Lucifers Hero

Interesting that Taylor was lukewarm on next years draft pool. Explains why we gave up next years 1st rnd pick for another early 1st rnd this year. My take is that we will go for a mid @ pick 3 and a Utility at pick 7. Parish would be my guess for #3 but not sure who the 'utilitiy' prospects are for #7. It was good to hear him say he tries not to worry too much about the club's ladder position from year to year and he is focused on doing his job of 'getting the foundations right'. That sounds pretty good to me!

Many thanks for the as-it-happened commentary, Georgiou...I could visualise being there. Also, really liked your own observations here and there. eg "Kent hit the wall." "Today's Lycra offender is G Lyon. Hiding under a visor and beard on the punt road side." "The b team are by far the most vocal and are staying together. I like them" etc Entertaining as well as informative. Thanks

A few posters on here will be bitterly disappointed having believed (fantasised really) that Worksafe will throw the book at the Club, Directors and all sorts of coaches and staff...even jail terms were mentioned... Investigation over! This is where it ends as far as Worksafe and all associated with EFC. The good news for us is, Goodwin can continue on as intended...never in doubt imho.

That is my fear; that the license goes to a financially powerful club that has put nothing into it, comes along, gets a free kick which just makes it more financially powerful. Rich get richer, poor get poorer!. If the license goes to a so-called power club what is the incentive to clubs like us to be creative and generate opportunities. We do the groundwork, others get the spoils! It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

A good point Goodvibes. It would be (in my biased opinion) a miscarriage of justice if we didn't get a license given our commitment to the women's game and women's health eg 'pink' games, exhibition games and exposure/promotion for quite a number of years. Not to mention all the financially disadvantageous, Mother's Day games we endured when there was a 'Women's' round. It would be quite unfair if the license was a 'free kick' to a 'johnny come lately team', who happens to have deep pockets, ready to opportunistically pounce after the groundbreaking work is done! MFC were the first to champion the causes and have shown the on-field team to be successful so have earnt the right. It could help to substantially grow our membership base which would certainly help the AFL's equalisation cause.

The AFL launches its Women's Academy: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/afl-victoria-launches-female-academy-20151108-gktqhx.html The 2016 game as a curtain raiser is likely to be our home game vs the Bulldogs but they seem to have a problem with that. If it is vs the Bulldogs it will be on Sun May 15 and aired on Ch7. It should get a good crowd and a good TV audience! It could become a mini 'blockbuster' for us...good for revenue! Maybe the Bulldogs want to build it as their mini 'blockbuster' but in my biased opinion, mfc has a stronger case to have it as our 'home' game: MFC has long been a supporter of women's football and women's health (ie the 'pink' games which the Bulldogs played in but we were the drivers). It also gives the women a chance to play on the MCG. ...hmm, maybe we alternate venue/home game... Wishing all the women well at the academy and look forward to more good games. Our captain, Daisy Pearce is a terrific role model, on and off the field and in how she plays the game. Looking forward to more success from the her Demon's team!

Not sure about 'Devil in the Detail' but he did post as 'The Devil Inside' last season...that in itself is a mystery as there may have been an imposter 'The Devil Inside' lurking during the trade period...only Saty's a/c shows up on the member list. It couldn't have been the real Saty as his style was totally different!

A bit in jest there maybe adc! Not sure of the purpose of the group flagellation when the target is blissfully unaware...Saty hasn't logged on since June! Maybe it is easy for posters to pot someone who can't answer back. That's not very macho and can't say I care much for that type. Methinks the comments say more about the posters than they say about Saty alias 'The Devil Inside'.

Saty doesn't post during the off-season (until training starts) so he is not on DL to defend himself. So I feel a need to come to his defence (even tho I have him on 'Ignore'...too much unfriendly banter with other posters, for mine) Here goes: Saty is passionate about MFC He volunteers his time to the club He is very defensive of players and officers of the club...sometimes he goes overboard on this. Sometimes he is quick to attack DL's who have a different view to his... ...he is not the only one on DL that has this affliction I might add! He is quirky in his training reports and sometimes tells us stuff we don't care about. He also gets under peoples skin and likes to antagonise. But we can't doubt where his heart is and I think this years training reports will be the worse for his absence...Saty has a job so won't get to training often so he won't be making many training reports. For some this is a blessing in disguise. For others, especially non Melbourne residents it will be a great loss. So maybe we should cull the anti Saty stuff; it is irrelevant and disrespectful and stick to training talk.

