Lucifers Hero

It is being reported that Shane Warne has tested positive in London. He has had both Pfizer shots. A reminder that no-one is 'safe'. And no vaccine is fool proof. Not that anyone claims they are. I just hope Warne is ok and that it encourages people to go and get any approved vaccine. It is the only protection there is.

They could drop a game and still make the GF... I don't have the Bulldogs in the GF. If our mojo stays I reckon it is us vs Geelong or Sydney. If not us Geelong vs Sydney.

Certainly a 'Bradbury' year for 8th spot. 11.5 or 12 games will do it. Whichever team it is, will just be making up the numbers, except maybe Richmond. After the Hawks defeat of the Lions I give them a big chance vs Bulldogs. The game is in Launceston and Clarkson has something to prove. He will want as many scalps as he can get and won't give a damn about ladder position and high draft picks. With the fixture change to the GCS game I would be quite happy to play our final game vs Geelong on the Sunday after other top team results are known. Three 8pt games for top 8 sides, for the AFL to choose from for Fri and Sat night. A Sunday game will give us a 7 day break after back to back 6 day breaks. All of Geelong games are now at GMHBA. Hope that lulls them into a false sense of security re their form and we knock them over in round 23.

After reading this /flight-va9009-the-untold-story-of-melbourne-s-round-20-adventure where we spent about 8 hours on the plane/tarmac and watching this video with Max sounding flat and talking of them being tired https://www.melbournefc.com.au/video/990801/rd-20-dees-on-a-plane?videoId=990801&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1627717521001 makes me less optimistic about today. Still think we will win but was hoping for a really convincing win. Hopefully, the shock move south for GCS affects them more.

We have had a few games in the last two years where after a poor game/loss we have rebounded. Not sure why you say 'never the Dees'. The Eagles have made an art form of rebounding from east coast losses then win at home this year. Each game may be a 'separate entity' but don't underestimate what wounded pride can do when a team is back on its own turf. Yes, couldn't make much sense of your last para...

Coll upset of Eagles brewing ? So hope Eagles win - last thing I want is to play them at Optus on the rebound after being humiliated on the east coast again.

Clarke and Morris are guessing about the timing of the game! Off to lunch, sans MFC/GCS game afterwards. Will relax and wait till the dust settles.

In Perth and fly GCS out tonight? I guess all options are being worked thru.

I suspect the AFL is working very hard to shift todays 4.15 pm Pies vs Eagles game to tonight to ensure there is a Sat night time game. Too late to shift other games.

One report says the AFL will cancel the pre-finals bye and schedule byes over the next 4 weeks. If correct our bye is this weekend. Same for other finals contenders: Swans, Port, GWS, Ess. Look on the bright side: we play Eagles without a full game today in the mid-aft sun. Give the sore players a chance to freshen up. And we get into Perth at a civilised hour rather than 1.00am. Lads can be tucked up in their little beds nice and early! We have 30 players on the plane. Play a 15-a-side scratch match tomorrow to keep some touch and match fitness. I would much prefer rolling byes for the next 4 weeks than the a condensed fixture into 3 weeks like last year. We have already played on a 5 day break so won't get another one. We will be fine.

The emergencies: Hibberd, Melksham, Weideman and Jordon have not been named for Casey. Nor has AVB, Chandler, J.Smith or Daw. So unless there are some mystery injuries/omissions we are travelling with a squad of 30 players. Plenty of opportunity to rotate selections and manage players as needed. I really hope we take that opportunity.

What I find really distasteful is this is just one week after Clarkson made what looked like a sincere and impassioned declaration of his loyalty. There may have been an element of: I've got my principles so I'm not going to walk the plank. If you want me gone you have to push me. If so good on him for not letting them hide behind some smokescreen. Whoever initiated this weeks player meeting with Reeves and Vandenberg could have waited a few weeks to the end of the season and given Clarkson some sort of dignified exit. The Board could have said to the players: we hear you but lets see how it goes for the next month. Couldn't wait to EOS. Instead they have hurriedly pulled down the architect of their success for no apparent good reason. Thrown his loyalty back in his face. Shameful by all concerned.

