I've been reading a lot of posts and it seems the majority of people don't really rate our list and believe we're at least 3 years from playing finals.

I believe our list isn't that bad. Sure, theres a few who shouldn't be there, but I'm impressed with our youngsters.

And finals?

I believe we're only 2 years away.

Comments ?

I think a lot depends on our injury list.

Our most important players IMO are :

McLean - midfield grunt, class, leadership, possession accumulator.

Davey - Can inspire the side with 1 inspirational play (ie - Freo comeback), oodles of class, goal sneak, rare pace.

Rivers - Important defender. Will dramatically strengthen an already promosing defence of Garland, Warnock and Martin.

Robertson - Leading goal kicker. Have to score to win games. Enough said.

Moloney - On song, he can be a damaging component of our midfield machine. Once he finally became fit in rounds 6-10, we saw the strengths he can bring to the side. A 3rd in the B&F in 2005 underlines his ability.

All the above players missed far too many games for us to be competetive this year, and all were absent in our disgusting and shameful efforts versus Geelong, Port and and Richmond at the end of the season.

As for the kids, I think we're looking ok.

Morton - Could be an MFC great.

Grimes- Reputation is sound

Maric - Is a good user of the footy, something we have a shortage of.

Petterd - First 4 games were as good as anyones.

Garland - Could be something special. Even Essendon fans were prepared to trade their 1st rounder for him

Buckley - Pace is his biggest asset. Hopefully he improves further in 2009.

Aussie - Will always be good for his 1 to 2 goals plus provide defensive pressure in the forward line.

Martin - Showed a bit late in the season. Does have a very good build for todays game.

I don't rate Frawley and consider him another CAC first round blunder

So much depends on our first 3 selections at the draft this year. 3 guns may very well fast-track our finals prospects from 2012-2014 years to 2010-2011.

In conclusion, we have a bottom 4 list in the AFL. We have a major deficiency in the 24-28 year old braket IMO. We can't afford to have more than 3 injuries at the one time. We have a poor ruck department. Without a fit Robbo, we lack a consistent and reliable goal kicker. We lack depth - this was always going to be a problem when we sacked/retired Pickett, Brown, Ward, Godfrey, Bizzell, Read and now White and Yze. However I can see a silver lining with our 19-21 year olds.

[quote name='Bring-Back-Powell' date='Oct 21 2008, .

[quote name='Bring-Back-Powell' date='Oct 21 2008, .

Good summary. I agree with Frawley,he really hasnt shown anything to be impressed about,but what about blokes like Bartram,Newton,Petterd (i read your rating and i know he's been injured but ???). I know theres more but i"ll stick with the youngsters. Disposal and decision making,i believe, isnt up to scratch.

Bartram's skills are not up to standard. Great endeauvour though.

Newton - I'm stunned the club gave him a further 2 years. A kick in the guts to players with great application that get delisted. Apart from being a highlights package, does he actually offer anything?

I agree with you that our skills and decision making were the story of 2008. If things don't improve in that department, then serious questions must be asked of the senior coach.

I've been reading a lot of posts and it seems the majority of people don't really rate our list and believe we're at least 3 years from playing finals.

I believe our list isn't that bad. Sure, theres a few who shouldn't be there, but I'm impressed with our youngsters.

I don't really rate our list as it is right now (in terms of expected performance), but I think it has plenty of potential and am hopeful we'll have success in a few years.

However, I don't expect to see success soon because we're going to be relying on pretty inexperienced players in key roles, and we have a lack of depth.

And finals?

I believe we're only 2 years away.

Comments ?

I don't think we're 2 years away from finals. I think we could expect a little more pain next year. Before seeing improvement in 2010. Should be clawing our way back up the ladder in 2011-12. 3-4 years IMO.

Good summation. You rate a couple more than me, but a very sound and realistic analysis.

^^

Cheers H,

Care to name the player you don't rate?

I think a lot depends on our injury list.

Our most important players IMO are :

...........

All the above players missed far too many games for us to be competetive this year, and all were absent in our disgusting and shameful efforts versus Geelong, Port and and Richmond at the end of the season.

