Lucifers Hero

An interesting comment by Denham in today's Australian: "The Demons will consider recalling Jimmy Toumpas from a stint in the VFL and possibly teenager Billy Stretch for his first game." Is he guessing or are there changes afoot! It seems Dawes is likely to be in. So that is 3 possible 'ins' (4 if Jetta passes a test). The 'outs': McKenzie, JKH, Grimes and ? Delighted that Stretch might get a chance...great experience for him playing against Sydney/Hawkes. On a side note it looks like Frawley will be playing this Sat so will be playing vs us. An interesting match up to see him up against Hogan. Hogan will thrash him! He is faster, stronger, smarter and reads the play better. Will be worth watching!!

On a brighter note: "Demons young gun Jesse Hogan is planning to stay put when his current contract expires at the end of 2017. Both his family and management yesterday denied he would consider moving home to Western Australia, as reported in Perth last weekend". http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/afl/demon-jesse-hogan-has-no-plans-to-leave-melbourne/story-fnca0u4y-1227339416389 That report I like

Sorry to put a dampner on the Freo not being so good after the older guys retire. Ross learnt his lesson at St K and at Freo has been quietly stockpiling talent! Have a read of this:http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-04-30/no-kids-allowed-ross-lyons-masterplan-mark-ii Extracts: "....(Freo) have not only recruited well but have developed their recruits along the way...The Dockers’ little known and little utilised players outside the main 22 have been well sourced. We don’t know much about them now, but we will in years to come. Lachie Weller, Connor Blakely, Hayden Crozier, who was keeping Matt de Boer out of the senior team last year, Max Duffy, Tommy Sheridan and rookie Jacob Ballard would be getting games for a lot of other AFL clubs right now....the composition of Fremantle’s list makes for interesting reading. Again using last weekend’s (Peel Thunder) team, three players were top 10 in the national draft and a further four were taken between picks No.19 and 25". Freo will be a power club for many years and will be scary good on and off the field. I doubt we will match them on either. Every club will make salary cap room to get Jesse. We (and other clubs) will also need to counter the go home factor and the pull of winning a premiership with the club he supported all his life. He will need to want to stay. If we don't consistently win and climb the ladder so he can have confidence of real success with us, no amount of money will keep him. I'm glad the club is doing all it can to make Jesse happy and settled off field. If he is happy the contract extension will take care of itself. We will know by end of next year whether or not he extends. I fear for my (and Dee supporters) health if he doesn't and a pandemic of MFCSS sets in.

This should be music to all our ears: "Hogan, 20, is not out of contract until 2017, but the Demons are likely to move next year to re-sign the West Australian, with the West Coast Eagles and Fremantle expected to pitch major offers to lure him home." Read the story here: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/demons-wary-of-making-hogan-a-young-hero-says-chief-20150506-ggvmll.html Great to see the club will be on the front foot to sign up Jesse.

Yes, I felt pessimistic about his recovery. His contract is up at eos so unless he is able to seriously run etc by then I doubt it will be renewed. Last year's delistings and dropping Grimes this year, signals that Roos is definitely not given to sentiment so I'm not even confident that Trengove would be offered a rookie spot next year. Hope I'm wrong. if he isn't on the playing list and the club could find the right role for him (that he is happy with) that would be great.

Here is the latest Misson report...http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2015-05-06/jetta-set-to-miss-again Misson says Jetta and Dawes will be tested later in the week. Salem isn't listed so he must have recovered ok from the concussion. So Salem in for this week, Dawes likely and possibly Jetta to play.

The title is slightly 'misleading' as Misson has said he will be tested later in the week. Ditto Dawes. Salem isn't listed so he must have recovered ok from the concussion. An interesting update on Christian Petracca's progress Petracca building training loads It also talks about Jack T rehab but doesn't give any progress report. Left me feeling a bit pessimistic about Jack's recovery. But it's good news on Petracca (although Roos has already said he won't let him play this season regardless of what the doctors say). We will see!

I hesitate to buy into this but saying what we 'are lacking' now is missing a critical point. You may be right in saying Ollie is the player we are lacking now but he was not at the time of the draft. AT THE TIME our 'classy speedy' midfielder had just defected to GWS and needed to be replaced. (Blease was speedy but there was no real confidence he would develop his defensive side (he didn't)). AT THE TIME the team had a few inside midfielders (not enough but a few): Jones, Sylvia, Viney, etc etc. Therefore, given list manangement needs as they stood then, the decision was Toumpas, speed over grunt. (Toumpas' speed is acknowledged even now; it is his disposal that is being worked on). Evaluation of a decision needs to be made in the context of the list position/team needs and balance AT THE TIME not 3 years later. ps Sorry to 'shout' by using CAPS but I feel the time context is important.

Jack Watts may or may not be banished to Casey. Either way he needs some proactive action to 're-program' his approach to 'the contest' as simply dropping him may just worsen the problem. He shows plenty of personal pride and courage. The problem seems to be mental as he is also fit and skilled. I wonder if the club is using a sports psychologist to help Jack change his approach and get more involved. A sports psychologist may also help him deal with the constant battering he gets in the media and supporters and get his confidence back. No shame in this. Many top sportspeople use them (right now one is helping Travis Cloke who has also been hopelessly out of form). He shouldn't be the first person to be dropped this week, IMO. Would think Grimes, and McKenzie would go first. JKH may also be looked as he often tries to do the 'fancy' things (and be a bit of a hero) and ends up in trouble/turnover. I think it was this type of play that Roos was referring to 'when a player focuses on their own game and plays to be be in the stats' rather than team play. Lots of others as guilty as JKH. An interesting week at the selection table.

