Older demon

I am not sure who believes in omens or signs but Max has played 96 games. Wouldn't it be fantastic if he plays his 100th game in the Grand Final Go Dees

I can see why everyone is discussing who we put on who but consider that we finished 5th, our midfield of Max, Oliver, Brayshaw and now Harmes is A grade, so let them worry about us and our weapons. Viney and Vandenberg didn't play and Garlett, Hogan and Vince were in for the last Geelong game. An inexperienced midfield contributed to the loss at geelong and we can add experience and grunt. Remember Hogan was lame after he got a knee in his back in the first quarter. I am starting to believe that we are much better than we all realise and yes we have days and quarters when the team loses its way but they are becoming fewer. The last 2 weeks highlight what we can do, so let the Cats worry about us and what stategies THEY need to combat us

Well done Max thoroughly deserved and reward for daring to want to be the number 1 ruckman in the comp. Congrats to Oliver and Brayshaw. Worth noting Harmes results getting votes in 3 of the lat 4 games. The midfield is looking more and more A grade.

6 Gawn 5 Harmes 4 Brayshaw 3 Salem 2 Oliver 1 Frost

The coaches go into camera for the last 2 rounds ie they keep them a secret. I hope Max got 10 for last week and plays a blinder thi week to win. nnounced after last round

Harmes - outstanding Gawn - 12 kicks (twice bursting thru a pack) 8 handballs, 5 marks, 41 Hit outs Melksham 4 goals and 2 goal assists Brayshaw - 26 possessions and 10 tackles and went hatless in the desperate dying moments Oliver - coined a new description best player in a telephone box, his ball handling is sublime Hannan - went hard early like he wanted the ball Apologies to Salem, Jones & T Mac a fine team effort

Did Goody hint in his presser than some players need rest, Clarrie...?

Maybe this means we have selected all the goers for tomorrow!

No surprise as he has been battling injury all year. The umps are an ageing lot and a few week ago as many as 20% of the group were injured. They certainly don't like the bounce.

5 changes and only 2 forced due to injury. Been a while since the club made such a big statement. I hope it results in success......

You have to wonder where all the Norf money is coming from. They are a bit scattergun with their approach offering a fortune to anyone.kelly only signed on for 2 years at GWS and Norf were very confident that they would get him next time but cannot see that happening if Gaff goes there. If he is too pricey then move on as we don't want to disturb the pecking order at MFC. lewis has already spoken to the group about pay structure and keeping the group together just as they did at Hawthorn in the premiership years. I truly believe that if MFC offer was similar to GWS he would come home (as per Jane's info) but 1.2 for 7 years is crazy money. Target what we need to comlement our existing list do not get into a bidding war just to prove you can attract a player.

For years we have been looking for the Messiah. Roos often stated that the Messiah complex and expectation is what limts player development and in this case we cannot expect Weid to come in and emulate Hogan. Thinking about this I will be content for him to play his role as defined by the coaches. If he plays on McGovern then make every contest count. If he plays in the ruck, get the ball to ground to our mids and make a contest and drop back in defence. He has played 15 games and is still learning and cannot be expected to come in and clunk marks, kick a bag and dominate especially against such a well organised backline such as the Eagles. Will he however provide a better option in contested marks and rucking than Pederson? I believe he will and our goals will need to come from the mids and flankers. Last week pederson was on Heaney and one contest in particular he gave us nothing. The only alternative I would consider is Hannan as a key forward but then who backs up Max against Lycett and Vardy?

I have to agree with this trio as the new leaders. I see another post that thinks the same Jones will be like Swallow at the Kangas who lost the captaincy and was gone within a year. The game catches up with some players really quickly. Viney must have serious doubt on his ability to even play let alone captain. Look back since he started and note he has always had foot problems, this is not something that is a new development. Goodwin made a captains call on appointing Viney without consulting Jones anyway but for the above reasons must consider the future After listening to Tom and Max interviewed today on various media I have come to the conclusion that they are the new leaders. Either as co captains or Tom captain and Max his deputy. They are in the right age bracket, play in positions that allow leaders to direct and influence play and can impact a game. Lever deserves consideration but my concern is given the recent spate of ACL recurrences I worry about his continuity. There is no doubting his leadership however. In a recent discussion with a field umpire friend I was told that he noticed that Lever was the on field general who directs the whole backline and was very vocal. He is being missed for his ability as well as organising and directing the backline.

