Lucifers Hero

...plus Picket

rjay, someone read your op!! Here is an article about a new system the AFL is said to be considering. http://www.theage.com.au/afl/fremantle-dockers/brad-hardie-what-if-all-the-losses-dont-give-the-dockers-the-no1-draft-pick-20160531-gp7uij.html Can't see the AFL changing the system for this year (if for no other reason they want Ess in the finals next year and then stay there). I quite like the system which averages a team's ladder position over 3 years. Would certainly fix the tanking problem and the Eagles, Pies and now Dockers 'one year bottom out' then bounce back to play in finals the next year.

Yes he is a Dees supporter. 'Adam Woolcock is a Melbourne sport writer. He is a Melbourne Demons obsessive and operates demonwiki.org ' He probably posts on DL. However, the Guardian article has been edited today (note it was published yesterday). The original article had a bit of emotive language and hyperbole. He crossed the line with this about the Viney/Ebert incident: ‘Only on Monday, one was found guilty of murder. No, the scale is not nearly the same, and yes, the rules are different on the football ground. But they are not suspended altogether. By ever so few degrees, the sight of one footballer belting another in the head legitimises the act more broadly’. For a 'journalist' to draw a comparison with murder (I assume he means where a 'king hit' was involved) was I thought, appalling. Fortunately, his editors saw the light and have removed that very offensive paragraph in today's version.

Vivid memories from last year: 1. Clarkson put the Dawes stupid 'they are gettable' comment up at the club to motivate players. It worked brilliantly for them. So Dawes: don't poke the bear!! 2. They ground us into the dust - they were determined to win by over 100pts and kept going in the last until they did. Hawks need a percentage boost. They see us as their bunnies and will hunt us down. This Saturday will not be pretty.

Saw this pic on club website of Ollie taunting his off-field best mate. If I can put words in Jack's mouth he would be saying: 'yep, you'll keep mate!

Deemed intentional, low impact so 2 weeks is a bit stiff! Probably not worth the challenge...he needs a rest anyway - took a heavy knock a few weeks ago (vs brisbane (?) went off and didn't come back on) and has carried a heavy load so far this year.

Well said - the bold bit is exactly what I was getting at.

We may have the same idea and talking around wording. I was trying to say that if the majority of our senior players lift their game and play 'at the peak of their careers' in the 2nd half of 2016, they will have improved on their current 'treading water' position in the table...

I certainly acknowledge that we have improved and our results eg % far better. And I get the youth/inconsistency situation. I am also very happy with how we are tracking. The biggest improvement I see is our scoring built largely on more inside 50's and a greater spread of goal kickers. Big tick! On 'lack of improvement' I was thinking that 1) our 2016 wins have been against teams we beat last year and 2) that our senior/experienced players are basically treading water. If this group had performed better we would have improved more or been less inconsistent. I was also thinking that we need to show greater improvement in the 2nd half of 2016 and to do that the senior players need to lift their game, especially as young players tire and their inconsistency increases. Improvement for me is win about 10 games and take down 2 or 3 'big names' in the process. I would also hope that if I redo that table at the end of the year at least half the senior players rate some improvement, especially, as the majority are at the stage where they should be performing 'at the peak of their careers'.

Thinking about where our improvement is going to come from. Clearly, in the next few years it will come from recruits from the last 3 years. But we need to improve faster if we are to keep up with our 'bottom of the ladder peers' or get ahead of them. For the sake of team and fan morale and industry cred we can't afford to not have a better 2nd half 2016. This improvement can only come from our senior/more experienced players. So, I extracted this table based on games at end of 2015, for 22 yo or over. Age Games Improvement on 2015 (3,2,1,0) Max Gawn 24 39 3 Jack Watts 24 115 2 Neville Jetta 25 73 2 Matt Jones 28 51 1 (not played since injured) Sam Frost 22 24 0 (Not able to hold seniors selection) Viv Michie 23 18 0 (Not able to hold seniors selection) Lynden Dunn 28 161 0 (Not able to hold seniors selection) Dean Terlich 26 35 0 (not yet selected for seniors) Jack Grimes 26 98 0 (not yet selected for seniors) Jake Spencer 26 36 0 (not yet selected for seniors) Chris Dawes 27 115 0 (not yet selected for seniors) Dom Tyson 22 50 0 (Treading water) Tomas Bugg 22 65 0 (Treading water) Ben Newton 23 15 0 (Treading water) Tom McDonald 23 82 0 (Treading water) Aaron Vandenberg 23 14 0 (Treading water) Jeff Garlett 26 129 0 (Treading water) Colin Garland 27 135 0 (Treading water) Nathan Jones 27 201 0 (Treading water) Cameron Pedersen 28 52 0 (Treading water) Heritier Lumumba 29 218 0 (Treading water) Bernie Vince 30 172 0 (Treading water) Jack Trengove 24 81 n/a (Did not play 2015) I haven't tried to adjust for injuries etc (and I'm not sure that would make much difference to this subjective rating). This rating may be a bit harsh on 22/23 yo but given our relative player mix I have included them in the 'senior' group. You may wish to change the ratings but I doubt the overall picture will change much. All the talk has been about youth and inexperience. I for one fell for the trap of thinking that is why we aren't improving at the same rate of some other teams around our level in the league. My conclusion from the table is our lack of improvement is, in significant part because our senior/experienced players have not improved, so too much is falling on the shoulders of those 21yo or younger. For us to get better results this year our more senior players need to lift their game, do what the coaches want, get senior selection and once there play at their best and play to keep their spots.

