Turning players into utilities

[Harrisonrules 273]

Rpfc

family friend, neighbour, cousin, uncle

Non of the above just a chance meeting. It's worth airing, or do you want warmfuzzies all the time as we convince one another we a going to win a flag in two years. My comments were the edited version. If you keep your ears open you hear lots of real stuff, and some would concern you even more. But if you like I'll keep it soft and cuddly for the faint hearted in the future.

[H_T 3,031]

Rpfc

Non of the above just a chance meeting. It's worth airing, or do you want warmfuzzies all the time as we convince one another we a going to win a flag in two years. My comments were the edited version. If you keep your ears open you hear lots of real stuff, and some would concern you even more. But if you like I'll keep it soft and cuddly for the faint hearted in the future.

I hope you have read everyone else's replies. Or replying to one too soft and cuddly for you ?

[jabberwocky 2,301]

Rpfc

Non of the above just a chance meeting. It's worth airing, or do you want warmfuzzies all the time as we convince one another we a going to win a flag in two years. My comments were the edited version. If you keep your ears open you hear lots of real stuff, and some would concern you even more. But if you like I'll keep it soft and cuddly for the faint hearted in the future.

Hypocrisy

The footy dept are saying that currently Morton needs to work on his game, as do Maric, Bate, Jetta, Strauss etc. If they don't like it they "can f%^k of to Carlton or go where-ever."

That is real, not warm and fuzzy crap, that is how it is.

It will be harder to get a game at this club, a switched on young player who is after team success will know that the club who has a bevy of young talent coming through is a good club to be at.

People will have to come to terms with the fact that favourite player X might struggle to get a game.

Edited August 9, 2010 by dandeeman

[The Jacks 0]

The great thing is we have about three or four players for whom you could say: "surely they're a big chance to come in to the team this week". Equally, we've been saying: "not sure who comes out of the team for player x, y and z this week, no one deserves to be dropped".

Cale has the natural ingredients to be a top player. He's tall and athletic, has great skills and reads the game really well (when he's "on"). We all really want him to become the player he has the potential to be.

But the stuff in my first paragraph (and part of becoming a successful team) means that the players on the fringes of the side, who haven't shown themselves to be indespensible, have to work their backsides off, deal with disappointment, improve whatever aspect of their game needs improving, and come back better.

If Cale doesn't have that in him, then unfortunately, he's not worth persisting with. I'm not saying it's got to that point now, but if it does, then so be it. He could end up being trade bait, he could end up starring at another club, he could up in the VFL, he could up a Melbourne legend (and everything in between). But gone are the days of putting games into him because it will be good for his development and we need to see what he's got. It's time for Cale to show us what he's willing to do for this club, not what this club is willing to do for him.

It could be argued that we're doing the opposite of what I'm saying here with Watts, and giving him games for him to develop and not because he deserves his spot in the team. But that's another kettle of fish and I'm actually very happy with how Jack is coming along, I think he's more than worth his spot in the team already, and I'm pleased with how the club is handling him (from what I can see).

If Cale didn't play for Casey on the weekend, what is the reason? Was he an emergency for the ones or isn't he fit?

[Deetective Sgt. Taggert 382]

I would be very surprised if a MFC player confided his true feelings to someone in a chance meeting...

[e25 5]

Rpfc

Non of the above just a chance meeting. It's worth airing, or do you want warmfuzzies all the time as we convince one another we a going to win a flag in two years. My comments were the edited version. If you keep your ears open you hear lots of real stuff, and some would concern you even more. But if you like I'll keep it soft and cuddly for the faint hearted in the future.

hahahhahaha right... Let me just get this straight...

So a "chance meeting" with Cale results in him confiding in you that he is unhappy with his treatment by the club and so are many other players.

Is that what you're saying?

No chance that he was just venting his frustration at being left out of the side for another win and our finals tilt?

At a stretch I'd concede that is possible.

I think he's given you an inch and you've taken a mile.

Good luck to Cale, but in the incredibly unlikely event that what you've said is true, he must be a poisonous player within the group and will likely be shipped off soon anyway. And with good reason.

Ps. This didn't happen to be at the after-match function did it..?

[e25 5]

I would be very surprised if a MFC player confided his true feelings to someone in a chance meeting...

Slightly more succintly than my post.

[demoniac 1,295]

For mine the prevailing Total Football game style requires players to be untilties and I see it as a strength of ours. Dunn came to the club as a Centre Half Forward and has a good apprenticeship in different roles that has turned him into a more rounded player.

