FarNorthernD

Honestly that sounds brilliant. Congratulations to the organizers. Unfortunately I just miss the age cut off by 18 years

I'm happy that the Saints won't be full strength but I do want Riewoldt to play. McDonald is one of the few blokes in the AFL who can match him stride for stride. Tom has frustrated Nick in the past and I want the pleasure of seeing both a Melbourne win and for that sookie, dropped shoulders, I've been hard done by umpire Riewoldt gene to be on full display Who knows, perhaps after the last 7 years of layered misfortune, recurring disasters and constant darkness the sun will appear. I can't jinx us anymore that we are already so I predict we will be top of the ladder after round 1.

MFC article on Alexis: We shouldve defeated Cats: Georgiou He is not happy that we didn't beat the Cats. Says he has fitted in well with the rest of the defenders, sounds like he feels at home. Taking nothing for granted as a rookie who needs to prove himself I appreciate Georgiou has only played 2 practice games and other teams will start doing their research on him now, but he does seem to be blessed with buckets of football nous. He says, Its been reassuring that theyre happy with the role that Ive been playing. Im never going to be a player with flair, but its all about playing my role as part of the six defenders. My role is to be the lockdown defender and then offer a little bit of attack. Last night, I was a bit disappointed with the way I defended but its been good to get the reassurance [from Roos and Rawlings]. I love his attitude and if he keeps putting his body on the line and producing 80%+ efficiency he will very quickly become a Roos favourite At effectively pick 125 in last years draft he is already in the top 25 players at the club and it would not surprise to see him line up round one.

Good luck to all Demonlanders playing tomorrow. Given recent revelations I'm guessing the mood of the Bomberblitz brethren won't be particularly bouyant

Tatts bet has suspended betting on Essendon, top 8, premiership etc Good to see there is no mention of Trengove in that report

And to stay on topic, I would have Georgiou in the side before Strauss at this time

Riley can't play till Rnd 3 at the earliest. Georgiou hasn't put a foot wrong in the past two NAB matches. In fact I would say he has been the biggest surprise for me of all our recruits so far. Roos will be loving how he goes about his footy and I will be amazed if he isn't upgraded at least for those first two matches

It was always a high risk, high reward strategy to recruit Dayle. At pick 38 and with Hawthorn's list one well worth taking.

The Qantas version of Mark Neeld. Talks tough, makes poor decisions, ruins morale and is probably out of his depth

I understand where he is coming from, but after half a century of woeful on field performances, dreadful administrations and a history ineptness and bad luck it is incredible there is still 37,000 of us still willing to commit. We are a hardy lot and there isn't a supporter group in the competition that deserve success more than we do

Question for those who have seen the practice matches and training in general. If we had a full selection of talls would Fitz or Dawes be first selected?

Absolutely. I don't know what his speed is like but he seems to have good hands, a decent kicking action and unusual coordination for someone of his height. I assume that all clubs will be looking at having an agile 200cm forward like Boyd, Daniher, Tippett and our own Mitch Clarke. Correspondingly you will need a back to match. If our forward line holds up as we hope then we may see King being groomed for a key defensive role

Colin playing for a team on the wrong side of an 84 point drubbing. He would have felt right at home

I think we all need to get used to that "interesting fact" Red. Even in his last year commentators never seemed to tire from telling us that Brad Green trialled with Man U

Personally I'm a bit suss on Bernie. On Friday night he kicked beautifully on both feet. Not really the Melbourne way is it

Beat me to it Hardtack. Cam was cast into the role of the villain last year and made a poster boy for all our past coach's mistakes. It was great to see him crashing packs and looking fit on Friday night. Roos also mentioned him in dispatches. I hesitate to use the words "Leigh Brown" but perhaps Pederson can be our late maturing utility that Brown made his own.

You are right Colin in the 70s Cam would have actually been tall enough to be a ruckman as Mick was, but would need a torch to find his way out of Mick's shadow who was just one cm taller but roughly 40kg heavier (135kg). Imagine rocking up to Roosys first day of pre-season at that weight. Guessing his 3km time wasn't too flash Mick also had one of footballs great nicknames; the Galloping Gasometer

Two things i take from that interview 1) He wants to stay, his default position is to stay. If the team shows improvement he will stay ("the contract will sort itself out") 2) If we remain a shambles he may exercise his right to look at other options He seems open and honest. Chip ain't no Tom Scully

I know i should know this, but are you allowed to grab the bloke who has the ball by the arm? When Dusty did his fend off on Chip last night I wondered why Frawley didn't grab him around his wrist with two hands and start swinging.

Quote Nathan Basset makes a fair assessment of Georgiou. Really liked his game last night. A couple of times when the ball stagnated in our back line Alex ran to make position and got the ball moving again. Didn't see any glaring mistakes from him and does seem to make good decisions. Really good spoiler for his height, good body contact and doesn't seem to mind some argy bargy. Also like that he doesn't look quite normal Has a different take on football life as week according to the MFC.......http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2014-02-13/georgiou-cool-calm-and-collected Won't be a champion but could well become a MFC crowd favourite

Fair enough that there is lots of love for JKH but Dom Barry is going to be fun to watch develop too. He has got that silky, time slows down when he has the ball thing And just watching the replay of Ty Vickory going the eye gouge/neck twist on Jack Grimes. I think it has been reported before that he may not be the worlds best human being and now I understand why

And I'm not entirely convinced that this is some perverted altered reality. Mentions of Pederson and courageous acts, Bail kicking goals as a small forward and a possession count in our favour by 130. Excuse me as I go throw some buttered toast in the air and see how it falls

True Chook, but Melbourne's midfield tonight was miles and miles better than last year. And it will only get better

There is a fairly easy argument to be made mjt that without Jimmy's debt demolition there would be no club left for you to criticise.

Yes it is about perspective. During the tanking saga I was completely pessed-off that Roos' instruction to his forward, during a NAB Cup game, not to kick a goal never received the serious attention it deserved. How much more evidence of not trying to win do you need than a coach telling a player not to kick goals? Now I just take those comments as the joke they were obviously intended as.