FOUNDATION AND EMPIRE

[Ned 156]

This pretty much the rub of it. Many a supporters pet player is going to be brutally disected. Many have an attachment for this player or that which whilst understandable may not have anything based upon true skil lor team relevance..

There are players who are weeek in week out found wanting ( especially of late ) but many a supporter wil lfind it hard to stomach the notionthat they are actually dispensible...and/or just not that good.

Out view of our team is often a flawed one built upon romantic ideals. Take the Mills and Boon away and sometimes your left with a dodgy manuscript.

But what's the answer? The opposition has worked Davey out and Sylvia is exposed as a frontrunner - two of our most skilled layers. Scully is 20 and being offered $1 million a year. My sense is these guys need to move on, for them and for Melbourne. The five guys who committed last week plus Watts are a decent core. People need to want to be at Melbourne. I think Trengove needs to be made captain, Watts his deputy and get the assistant from Collingwood (Neeld?) Even then, I don't know how you resolve the factions at the club. But I can't escape the sense that Jimmy is the only one holding that side of it together (and even then the infighting seems horrendous). We are missing, I think, a really tough and competent person to put people in their places.

[Pipefitter 2,168]

I'm actually really starting to hate this current group of melbourne players. Can't believe i am saying this because i support them through thick and thin, but I don't think they care about the jumper anymore. I've never been so disenterested. To think that we are still a mathematical chance of making finals and everyone involved, players, supporters just want this season to end is just and indictment on how poor this club is. There needs to be a big broom swept through. I dont fall for this we have a good list crap. We have a terrible list.

[tonatopia 278]

But what's the answer? The opposition has worked Davey out and Sylvia is exposed as a frontrunner - two of our most skilled layers. Scully is 20 and being offered $1 million a year. My sense is these guys need to move on, for them and for Melbourne. The five guys who committed last week plus Watts are a decent core. People need to want to be at Melbourne. I think Trengove needs to be made captain, Watts his deputy and get the assistant from Collingwood (Neeld?) Even then, I don't know how you resolve the factions at the club. But I can't escape the sense that Jimmy is the only one holding that side of it together (and even then the infighting seems horrendous). We are missing, I think, a really tough and competent person to put people in their places.

Davey is not fit. people have short memories, facet is an important Melbourne person and player. Davey is a gun, just a bit unfit due to his injury. He will bounce back next year.

Edited August 14, 2011 by tonatopia

[Webber 10,538]

I thought Morton had a bit of a crack and provided an option early. Has not played much senior footy and his skills were lacking.

This is very generous....you can't survive in the AFL with his deficiencies. His lack of physicality will finish his career, and it will be at the end of this year.

[beelzebub 23,383]

Bit like a rose bush.. gonna need some serious pruning.

Davey cant deal with tags any more..or doesnt want to.

Sylvia cant put 3 let alone 4 qtrs of footy together..or doesnt want to.

Morton cant get head around notion hes actuall supposed to be one of the bigger players and to play like it..

Bartram has only one side of a game...and thats one side insufficient for todays footy

Green cant do both captain and player.. let him try the latter again.

Dunn...obviosly cant count to 120 as thats the normal length of a game

Jones has al lthe right ideas about the way to go about a game.. just hasnt the library os skills and decisions to back it up

Moloney is a 2 dimensional player in a 3 dimensional game..and yet he is stil amongst our best. What does this say about our team ?

Rivers has a great defensive side to his game..and nothing else

MacDonald has the everything else Rivers needs..but not quite as good at the former.

Watts stil lhas bad days..they wil diminish in numbers...theres an obvious trend

Trengove is a class above so many in this team its not funny anynmore

Russian must shake his head at times.. all that effort for nothing

The answer.

Some brutal home truths need to be exorcised at Melbourne and just about the whole FD needs an overhaul. It obviously hasnt a clue...and is passing on that great cache of ability to the players.

[Geddy Lee 582]

My view on today. We tried hard. We have poor disposal skills, no make that terrible disposal skills. We have no game plan and have been poorly coached in respect to developing an effective one. I am not referring to Viney when I say that. We have not developed enough players on the list, too many have regressed. We have a couple of scared footballers in the side.

Cure for a lot of our ills, a top Coach and top assistants.

None of our players are well-rounded.

McKenzie, Scully, Bartram, Jamar can't kick.

Davey, Jurrah, Dunn, Sylvia - no effort.

Moloney, Jones, Green, Morton - ineffectual.

That's more than half our squad.

The closest thing we have to a gun is Frawley, and then Trengove.

Truly lacklustre squad. New coaches, new CEO, new president (love the big man obviously) required.

[Webber 10,538]

Things I reckon:

1. At the moment Nathan Jones is indispensable for us.

2. Howe is going to be a genuine gun.

3. Blease will also make it.

4. Scully's workrate is pretty amazing, but his skills are not. If GWS offers him millions of dollars he'd be foolish not to take it. We shouldn't match the offer for him.

