Mark Neeld's Spray on Morton.

[H_T 3,043]

Absolutely.

I had a chat to him at the end of last season and his confidence was shot. He was saying that his poor form was due to not having any consistency in his role, having played everywhere during the year, including Casey where he was given different roles but never told to replicate them at AFL level.

We've seen what that sort of thing can do. Watts is a perfect example of that.

I get as annoyed as anyone when Morton has brain farts, and I made it abundently clear earlier in the year. Nobody expects us to just slap him on the arse and say "no worries" when he stuffs up, but it goes both ways. We need to applaude his good work and I for one thought he was excellent in the first half.

What dumb footy commentators pick on are turnovers. What I saw was a guy who was busting his gut to run into position, when most others were stagnant.

Neeld doesn't seem to have a lot of time for players who don't do the right thing, yet he kept Morton on the ground all game. That says to me that he saw beyond the turnovers, and so should we.

Agree with the sentiments but I'll add that Green was subbed off for Dunn at three quarter time with a groin. Neeld had no option but to sub Green off.

[Roost It 1,434]

Agree with the sentiments but I'll add that Green was subbed off for Dunn at three quarter time with a groin. Neeld had no option but to sub Green off.

Groin or not Green is clearly finished at this level

[beelzebub 23,312]

Absolutely.

I had a chat to him at the end of last season and his confidence was shot. He was saying that his poor form was due to not having any consistency in his role, having played everywhere during the year, including Casey where he was given different roles but never told to replicate them at AFL level.

We've seen what that sort of thing can do. Watts is a perfect example of that.

I get as annoyed as anyone when Morton has brain farts, and I made it abundently clear earlier in the year. Nobody expects us to just slap him on the arse and say "no worries" when he stuffs up, but it goes both ways. We need to applaude his good work and I for one thought he was excellent in the first half.

What dumb footy commentators pick on are turnovers. What I saw was a guy who was busting his gut to run into position, when most others were stagnant.

Neeld doesn't seem to have a lot of time for players who don't do the right thing, yet he kept Morton on the ground all game. That says to me that he saw beyond the turnovers, and so should we.

jaded , you know what this says to me. Thsi guy cant play footballat the elite level. He needs someone to tie his showe laces and tell him when to fart.

Good players KNOW what to do. and when to do it. They will, in the main , attempt to work within the instruction of the coac9s) but they also realise the game is so fluid , so unique , that its actually impossible to instruct a player how to do everything because so much is reactive to the situation at hand. This is why youget soe guys that shine at traiining and match practice because its all a forgone conclusion as to how its supposed to pan out. Thats the nature of a drill. its known. Come matchday unfortuantely the opposition isnt so kind as toplay our game , they are buggers and want to play theirs, whod da thiunk !!

Morton has NO real game smarts. he has some silky skills and ability but thats not the context of our game.he conssitently gets caught out, or siimply caught. Sometimes hes made to look better than he possibly is because ANOTHER of our players had read the situation and comes to his rescue..

Most of his turnovers occur at moments when he is simply lost for a decision, actually not true, hes lost for a progressive play. he makes decisions, many bad.

Lets , please , stop confusing skills with the ability to play football ( well, and at the elite level).

[Weedster 174]

Cale seems to read the play well and got quite a few possessions today......but gee some crucial turnovers.....pity really I thought he tried pretty hard today.

One of the issues with that turnover - and it was a shocker - was the lack of a viable target for him to go to - we lack players who are willing to present as targets - has been a problem for some time. For all of that, I though Cale did ok yesterday, far from our worst

[mmc 18]

Poor decision-maker, shocking skills, no game smarts, consistently gets caught out ... sounds like a Nathan Jones thread from two years ago. And look how that turned out.

Give the kid time.

[Longsufferingnomore 1,629]

After seeing vision of Neeld saying to Cale "What the f...were you doing" as he walked past that Cale should have had the guts to stand there and take it from his coach. Just poor.

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,672]

According to official AFL stats, Morton had 19 disposals with 68% efficiency. This translates to 13 disposals which were efficient and 6 which weren't.

Our co-captains had 17 at 53% efficiency (9 efficient; 8 inefficient) and 25 at 64% (16 efficient; 9 inefficient).

So, he had fewer "inefficient" disposals than either Trengove or Grimes.

Yes, he's frustrating, but let's keep this in perspective.

And to the person who said he'd have poor trade value because of the history of his brothers, surely you jest. So Travis Cloke would have no value because neither of his brothers were much good? Or Gary Ablett Sr because when Geelong took him they should have known Kelvin Ablett was a dud? Or maybe Hawthorn should have delisted Leigh Matthews earlier because his brother wasn't much good. Or Robert Flower and Jim Stynes...

