PLAYING TEAMS INTO FORM

[Deecisive 1,709]

He didnt play last year because of Neeld.

wow thats awfully professional of him, so how much were we paying him per game to not put in. Even if he does not like the coach he needed to put in for the team, that he did not do, could not be counted on to help his team mates out.

[Guest]

Colin we will not win another game this year so you will have ample opportunity to be pragmatic.

Oh! and the reason the rebuild and the rebuild of the rebuild failed/will fail is because we continue to select the wrong payers at the draft and until we correct this we will wallow.

We need an independent recruiting department that will pick the best players available, to build a side that's best for the club in the long and short term not just for the current coach who may be there for one or two seasons.

What was that about not throwing a tantrum?

[Dee Fan 3,247]

What was that about not throwing a tantrum?

That's not a tantrum that's merely a fact of life, nothing I said was said in anger it was more sadness, I've given so much of my life to this club, emotionally, it hurts me to see them how they are now.

If you and TimD see that as a tantrum then so be it.

Edited April 28, 2013 by RobbieF

[Nasher 33,617]

A few disjointed thoughts:

- There were so many occasions that Brisbane would get the ball and you'd just see their blokes running in all directions. I'm definitely no guru on footy tactics, but I thought, "why the heck don't you see our guys doing that?". Even when we had the ball in our hands, our running did not match theirs. This happens a lot, and I don't understand it.

- When chasing an "in dispute" ball, I lost count of the number of times I'd see one of our players hesitate and let the opposition get the ball first, then lay a half-arsed tackle. I won't pick on anyone in particular because it happened a *lot*, and from players who I'd not expect it from. These two points seem completely psychological to me. How come when we got on a roll last week, suddenly there were MFC players running at the ball like bulls all over the place?

- We had no reliable marking targets in our forward 50. Gawn and Jamar are good for a cameo mark here and there, but they are not primary focal points. We were all high fiving each other over our tiny injury list during the week, but I think we may have forgotten to look at who was on it. I'd rather have 8 of our average mediums injured than our two best marking forwards. Dawes should be in next week anyway, thank heavens.

- Jamar looks a much better player with proper support. Perhaps he just doesn't have the engine for 90% ruck duties? I really like big Max. He moves well for someone so damn big, and does the hard stuff like chasing.

- Due to the above two points, Pedersen is redundant. At the moment he adds very little.

- Byrnes is finding his place in our side and has looked good in the last two weeks. That kick in to the man on the mark was dreadful, sure, but other than that I thought he was a positive. He has guts for a little bloke. I thought Rodan lifted after being anonymous in the first quarter too.

- I don't think we can go in to a game with both Blease and Davey - low possession "flash in the pan" players with small tanks. It looks to me like we're trying to add two half-players together to make one whole one. We can carry one as the sub, but not both. They're both only good for a quarter of football each.

All in all I didn't think it was suicide inducing stuff (unlike the Essendon game). Gee I would like to watch a game where we don't take 10 minutes off here and there though.

[Earl Hood 6,101]

Reply to Robbie F

Can we just stick to the short term this year when we get some early picks. We don't have a long term future at this rate. I dread our coming matches against the top sides, it will be embarrassing. We need to parachute in at least two hard nut midfielder/leader types next season but where they would come from and why they would come here I have no idea? I don't get paid the big bucks to work this out unlike our management. As has been pointed out our players get roughly similar pay to the Hawks and Cats players, I mean does Neeld sit them down to show them a replay of a Hawks match and the frenetic intensity in every match? What do our guys think AFL is about? We all just ask for intensity, tackle, chase, harass. That doesn't take talent just a bit of heart.

