CHASING TIGER TAIL

[jazza 1,323]

dont know how many posters here have played footy.but here goes

its not often in a game you get a chance to hold the footy in hand without preasure.

jordie gets it 60 out and were 23 points down and confidence is building in within the club. this may be getting better

2 players outside to his right others streaming forward , go back enjoy the easy offload yahoooooo

ooops under 12 error, not a kicking error. its simple

dont worry i seldom knock any player for a skill error, unfortunately this wasnt. it was a never good for this level error

we understand neeld is making use of the list availablefor the moment. and hopefully with this rebuild we will not play under skilled players again

so im afraid jordie your papers are marked as soon as we have suitable list coverage

[Guest]

Are you stupid or something?

He said when he got here, that he wants us to become the Hardest team to play against.. He has a 3 Yr contract. So that to me said he is using his 3 Yrs, to try to build this team into "the Hardest Team to Play Against"... hopefully all going well by the end of 2014...

Not 6 months after he has just cleaned out the Rot that has been eating away at the clubs development.

We are 2 Pre seasons into an elite fitness program which they've previously said would take 3 Pre seasons to get up to an AFL standard...Not the best AFL standard, just the average AFL standard...

I think you just Read, or Hear what you want to, to suit your own agenda... & that seems to be to sabotage what we have just started to build. you & others have continually rumoured that the players don't like Neeld & won't play for him... I'm yet to witness such a thing.

..... I've seen the young kids capitulate this year under pressure, & become overwhelmed thru a lack of more mature bodies, experience, & maturity....

But I have Not seen Once, any player who appears to not play for the coach!

Some are seeing things they don't like (capitulation) & then labeling that as something else that its Not.

In a 3 yr plan, you have many stages to get thru,,,, & this club hasn't been at all good for maybe 15 Years, at the contested ball & clearances.... this is competativeness. & it comprises many things to achieve it.

Stronger bodies & with greater endurance, to be able to maintain strength for longer, & to get to as many contests as possible before rotating. this would help don't you think, in winning the stoppages & one on ones? & generally being more competitive.

As well as a willingness to put the head over the footy, & to go when its your turn... I suppose you want Bennell & Morton back... as well. no, we are heading in the right track, finally. But some just can't see things taking shape until It bangs them in the forehead.

Well at least you came up with a coherent argument this time. I didn't appreciate the 'Are you stupid?' line but at least I got something along the lines of 'We are 2 years into a three year plan' instead of your usual Grandpa Simpson style posts that make little sense to all but a few. But in regards to your allegation that I want to sabotage all the good work we have done, I must confess. I really am Boris Badenov from the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons. Myself, Natasha and Fearless leader are using this website to convince the MFC to get Cale and Jamie back. I think Jack Viney and Mitch Clark should be adequate compensation for the Eagles to get them back to AAMI Park.

Put frankly, I can buy the 3 year plan bit but what I'm struggling to come to grips with is the lack of an upside thus far. Other clubs who have done this tend to show modest improvements by year 2 and onwards, rather than go backwards. Think Hawthorn 2006. Think Geelong 2002. Think of Richmond now. I was of the opinion that Neeldy needed to burn the village down to save it but it seems he has just burnt the village down. What helped me come to grips with the putrid football was that I felt that the coach and players needed time to get used to each other, that the injury list needed to be reduced and we needed one more preseason together. At times this year, we have had a close to full strength squad on the park and we still get flogged.

I would have thought that one life lesson you should have learnt by now is that you don't judge people on what they say, judge them on what they do. We can talk about what we intend on doing or we can actually go out and do it. 33 less tackles than a 3rd year club (albeit one on the improve)? 7 players without a tackle? They were overwhelmed by a lack of mature bodies vs. GCS? Give me a break. They couldn't give a toss last week pure and simple. I could have bought that argument today if we got pantsed by Richmond but against GCS? No way. Today made the week before an even more bitter pill to swallow as they can actually play to an acceptable level but pick and choose when they want to play. He wants us to become the hardest team to play against? At the moment, we are merely the hardest team to watch.