The problem is that the other teams you mention (except Bris) are developing faster than us! (GCS will bounce back quickly once they get some of their 20 injured players back). We are improving but not fast enough to keep up. Can't help but think if Roos alone (rather than a committee) were selecting the team we would not be playing so many kids. I have this view as his history shows he doesn't play kids too early (Sydney still doesn't). It is in Goodwin and McCartney's interests to get as many games as possible into kids to improve their prospects in 2017 and not so interested in the senior experienced players they don't see as part of the future. They know that Goodwin won't get much of a 'honeymoon' period from the media. Roos said his goal was to deliver a new coach (Goodwin) a team that is ready to go in 2017 so he can hardly railroad/override the selection committee. Totally agree with the last para - if youngsters can't concentrate for 100 minutes or can't defend when required then we should not have so many per game. Rotate them! Its one thing for our coaches to have eyes on 2017 but it is time to get some real results otherwise it will sap too much energy from the players and supporters this year.

At the risk of opening a hornet's nest (and because I don't want to think about the game vs Hawks) I've bumped this thread. Worsfold is quoted as saying they will be good enough to play finals next year http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/john-worsfold-says-essendon-will-push-for-finals-in-2017/news-story/14e6068693b25e976510c6fd64d5fbb5 (another outlet said he thought they are a top 6 side next year). I'm sorry, any club that makes that prediction should not get a top 2 draft pick (more top picks if they get FA comp pics) and early rnd 2 picks. The AFL will not act but surely other clubs must lobby the AFL to stop 'a finals team' getting such priority. I know I'm flogging a dead horse but it annoys me immensely that they are being rewarded for cheating: the sanctions (lost draft picks and fines) for cheating are being returned to them, in spades! Not to mention other 'rewards' like superior time slots, top teams for their home games and more or better MCG games! And they will be back at the top of the ladder as a result. No one is batting an eyelid!!

To me Roos saying it was really poor of him to not make selection changes is him deflecting the attention off everyone else. Deflecting heat from coaches: Immediately after last week's game he had at least 3/4 changes in mind. He allowed the selection committee to change his mind. Its a committee and Roos is no autocrat or dictator. He lets people learn from their experience mistakes. The selection committee has made plenty of mistakes this year (vs Ess, vs StK) and learnt plenty. Deflecting heat from the players: He said a few games ago that whacking the players is not the way to go with a young team. They want to learn and be educated. So he isn't going to give them a serve in public. This way he can keep their morale up, helping build belief. I'm sure that when they do their reviews all the coaches will let them know the real score. And, he certainly isn't going to tell the media what goes on behind closed doors and I'm glad for this. He is giving media plausible platitudes. He is also ensuring that Goodwin and players have a 'bruise free' run in the media this year. So he takes the heat himself. Imagine if Goodwin was in the chair and we had the bad results vs Ess, StK and Port the media would be howling with negative headlines. Roos is doing a brilliant job of protecting his charges. He has broad shoulders. He can and will continue to take the heat!

Just for the record, the cut-off date is July 31 so 2 months to go. Point #8 on the enclosesd: https://membership.melbournefc.com.au/terms-and-conditions Agreed! In addition to Pies we then have home games vs GC, Crows and Hawks so some good value games to choose from with a 3 game membership. Plenty of opportunity to get to the 40,000! It would be great for PJ to go to sponsors with that number especially as our main sponsorship (AHG) is up for renewal this year.

Is this your young group RGRS ? Taken form the club website, twitter feed. Hope you and the youth you work with get to see the game on Saturday and hope you all see us win. I echo previous thoughts and a shout out to you and folks like you that help underprivileged kids around the country.

Loved the boots Garlett wore last year so great to see the players and clubs get behind his initiative and the whole team have them this year. Also, this from the article: “Nev [Jetta] gave a great presentation to the players the other day and it highlighted the great contribution made by Indigenous players,” he (Jones) said. These show the great (deserved) respect by our team being shown to their indigenous teammates and their culture. Just hope Jetta follows Jeff and signs up again soon!

