There's incredulity from some areas about what we're achieving / achieved to date. For some without a piece of silverware on the mantle to immediately verify our decisions then its apparently all doom and gloom.

The only way to understand how good bad or otherwise the recent movements around the club are is to view them as history. We cant, yet.

This club needed one almighty kick up its posterior, as well some might say a good smack around the head , in order to awake from its pending demise and then pull free of its slumber.

We've done this, yet thats still not enough for some. I reckon some here would bemoan having to share 1st div lotto !!

No ones kidding themselves, weve a long way to go but unless you have the people and the tools youre wasting your time.

We HAVE the people, we have resources, but most importantly we now have direction and purpose.

The reality bus is with us. We cannot have another year at the bottom, It's simple. We will be a basket case if that happens. We need to get competitive and quickly.

Absolutely agree for a myriad of reasons.

The difference between the haves and have nots is getting greater, we need to win as many games as possible next year to build confidence in sponsors, supporters etc. I think brining in experience will help the young talent on the list immensly.

A little bit of experience on each line, just watch the young kids go now. This is the first time in a long long long time that I have felt really confident in starting a new year. Just need the injury gods to stay away.

Purely hypothetical, of course, but I wonder what we would have been doing in the trade and free agency period this year if Dean Bailey was still coach. Somehow, I think it would have been a very quiet period.

Bailey would have asked the player who they wanted.

The reality bus is with us.

The bus came by and I got on

That's when it all began

There was cowboy Neeld (sic)

At the wheel

Of a bus to never-ever land

- Grateful Dead

Not sure if I mentioned this on another thread, but I heard from a reliable source (someone who may be an ex player on the radio) that he had heard that MN believes we only have 16 players who are currently up to AFL standard.

That does not mean some players on the list cannot develop, but it is blatantly obvious that he knows our list is not good enough and that we need help.

That is the reason why we have brought in the players we have. They are filling the holes we need filled and they will help with the culture and development of the young players around them.

I am extremely happy with what we have done so far and I cant wait to see how it works on the field next year.

i liked hearing Neeld say the he 'owed it' to the core of the list to recruit the best players available that could fill key roles and make the team better. I think he knows as much as the next person that we need to start winning becasue footy players are competative peple by nature and get sick of loosing year in year out

Purely hypothetical, of course, but I wonder what we would have been doing in the trade and free agency period this year if Dean Bailey was still coach. Somehow, I think it would have been a very quiet period.

Pretty simple, he would have rubbed his hands together at the prospect of getting 3 first round draft picks. He would also keep the faith with Morton, Petterd, Bennell et al and bow out of the draft after the Viney F/S pick.

We may have tried to get someone with FA, but with second rate development staff and no vision to offer they'd have told us to get stuffed.

If we only have 16 core players we have now added 3 more makes 19

We are allowed a list of 40 so we need to drop or turn over 21 players Add Ray and Pederson we need to find/develop 19

Wont happen in 1 season

There are at least 12 need to go this year. Gee i hope they get it right

Neeld and FD are on the right track i think They deserve our full support and they certainly have mine

How this club gave Bailey another year is beyond me I hope those responsible are either gone or have learned some serious lessons

Not sure if I mentioned this on another thread, but I heard from a reliable source (someone who may be an ex player on the radio) that he had heard that MN believes we only have 16 players who are currently up to AFL standard.

That does not mean some players on the list cannot develop, but it is blatantly obvious that he knows our list is not good enough and that we need help.

That is the reason why we have brought in the players we have. They are filling the holes we need filled and they will help with the culture and development of the young players around them.

I am extremely happy with what we have done so far and I cant wait to see how it works on the field next year.

He is more positive than me I thought we only had about 12 at the end of August

Thank you nutbean for saying that because I was a couple of merlots away from going into a screen melting rant. I will rant a little but not as much as I might have.

If one keeps their ear to the ground, they will know the word going around about our club isn't a good one. From stuff posted on message boards which can be a little dubious to people with connections to AFL footballers which I trust a bit more, we are perceived as soft on the field and party boys off it. This clearly indicates a lack of leadership as someone, ANYONE, should be there to show these blokes how it's done and what to do to aid in your recovery.

We finally get two blokes who, while they probably not win a Brownlow or a Coleman medal, are regarded at their former clubs as having leadership qualities and possessing great work ethics. Two things we have lacked at this club probably since Garry Lyon, Jim Stynes and Todd Viney retired. What do some of the posters on here say? The usual bollocks about 'Spuds' and whatever hackneyed cliches they can wheel out. I know! Let's get some skinny 17 year olds in again, let them sit in neutral for a few years whilst we coddle them with talk of how they will be 'the next power of the AFL' and then turn feral when this kind of indulgent, pie in the sky thinking has failed to turn them into the second coming of Leigh Matthews.

Dawes and Byrnes are not a magic bullet by any means. They are the start of trying to get players into the club who will hopefully make it more accountable. I hope they know what they are getting into. The contrast between their old homes and what they are walking into now might surprise them.

Edited October 17, 201212 yr by Guest

Going to be some very serious competition for many spots now. The bar's been lifted. Itl be beyond some and for others a goal.

