Lucifers Hero

I think Grimes is a free agent of some sort this year so a club can get him for zip. We would get an AFL comp pick but it would be the lowest band...?4. Not really fussed what we get for him. I'm happy with the list spot and salary cap he frees up - especially as he is still on Captain salary. Would say the same about Dawes who is not an FA but OOC this year. Not much trade value there. I would guess the two would free up at least $800k in salary cap.

http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/alex-rance-reported-for-striking-melbourne-star-jack-watts-in-the-head/news-story/52ac193d6b3ace208288474389677243 Two things i especially like about that article. 1. The title says Melbourne Star, Jack Watts (my emphasis). At last he is receiving due praise. 2. The tweet references to Rance's hit as Dog Act, Cowardly, Weak, Ordinary. Not even Hardwick defended him. No longer can Jack be bullied or cowed. He answered Rance in the best way possible: a goal and then in his face about it...just to finish off the serve he was given by the terrier, Viney! Extra kudos for Watts - i read a post game review that said he had back problems during the warm up but played on regardless. That's toughness. As for Rance, he is just a pea hearted, sore loser.

I can see flashing lights at half time tonight announcing a new membership record! Maybe a record crowd for a home game announced at 3/4 time! And a win on the final siren! Actually, i really like that the club seems aware of this countdown thread and is giving us very frequent (weekend) updates to help us out.

The record was set in the heyday of Jim Stynes presidency. We have been to hell and back and membetship collapsed to 30,372 for 2013. Since then a lot of anonymous people at our club have worked tirelessly to get members back on board. They include staff, volunteers, players and coaches manning phones etc Yes 40,000 will be fantastic but in the meantime a new record is an extraordinary achievement for our club. Worth celebrating every milestone i reckon - on and off the field.

We are very close to a new record so have changed the thread title to show the Countdown. Mfc website shows 36,682 so just a matter of days now!! 255 new members needed! While our total numbers are low compared to other clubs, setting a new record (from 2011) is a major achievement. All at the club should be congratulated...as we march toward the 40,000 mark!

Bit by bit the truth comes out!! Prismall last week, Zaharakis this week: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/essendons-jobe-watson-may-not-return-david-zaharakis-says-20160407-go0hmw.html When questioned about his decision not to be involved in the controversial injecting regime, Zaharakis maintained he opted out of the program because he did not like needles... But in his most recent interview he also revealed some unease about the program..."It got explained to us what they were going to do and I just didn't want to be a part of it," he said..."Normally any club, you take supplements, as in tablets and that kind of thing, and that's just protein, so you were part of that but you weren't a part of the injection regime." Asked about whether he had chosen not to participate out of concern for his health, Zaharakis indicated it may have played a part in his decision. Unsurprisingly, he thinks Jobe won't come back to play AFL. Once the law suit/compensation is sorted and players finish their AFL careers, eventually someone will spill all the beans. By then no-one (except a DL posters) will notice/care much. But the important thing will be the will no longer be able to feign innocence and say they did nothing wrong.

This should please a lot of people - Dunn in the mix this week: http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2016-04-07/dunn-in-the-mix-to-return-roos By saying how well Daniher played last week is a little acknowledgement that Roos et al made a mistake leaving him out.

Great to hear Jack T doing so well. He was a good co-captain at a very difficult time and has always been one of the few who showed really good leadership on the field (talking, instructing, encouraging) something we still lack greatly. Watching him play it seemed he had a really good grasp of the game and what was happening on the field at any time and was able to react. If his foot holds up and he can be a regular 22 again I can see him being part of the Leadership Group in a couple of years. At the start of 2018 he will still be only 25. Whether or not he becomes part of the LG, he will be a really good on-field leader again and with so much character building experience behind him he will be a great asset and role model for the team. Little steps still but it seems he is on the verge of making some giant strides. His first game back will be iconic.

Looks like Jeffy will play vs Nth http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2016-04-06/no-dramas-with-garlett-says-misson Quite convincing: “It’s Wednesday and we play on Sunday and we just want to take every precaution,” he told Melbourne TV...“Despite reports on AFL.com.au, he will absolutely, definitely play on Sunday and will most probably train on Friday with the group".

Do we really need another Hogan thread...we already have 2 in the top 7. It gets repetitive...just saying...

I can't remember when these were but the media things I remember are: - a pre season press conf which didn't seem to have much purpose. - media interview reacting to the Ox about run-up. Why get into a media scrap? - short interview on TFS promoting a sports store. Other well known players were there - eg Rioli who could have taken the live cross. - And I recall hearing him talk since but can't remember where about the Ox thing and Jesse saying it was just friendly banter. Whether the club is deliberately making him 'the face' of the club I don't know but it is looking that way along with Jack Viney. They are both 21 trying to establish their games. Yes, we are all hoping they will be our future stars and yes we need to sell memberships. That is a lot of responsibility on young shoulders. But in the meantime I think the club would do well to cut back the air time at least till we win a string of games and climb the ladder. Otherwise we will have kids trying to defend poor performance which isn't their job.

