Call me Krazy

[The Backyard Charizard 1,202]

Ok...

I have not posted for a little while now but, as always, have been getting my daily/hourly fill of Demonland reading.... As would be the case with most of us, I have not enjoyed what I have seen over the first 4 rounds (I don't count pre-season as anything to base gameday opinions on). We have all basically come to the agreement that our beloved club is bereft of mature leaders and of players with the quality of most other clubs... Yes we have recruited with a high amount of stupidity (in hindsight) but also without a lot of luck along the way.... We still have some players at the club who you can build a team around, without naming the obvious ones.... But we also have a $hitload of players on our list who would not be getting a game in any other 22....

The Melbourne Football Club have recruited 2 key people over the last six months.... The first being Mark Neeld.... This guy WILL get us somewhere! More on him later.... The 2nd key recruit is Mitch Clark... His effort and attack on the pill is exactly what our forwardline needs! We are just not seeing how good this guy is purely because of the cattle playing up the field... Our forward structure is ugly because our current list of available players is ugly... FFS you have Mitch as our go-to forward with James Sellar as his wing man! Our small forwards are either not playing/past their best/lost in previous drafts.... We rely on getting certain players back into the side who can hopefully have an impact under the new coaching regime... A forward line consisting of Mitch Clark, Liam Jurrah, Jeremy Howe, Ricky Petterd and maybe a fit/hungry Nev Jetta waiting at ground level would kick a winning score if the ball was coming down to them often enough (even if bombed in)... Currently Howe and Watts (both natural forwards) are having to play roles further up field because we simply lack quality midfielders who can find a teammate by foot... For all of Jack Watts' faults, finding a target by foot is not one of them!

Our midfield is easily the worst in the league! Attack on the footy is not the issue with our mids (Nate Jones is at the base of EVERY pack all day long)... Disposal and the lack of outside mids with devestating kicks is! Unfortunately this will take time to rectify... Something we as MFC members are sick of hearing, but we MUST listen this time! Our defence is not bad... Take out Joel MacDonald and inject a running half back with silk (draft?) so we aren't relying on Frawley to try and evade 6 blokes and run the ball out of the backline and you have a core group of players who will stop opposition forwards from scoring.... Again we need the quality midfield to stop the ball coming into their F50 with reckless abandon!

Now Mark Neeld... Give this guy a go people... Yes, I said this about Bailey after his first year but Dean was the unfortunate victim of a club bereft of money and resources.... Have a look at the quality of assistant coaches and fitness staff at the club now... A group consisting of Neil Craig, David Misson and Todd Viney is a group that will bring professionalism at the Dees to a new level... They are building what will give the Melbourne faithfull what we want... Finals football and a chance at success!

They cannot do it with what we have on the park at the moment! End of story!

We are in a position to draft well over the next couple of years... Make no mistake about it! The first half of this season is going to be hard to watch... Let's be realistic... But I have faith that the 2nd half of this year we will start to see some serious improvement (barring our injury list growing) in the results... As Mark has stated, the effort is good... But he cannot come out in a presser and say "The effort is good, but our skills are the $hittest I have ever seen!" Which is exactly what he will be thinking...

Our current administration MUST keep this group of 4 men at the helm of our club together! Outside pressures will peak on Mark Neeld when we are sitting at 0-8... But we MUST be patient! I strongly believe that come the end of the year, the media will be saying that we will be pushing for finals in 2013... If we can string some exciting wins together in the middle/latter stages of the year there will be draftees WANTING to be part of our club... Football these days is all about professionalism... And the 4 coaches I listed earlier are demanding this! They will weed out the ones who won't make it and will be ruthless in doing so...

External pressures will be massive on Mark and his crew.... But you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out the issue at the club is with the cattle and not the coaches! Anyone who can honestly argue otherwise has rocks in their head....

Patience is not one of my strong points.... But I can see what Mark and the guys are doing... And I like what I see.... Call me Krazy

Edited April 23, 2012 by KrazyJay

[Sir Why You Little 36,998]

You are a wise man Krazy. I agree with the above. The Neeld/Craig scenario must be given time to sort this mess out.