Cale Morton is a player I have high hopes for. Natural runner good at finding space who is improving overhead and should develop into a classic utility who can play forward, back or in the midfield. Cale does need to work on his defensive game and that is why he has played games at Casey this year. I see this as being both an important part of his apprenticeship and also an indication that our list is getting better.

[Guest hangon007]

Rpfc

Non of the above just a chance meeting. It's worth airing, or do you want warmfuzzies all the time as we convince one another we a going to win a flag in two years. My comments were the edited version. If you keep your ears open you hear lots of real stuff, and some would concern you even more. But if you like I'll keep it soft and cuddly for the faint hearted in the future.

Surely this has been going on since football began.

Every club has players who are dis-enchanted, who feel they are harshly treated, who feel they should be getting a game but aren't. Its all part of football. Seriously you would never be an AFL coach if you wanted to win a popularity stakes .. you will always get players noses out of joint.

However, if you are alleging that its more than the norm - for god sake dont "keep it soft and cuddly for the faint hearted in the future." Say your piece man. Constructive criticism I'm sure would be always be welcome.

[Axis of Bob 11,115]

I would say that it shows that we are still willing to develop players rather than going all out just for victory. Cale is in our best 22, has played very good footy as an outside midfielder and is probably best suited to playing up forward. But Bailey is still working hard to teach him the defensive side of AFL footy. He's been playing him in defence, giving him tagging jobs on people like Adam Goodes, sending him to the VFL despite games that people would consider to be good. But Bailey has obviously got him working on specific things that he needs to improve and he is determined to make him learn them even if the team is worse off for it in the short term. Imagine Cale Morton running free through the forward line yesterday a la Jurrah and Watts - with his engine and finishing he'd have kicked a bag.

Watts has played up the ground since he came to the club rather than throwing him up deep forward. His work rate at the start was poor and was costing us at times, but he is getting much better at that and we can see the huge improvements in his game. We'll see the benefits of that in years to come.

Development is not stopping just because we're starting to win games. Bailey still has his eyes on the prize, and finals this year is not the main one.

[jayceebee31 697]

Richmond played Mitch Morton off the wing yesterday and I thought he was very good for them.

Agree- he could join usd next year.

[Choko 493]

Agree- he could join usd next year.

Knowing a few of the players a bit, a lot of players that get dropped have the inclination to blame the club. They say that they are not sure what is expected of them, they play the victim. Basically, some players are like children because they are just kids. Others put their head down, try to learn and improve and desperately seek to earn their spot again. Occasionally a player and coach do not click and a player is better of elsewhere (C. Johnson and Bailey is a good example).

I know for a fact that any player who wants to know where they are at the MFC can find out immediately, at any time. From their line coach or from Dean. So if Morton says otherwise, it's because he is frustrated, not willing to learn or is finding people who tell him he is stiff (not hard to find those people if you're a footballer).

If Morton is feeling unloved and like a victim, and we are only going on a tenuous post, then for mine it is only reinforcing why he is out of the side.

[e25 5]

Knowing a few of the players a bit, a lot of players that get dropped have the inclination to blame the club. They say that they are not sure what is expected of them, they play the victim. Basically, some players are like children because they are just kids. Others put their head down, try to learn and improve and desperately seek to earn their spot again. Occasionally a player and coach do not click and a player is better of elsewhere (C. Johnson and Bailey is a good example).

I know for a fact that any player who wants to know where they are at the MFC can find out immediately, at any time. From their line coach or from Dean. So if Morton says otherwise, it's because he is frustrated, not willing to learn or is finding people who tell him he is stiff (not hard to find those people if you're a footballer).

If Morton is feeling unloved and like a victim, and we are only going on a tenuous post, then for mine it is only reinforcing why he is out of the side.

Bingo.

Send him to have a chat with Colin Sylvia.

Sometimes you have to look inwardy, even if it doesn't come naturally.

[Rogue 585]

Three players have suffered over the past few years after showing great potential. Dunne, Martin and Morton. Each showed potential in their general area then the club decided to throw them around. Fortunately Dunne has returned to form having been put back up forward. Acknowledging injury has not helped Martin his experimentation has robbed him of much.

On Dunn, one could argue that playing as a tagger has allowed him to effectively take on the defensive forward role he's been successful in.

On Martin, I have no doubt that playing him in the ruck and up forward has increased his value. He'd have a hard time cracking into our back six at the moment, so flexibility increases his value. Playing a few different spots also gives him a better knowledge of the game, something important for a guy who's relatively new to AFL.

Morton is my big question. He is an elitely skilled player. Plugged holes all over the ground. And he has disappeared from the scene. He is too valuable to be out of the team. His style is necessary for team variety. He is essential to our future. We are top heavy with slow inside players. Today Richmond ran us off our feet. Such players don't improve by going back to the VFL.

