RUMOURS by William from West Perth

Rumour has it that over the off season Melbourne footballers trained harder and longer than they had ever done before. They ran long distances, sprinted, worked with weights and did it all to exacting programmes devised by some of the best credentialled sports scientists in the business. At the same time they were supposed to have worked on honing their skillsets and learning a new whiz bang game plan that would turn them from whacky and unpredictable pretenders into the hardest team in the competition to play against.

Two weeks into the football season, we now know them only to be rumours. The blokes spent most of summer sitting on beaches, feasting on ice creams and sipping piña coladas.

That's how it appeared as they went through the motions against a powerful, highly disciplined and motivated West Coast Eagles who thumped them mercilessly from pillar to post at Paterson's Stadium on their way to a record 108 point victory. Melbourne's resistance was pathetic from go to whoa (in the Demons' case, the whoa happened midway through the second term). The skills were deplorable as was the lack of pressure, poor tackling and the oh so predictable manner of delivery of the ball forward. 

Indeed, the biggest surprise was the fact that its full forward Mitch Clark managed to boot five goals (admittedly a couple were in junk time) given that he was often pitted against two opponents when the ball was shoddily delivered somewhere remotely near to his position on the ground. 

There were a few others such as James Magner and Nathan Jones who contributed but for the most part, the rest of the team would have been better of managing the 30 degree heat at Cottesloe Beach. 

The should have been joined by the umpires. It's true that West Coast's pressure caused the Demons to give away a number of free kicks but the Eagles didn't take long to cotton on to the fact that if they ducked their heads into a tackle, there were any number of gratuitous free kicks on offer. They tell me one of the umpires (Leppard) carries the nickname "Def" but fair dinkum, they might as well add "Blind" as well. Not that Melbourne was ever going to win or that there's any rule that states the number of free kicks should be equal but 21-1 at half time is virtually enough to ensure game, set and match to the beneficiaries. It sure doesn't do wonders for the confidence of a team that's been battered black and blue both on and off the field in the past week.

Still, umpires, heat and a game plan that doesn't make sense aside, it was truly a deplorable performance and it certainly doesn't auger well for the rest of the year or decade if you must know.

Melbourne 1.1.7 4.2.26 6.2.38 9.4.58

West Coast Eagles 4.3.27  11.8.74 19.14.128 25.16.166

Goals 

Melbourne Clark 5 Dunn Jones 2

West Coast Eagles Darling Lynch 4 Hams Hill S Selwood 3 Waters 2 Gaff Kennedy Kerr Naitanui A Selwood Shuey

Best

Melbourne  Magner Jones Clark Watts McDonald

West Coast S Selwood Priddis Hurn Gaff Shuey Darling

Changes

Melbourne Martin (hip) replaced by McDonald

West Coast Nil

Injuries

Melbourne Nil

West Coast Embley (shoulder)

Reports

MelbourneNil

West Coast Nil

Umpires Farmer Fila Leppard

Crowd 35,674 at Subiaco

Is it over?

Do we really want to talk about it.

We are a basket case. Complete list overhaul required.

Can the club survive it? I dunno.

Who is the best 3 assistant coaches? who is the best recruiter. We need to throw obsence amounts of money at them all and get them. We are a rabble.

No experiments from the coach again today. Is he aware that you can order positional changes as a head coach?

We dont have the cattle.

Just think of the draft picks we'll get

Just think of the draft picks we'll get

... and waste.

We are the weakest excuse for a team that I have seen for some time and I have been a supporter for over 40 years!

clarke at least proved a goal kicker

i wonder if he stays home or comes back to the rabble that is his new club LOL

I envy my wife.

She hates sport, she seems so much happier.

older players in need of retirement + little or no development from a bucket load of top draft picks= This sick feeling in my guts that I get every time watching the Dee's.

So so hard to watch.

Every time I think we've hit rock bottom we somehow drill another layer.

Our style of play is just awful. Remember when we had the Febey's, Nathan Brown, and even Ward running in wave after wave together and just showing fantastic intensity off half back, charging through the middle? Now that was football.

The skill & intensity in this bunch is just woeful. We're carrying so many spuds. Joel McDonald? Really?

The STUPID frees we gave away at the start of the game today just sapped the energy out of us - it was all downhill from there.

I'm seriously worried about this club. We just don't have the players. There's going to be at least another 3 years of this. At least.

FML in the face.

No leaders. No sponsors. No Jimmy. No heart. No skills. No hope.

This could very well be the beginning of the end.

Who is the best 3 assistant coaches? who is the best recruiter. We need to throw obsence amounts of money at them all and get them. We are a rabble.

We went to the supporters to retire our obsene debt, now we're blowing it by dumping our sponsor. Where are we going to get obsene cash from??

