Good Times Grimes

Hard to fault his work ethic, but it's his ability that's the issue. Others have passed him by, and the only way he'd get into my best 22 would be if we are hit with a barrage of injuries to our other KPPs.

I'd rather see him be unable to crack their squad, something that I think is a distinct probability.

Relax, we've got this.

I feel the same way. I think that's a job for Viney to take care of.

You guys are nailing these Jesus jokes.

Yet another #PedoMyth...the list keeps growing.

That's funny that you've had that experience internationally, as I've found quite the opposite. I've drawn the conclusion that most sensible MFC supporters have emigrated over the past decade.

I also have this feeling, but I couldn't figure out who to omit from the team I posted. Perhaps Lumumba? I suppose we'll see in a few days.

Now that the preseason is done and we have a fair idea of injuries and form (with the exception of vandenBerg who I haven't included as a result), this is what I expect to see. Jetta-Dunn-Garland Salem-McDonald-Vince Bugg-Viney-Brayshaw Kent-#Myths-Watts Garlett-Hogan-Frost Gawn-Jones-Tyson Int: Harmes-Kennedy-Lumumba-Oliver Unlucky: M.Jones- Grimes If vandenBerg comes up, I'd take out Frost.

I think we're a very safe bet to finish last, however I recently read that whoever finishes last has about a 45% chance of slipping to fourth overall in the draft. I think the lottery system is fantastic and should be introduced into the AFL, but it would be devastating to not get the top pick after being so terrible.

I was wondering the same thing. To me it sounds like it was a drinking club with a cricket problem.

It would be nice to have a consistent season where we avoid both being on the receiving end of major blowouts and fading away in the second half of the year. 13 wins would be great, but if they're mixed in with a few hundred pointed beltings and losses to teams we should beat, that'll mean that we've still got some major issues.

His first game back will be next weekend in the Scorpions' practice match

A decent write-up, with my only major issues being the author picking Dawes over Pedersen and confusing the word "then" with the word "than".

IMO his intercept marking was the highlight of his first couple of seasons. If he can get his confidence back up and start doing that again, I see no reason why he couldn't move back to the HBF, as I think that's the position that his strengths are best suited to.

I'm not sure that I've said anything unreasonable in my post. I talked up his ability while also highlighting that his game isn't what it used to be; anybody that watches that video will find that hard to deny. Somebody that plays like he did in his 9th AFL game should only improve, whereas in Grimes' case that hasn't been so. I reckon he's a great clubman and seems like a fantastic guy, but there is no doubt that he's going to struggle to be in the 22 this season. Just because someone points out a player's deficiencies doesn't mean that they're making that player a whipping boy.

Yeah we've got the area around Alice, though I'm not sure we'll see the benefits of that for quite a while

I'm just curious as to how many members we've netted as a direct result of this partnership as we are likely benefitting more than just the $500k that we get as part of the deal.

While at face value adding $20/year to the cost of memberships doesn't seem like much, I'm sure a great deal of research has gone into it to find what the tipping point for most people is. We've been a struggling club on and off the field for many years, and while it seems that the tide is beginning to turn, increasing the cost of memberships so significantly is something that I doubt we can afford to do at the moment. We're trying to attract more supporters and members, and increasing the price of memberships would not only cause many to not sign up, but I'm sure it would also drive some current members away. When we become a successful club this is something that we will probably consider, but at this stage I don't think it's worthwhile. On a similar note, it would be interesting to know how many people from the NT are MFC members, and how many of them had signed up due to our deal with them.

Will Hurley be able to leave as a free agent due to the whole saga, or would we have to trade for him? Dodoro would probably ask for Hogan, Petracca and Oliver at a minimum

No need to worry about that anymore; the sub rule is gone

MelbourneDemonsFooty has been kind enough to upload the final quarter of our Round 14, 2009 match against West Coast that we won by 20pts. While the overall standard is pretty low, one player that caught my eye (and received lots of praise from the commentators) is Jack Grimes. His last quarter was just about as good as you'll see from a half back flanker. He took a tonne of marks, his kicking was precise, he ran to support his teammates, he took the game on, and he just had an air of confidence about him. His final stat line for the game included 16 marks, 29 disposals at 79.3% efficiency and 0 clangers. He also received a Rising Star nomination and 3 Brownlow votes for his performance. These stats are made more remarkable when you consider that it was only his 9th game of footy. Watching this game got me thinking that 2009 Jack Grimes is exactly the type of player that our backline needs. So what's happened with Grimes since then, and what does the future hold for him? It seems that 2016 could be the most important year of his career, and many on here have written him off already. This game is evidence that he has the ability to be a gun, but after watching him over the past few years his form has continued to dip and his skills have become a liability. Are his issues solely rooted in a lack of confidence in his own abilities? I think it's undisputed that the captaincy placed an unreasonable burden on Grimes at a time in his career when he should have been focusing on improving his own game rather than leading his teammates. I think it's also undisputed that he has gone from being one of our most promising young players to someone that is at risk of not being on the list at the end of the season. I'm of the view that his game has deteriorated as a result of him not focusing enough on his own game in key developmental years and the best chance he has to resurrect his career would be to start playing some footy without having any pressure put on him. I'd like to see Grimes go back to Casey for the first half of the season and play in his natural HBF position. He needs to rebuild his confidence, and I think the best way for him to do this is to play a decent stretch of games in an environment where there isn't the same level of pressure to perform as there is in the seniors. If he can manage to regain the form that he showed early in his career it will go a long way towards making us become a successful side.

While the article is somewhat unclearly written, I believe that it's actually saying that they want to have only one team playing home games in Tasmania, as opposed to the two that currently play home games there (North and Hawthorn)

I quite liked Stretch's game in NAB1 and was disappointed to not see him again. ANB didn't have the opportunity to play (reportedly due to injury concerns), so it's a bit harsh to say he didn't grasp his chance

There were some interesting interpretations of "not 15" on Sunday