LEGENDS OF THE SKILLED

[bing181 8,357]

I am all for Jones hard approach at the footy but his lack of awareness that is shown up 2-3 times per game will see him on the edge

Maybe, but it's not necessary that every player is "perfect", or has great stats every week. It's just important that they do the job that they have to do, which would hopefully be a job that takes into account their individual strengths and shortcomings. It is, after all, a team sport, and the sum of the parts etc. etc.

[WonnaJurah 5]

traded Gyberts into my dreamteam and now have Trengove and Strauss on the bench

Scarlett hasnt really been near best this year

[nath 0]

heading down tomorrow, been a few seasons since I was last there.

Hoping/praying for a miracle, just want the boys to put up a good fight.

[Confused 0]

I concur.

I am a passionate Melbourne Football Club supporter, I gather the same as you guys, and have not seen a premiership in my lifetime yet.

I apoligise if this has caused you discomfort, and if it makes you feel better as a supporter by calling me a "troll", then that is fine by me.

I probably sit next to some of you at the "G" in the members on our home games, and if I disagreed with your opinion during a discussion in the Lindsay Hassett room at half time, I would not be calling you names to your face or behind a computer keyboard.

Everyone runs their own race.

I will not accept defeat and I hope the current MFC think similarly.

[Guest Rojik of the Arctic]

I apoligise if this has caused you discomfort, and if it makes you feel better as a supporter by calling me a "troll", then that is fine by me.

It's a bit of a boys club here sometimes, and non-groupthink frightens some people. Post what you want, I say, and damn the torpedoes.

[rpfc 27,676]

It's a bit of a boys club here sometimes, and non-groupthink frightens some people. Post what you want, I say, and damn the torpedoes.

Yeah.

Or...

Post what you want but don't expect the nonsense you spew out of your keyboard to be left untreated.

When I see some sh!t, I point it out, flush it, and send it to Werribee.

It's a forum.

If you want to spew and not have anyone call you out - get a blog and disable the comments.

[Guest Rojik of the Arctic]

When I see some sh!t, I point it out, flush it, and send it to Werribee.

Good luck with that when it come to me. I already live there.

But you can't tell me this place does not suffer from groupthink from time to time. Hell, I've seen you be a victim of it.

Sure we can disagree with an opinion but to label somebody a troll because they have a different POV is just childish. I myself have problems with Bailey's coaching style - while I can see the pieces coming together I can also see that we don't have a plan "B" when things aren't working. Maybe that is part of the plan where we keep training to do one thing well until we do it better than others or maybe we just don't have it but am I a troll for asking the question?

[rpfc 27,676]

But you can't tell me this place does not suffer from groupthink from time to time. Hell, I've seen you be a victim of it.

When? On what topic?

Sometimes I think 'groupthink' is the narcissists way of explaining away the utter rejection of a particular thought he has by everyone around him.

Sure we can disagree with an opinion but to label somebody a troll because they have a different POV is just childish. I myself have problems with Bailey's coaching style - while I can see the pieces coming together I can also see that we don't have a plan "B" when things aren't working. Maybe that is part of the plan where we keep training to do one thing well until we do it better than others or maybe we just don't have it but am I a troll for asking the question?

He/she didn't get called a troll because of what he/she posted - the troll accusation comes when you have never posted before and your first post is inflammatory.

And it is their right to call him a troll. And his/her right to refute.

Everyone is so bloody sensitive.

Again, some on here should get a blog and disable the comments.

They, and I, would be a lot happier.

[Guest Rojik of the Arctic]

He/she didn't get called a troll because of what he/she posted - the troll accusation comes when you have never posted before and your first post is inflammatory.

What is the justification in resting Trengove & Scully only, ........................what about the rest of the kids in the team that played the same game last week.

I fail to see the path this coaching panel is leading us down.

That one? Seemed like a fair question. I understand (or at least I think I do) the reasoning but to call it a troll... Pfft!

Everyone is so bloody sensitive.

I must agree, good sir.