The club should take Jesse off air for a while. And give a script to mfc people before interviews so they say the same stuff. eg Roos says Hoges looked tired, Vince says it was the poor delivery. It doesn't matter which, I would just like to hear a consistent voice from the club. Jesse keeps getting wheeled out, on his own, for no apparent or seemingly silly reasons and sometimes innocently triggers a headline eg vs the Ox. He doesn't need the attention and it creates more pressure. There is a sense of dejavu here. We overexposed an ill prepared Jack Watts on field too early creating untold pressure. We now seem to be overexposing Jesse off field in roles for which he seems equally ill prepared. And the external pressure on him is mounting. The club should protect him and get him off air because now that the gloss of winning the RS has worn off, the media standard questions are awful: contract, run-up, sooking. All negative and for which there are no real answers - a terrible media situation for him. Just let him play.

Oops! My bad. While both home games you are correct the saints game is at Ethad. Lets hope he doesn't debut there - the surface is so hard on the players that with Petracca's knee and foot injury history it may be best to keep him away from there early on.

Looks like we will be waiting a few more weeks. Round 5 Richmond or round 6 Saints look the likely dates. http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/afl-season-2016-christian-petracca-dominates-in-vfl-nears-melbourne-debut-20160405-gnz3di.html#ixzz44wqiRQnb Can't get to those game so will get in early and wish him a great start to his career with the Dees. Both are home games at the 'G' so should be quite an amazing experience for him. Especially the Richmond game which is Anzac Eve.

He may be only 21 but this is his 4th year with the club. Most of that time with Roos then Goodwin and Macca. So he has as much experience as Viney and a lot more than the likes of Vand, Brayshaw, Salem etc. So I don't think we can make excuses for him based on age or maturity. I can cut him some slack on Saturday for not doing the 1% because he had treatment at the end of the 1st qtr. But he does need to think very hard about his onfield antics and the affect on teammates. And I would like to see some of our leaders: Jones, Viney, or Gawn go up to him occasionally on field and pat him on the head and say 'don't worry about it mate' just keep it simple and go for the next ball. Which is exactly what the coaches are trying to tell him. Leaders need to keep an eye on the younger guys on the field to help them when frustration sets in.

Not any more Looks more like Popeye with those arms! He is being grossly underestimated on DL.

Whatever one thinks of Lloyd I think it is a good thing that the media stop treating Jesse like some sort of demigod and remind him he has a long way to go. Then maybe the primadonna antics will stop - if for no other reason that it is poor teamwork by Jesse. Its not as if the mids deliberately deny him perfect ball delivery. He has got ahead of himself and he also needs to do the 1% things all the time. Roos actually mentioned Hogan in his press conf as one of the young players who looked tired. Then went on to say that some young players may need a rest. I took this as Roos code to drop players who were out of form without embarrassing them. I doubt Roos & co will drop Jesse but he will be looked at.

Apparently Matthew Lloyd and Terry Wallace have criticised Jesse's poor body language on field. Bernie Vince has come to his defence saying the delivery was poor. Nonetheless, whatever one thinks of Lloyd and Wallace I think it is a good thing that the media stop treating Jesse like some sort of demigod and remind him he has a long way to go. Then maybe the primadonna antics will stop - if for no other reason that it is poor teamwork by Jesse.

This thread assumes Roos was in charge of the box yesterday. Maybe he said to Goodwin - go for it today, it is all yours. Not so silly, everyone expecting a win. If Roos did give it over to Goodwin he and Macca would give input but let Goodwin could make the final call on tactics. In the absence of knowing how the box was set up calling for anyone to step aside is premature. My view is the coaching box as a whole failed badly. They need to sort themselves out, fast.

An outstanding, considered review. Please send to Paul Roos. Seriously. For my 2 cents worth. While Roos, Macca and Goodwin develop the game plan and make selection decisions as a team my concern is what is happening in the box. It is inconceivable that: 2 free ess mids free all day, Daniher flying high unhindered and their repetitive 'switch' in play did not get noticed in our box. So what is happening in there? 3 blind mice? 3 (un) wise monkeys? They did not see? They certainly did not do. Could they not agree on a tactic so did nothing? Whatever it was we have a dysfunctional box and it needs fixing quickly. For players to react during quarters and for the leaders to drive on-field plays they need clear instructions from the coaching panel. If the latter give mixed messages or worse no messages, we see the team lack cohesion, direction and on-field leadership. I'm not ignoring the deplorable performance by the players but here I'm posting about the coaching. The lack of response in the box is the thing I'm struggling with the most. Hope they get their match day act together. Fast! Because if Roos thought there was a huge 'veil of negativity' among supporters last year, keep that performance going guys and you ain't seen nothing yet!

Can't find a good word for anyone. The only good thing about today is that Jack T put in a blinder at Casey. Delighted for him personally. Giant step in his recovery.

Same players that beat us last time: Goddard, Daniher, Baguley, Zacharakis! We learnt nothing! D-E-S-P-I-C-A-B-L-E!!

Will someone please get into Daniher. He thinks he can be a hero again like last year. Time to change his mindset!

All the more reason for us to play unsocial, bruising football early. As I said show them who is boss and who is boss of the MCG. Time to let Sheedy and all his cohorts know that the 2000 GF 'shoe is on the other foot' so to speak.

I would like to see Tom Mc (legally) push Daniher around a bit in the first 10 minutes. Firstly, for having the temerity to kick so well in the last game and secondly to show him who is boss for the next 10 years! And a little help from Tom's friends to accidently bump into him a few times early on, won't go astray! That is what the Hawks do - take no prisoners. Edit: Hope it rains on their silly 'parade'.