Lucifers Hero

Watts can't take a trick on Demonland, Lord T. -Always criticised for lack of aggression. -Gets aggressive, is in a scap and gets criticised. I don't get why people are so upset about Jack not being at the bounce. Anyone had a look lately, at who Richmond, Geelong etc are nominating (not nominating for a bounce/throw in). And the umpires are confused: giving free kicks away for blocking a ruckman who didn't ruck, arbitrarily nominating a player to ruck, bounce/throw in with only one team's ruckman nominating, stopping a player from taking a bounce. Right now the umpires don't know how to manage the 'nominating ruckman'. So they were the cause as much as Jack. Any signs of aggression from Jack is a step forward. We lost nothing from the episode. I'm glad Oliver saw what was happening and took the initiative!

Some people are being harsh on Brayshaw. After his run of head knocks last year he said it took a while before he stopped being anxious going for the ball. If I recall correctly he worked with the club psychologist to get ok with it again. Fast forward to last weekend. He gets a hit of some sort to the head and a cut on his forehead. While he may not have been concussed it may have been enough to trigger worry about concussion. I think after the knock last week he was distracted which was the more likely cause of him not playing well in the second half. To me that distraction is totally natural for a young guy who has just turned 21 and with his recent history. Folks, give him a break!

Emg: Tom Bugg, Cameron Pedersen, Jake Spencer In: Kent, T.Smith, Vince Out: Hogan (suspended), Lewis (suspended), Brayshaw Brayshaw looked a bit worse for wear after the forehead cut last week so not surprised he is out.

Tweet from Jack T: Melbourne FC Retweeted Jack Trengove✔ @jtren9 That's what it's all about! Turning dreams into reality. The big Bull can seriously give out a bruise or two! Well deserved mate. All class from Trengove. Even as he watches his own dreams evaporate he still finds the time and integrity to encourage teammates. Just love Trengrove...so said that injuries have cruelled his career.

Has Smith been upgraded from the rookie list... Great to see the club give an ex Casey player a go at AFL - will be enormous encouragement to others on their list. May even attract a few to Casey! Well done Smithy. Big game for Weideman and our forward line as not much experience there. Watts and Garlett need to play like the senior players they are.

Sounds like Goodwin has a plan to deal with Selwood and Dangerfield. "Like all teams we'll have some scenarios that we can go to depending on how those two guys are going..." http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-04-06/demons-back-infrom-mids-to-take-on-dangerwood But he isn't giving much away on selections: "...revealed midfielder Tom Bugg and versatile tall Cam Pedersen were in the selection conversation....He also forecast the club could blood a third player for the season, with mature-aged recruit Tim Smith a strong chance to join round-one starters Joel Smith and Mitch Hannan as Demon debutants in 2017..." Goodwin may be being coy but no mention of Kent... Is it conceivable that Bernie might miss (...to send everyone a message...). I doubt it but stranger things have happened. With Bugg, Petersen and Smith in the conversation and Bernie to come back there may be more changes than we think!

When one reads articles like this admiration for Jones goes sky high. http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/poor-form-gold-coast-champion-gary-abletts-tv-spot-says-it-all-really-20170405-gvejsx.html Ablett did a sook last weekend when he was given a role he didn't like. And not happy that his traditionally lack of defensive game was highlighted by the media. His management 'blame poor coaching, recruiting, player development, medical and high-performance personnel. And they blame the poor culture at the Suns'. Compare that to Jones. He played thru the worst period and culture a club could have with never a complaint. Gave his all on the field regardless of how tough it became. Helped change the cultlurle. Set a great example even when we were losing and he was a warrior before even having the captaincy. Endured the most demoralising of losses. Played injured. Now he takes the disappointment of co-captaincy in his stride. . Gary may have the brownlows and medals and no doubt has been a champion player. But in my mind it is Jones who is the greater champion in terms of bottom of the pack play, fortitude, team player, loyalty, captain, leadership etc etc. So much respect for Jones, not so much for Ablett. I just hope we win a premiership while Jones is still playing.

