NORTH and SOUTH

[Wadda We Sing 10,685]

watching the west coast game against hawthorn and now convinced that natanui was a better option than jack

He has just won the game for west coast in his 2nd game....

[Deano74 156]

Nik Natt or Ablett wouldnt be able to save us at the moment so everyone wake up !

[phantom8 0]

my whole point is that we do not recruit the sort of players that can physically impose them selves on the game I doubt that jack watts wil have the ability to do so even in 3 years time

[phantom8 0]

leigh mathews had the same view and he was responsible for the direction of the list that belted us tonight. I blame craig cameron for our list and hes at richmond so say no more there.Light bodied running players are fine if you have the ball but if you look at geelong collingwood stkilda and brisbane tonight thay are physically much bigger ,can break tackles hold a tackle and stand up in contests. Colin slyvia is the right build but we have 2 many players like davy jetta bennel who are not physical add bruce petterd and moreton and we have a very soft bunch of ,yes young kids but not sure if they are going to grow into the physical size that you need to compete with the geelongs of this world

[phantom8 0]

If you compare our indiginous kids im not sure thay are going to turn into a wirrapunda or johncock who are hard at the ball

[demon85 17]

Drop Robbo?! You people have to be kidding.

If the team could deliver the ball to him there wouldnt be a problem. There are many issues with the players, Robbo is the least of them.

[iv'a worn smith 1,979]

Michael Voss says at his press conference. "no disrespect to our opponents, but that was not one of best performances tonight" Seriously!!!!???

Anyone who follows Melbourne and can take any positives out of tonight are living cloud cuckoo land. Rhino Richards (cliche, cliche, cliche). You are kidding yourself.

No more excuses. Sure, our list is not great, but it is better than what it has displayed over the last 3 rounds. Perhaps Gerard Healy might have been right in his Herald Hun article and don't believe for one minute G lyon would not have known Healy was going to write it.

We have to turn this around, because no matter how talented the "kids" we have or are going to get, if this keeps up we will destroy their confidence.

Simply not acceptable on any level or by any measure.

[Binmans PA 26,736]

...yet blokes like Mclean just don't work hard enough.

It's not that McLean doesn't work hard enough neccesarily, it's that he's so slow. That's why he can't get to contests in time or chase down opponents. That said, some of his kicking tonight was just down right lazy. When he kicked it to Miller on the lead, in the dying minutes of the match, there was barely any pressure on and he kicked it along the ground.

I've been hoping that in a good team, with fast, effective players around him, Brock could be a very valuable player, but I'm starting to think I'm being too wishful.

Watts makes some good decisions though. He's going to be a beauty. He's just playing in a side with no confidence, barely any class or speed. Give a few of these kids (Grimes, Morton, Frawley, Jurrah etc) more game time and add Watts to them and he'll be great. He needs good players around him though. Robbo doesn't cut it anymore, but at the same time, he'll stay on, because we simply have nobody else.

[Binmans PA 26,736]

l'm with you, get rid of him now, Stynes did it with McNamee, do it this week with Bailey, sack him

So many overractions here. I'm not saying I'm sure Bailey is the man for the job, but he's barely got anyone to work with. The majority of our senior players wouldn't get a game at any other club, but that's what Bailey's got to chose from. And the rest...well, they're just kids. It'll be very interesting to see who we delist at the end of the year. The problem is you can't simply delist/retire the majority of the senior list. We've already done that over the past two years. We need some experience, even if it doesn't showing the leadership qualities you'd hope for.

Bailey needs at least next year to prove himself. If the team shows nothing next year, then perhaps.

[Einstein 1]

To quote David St.Hubbins from Spinal Tap, I am sure I would feel much worse right now if I weren't under such heavy sedation.

[Binmans PA 26,736]

And here I was thinking Bailey was the coach, you know, the person who is supposed to COACH the players how to do those things.

I don't want to turn on Bailey, I really don't, but this is almost too much...

Actually, as a coach myself, it varies. If you're coaching young kids (cognitive learners), then it is the coaches job to teach the players the skills. But come AFL level (supposedly elite level), the coach maps out and implements a game plan. At the moment, our skills aren't up to that game plan. However, Bailey's thinking is (probably) that if you get the game plan into these kids early, at least once they feel more comfortable under pressure and in contested situations (after 40 or 50 AFL games), then they'll have that foundation and game plan in their make ups, to implement it with effective disposals and decision making.

I do agree with some posters, though, that are saying it's up to Bailey to get them to gut run and do the team things. It's a coaches job to motivate players to do this. Otherwise, they're not doing their job. Of course, if the players they have at their disposal are not up to it, then that's a different story. Perhaps, it's the latter?

[Binmans PA 26,736]

valenti must come in as he is someone who can get his hands on the footy. mckenzie should even be considered as he is fearless at the ball Our team has lost focus to attack the ball.More worried about zoning off or run with roles.mclean seemed to have a run with role with luke powere.He couldnt keep up. He looks old and slow .Jones is struggling.

We have recruited to many light bodied players I blame craig cameron who is now at richmond maybe there is a common theme there . i would be targeting morabito as a priority bigger bodied quick and can play .

Oh, there's no doubt Craig Cameron was an incipid recruiter. I'm so glad Richmond wanted him.

[Binmans PA 26,736]

Anyone who thinks that Naitanui is a dud is a dead set fool, the kid is going to be a bloddy great player.

I don't recall anyone saying that. They simply said, it's kind of pointless comparing the two.

[Jaded No More 60,147]

This is in no way an excuse for what went down tonight, and the pathetic display we put on for three quarters.

However, if the club had a bit of a flu issue for the last two weeks (Jones, Warnock, Bate), it could explain why quite a few players were down on their normal output (disposal wise).

Then again, we're so bad that I don't think even swine flu wants to go near us.

[Luck Lucy 0]

This is in no way an excuse for what went down tonight, and the pathetic display we put on for three quarters.

However, if the club had a bit of a flu issue for the last two weeks (Jones, Warnock, Bate), it could explain why quite a few players were down on their normal output (disposal wise).

Then again, we're so bad that I don't think even swine flu wants to go near us.

Singer-songwriter Paul Simon who is currently visiting our shores once wrote that "these are the days of miracle and wonder" and the sentiment is so true today. It was a miracle that the late Michael Jackson survived past his 50th birthday in view of the lifestyle he led and, given what the Demons produced at the Gabba last night it was a miracle that Brisbane won by less than 10 goals. I suspect that this miracle was only possible because the Lions shut up shop early to prepare themselves for the rest of the season and their finals campaign which is now an inevitability.

As for Melbourne, the only inevitability is that they are destined to continue to break their supporters' hearts for a long, long time irrespective of whether the excuse this week was an outbreak of flu at the club. Unless they develop some semblance of a system to their game even the early draft picks on offer later this year will not help.

In the second and third quarters, Melbourne produced some of the worst football I have ever had the displeasure of witnessing from the oldest club in the history of the game. Ironically, there were simply not enough old heads in a football sense to guide the young, inexperienced players who battled it out with a slick, well coached outfit. The

result was a nightmare for all at Demonland.

[Jarka 767]

I don't recall anyone saying that. They simply said, it's kind of pointless comparing the two.

Actually it's a view that's held by many on this site, if you go back tot he draft and look at the robust debates that went on it was mentioned many times. I'm not going to bother to mention who, it's not the point. It's the same situation with Masten and Morton.