Lucifers Hero

I also think Dusty will stay. Shopping him around is a ploy by his manager (Carr??) to flush out the best offer for leverage with Richmond. He did this with Dusty's last contract except Richmond didn't take the bait and declared they would let him go. The ploy backfired and the Dusty camp was left with egg on face. Carr now has Richmond over a barrel and they will pay dearly for 'embarrassing' the Dusty camp last time...altho' it was of Carr's own doing. This time Carr will laugh all the way to the bank...

Don't bet on it Pates. A few years ago the AFL declared 'win games and you get FTA broadcasts and the Prime time slots'. BUT: The FTA schedule for those teams in 2017 for 10 rounds have been: Collingwood, 7 telecasts with 4 in Prime Time Richmond, 5 telecasts with 4 in Prime Time Carlton, 5 telecasts with 2 in Prime Time Essendon, 7 telecasts with 6 in Prime Time (Nice reward for the drug cheats - Finish last, get the # 1 pick, get all their players back and clean up on the FTA time slots. Sickening, really). Last year their ladder positions were: Collingwood,12th, Richmond, 13th. Carlton 14th, Essendon 18th. So I call BS on the AFL comment that 'win games and get FTA and prime slots'. (Note: The AFL have delivered to the Bulldogs but they had to win a Premiership). They all have a heap more FTA prime time slots in the second half but I can't be bothered counting them - you get the picture! The big club dominance of the FTA schedule has happened by stealth with the AFL fully complicit! The big clubs get prime FTA time slots early in the season so it helps them build memberships...top of mind stuff. And its really important clubs get their members signed up early in the season. Of course it sets those clubs up for the FTA schedule the following year regardless of how many games they win. Cycle repeats. FTA is all based on Membership numbers (except Carlton - not sure what the deal is there).

Tom Mc said he is still pretty sore from the surgery but he is keen to get back and play again. Watts said he spoke with him last night and also said Jesse is keen to get back '...whether that is after the bye or a week or two later, we'll see'. QB looking less likely.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-05-30/demons-sign-brownlow-medallists-granddaughter Harriet has been recruited as a Free Agent. Was really surprised to see her delisted last week. Can only assume it was to meet AFL list management rules. Delighted she is back as I thought she put in some really good performances and improved as the season went on.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-05-29/demons-star-hogan-set-to-return-to-the-club It confirms the club is hopeful Jesse is available for the QB game but predictably " ...Hogan's comeback will be dictated by how well the wound heals and how is feeling. ... Demons are keen to ensure the power forward has the appropriate level of conditioning after an interrupted start to the season that saw him play just four matches..." He will have played 4 occasional games in 12 weeks, had surgery and had a tough time. I guess the club won't know about his conditioning till after a few training sessions. So its a case of watch this space... Of course, like eveyone else on here...can't wait till the #1 runs in red and blue again!

He had bone bruising a month ago which is usually a few games out. I said in this weeks Post Game thread that had we not had so many injured talls and forwards out he would have been rested. At the time of the bone bruising I expected him to not play for a week or two as it was the reconstructed knee and it wasn't worth the risk but that we may not have too much choice. He wasn't a patch of his normal self on Saturday so really hope the 2.2 weeks off is enough. The last thing we need is to get Hogan back but lose Trac.

Congratulations Mitch for being nominate for MOTY. http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2017-05-29/hannan-nominated-for-mark-of-the-year The 3 nominees are almost identical but vote for Mitch!

Channel 7 just reported that Jesse flew back yesterday. They said MFC is hoping he will play on QB. They didn't give a source so it could be speculation. But tbh I think the club will continue to be low key about it. So, looking fwd to Goodwin's mid week press conference when we might get a clear picture. Edit: http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-05-29/demons-star-hogan-set-to-return-to-the-club It confirms the club is hopeful he is available for the QB game but predictably "... Demons are keen to ensure the power forward has the appropriate level of conditioning after an interrupted start to the season that saw him play just four matches..."