Here is one from his twitter. Petracca's knees look in good shape! By all accounts he worked hard at his rehab ... deserves the reward and play the whole season!

Darren Jolly - 2 x premiership ruckman, rookie draft Shane Mumford - premiership ruckman, rookie draft Mark Jamar - rookie draft Stefan Martin - preseason draft Its quite common to not draft ruckman in the the main draft...

Dean Cox says hello: Rookie pick # 28 203cm 6 times AA Premiership Ruckman

This article is about how to make good use of the bye rnd at 2016 eos. http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-premiership/afl-2016-bye-round-five-ways-league-can-build-on-season-momentum-week-off-before-finals/story-e6frf3e3-1227590764701 Extract: 1. WOMEN’S EXHIBITION MATCH If the AFL is serious in its endeavour to launch a womens league by 2017, playing a stand-alone exhibition match is both commercially and morally sound. 2. NAB RISING STAR Moving the ceremony to the bye week would not only boost the profile of the winner, but shine the spotlight on all of the young talent nominated throughout the year. 3. TAC CUP MATCH Another way to showcase young talent, in what could be a Vic Metro v Vic Country game, either double-billed with the women’s match or played as a stand-alone fixture. 4. ALL-AUSTRALIAN AWARDS The end of Round 23 would also sound the end of the 2016 home and away fixture — so why not host the All-Australian awards then, too? 5. REP-GAME This could take many forms. Perhaps two teams comprised of players from teams out of finals contention, or an exhibition match played between retired greats and celebrities, or even a State of Origin match. Either way, there’s plenty to play with. Personally, I like all of the above. - A Rep Game Fri night from teams out of finals contention...a defacto State of Origin...some excellent players in non-finals teams - A TAC Cup match followed by a Women's on Sat night - Awards during the week after the 'bye'. After all, the AFL just can't 'free kick' that weekend to other codes....not to mention the tv networks being at a loss with those time slots!

Jack was adamant he wanted to remain a Demon and not be traded so it may have deterred clubs and if they did ask, Jack's manager probably said 'no thanks'. Yes, that is an hypothesis but it is just as plausible as posters who assumed there were no takers. To be successful (in any activity) it pays to play to one's strengths to neutralise weaknesses. For Jack this could mean a link-man role (like crow's Tom Lynch whom we chased) as it is acknowledged Jack reads the play and distributes the ball beautifully. We don't have a link-man which is why we tried to recruit Lynch and Jack's 'smarts' would make him very damaging in this role. He will be even more damaging when his team mates are smart enough to also read the play and get to the right position to receive the ball from him. Yes, he also has to improve his contested game and that is not negotiable. He knows it. It is up to him to show how desperately he wants to remain a Demon. He is in my starting 22 and if takes a leaf from Jesse's book who said: 'once in the team his goal was to not be dropped', Jack will be there every week I hope the coaches haven't given up on him, I haven't!

Some interviews with Alex on mfc website: http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2015-10-30/nealbullen-relishes-first-year-with-dees http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2015-10-30/great-to-share-journey-with-billy-anb This comment caught my eye: “It’s a great bunch boys this year that came in and even the second and third year are all rippers in that we’ve all got our mind set on the one thing and that’s taking this club to the top.” A number of our young brigade have made similar comments at eos interviews. I have no sense they are platitudes and really sense passion and desire in the comments. Could it be that they have made their own pact to stay together and make it happen? Young players, young coach-in-waiting, the steady development of McCartney and the wisdom of Roos! All add up to the making of a new culture! Anyone else get the feeling that our young brigade will be pushing 'senior' players to show the right attitude and perform rather than the other way round? Bring it on!

Agree! A home game at Etihad should not be vs an Etihad tenant. It should be a neutral venue for both teams...

I would like to think if we were to delist someone we would tell him now, to maximise his chances of being picked up as a DFA. Just seems the fair thing to do in my mind.

