Lucifers Hero

Not sure why folks are so perturbed about Grundy not playing nor being selected as sub. Last year he was ready to play at about round 18/19. He played several weeks in the VFL and he was ready to go in the seniors. Coll did not select him for the last few rounds nor for their 3 finals. Nor did they select him as sub for any of those games. A similar scenario as this year at mfc. We will never know if he would have helped us win a final. Whatever the reason I don't see any reason to criticise the club/coaches for his non-selection. Maybe we discovered what Coll knew or have similar reasons for not playing him. There is precedent here.

You scored the double! Well done.

The family have accepted the offer of a State Funeral.❤️💙

Yes, I mentioned it would have affected the QF. Ralph's so called 'senior club official' belief was in relation to the SF vs Carlton.

bb You are right we have put ourselves in that situation. I don't mind fair criticism based on even a modicum of analysis or constructive dialogue. It is the cheap shots, sometimes wrong, that the sheep following media jump on give those narratives a life of their own that I don't like.

Agreed. It goes thru it is a goal but reckon that might be a bridge to far right now.

As a few other posters have mentioned of late it was 17410. A theme picked up in this excellent article: the-enormous-numbers-that-show-why-barassi-belongs-on-footy-s-mount-rushmore. "...Anyone who scored Ron Barassi’s prized signature would remember the accompanying number beneath it – 17410..." So it is interesting that he used 31 as well as 17410 that day. Maybe the 31 is now the better souvenir!

If it is Carlton vs Collingwood I'm not watching it!!

Does anyone have the full list in the 'worst kick' rating? Somewhere I read Petracca came in at #60. Before condemning him shouldn't we know how many players they rated. If it is 100 he looks OK, if it is 500 he looks pretty bad. And at 60 we can't put him in the same category as Oliver and Viney. And where is some analysis ie Criteria for defining and ranking 'poor kicks'. What about the ratio of those to total kicks. Where do the mids from other teams sit on their ranking. In the past players like Dangerfield and Dusty have been well down these sort of rankings. Comparisons would make more sense if there were categories eg for ruckman, mids, forwards etc. Total kicks Common sense (yes I know it isn't very common) says the more kicks you have the more will be 'poor'. Sigh, It seems it is 'open shooting' season on our beloved dees. I really don't like it - its like kicking someone while they are down.

Too many goals and games this year were decided on fuzzy vision of 'fingernail' touches of the ball. It is guesswork both by the umpire and whoever is viewing ARC. The AFL needs to change this. An option would be that if the ball is 'touched' by fingers or fingertips while the ball is in the air it is a goal! It would need to be touched by the palm, back of the hand or arm. Or have a variation of that with a more substantial definition of 'touched'. A rule change is especially required for when a flimsy touch is on a ball in the air in the goal square.

Related to this a nasty narrative is developing: “On Monday journalist Jon Ralph revealed “senior figures” at the Demons believe the Brayshaw fallout contributed to the team’s semi-final loss....A strong belief from senior figures still a week on is that the Angus Brayshaw furore derailed their finals pitch,” he said On the Couch. “That the players were shell shocked to witness Brayshaw concussed and laid out cold." Now every media outlet will run with it. Ralph's claim is being talked up as MFC making 'excuses' which is not something we do. From what I saw the KO affected the QF but not the SF. I have no time at all for Ralph and this is a bizarre claim without providing any substance. Just assumption, embellishment and guess work. Click bait at its worst. I'm annoyed that Lyon didn't call him out on it.

And fittingly offered: "Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed the Barassi family will be offered a state funeral to honour the Australian ron-barassi

Had the pleasure of meeting Barassi at the Bentleigh Club when the 1964 Premiers celebrated the 50th anniversary. This photo with him looking hale and hearty, is in my 'special mfc photo frame' (which includes many of the 2021 Cup) It was a great day to meet him and so many others of that era. I also obtained the autographs of the 1964 premiers in the second photo. A bit of trivia, Barassi had stopped using #31 with his signature. In the top left corner of this photo you can see 17410 meaning he participated in 17 GF as coach or player and won 10 of them - a record that is unlikely to be bettered. It is very sad that he is gone but he had a wonderful life, impacted so many for the good and has left a legacy that is unlikely to ever be surpassed.

I guess so. Hopefully someone tells him it was but one in a hundred moments that affected the result. But to see one of the toughest and courageous players in the game be so vulnerable was tough to witness.