That is a fair assessment! It quotes another feat for Oliver which hadn't had much exposure: He ranks No.1 in the league for ground-ball gets (118). Add to that these stats: ...has averaged 30.9 disposals, 14.9 contested possessions, 6.7 clearances and 6.8 tackles per game... from this article - another fair assessment of our season http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/midseason-report-card-melbourne-in-midtable-position-despite-loss-of-key-players-through-injury/news-story/2f3b01e4afae837d947d5912e5abb441 ...and it is no wonder they have him in the AA conversation (along with Garlett and Jetta for the squad).

Interesting that someone who has gone under the radar this week is Petracca. I was happy with his game but then I was ok to happy with everyone's game. But he had bone bruising a few weeks back and played on each week whereas players from other teams with same ailment have missed games. If we didn't have so many talls/forwards out there is every chance Watts and Petracca would have missed a game to recover. The bye couldn't come fast enough for them and the likes of Viney.

Q.1. Given the draw 6w and 4l was a reasonable expectation. Q2. Yes, 5-5 is a good result. I think had Hibberd not been out injured we would definitely have beaten Freo and Richmond and maybe even Geelong. Hibberd's absence hurt as much as Max, Jordan and Jesse. Q3. Yes we can! Of the pretenders, Freo won't stay in the 8 and Richmond and WCE may also drop out. Of the contenders we are the best and most consistent performer.

Of those in the 8: Freo will drop out at some stage. Richmond is no certainty to stay. They have just hung in there for most games and the only convincing wins were vs Brisb & Carl. Playing with a relatively injury free team. But they do have an easy draw. Anyway, 9th is where they belong... WCE is no certainty to stay. They have only 6 games at Subiaco (incl Geel, Demons, Port Adelaide) and they don't travel well. So at least one maybe two spots available. Of the contenders: St Kilda is similar to Richmond. Good wins over Carlton, Hawks and GWS when the latter two had depleted teams. No real claims. Essendon could sneak in as have good draw, mostly in Melbourne. North have a very very easy draw and a very well balanced side and they are bruising the opposition. Collingwood have a lot of very winnable games but performances are all over the shop. Not reliable. Melbourne. We have a good %age advantage on all 7 of above teams (except Rich). If we win 6/7 very well and the others are close games we will make it even if only on %age. Like last year the finals are in our own hands - depends how badly the players want it. It may come down to us or North.

Yes, some people just want to be negative or find any little thing to beat up on their favourite whipping boys. This week it was Oscar, Watts, Tom and Lewis. I thought the first half was ok. In the first qtr we were kicking against a very strong breeze - Petracca's kick for goal went 40m caught by the wind. Whereas GCS were kicking them from 55. We had more i/50 but were battling the wind. In the second qtr we had a lot of the ball and a lot of i50's but couldn't kick goals. The wind had died down so no real advantage to us. In the 3rd qtr we got our act together and no wind to speak of. In the 4th we went on with it. Overall, I thought we played well. Not everyone had their best game, in fact few did. But we found a way to win and as Goodwin said a few weeks ago - that is what good teams do. If nothing else, games like this build resilience and belief.

The blinkers seem to be on today. Of the possible 714 votes cast, Lewis gets 8 and Watts gets 1. They were as instrumental in turning the game in the 3rd qtr as was Jones.

Agreed. As an aside, would you consider a new moniker avatar? I know its disrespectful to ask that of a poster but it is upsetting to see Daisy's face smashed in like that. She is such a delightful, intelligent person, player and our captain so not sure why someone would choose that pic.

Our track record vs those teams: MCG games: Coll, Syd, Carl, Port, StK, Bris, Coll. Beat them all in the 2016/17 except Sydney. Sydney are a young side and inconsistent, like us. If we can fix our record at the G this year and adapt our game style to the bigger ground we will win all of them. Bulldogs - We have multiple wins at Etihad and the Bulldogs are far from a settled side. Adelaide - We won in Darwin (2016) and beat them a few weeks ago. They thrashed Freo last night but it wasn't a convincing win. Eagles - We nearly beat them in WA last year and could have won with a bit more luck from umpires. North - We nearly beat them in Hobart last year and could have won with a bit more luck from umpires. GWS - They're best players will be back by then - tough one. The only one I think is a definite loss is GWS. The others are all winnable, if the team turns up before quarter time. And, we must find a way to win at the G - 7 scalps up for grabs if we do!

