Lucifers Hero

It does sound serious: “But by today, that infection had gone into his bone and gone down to his finger joint – at the top of the finger.” “... the doctor actually wants him to stay in hospital over the weekend, just to make sure that the infection’s gone.” http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2018-04-26/petracca-to-miss-due-to-dog-bite Thankfully will miss only one game.

I suspect the club didn't say anything to not let it out before team lodgements. The less Ess knows beforehand the better. ? Would clubs have lodged their teams with the afl by 5.00pm? If not our own demon supporting reporter, Tom Morris, should keep that stuff to himself until lodgement time has passed! He could still have had his scoop.

Bump. There was an interview with Tom on Ch9 on Sunday and he was asked about his contract and said his injury has delayed talks as he hasn’t been able to see (and show the club) how he goes as permanent forward. Nonetheless he has put an offer to the club and they have come back with one so talks are continuing. Last time he put off contract talks to see how much we improved. In Sunday's interview, there was no hint of him looking elsewhere or delaying contract talks. Said he expects to play forward this season unless a key back is injured or in short bursts down back if needed. As an aside he said he expects to play this weekend but not sure if VFL or AFL...we will find out in a few hours. Edit: could mods add a question mark to the title please. I can no longer edit it.

Tammy Roos ran a meditation/mindfulness program for us for several years and I recall some players saying how good it was for them especially the sessions before a game. Dusty has credited meditation as a significant factor in his improvement in recent years. Our current coaching panel seems to prefer the macho commando style camps for mental toughness. This was cancelled last December. So atm it seems we are doing neither for mental development. Intuitively, the 'mindfulness' approach (which is much more than meditation) seems better suited to today's 'millennials'.

Definitely. Other ball-movement issues remain: field positioning, bombing it forward, kick outs, tempo, switching etc. In addition to good midfield spread, Richmond have a cohesive end to end ball movement chain where players immediately know where to run depending on who has the ball. It may not always work but it is there and players know their role and work hard to make it happen. As someone else said they are very well drilled on their role within their game plan. We on the other hand work very, very hard but seem less certain on where to position and what option to take when we have the ball - on Tuesday night it was like a hot potato for some players. It is sad as we are not getting the reward for all our hard work.

I think you have hit the 'secret' of their turnaround from 2016 to premiers in 2017. At the end of 2016 Richmond recruited Blake Caracella as Midfield Coach - spread and ball movement. He has been credit with transforming their game plan from hand-balling backwards and in circles to a slick forward ball moving team. It took a while in 2017 to fine tune their spread and ball movement and it really came together in September. In our coaching structure we do not have a Caracella role. I assume it falls into Plapp's role as midfield coach with buy in from other field coaches. Our overall plan is players to the contest and we don't seem to have a spread and ball-movement plan so we look stagnant and our players look uncertain. The big question is: how do they fix our ball-movement problems quickly.

If you have an issue with the claims other posters make take it up with them. I'm really not interested in derailing this thread with what you think of my posts. So lets leave it at that.

Your first comment is a cheap shot. The post to which you refer was in the context of various other posts questioning Dawn's behaviour or other players' reactions to him during the Hawkes game. And my comments indicated it wasn't possible to tell where he was relative to the play. But if people want to take it out of context, go for it! Re your second comment, I do not assume that things are rosy at the club all the time. All organisations have tensions between people. It would be unrealistic to think mfc doesn't have such tensions. I was genuinely interested in how our club deals with them.

I'm a Redlegs member and have to suffer next to pie supporters on QB. The Dees supporting mate lends him and his kids Redleg passes his friends/families do not use. Also, our members buy guest passes for opp supporter friends. Technically guests are not allowed into the Redlegs/Trident (there is a separate area for them and their guests) but security let them in anyway. Have been a Redlegs member for nearly 20 years primarily so that I don't have to sit near opp supporters. Needless to say having opp supporters in our reserved areas is very off putting and really reduces enjoyment of the game, especially QB.

Presumably Mahoney and Jackson are aware of the divisions and favouritism - are they working with or mentoring Goodwin to rectify or is it being left to fester.

Its the teams below us we need to beat first! This is our draw for the next 11 weeks: 5 are vs teams below us and 3 vs those immediately above us. If we don't win those 8 it doesn't matter how many of the top 10 we beat. Ideally we win 9/10 of the 11 because 4 of rnds 18 to 23 will be tough to win. Our poor %'age may well be what keeps us out of the finals. Again.

If we can keep Daniher in his current rut we will most likely win. Our game plan is much better suited to Etihad (as it is 20m narrow than the MCG) so its much harder for a team to find an outside player from a stoppage and stream forward. We have had good success at Etihad and we find it easier to defend. It may well be a Bradbury game - last team standing depending on when the fatigue of a short break sets in. I think we will win!

Quite nauseating to see and hear James Hird narrate the pre-game 'tribute'. Couldn't tell if it was shown at the game or just to the TV audience. It seemed more about him and his connection to the ANZAC day game than those the day is commemorating. I get the AFL wants to bring him back into the fold but gobsmacked this day was chosen to showcase him.

