Lucifers Hero

Its hard to know which are training days now that the season has started. Anyone know when/where training/captain's run are?

We are heading for a time of great list stability and as you say some 1 year contracts to a many of 2021 OOC players. The ones that a likely to miss out are those with a history of injuries: Hore, J. Smith, AvB; Nietschke or time to retire: Jetta and Jones (even tho it will be sad to see them go).. That is 6 changes without too much thought. Baker, M. Brown, Daw may not get another go. Just those changes will make our list stronger and then there are trades.

I do at every chance I get. And have defended him on DL since the day he started. And until this year he needed a lot of defending. But I'm very glad that he needs a bigger bandwagon!

My top 3 signings for this year: Oliver, Gawn and Salem are all wrapped up! Next lot: Luke Jackson: sign in 2021 to extend beyond next year - will cut out any noise of him returning to WA next year. Sam Weideman: see if he can earn a new contract. Christian Petracca: Not too worried about him now that Oliver and Salem have signed but would like him to sign sooner rather than later to forgo Free Agency and stop the nonsense that he is going to Collingwood. Angus Brayshaw: also OOC and FA next year - not sure where he sits in the pecking order but would love to see him stay a demon. Hey, why would any of our players want to leave!

That post didn't age well ? but my sentiment was good.

Glowing endorsement from the club: A versatile player with a great understanding of the game, Salem is known for his elite foot skills and his ability to rebound the ball from half-back. (Emphasis i smine) Over the past few years Salem has emerged as one the best rebounding defenders in the game and one of Melbourne’s most reliable performers. “We are absolutely rapt to have Christian commit his long-term future to the club,” List Manager, Tim Lamb told Melbourne Media. “Given he would have been eligible for Free Agency at the end of this year it is significant that he has forgone that opportunity to extend his time here so early in the season. “Christian has developed into a crucial player and we believe he still has significant growth in his game. “He is a much loved and highly respected member of our playing group and we are excited to see what he can produce for the red and blue in the years to come.” If anyone still has any doubts about his silky skills and foot IQ re-read the first paragraph. And if Lamb is correct that he still has significant growth in his game then we will have another elite footballer in our midst!!

Updated for my Equal #1 favourite player: Christian Salem. 5 year contract. A demon until 2026.

Time for a title change?

Woo Hoo! 5 Years - just as I hoped. Takes him until 31 and hopefully another one-club player!! Will have great pleasure updating the 'Contracts' thread.

He is equal 7th in the coaches votes, one of only two AFL defenders that are on the leader board (the other is Moore) so a fair chance our coach has put him in that class. Ranked better than May and Lever... He is ranked top 20 in the league: ● Ranked 14th in Total Kicks ● Ranked 19th in Total Rebound 50s ● Ranked 16th in Total Metres Gained ● Ranked 15th in Total Intercepts ● Ranked 15th in Kicks Per Game ● Ranked 18th in Metres Gained Per Game People will say he is not fast. True, he isn't is a Bulldog's JJ running type (we have Hunt for that role). But Salem's footy smarts, ability to 'stop and prop' then find a target are excellent. Very cool player. I put him in the Whitfield, Rich type of defender - the smart play maker with great skills. I mentioned in an earlier post a reason he 'looks better' this year because team mates understand their roles better and the game plan better. But he has always been very good. Not sure what your definition of an A grader is if it doesn't include a player like Salem.

I wonder for how long Salem will sign. Signing up now means he has eschewed Free Agency and suggests he could become a one club player. He is 26 would be very happy to see him sign for 4 to 5 years.

Doubt the club would announce anything, good or bad, this week to ensure nothing overshadows Jones 300th. AS it should be.

Without trying to re-write the fixture, they could have Tigers vs Giants (replay of 2020 GF) on that round 9 Friday night, move Saints vs Geelong game to a graveyard time slot. Then play Melb vs Adelaide (top 8 teams) on round 10 Friday night and move Lions vs Tigers game that week to Saturday night. I suspect there are other options to better schedule (and reward) performing teams.

