Lucifers Hero

Its important to look at that in light of our forward line options at the beginning of the season: Hogan, young and still raw. Watts had yet to blossom as a key forward. Dawes was injured and told to get his body right. Weideman and Huelett not ready. Pedersen was the only other 'semi recognised' forward. There was a gaping hole up forward and a tall was needed to plug it. The club had limited choices and Frost was the 'best' option under the circumstances. Frost has been able to revert to defence because Jack Watts has been outstanding as a tall forward.

Former Essendon sports scientist Stephen Dank reportedly shot in Ascot Vale. It sounds rather fishy. A charade maybe? Sell this latest story to raise cash...

Don't mind the news. Goodwin said in an interview last week that he and Hibbered are good mates (similar to Melksham). Coaches, recruiters etc need to use networks to get good players to the club but i am uneasy about this mateship thing. I prefer the coach to be and be seen to be neutral. No room for favourites if we are going up the ladder! For that reason i am ok with Hibbered staying at efc.

At last. Absolutely rapt for him, us and the club. A player who says he wants to be a one club player and shows it by signing up again.

Sorry to quote myself. Coincidentally, here is a an article describing how the Hawkes dislodge the ball from small forwards instead of tackling. Its exactly what I described above and is being called a variation of the old 'chicken wing' technique. http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/how-the-hawks-have-become-the-chicken-wing-kings-to-produce-the-afls-best-forward-half-pressure/news-story/02be83f75c2665a22bd226785f9a2256 Jack Viney executed it perfectly in his Tackle of The Year on Weller. It is a perfect way to stop Lindsay Thomas and others like him from getting all those (cheating) high frees and as the Hawks do, keep the ball in play or get a free for the tackler ala Jack Viney. Maybe the Hawks learnt it from Jack

Coaches votes: 10 Tom Hickey (StK) 8 Tim Membrey (StK) 6 Jack Viney (Melb) 2 Sean Dempster (StK) 2 Jack Newnes (StK) 1 Jarryn Geary (StK) 1 Leigh Montagna (StK) Both gave 5 BOG to Hickey. Our ruck coach needs to work out some counter moves for Max as that is the 3rd time in a row that Hickey has got the better of him. We will not beat the Saints until Max prevails. Another excellent game by Jack Viney. Looks like 3 votes from each coach. Add to that his nomination for MOTY and he had a damn good game.

One of the few positives from yesterday's game. See it here https://markoftheyear.afl.com.au/vote/round/17 Courage personified! Just threw himself into the pack! If you would like to vote for him http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2016-07-18/viney-nominated-for-mark-of-the-year Well done, champ.

No suspension for Jesse Can accept a $1,000 fine!

Does anyone know what is up with Dawes? Didn't play/emergency vs Freo last week. Not on injury list. He was selected to play for Casey this week but spent the game in their coaches box. (Interesting that it was the Casey box and not the Seniors box...) I'm guessing he is injured. If he has missed two weeks already and will need a few weeks at Casey to get match fitness back he may struggle to get back into the team this year. So can't see him being offered another contract. Could he have already hung up his boots? Does a coaches/development role await him next year? Totally surmising.

How to stop Lindsay Thomas getting high frees? He has a standard mo when he gets the ball. He tucks it under his right arm, waits for op player to start the tackle, leans back and low then always raises his left arm to take the tackler high. Free kick. Commentators say they should tackle him lower but given Thomas's technique they can't under his left arm. To stop those frees? Don't try to wrap him in a tackle from the back, tackle his right side/right arm to dislodge the ball or throw him off balance. Or spin him around from his right side. These won't work every time but the way he is being tackled is playing right into his hands. His free kick technique is one reason I dislike watching North games. Hope other teams find a way to force him to change his technique because tackling him from the back is not working.

Is Dangerfield 'Too' Good? Seriously! There is a reason that Adelaide are as good as or even better without him. He is soooo good that he plays as a one man band and leaves his teammates as spectators. There were a few times at Adelaide when Compreale called him out for not following instructions at centre bounce, specifically going for the ball and not minding his opponent. And in a few Geelong games I've seen on TV he has blasted his way to the ball virtually knocking over teammates that were closer and better positioned. And I haven't often seen him try to bring teammates into the game which makes me wonder whether he follows team rules or whether he has a free licence to do as he pleases. His absence from Adelaide has allowed others to flourish and his inclusion at Geelong seems to be stifling teammates, even Selwood is subdued at times. And he certainly doesn't look for his tall forwards like Hawkins, preferring to try and kick goals himself (which he often does). I wonder whether he is so desperately chasing a Brownlow that he has become myopic about his own performance. Having said that he is a Champion but as we all know that doesn't make a Champion Team.