[Deecisive 1,709]

We were woeful again. Brisbane had 8 players with 20 or more possessions and 3 with 30 or more. we had 2 with more than 20, our best was terlich with 24. Opposition knows take out Jones and we have no one else. Thats the reality, everyone can talk about how lucky we are to be able to rotate grimes, Trengrove, Viney, Blease etc through the midfield reality is only Viney looks as if he is hard enough to be a sucessful, even then its going to take some time for him to get there. I hate the idea of playing Mckenzie, i like that he tries, but he is just not up to it, yes people say he stops the opposition, i personally didnt see that today. I would rather a player in there getting the ball and competing rather than have someone like mckenzie breathing down someones neck hoping to tackle them once they get it, truth was brisbane players shepherded him out or got rid of the ball before he could stop them.

Our game is VFL standard at best. How can every other team take it so easily out of the centre without us applying pressure, they have players running everywhere while our guys stand around trying to figure out what blades of grass they should be minding. Tackling was a disgrace. Grimes effort in the last quarter was a true demonstration that we do not know or at time appear interested in tackling. Players play on and run themselves into trouble then handpass to someone standing still, aka sylvia's great run down to the 50 where everyone expected him to kick it and he hand passed to a players standing still who was tackled immediately. Melbourne was truely blessed today, blessed that brisbane did not kick straight or we would have had another 10 goal loss.

[Guest]

That's not a tantrum that's merely a fact of life, nothing I said was said in anger it was more sadness, I've given so much of my life to this club, emotionally, it hurts me to see them how they are now.

If you and TimD see that as a tantrum then so be it.

Me and Tim D? I've had a go at them in the past and was as scathing as anyone in the first three weeks. I have my own set of opinions. I don't just go along with what the crowd says.

[BrisbaneDemon 1,572]

I actually just bumped into Sylvia, Jamar, Davey and Beamer at a pub in Brisbane, it was a very low key affair for the boys, just a brief catch up with their ex team mate. I was standing at the bar and they were beside me, i shook their hands and bought the boys a beer and had a brief chat with Beamer. Told him we would of loved him to be on our side today. Told me he wished he still was put these things happen (still loves the red and blue), I was very impressed with all of them were all lovely guys. You can tell Sylvia, Jamar and Davey wished he was still with us. For me today was just a reminder at how bad our senior management is, you cannot let beamer and rivers walk and then fill them with rookies. I have had enough of Melbourne expecting first years to come in and dominate. We did it with Watts,Scully and trenners and now i am reading posts of the same of Viney, Toumpas, Terlich and M.Jones. Every other team has senior players and they slowly drip feed the newbies in when their ready, not melbourne tho, we expect them to come in and dominate straight away. Then when we eat them up and spit them out with do a list cull and start all over again.

Lets hope this new CEO is all that he's cracked up to be because we all have been sold some serious lies over the past 7 years. We has the planning been? we're supposed to be a professional outfit. We'd want to get cracking or Frawley and Watts will at seasons end, then we will expect another first year to carry the load of the both of them.

[RalphiusMaximus 6,088]

For a slight change of tone, I would like to say I was thrilled with one piece of play from Watts today that didn't result in anything much. He actually crashed a pack. Didn't hold the mark, but he also didn't hold back or flinch. He came in full tilt and hurled himself into the pack and damn near had the mark. I've never seen him try it before and it's something I would love to see from him more in the future.

[jumbo returns 6,741]

For a slight change of tone, I would like to say I was thrilled with one piece of play from Watts today that didn't result in anything much. He actually crashed a pack. Didn't hold the mark, but he also didn't hold back or flinch. He came in full tilt and hurled himself into the pack and damn near had the mark. I've never seen him try it before and it's something I would love to see from him more in the future.

Exactly - and last week against GWS, he went low at a contest.

Perhaps the penny's dropped.

