spirit of norm smith

I’d like to see us trial more youngsters. See if they measure up. Why play McDonald and Melksham. They will retire at seasons end. We need to see what youngsters like Adams, Laurie etc can offer.

Happy with this early crow and happy he’s in the red and blue !!! Rising star. Definitely. 👏👏👏👏👏

Salem had 20 possessions v Suns. Metres gained 240 !! Many junk slow sideways kicks He needs to do better. Quicker and more positive movement ASAP Compare to Daniel Rioli with 20 possessions (80% DE) and Bodhi Uwland with 15 possessions who gained 400 metres (93%DE). Run and carry and forward positive movement Coach Simon - please take heed of such simple advice

Agreed. He was sorely missed when injured and it was good to have him fit and firing in 2021, as he became a key part of our success. Had an outstanding 2021 GF. He kept us in the game before Trac and co took over and won it. But Salem is overrated now as a good ball user. His kicks are mainly chip kicks either - slow and sideways 15 metres OR slow and forwards 15 metres, or he kicks it 35 metres up and under and in the clouds making it easy to defend. Disposal efficiency can be ok when you are slow and do 15 metre safe kicks. He takes too long to dispose of the footy. It allows the defence to set up. Also twice on the weekend he handballed directly to Suns players on the weekend (specsavers) . Salem is one player who needs the 240volts shock treatment of intensity to lift !!!

Presume that Turner gets promoted Pickett into MFC after suspension Windsor and Lever in after injuries Given last weeks woeful performance by MFC, might be more than 4 changes. Dees might consider adding Fullerton or Laurie as other players to be promoted.

Yes agree Love is not the solution. I think Lloyd picks us as a soft target. Hardly needed to be said given we are 0-3. He is still a Barrett like hater of the Dees. Compare to guys like Nathan Buckley or Luke Hodge. Both are super impressive with their insights, comments and analysis. Hodge said the word “Respect” should be emblazoned all over the MFC rooms. Respect for each other. Respect for the club. Respect for the jumper. Respect for the fans.

Matthew Lloyd (IQ 56) … remember he who promotes underage drinking by his school sports team He is a grub like Barrett and Morris and McClure except he at least played the game Essendon great Matthew Lloyd believes the Demons have failed to back up their talk of "love" for their teammates and the club from the pre-season with poor performances on the footy field. With a horror 0-3 start to the season, the Demons look like a shadow of the club's 2021 premiership powerhouse. The club's off-field culture has taken a serious beating in recent years with a spate of off-field issues creating what some believe to be a hostile environment.

Current style in TRANSITION is Slow chip kick mark slow chip kick mark turnover … so boring and ridiculous to watch Future TRANSITION must be Hit a target … create run and overlap Take quick option and execute skills Dees getting McVee, Windsor and Pickett back will help

Great news. 👏👏👏 Huge wrap on Harvey Langford for a long time. You can see him as a star midfielder in the future. He has the skills and smarts to succeed.

Agreed. Sinnema is a talented youngster and one to grab in our 2025 draft. It’s a highly compromised draft pool this year with academy and father son picks.

2017 9th missed finals by “0.49%” 2018 preliminary final 2019 🤮🤮🤮17th 2020 9th missed finals by “1.7%” 2021 🏆 Premiers ❤️💙❤️💙❤️💙❤️ 2022 finished 2nd / straight set finals losses 2023 finished 3rd / straight set finals losses 2024 started 6-2, then ended up 11-12 and 14th 8 years , 4 finals , 4 missed finals 2025 …? 0-3. So far, not good

@Redleg yes re Blake Howes … I meant back to Casey next week and adopt the taller HFF role

@DeeZone Was posting earlier Just got the news … relief. XL20 👍🏻 Probably miss a few weeks though and look to bandage /strengthen the knee

Xavier Lindsay will be a star. Showed it in his first two games already. Fingers crossed on his knee scans! As many know, I posted numerous times last year that he was the player that the Dees needed. Has footy IQ, good pace and ballwinning, with elite skills. Imv Worth trading out our 2025 pick. What was strange was the add-ons in the trade. I think gave up too much Bombers - pick 9 plus 2025 third-round pick to Melbourne. Dees -2024 picks 28, 40, 46, 54 & 65 PLUS first-round pick in 2025.

Interesting now that JVR seems to have gone backwards. Not sure how our development goes. 2022 he looked good as a 19 year old at Casey. 2023 debut v Swans (just turned 20) was very good with 3 goals and big strong marks But in 2024 and start of 2025, he couldn’t catch a cold (his inability to mark or hold the footy is really poor) … is he wearing oven mitts was one posters comments. He looks hesitant to lead up. When he does, he often has to wait whilst the midfield overuses or kicks it “on his head” and it’s impossible to compete. I think JVR is part of our future. But he needs to move more and actually fuc@$&)n one grab the footy. A more accurate delivery from the mids might also help.

