Older demon

I don't think we adapted to the wet (they did get 160mm of rain an hour before the game). I doubt Goody will make too many changes. I was pleased for Jones on the wing he did his job. Sadly the game has passed Nev by, at the moment and he will be rested. I would like to see T Mac back and would replace Fritsch who just isn't doing enough.If he doesn't mark it he does nothing on the ground and is out of form IMO. I also wonder if Bennell will be rested on a 5 day break. Out Jetta Fritch IN T Mac definite Smith or Neal Bullen (latter 2 were emergencies for this game so they must be close)

6 Viney 5 Oliver 4 Petracca 3 Gawn 2 salem 1 May

Without knowing what role the coach has assigned a player ie Melksham defending the run of Harbrow who I hardly noticed, I would keep the changes to a minimum. I hope TMac comes up as we have an 8 day break. I fear for New though, and he was moved of Rankine. Would we consider Jones for a back pocket role? I would as many mids and rovers who lose a bit go down back.

Gawn Viney Petracca Salem Oliver AVB Special mention Oscar, May and Bennel makes something happen every time he goes near the ball

The movie is "The Shining" based on the Steven King horror book. Jack Nicholson at his scary best and the phrase Redrum, redrum. Look it up

I cannot understand the criticism of Pert. WE complained bitterly that a previous CEO got too involved in the football department (Schwab) but now say that Pert hasn't done enough to mange that area. Damned if you do damned if you don't. Pert has bought more sponsors to the club, restructured slightly and keeps a low profile so his ego doesn't clash with the coach or football manager. Did you know he follows up constructive emails to the club by personally reaching out to the member? I know one long time staff member who left just prior to the first lockdown because of lack of resources in her dept that Pert could not supply. Finance and budgets were difficult pre COVID but I dare say now they are extraordinarily difficult. PJ upset lots early on by letting long standing staff go as they were not essential to the core business but no one questions what he managed to achieve. The issue isn't with Pert and it is up to the football dept to work on and come up with a plan to correct.

The report from the scratch match as stated earlier praised Harley and Weid, was solid in their comments about New, and mentioned Brown played down back at CHB for balance. If you really want to make a statement and rest a player who was down in the pre season and hasn't fired a shot then Lever needs a rest as much as Hunt and AVB. Nibbler also got a mention for a serviceable hit out. My concern is a feature of the Gold Coast game last week was the tackling pressure they put on Geelong and we clearly don't tolerate pressure well. A leading marking forward in Hawkins was the key to the Cats success.

Viney is going with with and child. The 33 limit is to allow wives and families to go. It would appear that the number taken to the hub is capped. Also note the family are in lockdown and confined to quarters so to speak so it is hardly ideal.

Thanks for posting. Derm has lit the fire as well with a brutal but honest assessment late last night. I cannot fault any of the criticism. I hope this week the media finally puts the heat on MFC because so far we have got off lightly. However the team are in Sydney and distant from the white noise and no-one cares as we become more irrelevant. Same old same old

6 Petracca 5 Gawn 4 Hibberd 3 May 2 Hannan 1 Harmes

I know it has been previously said but we are a bottom 4 team and have shown NO improvement on last year and will finish about the same spot.In fairness to the coach you could not train a team to be so poor at decision making, and turning the ball over constantly. I agree with Dermott pre match when he stated we have too many not committed enough have NOT bought into the team plan and are just stats hunters. For the second week in a row a small opposition mid will get BOG (Guthrie last week and Lambert this week) due to our undisciplined mids who will not chase and tackle and constantly handball to someone worse off and are going backwards. Richmond applied 3 quarters of intense pressure and we cracked and could not handle it. With 3 down in the last they couldn't maintain it but still gutsed it out and but for injuries it could have been a very ugly result. Team structure and player buy-in, we have neither. And as Lynch showed key marking forward with a few tricks win you games. Our lack of class and polish is disheartening. Sadly we jus aren't good enough and are ordinary at best

Sorry got it wrong! It was Carlton that bid

WE did ! we made a bid on him at pick 3 and it was matched by GWS as was their right to an academy player. You cannot do more than that.

So it was Harley with 5 goals!!

6 Oliver, 5 Viney, 4 Brayshaw, 3 Harmes, 2 Gawn, 1 Tomlinson,

That was an awful game to watch with Geelongs game plan to hold onto the ball and playing keepings off. It worked and not sure our brain trust worked it out. Scott happy to murder the game to slow the game down and stop our run Oh to have a leading marking forward like Hawkins. Fritch is wasted in a key post and too slight. It is frustrating that for all the effort and ball winning ability we just don't capitalise on the good work. I love watching Picket he will be the drawcard that puts bums on seats. Frustrating to lose but we are still sorting out our structure and best 22. Rivers and Pickett game 2. Lockhart a few more. Landon and Tomlinson still the gel and VDB & Smith still a bit rusty after no footy in the last 12 months. I see improvement and it is still early on. The next 3 weeks will see where we are at.

