chookrat

To me this pattern indicates fatigue which points to training loads. We are good enough to control large parts of the game while carrying fatigue during our more intense training blocks, despite our intensity being down across the match, and give it another 1 - 2 weeks will be primed for finals. In the next 4 weeks we play the 3 teams directly below us and Carlton. Win 3 of these 4 and we are practically guaranteed a top 4 finish. I'm pretty comfortable with where we sit and that we will be in form coming into finals.

I remember the good old days where we would win two games all season and a percentage in the 50's and it was 70% off. Then we play a prelim final and it drops to 40% off, win a Premiership and it's 40% off 'selected' items. This said, New Balance have been an excellent sponsor and I always look to them first for sports wear regardless of whether they are running 40% off or not.

The players should stage an abduction and shave his head to get his head back in the game.

Sorry BDA but how would Luke get to Freo if we do not agree to the trade? It is a pretty straightforward situation; 1. Jackson indicates that he would like to return to WA and play for Freo. 2. MFC say you are a really important player for us and while we want to sign you on a long term deal, if you want to go then we will help facilitate a fair trade. If a deal cannot be done we can re-sign you on a 1 - 2 year contract at market value. 3. Freo and Melbourne discuss what is required to get the deal done. Melbourne say that at least pick 3 would be required (what we paid) + additional compensation reflecting the speculative risk we took in drafting an untried 18 year old now and his development learning under the best ruckman in the game. Freo indicate what the are prepared to pay in terms of points, picks or players and their desire to do a deal. 4. Melbourne and Freo keep Jackson (via his management) in the loop on where the trade sits in terms of his trade value. If Freo are being unreasonable Melbourne can say we're trying to get a deal done but Freo are playing games, etc. 5. If we are being reasonable and Freo are playing games or are not prepared to offer a fair deal, Jackson can either accept a short term deal or nominate for the draft as a delisted free agent, in which case he likely ends up at North. I cannot see why we have to accept anything less than Jackson's worth which is at least pick 3 and arguably another first round pick or an established player who fits our needs and would be in our best 22.

While true, I'm sure we will say tell Luke that he has our blessing to go to Freo as long as a reasonable deal can be made but if not we would love to keep him on our list and revisit in 1 - 2 years time. Also, does anyone know if trade deals can be structured to include picks and free up cap space? E.g. if Jackson goes to Freo and they don't have the pick/player trade currency can we ask for a player and that Freo pay their salary as part of the deal?

I'm of the view that culture comes first and there is no way we should bring in a player that our indigenous players would not want to play with. This said, if our indigenous leaders support bringing The Tex then he could make a real difference to our success. We would also need to consider which list spot we would use to bring him in and whether this would result in missing a young key position prospect that could be a 10 year but player for us.

DeeeZone, I reckon you're on the money here. May is super competitive and comes across as someone who is pretty hard on himself. I've noticed the players really get around him when he makes a mistake on field. I'm not too concerned as he has plenty of time to be breathing fire come finals. Overall I reckon were in a pretty good place for a September assault.

Not sure what all the excitement is about here, there is every chance Luke Jackson will re-sign with Melbourne. The journalists always make stuff like this up to generate clicks and the only people that would have any idea would be Jackson, his Manager, and the clubs based on discussions with Jackson/his Manager.

I remember being at that game, going into the 4th quarter pretty much out of the game and bang! Judy Garland went beastmode.

Yep, I think the 2026 timeframe and the state of North will essentially drive North's board in this direction. In 2013 the AFL was very clear in its view that it was in the league's best interest for Melbourne to be a major Victorian club. Fast forward to 2022 and the situation with North and it is difficult to mount an argument against North relocating to Tassie in a manner similar to South Melbourne and Fitzroy to Sydney and Brisbane. The wheels are well and truly in motion.

Agree SWYL, there is definitely a Fitzroy vibe about North and I would be surprised if they don't internally decide that a Tassie relocation is the best thing for the club. When it was out on the agenda about 10 years ago they were a good middle road team but if they do everything right from here it will take 4 - 5 years to become relevant again and that is if the AFL is prepared to bank roll the restructure that is uncertain to produce results for a club that probably isn't viable.

Also I don't think North are an worse than we were in the Neeld era as we had GWS and GCS to jag a win here and there while North had an early win against a covid ravaged West Coast.

I reckon this started the moment North limped into the finals around 5 years ago after winning their first 10 or so games, Scott had determined they needed to do something drastic to win the premiership, something no one had ever seen, and this culminated in the decision to advise their 3 best players, on the eve of finals, that they could play out the finals after which their services would no longer be required.

Joeboy, these are the sort of things which balance out. Even if Adelaide won I don't think we could say the umpires had a major impact on the result.

I thought this was a free to Tex. Mitch Brown looked at Tex and side stepped into his path (blocked Tex's run at the ball) which Rex exaggerated by jumping over Brown. My only criticism would be where our players were tackled without the ball probably 3 times, taking them out of play while we got pinged when we did the same in the 4th quarter. There was also the forearm that Clarry copped, but I was super impressed that he didn't complain and just went about his business. This said, I thought the umpiring was of an acceptable standard didn't have any really bearing on the result. The week before v Brisbane I thought the umpiring was superb, the umpires got the balance right in letting the play continue and not over officiating particularly where a player ducked their head to draw high contact.

Will hit 65k, even if it means the club raffles a dinner with Maysy at a French restaurant.

OD let's play the long game, if we carry out the threat and move to Tassie it will put the State Government, Local Government and AFL on notice that when we make a threat we see it through 💪.

Given the state election this year and that there is a working group comprising the club, state, and local government working through the planning process and with support from the AFL, I would be staggered if our MCG precinct facility is not announced in the lead up to the state election. Failing this we could threaten to move to Tassie if both state and local governments do not come to the party.

Another clue earlier was when Goody kept saying 'at the moment's were not at our best, in a way that indicated it is a temporary form slump that they had planned for.

Agree on this DD. Caro is not for the faint hearted and when she is investigating a story re your club it's not a pleasant experience but she is good at her job.

Just a thought, it would be great to setup a website similar to Media Watch which follows AFL journalists and their articles and call out such inconsistencies. Another layer would be to write about their personal lives in the manner they write about AFL players, e.g. inappropriate behaviour, drug use etc.

Roadmap was a classic how he'd take off to Vegas, literally miss games, and the Coach and players had no idea when he'd be back. Personally I think players are under so much pressure and they should be able to enjoy themselves during their break like everyone else. This is a nothing story.

I'd like to see us being innovative, like two off the back of the square instead of running wingmen. Maybe Oliver, Viney and Trac could form a human triangle on one side of the centre bounce while Jackson grabs the ball out of the ruck in a somersault takes a couple of bounces to 50 and kicks it to another human triangle in the goal square.

I don't think I can be bothered watching today's match and same goes for North next week. I'd rather go to an open training session which I expect will be more competitive.

As a society we need to stamp out this sort of behaviour which means letting the person know their behaviour won't be tolerated. All it takes is for a few people to tell them they will have to leave and then the majority of people backing those who stand up and it will make a huge difference. The idea that you shouldn't tell someone to pull their head in to avoid conflict is not what we need. I'd even go further by saying that when teachers punish kids for engaging on conflict when they are being bullied adds to this problem, rather than encouraging the kids to say they are not going to tolerate being bullied and of it continues there will be a problem. As a society we are too conditioned to avoid conflict and it is not a good thing.