As for the kids, I think we're looking ok.

........

I don't rate Frawley and consider him another CAC first round blunder

Pretty fair appraisal there

...and appropriate weight given to the fitness issues governign any real expactations of "good form"

There ISNT teh mind boggling chasm between the very good and so-so in the games line ups( teams) . You just have to be a bit off the boil and you're done. An injection of some "health' and capable youth wil llift us dramtically.

Clearing the "wood" out will have similar dividends

I think a lot depends on our injury list.

Our most important players IMO are :

McLean - midfield grunt, class, leadership, possession accumulator.

Davey - Can inspire the side with 1 inspirational play (ie - Freo comeback), oodles of class, goal sneak, rare pace.

Rivers - Important defender. Will dramatically strengthen an already promosing defence of Garland, Warnock and Martin.

Robertson - Leading goal kicker. Have to score to win games. Enough said.

Moloney - On song, he can be a damaging component of our midfield machine. Once he finally became fit in rounds 6-10, we saw the strengths he can bring to the side. A 3rd in the B&F in 2005 underlines his ability.

All the above players missed far too many games for us to be competetive this year, and all were absent in our disgusting and shameful efforts versus Geelong, Port and and Richmond at the end of the season.

As for the kids, I think we're looking ok.

Morton - Could be an MFC great.

Grimes- Reputation is sound

Maric - Is a good user of the footy, something we have a shortage of.

Petterd - First 4 games were as good as anyones.

Garland - Could be something special. Even Essendon fans were prepared to trade their 1st rounder for him

Buckley - Pace is his biggest asset. Hopefully he improves further in 2009.

Aussie - Will always be good for his 1 to 2 goals plus provide defensive pressure in the forward line.

Martin - Showed a bit late in the season. Does have a very good build for todays game.

I don't rate Frawley and consider him another CAC first round blunder

So much depends on our first 3 selections at the draft this year. 3 guns may very well fast-track our finals prospects from 2012-2014 years to 2010-2011.

In conclusion, we have a bottom 4 list in the AFL. We have a major deficiency in the 24-28 year old braket IMO. We can't afford to have more than 3 injuries at the one time. We have a poor ruck department. Without a fit Robbo, we lack a consistent and reliable goal kicker. We lack depth - this was always going to be a problem when we sacked/retired Pickett, Brown, Ward, Godfrey, Bizzell, Read and now White and Yze. However I can see a silver lining with our 19-21 year olds.

Can I add Whelan into an important player can tackle and is a hard player something we lack

Not to mention through 2008 MFC has consistency played more youngster than any team in the comp, something that can only benefit the team in the long-run and is the major cause of the teams currents woes.

Having said that, I rekon melb is severely disadvantaged in the size department. We dont have anything close to the big bodies of a Geelong or the tough nuts of a Hawthorn. Speed and skills are obviously crucial and will improve with a young list, but I wanna see some big bodies, the guys need to hit the weights room!

When things got tough Neita used to go through his body around. Who do we have now? Harley and Scarlett gobble up our forwards bc WE ARE SOFT!

^^

Cheers H,

Care to name the player you don't rate?

I'll leave it at that.

As I said, good post.

Although there's a few of the kids who have shown a bit of promise over the past couple of years, it's very tough to judge how good they will be until I see their performance in a team that's consistently winning. There's a huge difference between a player who can get a few touches when nobody else is standing up, compared to somebody who will lead the team deep into the finals. I'm sure that guys like Morton, Buckley, Aussie and Davey will play good supporting roles in the future, but I haven't seen anything yet that indicates that they will get to an A grade class of an Ablett, Bartell, Franklin, etc.

I'm sure that guys like Morton, Buckley, Aussie and Davey will play good supporting roles in the future, but I haven't seen anything yet that indicates that they will get to an A grade class of an Ablett, Bartell, Franklin, etc.

And none of them did anything in their first year to suggest that they would either. Players evolve. Ablett averaged 15 disposals per match in his first 100 games. He's averaged 27 in his last 40.

Morton has fantastic upside and I like the look of Grimes and Maric, but granted Buckley, Davey and Wonaeamirri aren't in the A grade league.

