Lucifers Hero

There is an article in The Mercury but I can't get behind the pay wall. A snippet says: "AFTER 10 years and 141 games at AFL club Melbourne, one of North Hobarts favourite sons, Colin Garland, could make his return for the Demons in the TSL against Lauderdale at North Hobart Oval on Saturday". My favourite Col moment was when he played forward and kicked a few goals which gave us a win against Ess and then jumped into Neeld's arms with joy when the siren went. 2012 was it? My favourite but poignant comment from him was when Frawley won a premiership medal and Col was asked what he thought. Col's response was something like 'it wouldn't mean much if it wasn't with Melbourne.' That says it all about the type of person he is. Sadly another player who gave his all but perhaps was too scarred from our abysmal years to make the transition when Roos joined. Glad the club gave him the chance to try coaching before leaving entirely. Wish him well and glad his local side is also a Demon outfit!

Any idea if the AFL ditched the 100 point assessment plan or those 4 players are </= 100? We get to keep Lily Mithen who elected to sign with the demons.☺️ I think Cranston is a big loss. She played some terrific games this year. But we were always going to lose some good players. For info: The draft/trade period is later this month and the Free Agency period is early June

Tbh, I would rather lose Hickey who is 33 and recovering from an ACL than Mithen. It sounds like Hickey has an off-field job lined up with them as well. Also, she would probably be rated @ 50 points by the AFL which means we wouldn't need to give up another good player to get to the 100 points. Hickey has been very good for us so hope she does well at Geelong.

Yes. http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2016-10-26/mithen-name-lives-on-at-melbourne But she plays in a Geelong region club and last year won their B&F. Its very ordinary of Geelong (AFL club) to coerce her into playing with their VFL side. I think it is disrespectful. I wonder if she is thinking something like: '...is that the sort of club I really want to play for if that is how they treat me.... I applaud her good judgement and maturity in playing elsewhere this year and Darebin is the best VFLW team.

Some relevant things to 'poaching' and list management I've seen in recent months. 1. The draft/trade rules aren't released yet but I recall that existing Vic clubs have to give up 2 to 4 players whose AFL determined 'ratings' total 100 poionts (with no compensation to that club). 2. The AFL introduced new teams without any commitment from broadcasters on telecast rights. So they can't tell clubs the salary cap, nor the 'poaching' rules. This is shaping up as a merry-go-round between the AFL/Ch7/Foxtel with inevitable delays and clubs will have little time for list management or players to make career and life defining decisions. 3. With the AFL trying to control every aspect of AFLW they risk it backfiring. It has already lost the two best AFLW coaches. Players give up a lot to play this part-time sport for the love of it and some remuneration. The sport can't afford for them to become disillusioned by the back room manipulations. The risk is many people (players, support staff, spectators, broadcasters) will lose interest and it will relegated to a backwater. I truly hope not as I really enjoy watching the games and supporting Daisy and her troupe.

This article is about the AFL trying to control where players go: https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/womens-afl/aflws-two-newest-clubs-and-league-on-a-war-path-over-afls-list-management-approach-described-as-dictatorship/news-story/db55f5c6edcd4ab2c4b3c952fd13db06 Re some Melbourne players - Geelong has a 'strong desire' to lure Mel Hickey and Lily Mithen. The Cats are starting to play 'dirty' re Mithen: "It’s understood the Cats have told her she can play VFLW for Geelong this season only if she agrees to join the AFLW team for the 2019 season". A tough call for a 20 year old to make. Lily is fairly smart and not being seduced by it at this stage: "{She} will reportedly join Darebin in the interim before making a call on her future once all the building blocks are in place regarding salary caps and payment structures". I heard an interview with Kate Sheehan where she said Melbourne is the club most AFLW players aspire to as it has the best culture just as @Macca has said in the op. Hope we can keep our core players together as they are just beginning to be a really cohesive unit.

I doubt he club/Goodwin are going to say anything: Goodwin in his press conf: “I would have liked him to kick the goal, but if there is commentary around it, I guess we will have a look at it during the week,” Goodwin said..“We want to be seen as a nice strong footy team.” The word 'nice' was probably a slip of the tongue by Goodwin, but can't see the club saying anything publicly. Altho' should he get suspended I would expect them to go all out get him off at the Tribunal. After all, he was on the other side of identical action last year and got two weeks. As I said yesterday, Carlisle should be the one being cited and in the media gun!

The AFL isn't putting it to public vote anymore. Ditto GOTY. Nonetheless, imagine what it does for Fritsch's confidence...not bad to be nominated twice in your first 6 AFL games - suspect there will be many more to come.

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2018-05-07/fritsch-nominated-for-mark-of-the-year Great news for him - nomination number 2... ...move over Jeremy Howe!!

On Weideman's role - Goodwin in his press conf re three talls: “We wanted to really trial that ... having all those guys function together is really important for us,” Goodwin said...“Jesse can play not only as a tall, but a small and Tom is similar in his ability to move around the ground." So Weideman is being played as forward and ruck relief while Jesse and Tom rotate from forward to wing to wherever. That should keep defenders guessing! Roos gave Weideman some high praise yesterday. Said he plays in the same mould as Ben Brown - very good at leaping for the mark, taking it at its highest point. Doesn't get much better than that. Weideman playing like Ben Brown in a few years would be something to relish. Also, said Sam gets the benefit of getting the 3rd tall, if there is one, which helps his development.

Can recommend watching the game on tv with sound on 'mute' and listen to the radio. Much better as they described the actual game and don't indulge the 'fan boy' stuff, nor reminisce too much. There is a few seconds delay but it didn't bother me.