Its interesting the ACC interview in May 2012, was a month after Dank told The Age reporter (forgotten his name) that he had used TB4, only to be told it was banned and then changed his story. So he went to the ACC interview well prepared.Why would he lie? Firstly, the point above shows he isn't very clever. Secondly, he could be playing the odds - he had nothing to lose, as he knew it would be difficult to prove it wasn't the good thymo. Thirdly, protect his reputation. Finally, he is simply a liar. Haven't seen much about Dank that is believable TBH. I wonder if the ACC giving Dank 'indemnity' against prosecution applies to all entities or just the ACC. If the latter, Dank had every reason to be cagey. In the meantime, The Australian is reporting: "The sports scientist who designed and implemented Essendons ill-fated supplements program will be compelled by WorkSafe to provide information about the substances he administered to footballers as the agencys criminal investi­gation gathers momentum".

They will also be without Lake and Frawley which improves the odds and if we play for 120 min we can take it up to them.

MRP: Hodge referred to Tribunal Lewis can accept 2 (down from 3) So Hawks will be missing those 2, Lake and Frawley for our game. It may just be the difference between us winning and losing

...who had 9 marks, 12 tackles and kicked 4 goals. Not a good day for any of our players but particularly bad for Grimes. 12 tackles for a forward, really! Its no wonder we couldn't get the ball inside 50. If it wasn't for so many DL's getting stuck into Watts, Grimes and a few others wouldn't be allowed to fly under the radar here and escape scrutiny. Grimes (and Jordie) seriously hindered their cause to stay in the 22 when injured players return. If their cards weren't stamped before they are now.

1. Nobody said Tyson was a dud. 2. Nobody said Newton was a wrong choice. 3. Nobody said Van Demon was a wrong choice. You do yourself no favours at all by being disingenuous. I get your frustration at wrist slashers; I share it. However those players along with Jones all had poor games, people are allowed to point that out. Your "superstar to dud" comment shows how black and white you see things. Tyson is neither a superstar nor a dud and more to the point, nobody has suggested that he is. Quoting Nasher's post so it appears a 3rd time! Too often differing points of view are shouted down, misrepresented or ridiculed. Thank you Nasher for calling this out.

No surprises today so not going to get too worked up about the result. But am struggling with the team giving up in the last qtr. Very, very disappointing. Thought we had left that behind. We should never give up no matter what state the game. Never give up - that has to become our mantra. Never give up!!

These are such uninformed comments. We have 7 players over 26 years of age and 7 players with more than 100 games. How much 'youth policy' do you want??

And, that is the unacceptable part!

Pro Dee, Henrietta Lumbago, jabberwocky, Frosty Demon et al, could you guys just bury the hatchet for one day and wish Jack well for his 100th game. After all he is playing in our colours. Whatever your disappoints about Jack, he is out there doing his best for us. Cheer him on today. Tomorrow, go back to bagging him(...altho I for one would prefer that you didn't).

This is very odd: "The Demons told AFL.com.au Dawes hadn't strained his calf, but given his history of calf issues the club didn't want to risk him against the Dockers". Uh?? Really?? Looks like Dawes was dropped, albeit late but dropped nonetheless. Not disappointed. Pedo is a far better match up against Freo than Dawes. He can do Dawes job forward and a better job in the ruck.

Pedo is a good in for Dawes...it gives us a bit more to fight Fremantle in the air (their strength). And, it will be good to see the forward line work without him. Dawes can be somewhat superflous and Jack and Jesse will have more room to move and do their thing.

Having an idle look at AFL stats (http://demonland.com/forums/index.php?/topic/38311-match-preview-and-team-selection-round-5/page-7#entry1083443) to see how we stacked up against Freo: Generally ok. Surprised to see Free are average or low in the AFL for most stats. They lead only on Hit-outs and Marks ie they are winning in the air. This suggests if we can get the ball to ground it will give us an advantage. Not to say we will win but it is an angle we can exploit especially when combined with our exceptional tackling record this year. Wouldn't be surprised if we have a record number of spoils tomorrow to nullify their aerial dominance.

Oh how quickly we forget! Sounds like us 5 years ago! Last night for the blues was as bad as our 186 game. Different score diff but the same on and off field shemozzle.

Hate to say it but Collingwood might just get scary in the next year or two. We have yet to see Freeman and Scharenberg (two top 10 picks in 2013) or Darcy Moore and Sidebottom is to come back. Their list is looking a lot like that of GWS: 14 of last night's team have played less than 50 games, very good senior players showing great leadership. Collingwood have made a point of having 3/4 top 20 picks in the last 3 years and it is paying off for them. Like Geelong and Hawthorn, they have rebuilt quietly. They didn't get much resistance last night but the signs of a very good team were clearly visible! Yuk..it doesn't sit comfortably praising them. Unlike those 'bruise-free' Carlton players we will put up a decent fight and will beat them on QB! Footnote: it gives me great pleasure to label Carlton players as 'bruise-free' footballers

I would imagine he is fine. There were reports last year that our board grilled him on his role and he was totally honest. Also, AFL was consulted and OK'd it. And, would think some 'out' clauses would be in his contract, just in case. One never knows, but he would be down the totem pole of who WADA is after. Don't think there is any reason to worry about losing Goodwin.

This may already be happening. I heard an interview with Mark Robertson (yes, I know he isn't the sharpest tool in the shed) where he was asked "what happens if a future TB4 test shows the players did use it". Instead of ranting and raving as only he can, he said rather quietly, 'well yes, well, we will face that when the time comes" Not dismissive at all. I noted the 'royal we' and noted the 'when' it happens. Slips of the tongue maybe? But on the other hand me thinks he knows it was TB4. And, 'they' are also thinking a TB4 test will be found. Of course, this proves nothing. Just hope Dees2014 is right and the TB4 tests are just a few months away.