Lucifers Hero

I share your doubts. For Ryder, Dodoro wanted Port's 1st pick (#17) plus Wines or Winguard!!!! They went to informal mediation and only relented at the last minute (for pick 17 and 37) because Ryder threatened to sit out 2015 and the AFL told EFC not to go to the Grievance Tribunal. Last year he demanded and got pick 5 from the Saints for Carlisle - a Sting if ever I saw one! The only hope I see for Dodoro reaching a fair trade deal is if he is told to avoid bad PR from causing more anguish to a player whose career EFC have already seriously damaged.

Coll are fielding a team of giants! 3 players over 200cm ( Forwards/ruck: Grundy, Witts, Cox. ). We have 1 - Max 3 players 195 or over. (Backmen: Reid, Frost and White (fwd). We also have 3: Oscar, Jesse and Jack W) Coll look set to exploit our perceived (maybe real) weakness in the air. Wouldn't be surprised to see one of their 200+ giants as spare man in defence (ala Oxley last year). Hope our players follow coaches instructions this year and contest to bring the ball to ground in the forward line and pray that Kent and Kennedy have their running boots on! Also hope our mids send the ball in low rather than the high bombs of recent weeks. Think we will miss Jeff tomorrow.

Yes. This years draw - Carlton vs 2015 bottom 6: Team, no of times Carl play them, (no of times Melb play them) in 2016. GC 1, (2) Ess 2, (1) BL 2, (1) StK 2, (2) Melb vs Carl 1 If we are to rise up the ladder we need to beat all comers. It would help if we beat the likes of Ess and StK!!

AFL agreed to an AFLPA clause in 2014 (as a result of the Ess saga but can apply to any player) that if a player has a grievance they need to go to the AFL Grievance Tribunal and if he can prove breach of contract will become a Delisted FA. http://www.canberratimes.com.au/afl/afl-news/doping-saga-banned-dons-will-have-to-go-grievance-tribunal-to-quit-club-20160416-go7woe.html?deviceType=text Gil says: "Players with contracts for next year, and testing them, that actually wouldn't be a decision for the AFL. It's a legal assessment about whether there is an opportunity to do it and they would go to grievance first...They will all be decisions for lawyers, not for me. It's all speculation until it's tested". Therein lies the catch! It is up to the player to prove breach of contract. With the WADA and Worksafe decisions it looks cut and dried. But who knows? The question is: will Hibberd be prepared to put himself through that process; risk incurring the on-going public wrath of the many pro Ess media commentators, supporters and EFC officialdom? Especially after Ess made a fine example of Hal Hunter and showed how nasty they can be when someone takes them to court. They also played hard ball when Ryder wanted out. Also, will either party take an adverse AFL Grievance Tribunal decision to appeal? Unless another Ess banned player also goes to the Grievance Tribunal, I think MFC will want to spare Hibberd the angst and uncertainty and trade for him.

Final Selections: I/C: Jack Viney, Clayton Oliver, Dean Kent, Ben Kennedy Emg: Viv Michie, Jack Grimes, James Harmes In: Jack Viney, Ben Kennedy Out: Jeff Garlett, James Harmes Michie and Grimes playing at Casey today, so leaves Harmes (dropped) as the real emergency.

Thanks. Glad to hear he Nev is getting much deserved fan love.

...and ??

None the wiser on JV: http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-06-11/tough-demon-jack-viney-completes-training-ahead-of-pies-clash?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=RSS+feed%3A+AFL+Latest+News Viney, who trained in a glove on his injured left hand, moved between the main group and a separate rehab group at Gosch's Paddock. The Demons' team will be named later on Saturday, with coach Paul Roos and assistant Brendon McCartney holding lengthy talks with the 22-year-old towards the end of the one-hour session. I wonder if they will name him and give him another day and if necessary replace him with an emergency, at the last minute tomorrow.

