Lucifers Hero

Au contraire, ernest...I thought your point on the 'luck of the bounce' was very relevant. It reminded me of the 2010 drawn GF when the 'luck of the bounce' denied the saints a second flag. The 'luck of the bounce' in all its facets is what makes our game interesting and unpredictable. And I like your posts - one of the more reasoned writers on here.

The bounce is here to stay!! http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-11-21/the-bounce-is-here-to-stay SEN is also reporting it will not be reviewed next year or in the near future. Pleased to see an icon of our game will remain.

Hogan looks ready to go: Fit and fierce! Rest of today's training pics here: http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2017-11-20/photo-gallery-monday-november-20 Also, good to hear @DeeSpencerreport above on a slim Kent. He has to fight for a spot but is giving himself a decent chance.

Absolutely, ET. On field enemies. But as they stuck with our beloved demons thru thick and thin and neither chose to go they are in my 'favourite enemy player' category. Just can't bring myself to feel badly towards them.

Good article on JT going to Port. http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-11-17/trengove-happy-with-upfront-and-honest-hinkley He noted: "The other thing that struck me about Ken is that he really does just focus on what you can bring to the team, opposed to the little inefficiencies you need to improve on...for a player that's been around for a few years now, it's great to hear what you can do again". Watts said something similar in a post trade interview. I don't think either meant to chip Goodwin or Macca but it makes one wonder about positive motivation vs 'carrot and stick', post Roos. On a lighter note JT is the designated 'chaperone' for Watts: "Ken was pretty keen for me to live with (Jack) to keep him on the straight and narrow." Watts said in a recent interview they will share a house at Henley Beach. Having his mate who knows his way round Adelaide, is a known hard worker/trainer to buddy with, may just be the making of Jack Watts. Wish them every success.

Well folks, the reason for scrapping the bounce is not risk of injury. Nor is it worry of a female's ability to bounce the ball high enough. Nor is it inconsistent bounce. Razor Ray says it is umpire anxiety!!. http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-11-15/razor-ray-backs-push-to-ban-the-bounce- To extend RR's worry a little bit - what about player anxiety? Every time a player takes a set shot for goal he feels anxiety about missing, especially at crucial stages of the match. Do we then remove set shots for goal from the game??? No, of course not! He says that 'in general' the game will be better if the bounce goes. I assume he means umpires will make better decisions if they don't have to worry about the next bounce. Anxiety is part of any job and there is treatment for managing anxiety. Just ask Richmond players about 'staying in the moment'. I would like to hear how the game will be improved not just a vague reference to 'in general'.

That is one of the scariest comment I've seem on here for quite a while... What reminds you of 2012?

Misson's take on pre season so far: http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2017-11-15/nealbullen-stretch-impress-early He applauds Stretch and ANB. Not everyone showed up as would have liked: “They’ve come back in OK shape – some that we would’ve liked to have come back a bit better and there are some we are pleasantly surprised with,” he said. Can any of our track watches tell which players look just ok? He talks about the players that were/are on injury list. Kent gets a mention: "Kenty, with his shoulder, has been able to do a fair bit of running work, but still needs to improve that strength and range in his shoulder". So while he isn't getting a mention in reports and photos he is obviously working out, somewhere". Good on him. A notable mention is Viney: "...He’s still got to work on getting his range in that ankle back. We’re not going to rush him back into football work...". The latter bit is especially good to hear.

Kent is not a 1 to 4 year player so technically isn't due back till nov 20. But your point is well made - given he had a bad 2017 on and off the field, you would think he could make a statement about commitment and earn back the faith, by coming back a bit early as other senior players have (eg Max, Viney, Pedo). I doubt he will be on our list next year. Maybe he knows it. We will know in a few weeks how much he cares about his AFL career.

No bounce No 3rd man up No straight arm block (recall the 'Max Tax' - 5 frees vs Saints) So, very little tactical nouse required by ruckman these days! Days of the great ruck duels are numbered...as Jeff White said: Sad... Wish they would leave the game alone!

Thank you demonstone. Clever work!

Or as earnest says better injury management. Gawn, Salem, Jones, Watts, Tyson and Garlett had soft tissue injuries. Viney and Hogan and bone injuries. Not one of them came back thru Casey and with the exception of Jones were 'rushed' back into the team. Jones was given 'extra' time to recover and not one of the other players was as good post injury as before, even after a few games under their belt to blow out the cobwebs and get match fitness back So I would say better injury/game management "and we would have played finals in 2017 and I mean finals". The coaches and the medicos rolled the injury dice and lost. No finals! To come back to thread title - should we trade our medical/fitness staff!!

Making good progress: 23,162. Up on comparable date in 2016 but just a few hundred behind 2017. Wondering if @george_on_the_outermight update and pin the 'Annual Membership Tally' thread?

