I get annoyed to this day at people who say Neale ruined the footy club. I think the idea to move him on was the correct one but it was a case of him not being able to take the group any further and probably the view that a new person was required for the rebuild. The Daniher Era gave me some of my favorite memories supporting Melbourne (which really says a lot considering what other clubs have given their supporters).

I suspect you're right, but what do you think of the fit ?

I'm not sure.

I've got a lot of respect for what he achieved with us, and clearly he has a lot to offer otherwise West Coast wouldn't have been so keen to make him their football manager. I dunno, some of the innuendo and some of the things Darren Jolly remarked upon about his personal approach would worry me...particularly considering Port have a lot of young players on their list.

It's a long time out of the coaching system for him, and I reckon they'll be chasing the likes of Leon Cameron and Scott Burns, and other assistants who are at top clubs who have their finger on the pulse.

At the same time, though, he got and still gets an amazing run reputation-wise with the "6 finals berths in a decade" stat. True - 1998, 2000 and 2002 were genuinely exciting. But do 2004 and 2005 elimination finals losses really count? And was 2006 much better than a pass, even if you take into account the flow-on effect of the salary cap sanctions?

04, 05 and 06 all petered out to nothing. But for periods in those years, particularly 05, we were probably the best team in the comp. Lapses like losing to Carlton (wooden spoon) twice in 06 meant we finished 7th instead of 3rd.

Thats where you can probably point the finger at Daniher. He had 200 game talent like Yze, Johnstone, White, Green and Bruce who were either inconsistent or wilted under pressure. he didn't get the best out of them often enough.

04, 05 and 06 all petered out to nothing. But for periods in those years, particularly 05, we were probably the best team in the comp. Lapses like losing to Carlton (wooden spoon) twice in 06 meant we finished 7th instead of 3rd.

Thats where you can probably point the finger at Daniher. He had 200 game talent like Yze, Johnstone, White, Green and Bruce who were either inconsistent or wilted under pressure. he didn't get the best out of them often enough.

Totally agree.

For a few weeks in 2005 I was convinced I was watching the best Melbourne team I had seen and might ever see.

Based on the words of one player -

Yes, you have to be careful about that, you could even end up with a 2 month inquiry on tanking if you relied on that that.