[jumbo returns 6,741]

I actually just bumped into Sylvia, Jamar, Davey and Beamer at a pub in Brisbane, it was a very low key affair for the boys, just a brief catch up with their ex team mate. I was standing at the bar and they were beside me, i shook their hands and bought the boys a beer and had a brief chat with Beamer. Told him we would of loved him to be on our side today. Told me he wished he still was put these things happen (still loves the red and blue), I was very impressed with all of them were all lovely guys. You can tell Sylvia, Jamar and Davey wished he was still with us. For me today was just a reminder at how bad our senior management is, you cannot let beamer and rivers walk and then fill them with rookies. I have had enough of Melbourne expecting first years to come in and dominate. We did it with Watts,Scully and trenners and now i am reading posts of the same of Viney, Toumpas, Terlich and M.Jones. Every other team has senior players and they slowly drip feed the newbies in when their ready, not melbourne tho, we expect them to come in and dominate straight away. Then when we eat them up and spit them out with do a list cull and start all over again.

Lets hope this new CEO is all that he's cracked up to be because we all have been sold some serious lies over the past 7 years. We has the planning been? we're supposed to be a professional outfit. We'd want to get cracking or Frawley and Watts will at seasons end, then we will expect another first year to carry the load of the both of them.

Plenty of workers catch up with their ex colleagues.

Sometimes, irreconcilable differences happen and both parties need to move on.

BM played a great game today, as he played some great games for the MFC.

Having said that, his contribution was always sadly lacking and limited against an A grade, seasoned midfield.

[Guest]

I actually just bumped into Sylvia, Jamar, Davey and Beamer at a pub in Brisbane, it was a very low key affair for the boys, just a brief catch up with their ex team mate. I was standing at the bar and they were beside me, i shook their hands and bought the boys a beer and had a brief chat with Beamer. Told him we would of loved him to be on our side today. Told me he wished he still was put these things happen (still loves the red and blue), I was very impressed with all of them were all lovely guys. You can tell Sylvia, Jamar and Davey wished he was still with us. For me today was just a reminder at how bad our senior management is, you cannot let beamer and rivers walk and then fill them with rookies. I have had enough of Melbourne expecting first years to come in and dominate. We did it with Watts,Scully and trenners and now i am reading posts of the same of Viney, Toumpas, Terlich and M.Jones. Every other team has senior players and they slowly drip feed the newbies in when their ready, not melbourne tho, we expect them to come in and dominate straight away. Then when we eat them up and spit them out with do a list cull and start all over again.

Lets hope this new CEO is all that he's cracked up to be because we all have been sold some serious lies over the past 7 years. We has the planning been? we're supposed to be a professional outfit. We'd want to get cracking or Frawley and Watts will at seasons end, then we will expect another first year to carry the load of the both of them.

That's something that will be quickly forgotten as soon as draft time comes around. We will be on here all ranting and raving about the next draft pick who will somehow magically cure all our ills.

I really hope that the next CEO is someone of substance. No more red and blue prints.

[BrisbaneDemon 1,572]

Plenty of workers catch up with their ex colleagues.

Sometimes, irreconcilable differences happen and both parties need to move on.

BM played a great game today, as he played some great games for the MFC.

Having said that, his contribution was always sadly lacking and limited against an A grade, seasoned midfield.

Exactly right mate, I have nothing against Beamer for leaving. His career and was completely his decision. We have all had coaches what we have loved and others that we have hated. For far to long Melbourne have had coaches but not teachers, theres a massive difference between that and for to long we have just had coaches, when will the penny drop with the boys up stairs, thats the questions? it must be coming soon.....

[Grapeviney 9,799]

For a slight change of tone, I would like to say I was thrilled with one piece of play from Watts today that didn't result in anything much. He actually crashed a pack. Didn't hold the mark, but he also didn't hold back or flinch. He came in full tilt and hurled himself into the pack and damn near had the mark. I've never seen him try it before and it's something I would love to see from him more in the future.

Better still was the grab he took backing back into the contest in the first quarter.

[RalphiusMaximus 6,088]

Better still was the grab he took backing back into the contest in the first quarter.

I was still at work in the first quarter. I only got to see the second half. I'll look forward to watching it once it's up on the AFL site.

[Jaded No More 68,974]

I love how some people are saying we've improved the last two weeks. Reality check, the quality of our opponent has declined.

