Jaded No More

Tom McDonald is a terrible actor

Goes completely against getting Ablett if they are looking long term. They are backing themselves to win a flag. It's their last chance before they lose the last of their stars.

Another blunder? We've nailed drafting in recent years, and yes Curnow is a great player, but Weids is not done and dusted. He is a key position player in his third pre-season battling injuries. Chill out!

Of course, makes sense to have the captains, duh! No doubt Jonesy is last cab off the rank on the left.

Wrong, we'd still be worried because Watts is not, has never been, and will never be a KPF. In fact he did best as a third tall.

No chance Tyson misses out, unless he is battling fitness. With no Viney, he has to play. Hell even with Viney he is best 22.

Is the newest one Weids? Surprising choice if it is.

Have had these done, and they did jack sh*t. They hurt like hell too. How about we leave the experts to trying to resolve these issues. McDonald has been relatively injury free for a long time, and I am sure his toe issue will be managed and resolved sooner rather than later. Viney clearly has some sort of mechanical foot issue that needs solving. If it takes a year then so be it, he is at the very start of his career and is too important to risk.

Melksham and Tyson are definite ins from that bench, and with no Viney I think we'd be silly to leave Brayshaw out. It's meant to be a little wet on Sunday, so I would say Hannan gets the last spot ahead of Frost. We really need some pace to push Geelong.

Fabulous news!

Richmond won a flag with a small forward line and 1 key forward, as did the Dogs (you could argue they had no key forward).

Time for Hogan to step up. He will be getting a lot of defensive pressure now without TMac.

Absolute garbage news. Welcome to the life of a Melbourne supporter!

AFL's official prediction is 61k Who the hell goes to the Grand Prix these days?

I reckon we will easily get 65,000 to this game, rain hail or shine.

God what I wouldn't give just to see us win ONE flag! (and not die of a heart attack in the minutes leading up to it!).

Our other big issue is coming out really flat at start of quarters. It's like we take 10 minutes to switch on, and against good teams, 10 minutes is a long time and you often find yourself 3-4 goals down. Even middle of the road teams will smell blood and take advantage of it (See North game). Bottom line is, we finally have the list, we finally have on and off field stability, and we finally have a decent game plan. Our last hurdle, which perhaps is the hardest one to fix as it is so intangible, is our mental demons (pardon the pun). I hope we go into every game thinking we can win, but knowing we can lose and make the most of every single minute of every single game. Lets hope that last year has shown our players that sometimes, even 2 minutes, really matter!

Massive chance. For what it's worth I have Brisbane as the biggest improvers of the season.

Surely nobody looks at the BOM a week out and goes "might rain next Sunday, guess we are not going to the footy". People will surely make a decision on the day, especially as the game is a later start. I shall be there rain, hail, snow storm, or bush fire. GO DEES!

Ablett was always going to play unless he re-injured himself. Lets be honest, if we had Ablett on our list and he had zero pre-season, we too would back him in. He has enough runs on the board to suggest that even on half a leg at FF he will still do a very good job, certainly better than whoever else would be up for replacing him (Geelong has very little depth. I suspect/hope Nev takes him when he's forward of the centre, I think they're a good match up. As for Danger, this is a long season and Geelong are certainly backing themselves in for a top 4 and a tilt at the flag, why else would you get Ablett back? So to risk their best player 2 weeks into a hammy injury, would be sheer madness. Their next game is Easter Monday against arch nemesis Hawthorn, so it gives Danger 4 generous weeks to get himself perfectly ripe. I think they back themselves to win against us without him, and won't take the risk.

Footy is a winter sport and our home ground is MCG, Melbourne. If rain deters fans from showing up, and players from doing the same, then I don't even know what the point of life is anymore. Besides, who listens to the BOM a whole week in advance? They get it wrong even on the day. My phone app sometimes says it's currently raining when it isn't.

We all know he threw up on Scully to make sure he [censored] off, to give us pick 1, to get us Jesse Hogan. Gawn is basically a recruiting genius!

Been looking for a new profile pic. Thanks!

I agree. As I said above the queues at Richmond station are the most concerning. I remember after Queens Birthday last year standing in a line for 20 minutes, and Dad (ex- army) and I were both talking about all the possible ways that a terrorist could just about kill the 20,000 people cramped in this spot in under a minute. It's a massive security concern. I am sure x-ray machines will be next for bag inspections outside. The amount of 'checking' that is done by the security is a joke. I understand it is a time issue, but the safety of patrons is so important. If heaven forbid there is ever an attack at a footy game, the damage to the game and attendance will be irreparable.

Yep I get that lots of cars is a security risk. But so is standing outside the stupid overcramped Richmond station because everyone has to tap their dumb Myki to get inside. If they don’t let people flow through the entrance to the station, the security risk is just as great as letting people drive and park near the stadium. I hope this gets rectified going forward.