Roger Mellie

Yes it was mentioned in Scoop Juniors last training post

As I remember it, we tried about 8 players unsuccessfully in the wing role prior to 2021 - including Harmes and Brayshaw! We then went after Smith, who agreed (in principle) to come to Melbourne, then reneged and went to Geelong on a shorter contract (suck a fat one Isaac!). Goodwin then asked if Brayshaw wanted play as an inside mid, or play in finals. Brayshaw then went all 'team first' and agreed, embracing the new role. The rest is magnificent history.

Which is excruciating to hear fifteen times a game!

Seriously? Nothing like locking out the community from their local rag!

Great jumper but I found the numbers hard to see clearly. That minor issue might need a little work

I've been looking at the coaches votes each week and have found them puzzling. I couldn't have Harris as BOG, but she did play well. At least two of her shots at goal were from frees. I thought Hanks was BOG by a clear margin then Pearce etc. McNamara was terrific last week in spite of her early clangers (much like Lampard's this week) but didn't feature too highly in the votes. In the AFLCA votes, I'm usually agreeing and rarely surprised, but not so with the AFLW.

Joel Smith has all the skills, but there's something that's just NQR about him. I put it down to a lack of game sense. For eg. In one of the finals (v either Geelong or Brisbane), Rivers is streaming through the centre and about to be tackled. Smith is running beside him, ready to receive the handpass and is Rivers' only option of moving the ball forward without the risk of turning it over. As Rivers releases the handpass and is looking toward him, Smith, inexplicably changes his mind and turns away and veers off, I assume to mind his opponent (as Melb are streaming into attack). In my mind he had committed to receiving the handball and it was the only logical play, yet he bizarrely decides to chase his opponent or whatever he was doing. The result was, the handball went to where Smith was supposed to receive it and there was a turnover. These instances will happen less and less the more games he plays, but when he's not getting games at Casey, he's not getting that experience. Rivers is set in stone IMO although I think his position will change over time.

OK, so maybe I'm being a little alarmist. Just my possibly skewed interpretation of Pert saying he'd seen the plans as opposed to something like - we've been working on the plans or even 'our' plans. I'd have to agree with @Gouga with the beggars can't be choosers theory. I just hope it suits/fits our needs for the first time in decades. Have we established that it's in Car Park F yet?

The Doggies are a pretty good side so I think our game has gone up a level. Our composure, skills and ability to hit a target was the best I've seen from them yet. Zanker, Hanks, Birch, Lampard, Gay and Pearce got better as the game continued. I love the improvement from Heath, Bannon and Tarrant. Caris looks like she belongs at this level as do the other newbies. Great win!

I'm also surprised McNamara isn't in the team. I thought she'd be a walk up start too. Is this televised?

McDee works for me!

OMG, so we had zero input into the design/function of the place even though we will be the permanent occupants. Brilliant!

Enjoying the read thanks Deespicable and the trip down memory lane. I agree it's going to be highly subjective and I'd love to see the list of contenders as I didn't expect to see a lot of the players that are there. It must have been slim pickings over decades. Eg. Brad Miller in the top 100? I probably would rated Ingo higher, relatively speaking, awkward kicking style and all. Looking forward to the next instalment.

I'm always on the look out for MFC son/daughter prospects so I thought I'd update you on where our trade-ins sit for reaching the most important games milestone - 100 games for MFC! Games played for MFC Ben Brown 13 M Brown 6 M Daw 0 M Hibberd 89 J Lever 61 S May 48 J Melksham 83 A Tomlinson 20 Let's hope we can get Hibberd and Melksham to the ton this year. Happy New Year!

I agree. He looked the goods at Casey in his few appearances. While I think he'll improve a lot, I don't think he's going to dislodge Lever, May or Petty in a hurry (if we're sticking to your criteria of cementing a place in the one's). In fact, it's hard to see any of them snag a permanent gig if we have another dream run with injuries and form. I'm also looking forward to seeing Laurie in action (and JVR and Howes).

Me too! In fact, surely a poll is warranted, if they still exist? For what it's worth, they're up against it (in a good way), but maybe Chandler or Smith ( although I still see some basic flaws with the latter alongside a truck load of attributes)

He's the dude who spent a year at Richmond during their premiership year and wrote a book about it, or maybe two.

Thanks DIO, Great report! We could be in for an exciting season. So Parry replaces Zanker as the back-up ruck? I assume Caris is that very tall developing ruck? Cheers,

I'm with Sydney Dee on this one. How many years have people been banging on about when we win games we'll get a better draw? I'm not so much talking of difficulty as I was expecting a difficult draw - although perhaps not as taxing with all the travel. I was expecting the opportunity to capitalise (financially) on our premiership. I see some modest gains and that's about it. I see Carlton, Essendon and Carlton given their annual dream exposure fixtures and it's a given with Collingwood, no matter how ordinary they are. I see the dogs with four of their five opening games on Wednesday (versus us), Thursday or Friday night. Shouldn't that be us? Instead we back up round one with a big fat non-event interstate. On that subject, it's amusing Pert's quip about getting to see all our interstate fans in the fixture, when we've just spent the last two [censored] years interstate.

So Kossie was there? Any thoughts on Howes? Thanks

They should definitely be shunted down to Kardinia Park in our place then!

Need a little help with putting names to faces. The players 8 photos from the bottom are: Deakin Smith (left) , AMW and Blake Howes (right)? Cheers!

Rivers - Melb girl friend as mentioned. I assume Kossie will head back to Perth from Ham Island without the same isolation conditions as he would have if he came here (then went to Perf for Xmas).

Friday night would have been my preference. Easier coming from country Victoria at the end of the week and I imagine the crowd would be a lot bigger. Footy fans in general will again be let down by the Carlton-Richmond snorefest and be ready for some real action! Perfect time to unfurl the flag!

Any thoughts/insight on McVee?