Lucifers Hero

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-07-18/vince-needs-to-smarten-himself-up-jones Our captain certainly isn't happy and gives Bernie a serve: "He really does need to smarten himself up," Jones said..."It's happened far too often with him over the past 12-18 months, he's been (suspended) too many times..."It's frustrating for us because he's a very important player to us." Can't argue with that.

If Lever decides to go it will be interesting to see what Adelaide want for him. Their best offer for Gibbs was '2016 year's first-round pick (pick #15), a small slide of an early future draft pick and former rookie Jake Kelly'. Lever and Gibbs are at different stages of their careers but it would be hard for Adelaide to demand more than they offered for Gibbs. And technically they had to offer overs for Gibbs as he was under contract. So on Adelaide's 2016 value system a good first round pick and steak knives should do it!

Don't see it that way. Even if we lose to Port (which I think is 50/50) for us to fall out of the 8 requires StK to beat Sydney or Ess to beat North. Yes, it does! But it isn't relevant if the other teams were already locks for the top 8 or aren't in contention. Rich and Syd were already locks. I am confident of of saying StK and Bulldogs won't make the 8. Spots 7 and 8 will be between us, Eagles and Ess. Bottom line is we win games we make it. We don't win games we are dependent on the other contenders knocking each other out.

I see it a bit differently. Firstly, let me say making the top 4 wasn't realistic with all our injuries. In terms of spots 5th to 8th - Richmond and Sydney were locks for a spot before this weekend. The Bulldogs can't make the 8 so beating Carlton is of no consequence. The Eagles having a big win will drop StK out of the 8 and drop Ess to 10th. On principle I would rather see Eagles in the finals than Ess! I'm not sure what you were hoping. If the finals were now it would be Rich, Syd, Melb and Eagles playing in Elim finals and there is a good chance that will be the result altho the positions may change. For mine that is a good result for us especially if we get a Vic final and avoid it being vs Sydney.

When will the umpires start penalising the bulldogs for their throws. It is so obvious - they swing both hands out the front and the ball flies out. Its very rugby style. Obvious!

This might be a bit easier to follow. Frost has put off negotiations. Would expect ANB to be next of the 2017 OOC. Then early extensions on a batch of the 2018 OOC players as the club spends its $2m CBA bounty and spreads it around a bit. Will help keep poachers at bay. Being realistic the 2017 OOC players most at risk are Trengove, Spencer and despite his good work it may be Pedo as Weideman becomes more developed.

Another memorable moment by Hunt last night was his chase down of Charlie Cameron. He caught up enough to make Cameron dribble the ball rather than have a clean kick. It was fascinating to watch the two of them go flat out. Cameron is also very fast, Hunt is just faster!

Have to give credit where credit is due: Dangerfield! He couldn't walk but kicks 5.6 (most after the injury) leading to the ball. He single handedly won the game - Geelong won by just 3 points. He is tough as - has played many games this year with bruised ribs. Constantly plays with extreme pain. As a player has it all: extremely talented, fast, tough, fair. As a person he seems intelligent and honest. If he wins the brownlow it will be very well deserved. He is one of the best sporting and football role models going round. Has few peers at the moment.

Goal of the Year for Hunt! Nice way to put icing on his new contract!

Surely that is Goal of the Year by Hunt!!

Did I read somewhere in this thread about AFL 'integrity'? What skerrick there was won't last long: "Whether they are not [back in the AFL system], depends on their actions and behaviours from here. But I know our industry is forgiving... I feel confident they will get another chance," McLachlan said. The ink is barely dry on their resignations and Gil comes out with that. http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/simon-lethlean-and-richard-simkiss-could-return-to-the-afl-says-gillon-mclachlan-20170714-gxbt9m.html So they will go to pergatory for a while then welcomed back with open arms, perhaps James Hird style... Truly pathetic by Gil.

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2017-07-15/hunt-captured-for-three-more-seasons "...since his first AFL match last year, he hasn’t missed a game." Great effort and fantastic for him to show faith. He is the type of player that will bring people to games because he is so exciting to watch. ANB is probably the next to be signed up. Then contract extensions for Petracca, then Hannan, then Jetta the the McD's etc.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/scott-mcgrory-says-james-hird-handing-out-norm-smith-would-be-like-lance-armstrong-handing-out-yellow-jersey-at-tour-de-france/news-story/53e1573e803cb4af0c1effc3f92e9202 As usual with the ESS saga it takes someone outside the AFL industry to call the elephant in the room. "OLYMPIC cycling gold medallist Scott McGrory says getting James Hird to hand out the Norm Smith Medal at this year’s Grand Final would be like getting Lance Armstrong to present the winner’s yellow jersey at the Tour de France... putting Hird up as a “role model” was “a really bad image for the sport”. The AFL industry media are so beholden to the AFL that it won't call out this elephant in the room. McGory quite rightly says: "...that while AFL commentators are often critical of other codes, they need to hold their own sport to the same standard". Of course that will never happen if they want to stay on the AFL media drip feed.

