a defender and if we move him back there I won't be gutted but I just think this win proved that he is a natural midfielder. I also thought May was back to his best, but it does seem that he needs Lever to be around to be able to play his best. Those two with Petty when together seem like an unbreakable wall, lose one of them and it does seem like we're a bit shaky. Finally the only disappointment from the match was Weid, the only positive I can give him is that he made the most of his one moment in the light. The rest was just mostly him not giving enough of a competitive effort, it seems all or nothing with him. He stays only because structurally we need him there at least until Brown is fully fit, but jeez he is one of the most frustrating players we've had for a while. Great win, possibly season defining.

If ever there was a season defining game it would be this.

Agree with most of that, I would say Nibbler has been far below what he was last year. Last season he was good for a goal a game, and his tackling pressure was immense. It shows the closeness of the season that if things aren't clicking, even if it's only out by 5%, it came make a huge difference.

I've enjoyed the season, even when we've lost I've felt we've always been in the matches so the losses have been frustrating in that we haven't had the ability to go to the gear we had last year when challenge. The run home is tricky and if we manage to get top 4 then that should be recognised as a bloody incredible achievement. I also think that we could be that team that can win the premiership from 5th as everyone knows we have levels we can go to but for whatever reason it's just not clicking. The things I haven't enjoyed are Luke Jackson's contract issues, May being a complete F L 0 G, and seeing us give up winning positions late in games. But we are in this up to our eyeballs.

Alright yes I was OTT about saying almost half but it still stands to reason, it should not be called the VFL. 5 teams in a competition that's aren't in Victoria, it's simply false to called it VFL.

Stupid question but how can it possibly be called VFL. Half the teams are in NSW and QLD. Surely something like ECFL (East Coast Football League) would make sense. Anyway really tough solid win in difficult conditions today, Bowser stood out and Chandler with 4 goals I’m not sure what else he has to do to get a gig in the seniors. Has to play sub next week surely, tough to dislodge Spargoat or Nibbler but he’s doing his part.

Well done Chandler, sub next week or comes in surely.

Big goal there from JVR.

I could be wrong in my assessment but I’ve found that the “Melbourne way” is boundary line style but looking for that release kick through the corridor. Hasn’t been the way for much of the year but it’s what we seemed to do well last season. Knowing and and being able to pull the trigger is so important to generating positive forward entries.

It’s a worry but against Brisbane our forwards kicked 8 of our 16 goals, we are at our best when we have a spread of goal kickers.