If it was the other way ie supporting Clarkson he botched it. If he was asked by management for the positives and negatives, he misjudged the agendas very badly and or didn't do a very good job of selling the positives. Without yet knowing the ins and outs, it seems that Reeves and Vandenberg were ready and waiting for a reason to bring down the guillotine. McEvoy didn't read the tea leaves.

The Age: "Captain Ben McEvoy was one player who told senior staff that the situation was impacting on the playing group". Clarkson plucked McEvoy from a career potentially slogging away at the saints. He has two 2 premiership medals on the back of Clarkson and a handy group of champion players. Clarkson made him captain. I wonder how he and the other senior players spend their '30 pieces of silver'!

Up to pick 20 doesn't make sense. In the first round ie pick 18 with no F/S or whatever seems fairer (or whatever it ends up being with F/S. Pick 20 is just another way giving the bottom 2 teams priority over top talent.

Gobsmacked, after his impassioned commitment a mere week ago. "The decision was reached on Thursday after a meeting between the Hawthorn board and Clarkson’s management in which the two parties agreed that the coach would receive a full payout. The arranged marriage between Clarkson and Sam Mitchell was further-eroded earlier this week when a group of senior players confided to club bosses that the situation was proving untenable". Senior players. WOW. Machiavelli would have been proud of how it has all played out!! Terrible way to treat a 4 time premiership coach. Hope it comes back to bite them for decades to come.

The selections mean that both TMac and Lever have chosen to play both i/state games rather than stay with their young family and new bubs. Credit to them and partners for making those sacrifices.

I've heard this a few time this week. How could they do that at CB with the 6/6/6 rule. At least in the middle we started with even numbers?

Good point about AVB and Smith. Hope I'm wrong but I feel if Jones isn't on the plane he may have run out of time to get back in and play finals. It is a long time since he played either because games were cancelled or injury. His best bet to play AFL finals may be to play really well in Casey finals and hope a spot opens up in the seniors (and we are still 'live').

Anyone not currently in full lockdown won't be on the chartered plane to Qld and won't be on the chartered plane to Perth. We won't be able to fly players from Melb to Perth. So we need to look at this group of 26 being those that play GCS and WCE. Every chance they will rotate the i/change players and the emergencies next week. If that hunch is right, I like it as it gives us a nice little squad of 26 preparing for finals. And it gives some players a weeks rest, not just game time management. The club may add a couple more and take a 28 player squad to Qld and onward to Perth. For players not on the plane won't have many chances to audition for finals; just rounds 22 and 23.

I didn't say anyone would. I was clarifying the picks GCS and North have this year. While a club may not trade a high first round pick on its own, they might trade it with a second round back. Lots of possibilities.

I agree. Rather than return to Melb after Perth, if we are able to go straight to NT and spend the week there it significantly reduces travel fatigue and allows plenty of time for recovery and preparation between games. The main problem I see with a Qld/WA/NT/Vic round trip (approx 2.5 weeks) is player time away from young families and some may choose to not go for that long. But I can't see any player missing all three games altho they might miss one leg to be with family which we should be able to cover.

GCS first pick will be around 5/6 which they have said they are prepared to trade for the right player. North will probably have pick 1 but I doubt they will trade that as they are committed to re-build thru the draft. But they might trade next year's first round pick.

AFL site: "NORTH Melbourne is tracking the prospects of the key forward who has lost his spot to former Roos forward Ben Brown at Melbourne. Sam Weideman sits on the Roos' radar as a potential target at season's end as they weigh up the need for extra support for Nick Larkey in attack. The Roos have been scouting the out-of-contract Demon throughout a season that has consisted of five AFL games but none since round 13. It is understood Gold Coast has also shown a level of interest in Weideman". I think Sam will benefit greatly from a change. He wouldn't be the first player who can't get a game at his club and fulfils his potential at another. Would prefer it be with us but he needs regular games to be consistent and build confidence. For various reasons: injury, form, competition for spots, he has rarely played more than a handful of games in a row.

Lets wait to hear it from someone with a bit more authority!