Roos was on SEN last night and many current thread topics came up. Too many to post to individually so here is an overview of the topics. Disclaimer: as Roos is apt to talk in riddles this is not ‘verbatim’ and is my take on what he said. Season so far – preseason goal was to reduce the gap between our best and our worst; to be more consistent and they are pretty happy with that. (I would have liked someone on the panel to follow up with a few with more questions). TMc contract – Said all players are different; he seems committed to the club and is confident TMc will stay. When asked about player Managers he didn’t discuss TMc directly. Said players are now more likely to put feelers out to see what they can get at other clubs. Can’t say whether ‘feelers’ are player or manager driven. Went on to say that it takes roughly a 20% premium to entice a player to leave a club. Club's can’t pay players 20% premium or breach salary cap. Said MFC do not want to pay overs as has happened in the past. Then said good (I guess he means successful) clubs play unders. We want to pay fair market value, not overs. (Not surprised by this as he and Mahoney have said similar before and I guess OOC players are hearing this message inside the club as well). JV and QB game: Cleared by medicos, will wait and see how training goes this morning. (Probably decided by now). Garlett omission – Not dropped due to the highly publicised ‘incident’. Said he had been a bit off and there are areas he needs to work on (didn’t say what they were). Hopes he can get back (like Kennedy) as he is an important part of our team. (I assume Roos means next week vs Swans). Hibberd – ‘Pregnant pause’! ...Ahhhh...! Caught by surprise! Mumbled about yeah he goes to list management meetings, Michael has been discussed but didn’t know at what level it has got to. (My take on this last bit is that it is a work in progress). When pushed about Hibberd being ‘a good fit’ he said something like ‘…he clearly comes from…Goody has seen him play…’ Not sure what was said off microphone but Rohan Connolly (an Ess supporter) piped up with ‘…Roosy, hands off – he is a required player…’ Sounded to me like Hibberd could well be at the Dees next year! Transition to Goodwin: Said Goody is fantastic! The goal was to put a good coaching team around him and this has been achieved. He then said Goody will get terrific experience like he did in the NAB cup. (Not sure if he meant next year but wouldn’t be surprised if Goodwin coaches some games in his own right later in the season). Looks forward to following the Dees progress over the coming years.l Form your own views: The Coaches Box (from the 43 minute mark) http://www.sen.com.au/audio#Prtja1lQ8DsKXwFW.97

Roos said last night that Jack has been cleared to play by the medicos; its just a matter of having a look at his 'functionality' today ie handballs, ball pick up.

Priddis - 2014 Is their a prize? By the way, Roos has said Jack has been cleared to play by the medicos; its just a matter of having a look at his 'functionality' today ie handballs, pick up.

Looks like the announcement on licences will be made on Wed. http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/melbourne-questions-plans-for-eight-teams-in-afl-womens-league-20160610-gpgq0n.html And it seems we will get one: The submissions of Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs stood out among the 13 the AFL received from clubs making their best case for a female team...' and '...The jury remains out on the other Victorian applicants: Richmond, Geelong, St Kilda, Collingwood, North Melbourne and Carlton, but the strong likelihood is that only two of those will join the Demons and Dogs'. Will be interesting to see which Vic clubs miss out. My only worry is that the AFL will use the licences for 'horse-trading' and conferring of fixture/venue favours to those clubs. The favours will be subtle eg more MCG games, better home game opponents, FTA games, fan friendly start times etc etc It may be my MFCSS but I can't help but feel that even if we do get a licence we will lose out somewhere else... Edit: Another example of PJ putting our club out there and positioning us for the future. Well done mfc!

And we wake up to this: http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/essendon-coach-john-worsfold-says-channel-7-would-be-the-loser-if-afl-banishes-bombers-from-friday-night-footy/news-story/845aec9a14aef5bb923af623dd4e0af3 'John Worsfold says host broadcaster Channel 7 would be the loser if the AFL banishes Essendon from the Friday night stage in 2017 because of its uncompetitive season'. Then: 'The Friday night fizzer drew the smallest Dons-Hawks crowd since 1990 and gave Essendon its worst home attendance against a Victorian club since 1995'. If their own fans don't go to games how can they expect general footy fans (who like to relax watching Fri night games) to watch last night's rubbish!