Although there's a few of the kids who have shown a bit of promise over the past couple of years, it's very tough to judge how good they will be until I see their performance in a team that's consistently winning.

And none of them did anything in their first year to suggest that they would either. Players evolve.

This is the great unknown which of course everything hinges on

This season we were belted by 100-ish in round one against the eventual premiers - and that's about how far away from a premiership we are : 100 points

That's a lot of individual improvement required but hopefully once the side is functioning properly a lot of these players will start to look a lot better as part of a UNIT. Of course this also has a lot to do with Bailey's plan and whether they can pull it off.

Most heartening thing about 07 for me was the way a lot of the players in their first, second and third years responded to the new coach - hopefully this is a sign of Bailey's much-promised ability to teach and develop young players.

It is well known amongst the supporters that we have gone a long time without any true stars of the competition, and once we see them emerge it will be no coincidence that the side is looking dangerous again. Unfortunately, at the moment, I can only see 2 or 3 players on the list that look capable of achieving this. I reckon we are about 5 true quality players away from being a good side, so I am worried about who they might be. This is why I desperately want that extra pick next year.

Jack Watts plus 4 or 5 other top picks won't go astray either.

And none of them did anything in their first year to suggest that they would either. Players evolve. Ablett averaged 15 disposals per match in his first 100 games. He's averaged 27 in his last 40.

Morton has fantastic upside and I like the look of Grimes and Maric, but granted Buckley, Davey and Wonaeamirri aren't in the A grade league.

Not sure about Bartel but Ablett averaged about 2 goals a game playing permanently as a forward pocket and Franklin averaged more than a goal a game in his first year then kicked about 50 the next

We're losing a whole bunch of experienced players and bringing in younger, inexperienced players. It's not that our list is bad. It's just going to get younger and more inexperienced. With inexperience comes pain and failure.

Now Fremantle. That is a bad list.

Not sure about Bartel but Ablett averaged about 2 goals a game playing permanently as a forward pocket and Franklin averaged more than a goal a game in his first year then kicked about 50 the next

Ablett kicked 135 goals at 1.35 goals per game from his first 100 games and averaged 15 possessions. Also, I said "And none of them did anything in their first year to suggest that they would either" in response to their current A grade status. Note the words "first year" ? Ablett played 12 games in his first year, kicked 10 goals at an average of 0.8 a game, and averaged 8.3 disposals. Franklin played 20 games in his first year for 21 goals. He kicked 31 in his second year, not the 50 you assert. He played quite a few games for Box Hill in his second year as he was still learning the caper.

If you're going to post on an opposition forum and stick your nose in then at least get your facts right.

Frankly, I'd [censored] you off.

So you don't think that's a good launching platform? (those statistics).

It's hard to judge unless you actually saw them play. I don't remember much of either player in their first years but I can recall Ablett doing some pretty amazing things.

fyi Franklin got stuck in at Box Hill for a couple of weeks in year 2 for disciplinary reasons

So you don't think that's a good launching platform? (those statistics).

I think you're as thick as two short planks.

I said that none of the above showed in their first year that they would be definite A graders. You then said that Ablett averaged 2 goals a game as a permanent forward pocket. I showed this up to be a fallacy when I pointed out that he averaged less than a goal a game in his first year and only 8 disposals. You now say "that's a good platform though, don't you think ?" And because you were just about prepubescent when he started his career you admit you "never saw much of him in those years".

Stop wasting my time, Faceache.

I'm just curious as to what you believe a first year player has to do to show he'll be something special?

I'm not disagreeing with your first point about the Melbourne players but the law of averages works against them

not sure how much higher you can grade a first year effort than that of Cale Morton's, particularly in a side getting smashed every week

his disposal was poor in the earlier parts but he improved dramatically by the end

if you are going to make career projections based on the debut year then he looks the goods for sure

as has been noted ad nauseum, his footy brain, agility/elusiveness/footwork, motor and ability to be in the right place all the time are things that will never leave him as a footballer... bit more work on his disposal and a bit more of a physical presence I can't see what will go wrong with this one

then again, this is the MFC, where the milk always turns sour!