Agree wholly. Nathan Jones saved us from a major flogging. Scully's estimated worth is simply laughable. He is just too small, and doesn't have enough strings to his bow. He is not in our best 22, and hopefully next year won't be on our list.

[beelzebub 23,383]

Davey is not fit. people have short memories, facet is an important Melbourne person and player. Davey is a gun, just a bit unfit due to his injury. He will bounce back next year.

Davey WAS a gun

[lucifer 119]

Agree wholly. Nathan Jones saved us from a major flogging. Scully's estimated worth is simply laughable. He is just too small, and doesn't have enough strings to his bow. He is not in our best 22, and hopefully next year won't be on our list.

Agree with the above. There is a lot of Nathan Jones bashing on here. He tries his guts out, and if half our squad had his work ethic, maybe we wouldn't be getting smashed by 55 points every week. Blease will make it. We miss Grimes badly. Not that it would have done any good today, but would have been nice to see Jurrah. Trengove needs to be made captain. Make a hard, bold call and just do it. Not because he has signed, but because he too busts his ass every week and shows players who have been playing for YEARS longer than him how it should be done.

As for the Scully situation, let me say this. I am ware he is coming from way back in preseason. I am aware he has missed a chunk of the regular season. But he squibbed it in the last quarter, has had no effect on the game the last two weeks, and is holding this club to ransom. To pay him what he is asking is ludicrious. Don't get me wrong, I want to keep him, he has up side...but not at tha price. Feel free to rip me to shreds about this, but that's how I feel.

[jnrmac 20,189]

Davey is not fit. people have short memories, facet is an important Melbourne person and player. Davey is a gun, just a bit unfit due to his injury. He will bounce back next year.

You're dreaming bud. Has been shiite all year. name me one game in 2011 where he has played half decently??

[Pipefitter 2,168]

Agree with the above. There is a lot of Nathan Jones bashing on here. He tries his guts out, and if half our squad had his work ethic, maybe we wouldn't be getting smashed by 55 points every week. Blease will make it. We miss Grimes badly. Not that it would have done any good today, but would have been nice to see Jurrah. Trengove needs to be made captain. Make a hard, bold call and just do it. Not because he has signed, but because he too busts his ass every week and shows players who have been playing for YEARS longer than him how it should be done.

As for the Scully situation, let me say this. I am ware he is coming from way back in preseason. I am aware he has missed a chunk of the regular season. But he squibbed it in the last quarter, has had no effect on the game the last two weeks, and is holding this club to ransom. To pay him what he is asking is ludicrious. Don't get me wrong, I want to keep him, he has up side...but not at tha price. Feel free to rip me to shreds about this, but that's how I feel.

Gotta agree with you on Scully. I've been such a huge supporter of him, but he is playing like crap. He's not going to be around next year. Why are we still playing him? Enough is enough. For a million dollar man he is contributing zilch.

[jnrmac 20,189]

Going to need to clean out our cupboard a bit me thinks.... Could be a busy trade week

Square 1, back to it is !!

Not the year to be drafting sad to say. And trading I suspect should happen but won't.

[beelzebub 23,383]

What is often a misconception about this years draft . It mightnt be a deep as some but its mainly the nautre of the talent.. it will sort of level out after teh first dozen or so..A bit of a lottery after that. If we know who to target we can stilll top up

[Webber 10,538]

Agree with the above. There is a lot of Nathan Jones bashing on here. He tries his guts out, and if half our squad had his work ethic, maybe we wouldn't be getting smashed by 55 points every week. Blease will make it. We miss Grimes badly. Not that it would have done any good today, but would have been nice to see Jurrah. Trengove needs to be made captain. Make a hard, bold call and just do it. Not because he has signed, but because he too busts his ass every week and shows players who have been playing for YEARS longer than him how it should be done.

As for the Scully situation, let me say this. I am ware he is coming from way back in preseason. I am aware he has missed a chunk of the regular season. But he squibbed it in the last quarter, has had no effect on the game the last two weeks, and is holding this club to ransom. To pay him what he is asking is ludicrious. Don't get me wrong, I want to keep him, he has up side...but not at tha price. Feel free to rip me to shreds about this, but that's how I feel.

I suspect you won't get ripped to shreds, because his worth, which is driven by his junior record, is just one of those miscalculations that happen sometimes with no.1 draft picks. He is just really ordinary at adult level, and excluding his physiology, just doesn't have the make up for great AFL footy. He'll get a regular gig once he matures, but I sincerely hope it isn't with Melbourne. For me, at whatever price, he just doesn't have ENOUGH upside. We know recruiters get it wrong sometimes with top draft picks, and this is one of those times. It isn't Melbourne's fault, the football world thought he should be the top pick. Jack Watts on the other hand is bloody good already, and will be a superstar.

[Waltham33 475]

I think Malthouse's criticisms of McKenzie are ones that if he were coach he would level at him, and McKenzie would be a better footballer for it if he took them on board.

