There is no substitute for Bloody hard Work. !

"Get your culture right, get a great coaching and support group, and pick well. "

But a couple of class footballers who believe the same or follow a senior player who does helps,

Lets pick well, do the hard work in looking at the players potential and trust the recruiting and coaching staff !

Tne best way to avoid total disaster, is to look directly ahead and around you instead of trying to move forward while looking only in the rear view mirror.

Agree 100% with the OP - the ramifications of tanking for priority picks are self-evident not just with us, but also Carlton who are now trying another 'get rich quick' solution.

There's a long, hard road ahead of this footy club - no easy fix, no saviour, no buying our way out.

In the age of the knee-jerk and the quick fix, it's vital that we, as supporters, get behind Neeld for the next two years and trust that he can pull this footy club up by the bootstraps, so that we can play the same hard, exciting, committed footy as Freo, Hawthorn and Sydney.

Collingwood tanked to get Pendlebury AND Thomas in the one draft. However they had the facilities and footy spend to develop talent. We only reached that point as of the 2012 post season.

I am happy with the standards that are being set by Neeld, Craig and Misson.

Oh Sorry- I thought this thread might be about co-starring in a Porn flick with Ron Jeremy .

Carry on.

Edited September 9, 201212 yr by Biffen

Oh Sorry- I thought this thread might be about co-starring in a Porn flick with Ron Jeremy .

Carry on.

Maybe we could get him to replace the Bugler? Or we could hire Ian McShane for a year to give the crowd a foul mouthed rev-up in the guise of Al Swearengen?

It's only a pert of it, but we also let Jnr Mac go. Our best inspiration & leader.

i agree with what you've said in this post '3183 Dee'

I was a big fan of Junior but let's be honest, he was a favourite because he was one of the few players at Melbourne that would put his body on the line at all times, apart from that he was pretty ordinary in the skills department. We've put Junior up on a pedestal as an inspirational player, but I can't think of one game where he actually did something to inspire the team to a win.

I was a big fan of Junior but let's be honest, he was a favourite because he was one of the few players at Melbourne that would put his body on the line at all times, apart from that he was pretty ordinary in the skills department. We've put Junior up on a pedestal as an inspirational player, but I can't think of one game where he actually did something to inspire the team to a win.

Oh I think your really overlooking the Value of Jnr, just leading by example.

It's a pity it was undone by other self interested senior players who would Not do the 1%ers. Danihers answer to this, recruit Aaron.

It's a pity Daniher didn't start to lay down the law to all of them, instead of playing favorites, against one another.

Oh I think your really overlooking the Value of Jnr, just leading by example.

It's a pity it was undone by other self interested senior players who would Not do the 1%ers. Danihers answer to this, recruit Aaron.

It's a pity Daniher didn't start to lay down the law to all of them, instead of playing favorites, against one another.

But if the answer is ignored; what then?

How mant times did Green fly in to the face of the pack and get crunched? Did it inspire Bennell to follow his lead; not really.

You can only lead others who have courage and character, it's pretty hard to inspire those that only have self interest at heart.

It's a pity it was undone by other self interested senior players who would Not do the 1%ers. Danihers answer to this, recruit Aaron.

This is not even re writing history. Its drawn from a parallel universe.

FTR, Davey was rookied in 2004(?) and immediately changed the defensive play of small forwards and carved a respectable career in AFL which is all but over now. It had nothing to do with the antics of other senior players.

Davey should never have been in the leadership group at all. But this was not a post Daniher issue

Hallelulah at last someone actually gets it!

Its also the reason that the journos and some other coaches (all successfull) appear to hate MFC........They couldnt even cheat efficiently.

If the Dees were contenders there wouldnt be a witch hunt and I suggest thats why Brock wasnt concerned about going to Carlton...he didnt actually blame tanking he said it was the vibe around MFC. or something similar.He wanted to go somewhere where there was a ruthless drive for success.

Same thing for supporters as evidenced by the ridiculous Cloke edging closer to MFC thread about a squillion pages long and morphing into Goddard as the saviour when it becomes clear that Cloke aint happening.

Meanwhile the report that the Dees are 'into' Shannon Byrne from Geelong..28 and no superstar, but a very useful footballer from a winning culture with 100 games experience and two flags under his belt, doesnt even raise a sniff around here... not sexy enough I guess even though he's probably a realistic option who fits the clubs immediate needs

Yes, and as each possible FA declines our offers the threads will continue to become less 'lofty' in their dreams . By October. D.Smith from the Edinhope 2nds will be rumoured as a solid player who could add to the culture of the place. I agree that as well as targetting the draft picks we need to be concentrating on making what we got right.

