http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl...8-19742,00.html

What a load of the proverbial. Never let the facts get in the way of making your point eh Damien?

Has, and will always be a hack journo.

I'm sure I don't have to highlight FACTS of why this hack is comletely off the mark

"one of the worst teams in the last decade"

It is absolutely true that the performances of the team in the first 6 rounds were that of one of the worst teams in the last decade. I have no issue with what he said

"one of the worst teams in the last decade"

It is absolutely true that the performances of the team in the first 6 rounds were that of one of the worst teams in the last decade. I have no issue with what he said

That doesn't make much sense to me. The past 6 rounds are not indicative of an entire decade.

I do have an issue with what he said.

"one of the worst teams of the past decade"

Typical journo, go for sensation over factual content. Three years ago these boys were being described as "best Victorian team". Like I said, most journo's haven't a clue and don't let it worry them. There's only a handful with integrity.

Our start has definitely been the worse from the last decade

we did lose 2 games by a 100 points. our performances in the last 6 round were one of the worst of the decade, no buts about that.

absolute garbage..... How can he make such a comment, when Carlton lost something like 80% of their games over a 3-4 year period!!!

He has no clue!!!

This season is only 6 weeks old, how about making such a sensational call at the end of the season???

Comprehension's not big around here is it ? Hope those teachers start earning their pay rise.

Maybe parents are holding out for a 'help your kid learn' bonus.

I mean, they have the kid and get paid for that - Why should they look after it for twenty years without any cash reward?

"You want me to what? Read to it? Get stuffed, where's the remote?"

Anyway, the article itself is fairly poorly written - comprehension is a two-way street.

Barrett is a clown. Probably received a spam email and just pasted it into his story. Wouldn't be the first time.

Has contempt of Nathan Carroll is laughable, how many games did you play Damien?

On the article, the problem at Freo goes higher than the coach.

Nothing wrong with that story. As others have said, I suspect there might be something iffy about the comprehension skills of some of the readers.

Melbourne, one of the worst teams of the past decade,

Coming into the Freo game, I imagine we had been performing as poorly as the worst teams of the past 10 years.

*shrug

PS. His name is Barrett.

On Sunday, it led by nearly nine goals against Melbourne, one of the worst teams of the past decade, only to lose by a goal.

I think he is saying we are "one of the worst teams of the past decade"

I don't agree at all

Comprehension's not big around here is it ? Hope those teachers start earning their pay rise.

It's not is it. Glad I'm not alone on this.

Nothing wrong with that story. As others have said, I suspect there might be something iffy about the comprehension skills of some of the readers.

Obviously, yourself included.

Very deceptive heading to this thread if people haven't actually read the article.

Perhaps a bit dramatic with the "ONE OF THE WORST teams of the decade" call, but the performances in the first 6 games were woeful.

Only won 3 out of 24 quarters, and all three of those were junk time last quarters when the games were over.

A percentage of 54.3, and I would think no Brownlow votes out of a possible 36.

And the first half on sunday was heading down the same path.

I think the whole thing says more about Freo than Melbourne, and that's what Barrett was getting at.

Cumulatively we have not been one of the worst teams of the last decade.

If he is trying to say that we have played some of the worst footy in the last decade, well, thats a different issue but that doesn't make us one of the worst TEAMS

Wouldn't a worst team be better described as a team that had all the potential but achieved very little ah la St Kilda and Feo of late? I think what Melbourne has achieved shows what a good team they are consistently doing better than is expected over the last 10 or so years. The current crop of old and new is developing under a completely new coaching staff, we are having a rebuilding phase that will take 3-4 years but I don't think we are any worse than Carlton have been over the last 5-4 years.

Regardless of whatever spin you want to put on it, our first 6 and 1/2 rounds of football has been some of the worst football I have seen in more than a decade. At least the equal in standard (although over a shorter period) to Carlton, Hawthorn and Richmond. Possibly worse.