Unless they love a challenge, who would want to come to the MFC. God help us with free agency.

The players don't care it's just a paycheck we are an embarrassment.

I can't continue to abide this crap. 5 years of this shite and we are nowhere there is no heart no soul.

I don't care anymore.

I don't care that this club is a disgusting example of effort.

I don't care we have a team of agenda setters who believe theyre entitled to just turn up for a paycheck.

I don't care these guys don't hurt loosing is in their nature.

There is just no point putting up with this why do something that gives you absolutely nothing in return.

Thanks for the continued kicks in the guts.

Let me know when we actually play football.

To sit through that game as a die hard supporter of the MFC breaks your heart. So many years, so many hopes, so many false starts. There are so many players on this list who are not up to the current standard expected.

How have so many got it so wrong on so many occasions?

How many coaches does the club have to sack?

How many recruiters have got it so wrong at this club?

I consider myself to be a reasonable thinking human being....but cannot come to terms with how an organisation (theMFC) have and continue to get it wrong for 45 years...is it really that hard?

The supporters and members of this club must start getting a decent response to these questions.

Either there must be a response by the players ASAP or shut the club down for once and for all time!!

R.I.P. M.F.C.

I'D LIKE TO APOLIGISE TO MY KIDS FOR DRAGGING THEM INTO THIS AWFUL MESS OF A CLUB.

Gerard Healy who I cant stand got it very right today. We lack midfield quality and midfield depth. We have alot of players who just play forward and just play defence but they are not keys. That is either poor recruiting or poor development. If you dont play in a key post you MUST in todays game understand how to play through the middle or at least have the work rate of a midfielder. It is time to start pushing players out that lack the flexibility to play through the middle.

Our effort when near the ball was ok but we lack polish and the courage to run.

Gerard Healy who I cant stand got it very right today. We lack midfield quality and midfield depth. We have alot of players who just play forward and just play defence but they are not keys. That is either poor recruiting or poor development or both. If you dont play in a key post you MUST in todays game understand how to play through the middle or at least have the work rate of a midfielder. It is time to start pushing players out that lack the flexibility to play through the middle starting with Green.

Our effort when near the ball was ok but we lack polish and the courage to run.

4 or 5 players and 17 or 18 passengers - pathetic!

My 2 bob worth. Certainly not everything that was wrong, but a few points I noted.

- Our disposal is sub-standard, and WCE smashed us in this area today. We could not hit targets by foot, and we rarely kick to advantage (i.e. in front, behind, to the correct side). This needs serious improvement across the board, and is potentially the most important improvement we can make.

- We get sucked in towards the ball like a bunch of under 10's. When there is a marking contest, too many players go up, and those that crumb get sucked in to within 2-3 meters; it seems to me that spillages often fall further than this. When there is a loose ball, too many of our players get sucked into the contest, and then either any short clearance goes out to a waiting oppositoon player (who held off) or we appear not to have players in any direction. Similarly often a second player leaves their man to assist in a tackle, leaving a free man outside the contest, which then results in the following:

- We don't man up correctly. When we had the ball, the ball carrier was immediately pressured by an opponent, any give off went to a player who also had an opponent pressuring them thus the turn overs and rushed big kicks out of defence that usually are not to our advantage. When WCE got the ball, often the first ball carrier would be pressured by a player who left his opponent (i.e. has to move towards the ball carrier leaving an open man). As a result, the new loose man receives the ball, and is pressured in turn by another demon who leaves his opponent. This chain continues until a plaer is free with no pressure. (I am not trying to point the finger but in the last quarter it appeared that Petterd was responsible 3-4 times, he appeared to be loose in the centre when the first eagle got the ball as a loose man and then the chain of leaving your man started as a result)

- We need to leave at least one permanant forwad in the 50!

Neeld has some seriously explaining to do.

You never make the same player sub 2 weeks running-Last week Bate has 10 disposals in the last quarter,today he comes on and has 14 in a quarter and a half.

When the opposition have 446 disposals,how the Fook can we only make 40 Fooking tackles FFS!!!,it should be 80+

We only have 2 mids-Magner & Jones.Jordie Mac is a one way tagger,so we're a mid down every game.We must develop a tagger that is very good going the other way which is what made Cameron Ling a gun.He'd shut down Swan,Kerr,Hayes and burn them the other way.Jordie has poor kicking skills and must go.

Watts must play 4+ weeks at Casey.

Bennell should never wear the MFC jumper again.

Thank Fook for James Magner,if we had 3 more of him,we'd win a lot more games.

Well played Mitch,5 goals with no help from your pathetic teammates,we desperately need Sylvia and Jurrah back,Howe and Petterd are adding very little.

Joel Mac's time has come,just get Strauss in when he's ready,he may not be the answer but Joel definately isn't.

HURRY UP JACK VINEY