[dee-luded 2,959]

Nice work Krazy.

We already have the framework in place, but left to too Few.

The hard work isn't shared equally, Yet.

They're sorting the place as we speak.. Our 2007 draft was a curse, as were our earlier drafts.

[Vipercrunch 2,827]

Great post. Agree with a lot of it.

The only difference I would put out there is that a lot of the cattle is looking very ordinary atm because of past development, new game plan and the big one for mine - confidence. Many of the players who look sub-standard now will IMO become OK footballers in the future, most likely next season.

Time.

[Harrisonrules 273]

Hi Krazy....Yes Crazy according to some. But the general sentiment I am in agreement with. Although I think success is a lot further down the track. We are in a transitional period. The positives being that there are some good young kids that will be a very solid foundation for five years time. Very few if any of the 24/25 year olds will part of a successful era. I think the back line is less settled than you think. Almost every week we have a couple of new small runners on the backline. I am only prepared to think Frawley, possibly Garland. (Grimes if not playing elsewhere up the field) will be part of the successful era. ......................... But we have time on our side,...ha, ha, ha.

[Guest Dr Who]

Ok...

I have not posted for a little while now but, as always, have been getting my daily/hourly fill of Demonland reading.... As would be the case with most of us, I have not enjoyed what I have seen over the first 4 rounds (I don't count pre-season as anything to base gameday opinions on). We have all basically come to the agreement that our beloved club is bereft of mature leaders and of players with the quality of most other clubs... Yes we have recruited with a high amount of stupidity (in hindsight) but also without a lot of luck along the way.... We still have some players at the club who you can build a team around, without naming the obvious ones.... But we also have a $hitload of players on our list who would not be getting a game in any other 22....

The Melbourne Football Club have recruited 2 key people over the last six months.... The first being Mark Neeld.... This guy WILL get us somewhere! More on him later.... The 2nd key recruit is Mitch Clark... His effort and attack on the pill is exactly what our forwardline needs! We are just not seeing how good this guy is purely because of the cattle playing up the field... Our forward structure is ugly because our current list of available players is ugly... FFS you have Mitch as our go-to forward with James Sellar as his wing man! Our small forwards are either not playing/past their best/lost in previous drafts.... We rely on getting certain players back into the side who can hopefully have an impact under the new coaching regime... A forward line consisting of Mitch Clark, Liam Jurrah, Jeremy Howe, Ricky Petterd and maybe a fit/hungry Nev Jetta waiting at ground level would kick a winning score if the ball was coming down to them often enough (even if bombed in)... Currently Howe and Watts (both natural forwards) are having to play roles further up field because we simply lack quality midfielders who can find a teammate by foot... For all of Jack Watts' faults, finding a target by foot is not one of them!

Our midfield is easily the worst in the league! Attack on the footy is not the issue with our mids (Nate Jones is at the base of EVERY pack all day long)... Disposal and the lack of outside mids with devestating kicks is! Unfortunately this will take time to rectify... Something we as MFC members are sick of hearing, but we MUST listen this time! Our defence is not bad... Take out Joel MacDonald and inject a running half back with silk (draft?) so we aren't relying on Frawley to try and evade 6 blokes and run the ball out of the backline and you have a core group of players who will stop opposition forwards from scoring.... Again we need the quality midfield to stop the ball coming into their F50 with reckless abandon!

Now Mark Neeld... Give this guy a go people... Yes, I said this about Bailey after his first year but Dean was the unfortunate victim of a club bereft of money and resources.... Have a look at the quality of assistant coaches and fitness staff at the club now... A group consisting of Neil Craig, David Misson and Todd Viney is a group that will bring professionalism at the Dees to a new level... They are building what will give the Melbourne faithfull what we want... Finals football and a chance at success!

They cannot do it with what we have on the park at the moment! End of story!

We are in a position to draft well over the next couple of years... Make no mistake about it! The first half of this season is going to be hard to watch... Let's be realistic... But I have faith that the 2nd half of this year we will start to see some serious improvement (barring our injury list growing) in the results... As Mark has stated, the effort is good... But he cannot come out in a presser and say "The effort is good, but our skills are the $hittest I have ever seen!" Which is exactly what he will be thinking...