[Inner Demon 1]

That one? Seemed like a fair question. I understand (or at least I think I do) the reasoning but to call it a troll... Pfft!

No, it wasn't a fair question it was the same kind of baseless arrogance always seen from the Bash Bailey or Bash Club brigade. Somehow assuming to know better on topics they couldn't possibly. In this case the football department's judgement of a player's fitness is brought into question. Laughable.

[DirtyDees DDC 171]

It's raining. Heavy conditions. More good reasons to rest 3 teenagers after a tough road trip. We did the same with Benny and the Jet last year, and resting 1/2 their side against Brisbane didn't prevent Geelong from winning the flag. We have a very tough draw with 3 top opponents in a row followed by 4 road trips in 9 weeks.

Give them a full pre-season before asking them to play 22 games and 4 NAB matches.

Bailey said that Tom and Jack were never going to play all 22 games, so if they don't get injured then they have to be 'de-selected'.

Maybe the club could have chosen it's word better. Instead of 'rested' they could have used 'general soreness' (warnock) or the old favourite 'back injury'. It works for Spencer.

[heartbeatstrue 57]

FLASHBACK by Scoop Junior

The other game that jumps up is the Round 20, 2005 match versus Geelong at Skilled Stadium.

After witnessing loss after loss at Geelong over the years, it was with a sense of deja vu that I arrived at Skilled Stadium that day to see the Demons try to get their finals hopes back on track. Deja vu on two counts - one, we had not won at Geelong since 1988 and another depressing drive back to Melbourne after the game looked on the cards, and two, we had lost our previous seven games (after sterling early season form had seen us climb to second on the ladder mid-season) and this appeared as though it was going to be number eight.

So, while in the context of the season the game was a massive one, there was always that feeling in the back of the mind that this was Geelong at Geelong and we simply do not win these games.

By half time my pessimistic pre-game thoughts were realised. Five goals down, only four goals kicked to half time, a number of behinds and mis-kicks as the team again struggled to deal with the local breeze and the narrow confines of the ground.

However, something special happened over the next 60 minutes of football that will be reflected on by Melbourne supporters for a long period of time. The Demons clicked into gear, Russell Robertson providing the spark up forward, and a six goal to two third quarter had the visitors in front at three quarter time to the stunned disbelief of the home fans (and it must be said the away fans as well).

But we'd been here before at Skilled, we've seen this a number of times. Geelong would quickly find their feet, gain the momentum and run away with a big win.

[Note: On Tuesday night on Foxtel they showed the Geelong-Melbourne match at Kardinia Park in 1994, where the Dees played some great footy in the third quarter and looked like winning it, only for Gary Ablett Snr and co. to go ballistic in the final quarter to win running away. So we'd seen this before, it was nothing new.]

However, the Melbourne side on this day were made of stern stuff and despite Geelong improving in the final quarter and threatening to sneak over the line, the Demons held firm and responded to everything the Cats threw at them. We (the few Melbourne fans that were there) were screaming our lungs out and praying for the boys to get over the line, but our cries were completely drowned out by the vocal home fans.

Then it hit me. Deep into the last term, for the first time I could remember since going to Geelong, I thought, "we can win this". But I should emphasize the word "can", because I still had the nagging thought that somehow the dark spiritual forces of Kardinia Park would combine to ensure that the Dees would go home empty-handed yet again.

And so it proved when Matthew Egan marked within shooting distance and the siren sounded with the Demons leading by two points. Oh, how cruel. We get to within a few seconds of winning at Geelong and have this happen to us. "We will never win here" I thought.

Football is about moments and the feelings that those moments elicit. As Egan's shot slowly faded to the left and the Demons players started celebrating the fact that they had won by a point, Melbourne fans had one of those moments. It was a feeling of sheer joy mixed with a sense of bewilderment and amazement. Did we just beat the Cats in Geelong? Surely not. Well to me it still felt that way (despite my jumping around like a lunatic suggesting otherwise), and it took about an hour to sink in that we had actually done it.