I think a restructure up forward is needed. The new Perthoval is similar dimensions to the MCG which we have shown we ar incapable of defending with our current game plan. Hunt and Hogan are injured Spargo isn't quite there and Pedersons efforts in that last quarter were sofr (check the replay and see who was manning up Heeney). Do we go wit the small forward line? Trac at full forward perhaps. Weid if selected does the ruck work and TMac stays as a permanent forward. Max is still getting over a calf and needs relief. Hibberd and Melksham come in. Out Hogan, Hunt, Spargo & Pederson In Melksham, Hibberd, Kent & Weid Only variation I can see is maybe Hannan comes in instead of Kent

I can confirm Hoges is left handed. I asked him as he continually shot left handed at one of the MFC holiday programs at MSAC where he and Trac were shooting hoops. Both would not be out of place on a basketball court.

I have stated this before Hoges is left handed but right footed and that is why the weird ball drop. As a right handed left footer I can attest to the difficulty using you non dominant hand to drop the ball on your foot. Nick Riewoldt was the same and early in his career he had similar problems kicking for goal, but he got better with experience. I found that I could become pretty good on my right foot because I could control the ball drop better and maybe Hogan can kick in play on his left. He is a pretty good kick in field play.

Hogan has a lot of improvement still in him and every other club would offer a trade for him. Talk of trade is nonsense as we don't have enough A listers or key position players now. We need to replace Jones, Vince and Lewis in the next 2 years as well as a backup for Max. Trading Hogan out for their replacements will yield nothing. Gaff is a RFA and will come to us if the Eagles don't match his offer.

Hunt has re-injured his ankle and in extreme doubt and Hogan will have his injured foot scanned. If fit, Melksham and Hibberd return JKH is doing his role and was far from our worst on the weekend. Depending on injuries Hunt, Hogam out Pederson omitted for Melksham, Hibberd and Weid the only additional option is replace Spargo with Kent or Bugg (both in best for Casey)

In fairness to Garry I heard him last week concede that he and the selection panel made a massive error in the appointment of Neeld. he wont get involved in that end of things again. The onus is on Goodwin to analyse his coaching and develop and change if not he will fail. Clarkson has reinvented himself many time, changed the team playing style and at the end of every season head O.S. to look at trends and plays in all other sports and applies them to AFL. Lyon is correct atm we are not a top 8 team, will not make the finals and cannot beat a top 8 team. The hurdle as Goody describes it is a massive insurmountable mountain.

A lot has been said about Harmes post match interview but I believe it stems from the coach. Goodwins presser left me flat. "We will get over this hurdle" seriously. MFC have not beaten a final 8 team all year and we play 2nd and 3rd in the next 2 weeks. I hope internally they are more realistic and planning their September break. So they are being positive for the press but the stats don't lie and we will not beat West Coast or GWS and the season will end the same as last year. MFC cannot be trusted, believe they are better than they are in reality and have a long way to go to get near the best and the sooner the coach admits that the better. He has to acknowledge that his game style is too easy to score against or if it is the players who cannot execute that style they need to go.

Brayshaw Harmes Salem Oliver Frost Tyson Trouble was our bottom 6 were wasteful, inaccurate and beaten bu a hunfrier team.

On what has been a very emotional day I have to admit for the first time this club has hurt me to the core. Started at 9 am volunteering for BCNA day and honouring 3 close family and friends lost to breast cancer. You hope your team will put in and give you a lift, but no they just don't have it. They don't have the right stuff. Sydney were 2 rotations down from early on and played with resilience, toughness and structure. We butcher it and find yet another way to lose a game we should win. It is not the loss that guts me it is the way we lose. Clearly we have talent but we are not a team. Individuals do flashy stuff but we find a way to lose and have done so against every top 8 team this year and this is why we are not a top 8 team. Sydney were out on their feet in the last 20 minutes yet still held on while we kicked it out on the full, couldn't kick 30 metres and continually hit opposition targets when streaming forward (Nathan Jones I am calling you out here). I know you shouldn't write when upset but gees this club is hard to support..............

Ironic that he plays his 100th, gets dropped next week and suffers a career threatening injury. I sincerely hope he is still around the club nexxt year even if it is only at Casey. Thank you Bernie for your service

The article in todays Age was superb. I was at the game where Mathews hit Neil and it was a cold blooded thug act. I remember Neil as a junior doc in his early days and he hated Mathews with a passion for what he did. I believe Neil played 7 games for the D's but had a distinguished career in the amateurs and is a top bloke and was a great paediatric surgeon. I also believe his family would host MFC players. My old coach at Caulfield Stewie Trott was another who told a tale how he was knocked out by Mathews at Moorabin one day or who can forget Mathews taking Barry Cable out with an elbow in a state game . For anyone who reckons Mathews got as much as he recieved I can only remember once when someone cleaned Mathews up, a Collingwood player. As far as I am concerned the ledger of hits is that Mathews hit far more then he ever got and certainly did more damage to others than he received

Jane told me and her source, very close to the horses mouth and 100% credable. Max doing everything possible to get himself up for the game.