How can that be when we are 5-0 and don't have a Thru or Fri night game to Round 10. As usual AFL speak with 'forked tongue'!! And on the Round 9 Saturday night Tigers vs Giants (2020 GF replay) and Port vs Bulldogs play at the same time. I don't know whose agenda the AFL is beholden to but hat is crazy scheduling for fans and broadcasters Oh, Gil is a Saints supporter...

You might need to SHOUT, Mr d.

I sense she was in agreement with the MCG precint but even if she or any other board member wasn't they couldn't come out and say so as their President was so strong about it. I wonder whether her style of negotiating will be better received by the Government than Bartlett's which in itself could open doors and get things moving. Also, I wonder with Max and co saying part of this year's success is training on an MCG sized oval at Casey will influence our facilities project. They could scale it down so that some training continues at Casey a day or two a week and the rest at the new facility where admin and FD would be.

I agree with you but Bartlett pushed the MCG precint very strongly in just about every interview where the question was asked.. I don't think there is a logic in being close to the G. I wasn't suggesting we will get fans if we are close to the G. My point was it is easier to get/upgrade facilities if the local community is on board. We don't have such a local community around the G so it has been and will continue to be harder to get an MCG Precinct facility happening. Maybe Kate will soften on the MCG precinct view.

I know that. My point was we don't have any local leverage for the MCG Precinct..

That doesn't help our cause for land/facilities in the MCG precinct where we don't have a supporter base or local clubs/residents that will lobby for us or lobby against the objectors. All other clubs do have that local fan and community support which is why they keep getting all sorts of government funding to improve/extend facilities and we are still talking about it and 'homeless'.

Looks like the Bulldogs have landed themselves another training facility in their heartland. a-huge-opportunity-western-bulldogs-find-second-home Because it is in their heartland they are able to harness local support and put a big emphasis on community benefit. Placing ourselves in the MCG precint denies us the same persuasiveness with local greenies, coucils, other sports etc. Hopefully Kate can work thru that for us.

Report on Goodwin's press conf: dees-defender-set-to-face-tigers-but-only-one-big-forward-will-return M Brown did only bike work at training so he certainly won't play. This was interesting: "Nathan Jones and James Jordon were among midfielders to train in the 'B' side, however four players from the extras will be required to make up the starting 22 for Saturday night". I can't imagine we would start Jones on the bench. I think he should start and end his 300th on the field. But there is a hint that his games thereafter may be limited which is as would be expected. JJ may be heading for a rest at Casey soon or medisub this week; I think it is good to manage the young guys.

At Casey last week B.Brown took some shots for goal on a shortened run up. iirc didn't make many long leads to the ball so it was hard to tell if he had his usual speed to break away from his opponent. He wore light bandages around his knee which is a good sign but I have concerns about his mobility which will be lethal vs Tigers. And, if his knee isn't fully recovered it would limit his ground and defensive work which hasn't been one of his strengths even at the best of times. And, while B. Brown may have spent some pre-season working on cohesion with mids and other fwds Sam has had a few years working with our game plan so is a much lower risk this week. So I can see why he may not be ready and we prefer Sam.

I agree. I'm a TMac fan and think he has many attributes but he doesn't have the footy smarts and composure that Brayshaw generally has. So they both keep their current roles. I don't see the value of moving players out of roles that work well for the team.

A strategy that Sydney used very effectively vs Tigers was to 'divide and conquer' their defenders. Several Sydney forwards would lead in different directions so the Tiger defenders couldn't get across to intercept. If we have two of Weideman/Brown/Fritsch we can very effectively use this strategy. Even with one of them and TMac we can still make it work.

I wonder which bright spark at the AFL approved these jumpers: Even if one Ess (Away team) wears white shorts it still won't be easy to see what is happening. Haven't seen Tigers jumper but assume it will be predominately yellow.