The Melbourne fans that were there hung around for what seemed an eternity after the game, singing the song and just lapping up the feeling of what they had just seen. It was about as surreal a feeling and an atmosphere as you could imagine.

The train ride home was also a fantastic experience. The club had organised a special train to take Melbourne fans back to Spencer Street (I think it was called the 'Demon Train'). The usual long trip home went by in a flash as repeated renditions of 'It's a Grand Old Flag' reverberated in the carriages filled with Demons fans who simply could not contain their excitement at what had been a most memorable day out.

Great reminisce, thx Scoop Jnr. I wasn't there, remember listening on the radio, had given up at half time, only vaguely interested thereafter but the thing that does stick is Sam Newman commenting and even while we were still behind in the 3rd qtr, he'd given up! All the momentum was with the Dees. I remember being glued to that radio for the last qtr, and the feeling of devastation when the siren went and Egan still had a kick to go. That moment lasted an eternity! The joy, sheer jubilation when he finally kicked and missed.

Stroke of genius, calling it the 'Demon Train' You are lucky to have been on it!

PS Today's the day for Moloney to burn!

[Hannabal 4]

Maybe the club could have chosen it's word better. Instead of 'rested' they could have used 'general soreness' (warnock) or the old favourite 'back injury'. It works for Spencer.

I actually loved the fact that they didn't [censored].

[Lil_red_fire_engine 10,446]

No changes to selected sides.

[rpfc 27,676]

After today, I fail to see the path the coaching staff are taking us down...

Does that inflame anyone?

It inflames me.

[Chook 14,647]

After today, I fail to see the path the coaching staff are taking us down...

Why, because we lost to Geelong on the soccer pitch that is Skilled Stadium after coming back from the ass-end of nowhere with no marking forwards and half our starting midfield missing? Don't worry, we'll be back at the 'G next week and we'll take it to the Blues and win.

[rpfc 27,676]

Read a bit more of the thread, Chook.

But thankyou for being inflamed.

[45HG 1,539]

I am inflamed.

[H_T 2,941]

I am inflamed.

I'm inflamed. This is obviously 'groupthink'...

[45HG 1,539]

Fiancee asked me Thursday night what I thought of Scully n' Trengove being rested.

I said, it's good to give them a rest as they're probably wrecked from the week (and weeks) before and could definitely do with a break.

She Devil alerted me to Wheels being on the Marngrook footy show and he said he'd have liked to have seen the boys against the best team in the comp. Enough said, Bailey is rubbish, can't coach and should have played the boys against the best team in the comp. Inflamation!

[H_T 2,941]

Very good 45.

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

Well, you restrained yourself.

I was expecting you to call me weak 5 times in different ways in a wall of text that would make Tolstoy cringe.

Progress.

I would, but luckily you restrained yourself from posting garbage, showing little knowledge about footy. So thanks for that.

Disappointing to see another poster added to the group that come on here simply to disagree.

[rpfc 27,676]

I would, but luckily you restrained yourself from posting garbage, showing little knowledge about footy. So thanks for that.

Disappointing to see another poster added to the group that come on here simply to disagree.

Uh, thanks?

I always fine that insults work better when they are insults.

[RalphiusMaximus 6,000]

View PostRalphiusMaximus, on 27 May 2010 - 06:11 PM, said:

I have two problems with the selections as listed.

1. We're top heavy in the backline again.

2. I'd prefer to see Gys playing with Scully given that they have played together for so long. It would be good for both of them.

they have hawkins, PODS, Mooney

geelongs weakist link is Blake, they make up for it with their mids

Yes, they have three big powerful forwards. We have Warnock, Frawley, Garland, Rivers and McDonald all listed. That's too many tall defenders for any occasion, not just this one. We've played our best football when we've trusted our first choice talls to do the job and not taken in extras. That way we get to field more running ball carriers to carry our attack. Taking into account that fact that Bruce has also been playing in the back 6, we only really needed three of the five.