More wheat Will be sorted, more chaff moved on.

A good mate and inspired observer commented (albeit after a few Shirazs) " get this lot going and you just leaped over Port,Doggies,Roos ....should find yourselves playing up around under the 8 next year. If Clarko and Dawes can click and you can win and USE the ball in the middle, at least evens, you ought to worry a lot of teams.

You might even become interesting to watch"

Well heres hoping

Purely hypothetical, of course, but I wonder what we would have been doing in the trade and free agency period this year if Dean Bailey was still coach. Somehow, I think it would have been a very quiet period.

Bailey would have seen Barry being a talented skinny kid expected to go in late round 2 - 3 of the draft and then taken him at pick #4 instead of working out a trade for him

Going to be some very serious competition for many spots now. The bar's been lifted. Itl be beyond some and for others a goal.

More wheat Will be sorted, more chaff moved on.

A good mate and inspired observer commented (albeit after a few Shirazs) " get this lot going and you just leaped over Port,Doggies,Roos ....should find yourselves playing up around under the 8 next year. If Clarko and Dawes can click and you can win and USE the ball in the middle, at least evens, you ought to worry a lot of teams.

You might even become interesting to watch"

Well heres hoping

I'm really looking forward to watching more quarters of footy next year.

"Going to be some very serious competition for many spots now. The bar's been lifted. Itl be beyond some and for others a goal.

More wheat Will be sorted, more chaff moved on."

I agree 100% belzebub59. For the first time in a long time we have players having to work hard to get into the 22, and even harder to stay in it.

We have a lot of people able to play down back and now at leat 6 who can play forward.

The next step is to develop 8-10 who can rotate through the midfield and play at 4 quarter consistent AFL standard. We might not get the midfield up to speed in 2013 but then again who knows? But what it does mean is that players like Viney, Jones, Trengove, Grimes, McKenzie, Sylvia, Blease, Bail and maybe also Gysberts and Barry have got to out-do each other at training, in the VFL, and/or the AFL to stay in the side.

It feels a but like the early days of Yze, Rigoni, Leoncelli, Glen Lovett, etc... actually it feels better than those days. But again - the proof will be in the 2013 season.

I'm really looking forward to watching more quarters of footy next year.

at that rate you'll be able to watch a whole game by 2016!

I bet Jonesy is stoked to have another big forward to aim at after he has busted his gut winning the ball.

For the first time in a long time we have players having to work hard to get into the 22, and even harder to stay in it.

Can I correct this - there will be more competition for spots -add to that, for the first time in a long time we have a coach who will make players work harder to get into the 22, and even harder to stay in it.

(could you imagine a Bailey or Daniher dropping Green, Moloney, Sylvia or Davey ?)

Can I correct this - there will be more competition for spots -add to that, for the first time in a long time we have a coach who will make players work harder to get into the 22, and even harder to stay in it.

(could you imagine a Bailey or Daniher dropping Green, Moloney, Sylvia or Davey ?)

Green, Moloney and Davey were a smidge younger then nutbean.

But no it is hard to see bailey droping anyone who was not injured

at that rate you'll be able to watch a whole game by 2016!

Looking forward to not turning off the tele after 3 qtr time.

By 2016 I'll be watching finals, if not before.

4 year?

By the end of the this daft we would have 3 top 10 picks ( 1 which can't start till 2014 )

I don't see any other club a part from GWS getting that.

4 years looks pretty good to me, all the player we have been drafting over the past 4 years will hopfully start playing to there potential.

People are talking about how we may or may not be paying overs for players, the MFC was in a position which needed to be fixed and if throwing money at players fixes the problem I'm happy with it if we get the correct players.

What's the use of asking members/supporters to put into a war chest if ur not going to use it, why pay contracts front ended if u don't need to?

We were in a position where we needed experience and we had saved the money to get these players.

I for one am a very exited dee's member! Well done so far MFC now the players need do their part!

There's incredulity from some areas about what we're achieving / achieved to date. For some without a piece of silverware on the mantle to immediately verify our decisions then its apparently all doom and gloom.

The only way to understand how good bad or otherwise the recent movements around the club are is to view them as history. We cant, yet.

This club needed one almighty kick up its posterior, as well some might say a good smack around the head , in order to awake from its pending demise and then pull free of its slumber.

We've done this, yet thats still not enough for some. I reckon some here would bemoan having to share 1st div lotto !!

No ones kidding themselves, weve a long way to go but unless you have the people and the tools youre wasting your time.

We HAVE the people, we have resources, but most importantly we now have direction and purpose.

HEAR HEAR , SPOT ON

When I first started work I entered a system where promotion on merit had just replaced promotion by seniority...and there were grumblings. In the late 1980s, governments were using the phrase "affirmative action" to explain strategies to redress gender imbalance and increase female participation in senior roles...and there were grumblings. In 2012 the MFC arguably "pays overs" for particular talent...and there are grumblings.

The first two examples paid off. Whether the third will remains to be seen - but if you want to make cultural change, if you want to do more than stand still, you have to do more than exchanging like for like.