Our current administration MUST keep this group of 4 men at the helm of our club together! Outside pressures will peak on Mark Neeld when we are sitting at 0-8... But we MUST be patient! I strongly believe that come the end of the year, the media will be saying that we will be pushing for finals in 2013... If we can string some exciting wins together in the middle/latter stages of the year there will be draftees WANTING to be part of our club... Football these days is all about professionalism... And the 4 coaches I listed earlier are demanding this! They will weed out the ones who won't make it and will be ruthless in doing so...

External pressures will be massive on Mark and his crew.... But you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out the issue at the club is with the cattle and not the coaches! Anyone who can honestly argue otherwise has rocks in their head....

Patience is not one of my strong points.... But I can see what Mark and the guys are doing... And I like what I see.... Call me Krazy

I like it - but I would like to add its not only TIME but I think we are going to need a fair amount of MONEY (Edit) Invested into our football department & facilities.

Edited April 23, 2012 by Dr Who

[tarzan16 40]

Krazy, thank god for your post, exactly what i was thinking after yesterdays game, i saw the same as u, skill errors are a worry at the mo, but that can be tidied up. the forward structure could be one of the best around with the players we have, our middle does worry me, but there is quality there. time to bite the bullet with Morton as he's got skill but no brains, and weighs about 50kg WET. offload. might get some currency for him. rumours about dangerfield being available next year, i'd trade my mum for him. i think we might be 0-12, but i agree, lets be patient.

and my mum has a great left foot!!!

Edited April 23, 2012 by tarzan16

[Bonkers 994]

Ok...

I have not posted for a little while now but, as always, have been getting my daily/hourly fill of Demonland reading.... As would be the case with most of us, I have not enjoyed what I have seen over the first 4 rounds (I don't count pre-season as anything to base gameday opinions on). We have all basically come to the agreement that our beloved club is bereft of mature leaders and of players with the quality of most other clubs... Yes we have recruited with a high amount of stupidity (in hindsight) but also without a lot of luck along the way.... We still have some players at the club who you can build a team around, without naming the obvious ones.... But we also have a $hitload of players on our list who would not be getting a game in any other 22....

The Melbourne Football Club have recruited 2 key people over the last six months.... The first being Mark Neeld.... This guy WILL get us somewhere! More on him later.... The 2nd key recruit is Mitch Clark... His effort and attack on the pill is exactly what our forwardline needs! We are just not seeing how good this guy is purely because of the cattle playing up the field... Our forward structure is ugly because our current list of available players is ugly... FFS you have Mitch as our go-to forward with James Sellar as his wing man! Our small forwards are either not playing/past their best/lost in previous drafts.... We rely on getting certain players back into the side who can hopefully have an impact under the new coaching regime... A forward line consisting of Mitch Clark, Liam Jurrah, Jeremy Howe, Ricky Petterd and maybe a fit/hungry Nev Jetta waiting at ground level would kick a winning score if the ball was coming down to them often enough (even if bombed in)... Currently Howe and Watts (both natural forwards) are having to play roles further up field because we simply lack quality midfielders who can find a teammate by foot... For all of Jack Watts' faults, finding a target by foot is not one of them!

Our midfield is easily the worst in the league! Attack on the footy is not the issue with our mids (Nate Jones is at the base of EVERY pack all day long)... Disposal and the lack of outside mids with devestating kicks is! Unfortunately this will take time to rectify... Something we as MFC members are sick of hearing, but we MUST listen this time! Our defence is not bad... Take out Joel MacDonald and inject a running half back with silk (draft?) so we aren't relying on Frawley to try and evade 6 blokes and run the ball out of the backline and you have a core group of players who will stop opposition forwards from scoring.... Again we need the quality midfield to stop the ball coming into their F50 with reckless abandon!

Now Mark Neeld... Give this guy a go people... Yes, I said this about Bailey after his first year but Dean was the unfortunate victim of a club bereft of money and resources.... Have a look at the quality of assistant coaches and fitness staff at the club now... A group consisting of Neil Craig, David Misson and Todd Viney is a group that will bring professionalism at the Dees to a new level... They are building what will give the Melbourne faithfull what we want... Finals football and a chance at success!

