i think thursday's game proved that the expectations of melbourne fans and the football world might be a little over-zealous, we saw that young guys will still make mistakes no matter their caliber, and that the defence which i believed was one of our strong points is still subject to pressure from teams. Saying this, Jurrah looked super on the weekend, i liked the way he moved up the ground and presented and grimes showed the class we all know he's capable of. Hope the boys fix up these problems for the real season, im already pumped. Also a few questions:

1) Hows Jordie Mckenzie's injury going? i reckon he's a guy we missed dearly

2) wheres the likes of Tapscott and the 'gizz' gysberts! so keen to see them play

It is only NAB Cup! I wouldn't judge things toooo seriously.

- Regarding our backline... bear in mind we had our All-Aus backman out injured and the shizen Warnock in (he really is declining rapidly). We had young inexperienced Strauss in the side and Garland was sub'd off after getting a calf complaint! Don't judge too harshly.

- My dad knows a guy at work who is friends with Jordie McKenzie's dad and Jordie MAY have that dreaded osteitits-pubis :S. Hence he's had a couple of weeks off. Hoping it's not a serious one!

- I would suspect Tapscott and Gysberts are wrapped in fairly decent cotton wool right now. Both getting over injuries. They needed to be treated and monitored carefully as they are young and have maturing bodies. Here's hoping they get some NAB Challenge games under their belts?

Maybe the MFC should give out swords so fans can hara kiri after a preseason loss.

Seriously, this place has way too much freaking drama. It is the nab cup. If you want a NAB cup that badly I am pretty sure one of the clubs who has won one over the past decade will have one at a garage sale with a 50c sticker on it.

Keep the faith people. We have many ups and downs ahead, enjoy the growing pains. The worst is behind us.

sorry lads, i didnt mean to come of pessimistic but we've still got a young team and high expectations can be a [censored]!

looking forward to seeing tapscott, saw him walking down fed square one day with some little blonde number....BIG BOY!

Maybe the MFC should give out swords so fans can hara kiri after a preseason loss.

Seriously, this place has way too much freaking drama. It is the nab cup. If you want a NAB cup that badly I am pretty sure one of the clubs who has won one over the past decade will have one at a garage sale with a 50c sticker on it.

Keep the faith people. We have many ups and downs ahead, enjoy the growing pains. The worst is behind us.

NAB cup or not, we had our best available side playing. bombers came off a six day break. we need to develop a winning culture. we need a collingwood like `mindset`, with out that we might as well not even turn up. we have the potential, the players and coach , but we dont have a consistent mindset. and dont use `the kids `line as an excuse.

we had our best available side playing

it just happened that Frawley, Scully, Petterd, McKenzie, Morton and Wonaeamirri weren't available

it just happened that Frawley, Scully, Petterd, McKenzie, Morton and Wonaeamirri weren't available

and Newton.

I saw Wona in the crowd, he was sitting just around from the dees cheer squad. Not sure if he has an injury or is just being rested?

looking forward to seeing tapscott, saw him walking down fed square one day with some little blonde number....BIG BOY!

I think Tapscott has to understand that he has been recruited by an Australian Rules football club, not a weightlifting club.

Everyone says to him 'gee what a great body' so he goes into the gym and does more weights. Maybe he needs to build up his speed and stamina so it will get him through 4 quarters of football.

it just happened that Frawley, Scully, Petterd, McKenzie, Morton and Wonaeamirri weren't available

Wonaeamirri is no way near in our best 22 at present, Give me Maric any day.

I saw Wona in the crowd, he was sitting just around from the dees cheer squad. Not sure if he has an injury or is just being rested?

It's very simple - he is not injured OR being rested.

As a result of being away for his father's and Maurice Rioli's funerals, Aussie has missed out on the required training loads before being deemed ready to play.

He should now be 1-2 weeks away from playing in a practice match.

He'd have played against the bombers if allowed, but this sort of thing is carefully managed.

This comes from Aussie's own mouth.

Wonaeamirri is no way near in our best 22 at present, Give me Maric any day.

would that be the same Maric who just played his first decent match for the club ever?

ozzie is picked if fit and rightly so. If 5 other blokes are injured he is obviously in isn't he

in any case it remains a lame call to imply we were at full strength last week are you debating that or just being a pedant

would that be the same Maric who just played his first decent match for the club ever?

ozzie is picked if fit and rightly so. If 5 other blokes are injured he is obviously in isn't he

in any case it remains a lame call to imply we were at full strength last week are you debating that or just being a pedant

Did you miss the game we played against Sydney last year - the one we won by what, 80 odd points??

it just happened that Frawley, Scully, Petterd, McKenzie, Morton and Wonaeamirri weren't available

i said best available, not best 22 on paper, fact is the main reason we lost was mindset. look at the pies, gun players are didak, pendels , swan , i like obrien. then they have some very good players in shaw, jolly , ect. their biggest strength is their mindset.nearly every week they have a mini blockbuster. they mentally get up a lot off the time. we should have beaten the bombers last week ,nab cup or not. if we are going to have this great return to power we must become mentally stronger.

Edited March 2, 201114 yr by Al`s DEMONS

i think thursday's game proved that the expectations of melbourne fans and the football world might be a little over-zealous, we saw that young guys will still make mistakes no matter their caliber, and that the defence which i believed was one of our strong points is still subject to pressure from teams. Saying this, Jurrah looked super on the weekend, i liked the way he moved up the ground and presented and grimes showed the class we all know he's capable of. Hope the boys fix up these problems for the real season, im already pumped. Also a few questions:

1) Hows Jordie Mckenzie's injury going? i reckon he's a guy we missed dearly

2) wheres the likes of Tapscott and the 'gizz' gysberts! so keen to see them play

It wasn't the young blokes who were the problem last Thursday. Our Senior players didn't seem to want a win. Green, Moloney, Jones, Rivers, Davey (tagged), Macdonald and Jamar.

Did you miss the game we played against Sydney last year - the one we won by what, 80 odd points??

12-goal win.

Maric shone in that game and it was from there I grinned to myself thinking, "I knew he could do it".

I've always had faith in Addam - at pick 21, he has to be something at least half-decent! Our persistence in him may pay dividends and Aussie should look out...! :/