Lucifers Hero

Now 43,829! This is approx 6,000 up on same time last year and a mere 400 short of our all time in July 2018. We will smash 50,000! Then how high?

A bit of scaremongering in that article! What it doesn't say is Sydney were 0-6 after round 6 in 2017 but made the 8 being 6th on the ladder at round 23 with a Home final! I'll take that any day of the week. A lot didn't work on Saturday and we were outgunned, outsmarted and outplayed. Coaches will make changes in tactics and players. Things will get a lot better for us. Keep the faith, folks.

That is about 2 1/2 quarters. Not sure I agree that he looked the same on Saturday as when he came back in past seasons. Last year he came back for the first final and he was mighty: ran, tackled, harassed, rag-dolled one of the Holy Trinity ? (can't remember which one) and was the Jack we know and love. The Jack at the MCG on Saturday was nothing like that. TV made have painted a different picture than seeing him live.

Just to clarify, Rookies can be upgraded without the need for a LTI so its simply lodging the paperwork with AFL House. Simples.

From my post earlier today in the Changes vs Geelong thread: "Hate to say it but I think Viney needs to be rested: he played only about 2 1/2 quarters, when he tried to run it was barely trotting pace and when on field he didn't really impact the game. He not only looked underdone, he looked injured...We effectively played one short vs Port and it took its toll on the rest of the team". Other players had to player longer minutes to compensate for Viney being on the bench. Co-captain or not, Viney cannot be allowed to call the shots.

At the ground I noticed our wingmen often played off their opponents and stayed toward an outside corner of the square leaving opp wingmen alone on the outside around the middle. This positioning only made sense if we got the clearance. But not a good position to defend from. When they won the clearance they would handball to their (unattended) wingman and in the meantime a defender ran onto the wing took a pass and put it straight into their forward line. These were set plays by Port and worked nearly every time. We were forever several metres behind their players so they had 2/3 uncontested possessions from centre bounce to their forwards. This made them look more fleet-of-foot than they were. Port will win a few games this way before someone works them out. Not sure if our problem was poor structure/positioning or players not playing to rules. But to me it didn't make sense to leave wingmen unattended - I had recurring visions of the game vs Hawth last year when we played without wingmen. Unattended wingmen is a high risk play and especially high risk when a number of our mid-fielders/wingmen were on limited game time or underdone. I hope we ditch the 'stand-off' the wingmen tactic asap.

It certainly looked that way. Captain or not it hurts the team to have someone who plays 2 1/2 quarters with little impact. And, we do have another captain and a few vice captains on the field... We effectively played one short vs Port and it took its toll on the rest of the team. It may not happen but we have paid the price in 2017 and 2018 of bringing Viney back early. Hopefully, we don't do it again this year. We showed for most of last year we can win without him and kept him to be cherry ripe for the finals which really worked for us and him.

Hate to say it but I think Viney needs to be rested: he played only about 2 1/2 quarters, when he tried to run it was barely trotting pace and when on field he didn't really impact the game. He not only looked underdone, he looked injured. We had 6-7 players whose on field time was managed down to about 3 quarters (surprisingly one of those was Jetta, hope he is ok) which puts enormous pressure on those that stay on longer than they should. imv there is a limit to how many players in need of managed game time we take in. Max needs help. If Preuss plays as Goodwin suggested, it seems unlikely he can play 4 quarters (based on JLT) so who does he displace? That depends if he goes forward or back when not in the ruck as we can't afford to have him on the bench for long stretches, especially if other players need managed game time. Based on club report Lewis' omission was precautionary rather than an injury so wouldn't be surprised to see him in. In: May, Lewis, Preuss (as Goodwin signalled) Out: Frost, Hore (sadly as I don't like to see players given only one game), Viney and, there would need to be some re-balancing in positions as Preuss/Vine aren't like-for-like The team needs time to settle and develop cohesion so any other changes will need to wait.

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!