Semi-Massacre at Adelaide Oval. Crows 9.18 to 2.1 and Crows kicking at 51% Effy! Crows are not playing like a top of the ladder team. If Adelaide kicked straight it would be a total wipe out for Freo. If they kicked straight Freo would wear the dubious title of the biggest loss in AFL history and we could relinquish the 186 tag. We will rue the loss to Freo as much as we did rnd 2 vs Ess in 2016

Wish they could both lose! But if one has to win let it be Richmond. Can't bear it if Ess go into the 8 partly because it would be a reward for their cheating over recent years and partly because I can't bear their smug supporters and arrogant club.

This and posts by @titan_uranus and @rjay highlight what a fantastic commentator Daisy is. She knows football and does a lot of research. For example on Friday night she said Geelong had never lost a match when they led at 3/4 time since 20xx (I think it was 2013, not sure). Bruce etal were genuinely taken aback by her knowledge. She is a clever interviewer, not in a smart alec way but in a way that gets an interesting response. So much better than the banal stuff many of her colleagues dish up.

No problem Wise. At least you gave us a summary of the article. I only find it frustrating when someone posts a link and gives no idea as to what it is about.

The clock starts when the mark is paid. (I assume that is on the whistle). But the umpire can allow extra time if the ball is hit away/spills free in the mark etc. The clock doesn't stop (I don't think) the umpire guesses the extra time. What I thought was unfair for Dixon is he went to ground on taking the mark. I didn't count how long it took to get up but I would guess at least 5+ seconds. Normally, an umpire would allow the player that extra time and let the clock run out. The media hasn't made a fuss because Hinkley said the umpire was right, while diplomatically adding he had never seen play on called before. So he diffused any fuss. I reckon Port were cheated not only with that call but all the holding of Grey that was ignored. Hawkins got paid those against us!

Do you know that as a fact. The media report I saw around trade time said the Sydney offer was around $350k - they couldn't afford anymore because of salary cap pressure. If a fact I will go back and amend my post.

Jack Niall reported our interest a few days ago. Caroline Wilson reported that Zak is earning under the AFL 'median' pay which is the range of $230k to $250k. Yes, I was shocked at how low it is but she is rarely wrong with her info One thing in their favour is that the new CBA tips $2m into their salary cap next year and the Buddy contract does not have escalation clauses - his contracted annual amounts are fixed. But if Zak wants to come to Melbourne we can beat any $ Sydney offer without breaching the faith with our players or abandoning the club's mantra of not paying 'overs'. Zak really fits our 'run and carry' game style and is as tough as so would be rapt to see him in our colours.

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2017-05-26/list-changes-made-to-womens-squad Most of the list remains intact. An additional forward in Bianca Jakobsson will help us kick a few more goals, something we struggled to do in a few games which cost us spots on the ladder. Bit surprised to see Harriet Cordner delisted as I thought she played quite a few good games. Wish her and the other players leaving well in their careers. They will always have the honour of being part of an inaugural AFLW team. The List Melbourne’s 2018 AFLW List Richelle Cranston Meg Downie Laura Duryea Jasmine Grierson Ashleigh Guest Melissa Hickey Kate Hore Emma Humphries Bianca Jakobsson Ainslie Kemp Sarah Lampard Alyssa Mifsud Lily Mithen Aleisha Newman Elise O’Dea Brooke Patterson Karen Paxman Daisy Pearce Lauren Pearce Catherine Phillips Shelley Scott Katherine Smith Traded Deanna Berry Pepa Randall Maddie Boyd Delisted Jess Anderson Mia-Rae Clifford Harriet Cordner Stephanie De Bortoli Sarah Jolly New Bianca Jakobsson Ashleigh Guest Kate Hore Draft picks: Round 1 (Pick 6), Round 2 (Pick 14), Round 3 (Pick 22), Round 4 (Pick 30), Round 5 via GWS Giants (Pick 33) Other Teams: http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/aflw-offseason-central-every-afl-womens-clubs-ins-outs-delistings-retirements-trades-draft-picks-recruits-rookies/news-story/baa6a2492278d680f6abe0cb4d43abf6

Imagine if we had taken Kelly and now he is made a $1m a year offer to go to North! This place would be in meltdown - $cully Mark 11