You missed my point. I was using the Pies as the model for a successful team structure and how Goody and the club appear to be copying it. They have 1 key marking forward who takes contested marks, Mihocheck plus a ruckman the rest are contested ball winners who run and lead. You don't need high marking key position players to be successful

No change for me. The inclusion of VDB and Hannan makes a better team balance. The Pies structure does not rely key forwards. Mihochek s CHF and a ruckman Cox/Cameron with a swarm of Elliott, deGoey who are good overhead. Phillips, Brown and Caicos at ground level. Then there is their elite midfield lead by Pendlebury & Sidebottom complemented by Adams and Treloar and so lesser lights who play their role in Hoskin-Elliot, Thomas, Brown and Mayne. The point is we have the elite ruckman, a gun midfield 4, the addition of 2 wingmen we need the flanker and other mids to play a role and kick more goals. I look to milk, Fritta, Ghanan and AVB to give us the grunt and lift we need.

It doesn't matter what we think the official line is The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee said in a statement that it "strongly discourages" travel to and from Hume, Casey, Brimbank, Moreland, Cardinia and Darebin for non-essential reasons until the Victorian government can suppress the spread of community transmission in those municipalities. They haven't said you cannot but strongly discouraged all non essential reasons which while open to interpretation suggests the club may have to reconsider its training base unless they hub there. In light of Connor McKenna all players are told to limit their social interaction and keep away from people. I noticed one lesser know MFC player hanging out in the food court at Southland last week and he certainly wasn't social distancing from his companions. I think all AFL clubs will be overly sensitive and over cautious in light of this weekend.

I cringed at one blue goal when May supposedly the best kick in the team kicked it straight to the man on the mark who politely handball over Mays head for an easy goal. Only MFC can do that

An earlier post said in jest what if a GF team test positive in the week before the Granny? Well it could happen and based on todays rules as long as a club has 22 players and emergencies they play. Essendon stand to lose their entire back 6 as it stands. MFC were training in groups as well the 7 mids, 7 backs as are other clubs. The GF would be a real drawcard with half a team out.

The test is complex. The swab is put in a machine that grows the virus to a level and then detects it. In the early stages of infection the virus load can be low and barely detectable.That is why the repeat this morning and it tested positive indicating an increase in his viral load. Suggests he got it recently. It is standard if you get an unexpected result you repeat it to see if the results are reproducible. Also note he is in the incubation period and asymptomatic. He trained Friday and vision on the news show him, tackling, contact drills and even having a spit and they may not have had the results back till AFTER he trained. He was at the club this am for repeat test and looks like they sped up the test turn around time and got a pos result. Then the fun began

After reading the scratch match report I realise how much the recruitment of Jackson, Picket and Rivers has had on the team. I suspect that it will take the next month to determine who is in the best 22 and barring injuries how the team will develop. With a record low number of injuries there were 17 players in the scratch match. Of the 17 only Bradke & Jordan haven't played a game and I am unsure who the club sees as long term best 22 players. Weid, Hannan, AVB, Hibberd,Spargo and OMac all played in the finals of 2018. Picket, Sparrow, Chandler, Baker and Jordan are all promising young guns. Then there are the Wagners (Corey was carry over emergency Saturday) Bedford and Dunkley. As for selection our forward line got smashed last week and I note Weitering and Docherty got coaches votes as the Crlton half back line after the 1st quarter was like a wall and kept rebounding the ball out. I think the club will keep changes to the minimum as they try to determine who is in the best 22 and then some hard decisions need to be made. Kozie and Weid in for Jones and Smith.

Getting on the scoreboard and kicking goals is one way to focus attention and step up to the next level. Increasing his kick to handball ratio as well will get more notice but if he is performing to the team instructions and game plan then I am content that he is doing his job.

This is a fair comment of what was happening but I think another factor was our totally ineffective half forward line. Give credit to Weitering, Docherty and Petrevski-Seton even Simpson every time we went forward we hit a brick wall and it rebounded. Be it turn over or contested mark they won convincingly. The small forward line didn't work and they showed the extra marking tall is essential. Hunt was the only effective forward. We need a lot more out of ANB, Melksham, McDonald and Fritch and Jones when up forward. You cannot expect Jackson to dominate or Picket to light things up in his second game. I sincerely hope Bennel stays on the park and Hannaan or AVB comes up because they add something extra