Talking of medals and handing them back, what did happen to Jobe's Brownlow? He said it was in his sock draw, his manager said the 'dog ate it'. After some hullabaloo and concern that Jobe didn't actually give it back, Gil said it was in a draw in his office. But Jobe's cousin, Jeb Ross of StKilda has said it may be hanging on the wall at their grandparents house http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/essendon/jobe-watsons-cousin-seb-ross-unsure-if-brownlow-medal/news-story/8bf8e12a30f03c1ab19bdbd23b70d90c Jeb said: “I’m not sure if that is a replica or the real one. I don’t know if they have got it tucked away.” I wouldn't be surprised if the whole 'handing back the medal' was just a charade. If the real Brownlow medal is still in the possession of the Watson family it is a disgrace by the AFL. It taints the Brownlow name and is offensive to the real winners, Cotchin and Mitchell. Grand Final day and Hird presenting the Norm Smith medal = public cleansing of St James on the biggest stage of our game! Sickening.

I thought about PJ being an AFL appointment (but not sure how much money they actually put in) and whether to credit them in my op. But. The AFL helped us but only after they crushed what little 'brand' we had with the 'guilty of not tanking' verdict. That verdict was the last straw that dropped us into the abyss. The least the AFL could do was give us a step ladder to get out. PJ and a few $ were that step ladder. Sure, I appreciate what they did but on balance the AFL have given us peanuts when compared to the favourable FTA time slots and big Vic teams opp at Home MCG games that Rich, Ess, Carl and Coll get. They have achieved nothing for years but still get fixture favouritism that brings millions into their clubs each year. And, lets not mention the favoured franchise clubs. The AFL put up some coin but its PJ et al that have dug us out of the abyss and now we are standing on our own two feet. I find it hard to give too much credit to the AFL.

A pleasure LaDvC. The ~$1m is for both the NT games - I'll go back an edit, thanks. If the link doesn't work maybe go directly to The Australian website - AFL. Re accessing behind the paywall: I find that The Australian allows 2 articles a day before the 'subscriber only' flag comes up. My browser is Firefox. I copy the article heading from The Australian website into the Firefox search box and click 'paste and search'. After the search click on the article title and it appears. It usually has a 'film' over it and a large 'subscriber box' on the screen. Click the x in the top right corner of that box and it and the 'film' disappear.

Lots of topics covered in this article. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/afl/resurgent-demons-ready-to-reap-1million-windfall/news-story/4a719b44c0f14d07e32d2677749ff2a9 Our (off field) success In a nutshell: a healthy $1 million profit within reach this year. (Prior to Peter Jackson we had made a $1.7m loss) record membership figure of 41,500 average home attendances at the MCG are up by 23 per cent. NT deal worth almost $1m per annum. should also qualify for more Friday night action next year ANZAC Eve now a 'blockbuster' and will be our home game next year. Melbourne appear certain to not be disadvantaged again as they were recently by being dealt a harsh draw with four games in 18 days. Not a 'power' club yet but a far cry from the pre PJ era of a rabble, irrelevant club. I particularly like the predictions for next year's fixture; it bodes well. And with the NT deal expiring at the end of next year we may be financially strong enough to give it up. (But I doubt we will - Essendon tried to pinch it off us last year and part of NT is in our multicultural zone). On field, in 2013 we ended the year 17th with a percent of 54.1. Now we are pushing for finals with a percent over 100. An incredible turnaround in the 4 years of PJ's reign. Its hard to believe he arrived a mere 4 years ago. Lots of people have had a hand in the turnaround but it was PJ who laid out a plan for the Board and implemented it. It was PJ who hired the right people to hire the right people and empowered them do their job. As others have said before: we are in very good hands and thank God for PJ. And, when the likes of scathing Demon critics: Greg Denham, Damian Barrett and David King hop on the Demon wagon it is a sure sign we are relevant again!

Lever is the Crows danger man. The idea is for Plugger to distract and stop Lever not the other way round. Jones and Viney were pivotal to that and they aren't playing. Poorly worded on my part. The Jones, Viney was reference to prior posts relating to controlling the midfield not skill in fwd delivery. The Salem/Watts was reference to their skill and composure for good delivery to the forward line. Essentially, this is a very different game to round 8. Lever didn't play last time and we have a lot of outs who did. Same game plan, different tactics required.

To me that is our best strategy with TMac (as a defender) the best person to do it - a bit like the defensive forward but a tall version thereof. It is a strategy that has been very effective against Rance in recent weeks and Goodwin used it brilliantly with Petracca and Hurley in the 2nd half of the Ess game. Will be interesting to watch what Goodwin does. I'm sure they will dream up something quite innovative. One thing I'm sure of they won't let Lever roam free.

