Maldonboy38

Test cricket just around the corner - tick. A struggling Australia is a breath of fresh air. We will see some young stars emerge and the death of the nasty bogan culture that has dominated Australian cricket since Lillee and marsh. A-League - tick. It is finally producing world class football and 1 or 2 games per week are actually watchable. EPL - tick. Except that you have to watch it via Optus. Massive fail. Basketball of any kind - simply a boring sport. Only thing going for it is watching the athleticism of freaks like LeBron James. Golf - No. Apart from those days of 42 degrees where even golf is better than trying to breathe outside. Horse racing - No. C grade celebrities talking vacuously about their new dress, suit or "fascinator" interspersed with gambling adds and inane sub-commentary, followed up by 3 minutes of watching horses flogged to death. Local sport - yes. Find a tree at your local A grade matches, take an esky and some nibbles. VERY enjoyable.

No. After further thought... absolutely no.

Never easy fearing an absolute gun forward leaving the club while contracted, especially that the premiership window seems to be opened wide. But the footage is the sealer - we plan for a post-Hogan tilt at the flag. Sorry to see him go. Loved his footy, but his personal griefs might be weighing a bit too heavy. I for one am proud that our club is treating him as a human being before treating him like a product.

Hunt still has so much raw potential, and his improvement is nowhere near complete. Listening to Max Gawn's B&F speech, he remarked how late in 2015 the penny finally dropped for him. I reckon 2018 being a poor year for Hunt might see him rip the 2019 pre-season apart and spring into the footy season in his best nick yet. No he is not a pure footballer like Brayshaw, but his best so far has been electric. I can't wait to see him next year.

Tyson is frustrating at times and for some strange reason, his turnovers stand out as being worse than others. But he gets heaps of the footy and keeps going all day. Looking into 2019 I can't see him in our best 25 so I can see why his manager is making him a public talking point. But I would be keeping him. 2 midfield injuries and in he comes.

If our circumstances/needs were different I would chase hard after May. He has strengths and weaknesses, but his physical strength is a massive plus, which can be used as a structure point for defending inside our defensive 50. However, for the first time since the early Daniher era I rely on the MFC player development staff, in particular Brendan McCartney. Although none of the Casey boys are ready now, who knows what transpires after 1 good pre-season. And OMac is nowhere finished his physical development. He is still young and could emerge as something quite different to what he is now. Our three tall backs - Frost, OMac & Lever - make a very strong back structure, with varied strengths which compliment each other. I wouldn't want to stuff it up by moving someone in that means moving someone who is currently effective out.

Got home just before 2am - VERY long train journey home. My voice is not too bad this morning considering, but I sound like the love child of Barry White and Peter Moore. That was a great game of footy tainted by some atrocious field kicking and decision making. But it was a great win. Our ferocity and heart was as good as I have ever seen. The only reason the Cats were anywhere near us was because of our kicking inside 50. Apart from that we demolished them, brushed them aside even though they also tackled well. About 12 months ago a lot of Demonlanders were complaining about our lack of game plan and playing style. No doubters now. Demons footy clearly on display. And really good to watch. The crowd was ridiculous - possibly the biggest pro-Dees crowd I can remember. when Jones kicked that goal it reminded me when Robbie Flower ran onto the ground for the first time in the '87 finals series. Goosebumps. Special mentions to Jetta, Weid, Lewis, Harmes and Brayshaw. And Viney, although he was blowing hard at the end of each quarter, he was brutal around the contest. Welcome back. Although Vandenberg was hard at it and ran all night I thought he was very poor. Horrible decision making, disposal putting team mates under pressure, and numerous unpressured turnovers. I have to make comment about the Holy Trinity of Dangerfield, Ablett and Selwood. I am a huge fan of Ablett & Dangerfield and they looked continually dangerous. They really are brilliant. Selwood's fierceness and toughness can be inspirational. But the continual moaning, gesturing at the umpire, glancing at the umpire, pointing at team mates and general all-round whinging of all 3 of them brought shame on their own jumper. It was pathetic - like watching some tall kid in the U15's who thinks he is great and telling off his team mates for not giving him the ball. Rant over. Bring on the Hawks.