They cannot do it with what we have on the park at the moment! End of story!

We are in a position to draft well over the next couple of years... Make no mistake about it! The first half of this season is going to be hard to watch... Let's be realistic... But I have faith that the 2nd half of this year we will start to see some serious improvement (barring our injury list growing) in the results... As Mark has stated, the effort is good... But he cannot come out in a presser and say "The effort is good, but our skills are the $hittest I have ever seen!" Which is exactly what he will be thinking...

Our current administration MUST keep this group of 4 men at the helm of our club together! Outside pressures will peak on Mark Neeld when we are sitting at 0-8... But we MUST be patient! I strongly believe that come the end of the year, the media will be saying that we will be pushing for finals in 2013... If we can string some exciting wins together in the middle/latter stages of the year there will be draftees WANTING to be part of our club... Football these days is all about professionalism... And the 4 coaches I listed earlier are demanding this! They will weed out the ones who won't make it and will be ruthless in doing so...

External pressures will be massive on Mark and his crew.... But you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out the issue at the club is with the cattle and not the coaches! Anyone who can honestly argue otherwise has rocks in their head....

Patience is not one of my strong points.... But I can see what Mark and the guys are doing... And I like what I see.... Call me Krazy

Yes I agree, but what has changed at the club to suggest we will draft the right players? Fair enough Viney should have a decent knowledge of this draft as he would have been watching his son amongst others in his year. But the club still hasn't IMO addressed the recruiting problems withing the club. Maybe they have tried & haven't been able to secure anyone, IDK. But for me this is an issue going into this years super draft seeing as we are about to embark on yet another rebuild.

[Guest Dr Who]

Yes I agree, but what has changed at the club to suggest we will draft the right players? Fair enough Viney should have a decent knowledge of this draft as he would have been watching his son amongst others in his year. But the club still hasn't IMO addressed the recruiting problems withing the club. Maybe they have tried & haven't been able to secure anyone, IDK. But for me this is an issue going into this years super draft seeing as we are about to embark on yet another rebuild.

I think we have recognised its just not all about 18 yo talent identification - its about investing money to develop your whole list. We have been investing in our FD heavily over the last few years & I'm sure it will continue.

The "18 yo talent identification" process circa 2012 is pretty well worn - quality AFL run junior programmes, well supported TAC cup competition, informative U18 interstate carnivals, easy access to interstate comps ie SANFL, WAFL Tassie Queensland etc then to top that off extensive Draft camp with numerous extended tests both mental & physical.

So although its a super-draft and the talent pool is deeper - the actual "order" is fairly well exposed pre-draft circa 2012. Where the "big" test comes in is when you have to develop your picks to meet the rigours of modern day football in the AFL.

[dee-luded 2,959]

Krazy, thank god for your post, exactly what i was thinking after yesterdays game, i saw the same as u, skill errors are a worry at the mo, but that can be tidied up. the forward structure could be one of the best around with the players we have, our middle does worry me, but there is quality there. time to bite the bullet with Morton as he's got skill but no brains, and weighs about 50kg WET. offload. might get some currency for him. rumours about dangerfield being available next year, i'd trade my mum for him. i think we might be 0-12, but i agree, lets be patient.

and my mum has a great left foot!!!

We need some left footers in our back half with good kick.

[dee-luded 2,959]

I think we have recognised its just not all about 18 yo talent identification - its about investing money to develop your whole list. We have been investing in our FD heavily over the last few years & I'm sure it will continue.

The "18 yo talent identification" process circa 2012 is pretty well worn - quality AFL run junior programmes, well supported TAC cup competition, informative U18 interstate carnivals, easy access to interstate comps ie SANFL, WAFL Tassie Queensland etc then to top that off extensive Draft camp with numerous extended tests both mental & physical.

So although its a super-draft and the talent pool is deeper - the actual "order" is fairly well exposed pre-draft circa 2012. Where the "big" test comes in is when you have to develop your picks to meet the rigours of modern day football in the AFL.

We still need quality Kids,,,,, & some more maturity as well..