The everlasting image from this game for me is Jack Viney after the siren. Most of our players were sitting or sprawled on the ground in disbelief. But Jack was in the middle, kneeling with body thrust forward, head in the dirt cradled in his arms. He seemed to be crying. He stayed that way for a long time. I think it was Rivers who went and picked him up. God knows what was going through his mind. It was heartbreaking. Haven't read most of the threads on this forum but going on the titles I reckon the players and the club deserve better than what is being offered here.

Bumping this to put some good news out there about Gus. While not having read many threads in recent days, the list of sad looking thread titles, suggests that we could all do with a little bit of sunshine. Delighted that Gus is doing so well. That is the good news story of the week!!

Reckon it would be churlish to not feel pleased for you that the Blues won. It was one of those nights that things went right for the blues and didn't go right for the dees. Nonetheless, it is the score on the final siren that counts and the blues were in front. Enjoy the rest of the finals. If you come up against Coll...smash 'em!!!

Great post - kind and thoughtful of you, as always. Thank your for the kind words but not sure I deserve to be signalled out as so many people contribute. Err...um...now I feel guilty about wanting to off-load the 'what they are saying @...' threads😐.

I reckon there is a bit of a myth in that. He has played just 8 games this year. Subbed out in two (winning games) and we lost two. If he plays this week it will because we have no better option but his performance this year (KB aside) hasn't been convincing or finals worthy.

Voss wasn't that convincing today...

Voss is hedging his bets with Silvagni. Says he is available but hasn't played a game for over a month. It is rare for a player with his # of preseasons to come back via the VFL. . They have lost a tall fwd have an injured #1 ruckman and only Silvagni covers both positions. Pittoney and DeK are not fwds and they need another tall to help Curnow otherwise Curnow will be in for a harrowing night!! If he isn't selected tonight I would expect a late change tomorrow. Mind games...!

Based on the above and an interview with Max I would say it was Gawn and Petracca that were with Gus when HWSNBN Mark 2 arrived with flowers and wine. By all accounts it was Max that let him in etc so I reckon it was Petracca who walked out!! I liked that; showed his disgust without knocking him out which is what he deserved. Imagine if Petracca had let his rage loose. HWSNBN Mark 2 probably wouldn't play again!

This should help cheer everyone up (report from The Age): Petracca said a neurologist gave Brayshaw the “all clear” after the Melbourne midfielder’s brother Hamish Brayshaw, an ex-Eagle, told reporters this week he would undergo brain scans. “He is going better. I saw him the day after [the incident happened], and he obviously got concussed 12 hours before that, so, of course, he was going to be feeling sore,” Petracca told KIIS FM. “I think [his concussion history] was more so worrying him, but he saw the neurologist and [he received the] all clear. Apparently, the concussion – the way he pulled up compared to the last one – was much better, which is good.” That must be a huge relief to Gus, families and team mates!

1. I'm not concerned about the 'outs' from last week's teams and injuries. Outs: Carlton: Martin, McKay Melbourne: Brayshaw, JvR Rumoured Injuries: Carlton: Cripps (Ribs) Pitttonet (Knee) Acres (Shoulder) Melbourne: Oliver: Knee Gawn: Foot Petracca: (ankle?) Both teams missing key players and both teams have key players battered and bruised (who will play) so will match up fairly evenly. As the missing and battered are in the same part of the ground it evens up the field a bit more. So imv we can relax about our depleted resources disadvantaging us in this game. 2. Carlton's 'one wood' is winning centre clearances. We beat them at the coal face we will be half way home. They seem to not be able to play out four quarters whereas we finish well. We should win. 3, My major reservation is their potential physicality. I'm not sure they have any 'attack dogs' like Coll do. but they are coached by one of the toughest players of all time. Having seen what Coll did to us early last week Voss may bring out their aggression and play in 'beast mode' early. I doubt they can sustain it for a whole game. To counter that we need our aggressive players (May, Viney, Salem, Sparrow, Kozzie) to be (legally) aggressive from the get go. A repeat of the first 5 minutes of the 2021 GF will do very nicely. 4. Dees by 2-3 goals.

Yes, Ron carried the No 31 to Carlton but for me it will always be a an infamous Demons number. Your a good sport and I look forward to reading your posts, albeit from a slightly different angle.