First - love the quote from Norm Smith on the banner behind Bernie as he spoke. That's the heart of this great club that I follow. Second - for Bernie, I love the type of player he is. Tough, hard, natural footballer who proudly wears the colours. Once he crosses the white line his body is on the line. Although not a huge bloke, knows how to use his body to make a physical impact. Mostly, I love the way he stands up for his team mates and flies the flag. His work on Dangerfield was immense. And although it faded a bit this year, at his best he was a bloody good footballer. He came to the club when it was a basket case. He knuckled down, trained hard, set an example and became a non-positional leader, an influence for the new recruits to see how an AFL footballer should approach his craft. We owe a debt to people like him and Crossy. Third - I also love the kind of person he is. Once the game is over, he shakes hands, smiles and shares a beer with the whosoever - maybe even the person he flattened during the game. Hodge from Hawthorn is the same. Family man, dedicated, humble and genuine, great with all the off field stuff that we hear so little about . People like this make clubs great places. I hope they find a role for him because there could be a huge hole without him.

To quote Darth Vader "I find your lack of faith disturbing". To trade him now is a mistake. His too-often misses of set shots really makes my blood boil, but not enough to trade him. Petracca on the other hand... I might be warming to this idea.

I hope he returns to his best and tears it up for Port, but not against us. Just one of those quality people that make the whole club a better place. And if he and Watts get a run against us, I actually hope we cheer and clap when they come on. After that I will feel happy to treat them like the opposition and abuse the carp out of them.

Connors has said this not because it is TRUE. He has said it because the more he says it, the more likely these players will recieve higher offers, and his 30 pieces of silver might become 31 or 32. It is propoganda designed for LEVERage.

THAT voice. Once heard, never forgotten. Seems a life time ago now, being drawn to his voice on the radio. He was one of those rare people of his generation who had followers - people turned on the radio just to listen to him. RIP, Harry.

How quickly I have forgotten the brilliance and skill of Aaron Davey, Travis Johnstone, and Adem Yze. The footage of Robbie still gets me teary - still the best Dees player I have ever seen. There is something divine or ephemeral about him that makes all other players look like orange cones. The physical impact of Barrassi, Neitz and Shwartz. Ash, you have made my night - thanks for all your work.

What a player! Everyone talks about Eddie Betts and Steven Milne as the best modern day small forwards. The Wiz was their equal and x3 for excitement. Thise 3 years 1998-2000 were incredible football and he was a big part of it. And he played well in finals, a rare gift. He is up there with Jakovich, Schwartz and Jurrah as players who made you go to games.

Zak Jones seemed to be a really good player on another team, but not one I had any interest in apart from being related to Nathan. But this year he has produced some real dash, and his kicking is on a quick improvement path. Considering we keep rotating ANB, Harmes, Kent, Stretch, etc.... in and out on form, I reckon he is ahead of this lot so could be in our starting 22.

I still have a deep, cold, inner hatred for all things Collingwood that will not fade or die. It's in the blood. My great-grandfather was a passionate Dees man who despised Collingwood during the 1920's, my Nan followd on, my Mum remembers the great Melbourne-Collingwood rivalry of the 50's and 60's, and I simply hate them. For modern rivals we probably don't have one due to our lack of success, but I hate Essendon. The 2000 season with their Sheedy-instilled thuggery, hubris and arrogance ended on GF day when a brilliant young Dees team was beaten into the turf. I just want to annihilate them. Even more since their doping scandal. I was at the MCG the day Whelan hit Hird hard and although I don't like footy thugs I do remember standing and celebrating. I wish they had folded to be honest. GWS is an interesting one. My daughter and I go the Dees-GWS match each year calling it our "annual booing of Tom Scully game", and enjoy giving it to him (along with about 20,000 other Dees supporters) every time he does near the ball. But as a team they remain irrelevant to me.

Agree totally with this. Wagner showed enough and another preseason should add more. The more I see of Joel Smith the more he comes across as a real smokey who could be something unique. Add to this that Weideman is effectively our first round draft pick this year as well, and our inward changes are Lewis, Hibberd, Wagner, Weideman Smith, and draft position 47. Very happy with this. Oops, forgot about Melksham who, although came to us via last year's trading, is in effective also an inward for this draft/trade period.