[mmc 18]

After seeing vision of Neeld saying to Cale "What the f...were you doing" as he walked past that Cale should have had the guts to stand there and take it from his coach. Just poor.

Poor call. Apart from that astute bit of lip-reading we don't know what Neeld said to Cale, but I somehow doubt Neeld would have chosen that moment for an in-depth discussion with Cale. Cale made a bad error and was dragged, and his coach let him know what he thought. Simple as that.

[Dee*ceiving 1,671]

Neeld's spray was definitely about him choosing to use his non-preferred side to kick without any need to do so. That is the inexplicable aspect of the mistake he made, not so much the fact that he turned it over.

[beelzebub 23,312]

One of the issues with that turnover - and it was a shocker - was the lack of a viable target for him to go to - we lack players who are willing to present as targets - has been a problem for some time. For all of that, I though Cale did ok yesterday, far from our worst

[beelzebub 23,312]

As i humbly understand Neelds thinking he is an advocate of getting the ball in deep and putting the forwards to work. That was the coorect option for Calendar but he just kind ked dumbly ibto enough space for an EASY collingwood mark tbat went coast to oast. F,n brilliant

[Longsufferingnomore 1,629]

Poor call. Apart from that astute bit of lip-reading we don't know what Neeld said to Cale, but I somehow doubt Neeld would have chosen that moment for an in-depth discussion with Cale. Cale made a bad error and was dragged, and his coach let him know what he thought. Simple as that.

It was obvious what he said. I'm not talking in depth heart to heart but he should have stopped and taken the verbal from Neeld. I am not a Morton basher here but yesterday there were three crucial errors he made. I do believe that his attack on the ball has improved from last year. All I am saying that if your coach says something to you dont ignore them and walk away.

[H_T 3,043]

Groin or not Green is clearly finished at this level

My point that I made to jaded is that Neeld could very well have subbed Morton off for Dunn had it not been for Green and his groin.

Yes, Green's days are coming to a close.

[Hannibal 5,814]

I judge all players on their ability to stand up in the heat of a Grand Final. I don't think Morton has the intensity, or physicality to be one of those players. Does he have talent ? Of course. You don't get to this level, or be judged as one of the best juniors in the country if you don't. He's tall, he can take a mark, he has good endurance, his pace is good for a tall, he can actually read the play pretty well. I too agree that he lacks confidence, but it's his aversion to the contest, which is my main concern. Like Jose, I don't get too concerned by the odd error, they're trivial if you're playing your role and doing most things well, but his intensity is a major worry.

Did anyone hear Dermott Brereton's comments on SEN ? They were harsh, but funny. When lamenting Morton's physicality and desire to win the hard footy Brereton jided, "most players have an orange at half-time, but Cale asks for fairy bread".

Sure it's a silly exaggeration, but ...

Btw, I also thought Neeld said "kick on your effing right foot", which makes the most sense to me. My face resembled some of Neeld's contorted looks after that kick, but I can forgive that type of error.

[hardtack 10,506]

After seeing vision of Neeld saying to Cale "What the f...were you doing" as he walked past that Cale should have had the guts to stand there and take it from his coach. Just poor.

In case none of you noticed, there was a game going on and Neeld would have had more on his plate to be concerned with than worrying about whether or not Morton stopped, looked him in the eye, and took it like a "man". He gave Morton the serve he deserved, Morton heard it, took note of it, felt the sting of it, and then they both moved on.

This bit is not directed at you Longsuffering, but there are far too many vindictive, nasty, so called "supporters" in these threads... how about casting the blame at the coaches/selectors as Morton et al are doing their best (which is NOT as bad as many here seem to think) under a LOT of pressure; they do not pick themselves. These players are out there doing it as best they can and yet some here (who have probably done nothing much at all in a footballing sense) consider they are not respecting the jumper or the club???

Edited June 12, 2012 by hardtack

[PaulRB 6,328]

Cale was not alone in costly turnovers, Jack Grimes had a patch too. I liked Cale's game up to the clanger. I think he is developing well under Neeld. However, he still has a way to travel to fulfil his potential.

Edited June 12, 2012 by PaulRB

[olisik 4,060]

Anyone remember when Cale sprinted off his opponent to put pressure on a collingwood running into an open goal when nicho went off hurt and their was a loose man in our forward line.

I thought that redeemed him as he saved a sure goal there with hard gut running

[jnrmac 20,046]

A lot of people taking the short term view with Cale.

