Lucifers Hero

I don't think it is correct as Goodwin wasn't on the inside mfc podcast after round 1 last year. As I recall it Morris was solidly 'pushed' he didn't 'quit'. Either way he put his work brownie points before the privileged access position at a football club. Poor form to abuse a privilege like that. Deserved what he got.

fwiw, on Footy Classified last week Caroline Wilson mentioned in passing there was an issue between Macca and Jennings. She didn't elaborate but her tone suggested it wasn't serious or lasting. Suspect Morris made it a mountain out of a molehill. As Pert said, challenging dialogue in coaches meetings is healthy. Morris is probably bitter for being kicked off the mfc podcast last year after going to press with some selection changes ahead of official announcement.

Geelong and Ess were throwing it all day - sometimes quite blatantly. The same is happening with holding a player when not in possession. Usually the hold is for a second, let go for a fraction of a second then hold for a second. Much fewer frees paid this weekend than earlier rounds. Suspect the AFL has told umpires to ignore the abvove to keep the game flowing quickly ie the 'optics' of the game. Fine if umpires are consistent but they aren't. We benefited from one throw from Frosty but Hawks had a few just outside our square which weren't called.

After round 7 A very quirky year as only 3 of last year's finalists are in the top 8 sitting 1,2,3. Nearly every year 6 or 7 of the top 8 are virtual locks for the Finals after Round 7. How many are locks this year? 3 maybe 4? I can see Tigers and Eagles making it in and Freo and Saints out. Not at all sure about the SA teams either. In a year where 12 wins may get a team in, Brisbane is well placed with 5 wins. Last year's bottom teams have easy draws. Not the usual advantage for Freo, Lions and Saints as each of their games will shape the 8 whereas usually they are relatively inconsequential. Except for a few teams there has been a lot of rubbish football this year. So it may be a 'Bradbury' year. Those left standing will make the 8 but quite a few will be just making up the numbers. Other than hoping we make the finals (a slim chance), even if only for the experience it gives the team I fervently hope Essendon do not.

In the 2018 preseason and 2019 season he was an on-field tutor to Lever in defence structures, tactics etc. Had Lever not been injured there is every chance Lewis would be playing less games now. There is still some teaching to be done and Lewis is the only one that can do it. He will stay in the team (unless they manage him for the long-distance games). That Lewis is in the side for his leadership and ability to organise and marshall the troops is a real indictment on our on-field leaders. Even when all our co-caps and vice caps played lack of on-field leadership was deplorable before Lewis came back. Also, if folks criticise his disposal - look at Jones whose DE% was a mere 45%. Jones' DE% has been poor this year and hurts just as much as Lewis'.

DJ, I guess the two are GCS and Crows? I reckon Eagles are gettable. Vardy and Hickey are out of form. They are playing one ruckman atm and Vardy/Hickey aren't as good a combo as Vardy and Lycett. Whoever they choose there'll be no working Max over this time. He and the team will be ready. We won't be as exhausted as going into the prelim, having effectively played about 6 Elim finals beforehand. We started to click yesterday and will do moreso vs GCS next week. And, we will have something to prove.

49,636 1,000 more than on Wednesday! Good to see a lot of fans keeping the faith (they don't read or post on DL?) This is 8,000 up on similar time last year ie ~20%. Not bad for a team sitting 1-5 and on the bottom of the ladder as of Friday. If trend continues 54,000 is in sight.

Leading from the goal square to the dangerous 30-40m out was a very successful tactic. Separation for our forwards has been really difficult this year. Hunt has the speed to burn most defenders out of the goal square and it is a lot harder for another defender to intercept or have an outnumber. Would like to see him stay there. It let TMac roam up the ground a bit and get involved. As a result our fwd line was a lot less congested. Best forward structures we've had all year. As an aside, good to see us win on the G again. Back home where we belong!

I reckon it was the argy bargy between Hunt and Sicily and other skirmishes in the 3rd that got the adrenalin going. Players were getting aggro which was great to see. It was a far cry from the passiveness of the first game players let Max get mauled and gave not a whimper let alone some aggro. Early in the season Goodwin spoke of 'playing grumpy' and I suspect the second half is what he meant. People speak of our DNA being 'the contest' and look at contested possessions/tackles. I reckon our DNA is much more than that. It is the aggressive/vicious edge that we saw in the first two finals. That is when we play our best footy and the second half was a good example. We haven't quite reached the edge of the first two finals but it was a good sign. Lets keep it going!