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2017-04-05/reach-raises-37000-following-campaign Amazing coincidence: $26,000 raised before the game $11,000 at the game $37,000 Total A very fitting outcome - as the article points out: "Coincidentally, ‘37’ and ‘11’ were significant numbers for Reach’s co-founder, the late, great Jim Stynes, who wore No.37 in his first VFL/AFL match for Melbourne in 1987, before shifting to his regular No.11 the following year". I think Jimmy would be rather chaffed that mfc is supporting Reach and amused that '11' and '37' featured prominently!

Freo won't let him go for just one compo pick (albeit it one in the top 5 the way Freo's season is shaping up). Because Fyfe is 'Restricted' Freo can match any offer as Adelaide planned for Danger. In the end Danger went to Geelong for a 1st round, a 2nd round and a player (and Danger hadn't yet won his Brownlow). Fyfe would command much more especially if he has a good year. So any club wanting Fyfe needs to be prepared to pay in draft picks/players. But I don't think Fyfe is going anywhere.

Scott is dreaming of us having two ruckman so his guys can stay down and collect the hitouts. I can't see anyway Spencer will come in, especially as the team vs St Kilda @ Etihad was deliberately chosen to go with a short forward line. Why would Goodwin & co change that strategy just a fortnight later. Pedersen far more likely.

I agree 'nutbean'. IMO it is easy for Goodwin to allow a more free flowing footy because Roos drilled the team in 'defence first' and 'contested play' in his first 2 years. In his third year Roos was all about 'attacking' football which all young players like and Goodwin also favoured. Without Roos' first two years Goodwin would have no chance for the attacking game plan he now has. Any player not at the club prior to 2014 just wouldn't get what Roos really achieved and why he coached as he did. He played 'bad cop' allowing Goodwin to play 'good cop'. So if players had their nose out of joint by Roos so be it - as you say nutbean: He is the coach, period! I so dislike 'purple' - he is always trying to stir the pot when it comes to the Demons using mere innuendo to create a 'story'. And his comments are stupid - everyone knew Roos was going at the end of 2016 so why would anyone whinge about 'if Roos had stayed'. It wasn't an option so I don't know what 'purple' is rabbiting on about!

Apparently based on the Geelong doctor's report it was deemed to be low impact. As Caro said the Carlton doctors 'did not mince words' in their report to the MRP. So Hogan and Lewis deemed to be medium impact. It is all in the doctors wording, emphasis and the language. eg Carlton doctors could have said something like: Rowe was nauseous and dizzy after the game but we could not confidently say it was a result of the Hogan incident in the 3rd qtr. ...Factual but doubt implied about the cause. Enough doubt to have it ruled low impact attracting a lower penalty? Draw your own conclusions...

A senior Officer of the AFL (can't remember who) has the power to ask the MRP to review a case. Now that it is reported that Carlton medical reports reflected their anger, it is a case where a review is warranted in my book. Not much point the AFL having a power if it is never used. The Hogan/Rowe event has the more tenuous link of the 'hit' and 'delayed' concussion symptoms. The club should ask for the AFL for it to be reviewed (and accept the Lewis one). Then the AFL can ask the Carlton doctors why they didn't check Rowe on the ground or at 3/4 time. I know the answer it is either because there was nothing to see or because they didn't want him off the ground for the compulsory 20 minutes. Either way the doctors have their own case to answer. I would like MFC to request the AFL for the Hogan review to show that we won't take it lying down when another club sets out to nail someone. And to test the power of MRP review system.

Exactly! I don't get that the MRP puts such a heavy reliance on the Cripps and Rowes medical symptoms after the game but the doctors did nothing at the time. In neither case did they even send runners out. I just had a look at the video again and at no time does Rowe's head hit the ground. He clearly falls on his left hip and then leans back. That's it! When does he get the concussion? And, anything could cause his nausea! I think most people accept a penalty was inevitable but the severity based on coincidental events is galling. Carlton are sore losers. Edit: Both incidents happened in the 3rd qtr. Shouldn't the doctors explain why they didn't pick up symptoms at 3/4 time. Don't they have a duty of care to do simple checks? The AFL should investigate why Doctors didn't check if they were worried about concussion.

