Lucifers Hero

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-08-22/blues-land-exhawk-in-offfield-coaching-coup The years with Clarkson give him a good grounding. Why he would want to join Bolton eludes me. Hawks didn't waste any time replacing him as they have employed Glass to replace him. So sounds like it has been in the pipeline for a while. Was once my favourite player. Wish him well.

That is one very happy man!

Apparently Port didn't read the memo about ruckman 'straight arm blocking' as Paddy also gave away 5 frees on Saturday! https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/max-tax-the-ridiculous-ruck-rule-set-to-impact-paddy-ryder/news-story/ac5459c91203b1bd694b77cb66dc34ff David King is talking sense on this one: “(Paddy) is not really disrupting the opposition ruckman. He’s hanging his arm out, but he’s not really pushing. It’s a protection mechanism and a balancing action.” And amusingly and disturbingly he says: “We saw Max Gawn at training last week and he had his arm in a sling. It is bizarre when last year's AA ruckman and this years main contender are being penalised for a techinque infringement that has never happened before. Umpires should enforce the rules, not change the interpretation 2 weeks from finals against 2 of the premier ruckman. Just ridiculous.

Jesse selected in the Team of the Week. http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-08-22/team-of-the-week-r22-did-we-get-it-right A richly deserved reward!

Sad to hear Fitzy is retiring due to concussion issues. http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-08-21/concussion-forces-hawk-jack-fitzpatrick-to-retire-at-26 I recall he was much maligned for his 'tunnel ball' but thought he more than compensated for that when he kicked the winning goal to get the Hawks into the final four last year. Always did his best for the Dees. Good luck Fitzy.

Lever quits his Adelaide radio show spot. http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-08-21/lever-pulls-out-of-regular-radio-spot Sure sign he is leaving the Crows. Seems down to a two horse race: Dees and Pies. Given the pies don't know who their coach will be and its list is all over the shop, it is hard to see they have the nod. Conclusion: It must be the Dees...!

Post game Goodwin said Jesse, while recovering had worked hard on how he plays the game. So, I watched the replay and noticed that his run up is much straighter with only a little hop. I also noticed he didn't sook to the umpires when interfered with and was less frustrated. He also had more second efforts and ground ball work. Those are great signs of a maturing player. Maybe it is getting older, maybe it is the challenges thrown at him this year. Perhaps both. With this maturity on and off the field he will be so much more dangerous and is on the verge of fulfilling his potential.

He has had his right shoulder strapped in every game since he made his comeback vs Carlton. Pic from the North game when he did the collarbone on the left side.

In the article he also says: "When I did it (broke the collarbone) I thought it was like a 12-week injury and I was pretty flat," Hogan said. I saw the surgeon the next day and he basically said, 'You'll be running in four days, playing in two weeks', which kind of surprised me...He (Oppy) happened to be a Dees supporter as well, so he was pretty keen to get me back out there." 'Oppy' deserves a medal for giving Jesse the motivation to work hard and get back, which he did in very fine fashion. Two milestones for Jesse yesterday: Played his 50th game and kicked his 100th goal. In every way a great day for him.

I noticed that the table in yesterday's post has disappeared so here it is again. As an aside, has the 'Edit' button disappeared for other posters or is it just my browser playing up? Edit: Image deleted

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.