Clarkson is showing signs of being a sore lose. Blunt Clarkson About the Dees: "They'll be dancing from the rooftops tonight – but they didn't play outstanding footy, either, today. "A really good side would have really hurt Melbourne with some of the opportunities we had today – and that's the disappointing part," he said. "We couldn't sit there and say, 'Melbourne's pressure was just enormous and that's what stopped us from dropping marks and missing kicks and that sort of stuff'. All that may be true but poor form from Clarkson.

The Match Review in The Age: "Now with the Hawks, Scully heard the jeers when he had his first possession in the opening minutes. The Demons' frustration grew when he was involved in two pieces of play which resulted in a Gunston goal but Scully soon faded". Dees fans will never forget! ?

ON THE BOTTOM NO MORE! Yes, I'm deliberately shouting. ☺️

Was that @Drunkn167in the middle with Declan during the song? Well done drunkn - not often a non-player gets in the middle. Dec did a few good things and that center clearance in the last few minutes was brilliant. Proud day for the Keilty family. Rapt for you all.

I liked the argy bargy between Hunt and Sicily late in the 3rd. There were a couple of other skirmishes around the ground. They all seemed to really fire up the team because they ran faster and were desperate afterwards After round 2 Goodwin said he wants the team 'to play grumpy'. I guess he meant 'unsociable football'. They did today and it was great to see a bit of aggro back in the team. By the way, Goodwin looked quite emotional after the siren. Big hug for Macca was good to see.

I saw only the first quarter but pies looked a lot more like the winning WCE 'possession and control' than the Richmond 'chaos' style. Port barely touched the ball in first 15 minutes. Pies now they have the skill to complement their 'possession and control' style and dominate games.

This article is primarily about Brayshaw but it could be about any number for our players: Demon Challenge :...the question now circling Brayshaw and his fellow Demons is whether they have it in them to work through this phase of their careers to become elite footballers capable of lifting Melbourne into grand finals and winning flags...Melbourne are suffering a version of the second-year blues, football's way of reminding those who move towards success that only those who work and respect the fundamentals maintain it." And Roos says: "Your career is defined not by what you do at the club, your career is defined by what you do away from the club ... diet, sleeping, watching vision..."Is he an absolute student of the game? Or is he punching the clock in or clocking it out?" 2019 is shot. 2020 will come down to how hard the players want to work to make it happen which is something that has been a challenge for our club for a long, long time.

Could be a tactic a bit like @Ethan Tremblaycomment that in the navy they used it to test trainees. So maybe it was more of a psychological thing to take players out of their comfort zones and be ok to take risks and not play safe. Also, can we stop with all the snide remarks. The guy is working hard. This could have been serious.

"That's no disrespect to Melbourne" are just words. His OTT celebrations when they knocked us out of the finals in 2017 were full of disdain; its not as if they made it into the 8 instead of us. Actions speak louder than words! I was never a big fan of Dunn anyway, selfish player in my book. We have been better off without him.

No one is claiming any player to be our saviour! We have been there too many times. Delighted to see that Keilty debuts tomorrow ?

...for Viney and Weidman. Terrible selections! Keilty still just an emergency ?

Sadly, this game has been considerably watered down. Not only is it not at night it is not an FTA time slot, so very little exposure for the cause. Also, the 'pink ladies and men' won't be walking onto the MCG so there is no pre-game recognition of the cause. I have been on the MCG for this cause and it was a moving and surreal experience. It was at night and the lights went down and quite emotional. Very sad that someone at the club isn't investing time in this.

This game last year was a Masterclass by Clarkson. Our coaching panel experimented with lots of new ideas (no wingmen, high zone press, Jones as tagger, roaming forwards/mids etc) and we were taken to the cleaners. We need coaches to be switched on like they were in the 2nd semi last year!

Its a yo-yo type of season so on any given day I reckon any team can win. So my pref is minimum changes giving us a better chance of the team 'clicking'. I really believe we are not far from things 'clicking' for us and getting a couple of wins. ?I can't process the possibility that we won't be a winning team in the second half of the year?. But we won't make finals so then is the time to experiment with kids, next year's list and a changed game plan. We will win a few (about 10) games this year.

I would like to see a team selected that can win. In part to get some optimism back and in part to get the monkey off our back for a while. We can all see the effort is being made. Plenty of time later in the year to 'play the kids' and it will be a lot better for them and their confidence coming into a winning team than one with a string of losses behind it.

Team is announced in a few hours! So its time to switch from all the repetitive, negative comments and threads that have recently saturated this board. New game, new opportunity. Go Dees!