CBDees

Thanks for the reports RB! Currently I am holidaying in Asia and your reports are the highlight of my trip.

It looks OK IMO! T. McDonald, Dunn, Jetta & HL would have to be locks and I suspect tw of Howe, Grimes, Frost & Garland will round it off. Pederson is also likely for depth along with Terlich, both of whom seem to be training well and O. McDonald is part of our future down there as well. I have high hopes for our forwards, backs and mids this year and am quietly confident that they will see us in the top eight come mid-season! p.s. Don't be surprised to see Toumpas tried on the HBF at some stage during the season.

I tend to agree with you MD, especially when we have either Kent, Watts, JKH or Howe to insert as the sixth forward in addition to the five core players that you named (with Roos making the call during the week)!

We could be literally anywhere under the stewardship of CS and MN (except in the top 17)!

Pleased to see that they have given away Aussie Rules and taken up soccer. Both codes will be enhanced!

Interesting your pessimism in relation to Hawthorn. IMO by virtue of their addition of Frawley as a free agent into their backline, they have not improved it to the extent that we have with Frost, O. McDonald and HL ( joining T. McDonald, Dunn, Jetta, Garland and Grimes, etc )! History will prove that losing our AA backman, was the genesis for our creation of one of the strongest backlines in the AFL. Don't worry, Hawthorn's backline will generate no fear in Hogan and Co, as similarly our backline will give their forwards very few opportunities.

I am with Dr Gonzo, quietly confident that we will be in the eight mid year (and stay there this time)! I have been wrong in my predictions in the past though, so I don't want fellow Demonlanders racing down to SportsBet to invest their life savings based on my faith in Roos and our restructured team.

Or JKH, NB, Viney or Stretch.

We didn't cut him, he retired! Also we have re-engaged him through Casey as a playing coach where he will continue to be a mentor for half our list. All in all, a Win-Win for both Byrnes and the MFC if it works as I suspect it might. As steak knives it should also help Casey climb back up the ladder this year!

I can provide accommodation close to the "G" and Goshe's Paddock if somebody (or the Club) can trump up the airfares!

In relation to Nutbean's post in relation to Gawn (below): "Gawn - So far his body has let him down and because he has not a fair run without injury he also has looked like he runs out of puff pretty quickly. But he has also shown he can take a grab, tap a ball and is no slouch at ground level for a man 2,975 cm's tall." This comes as quite a revelation to realise that it is Melbourne, rather than Fremantle who boasts the league's all-time tallest player and that we are never likely to be challenged. Until I read this post I didn't realise that Gawn was the height of a ten storey building. I am not sure how he can take a grab, tap a ball or operate at ground level when he is so far up that most people would have trouble even seeing the ball without powerful binoculars, nevertheless the whole football public will be impressed. I suspect that the umpire may need to use a rocket launcher to project the ball up to him at least eye level so that he gets a fair chance at the centre bounces and I hope that they legalise rocket packs for our team so that we can pass it to him to lean over and place through the goals. Finally, I hope that he doesn't accidentally step,on Sandilands however and get rubbed out for the season! There will be certain problems playing interstate as no commercial airlines, buses or trains can accommodate e player of this size however maybe we can utilise a supertanker as all the interstate teams play at grounds in close proximity to a major port and it would only be a few giant strides to get to the ground, probably with a team bus under each arm.

I have only two words to add: Dustin Fletcher

Leaving aside Brayshaw and NB, we actually replaced Frawley (who we used in attack last year) with two defenders in Frost and Oscar McDonald. On balance, i think that we came out on top, defence-wise!

Somebody on here posted that being a MFC member was like being married in that you have to be prepared to take the good with the bad times. Not too sure about this analogy linking membership to marriage! My support for the MFC has outlived six marriages and, if I get romantic, it may even outlive a seventh (and that is without 'good times')!

Why are you comparing Frawley with Frost? The person that you should be comparing is Brayshaw who was our compensation. IMO Brayshaw will prove as valuable for us long term as Frawley has been!

Yes but we also collected NB and O. McDonald as steak knives ( two picks that weren't going to be used by GWS but which were bl-- dy useful to us )! Picking Frost didn't leave a 'hole in our defence', Frawley did, if anyone, but even that is questionable considering the fact that he spent most of last year in attack! p.s. As Oscar McDonald is also a defender, ( down the track ), trading pick 23 was inspired as it actually strengthened our defence by giving us two ( long-term) defenders.

I would add Toumpas to those three.

Now I know that Melbourne has hardly been a role model for the other Clubs since the early 1960s, but I suspect that the reverse is true with the Saints. Firstly, they took over our relationship with the Sandringham Zebras, then they followed us to the bottom of the AFL ladder, and now they are training at Casey! I am surprised that Essendon FC beat them to securing the services of Neil Craig and Mark Neeld?

I know ,many on here are questioning Terlich and M. Jones however, since they have arrived, they have consistently impressed the coaches and featured in the Bluey. Frankly, (& particularly if we do well this year). the hard job for Roos and Goodwin will be who to delist at the end of the season to enable us to participate in the trade/draft. This year it was made easier for us with the retirements of Clark, Byrnes and Barry, however I suspect that this will not be repeated (and also that King, Harmes and Hunt will develop at Casey and Trengove will make a recovery).

Try the MFC Club website is always a good start. The sessions next week are at the Maroochydore (Qld) training site.

Where did Pig Dog finish? I didn't see him listed?

58 posts and nobody has made mention of Grimes. As our recently retired co-captain, it is sad in a way that nobody seems to rate him as important going forward!

Dawes is suspended Round 1 (but nice try). Maybe you might have to try Gawn or Fitzy?

Nothing wrong with having a team of 22 Robbie Flowers on the field!

Interesting post on the 'Brayshaw' thread but it makes sense. It would be nice to see how the backline that you have nominated goes. It could surprise many (especially opposition supporters)!