Lucifers Hero

The rule change which was most difficult to train for is not having Runners during play. In the first 3 quarters there were large gaps between goals which limited Goodwin's opportunity to impact the play. And in the last qtr there were only 3 goals which again limited the coaches ability to make positional changes, get messages out etc. With Lewis out, Viney on for only 2 1/2 quarters, Max focused on staying on his feet and Jones with his perpetually limited on - field nouse, we had no-one looking at the 'big picture'; marshaling the troops to support each other etc. The result was 22 players playing largely as individuals; the antithesis of teamwork and the 'esprit de corps' we pride ourselves on. We can change team selections but I don't know where our on field leadership is going to come from. The no runner rule may be the one that hurts us the most and probably the hardest to counteract.

6. Salem Daylight 1. Sparrow for his endeavour and taking the heavy knocks. Sparrow took a knock to the head early on, had head over the ball, low to the ground, when Powell-Pepper rammed his knee into the side of his the head. It was obviously deliberate (P-P made no attempt to bend down or go for the ball). P-P won't get cited as they will argue it was accidental in the course of play. Sparrow took another heavy knock in the head area late in the game. Credit to Sparrow that each time he just bounced back. Like the roughing up that Oliver received, it was disappointing to not see teammates remonstrate for Sparrow's treatment. Senior guys need to stand up for the kids.

Some on here have said we need time to get used to the new 6/6/6 system and our adjusted game plan. My view is we've had many months to do that. But more importantly how much time do we have? I would say precious little. Games up to the bye: Cats, Ess, Syd, Saints, Tigers, Hawks, Suns, Eagles, Giants, Crows, Pies. With the exception of Saints and Suns each game is effectively an 8-point game as they are the teams we are competing with for top 4 and maybe even top 8 spots. I can't see how we can play as bad as yesterday but if we don't get our act together asap our season could crumble fast as the fixture does not allow us the luxury of more 'practice' games or getting used to 6/6/6 and the game plan. We need to hit the ground running as of next Saturday.

Melksham played out the game well but at 3/4 time he was in trouble. He was flat on the ground attended to by a number of staff (looked like medico/physio types) for quite a while. Got up and joined the group only when the siren to get ready for play sounded. Coupled with him giving off a couple of shots for goal from what were for him easy kicking range/angles I am concerned about his recovery from injury. The 3/4 time attention may have just been cramp but will be interesting how he pulls up this week.

Is this referring to two or three players roughing up Clarrie in the last quarter on the members side? If so i totally agree. No-one, I repeat no-one went in to remonstrate with the Port players. Max just casually jogged past. No-one went to help Clarrie get up. Such little care for a young teammate by all players in the vicinity was really disturbing. But by that time I wasn't surprised as there had been little backing up, running or playing for each other. Teamwork was virtually non existent today. Something just didn't seem right with the team.

Like everyone else we had 6 months to adjust to the 6/6/6 and not having players at the back of the square. Richmond almost never played 6/6/6 but have adjusted ok. So have other teams. But we need more time. Please.

I also disagree about Spargo. At the ground he made second and third efforts vs multiple players and he was severely outnumbered. Don't know where his teammates were. He also flicked some nice passes for goals. So I felt he did his job today. Having said that his size was a major handicap for him today and could see Sparrow taking his place (or better still perhaps take ANB's place).

I was counting those over 190cm+ as being 'tall' in slippery conditions: Ryder, Watts, Westhoff, Marshall, Lycett, Clurey, Bonner, 3 of which are over 196cm or over I think we have 5 or 6 over 190cm with two at 196 or taller. Not a big deal, as I was just guessing Ryder might be rested because of the ground conditions and his injury.

The club usually gives 20,000 free tickets to schools and other organisations for the Welcome Game, which this is. Assuming the same this year and say half of them rock up and a fair chunk of our new members come, we can easily push or beat the 40,000 mark, which is what Pert said he hoped for. Because of the weather and rail disruption I'll be conservative and guess 37,500. A pass mark: 35,000 given the number of free tickets.

With slippery conditions Port may regret having so many talls so wouldn't be surprised if Ryder is a late out.

If the reason is something like 'hamstring soreness' it might just be the toll of the heat and humidity and his lack of speed will be exacerbated in those conditions? Just guessing. I just hope Sparrow has a reasonable game then gets a good go at it. I still have nightmares of the Petty selection last year.

Methinks you are writing him off a bit early. And can't imagine any club trading for him after the trashing of his issues that Freo have done. Notable cases of high end players with mental health issues: Buddy (missed a finals series), Tom Boyd (played 23 games in past 2 years and not selected to play this week), Dusty (self confessed issues in The Age last week and who had a dedicated minder virtually full time in his early years). But they are at clubs who are reasonably good to very good at keeping things in house and putting support around their players. This cannot be said about Freo. If Hogan bombs out it will have more to with Freo's incompetence than it will Jesse. That will be a very sad day.