And we need the likes of a Scotland, a goer. (Unlikely)

And a short term Simon Black type, for leadership/teaching, (unlikely)...

No One is going to give a up a Class A Mid to anyone... We'll have to draft Him/Them.

[Bonkers 994]

I think we have recognised its just not all about 18 yo talent identification - its about investing money to develop your whole list. We have been investing in our FD heavily over the last few years & I'm sure it will continue.

The "18 yo talent identification" process circa 2012 is pretty well worn - quality AFL run junior programmes, well supported TAC cup competition, informative U18 interstate carnivals, easy access to interstate comps ie SANFL, WAFL Tassie Queensland etc then to top that off extensive Draft camp with numerous extended tests both mental & physical.

So although its a super-draft and the talent pool is deeper - the actual "order" is fairly well exposed pre-draft circa 2012. Where the "big" test comes in is when you have to develop your picks to meet the rigours of modern day football in the AFL.

I don't think you understand the jist of my post, I will clarify it further. I am questioning the current recruiting setup & whether we have the right staff & direction in terms of its drafting priorities & the resources available to beat the competition in this area. Yes the order of the draft is fairly well exposed I agree, however some clubs simply draft better than others which is not an accident. Player development is a separate issue & something that I believe the club has addressed over the pre-season.

[Guest Dr Who]

We still need quality Kids,,,,, & some more maturity as well..

And we need the likes of a Scotland, a goer. (Unlikely)

And a short term Simon Black type, for leadership/teaching, (unlikely)...

No One is going to give a up a Class A Mid to anyone... We'll have to draft Him/Them.

These days you can find quality in all areas of the recruiting process - dont get sucked in by the "pointy end argument" its just a myth. Sadly perpetuated by the media (source where most people around here get their info) & "weaker" teams giving "kids" games that dont deserve them, but forced upon themselves because they have little to no alternative.

The key is how you develop that "quality" into your structure.

circa 2012 we have learned many. many things from now a reasonable history of recruiting & Trading periods. The "smart" clubs picked it up early and are enjoying the benefits today - the slow clubs have been left looking for people to blame. or should I say the "big spending club recognised it early the lower spending clubs took more time. Who cares the end result was the same.

key turning point just to name a few -

1/ 2001 draft 2/ The infamous Franklin draft 3/ the Judd "deal" 4/ The Sydney Swans plus there are a few more I cant recall but I think you get the idea.

Edited April 23, 2012 by Dr Who

[Guest Dr Who]

I don't think you understand the jist of my post, I will clarify it further. I am questioning the current recruiting setup & whether we have the right staff & direction in terms of its drafting priorities & the resources available to beat the competition in this area. Yes the order of the draft is fairly well exposed I agree, however some clubs simply draft better than others which is not an accident. Player development is a separate issue & something that I believe the club has addressed over the pre-season.

I fully understand what you are saying - but I'm suggesting a very subtle move in the importance of recruiting personnel circa 2012.

See the Barry Pedergast thread. IMHO circa 2012 your key people will be your "Oppostion Analyst" if thats what you want to call them, some prefer your website to detail it better- but that will never happen. Again some clubs have recognised it some have been a little slow on the uptake- But such is life.

[Bonkers 994]

I fully understand what you are saying - but I'm suggesting a very subtle move in the importance of recruiting personnel circa 2012.

See the Barry Pedergast thread. IMHO circa 2012 your key people will be your "Oppostion Analyst" if thats what you want to call them, some prefer your website to detail it better- but that will never happen. Again some clubs have recognised it some have been a little slow on the uptake- But such is life.

Explain to me how opposition analysis is in any way related to the players you have on your own list & what their capabilities are come game day? Or better provide me a link to the thread so I can read your explanation. IMO you either draft players with the right physical, mental & technical ability or you don't. The more investment you make into getting the selections right in this area the better chance you have of succeeding in it.