That is a really good example of what we as supporters don't see in a player's game: Neal-Bullen had an equal game-high (alongside Liam Shiels) 32 pressure acts against the Hawks, which Misson said was an indicator of his desire and effort. Neal-Bullen finished the game against Hawthorn with 22 disposals, six tackles and a goal (the drought-breaking major in the final term and one of only six Demons goals for the afternoon). "He's just become a really reliable teammate. He plays to all the structures, whatever role he's given he plays that role," Misson said. Clearly he is a player who follows coaching instructions and plays to the 'team first' ethos. Based on the Hawks game he deserves to keep his spot.

Very astute observations. He didn't look happy. This is an interesting pic. From the angle its hard to tell if Max is 10m or 30m from the play. Maybe Max has run a mile and is exhausted or there are other teammates closer to the play but it looks like Lever could do with some help. Max looks like he is taking a stroll in the park.

For those calling for Harmes, ANB, Frost, Melksham as out, they haven't been named in the Casey squad. As I understand the rules, if they are not named they cannot play with Casey this weekend...can someone confirm? If my belief is correct they either are in the senior team/emergencies or they sit out the week. Sitting the week out for them (or some other players) is conceivable if the mc want fresh legs for the Ess game, altho I doubt it.

Could easily add Ricky Petterd and Frosty Miller. And talking of history, yes we do have a very rich history with the Tigers. So this annual game could be the Checker Hughes Cup. Particularly as the game was conceived to honour his distinguished war service and his role at both clubs: A star midfielder for Richmond in three successive Grand Finals, including the 1920-21 triumphs Hughes coached the Tigers into the finals in each of his six seasons, for five Grand Finals and one flag He then took Melbourne to September seven times, culminating in six Grand Finals for four premierships and the first draw (against Essendon). And, re named us from Fuschias to the Demons we are today. To read more of his life and the ANZAC Eve dedication see this article. It is a long read but really worth it. http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-04-24/frank-checker-hughes-war-hero-and-giant-of-two-clubs A photo from the article: Demon Royalty, right there. 20 plus Demon Premierships between them. Oh, those were the days... If our team on Tuesday can harness a fraction of the competitiveness and courage of those guys, we will win.

Some good insights and a very nice first contribution. Thank you.

Membership is still creeping up: 40,444

A good request from Jones to be patient with Lever http://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-04-18/levers-start-with-dees-has-been-rocky Interestingly he says: "Judge him in another five, six or seven weeks when he starts to become the general down there..." I wonder how our AA players, Hibberd and Jetta feel about Lever being the 'General' so quickly and if it is affecting their games? It will be a big responsibility being put on Lever's shoulders while he is learning a new role in a new team with a different game plan. Perhaps, they should just let the kid settle into the backline, develop cohesion with the other back men for the season. He can watch how Lewis works, and plenty of time to ramp up the responsibility after Lewis moves out of the backline.

Could have my hunch about 'Docklands Park' or 'Gosch's Paddock' been correct? Caroline Wilson is quoted as saying: '...What I think has happened is the AFL asked for $300m... but they ended up getting $225m to redevelop the Docklands ground and some precinct around it,” Wilson said ... A parcel of land has been virtually given to the AFL... ' . https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/report-afl-set-to-move-headquarters-as-part-of-deal-with-victorian-state-government/news-story/4207e7f52f339404e81bcd5dc2cfdbbe There isn't much public land around either Etihad or the MCG. So could it be 'Docklands Park' (or one of the smaller park lands nearby). The article speculates the land could be close to the MCG (but less likely) which effectively means part of the carpark or 'Gosch's Paddock'. Interesting that the government has gone all secret on which parcel of land has been gifted... Still can't help but think that our facilities are involved in this deal...Leighoak sale was strategic and no mere accident of timing and PJ said they will have found a spot this year. Lets hope this our facilities are part of this land deal

Agreed. Our 2017 jumper had on the back, the silhouette of the lone bugler standing in a battle field which was very moving. It seems Richmond have copied the idea. This year they have a silhouette of a lone soldier standing in a poppy field. Not quite as moving as the bugler tho. I like that again the club has captured the spirit of ANZAC by having the silhouette of a soldier carrying his fallen mate. A tingling image.

I would have thought so. But 'match fitness' no longer seems a major consideration for players who have been in the system for a few years. eg J Kennedy Eagles, Tex Walker, G Ablett. Of course, the risk is they can't contribute enough at AFL level or overdo it and breakdown again.

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2018-04-17/lewis-to-miss-richmond-clash-with-injury Neville Jetta (ankle) – test Jordan Lewis (hand) – 1-2 weeks Tom McDonald (foot) – 2-3 weeks Pat McKenna (hamstring) – indefinite Aaron vandenBerg (ankle) – 8-10 weeks Jack Viney (foot) – 3-4 weeks Extracts: "Tom McDonald (foot) – 2-3 weeks He’ll actually train with the group a little bit on Saturday morning. We actually expect Tom to potentially be available for the Essendon game.” And, "We think Aaron will probably get a couple of VFL games in before the bye and then we’ll see what happens after that bye week.” The Ess game is less than 2 weeks away so it will be a huge effort if Tom gets up for it. I'm torn between saying we need him to play and hoping we don't bring him back too early.

Out for one to two weeks with a broken hand suffered in the 2nd qtr on Sunday. Probably, explains why he payed poorly after. I guess it means there will be no need to drop him to Casey...