Paul Roos expects key defender Tom McDonald to commit to the Demons beyond 2016 Some recent pics probably the last training session. Jack Trengove at Melbourne training on Thursday, he’ll need to wait another week for his return. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Roos says that approach will be applied to all his young crop. “It’s something we have to keep on monitoring over the next month until we get to the bye because, being a young team, you never know when they’re going to hit a bit of a wall,” he said. Roos will bring Dom Tyson (illness) and Neville Jetta (suspension) back into his team for the Round 10 match, but ruled out two returning Demons — Jack Trengove, who has missed more than 50 AFL games with a serious foot issue, and Chris Dawes, who is back in the VFL after a calf complaint. “(Trengove) is not too far,” Roos said. “You factor in the travel ... we want to give Jack a real chance when he does play to be able to play really well. “We win last week and it’s hard to make changes ... (Dawes) is certainly getting really close.” Clayton Oliver at training on Thursday. He’s been ruled out of this weekend’s game. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Jesse Hogan and Jack Watts work on their contested marking. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Coach Paul Roos directs Colin Garland and his players. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Christian Petracca works on his touch. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Woops! Skipper Nathan Jones slips during training. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

Garlett signs to new deal Great news! It is all coming together nicely! Today Roos said he would be 'staggered' if Tom Mc didn't re-sign Just need to add Jetta, Watts and a couple of others OOC this year to keep our merry band together!

Please add Watts to that list and make it 4.

The HS article on McD holding off was a false alarm! I eat humble pie at my doubts. 'MELBOURNE coach Paul Roos would be "staggered" if out-of-contract defender Tom McDonald doesn't re-sign with the club'. http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-05-26/roos-would-be-staggered-if-tom-mcdonald-leaves?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=RSS+feed%3A+AFL+Latest+News "I'd be staggered to think he didn't sign with the club. He's in our leadership group, he seems really committed, he seems to enjoy coming in every single day. "So I would be staggered if that doesn't get sorted out sooner rather than later." Imminent?

This is an interesting stat form the article: What makes Melbourne’s scoring even more impressive is their spread of goalkickers — they currently rank No. 1 the AFL with an average of nine individual contributors a game. If I recall correctly we are in the top 5 for scores kicked this year. Not bad for a team that in the last few years struggled to kick more than 60-70pts and regularly thrashed by 10 goals!!

Here is a bit more about his games to date: http://www.aflplayerratings.com.au/Ratings/Player/117240/Ben-KENNEDY But can't find who he barracked for as a kid. Being from SA would guess Crows or Port. Recruited from Glenelg so would further guess Crows...unless from Port territory SA folk generally barrack for the Crows. Maybe your boy could send him an email/a letter via MFC or directly to him via Twitter. Players seem to enjoy interacting with supporters, especially kids.

The AFL average (said to be around $320k) is the average across 800 players. Its a mathematical average not what the 'average player' gets. With only about 90 AFL players (ie top 11%) earning more than $500k there are a lot of very good players earning not much more than the average of $320k. (Note - figures before the new CBA and the new sal cap). But I agree with your point that TMc is worth more than what 'picket' suggests. Is he in the AFL's top 90 - 100 players ie over $500k? Only he and the club can answer that one. Mahoney is on record as saying by the end of this year we will have our player contracts lined up with what the club thinks the player is worth so I think the club would make him a very fair offer that reflects this value.

Spot on SPC98. Here are Plapp's comments for last week on Frost: Frosty had 14 possessions, four marks and had six rebounds. It was a really pleasing effort from Sam. The week before he only completed a quarter and a bit, due to a slight injury, but playing in a different position on the weekend, he was able to defend really strongly. He was able to give us some real offensive run from our backline. Frosty also used the ball really well and his aerial contest work was also a strong point of his game. Back to McD, I would sat that with Frost developing as a defender it would make us less reliant on TMc extending his contract. If he stays he stays, if not so be it. There will be options for us.

As I understand it the CBA has minimums eg Base Pay (which varies according to whether a rookie, draftee or experienced) and Match Payments (which I think are the same regardless of games played but not sure). The CBA also covers a host of conditions eg annual leave and payments for superannuation etc The big ticket $ variations for individual contracts may include: 1 Leadership positions (more for the captain) 2 Promotional work for the Club or Sponsors. There are also 'Additional Service Agreement' (ASA) usually for marquee players who are drawcards eg Buddy, Judd. These have taxation concessions so are quite attractive to players. Not sure if these or part of these are outside the salary cap. Limited to just a few per club. 3 Work for sponsors paid for by a sponsor which is separate to the ASA. Could be a club sponsor eg Judd had a contract with Visy or a non club sponsor eg supplier of their boots. Not sure where the boundaries are for 2 and 3 4 Polling position for B & F (which would be based on coaches votes each week but presumably are not only in game performance but also include all the behaviours and disciplines the coaches want re training, off-field, attitudes, teamwork etc etc 5 Winning other club awards eg Best Clubman 6 Maybe the number of games played in a season in limited situations. 7 Any 'premium' the club wants to give a player above the minimums. This is how clubs are able to stagger contract payments to front-load or back-load contracts to suit their salary cap and list requirements. The 2015 average payment was around $325,000 (not sure if this includes rookies, I suspect not) and about 90 players earnt over $500k. I think the salary cap atmo is $10m per club ie $180m. For details of CBA: http://www.aflplayers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/CBA-2012-2016-FINAL.pdf This is currently being renegotiated. The AFLPA is going for a % of 'Total Revenue' amount for distribution to players altho according to Patrick Smith in The Australian today, this is totally doomed. He puts a convincing case.