Most guys get dropped at one point or another. Morton's had an injury-plagued season, and isn't playing particularly well at a time when we're in form and winning games. It happens.

I happen to know he is becoming dissillusioned because he is not being guided on why he is being dropped. He is disgruntled. I want him backk in now.

If he hasn't been told why he's dropped - and that seems very surprising - it's a concern, but that's the only thing I'd be concerned about.

[dee-luded 2,959]

Three players have suffered over the past few years after showing great potential. Dunne, Martin and Morton. Each showed potential in their general area then the club decided to throw them around. Fortunately Dunne has returned to form having been put back up forward. Acknowledging injury has not helped Martin his experimentation has robbed him of much. Morton is my big question. He is an elitely skilled player. Plugged holes all over the ground. And he has disappeared from the scene. He is too valuable to be out of the team. His style is necessary for team variety. He is essential to our future. We are top heavy with slow inside players. Today Richmond ran us off our feet. Such players don't improve by going back to the VFL. I happen to know he is becoming dissillusioned because he is not being guided on why he is being dropped. He is disgruntled. I want him backk in now.

Dunn hasn't found his lost form, he didn't have any good form to lose.

What he's come across now is maturity. The ducking of the head, etc. Maybe you've noticed he'll go to the oncoming ball to meet it rather than wait for it to come to where he is. The opposition would simply ease past him waiting for the ball to arrive & take it in front of him. He's changing his ways.

I'm still to be totally convinced, but I am feeling quite encouraged by his new forward play. Like many others I suspect.

[dee-luded 2,959]

Knowing a few of the players a bit, a lot of players that get dropped have the inclination to blame the club. They say that they are not sure what is expected of them, they play the victim. Basically, some players are like children because they are just kids. Others put their head down, try to learn and improve and desperately seek to earn their spot again. Occasionally a player and coach do not click and a player is better of elsewhere (C. Johnson and Bailey is a good example).

I know for a fact that any player who wants to know where they are at the MFC can find out immediately, at any time. From their line coach or from Dean. So if Morton says otherwise, it's because he is frustrated, not willing to learn or is finding people who tell him he is stiff (not hard to find those people if you're a footballer).

If Morton is feeling unloved and like a victim, and we are only going on a tenuous post, then for mine it is only reinforcing why he is out of the side.

Nice work 'Choko'.

[Jaded No More 67,469]

I would say that it shows that we are still willing to develop players rather than going all out just for victory. Cale is in our best 22, has played very good footy as an outside midfielder and is probably best suited to playing up forward. But Bailey is still working hard to teach him the defensive side of AFL footy. He's been playing him in defence, giving him tagging jobs on people like Adam Goodes, sending him to the VFL despite games that people would consider to be good. But Bailey has obviously got him working on specific things that he needs to improve and he is determined to make him learn them even if the team is worse off for it in the short term. Imagine Cale Morton running free through the forward line yesterday a la Jurrah and Watts - with his engine and finishing he'd have kicked a bag.

Watts has played up the ground since he came to the club rather than throwing him up deep forward. His work rate at the start was poor and was costing us at times, but he is getting much better at that and we can see the huge improvements in his game. We'll see the benefits of that in years to come.

Development is not stopping just because we're starting to win games. Bailey still has his eyes on the prize, and finals this year is not the main one.

Bloody brilliant summation of this topic.

Morton is a very very good footballer, and is a big part of our future, so much so that I've heard our area coaches argue over where he should play because they all want him in their area of the ground. But he has deficiencies, just as any other kid has. He has to get better defensively, and he has to get stronger in contests. He also needs to be locked at McDonalds and be made to eat his way out.

Regardless, I have no issue with him playing some games down at Casey to work on his defensive side, remembering that he has already chalked up a lot of senior games for his age.

We are still about development, and Bailey has proven over and over again that he is capable of turning players around and getting the best out of them. Just look at the remarkable turn around in guys like Sylvia, Dunn, Jamar, Bartram and the list goes on. I doubt Bailey would bother teaching Morton new tricks, if he didn't think he was worth it. Only the very talented are played in multiple positions over their career.

[jnrmac 19,889]

Rpfc

Non of the above just a chance meeting. It's worth airing, or do you want warmfuzzies all the time as we convince one another we a going to win a flag in two years. My comments were the edited version. If you keep your ears open you hear lots of real stuff, and some would concern you even more. But if you like I'll keep it soft and cuddly for the faint hearted in the future.

Troll alert....