Maldonboy38

I have been holding myself back for a while now, but I think I am ready to elevate Gawn into a very elite group of ruckmen. Best I have seen in order: Gary Dempsey Simon Madden Peter Moore Dean Cox I am fairly happy to move Max Gawn into no.5 in this group. Watching him is pure pleasure. His tap work is as good as Dempsey, his field running as good as Cox, his kicking is now as relaible as Moore. I doubt his marking will get to the heights of Madden, but he is a very, very good mark. Absolute gun is our Max and I also need to eat humble pie about his captaincy; I wasn't a fan of his appointment but his leadership is first class.

Brayshaw is my favourite current Dees player. When he is on I love his hardness, and his run and carry. But he has been really poor in rounds 1 and 2. I will cut him some slack because he has had little preseason, but the pressure on positions makes his place in the 22 shaky. Melksham in for him is a real possibility but would rather see Brayshaw recover his form. Fritsch is killing me - don't know what to do about his goal kicking. No way do we stuff up good team balance and ream effort by bringing in Vandenberg or Hibberd just for the sake of it.

The brother-in-law of a friend played 50 games with the Dees, and I got to go in the rooms prior to a game versus Essendon while Carl was coach. We won by about 5 goals (I think) and sung "bye bye Bombers" to the cricket chant popular at the time "Come on Aussie come on, come on"! It is a long time ago now, but I remember him as a well spoken, excellent coach who the players adored. He surprised me with how calm, articulate and teacher-like he was. It felt like he left all the biffo and "bigger than life" stuff until he was out on the field. But he was VERY physically intimidating and everyone walked taller while he was on the ground.

Two things important for us to do well if we want to win: 1. Defensive spread from our midfielders. Freo waltzed around us in numbers through the middle of the ground and they achieved 50+ inside 50's. However, at one point we had Jordon, Sparrow and Bradshaw at some centre bounces which didn't help. Viney in is a massive bonus if he is fit. 2. If we hit our targets inside 50, we win. On Saturday, our delivery into 50 and set shot goal kicking was embarrassing.

Yes, but they did it at the mark.

Love this rule. I refuse to call it a new rule, because it is basically a return to what everyone did for the first 130 years until coaches pulled in ideas from other sports. It is simple - you "man the mark". And look at the run and flow of the game, look at the shots on goal!

As a coach, I highly rate Buckley. His teams have often played good footy. As a people-person or people-manager, I can't actually remember anyone as bad as him unless you mention Mark Neeld or Scott Watters. He is woeful. He has to stop thinking of them as footballer entities, and interact with them as people. Add in a CEO who appears has risen to the level of his incompetence, and the Pies are in serious trouble as a club. Can't wait to hear Eddie's spin in this - could be the best comedy act of 2021.

Not a fan of the trade period - bores me to tears. So much bull-dust, PR and spin from clubs, players, managers etc...; is far too protracted, and uses players like bras at a Myers bargain basement red light special sale. Glad to tap in now to see the results without having to endure all the faffing. Mahoney - I reckon this bloke excels during trade week. Silently, calmly goes about getting the job done without big statements or headline grabbing gaffs. We have pick 18 and 19! Glad TMac is staying. He will surprise a few this year and I reckon he remains best 22. A great swingman perhaps starting on the bench. Brown, Weideman and Jackson rotating through forward 50, with Fritsch causing headaches, and Picket/Spargo crumbing. This is going to be very difficult for opposition defences to cover. I hope OMac gets a rookie gig. He has flaws but he is good enough to remain on our list. Every year, a player emerges who surprises us. I hope it is Baker on the wing. He didn't excel in 2020, but showed glimpses of pace and grunt. Watch this space.

Hats off to the Tigers, who I hate with a passion. Their work as a club and a team over the past 5 seasons is amazing. They won tonight with betteer team play, winning significant moments, and having Dusty wandering around outclassing everyone. Ablett jr: I put him up there with Matthews, Ablett snr, and Carey as the best players I have seen. And among this group, he is definitely the most complete. If you rated all the skills of th game, her would be 8.5+ for each of them. The others in my list rarely tackled, shepherded or did the defensive stuff. Ablett jnr did. Absolute star and footy is less for him leaving. Dusty is a freak. His kicking skills are up there with Jarman and Trav Johnstone. His balance and ability to stay on his feet whether running, marking, being tackled are magical. just so strong over the footy. On Dusty, I know a few people at Castlemaine FC (I grew up nearby) and I was talking to someone on the committee when Dusty was there. At 16yo, as training was finished, Dusty would be out there alone for another 1/2 half hour taking shots from all along the 50m arc, with both feet on the run and from set shot. They had to ask him to finish up to turn the lights out. At 17 you, he could beat many senior footballers one-on-one. Absolute gun - love watching him. But bl***y hell, if we don't win flag soon I'm going to explode. So tired of seeing every other half-arsed club and player winning flags.

He is a star. Yes, he is so good that most of can't stand him, but he is brilliant.

I wouldn't go after him because he is only a marginal increase in the overall quality of our list. I'm much more keen to see Baker continue to develop. I know he isn't a left footer, but he is very quick and showed a heap of improvement.