If Hogan is suspended it will be a joke and a travesty of justice. Last year he got two weeks for an identical incident when Jed Lamb (whose club later claimed 'delayed concussion') went down from a feather touch. On that reckoning it is Carlisle who should be suspended. Talk of suspending Hogan is just another example of some in the media preferring to lambaste Melbourne at every opportunity. If Hogan is suspended the club must challenge it and go to the Tribunal.

If Hogan is suspended it will be a joke and a travesty of justice. Last year he got two weeks for an identical incident when Jed Lamb (whose club later claimed 'delayed concussion') went down from a feather touch. On that reckoning it is the StKilda player who should be suspended. Talk of suspending Hogan is just another example of some in the media preferring to lambaste Melbourne at every opportunity. If Hogan is suspended the club must challenge it and go to the Tribunal.

If the AFL wanted to make the competition 'fairer' they would have a standard set of dimensions then 'shrink' the boundaries of the bigger grounds wherever possible. The most standard dimension is 135m wide and 165m long. Easy to do - just paint a new boundary inside the old. Of course they never will. The dimensions highlight what a huge advantage it is for finals for teams that play regularly at the G which is why so many teams now want more games there. Some wealthy teams like Ess have created an MCG sized oval as (one of) their training oval. Hopefully, we will soon have the game plan to 'conquer' the G and make it our 'fortress'.

- Commentators work for channel 7. - Channel 7 has the broadcast rights with the AFL. - CEO of the AFL is Gil - Gil is a Saints supporter. Ipso facto the commentators support the saints - they know which side their bread is buttered on? But I don't think that means they hate Melbourne.

On that reckoning we end up with 15 wins + GWS 50/50. Based on last year that lands us somewhere between 1st and 3rd on the ladder! Happy days! - We have 8 games vs sides below us on the ladder. We should win those but history says we will probably drop a couple. Lets say win 6 of the 8. - And the other 7 games vs Adelaide x 2, Collingwood, Geelong, Sydney, WCE and GWS I count as 50/50. If half of those go our way that is 3/4 wins. So I reckon 13 or 14 wins. The games vs Port, Sydney and Collingwood are shaping as 8 point games and will determine how far we go into the 8. So yeah, I share your optimism but to be on the safe side I will now go back to thinking 'one week at a time'...?

My bad. I misread an article on FA's. Will go back and edit my post. Cheers,

Rhetorical question: when did the AFL introduce a 'time limit' for goal reviews? I may have missed the announcement after Hardwick complained last week about reviews taking too long. The umpire didn't wait - looks like a 'rule of the week' situation... Imagine if it had been Richmond or Collingwood receiving the non-call. Imagine if it was a final.

Up to a point Steve. While Gaff may choose us, WCE can match the offer and force a trade ala Dangerfield from Adelaide. It would probably mean us trading out a top player to WCE (or to some else to get the required pick) as I don't think we can trade the 2019 1st round pick. WCE would make a call once they know where they finish on the ladder. The higher up the more likely to force a trade as their 1st round compensation pick would likely be in the mid to late teens. Saints are touted as being very keen altho can't imagine he would go there. As someone else mentioned Jackson flagged we have the salary cap space to go after an FA but finding the currency might get tricky if we are forced into a trade...who/what would we be prepared to give up? Edit: Reckon WCE would ask for Jesse as Kennedy will be 31 this year. To quote @daisycutter phrase: 'computer says no' on such a deal.

Lets hope the umpires don't give lots of frees against Max like his 'straight arm' ruck work, like last time we played the saints- wasn't it StK that complained to the AFL about Max's style not long before the game. Poor sportsmanship compounded by the AFL/umpires blindsiding the mfc and Max about his 'faulty' technique. Hope Max wreaks some revenge. And hope we we thrash them for their poor sportsmanship in whinging to the AFL. Dees with a percentage boosting win!

How does one team (Eagles) get 33 frees and the opp (Port) get 13??? Wouldn't affect the result but it must have been a doozie of a 'home crowd advantage'. 33 vs 13 would have to be an all time record. Imagine how many more WCE would have had if Shuey had played the whole game!! It would be interesting if the AFL published the 'frees given' stats for each week for each umpire!! Given that everything else is up to public scrutiny I don't see why umpires are protected from being accountable. Can't see it happening tho.

Very little noise in today's media about Hartung's goal which was clearly touched by Mc Veigh. The AFL/Umpire over reaction to last week coach complaints that it took to long for score review so umpire bounces the ball without the score review result. So it costs Sydney 5 points and potentially the game. Can't help but think if it was a Vic side there would be a bit of a media raucous. Good sportsmanship by Longmire to not whinge about it. The AFL really needs to sort it out. The reason for having a review system is to catch the clanger and that 'non' call was a clanger. Edit: just read one report that said the umpire didn't call for a review. But we keep getting told that every goal is reviewed. So not sure what the story was but either way the review system failed the fundamental reason for its existence - catching the clanger.

Yep, another prime FTA slot tonight for the worst team in the league. A certain snooze on Ch7: Adel vs Carlton!!

Interesting article. I wonder what Sheedy means with this cryptic comment: "I think the supplements saga at Essendon didn't help him [Thompson], it definitely didn't help James Hird so I think that's going to play out in the next five, six years, particularly with the players that got banned and also with Jobe losing his Brownlow Medal," he said on The Footy Show. "I reckon after 10 years it will be interesting to see what happens there." Law suits? Mental health issues? Medical issues? This has become such a mess of so many lives and it need not have been.

10th. Seriously? The FA's I would rank above him are Rory Sloane, Tom Lynch and Jeremy McGovern. There are others that might be around the same mark as Tom McDonald eg Gaff, Liberatore (when he is not misbehaving) and in a pinch Dalhaus. Out of interest who do the HS have 1-9? Personally, I would rank Tom McD top 5 maybe even top 3.