Howes played really good footy for Sandy Dragons AND Casey as a wing/half forward. He’s a capable goalkicker. I’d like to see him put back to Casey next year and adopt that role. Try to slot him back into MFC as a taller half forward. The role as a last line defender is not his go in my view.

Fritsch is the obvious one to go !!! He cost us with missed tackles, missed shots and missed goals. Turn the opportunities in 3-4 goals and we were within a 2 goal reach at 3/4 time. Unfortunately once it blew out, the umps and suns turned up the heat.

Nailed it. This is perfect for any of the AFL talk fest shows to dissect. It’s clear to the fans. Unfortunately doesn’t seem clear to Simon and co. Slow and steady and then turnover footy is a horror show. We can improve with better ball use and run, but the complete loss of winning contested footy and clearance work (our previous number 1 strength) is a huge concern. Being outworked, outrun and outbodied.

Thanks. Spargo needs to do a lot more. A lot more. He wasn’t impressive at all in 2022 and 2023 and as we know was out injured in 2024. Seems to be our players have average performances and still get new deals and extensions. Accepting mediocrity is our weakness.

Melksham. Tmac. Billings. All will retire. Doubts over so many … Laurie, Woey jnr, Sestan, Kentfield, Adams, Hore, McAdam, Spargo. That’s 11 to go. Some might question or think that’s harsh. I think it’s needed. There’s young players needed and the talent is available.

Suns destroyed us. Embarrassing skill errors. Easy soft 15 metres passes then turnovers. Dees very poor in the midfield especially. At the clearance and in contested footy. Trac and Clarry and JV7 looked 2nd rate. Rowell and Anderson just ran away from them. Votes ? 6- Bowey 5- Langford 4- Langdon 3- Sharp … that’s enough

The Game in reflection 1st qtr 🤮Henderson turnover inside 50 🤮Oliver turnover inside 50 💔Lindsay knee injury - subbed off 👍🏻Sharp to Chandler (miss) 🤮Ump free and fifty50 (Oliver brain fade to kick the ball away) 🤮Petracca 30 metre out -miss - kicking for goal (looked devoid of wanting to kick the goal , very unsure) 🤮Fritsch - turnover 🤢Langford miss on the run 👏👏👏Langford to Bowey … goal 🤮🤮🤮rivers poor lazy handball - asleep Noble runs and goal 🤮Trac kick to inside 50 but straight to a suns 2v1 🤮May error dropped mark Suns 4.5.29 Dees 1.4.10 2nd qtr 🤮Langdon poor kick into fwd50. Turnover 👏👏👏Langford to Melksham ☠️umps. Johnson two tackles - players had prior opportunity - not rewarded 🤮Fritsch miss from 25 metre out 🤮Oliver fumbles and fumbles 🤮Fritsch miss from 40 metre out ☠️umps 1/2 time Dees 2.9.21 to Suns 5.8.38 3rd 🙌lucky. Sharp goal 🤢umps Billings grabbed without the footy … miller goal 🤢may 20m away from king 👏👏Melksham to Trac - left foot goal 👏👏Sharp goal ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Rowell ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 👏👏Chandler goal 🤮🤮Viney disposal - killing us dees 29 points down 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮Fritsch drop mark 15 metre out !!! Unmanned … drops the mark then fumbles and falls over 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮umps - suns goal in last 0.0000171 seconds of third quarter Dees 6.12.48 to Suns 12.10.82 4th 🤮🤮🤮🤮Skill errors Langdon. Viney. Oliver. Seriously poor 🤮Fritsch miss shot 🤮Oliver disposal poor again 🤮Trac disposal - lazy 👏👏Langford - goal on the run 🤡Salem disposal - so poor 🤮johnson dropped mark - 25 metres out !! 👏👏JVR mark and goal ☠️☠️☠️Umps - free kick to King against May 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮smashed at centre clearances and at the contest Could not match the Suns midfield Dees 8.14.62 to Suns 18.12.120

Turner and Bonner would be handy inclusions. So imv only Turner (as Bonner is not AFL listed). Not sure why he wasn’t considered to recruit as he’s only just turned 28yo but has excellent left foot disposal. Disposal is much better than most of our AFL listed squad.

Lever May Salem Rivers Petty Bowey Windsor. Viney. Langdon Sharp. Turner. Petracca Fritsch. JVR. Pickett Gawn. Oliver. Langdon Tmac. Sparrow Chandler Johnson Sub. Melksham

In. Lever. Windsor. Pickett. Turner Unavailable. Throlstrup. McVee. Outs. Billings. Henderson. Howes. Lindsay (knee)