Lucifers Hero

Think it was Taylor Adams doing the praising. demons-heartfelt-gesture Good to see no grudges by either side. As it was, I thought Reid pushed AvB while in mid air that made the knock on Brody more forceful. An amazing recovery by Brody to get up and play this wek. Aaron seems a top bloke as evidenced by his stoicism and hard work in 2017-2018 thru his injuries, his father's passing and running the family business (in NSW) from Victoria. It looked like he might leave the Dees for Sydney and who could blame him given his personal circumstances. Its a measure of the man that he chose to stay with us and still carry on his family affairs. I reckon it is not only his physicality on field that makes his teammates walk taller. Sets a great example on and off the field.

@ding That Salem and the man in my avatar are my faves shows my faves aren't necessarily our best players. Sorry for side setting your question but there is no logic to my choice of favourites. I like the way they play. Generally, I don't put expectations on them or our players. I love them all. They bring different skills to the team and I'm happy for them to achieve their potential and do their best. The reason for mentioning Salem was that by all accounts he is very highly regarded and that could be tested if another club tried to poach him has a pre-FA. Edit: Forgot to mention, Salem's after the siren goal to beat Ess in his first year, is right up their as one of my favourite mfc moments, along with the Watts goal to beat the Pies on QB, 2017 and the Hannan goal in the finals. Can't remember when Salem became a fave but I guess it was after that goal.

An earlier twitter post by Ayrton Woolley: Scans later today for Braydon Preuss. A “tweak” of hip/groin according to club. Not ruled out just yet, but he didn’t look happy. Dees positive on Gawn progress after big running session. @9NewsMelb Doesn't sound like it is wrist slashing time! If nothing else it will keep bulldogs guessing.

A test for us is if other clubs come calling on Salem. He is a 'pre-Free Agent' this year. Of late this is when clubs trade a player to get a better trade pick/deal than an AFL comp pick, if the player goes as an FA a year later eg GCS when trading May to us. He would add 'silk' to any number of teams. I'm in no way suggesting he would want to go or that we would let him go. He is my favourite player. But it would be surprising if the question isn't asked by other clubs. A question they will ask of other players but the pre-FA year is when poaching clubs fancy their chances especially if the player is at a team high up the ladder.

The ol' 'good cop, bad cop' routine... ?

True but I see our 1 game and very large %'age as a buffer to Carlton. Carlton need to win 4 of 6 and boost their % to make the 8. They may do that but I don't see it being at our expense (as long as we win at least 3/6 and keep %'age over 100). More likely Giants or Bulldogs make way for Carlton. Of course, if we lose 4 of 6 then its 'all over red rover' for us!

fyi, article today about finals and byes afl-moving-closer-to-grand-final-clarity Does McGowan have an ace up his sleeve? We will know by the end of the month. The AFL may try and keep both Qld and WA happy: offer Qld the Brownlow and at least the first two weeks of finals (6 games). Premlims could be either Qld or WA and the GF to WA. This keeps the door open with Qld to move the comp i/state next year if necessary and gets the big $ on offer from WA. The byes (if any) will fall out from that timetable. If the GF is on Oct 24 it increases the likelihood of a bye at some stage. Of course the ultimate irony would be WA get the GF but Eagles don't make it... In the meantime, keep winning Dees!

Sydney has put the cue in the rack. injury-crisis-sydney They play 3 top 4 sides but none of the sides competing with us for a finals berth so our competitors won't get an 'easy' win vs Syd. I know there are no 'easy' wins but if we exploit Syd's injury position their draw works in our favour.

Thanks for the summary. Nice of Max to show support for team mates. Anyone know what has become of Nev?

I've heard of different scenarios. eg The AFL could take the 4 prelim teams to Perth and whoever wins stay for the GF. In this case the bye would be before the Prelim, if the 14 day quarantine is still required. Even if finals are in SA and Qld the AFL may not schedule a pre-season bye. My only point is that until the finals schedule is released (FC last night said it would be later this month) we shouldn't assume there will be a pre-season bye and imv if there isn't it will hurt us.

The prelims may work out that way but without a pre finals bye we may run out of puff like we did in 2018 which was my point, not so much where they are held. I think that is posturing by the WA government as they are negotiating big time to get some finals, especially the GF and offering the a AFL a $35m carrot.

You misunderstood. I wasn't suggesting a bye for us. To the contrary I was saying as so many top 8 teams have a bye coming up that may make the AFL not have a pre-finals bye. I believe that will hurt us as other finalists will be fresher. And I was focusing on the importance of winning the next few games so that we can rest some at the end of the H&A season. The Prelims may very well be in Perth!

I just noticed that the Eagles play: Giants, Ess, Bulldogs, Saints. Teams that we play and competitors for a 5th-8th spot or our position therein. Will be barracking for the Eagles to smash those teams! Especially the Giants and Bulldogs, those most threatening our spot. Now, more convinced that 9 wins will be enough for a finals berth!