Still need another A Grader on the list...

I looked at the thread title and had a read, I am totally confused, this is like a Sienfeld episode, it is about nothing? what is the issue facing us? or is it just a thread for posters to bring up there personal agenda.....must be the off season

The real and bigger issue is Melbourne's unwillingness to brace themselves to follow the harder road as Fremantle did last night and for the club to think that a 'savior' will come along and cure all our ills.

I'm a little confused by this. I agree the culture of playing for draft picks has not been helpful but clearly under Neeld the club is now following the harder road and in many ways i see Neeld having a very similar approach to Lyon, particularly in terms of being clear about the need to change the culture of the club and not worrying about offending peoples in his attempts to do so.

And the bit about looking for a savior to cure our ills? Wouldn't Lyon have been a saviour type? Neeld is a first time coach, which doesn't really look good on the savior CV.

But if the answer is ignored; what then?

How mant times did Green fly in to the face of the pack and get crunched? Did it inspire Bennell to follow his lead; not really.

You can only lead others who have courage and character, it's pretty hard to inspire those that only have self interest at heart.

Green was never inspiring to me, but rather uninspiring, I found. he has one year prior to being captain where he went in. THIS Is the trouble with melbournes culture, that supporters think little brave acts are huge, & sacrificial team acts are nothing.

Green was S.O.F.T:

As AFL footballers go, we need our leaders to be a bit closer to Glen Archer, than at the other end of the spectrum, like Aron & Brad or Cam.

This is not even re writing history. Its drawn from a parallel universe.

FTR, Davey was rookied in 2004(?) and immediately changed the defensive play of small forwards and carved a respectable career in AFL which is all but over now. It had nothing to do with the antics of other senior players.

Davey should never have been in the leadership group at all. But this was not a post Daniher issue

What I was saying, is that we used Aaron to make up for our forwards lack of defensive pressure, rather than cracking the Coaches Whip & making the other forwards work harder, & do all the 1%ers.

Ross Lyon would never have come to Melbourne. He only coach's teams that are right on the cusp of Prelim Final's or more. We don't satisfy his criteria. He wouldn't take on a rebuilding job like Neeld has.

Who's saying that building from the base up drafting kids is the easy option. Surely buying in established players is the easy option. Neither Bailey or Neeld have done that so far. They have both done a massive clean out and started building from the bottom up. I don't see any easy paths taken in this rebuild. I feel for Neeld though. The team by Craig's estimate won't start to be competitive until the second half of 2014, the last year of Neeld's contract. Will the Club and the supporters be patient enough to stick with him when it takes that long.

I looked at the thread title and had a read, I am totally confused, this is like a Sienfeld episode, it is about nothing? what is the issue facing us? or is it just a thread for posters to bring up there personal agenda.....must be the off season

You need to read the all of the OP to see what the bigger issues are. I think I outlined them pretty well, even put them in dot point form. The issues that are facing the club are that cutting corners and aiming for a cushy road ultimately doesn't bring results and that thinking that there will be a messiah to save the club is just as silly. It will take collective hard work and a willingness to see the job through.

I looked at the thread title and had a read, I am totally confused, this is like a Sienfeld episode, it is about nothing? what is the issue facing us? or is it just a thread for posters to bring up there personal agenda.....must be the off season

I think you'll be very impressed with the Penski file if you care to take a closer look.

Ross Lyon would never have come to Melbourne. He only coach's teams that are right on the cusp of Prelim Final's or more. We don't satisfy his criteria. He wouldn't take on a rebuilding job like Neeld has.

Who's saying that building from

the base up drafting kids is the easy option. Surely buying in established players is the easy option. Neither Bailey or Neeld have done that so far. They have both done a massive clean out and started building from the bottom up. I don't see any easy paths taken in this rebuild. I feel for Neeld though. The team by Craig's estimate won't start to be competitive until the second half of 2014, the last year of Neeld's contract. Will the Club and the supporters be patient enough to stick with him when it takes that long.

Well done 'It's Time'.

IMO we the supporters, will be able to see the Honest approach to the hard ball, & start applauding it, when that starts to occur on a regular basis.

My dream is to hear the difference from our supporters, when we have 'Men' playing like 'Men', instead of big 'Boys' playing the game.

I think this will show, before we really start to climb into the AFL ladders 'stratosphere'.

Edited September 10, 201212 yr by dee-luded

I'd just like to compliment the opening poster for using an older cliche ("staring us in the face") instead of the more modern and way overused "elephant in the room".

But what if its the Elephant staring up in the face ?