No way he will leave. He is a WA boy through and through, and Freo's next captain. As a professional footballer, his manager would be remiss in his duties if he didn't explore options, but in the interviews I have seen with him he doesn't seem motivated by money. Perhaps the current status of the Freo list may pose questions for him but not enough to leave.

I would expand the thanks to include our president, Glen Bartlett. I know he is low profile and his public speaking can be boring, but his quietness, behind the scenes ground work and business acumen have done a lot of unsung work for MFC. The fact that he lets Roos and PJ do all the public stuff, and he is happy in the background shows a wisdom and dedication to teamwork that shames oth3r clubs like Collingwood etc... These three men - Roos, PJ and Bartlett - have done moer for us in 3+ years than all the falsse dawns of Barassi, Stynes etc...

I still have to do a double take thinking that the grandson of a Collingwood Weideman is playing for the MFC. I hope he hecomes a gun, but a bloody Weideman....

Apart from the obvious appeal of a father-son from a great player of the past, and not playing footy for three years etc... I see this as a window into the new MFC. And by that I mean club, not playing list. We simply do not leak anymore. At all, unless the club thinks it is strategic to do so (think of all the Howe movement information that circulated. Pretty sure that was club inspired). The leading personnel AND the entire Board are a tight-knot closed shop who make decisions and act upon them without too much spin. Pesoally I love this new look MFC. The recruiters have noticed this young kid, kept an eye on him for a long period, seen a raw potential with unknown limits, and have kept it totally quiet. Go back 5-10 years and we would have had his name up in lights with promos saying "Dees focus on father-son gun" or some such carp, with Herald-Sun photos, and banal interviews. Out of all the trading we have done, which includes very shrewd planning to end up with picks 3 & 7, there is something about the ercruting of this young kid that excites me. A 6'3" quick young bloke who is quick, willing to learn, and is a raw talent. And most importatnly - at this point anyway - has no boundaries on his potential. I can't wait to see what he becomes.

Agree with you 100% Clint. Surely they can run backwards for 5 steps or so, so they can actually look across a 180 degree sweep to make a decision QUICKLY. Having said that, I reckon this slowing down is a team rule - they have done it ad nauseum this year in almost every game. The frustrating thing as a spectator is there are clear and excellent leads being ignored or not seen.

His kicking has been a worry, but he had a great day yesterday. He just constantly gets the ball and is taking a heap more marks than I ever expected him to. I have to remind myself that he has played just a handful of games and has suffered a season ending injury early in his career. At this stage he is one of the best young trades/recruits we have done in recent memory. I see him very much as as a Job Watson type - if he gets anywhere near as good as Watson I will be stoked.

JKH is the find of this season. I continue to be surprised at his speed and agility over the first three steps and he has genuine goal sense. But I don't reckon he will play in the first few rounds because Roos has been very strong about protecting the young er players' development.

Trying to understand Watts' mental application in a game is confusing but I find it stems from his basketball excellence. The main reason he does not chuck himself at the ball (in the air or on the ground) is because he makes the choice of keeping his feet in every contest, even if that contest demands that he fling himself at it. The same principle exists in soccer, where you rarely fly in with a bold tackle. You sit 1 - 2 metres away and keep the opposition player from being able to attack where they want to. Jack often appears to be controlling a space, or hanging back to defend a space, but rarely chucking himself in to get the ball. This surely can be taught. Also, his brilliance in the 2008 under age championship where he caught the eye of all the recruiters were - this is fair dinkum - his pack marking and goal kicking. Because the defensive pressure is underage footy is poor, he was able to run and leap over packs without physical pressure being a hindrance. Neither Bailey nor Neeld have been able to help bridge the huge physical gap and he still plays like an U18 footballer. His tackling really is woeful - but I firmly believe this can be taught. Give him a KPI of at least 4 tackles (that stick) a game and see if this changes his understanding of physical contact and going hard for the ball. It is his pack marking / contested marking that is the main worry. Out on a lead no problems. But jostling and pushing off, blocking for others, steady core strength all seem to evade him constantly so he goes back to being 1 -2 metres off every contest waiting to respond to a play rather than making the play. Having said all that, I am still in the 50/50 mindset with him regarding trade or not. One thing I will say. When he gets the ball in his hands his decision making and skills are sublime. Best kick at MFC since Trav Johnston. Just wish he would go and get it more often and make the play.