I'm guessing the Eagles will get us on %'age. To win all 6 remaining games means 9 consecutive wins...don't like the odds.

The AFL hasn't said if there will be a pre finals bye. We probably won't know until they decide where the GF will be and if in Perth whether the WA gov't will relax the mandatory 14 day quarantine. If WA quarantine is required the AFL will most likely schedule the bye the week before the GF. If GF is in Qld there may or may not be a bye at all. Because 6 of the top 8 teams have a bye in the next 6 rounds I think it is less likely there will be a pre finals bye. Eagles and Demons have had their byes. We won't win all our next 6 games so each will be do-or-die. So not having a pre finals bye will really hurt our chances. It is critical we go all out to win the next 3 (Bulldogs, Saints, Freo) so we can consider resting players in the last few rounds, if no pre finals bye is scheduled.

An interesting thing is that if we make finals the team we play in wk 1 will be one of the teams we just played or play leading up to the finals (except) Richmond. We beat the Pies so its critical we beat Bulldgos, Saints, Giants and Essendon just to get the psychological edge for a finals meeting.

The AFL and broadcasters are currently enamoured with the huge tv audiences for weeknight games. I'm sure there are intelligent enough people to realise that is because Victorians don't have to get kids ready for school and because we can't go watch games live. Not to mention there is no other entertainment or socialising allowed. When there is some normality to our lives people won't be watching football on tv so much. But in a 'normal' season I won't be watching much footy on tv other than Demon games. And hopefully we won't be fixtured with many midweek games because it will be difficult to watch them live even if in Melb. It is a 'no' from me for midweek games. On the subject of normality, Wilson said on FC last night that the AFL think that footy may not start until May/June next year if covid is still an issue in Victoria where crows aren't allowed or restricted. That in itself is such a scary thought. So the season would start late or the first half played interstate. There is a fair chance of condensed fixtures again next year.

This is how the run home looks with 9 wins to make the 8. Hard to see us not winning 3 of those 6 games. I think we will be playing finals, folks!!

fwiw the Fox final 8 is: https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-2020-the-run-home-fixture-analysis-predicted-ladder-predicted-top-eight-after-round-12-finals-week-1-projections/news-story/00ad577a4478fbe03e624f3b72776423 1. Port Adelaide (12.65 projected wins) 2. Brisbane Lions (12.15) 3. Geelong Cats (11.35) [higher percentage than Eagles] 4. West Coast Eagles (11.85) [lower percentage than Cats] 5. Richmond (10.75) 6. St Kilda (10.7) 7. Melbourne (9.4) 8. GWS Giants (9) And those that miss are: 9. Collingwood (8.9) 10. Western Bulldogs (8.45) 11. Carlton (7.95) 12. Essendon (7.55) Giants are a rabble and until they get Toby Greene back they will struggle, so I can see them falling out and Pies going in.

Updated the Run Home Table for rnd 12. In this version, I've included byes and timed the rest of the fixture. Note: some teams have played 11 games, some 12 depending on their bye. Am thinking 9 games might be enough to make the 8. But I've left the table with 10 wins needed for this week. If it turns out to be 9 wins it gives the Pies an edge with their drawn game. It will depend how quickly they get their injured players back. They have a bye which will help. There is a very good chance the Giants will lose to the Eagles this week. If we beat the Bulldogs we put a game and % gap to our nearest competition. If it turns out that 9 wins is enough we need to win 3 from 6. Essendon are done! Everything has to go right for Carl to make the 8.

My apology that is Andrew Brayshaw....

...also on the leaderboard is: 11th Oliver 16th Viney 17th Brayshaw Quite amazing to have our 3 or our 4 midfielders in the top 20. And Max would be around 25-30 but he has missed a few games. Edit: 17th is Andrew Brayshaw

Coaches votes are in: 6 Ed Langdon (MELB) 6 Clayton Oliver (MELB) 6 Angus Brayshaw (MELB) 4 Christian Petracca (MELB) 3 Steele Sidebottom (COLL) 3 Taylor Adams (COLL) 2 Charlie Spargo (MELB) WOW. Big difference in view of the coaches! Best guess split: 5/1, 5/1, 4/2 for either Langdon/Oliver/Brayshaw 4 for Petracca 3 for Sidebottom 3 for Adams 2 for Spargo Langdon, Oliver and Brayshaw the only ones to get votes from both coaches. But coaches had a very different view on who was best or second best on the ground. Or 3rd best or 4th best or 5th best... Rapt for Langdon and Spargo to be among the votes. Petracca goes out to a clear second on the leaderboard with a game less. 75 Lachie Neale BL 54 Christian Petracca MELB 47 Travis Boak PORT 44 Taylor Adams COLL 44 Jack Steele STK

That's my fault. I didn't want to start a new thread so I chose the most recent available on Jones. Maybe the mods can start a new thread or find a better one. Or as you suggest they change the title.