Brutally honest feedback is a powerful thing.

Spot on.

[Waltham33 475]

Davey WAS a gun

in a poor team

[Diablo Deemon 220]

How much deeper does this hole go....

Mediocrity is endemic

Failure is acceptable

Culture is absent

This entire club is dishonest....

[The Lobster Effect 893]

.....his worth, which is driven by his junior record, is just one of those miscalculations that happen sometimes with no.1 draft picks. He is just really ordinary at adult level, and excluding his physiology, just doesn't have the make up for great AFL footy.

I disagree, he'll still be a superstar but has just had a couple of bad games in a row (after coming back from injury) and everyone is keen to bag him out

[DeeZee 7,445]

It really does boil down to Zero leadership.

The youngsters are progressing well, Watts, Trengove,Blease, Mckenzie, Howe, Martin,Frawley etc.

Its Guys like Davey and Sylvia, whio really need to show the way but are continually found wanting.

Green too, but cant judge him as he didnt play today but this year has been ordinary.

I think we just need to recruit one or two mature age players who can show the way...like a scotty thompson, or a travis Boak type.

We also need to weed out guys like Bartram and Dunn who seem to try but aint got the goods.

[daisycutter 29,743]

This pretty much the rub of it. Many a supporters pet player is going to be brutally disected. Many have an attachment for this player or that which whilst understandable may not have anything based upon true skil lor team relevance..

There are players who are weeek in week out found wanting ( especially of late ) but many a supporter wil lfind it hard to stomach the notionthat they are actually dispensible...and/or just not that good.

Out view of our team is often a flawed one built upon romantic ideals. Take the Mills and Boon away and sometimes your left with a dodgy manuscript.

That may well be but you can't sack half the side and replace with new talent when this year's draft is heavily compromised and next years (or more) is somewhat also compromised with the accumulated priority picks given to teams for GC and GWS pinching out of contract players.

So you aint going to rebuild quickly from the draft. Only hope is by getting the right coaching staff.

A bit of clever drafting and trading will help but just a little

[daisycutter 29,743]

But what's the answer? The opposition has worked Davey out and Sylvia is exposed as a frontrunner - two of our most skilled layers. Scully is 20 and being offered $1 million a year. My sense is these guys need to move on, for them and for Melbourne. The five guys who committed last week plus Watts are a decent core. People need to want to be at Melbourne. I think Trengove needs to be made captain, Watts his deputy and get the assistant from Collingwood (Neeld?) Even then, I don't know how you resolve the factions at the club. But I can't escape the sense that Jimmy is the only one holding that side of it together (and even then the infighting seems horrendous). We are missing, I think, a really tough and competent person to put people in their places.

They tell me hemlock is very effective

Only kidding......a couple of wins to round out the season and then everything always looks more rosy in the pre-season

A new year, a new coach, new assistants, house cleaned up and who knows?

[tonatopia 278]

You're dreaming bud. Has been shiite all year. name me one game in 2011 where he has played half decently??

Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. He has had a poor season, but he has a very very good history. We can't be a disposable club. We should allow club champions to play until they are ready to retire. Loyalty is a 2 way street, especially with champions.

[beelzebub 23,383]

That may well be but you can't sack half the side and replace with new talent when this year's draft is heavily compromised and next years (or more) is somewhat also compromised with the accumulated priority picks given to teams for GC and GWS pinching out of contract players.

So you aint going to rebuild quickly from the draft. Only hope is by getting the right coaching staff.

A bit of clever drafting and trading will help but just a little

No your not. There is no single answer. The draft is a lottery after teh first dozen or so. But possibly clever targeting and /or looking outside the kids for drafting will offer up something. You cant sack half the team. Nope. But you can look long and hard at it. To not do so is to only perpetuate the cosey cosey nbature some have expereicned on their ride to date. These passengers needs to ride economy or in the freight behind !!

Some players have to be churned... no ponit keeping some as teh known entitites of some are simply insufficent to add quality to a team hoping to improve. .

Some left field investiveness hs to be employed. There are some 'older' recruits out there...but for the scouting.

[waikikkamukau 62]

You're dreaming bud. Has been shiite all year. name me one game in 2011 where he has played half decently??

Your both right, he is unfit and has had a shite year, didn't he break his leg late last year and miss a fair bit of preseason?

[satyricon 267]

Oh look....an article in the paper saying Scully is not worth it and suddenly everybody who was wringing hands about him leaving has changed their opinion.........he is working his way back after a few setbacks

Davey gets slapped in the media and same again.......he has had an injury interuppted season....that is a reason not an excuse....

Sylvia is selfish/laxy/not a team man......let me see a few comments on tv and radio at the weekend...

Who will be this week, we will know on the Monday and Tuesday after the game with the negative posts on a once favourite player...

.....the cliff is over there...lets all follow the leader...

If you must have an opinion...try and make it an original one