That he wasn't allowed to do that surprised me as we desperately needed outside run and a steadying force going forward - Billy can run, lowers his eyes rather than bomb it in fwd and is accurate when playing with confidence. Not a prolific ball getter but can use it well, not brilliantly but better than most. Getting every player to be aggressive at the contest is good in principle but we have an abundance of those in and under types but precious few with speed and ball delivery skills. If Stretch isn't given the freedom to run and we traded HWSNBN Mark11, delivery into our fwd line will still be an issue this year. Hope Billy gets the licence to run - it would be great to see him in full flight.

For general info: Since the latest CBA, all Category A rookies can be selected to play from round 1 regardless of injuries, promotions etc. The difference between a Cat A rookie and a senior player is now length of tenure, termination conditions and pay scale. It is the reason we reclassified Maynard from a B rookie to an A rookie. It was a good move by the AFLPA as it gives clubs more flexibility. For example, if it was in place this year we could have played one or more of the rookies when Lumumba's departure left us an AFL player short.

Possibly just the angle of this pic at training that makes him look skinny especially in chest and legs. Delighted to hear your reports that he has bulked up and tracking well. He is an exciting prospect.

From mfc website: "...ruckman Mitch King caught Petracca’s eye....Mitch King has put on a bit of size ... about five or six kilos, so he’s looking a bit fitter and a bit stronger,”. It seems King has done a lot right during the break. Hopefully he really comes on this year. It will be good (and important) to 'keep Max honest' with competition building for the ruck spot and as a back up if Max breaks down again. King had bad luck going down early last year with a ruptured acl but he could be a surprise packet this year! Wish him well. On a different note, Weideman still looks pretty skinny...

Roos was really big on this. His wife Tammy did a bit of work with the players and I recall some saying it really helped them. Post Neeld, he and Tammy were starting behind the eight ball but still helped achieve a much improved mindset and consistency during the 3 years. Roos employed it at Syndey and they also went onto win a flag. Captain Kirk was one who really embraced 'mindfulness'. Also. I read recently that Dusty did regular sessions to help him - can't remember if it was meditation, yoga or both. Cotchin also spoke highly of the program. Some might say 'mindfulness' is all a bit airy fairy but when really tough guys like Kirk and Dusty take it on then it is worth paying attention. Goodwin is more about contest and competitiveness. Also, I think Goodwin wanted to leave Roos' initiatives behind and introduce his own. So to answer your question, I doubt 'mindfulness' will be back at the Demons. Nonetheless, Richmond and Sydney have shown the value of both. Edit: The article D4life refers to http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/mindfulness-and-meditation-helped-richmond-break-afl-premiership-drought-20171103-gzed1o.html

In recent times: Jimmy's 11. He won his bronwlow in it. Subsequently cherished and worn proudly by Maxy.

Jack T was on radio saying that he contacted Jack W (in Canada) who shed a tear or two on hearing they would be together at Port. Shows how much they think of each other. I shed a few tears too. Never thought I would say this but I hope Port has great success next year (except vs us) with our Jacks! Good luck JT. Whatever happens, you'll always be a Demon champ!

It looks like a lot of people held off to the last minute for the Oct 31 cut off for Christmas membership mail. That and the Nov 1 Direct Debit renewals have kicked in and today's number is 21,559! Still about 1,478 short of 2017 figure around this time (23,037) but improving!

Thanks HBG. Again, it seems like poor membership communication on renewals. The new 'packaging' concept seems a back door way of raising revenue, especially as there are limited GF tickets available. At some point the club will need to cap the number of memberships with the gfg (as Bulldogs did post 2016) and then new members will only be able to buy the vanilla GA membership. To me it seems that without a 'reserve seat' option it is one less offering to help attract new members! Or offer a mid point for those who want to opt out of the gfg. Oh well, hope the club hasn't inadvertently deterred potential new members. We need every member we can get!

Thanks for the confirmation dc. The lack of a basic GA home game + reserved seat option would be a terrible oversight so one must think it is deliberate! Like you, I think it will come back and bite them. Or maybe it already has. Including the GF guarantee in what was a basic membership is like the club forcing people to buy a product with an option they may never use and don't want. This plus the lack of transparency and information on pricing/product changes is disconcerting.

Website says Redlegs includes Reserved Seat at the package cost of $479. https://membership.melbournefc.com.au/packages/view/82/Redlegs. I've had the same seat for 16 years. The seat number is on the renewal advice and is automatically allocated to me if renewed before a certain date. If your membership is different maybe contact the club to clarify. This map shows Redleg Reserve as N1 to N9. Cheers

That's good to know. Thanks I couldn't find on the website if someone wanted to buy a new GA Home + Reserved seat membership. Will have another look when I have more time.