Caro just said on FC that the Carlton medical report 'did not mince words' and 'did Melbourne no favours'. She said Carlton are angry about the 2 incidence and Melbourne are angry about the medical reports. She said there is 'bad blood' between the two clubs. It sounds like Carlton did a dummy spit and decided to make life difficult for us. The medical evidence apparently is why we won't appeal - pretty difficult to argue against doctors. They stitched us up!

The Age is reporting MFC will not appeal either case. The Club confident we have enough depth? The Club letting players take responsibility for their actions? Either way it is certainly a swift and calm reaction. That alone is reassuring.

Coaches votes: 10 Christian Salem (Melb) 8 Clayton Oliver (Melb) 3 Patrick Cripps (Carl) 3 Marc Murphy (Carl) 3 Matthew Wright (Carl) 2 Neville Jetta (Melb) 1 Nathan Jones (Melb) Looks about right. Delighted that Salem is beginning to make an impact and be recognised. Edit: Overall Lead: 18 Zach Merrett (Ess) 18 Ollie Wines (PA) 17 Clayton Oliver (Melb)

This is the latest I can find: http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-02-22/extiger-don-join-mrp MRP members: Chris Knights (ex Adelaide) Jason Johnson (ex Essendon) Michael Christian (ex Collingwood) Nathan Burke (ex StKilda) They are all ex plalyers. Not sure what schooling, if any they have in medical matters, gathering or weighingevidence etc. Do they even have check sheets to evaluate each case. Surely, they would question why the Geelong doctors medical evidence on Danger had them assess as 'low impact' to the head (from an elbow) but the Carlton doctor evidence had Hogan and Lewis classified as 'medium impact'. It seems they can't even apply consistency in the same week let alone week to week. Baffling!

Cripps did not go off the field. The doctors did not check his jaw. How do they know the fracture didn't happen in another contest? But they somehow manage to convince the MRP that the 'minor' fracture was caused by Lewis. I'm tired of us not getting the benefit of the doubt.

They wouldn't make the same decision if it was a 'pet' and favourite clubs like Essendon, Bulldogs, Carlton or Giants. I'm really sickened by the MRP decisions today. I'm so over our club being penalised for things the MRP and AFL turn a blind eye to when it suits them.

Well, Well! Carlton have somehow managed to find that Cripps Jaw was 'fractured' by Lewis! http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-04-03/exclusive-jaw-fracture-leaves-patrick-cripps-in-doubt-to-face-bombers But. AFL.com.au understands Cripps' injury is at the minor end and will be assessed this week ahead of Sunday's clash against Essendon at the MCG. It is understood the fracture is not displaced. But, No reports of Cripps having scans today so why did they not check him yesterday and take him off? Or, have the Blues overplay the evidence.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-04-03/match-review-panel-full-statement-round-two Hogan: 2 with an early plea. Quote: The incident was classified as a three-match sanction. Lewis: 4 down to 3 (includes a one week carryover penalty). Quote: The incident was classified as a three-match sanction. The player has an applicable bad record which impacts the penalty, increasing it by one match to a four-match sanction. An early plea enables the player to accept a three-match sanction. Absolutely ridiculous. This is a repeat of the Trengove on Dangerfield tackle. Melbourne being made an example of. Club should appeal!!

Interesting reading. I can't see how they get to 58 finals. Lewis has 23, Chuck has 1, Bernie has a couple, Hibberd and Melksham might have a couple. I think Lumumba is included to get it to 58. Take him out and we may have the lowest finals count. Take him out and other stats drop: average age is 22.8 (a fraction older than the youngest team, Brisbane Lions); average games are 52.3, the second least experienced but for Brisbane Lions etc etc etc

Here are ALL THE GOALS! Someone heard the DL cries after only having the 'best' goals last week. On club website, now: http://www.melbournefc.com.au/ Enjoy them all!

38,119 That is 392 since Friday night. I would say there would be plenty more from yesterday coming through in the next few days as the membership team processes them. And as I noted above beat Geelong on Saturday and that will be quite a flip upward!