Lucifers Hero

Picture of the North game when it was injured Checked videos it was first strapped in his comeback game vs Carlton.

Yes, I noticed. He has had his right shoulder strapped since he came back from cancer surgery.

Best outcome is Rich at the G. It is very possible. StK thrashed Rich by 11 goals 5 weeks ago and they will desperate to give Nick a big farewell. They can do it again. If Port and Syd beat Suns and Carl as expected, whoever has the biggest win will be 4th and Rich will be 6th. To improve our chances to play them at the G we need the biggest possible win vs Pies making it hard for Ess to end up 7th. Places still wide open.

Favouritism. Ess in the finals is this years AFL feel good story like WB were last year. Watch Ess get all the favourable rest breaks like WB did last year. The AFL will do over every team except GWS to help Ess go deep into the finals. As I noted in the post above, Ess will be able to position themselves to avoid playing Syd in the prelim. The AFL will do the rest.

That virtually guarantees Ess a place in the finals!!

Even if we win, a heap of other games will determine where we finish. In order of time played: Syd vs Carlton. Port vs Suns. Ess vs Freo. Rich vs StK. Assuming we win Demons/Ess will finish 7th/8th. But Ess will know the results of most other games so they will know the exact score they need to avoid meeting Sydney in the Elim final. They will milk that advantage for all it is worth. All we can do is go out and win and play our best and que sera sera. But we will need to wait till this time next Sunday to know who we play in the Elim (if we get there). It will be a very long weekend.

I'm glad we won. But that was nothing like an even game by 22 players. At least 6 of our players had no impact at all. It bodes well for improvement but not sustainable if we want to get some real finals action. Hibberd was virtually our only really effective defender. Jetta was ok today but Wagner and the Mcdonalds were poor. Hopefully it is just a bad day and they all bounce back next week. Along with Hannan, Garlett and Gawn.

Wheeeeeewwwwwwwwwwww!! Got out of jail. Will take it. We have work to do to go deep into September. Great return game by Jesse!

Jesse Hogan! Everyone who has doubted him or wanted to trade him, hang your head. All year he’s been Resilient and Courageous. Today he was Inspirational. A terrific 50th game from him. Virtually won the game from his own boot. 6 goals. Welcome back, Jesse.

Good article. Thanks. Sounds like Clarrie can add wisdom to what he has learnt this year: ' "I deleted most of my social media so I don't have to worry about it too much now," Its a smart move - he doesn't need the distraction and the media hysteria thrown at him this year. Let his football do the talking - and right now it is shouting

Interesting comment by Clarkson on how Carlton targetting of Sicily (who gave away 7 free kicks): "Clarkson suggested Carlton had sucked in his player. "That's the way Carlton play...he's the retaliator and the umpire's paid the retaliator rather than apply the discipline to the Carlton player in the first instance who's doing the hitting." That is exactly what happened to Lewis , Hogan and Houli (who was suspended for striking Lamb, Sicily's opponent). I think there was another player sucked in by them then suspended but can't recall details. They also stage their reactions which is what the umpire sees and the penalties follow. That plus their doctor's medical reports to the MRP is rapidly making them the scum team of the AFL. There are 3 umpires on the field surely one of them can keep an eye on where the ball is going/has been to watch the argy-bargy and penalise the right player.

Table updated for Keilty and Alex Neal-Bullen contracts. The number of games played will be updated at the end of the season...a bit tedious to do each week. If you want the latest on any player you can find it here http://www.melbournefc.com.au/Team/players/rookie http://www.melbournefc.com.au/Team/players/senior

Great news! Has really embedded himself as a regular 22. In the top 3 in the league for forward pressure acts! He is also very unselfish, doesn't try to be the hero and actively looks for teammates rather than bomb away at goals. Epitomises 'team first' football. Reckon he would be a favourite with both coaches and teammates and increasingly with fans.

Well, I hope the coaches are happy! Salem and Watts get sent back to Casey to be more competitive. They compete and get reported on quite innocuous events.

He left a sour taste at Collingwood and the same at the Dees. I was a fan but really didn't like how he messed us around for 6 months and left us a player short on our list this year. I wonder what criticisms are in store for us and our doctors in his doco? I won't be watching.