I am a huge Nev fan. The very thought of seeing him in a Pies jumper, on QB, playing AGAINST us, makes me want to puke. No way, just no, no, no. He is probably unable to sustain AFL level footy for 3/4 of game, let alone 2 years, and the Pies would know that. He will struggle to get a single game with us in 2021. I'm not sure where this whisper/rumour started from but it sounds like total BS to me. We need to keep him at the club in some kind of development or leadership role - behind the scenes. Stuff the other clubs.

Yep. 1994 - the best team I've seen too. If only.... Makes me cry to look at the talent and know we got beaten by the WA State of Origin team. And we forget too easily the brilliance and leadership of Garry Lyon.

I understand the warm fuzzies that come from getting Dees ex-players involved in and around the club, especially relating diretly to football, but it doesn't necessarily mean much in the Board Room. We need CAPABLE Board-functioning people, not necessarily gun footballers. I am a HUGE fan of Brad Green, but have no idea how he will function in the administrative and business setting of an AFL club board. I remember him as a particularly inarticulate skipper and have no idea if he has any management or business experience, but he is going to need some to survive in the board room. Unlike some Demonlanders, I rate Glen Bartlett, and believe the resurrection of our club under Roos and Jackson as being in equal part due to the presence of Bartlett as president. So I will trust his judgement on this, but will also watch with a keen eye to see if Brad's appointment as board member responsible for the actual football makes any noticeable difference to the actual football itself.

There have been some carp games this year, but Lions v Tiges is a cracker. Love seeing the Tiges get rattled. Lions have absorbed the pressure, and their guns are emerging the further the games goes. Rayner, Cameron, Neale, Hipwood, McLuggage. Makes me so b****y annoyed that we are not playing finals.

I don't see any wisdom in trading him. I think his place in our best 25 is fairly solid, and the coaching group love his consistency. He isn't a player other clubs are dead hungry for (like Cameron, Saad etc...), but he isn't bad enough to delist and bring in a young bloke 2 years away from playing. We so often forget you actually need some ordinary, unnoticed foot soldiers to make up a really strong squad, and this bloke is one.

A very, very, very good footballer whose best is quickly falling behind him. His last half of this season has been poor so absolutely NO for me.

After being totally deflated when the Barasssi return did not produce success, along comes Swooper. And bugger me if he didn't put a fire in the belly of every player on the list, and the fear of death into every opposition player who dared challenge the Dees. I went to both of the finals versus Swans and North in 1987, and my abiding memory is of the crowd yelling in unison "Robiiieee" when Flower ran onto the ground against North for his first final. Sometime in the preseason, give him 2 hours with our current list. Let them catch the fire!

I'm not a fan of trading him. Like the rest of the club he had a nightmare 2019, and this year he looked slow and immobile. But his footy before that was very, very good. Do we just consign that to the basket marked "in the past" and so trade him out? I would like to see what Burgess and the medical team can do with him over the summer, because looking at him, I am convinced he is either 1)carrying a foot, ankle, knee or leg issue, or 2) has something else that is restricting his running an fitness. I remember him being one of our best runners over a number of years; let's see if we can get that back before offering to the altar of sacrifice known as the draft and trade period.

He is definitely an AFL standard ruckman, and now he is fit enough should be first ruck in a team somewhere. He would have to be considering where and how he can now make it happen. Probably Sydney or GWS but We can't give him away for some obscure third round pick, or some trade for middle second round draft position - we have to get value for him considering we have put 2 years of coaching and finances into him. I would be looking for a draft position + player trade, and the player would need to fill a specific gap in our list.

His best was as good as it gets. His worst was as bad as it gets. Much of the ordinary games in the middle he was serviceable like most other AFL players. At a club with a horrible history of stuffing up really good young footballers, this one stands out. Unforgiveable by MFC footy department at the time to play him in that QB game, when he should have spent at least 12 months (probably longer) developing. The fact he got 178 games is testament to his natural ability, resilience and perseverance. My best memory is of him having a bounce along the southern wing, and then out of nowhere lets go a 45 degree, 45 metre pass to space for Trengove to mark and goal at the Punt Rd end. Only Yze, Trav Johnstone and Watts coud kick like this. He was so frustrating to watch when going for the ball, but with ball in hand I could relax and watch with confidence in his precision. Isn't it strange that we could use a player with exactly his skill set right now!

He is well good enough to be our 2nd wing, across the ground from Langdon. Would only take him if North paid half his ridiculous salary. Also, it sounds like Shaw has made a number of player blunders this year trying to establish himself coaching a list he knows needs to be turned over, so Polec wanting out of North might be a reasonable response. The issue that rings alarm bells for me, is this would be his 4th club. Sounds a bit Mitch Clark-ish to me; a very talented footballer whose approach to team sport is too mercenary. There are others I would pursue before him.

No way get rid of Fritsch. Fix his kicking and he is a nightmare for backmen. Remember Petracca's set shots early in his career? Bad kicking is fixable. Footy smarts is almost unteachable.

My 55+ years of supporting Melbourne, all in one quarter. Stuff me that was gut wrenching. And Jake Leve might have just earned his salary - great last quarter.

Every year, I end up with post-of-the-year. I now have it. This is pure gold. For me and my household, this nickname will now stick (unless he fixes his goal kicking).