Short term pain - ULTIMATE GAIN

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

A lot about the "Tanking Issue" maybe answered on Sunday. As i believe we are good enough to Beat Richmond, and as a club we should fight for that win.

Not at all. Whether we beat Richmond on Sunday has as much to do with them as us. If both teams are switched on then Richmond will win a flat sprint.

A Richmond loss will be reflective of the wheels falling off under a Coach that has no clear support at Board level and may hasten his departure. A Melbourne could be reflective of the skill/list deficiencies we currently suffer.

I am sure Bailey is ,like each week, seeking to win. Winning this week is important to provide some solace to young players who are clearly working hard on the game and skills but deserve some positive recognition.

[beelzebub 23,240]

:angry: :angry: AGREE 100%...AIM TO WIN, NOT AIM TO TANK !!!!!! :angry: :angry:

you can aim all you like...attaining is a whole different thing !!!

[Jarka 767]

We're currently a bottom four side, and anyone who thinks otherwise is kidding themselves. Of course I want to see the team win, but I want a premiership more than anything else, so what Bailey needs to do now is to play for the future, however he really doesn't have any choice because of the state of the list.

We've got some decent kids on our list with potential but not many of them have really shown alot at AFL level, yet. I'm talking about Grimes, Petterd, Maric, Wona, Blease, Spencer, Strauss, Jurrah, Jetta, Bennell etc. We also have guys like Meesen and Newton who have serious question marks about them, this year is a perfect chance to decide once and for all if they get a spot on the list. Let's play them, what have we got to lose? It's not like they're taking the spot of a champion senior player.

To those who say that top picks don't guarantee great players, I agree, to some extent. However, the draft process has changed, we know alot more about the kids than ever before and it's atually pretty rare that a top pick is a dud. Let's look at the top two picks in the last six drafts:

2008 - Watts, Naitanui

2007 - Kruezer, Cotchin

2006 - Gibbs, Gumbleton

2005 - Murphy, Thomas

2004 - Deledio, Roughead

2003 - Cooney, Walker

Out of all of those players the only one I don't rate is Walker and Gumbleton's injuries have held him back, but if were we completely honest when fully fit both would walk straight into our current team. The vast majority would all be in our top 10 players, easily.

We have a great opportunity to continue to develop our kids, to find out about some of our fringe players and to top up the list with some exciting talent. Basically this year we can lay the foundation for the future decade.

[e25 5]

For the LAST TIME - ??!?

What are you smoking??

This will only be brought more and more often until the season finishes and we know exactly what we'll have...

[Sir Why You Little 36,735]

Not at all. Whether we beat Richmond on Sunday has as much to do with them as us. If both teams are switched on then Richmond will win a flat sprint.

A Richmond loss will be reflective of the wheels falling off under a Coach that has no clear support at Board level and may hasten his departure. A Melbourne could be reflective of the skill/list deficiencies we currently suffer.

I am sure Bailey is ,like each week, seeking to win. Winning this week is important to provide some solace to young players who are clearly working hard on the game and skills but deserve some positive recognition.

Yes RR i do agree with what you say but i am not interested in the Tigers mindset. They have had years of team ruining and only got worse.

But i am interested in the MFC's mindset, as this is the first game where we have a genuine chance to win for quite awhile, after training since October.

I'm excited about sunday & its been awhile since i have felt that way. Bailey's First Test is on Sunday.

Bring it on, i want him to do really well.

[Je Roos Salem 661]

The tanking issue is simple to solve.

Don't tank and try your heart out to win games.

[MelbournePassion 7]

The tanking issue is simple to solve.

Don't tank and try your heart out to win games.

We don`t tank, and against Carlton round 22 in 2007 was an example of that.

[Redleg 40,357]

"Tanking" implies that you lose games you were actually able to win.

From the performances to date, I dont think we have been in that position. We were not good enough.

There's the rub. At this point of the year, we need to develop and seek improvement in the list. This may or may not evolve into victories. Number of wins at the end of the year should be seen as an outcome rather than a target.

However, if we are 4 wins or less with four rounds to go, I will be spitting chips if we were to compromise our draft opportunities with a junk time victory.

We need to have the common sense and intelligence to understand where our list is in terms of quality, what is required to be successful and what steps we need to take via drafting or recruiting to supplement the list.

Agree.

[Real Demon 232]

I hate the idea of tanking, but don't honestly think we will need to resort to it this year anyway........I think we will struggle to win 4 games.

Looking at the list, I think we need an injection of genuine quality in the midfield before we can even begin to think premierships.

I think the backline is developing well, and if Watts develops like we all hope, our achilles heal that will prevent our rise is the midfield.

For that reason, I agree, to get picks 1 & 2 this year would make a big, big difference to our future ambitions.

[stevenDEMON 0]

I hate the idea of tanking, but don't honestly think we will need to resort to it this year anyway........I think we will struggle to win 4 games.

Looking at the list, I think we need an injection of genuine quality in the midfield before we can even begin to think premierships.

I think the backline is developing well, and if Watts develops like we all hope, our achilles heal that will prevent our rise is the midfield.

For that reason, I agree, to get picks 1 & 2 this year would make a big, big difference to our future ambitions.

I agree.

[stevenDEMON 0]

Are they taking away PP picks for good after GC comes in? Or are they being removed for the GC and WS sides?

The whole draft system needs to be revised, stopping all of this talk about tanking. The fruits of the draft tree are to good to ignore.

The draft lottery is the best way i feel. bottom 8 into the lottery.

[wisedog 350]

When you have people hoping their side wins less than 4 games at Round 3 of the season, something is definitely wrong with the system. I really wish the AFL didn't create this dilemma for supporters. They should remove first round priority picks altogether.

[Bring-Back-Powell 14,474]

They should remove first round priority picks altogether.

Totally disagree. The rule is there to support bottom teams, and that's exactly what the MFC is this year. We won't be tanking. We will only win 1 or 2 games this year as we're barely AFL standard.

This is Melbourne's last opportuntity to get compensation before GC steal all the picks.

Or would you be happy if the AFL changed the rule this year and we're on the bottom with a 1-21 record and get denied a priority draft pick.

And by the way, Port and Freo could've tanked last year as both teams were below 22 points after round 16 last year. Carlton has been the only team that could be accused of tanking...and even then you could argue they were a team not good enough to win 5 games.

[wisedog 350]

I don't think any team sets out to lose a game. Well not beyond shrewd list management.

Whether we attain those picks legitimately or not, I hate hoping for anything less than a victory each week, and for that reason I wish the system as it is wasn't in place.

If you read the post again, I don't say remove priority picks altogether, I said first round priority picks. In my opinion they create too great an incentive to lose.