Here we go again! http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-06-10/tom-mcdonald-in-no-rush-to-resign-with-demons?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=RSS+feed%3A+AFL+Latest+News Tom is quoted: "I just hope they don't see me in a different light because I haven't got a contract sorted yet. I'm not too worried about what others are saying about me on the outside," McDonald said. "I hope the club rates me and thinks of me as a long-term player at the club, but that's to be done behind closed doors. "I'm loving playing at Melbourne this year and I've got such great mates here. That (contract situation) can be worked out at a later date." I don't know why he would doubt the club sees him as a 'long-term player at the club'. The last report was he had been offered a contract out to 2020. This sort of stuff is just fueling doubt by everyone, even tho Roos said recently he would be staggered if TMc didn't sign. If TMc isn't prepared to sign, fine, but I wish he would shut up about it!

Fixed!

DubDee, are you not paying attention or just being mischievous: Dunn injured, Cloke dropped.

Freo is on the prowl to rebuild their team and will chase anyone from WA. I don't know where Nev's wife's family are but if they are in WA then Freo can entice him back with more than just money. He seems ideal to anchor their small defender troupe for a quite a few years. To a lesser extent Kent may also be in their sights and also OOC this year. Will rest easier when Nev signs.

Yes, Bugg could 'test' Pendles ribs to see if they are still sore, while giving him some lip about McQuan's claim he should be dumped as captain. Bugg can really ruffle his feathers physically and mentally!!

Bernie is the man for the job!

My recollection is that once the ball went over his head he didn't try to get back to contest the ground ball, leaving it to the two Hawk defenders to do what they like. Misjudging is one thing, not contesting is another. Yes, there were 2, yes they were bigger but he didn't even give chase to put some pressure on. They just waltzed it out... Jeff could take a leaf out of Eddie Betts book...his goal last week (maybe GOTY) was the result of desperate ground work. Is Jeff happy to kick a few goals running out the back and from opportunistic plays or does he want to get down and dirty and like Eddie sometimes kick a bag of 4,5,6 goals? Jeff can be as good as Eddie if he wants. His choice.

Wayne Carey looks at the next generation of superstars: The ones who've really caught my eye this year are all on-ballers, all elite decision makers and all tough competitors. http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/the-afls-next-generation-of-stars-20160609-gpfiil.html#ixzz4B7vp9EHc They are: Bontempelli, Schiel, Cripps, Heeney and our own Jack Viney! About Viney: He's a captain-in-waiting and will give Melbourne the leadership they need as they attempt to become a force in the game again. In that regard, he's also like Selwood: wanting to lead from the front. He might have to harness some of that youthful aggression, though, if he's going to be of maximum value to his team. Those 5 players will share a few Brownlows in the next decade. It will be interesting to see this year, how the umpires vote re Viney vs say the AFLPA votes. Umpires tend to be attracted to the flashier mid-fielders so they may not rate Viney's games so highly. But then what do they know!

I think it was Gibson competing with Hogan in the 1st qtr. Wasn't watching their players too closely. Jeff is starting to look a bit 'too individual' in that he doesn't support or look for team mates for support, at least that is how it looked to me last week. I think that individual vs team is one thing that has been a non-negotiable since the day Roos arrived. Jeff will get the message and be a better player for it.

Jeff had 3 major brain fades last week: -when he misjudged the flight of Dawes' kick and ran under it. -rather than make it a 2 on 1 contest and help Hogan, Jeff waited to run into an open goal assuming Jesse would win the contest. He didn't. Ball went straight down the other end. (Ist qtr I think). - in the last quarter he had the ball outside our 50. Only 1 player near him, a few metres behind. A paddock in front of him to an open goal. He clearly didn't want to bounce it because of the conditions. Fair enough. But instead of doing it the hard way and run and bend to touch the ball to ground, he took a wild kick. It went out on the full. I wouldn't say any of those plays cost us the game. But all those were at critical times in the game and they cost us. Love watching him play so wish he was there on QB but not unhappy the coaches enforcing required behaviours.

Big. Statement being made.

Don't know Vagg. The source for the Cloke change appears to be Cloke himself to a a reporter. If true, not always the Club's at fault. But I think the coaches do interviews on Wed/Thur and its a bit hard for them to answer no questions. Btw, Roos also said Dawes is playing.