Players who could get a run for the trip West: Frost, Oliver, Stretch, ANB, Bugg, Pedersen. We could then rest players with injury doubts: Oscar - ankle last week Bernie - shin last week Captain Courageous - apparent dodgy knee yesterday Hogan - Went down to the rooms after crashing down flat on his back. Watts - rolled his ankle yesterday. Wagner - if still hampered So yes, I am suggesting we give up the Perth game as lost. Heresy, I know. I doubt we can win regardless of who we pick and it allows players with injury doubts to recover giving ourselves the best chance of winning a few of the last 5 games.

Perfectly summarised by JV: “You start winning and everyone gets away from their roles and tries to get a kick and a touch. It breaks down the whole system, so we learned that and we had to reset it at half-time." Did the players think they had it won in the first quarter, so started racking up the individual stats and be the 'hero'!!!! Not sure what the leaders were thinking when StK kicked 5 unanswered 2nd qtr goals. I would have thought that after 2 or 3 the leaders would have a pow wow to work out what was happening and 'reset' on the ground. I think they were busy trying 'to get a kick and a touch'. That is pre Roos 'individual', 'every man for himself' type football - old habits die hard. Unfortunately our worst offenders were senior players especially in the 2nd qtr which is when we lost the game.

Amongst all the hand wringing and wrist slashing might I just mention how great it was that Watts went up and consoled Gus after his blooper just before 3/4 time. Then McCartney went out of his way to wrap his arm around him at 3/4 time. A few seconds later Bernie did similar. Implied message to young players: mistakes happen, don't worry, move on to the next contest and just play your role. Gus was filthy with himself and almost inconsolable but it must be reassuring for him to get that support. Respect earning leadership by Watts and Vince.

That is the most worrying comment I have heard Roos make. Lyon hasn't been there for 5 years and only a handful of StK players were coached by him. It sounds disrespectful to Richardson and Co and I'm really surprised our club chose to put that on twitter. Poor form all round.

Someone said in the Game Day thread that Captain Courageous was playing with a dodgy knee. It certainly looked that way, he certainly couldn't run more than a few steps. So back off, folks.

Last week was an exciting game by and for Jack. Great that he got to 100 games. He is in no way responsible for our loss today; that was a real team effort. But it was his last hoorah as a Demon. Today he showed even his most ardent fans, why.

Frost out (ill). Wagner in. Shortens our back line a bit which is unfortunate. Hope Oscar's ankle doesn't bother him too much because he will need to do some running.

Our Daisy is panel member on AFL Game Day. Not wearing her Demon gear...assume only guest players do but not panel members. She reviewed the Port/Nth game. Articulate, knowledgeable, confident and fair commentary. Have seen her or Ch 7 pre game show and she was equally impressive. Will probably become a Ch 7 regular and wish her well in the media (during the women's league off season). This young lady will go places in the footy world when she hangs up her boots (after a Dees premiership). Edit: Reckon she would do a better job calling a football game than BT, Darcy et al!!

Eddie's morning radio show fits your sensational descriptions perfectly: dominating personality with relapsing foot in mouth disease in great need of sidekick stooge, Darcy feeding his ego!!

Not an AFL game but O'Meara has sat out the 2nd half of the NEAFL game with 'tightness' as a 'precaution'. Ablett and Rischitelli are out for quite some time (season?). While it is always better to win against other teams best, I hope GCS continue to be cautious with Prestia and O'Meara as we play them in a fortnight.

good point dc. would definitely be an upgrade on both Dawes and Pedersen as our 2nd/3rd tall forward!

Of the clubs mentioned looking for a ruckman: 'Several clubs including Richmond, North Melbourne, Essendon, the Brisbane Lions and Melbourne are understood to be in the market for a ruckman' we would have to be one of the more attractive ones. Only drawback is that he will be playing second fiddle to Max and may prefer to go somewhere where he is numero uno eg Richmond or Essendon if he really wants to be in the starting 22 each week.

A terrific interview with a humble young man. http://www.melbournefc.com.au/video/2016-07-15/the-journey-of-jayden-hunt Shows his youthful innocence when he says he was rapt with Roos comment re 'the best 14 possession game' he had seen but 'didn't really believe him' Doesn't like the media limelight... As a young guy he still has development and growth but gee whiz he is good. Look forward to see him dashing around the G for many years to come.

I posted that nearly 7 weeks ago so its been fairly plain for a long time the lay of the land for Dunn. Nonetheless, his honesty accepting why he was dropped after the Saints game is refreshing and admirable. Thanks for posting the article 'The Dr'. Its sad it has taken Dunn so long (nearly 3 years of Roos) to realise the coaches were serious about playing their way, not his way. I hope Dunn can come back in and earn another contract. But he has a history of good seasons in the last year of his past 2 or 3 contracts. Then falls away once signed up. It seems he now 'gets it' regarding how he is expected to play. Kudos to him for wanting to be part of the future. The ball is in his court.