[Guest Dr Who]

Explain to me how opposition analysis is in any way related to the players you have on your own list & what their capabilities are come game day? Or better provide me a link to the thread so I can read your explanation. IMO you either draft players with the right physical, mental & technical ability or you don't. The more investment you make into getting the selections right in this area the better chance you have of succeeding in it.

circa 2012 there will be three ways to improve your WHOLE list

a/ recruit players either 18yo's or older

b/ trade for players

c/ Free agency

However, what you must understand you have a limited list size. So for every addition you must have a deletion. or if we delist 7 players we create 7 spots.

So who is best placed to assess that? Your recruiting manager who deals with just the talent identification process? - NO

No the person who deals with(coaches) your list on a weekly basis - pointing out the weakness & strengths of the opposition. But by sheer observation he will be identifying the strengths and weakness in his own list.

So he is perfectly placed come draft time to answer the following question

a/ Club x want to trade player y to us for picks x in the draft or player x - tick

b/ Player x is up for free agency - yes he can improve our list because player x on our list has the following weakness - tick

c/ Should we use pick x in the draft or should we not? How will that improve our list? - tick

d/ How deep is the draft? How does the player most likely to be avaliable at pick x suit our needs - tick

etc the questions can go on & on & on.

Oppostion Analysis - is a [censored] name - it should be something like COMPLETE STRATEGIC LIST DEVELOPMENT OFFICER - that has a complete understanding of your WHOLE list and ways to improve your WHOLE list - I think we will be in good hands with Todd Viney circa 2012.

Consider him as a bridge between your coaching team & your recruiting team. Its not all about getting the easy call right - the true win is when you get those 50/50 calls right. B)

The key is the AFL season last 26 weeks - you get 4 weeks annual leave - what do you think the "Oppostion Analyst" (terrible name) does for the other 22 weeks - play with his old fella? No the game has moved forward in 2012.

Edited April 23, 2012 by Dr Who

[beelzebub 23,313]

I like it - but I would like to add its not only TIME but I think we are going to need a fair amount of MONEY.

why money..we pay the cap or near it.. that wont change.. Time however is the key.

This year is a write off essentially regarding accomplishments ladder wise. Some sever ( hopefully ) pruning to be had at seasons end. there is indeed a nucleus and more the point a foundation upon to build, but as we all will know; its not going to happen overnight.

[Yossarian 1,820]

Let's not have another Dr Who debate in this thread please.

[Guest Dr Who]

why money..we pay the cap or near it.. that wont change.. Time however is the key.

This year is a write off essentially regarding accomplishments ladder wise. Some sever ( hopefully ) pruning to be had at seasons end. there is indeed a nucleus and more the point a foundation upon to build, but as we all will know; its not going to happen overnight.

No its not money you are paying the players - its Money you are investing to your Complete footy department. Sorry probably should have clarified that.

Cheers.

[Guest Dr Who]

Let's not have another Dr Who debate in this thread please.

Yeah its much more FUN looking for people to blame. If we can get general consensus - geez it will make us all feel better.

Who do you want to blame? Who is our "scapegoat"? The good olde Dr - why not?

[beelzebub 23,313]

No its not money you are paying the players - its Money you are investing to your Complete footy department. Sorry probably should have clarified that.

Cheers.

We are at historically high levels of investment in our FD. I sense it may take at least a season to see dividends. Such is life

[Guest Dr Who]

We are at historically high levels of investment in our FD. I sense it may take at least a season to see dividends. Such is life

Yeah but we are still a long-long-long way away from the big boys. Even the ex-dumb asses of the comp have been ploughing in millions.

[beelzebub 23,313]

Yeah but we are still a long-long-long way away from the big boys. Even the ex-dumb asses of the comp have been ploughing in millions.

I actually dont think we are the chasms behind that some think now. we arent at teh leading edge...we arent at the backend either.. We just havent been there very long and results will take a whiles.

We ARE new to this level of spendig though, no doubt

[Guest Dr Who]

I actually dont think we are the chasms behind that some think now. we arent at teh leading edge...we arent at the backend either.. We just havent been there very long and results will take a whiles.

We ARE new to this level of spendig though, no doubt

Hope you are right. (but I have a feeling AFL football is not going to get any cheaper if anything you aint seen nothing yet)

Go Dees.

[Tatu 416]

Ok...

