rjay

I always thought the rail yard area connecting the G to Laver would be a good choice. We would then be as close as possible to our home...connected to it really and it would put Collingwood on the outer.

Hi 'Rob'...I think they need to let it settle a bit mate. A long ways to go. ...but it's always good to see a Demon win no matter what the competition.

I think the AFL are making a mistake bringing new teams in over the next couple of years. The talent pool is obviously not there yet. It's paddock footy with a huge marketing budget.

Going by the CFC game tonight (I watched a Q or so) the standard hasn't lifted and the last touch rule has done nothing to open the game up and improve scoring. My only interest is in seeing us win, I'm afraid a look at the scores will do me for now.

No, not at all. There is no reason for the runner to be wandering around on the ground. Like other things in our game this has been allowed to happen over time. On, deliver the message and get off. ...but, some other mainstream sports have time outs, I doubt you would prefer that. I do laugh though how coaches will say their job is done on game day, all the work is done in preparation during the week. Try and take the runner away and see how much they really believe that to be the case...

I think a runner is important for a young team in particular. ...clubs like ours in previous years without a Hodge on our list would have been even more disadvantaged. The nature of our game and not having time outs like other sports means the runner plays an important role. The AFL could fix the problem by cracking down on how they are used. It was obvious Maxwell was cheating last year and a free kick would fix that up. If a runner is blocking space then it's an automatic free kick up the ground...should fix things up. No runners in the half of the ground when there is a kick out, that's a classic Maxwell tactic.

Agree, with Petracca and Max and the other mobile tall (Hannan?) they will all rotate forward and through the midfield at times and would make it very hard for opposition defenders. I think we may go in with Tommy doing a bit of relief ruck work. Although not sure if he's been doing any ruck craft? That would be a very unpredictable forward set up.

Nothing wrong with the way they count kicks and handballs , how many games a players has played...that's stats, that's what they do and do well. It's when they take the stats and try to extrapolate out things like this that they are way out of their depth.

Quad strain I think last year 'dazzle'... The calf seems to be one he's picked up this pre season. Either way he is starting to pick up a few soft tissue injuries now and will need to modify his training a bit as it appears he understands. He's been quite durable to date.

Used to have one of these...wish I still had it. The sound engineers nightmare @Rob Mac......

If Billy can step up and play a Gaff like role (that's his go) for us this season then that will be a huge bonus and a key component in how far we can go.

Pity...we used to be able to keep ourselves entertained quite easily.

I agree with much of this 'iva'... I would add that to call Watson and Lyon personalities would be an affront to the English language, worse than Maher in my opinion. However, the station has been on the skids for a while now and Hutchy has to try something. Seems a bit scattergun at the moment but my guess is that Bartlett is on the way out, Hutch was contractually stuck with his morning crew and he will push for a younger demographic hence the US sport and younger evening hosts. Whately is the one he is pinning a lot on and he will rise of fall on the level of his guests...they will need some real personality here to balance with Gerrard and I don't think Quatermain is the man for Monday mornings. He needs a loose canon, now if he could get Bomber then that would make things interesting.

So far, so bland...

Jack's comments from an article on the MFC site earlier today... CO-CAPTAIN Jack Viney remains optimistic he will play some form of football before Melbourne’s season opener against the Geelong Cats at the MCG on Sunday, March 25. “Personally, I’d love to get a game in. I feel like it would be good preparation to get a JLT game in, or a couple of JLT games in – just to find my feet a little bit. I won’t be ready for AFLX, but if I could fit in the last JLT game, that’d be amazing,” he said. “I know sometimes when I’ve been a little bit underdone before the season, I’ve played the VFL game, the week before the season, which is when we have a break and there is no AFL football. If the schedule aligns, that could help. “If I haven’t played any [official AFL] games before round one, I’m not too sure where I’ll be at exactly … but I’d love to get some [games] in before round one.” Well Jack, let's hope the FD and medical staff are conservative with this and make the right call. We know you would play no matter what and that can be part of the problem.

At the risk of getting my post deleted.... I think we will win it this year 'fence' but if we don't I still think I will be closer to the mark than you.

I think we are past going for the big fish... We have our own homegrown to look after now. Clubs will be knocking on Oliver's door, Petracca and others, lets keep this list together as long as it takes to get the elusive flag. To me a player like Sloane would end up around our 3rd or 4th mid behind Oliver & Patracca and on par with Viney but we would be paying him number 1 mid money. Not a wise spend... Look at needs and spend wisely...Hibberd is an example. Although not a free agent he fitted a real need to have quality run and disposal from defence. Gaff maybe the one to look at but that depends on money and how some of our younger players come on.

The footy show should be dead and buried by then 'Redleg'... Be lucky to make through this season.

I think you can put Petracca in that mix also 'Andrew'...Goodwin has already flagged that he will spend a fair bit of time forward, even though training with the mids. I would be looking for him becoming a more damaging forward with 30+ goals this season.

It worked...not good for the heart this early in the day though.

Couldn't have said it better myself 'Dee'. ...and as for the maturity line trotted out by some, what a load of rubbish. It would seem more mature to me to finish your contract. Funnily enough for all the talk of the NRL's approach being more mature etc Cam Smith has on numerous occasions said he doesn't like it.

...if you are selecting on form you're talking match form not how they perform at training. I rate Smith but I think to much expectation was placed on him as an inexperienced player coming back from injury with no form on the board. Goodwin & the FD took a punt on him & it failed. As I said in the previous post, all coaches talk the mantra of form & fitness...none of them rigorously follow it through. There are a myriad of reasons why and they're mostly if not all related to human nature. Unless Goodwin is a robot we will still get inconsistencies.

...but the coach is paid the big bucks to know better. I think we could also add the return of Smith to the list of premature inclusions. All coaches say they will pick players who are fit and in form. None them follow through, it's just human nature...not having a go at him for it.

The backline looks lite on without Enright, Mackie, Lonergan...to name a few they've lost over the last couple of years. It's not easy replacing champions.

Hope he's not working on this winning move...