If it was not for the 2 final quarters against Freo I doubt whether many of you would feel so aggrieved at the article. A week is a long time in footy.

And I think Ash is right. Its says alot more about Freo than MFC. Freo should be shattered from top to bottom with the performance. As much as we rejoice at MFC, I watched the replay..again and outside Pavlich, Sandillands and Solomon, Freo were truly appalling in the 2nd half. The lack of effort and defensive pressure from them was as bad as anything MFC put up. No wonder Pavlich is not saying anything. He must feel cheated by a lot of teammates.

Very deceptive heading to this thread if people haven't actually read the article.

Perhaps a bit dramatic with the "ONE OF THE WORST teams of the decade" call, but the performances in the first 6 games were woeful.

Only won 3 out of 24 quarters, and all three of those were junk time last quarters when the games were over.

A percentage of 54.3, and I would think no Brownlow votes out of a possible 36.

And the first half on sunday was heading down the same path.

I think the whole thing says more about Freo than Melbourne, and that's what Barrett was getting at.

Spot on Ash. The title of this thread totally misconstrues the point of the article.

Outside of the Geelong game we have been awful, those arguing against a semantical argument over 'the worst side' are kidding themselves.

Up until half time Melbourne scored 63 goals 61 behinds - 439.

Our opponents scored 126 goals 89 behinds - 845.

With a percentage of 52 we would have played some of the worst football in more than a decade. I'd run away from the "we weren't that bad" argument pretty quick folks, it doesn't read well.

The first 6 rounds have been appalling, but the problem is that some people have very short memories.

The same things were being said about Carlton and Richmond not long ago, at around the same time as we were being branded 'the best Victorian team'.

Lets not completely blow things our of proportion. We have been disgraceful for 6 weeks, and we will continue to perform poorly this year no doubt. However, we are not the first or the last team to go through a really bad patch and when it is another team's turn, the same thing will be written about them.

Pointless sensationalism at it's best.

Damien Barrett = Worst Sports Journo of the past decade...

Damien you snide, weasley, parasitic little [censored]... Look at Carlton from about 2002 onwards... Ditto Tigers... The demons just made the second greatest half-time comeback. Even against Freo, the WORST SIDE IN THE LAST DECADE wouldn't be able to do that.

How do you take yourself seriously?

People are getting wise to the garbage that spills forth from the pens of hacks like you. When are you peanuts going to learn that sensationalist journalism HURTS FOOTBALL!!!!! You are pea-brained enough to think it's actually benefitting you, when it actually just further confirms the facts that every toothless football fan who can read your tripe ALREADY KNOWS...

You are completely devoid of talent.

Go away. Just go away, please. For everyone's sake.

From Wikipedia, here's a summary of the last decade:

Year Members Finishing position

1998 17,870 4th

1999 19,713 14th

2000 18,227 2nd

2001 22,940 11th

2002 20,152 6th

2003 20,555 14th

2004 25,252 7th

2005 24,220 8th

2006 24,698 5th

2007 28,077 14th

Remember, we played in the GF in 2000.

Yes the first 6 and a half games were woeful footy, thankfully whatever happens for the rest of 2008 we've at least got a magic memory from this season.

Like I said before, I'm just very glad I barrack for Melb and not Freo!

From Wikipedia, here's a summary of the last decade:

Year Members Finishing position

1998 17,870 4th

1999 19,713 14th

2000 18,227 2nd

2001 22,940 11th

2002 20,152 6th

2003 20,555 14th

2004 25,252 7th

2005 24,220 8th

2006 24,698 5th

2007 28,077 14th

Remember, we played in the GF in 2000.

Yes the first 6 and a half games were woeful footy, thankfully whatever happens for the rest of 2008 we've at least got a magic memory from this season.

Like I said before, I'm just very glad I barrack for Melb and not Freo!

And what is the relevance of this? Read the bloody thing properly. It says "one of the worst teams of the past decade". He doesn't say that we are the worst team over the past decade. Based on our performance in the first 6 rounds, he was dead right.