I have not posted for a little while now but, as always, have been getting my daily/hourly fill of Demonland reading.... As would be the case with most of us, I have not enjoyed what I have seen over the first 4 rounds (I don't count pre-season as anything to base gameday opinions on). We have all basically come to the agreement that our beloved club is bereft of mature leaders and of players with the quality of most other clubs... Yes we have recruited with a high amount of stupidity (in hindsight) but also without a lot of luck along the way.... We still have some players at the club who you can build a team around, without naming the obvious ones.... But we also have a $hitload of players on our list who would not be getting a game in any other 22....

The Melbourne Football Club have recruited 2 key people over the last six months.... The first being Mark Neeld.... This guy WILL get us somewhere! More on him later.... The 2nd key recruit is Mitch Clark... His effort and attack on the pill is exactly what our forwardline needs! We are just not seeing how good this guy is purely because of the cattle playing up the field... Our forward structure is ugly because our current list of available players is ugly... FFS you have Mitch as our go-to forward with James Sellar as his wing man! Our small forwards are either not playing/past their best/lost in previous drafts.... We rely on getting certain players back into the side who can hopefully have an impact under the new coaching regime... A forward line consisting of Mitch Clark, Liam Jurrah, Jeremy Howe, Ricky Petterd and maybe a fit/hungry Nev Jetta waiting at ground level would kick a winning score if the ball was coming down to them often enough (even if bombed in)... Currently Howe and Watts (both natural forwards) are having to play roles further up field because we simply lack quality midfielders who can find a teammate by foot... For all of Jack Watts' faults, finding a target by foot is not one of them!

Our midfield is easily the worst in the league! Attack on the footy is not the issue with our mids (Nate Jones is at the base of EVERY pack all day long)... Disposal and the lack of outside mids with devestating kicks is! Unfortunately this will take time to rectify... Something we as MFC members are sick of hearing, but we MUST listen this time! Our defence is not bad... Take out Joel MacDonald and inject a running half back with silk (draft?) so we aren't relying on Frawley to try and evade 6 blokes and run the ball out of the backline and you have a core group of players who will stop opposition forwards from scoring.... Again we need the quality midfield to stop the ball coming into their F50 with reckless abandon!

Now Mark Neeld... Give this guy a go people... Yes, I said this about Bailey after his first year but Dean was the unfortunate victim of a club bereft of money and resources.... Have a look at the quality of assistant coaches and fitness staff at the club now... A group consisting of Neil Craig, David Misson and Todd Viney is a group that will bring professionalism at the Dees to a new level... They are building what will give the Melbourne faithfull what we want... Finals football and a chance at success!

They cannot do it with what we have on the park at the moment! End of story!

We are in a position to draft well over the next couple of years... Make no mistake about it! The first half of this season is going to be hard to watch... Let's be realistic... But I have faith that the 2nd half of this year we will start to see some serious improvement (barring our injury list growing) in the results... As Mark has stated, the effort is good... But he cannot come out in a presser and say "The effort is good, but our skills are the $hittest I have ever seen!" Which is exactly what he will be thinking...

Our current administration MUST keep this group of 4 men at the helm of our club together! Outside pressures will peak on Mark Neeld when we are sitting at 0-8... But we MUST be patient! I strongly believe that come the end of the year, the media will be saying that we will be pushing for finals in 2013... If we can string some exciting wins together in the middle/latter stages of the year there will be draftees WANTING to be part of our club... Football these days is all about professionalism... And the 4 coaches I listed earlier are demanding this! They will weed out the ones who won't make it and will be ruthless in doing so...

External pressures will be massive on Mark and his crew.... But you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out the issue at the club is with the cattle and not the coaches! Anyone who can honestly argue otherwise has rocks in their head....

Patience is not one of my strong points.... But I can see what Mark and the guys are doing... And I like what I see.... Call me Krazy

If we start winning in the second half of the year, i'll scream!!!

By round 8, i'm going to be thinking draft picks......I hope we tank the whole year, and don't win a single game. That way, we get Jack Viney for a second round pick......

pick 1, pick 2, pick 12 and Jack Viney.......That's what i want!!!!

Edited April 23, 2012 by tatu