Back to the thrashing reality next week against Carlton. If we lose by less than 10 goals I'll find a hat and eat it.

[monoccular 17,573]

He didnt play last year because of Neeld.

Because he didn't like the coach? Because he was asked to play a rôle that he didn't like, and wouldn't comply with instructions?

Petulant?

[dee-luded 2,959]

I want to see Pedo dropped for at least a month on the back of one disgraceful act. With Sylvia sprinting down the wing and looking certain to bring it into the 50 and take a shot, what does Pedo do? He leads right into Col's space, bringing a Brisbane player with him, and blocks a certain score. Disgraceful selfish and stupid play. The guy showed in one moment that he doesn't have two braincells to rub together. Bring Fitzy in if we want a depth forward.

he did to, I thought exactly the same thing, but this is a lack of confidence & knowing one another's games well enough.

he was moving to receive, but didn't think quick enough that Col was looking to run thru. he should have taken his opponent toward the corridor. Col could have run in toward goal for a shot.

[dee-luded 2,959]

Passenger??

Did you see the goals he kicked under pressure?

All class.

He is the best finisher in the team, and the best skilled player, and you guys want to get rid of him?

Who for Sellar?

Yeah & they were fantastic, lets drop the whole team & let watts do it then...

he's a passenger, who can't work into the team... he's stuffing the others up.. can't you see it. he's a basketballer who hasn't learnt to play football.

[monoccular 17,573]

I love how some people are saying we've improved the last two weeks. Reality check, the quality of our opponent has declined.

Back to the thrashing reality next week against Carlton. If we lose by less than 10 goals I'll find a hat and eat it.

I am sure any psychologist will agree with you - not. Going into any contest with your degree of negativity will guarantee failure.

[Damo 3,374]

Its not just a slow mid-field.

Its a bad mid-field, occasonally a hit-out would go straight into one of our players in the square. It always bounced off his head or wherever and was never gobbled up.

Having been guilty of this myself in my halcyon days(ha) it always makes me cringe. Didnt see it happen to Jones.

The other thing that is a concern is that we cant take contested one-out marks. Grimes (for example)used to be good at it. Now he often cant even spoil.

[Pates 9,660]

For a slight change of tone, I would like to say I was thrilled with one piece of play from Watts today that didn't result in anything much. He actually crashed a pack. Didn't hold the mark, but he also didn't hold back or flinch. He came in full tilt and hurled himself into the pack and damn near had the mark. I've never seen him try it before and it's something I would love to see from him more in the future.

Hopefully he'll look at it and think well I survived so I'll keep doing it. I've always thought that he's been so afraid of contact ever since that first possession v collingwood where he got crunched. If he keeps taking hits and getting up then that's a step in the right direction.

[Curry & Beer 5,444]

I love how some people are saying we've improved the last two weeks. Reality check, the quality of our opponent has declined.

Back to the thrashing reality next week against Carlton. If we lose by less than 10 goals I'll find a hat and eat it.

more brilliant, productive commentary. Anything else you would like to add for our reading pleasure.. perhaps the intimate details of your last bowel movement?

[Jaded No More 68,974]

I am sure any psychologist will agree with you - not. Going into any contest with your degree of negativity will guarantee failure.

It's a good thing I don't play for or coach Melbourne then, isn't it?

I'm not saying this is what our players should think, but our coach seems happy to lose by 5 goals so maybe you should question his mental stability.

I'll be happy to see improvement against actual teams not equally poor ones, where the most we can manage is to win a couple of quarters. Yippee. Even [censored] Gold Coast have won more quarters than us.

[Dee Fan 3,247]

Me and Tim D? I've had a go at them in the past and was as scathing as anyone in the first three weeks. I have my own set of opinions. I don't just go along with what the crowd says.

I said you and TimD because he "liked" your post and he usually does if someone has a go at me, he's a funny little fellow like that..

Never mind.

BTW, I don't go along with the crowd, I have my own set of expectations and at the moment the MFC aren't meeting them.