I actually think we are very good at moving the ball quickly out of opp forward line. Where we fall down is lack of skill and composure in delivery to forwards so it often goes in high especially in recent weeks without Salem, Watts, Jones, Viney. Its easy to say not do this but that is how it has been in recent weeks - perfect for Lever. If we let them lock it in their forward line Lever will have a very relaxed night in their backline rather than 'zone off and pick up easy marks' in defence. The problem with 'having enough at the contest' is that the way Adel play in defence is that there isn't a contest - Lever is allowed to run off his man. Quite right, Lever isn't going to out muscle Hogan et al that is the job of Talia et al so it frees Lever. I still see a need for a specific strategy to stop Lever if we are to win.

Yes, ideally, we find targets up forward but in practice we don't have the composure yet and with Salem and Watts (maybe) out we don't have the skill for pin point passes. And if as you say we can't dominate the midfield how do we stop Lever?

Last week like many prior weeks the opp defenders more often than not, marked high balls coming into our forward line. That is a tailor made chance for Lever to be BOG. Why opp coaches allow him to roam free is beyond me. In round 8 he did not play!! This week if we can't neutralise his free roaming intercepts it will be very hard to win. In a different way, he is to Adel what JJ was to the bulldogs - the guy from whom their respective attacks starts. Have given a bit of thought on How To Stop Lever. This will sound odd and a luxury but what if we play Tom Mc on him with a brief to wear him like a glove and take him out to far flung pockets or at least to the pocket on the opposite side of our attacking forays. Lever has to go with him as Tom is a dangerous forward. It sacrifices Tom's game but also takes Lever out of play and allows Hogan, Pedo/Watts etc to kick the goals. Other suggestions on How To Stop Lever?

The Cats want to play round 23 on the Monday night. http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-07-12/cats-want-giant-monday-clash-to-end-season Reasons: 1) Geelong are notoriously poor after a bye. They can minimise the length of their time off the park, and a Monday night fixture would do that. 2) The second driver is the evidence thrown up by the 2016 finals series - The prevailing wisdom from that experience is that any attempt should be made to shorten gaps between matches. A Monday night rnd 23 gives them 9 days from rnd 22. I bet the next thing the Cats will ask is for their first final to be played on the Thursday night again to get an 8/9 day break and continue on from there. Then a Saturday etc etc. I believe one of the reasons the Bulldogs won the GF is because they had 8 or 9 days between every game - an ideal break to freshen up players but not so long to 'loose touch'. Geelong are getting in early but I hope the AFL is wise to it and not allow any team to have the advantage the Bulldogs had last year. I actually think it was a deliberate plan by the AFL last year. I hope (somewhat forlornly) that they mix it up this year so that no team has such an advantage. I say forlornly as the AFL is likely to gift this advantage to GWS to help them to their maiden flag. I always thought the weekend finals scheduling was relatively fair to all teams and the higher you finished the better the draw. Not the case anymore. Its at the whim of the AFL.

...and it looks like Bernie has a few more games in him after this year https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/melbourne-veteran-bernie-vince-says-he-would-accept-playing-at-vfl-level-in-final-years-of-his-career/news-story/864fefdaf72fa845323e439c11cd22b0 “I’ve had really good chats with Goody (Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin) ... he just said I’m not going to put a restriction on your age or how many games you can play...You just keep playing as you’re performing. And whether that means I play on for another couple of years, that might mean play VFL if I’m not in the best 18 or 22.. And I’m fully accepting of that.” Bernie gets criticised a bit on here and like all players he makes mistakes but the 'protection' he gives our youngsters cannot be overestimated. Never moreso than this year when our stronger players (Jones, Vand, Hogan) have been out of the team. Really, he should have been rested rather than endure great pain and injections in his toe but because of other injuries we couldn't afford to. Bernie is as brave as can be. That Bernie is happy to play at VFL level if necessary speaks volumes about him. Glad that he will get another contract with us.

And Gus is now doing full contact work and if he is up to it will return to VFL after their bye in a few weeks! Tyson, Watts chances for the Top End Go Gus! Melbourne injury list: round 16 Angus Brayshaw (concussion) – indefinite Lochie Filipovic (hip flexor) – 3 weeks Colin Garland (knee) – season Jeff Garlett (hamstring) – test Jesse Hogan (testicular cancer) – test Nathan Jones (quadriceps) – 3-4 weeks Pat McKenna (hamstring) – 4-5 weeks Christian Salem (hamstring) – 2-3 weeks Tim Smith (navicular bone) – season Dom Tyson (knee) – test Aaron vandenBerg (heel) – season Jack Viney (plantar fascia) – 4-6 weeks Jack Watts (hamstring) – 1-2 weeks