There is an updated 'Match Day Info' page on website. https://www.melbournefc.com.au/Team/match-day-information Note: Public Transport: Buses will be replacing trains on the Mernda, Frankston, Sandringham, Cranbourne and Pakenham lines this Saturday. See more info on travel disruptions on Victoria's Big Build website. Rod Laver Arena Footbridge The footbridge linking Rod Laver Arena and the MCG will be closed for development until 2023. Fans are encouraged to use alternative pathways such as the Edwin Flack Bridge and William Barak Bridge to get to the MCG. BTW this is our 'Welcome' Game. Donation of old demon scarves and their is a donation box outside Gate 3.

Its never good to see a player be seriously injured. But there is a bit of karma in Rance's knee injury. How many players have his knees seriously damaged? Rance often goes for a mark leading with his knee into a players head or back even when he has no chance of marking. He broke Tim Smith's ribs a couple of years ago. Smith didn't play again for a while. As they say 'live by the sword, die by the sword'. Richmond have been lucky with injuries. This will test them.

While Matt Burgan could be dry and monotonal in style he was very good at getting all the things you mention done and onto the website. Plus, letting Robbo go part-time we get few interviews from him. With Matt gone there is less and less material (In particular I missed the daily stories from the Qld camp covering the off-field banter). Anyone know if Matt was replaced? They are missed.

You picked May correctly - well done. Altho' for mine he hasn't earnt his stripes yet to raise him to the lofty heights of the DL banner.

Have just poured a Heathcote Shiraz? to enjoy with the announcement!

What do folks think? I'm conscious of Peter Jackson's comment in his DL podcast that teams rarely have a straight line improvement like we have. So this year might be a year where we plateau. For mine making it to a Prelim is a pass. That means winning one or two finals depending on where we are at end of H & A games. Desperately hope we make it to the Granny and win it. But I won't be heartbroken if we don't and will be very forgiving of the team.

Dees, I think you have covered it incredibly well. Pretty much agree with your nominations in each category. In terms of most improved player, Mithen would be right up there. She and teammates in defence did a fantastic job all year. I'm not convinced the coach has a winning game plan. This year's game plan was better than the first two years. It certainly isn't a winning game plan at Casey where we lost all 4 of our 'Home' games and its iImperative that we train there more often. The coach has had exceptional players and failed to make the most of their talents for three years! I doubt the club will make a change for 2020 but that has to be his last chance. My angst is that other teams are improving faster than we are and we may be left behind. We have the players, the coach needs to bring it all together. I'm totally against conferences. If we must have them keep them as a fixturing process but the finals should be from a combined ladder. North incredibly hard done by this year. Us to a less extent. We had our chances; we weren't good enough

What a debacle! It has been a PR disaster from the start. Amateur hour. Hopefully they are more professional in managing Jesse's issues. The good news is he trained yesterday and is likely to play round 3. I really feel for Jesse, not only because of his wellbeing but he started with us when we were a basket case, on and off the field and has seemingly gone to another basket case. That can't be a good environment for someone with his issues.

In the middle, I reckon the funny 'ears' are an exaggeration of the skiing gear (upturned collar etc) Goodwin wore at the MND freeze event last year!

The ruck dual will be interesting. Port now have Lycett, a premiership ruckman so shouldn't be underestimated. He and Vardy completely neutralised Max in the prelim with one or other sticking to Max like glue wherever he went on the ground. So our middfield fell away and the defence was under the pump from the get go. Max could more than hold his own quite easily with one of those but not both. Lycett will take WCE tactics to Port. He and Ryder (or Westhoff) shadow Max and wear him out. Hopefully, our mids have learnt to feed off Lycett etc if they get on top of Max. And our backs and forwards can't rely on Max to intercept or mark. Thankfully, Fritsch is in the side to help out at both ends of the ground if needed. I think we will win but it won't be a walk in the park.

Great name!! ?

That isn't as bad as it first looks. Harmes will play this week as will KK (VFL). May back next week. While it would be handy to have AVB, Hannan, Lever, J. Smith and Garlett available realistically they wouldn't all be in the side this week anyway and we won last year without them (except Hannan). Mostly I'm glad that Viney, Jones and Melksham are off that list and will play. All things considered our injury list is in reasonable shape.

Ross tells the media to 'back off' re Jesse He is trying to focus on the illness and quite rightly won't elaborate on it or the other 'behavioural' issues. And he has taken the so sensible 'Rinse and Repeat' approach to media questions. As noted in my post this morning they should have done that in the beginning. Now that Jesse's reputation has been trashed in the national mainstream media they want to put the genie back in the bottle. Too little, too late. The article includes a video by Goodwin where he is incredibly good in support of Jessie. He rightly says it is a private matter and he, the club and players have been in contact with him. Very poorly handled by Freo. They need some new PR people.