Cam has been re- ontracted for another year. http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2017-08-18/big-men-sign-on-for-2018-season He is a great example of a player who took on board coaches feedback and worked hard to get the best of himself. That he has been so willing to do any role the team needed him to play has been a real asset to our club. I doubt we would be on the verge of finals if he had not risen to the occasion. Delighted he is staying with us. Congratulations, Cam. #Lovepedobear

@Drunkn167's bro, Declan Keilty has been re contracted for another year on the rookie list. Big men sign on for 2018 season By the reports that his bro has given us he has worked very hard. Congratulations to Declan and thanks Drunkn for keeping us up to date with his progress.

So now MFC gets a rap over the knuckles because Max talked about infringing! "THE AFL has written to clubs warning them that public commentary about umpiring will be closely monitored after Tigers coach Damien Hardwick and Melbourne ruckman Max Gawn were outspoken on the standard of officiating last week". http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-08-18/watch-the-umpire-commentary-afl-warns-clubs For mine that adds insult to injury! He didn't complain nor criticise the umpires like Hardwick did. He simply stated he didn't understand why he was infringing. Time and time again it seems it is when someone at the Dees is seen to 'step over the line' that the AFL act. What about the running commentary recently from coaches (Scott, Buckley, Scott, Beveridy) on MRP cases? No, not a word from the AFL there! Use MFC as the 'sacrificial' example seems to be their motto!

I prefer the scenario where they go out in straight sets, again!! It will be the 4th finals series in 5 years where they have not one a final! It is highly likely they lose to Adel in their first final then meet Sydney the following week. Lose that and out in straight sets

He sounded happy in the interview last week - he had just come back from a China holiday and doing promotional work there (I assumed that was for the club but not sure). Maybe contract talks have started and he isn't happy with the offer. Its tough for him, having spent 50% of his 3 years injured so hasn't been able to show what he can really do. But also tough for the club to evaluate what he can offer. But if Vand is doing a dummy spit because he isn't getting the role he wants it would be really disappointing given the support the club has provided. He could ask for a one year deal, back himself in and earn a spot in the midfield and renegotiate for 2019 and beyond. But if he wants it handed to him on a platter then fine he can go elsewhere. Hope he stays!

This will be Jesse's 50th game! It has taken 4 difficult years, with many obstacles. Have huge admiration for how you have tackled and overcome them. Congratulations on the milestone. Hope the team bring it home for you and for us!

Jack is a thoroughbred not a brumby! There are plenty of 'brawn' type players. I do not understand why everyone is obsessed with making him a brawny brumby! Jack is at his best as a 'link player'. The most perfect example of that was his game winning run, play and goal vs the pies on QB. The best link player is Adelaide's Tom Lynch. I don't usually go for stats but in this case it is worth comparing their career averages: G: Lynch = 1.5, Watts= 1.0 B: Lynch = 0.9, Watts = 0.5 K: Lynch = 11, Watts = 9 H: Handballs = 5.6, Watts = 7.0 M: Marks = 6.2, Watts = 5.3 T: Tackles = 1.7, Watts = 2.0 Pretty good performance in that role, especially as he played a lot of games in defence and pinch hits in the ruck. Obviously, he is not following coaches instructions. It can't be those stats. I think it is more likely to be the '1%ers' and 'pressure acts'. I am a firm believer in letting people (in any walk of life) play to their strengths rather than make them something they are not. So play Jack as a link man. That is what he does best.

I like us playing the Elim final on the Thursday night (if we make finals). It gives us a 12 day break from the round 23 Saturday game and it gives us at least 8/9 day break to the next final (if we win Elim). I think that is a major reasons the Bulldogs won last year: they had 8 - 9 day breaks between each final giving their players maximum time for recovery. That is a fair advantage in September.

Jesse is back!! http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2017-08-17/hogan-back-viney-to-miss-through-injury Best wishes, Jesse! Hogan has been named in the starting 18, while Stretch, Kennedy, Wagner, Maynard, utility Angus Brayshaw, forward Mitch Hannan and tall Sam Weideman have been named on the extended bench.

Taylor Adams finds new ways to embarrass himself! First his comment about Dunne enjoying being at a 'successful' club. Well that ended up with much egg on his face. Now this we 'deserve' to play finals. The arrogance and sense of entitlement is gobbsmacking! So he thinks they have put in the hard work? Obviously not hard enough. As long as they feel 'entitled' they won't ever work hard enough. And, Treloar must be feeling a bit of a dill, having chosen Pies over Tigers because he thought Pies had the better list (and implied closer to a flag). Aren't one or both in their in their leadership group. If that is there attitude they will burn another coach.