Maybe we should wait and see who is the premiership player allegedly involved in the recent sexual assault allegations against 2 Hawthorn players.

Agree with the comments that the AFL has legal and moral standing in the player claims that may eventuate. It just annoys me that so much AFL money and time will go into those when it should be used better elsewhere. Let Essendon pay for the AFL lawyers!! Then AFL money and time can go where they belong!

Looks like the lawyers are dragging the AFL into it: "One of the Hunter camp arguments is that the AFL and Essendon have an obligation to provide a safe workplace for players. Hunter's legal team says the action is against Essendon and the AFL on the grounds that the player's contract is tripartite – involving not only the player and the club but the league." 23 of the 34 are no longer at Ess...if Hal Hunter succeeds there will be a lot of players come out of the woodwork and follow his path. The saga is set to drag on long after CAS case is decided and any penalties served. A most unfortunate part of this development is that by dragging the AFL into it a lot of good money is going down the drain to 'defend' the case(s)...money that should be going into the game and AFL clubs. Its just wrong that so much AFL time and money will be wasted because one rogue club went feral.

With the fixture coming out tomorrow thought we might need a separate thread. MFC's 'wish list' "The Demons remain hopeful their successful Anzac Day Eve clash against Richmond continues despite it being a Sunday night this year. The clash attracted 58,000 on a Friday night in 2015. The Demons want to play in Darwin and Alice Springs again and will be hopeful for an early Friday night game as they build momentum, and want to maintain the increasingly interesting Queen’s Birthday clash against Collingwood with Jeremy Howe’s defection to the Magpies adding interest. The Demons also copped seven Sunday games in the last eight rounds to finish 2015. They will be hoping for more variety in the fixture in 2016." http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-10-28/fixture-wish-list?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=RSS+feed%3A+AFL+Latest+News Fairly modest 'wish list' and it willl be disappointing not to get it especially when for Essendon..."After a bottom-four finish this year, the Bombers should be given a reasonably good fixture to climb up a little bit next season under new coach John Worsfold". Maybe they should win a few more games first like we have to!! Yes, equalisation at work here!! Lets see how much the fixture helps us get better crowds (and revenue)...a few home games at the 'G' vs bigger Vic clubs with good time slots should do the trick! Not holding my breath...

surplus a graders...what a wonderful day that will be

Agree...oodles of talent and started off playing with instinct. Then defensive coaching took the shine off that. An (obvious) on-field spray or two from Dawes in early games didn't help his instinctive play/confidence. Not sure whether the spray(s) were Dawes doing a hissy-fit or JKH not playing to team rules. Probably a bit of both. Clearly JKH needs to learn the defensive side and to play to 'team rules'. But hopefully these don't snuff out his instinct. I remember the story when leading into the 2014 season JKH kept asking (begging) Roos for games. That is serious enthusiasm which Roos rewarded. Atmo he is ironing out a few weaknesses at Casey. There will be more competition next year for a senior spot but I think we will see his flare on the 'G' again. Once back he will be difficult to dislodge.

Now that would be worth seeing!!. The last person to try something like that was Matt Randell when he was quoted as saying something about recruiting players with one non-indigenous parent and look what happened to him. I'm not sure whether the AFL Mngt/Commissioners have stepped out of leafy Toorak but the last time I looked in my equally leafy bayside area, schools are multicultural with children of 2nd/3rd generation immigrants. We need look no further than son on SOS in the draft this year. Again, it raises the question: would the Blues steer him down a 'multicultural academy' path or let him go into the national draft? I wish the AFL well trying to define what is a 'multicultural' or 'indigenous' player.

11 are left: David Myers 2 Tom Bellchambers 10 Ben Howlett 10 Travis Colyer 11 Jobe Watson 12 Michael Hurley 19 Heath Hocking 20 Michael Hibberd 21 Dyson Heppell 22 Cale Hooker 22 Brent Stanton 22Shows # of games in 2015. They will still be able to field a team if players get CAS bans albeit without some of there best players. At other clubs: Paddy Ryder Angus Monfries Stewart Crameri Jake Melksham Jake Carlisle