I couldn't care less if a few bad turnovers now lead to a slightly larger loss, even when it could have been a win.

I want him to iron out his flaws, turn his weaknesses into strengths and be an integral part of our next premiership team.

A handful of errors now aren't going to worry me.

Make no mistake - I'm not happy with them.

But as long as he learns from them and continues to improve - as he has done this season - I am can live with it.

Same goes for any other player we have out there.

Keep it up Jose. Week after week. Same mistakes, week in week out, No defensive pressure, knocked off the ball too easily, turnovers, sloppy decision maker. What has he actually got?

Your support won't save him.

[Adam The God 30,065]

appart from that, I thought hehad a pretty good game

He got the ball and I have been a fan of Morton in the past, but jesus does he butcher it! I'd be giving him run with roles. His best two games have been against Adam Goodes as a tagger. Minimise his kicking of the ball until he gains some confidence. He can be a beautiful long kick for goal. He's low on confidence, but his turn overs were unforgivable yesterday.

I'll tell you what annoys me. Why the [censored] do our players insist on running onto their weaker side and kicking it with their left? How many turn overs did that result in yesterday? A handful at least.

Edited June 12, 2012 by AdamFarr

[Adam The God 30,065]

Just watched the video again, it almost looked like he lost his footing or something.

Being charitable

Let's not get fancy with our possessions. Kick it on your natural foot. We barely hit targets by hand or foot as it is. No need to complicate by turning onto our left. Trengove and Watts did this yesterday as well.

[Demon SeaMan 108]

I wouldve liked the lip readers out when Jolly and Jamar had a little chat after Jolly scored in the 1st qtr.. Would've been some talks bout premierships, contracts, wasted time, All Australian ownership, Jeff White, etc, etc...

[jimcor 212]

Given (as I said earlier) that I think that one of Cale's major issues is self-confidence, I don't think that public humiliation by the coach is a productive approach. As much as I can empathise with Neeld's frustration (I've been frustrated by MFC performance for a hell of a lot longer!), I think these sorts of obvious horror moments are better dealt with away from the cameras. Fear is certainly a motivator but it's seldom the best one. Need is paid a big quid to provide leadership and I'm not sure this qualifies as such. In the fullness of time, Neeld will be measured by the performance he manages to extract from all players and in the form of premierships won. His talent isn't demonstrated by the effort he gets from the players that have either or both of the natural skills and the commitment to his plan, it's what he gets from the others i.e. those who lack the natural skills or the ability to understand what he wants them to do.

Generally, I like Neeld's approach and much prefer it to Bailey's but he's a first year senior coach and he is obviously learning a bit as he goes along, as well. I suspect he wouldn't be thrilled to be similarly humiliated.

[beelzebub 23,312]

Lets put it succinctly. He f#%&ed up big time. Had obviously disobeyed a previous directive and was justly lambasted for it. Its not just Cale who but the whole team that suffers for such acts and he needs to have that rammed down his throat . Same for any other player. If he cant follw instructions find those that can.

[Nasher 33,607]

Given (as I said earlier) that I think that one of Cale's major issues is self-confidence, I don't think that public humiliation by the coach is a productive approach. As much as I can empathise with Neeld's frustration (I've been frustrated by MFC performance for a hell of a lot longer!), I think these sorts of obvious horror moments are better dealt with away from the cameras. Fear is certainly a motivator but it's seldom the best one. Need is paid a big quid to provide leadership and I'm not sure this qualifies as such. In the fullness of time, Neeld will be measured by the performance he manages to extract from all players and in the form of premierships won. His talent isn't demonstrated by the effort he gets from the players that have either or both of the natural skills and the commitment to his plan, it's what he gets from the others i.e. those who lack the natural skills or the ability to understand what he wants them to do.

Generally, I like Neeld's approach and much prefer it to Bailey's but he's a first year senior coach and he is obviously learning a bit as he goes along, as well. I suspect he wouldn't be thrilled to be similarly humiliated.

I agree with everything you've said there. Except that by all reports Neeld either said "kick it down the line" or "kick it on your right", so even though he said it with a grumpy tone, it barely qualifies as a public humiliation so the entire point is somewhat moot.

[jimcor 212]

I agree with everything you've said there. Except that by all reports Neeld either said "kick it down the line" or "kick it on your right", so even though he said it with a grumpy tone, it barely qualifies as a public humiliation so the entire point is somewhat moot.

It was public and, from what I saw on TV, in my opinion it was humiliating. As you know, it's often the way that something is said that has far more significance than the actual content. I don't think anything was gained from the display other than to raise some man-management questions.