I also find it pretty funny that this is coming from the bloke who constantly pours scorn on Neale Daniher for daring to give us 6 years of finals in 9 and a bit seasons by saying that we were happy with mediocrity and then wants to build a statue for Mark Neeld for delivering (until now) 2 seasons of absolute shizer.

Edited May 20, 2013 by Guest

[The Chazz 4,077]

dont know how many posters here have played footy.but here goes

its not often in a game you get a chance to hold the footy in hand without preasure.

jordie gets it 60 out and were 23 points down and confidence is building in within the club. this may be getting better

2 players outside to his right others streaming forward , go back enjoy the easy offload yahoooooo

ooops under 12 error, not a kicking error. its simple

dont worry i seldom knock any player for a skill error, unfortunately this wasnt. it was a never good for this level error

we understand neeld is making use of the list availablefor the moment. and hopefully with this rebuild we will not play under skilled players again

so im afraid jordie your papers are marked as soon as we have suitable list coverage

Are you talking about the smothered kick in the last quarter? If so, is that the same one that is smothered by the Richmond guy running past, which in fact should've been a 50m penalty to us as that guy wasn't standing the mark and was in Jordie's "space" prior to him playing on.

[binman 38,754]

I could see Chris Dawes becoming a senior coach in about 10 years time. He's a great communicator, a great leader and seems to have a very good understanding of the game. I understand he has coaching ambitions, so it would be great to see it.

Who was the last Melbourne player to become a senior coach, by the way?

What about Dawes for captain coach?

[[email protected] 101]

At this stage, I'd much rather Sellar to Tommy Mac.

Game was exciting, albeit frustrating. Was good to see some effort though

Side note: Dustin Martin is the biggest [censored] in the AFL. Couldn't handle copping abuse from us behind the goals when he was fighting with Dunn, so started pointing at the scoreboard. Well done, champion, you beat Melbourne by half of what an expansion team did; how about focusing on playing four quarters of football, and not finishing ninth.

Richmond are soft.

Why waste your breath on him ?? He is an OBVIOUS "[censored]" and the only person who apparently doesn't know it is Dustin Martin himself.. !!

[jazza 1,323]

Are you talking about the smothered kick in the last quarter? If so, is that the same one that is smothered by the Richmond guy running past, which in fact should've been a 50m penalty to us as that guy wasn't standing the mark and was in Jordie's "space" prior to him playing on.

yes it is

dont sugarcoat it, its jordie

nice kid terrific family

not in the realms of being top 22

3 most important ingredients for footy

1, skill, it can be improved with LOTS of hard work

2, gutz. you cant shovel gutz into a coward

3, decision making. can be improved

jordie has 2 covered, but im afraid 1 and 3 completely devoid in his game and not improved and never will.

[Guest]

yes it is

dont sugarcoat it, its jordie

nice kid terrific family

not in the realms of being top 22

3 most important ingredients for footy

1, skill, it can be improved with LOTS of hard work

2, gutz. you cant shovel gutz into a coward

3, decision making. can be improved

jordie has 2 covered, but im afraid 1 and 3 completely devoid in his game and not improved and never will.

I tend to agree. We will never be a good team while we carry both Jordie and Rohan Bail (you could potentially also put Jimmy Magner in there but since he is a recent inclusion I won't.). All of them have a dip but at the end of the day, they just don't have the talent.

[dee-luded 2,958]

I agree many of our players simply make poor decisions with the ball in their hands

A lot panic and ball chase its like watching under 10 football because they are all trying hard but not thinking and taking time

Symptomatic is kicking into man on mark, handpassing to stationery players and turning in to traffic instead of clearing wide im sure thay all have skill(or they wouldnt be there) but cannot make good decisions in the game

this is why the team has to become settled... the team confidence & familiarity, is crucial to the composure... we haven't had much of a settled side this year with the cleanout & then the injuries to key players.

... anyone can see this is a big part of the poor form, & playing so many MFC 1st gamers together in Rnd 1, was a blunder.

I hope we can get the balance right for the tough trip west against Freo.

[dee-luded 2,958]

Well at least you came up with a coherent argument this time. I didn't appreciate the 'Are you stupid?' line but at least I got something along the lines of 'We are 2 years into a three year plan' instead of your usual Grandpa Simpson style posts that make little sense to all but a few. But in regards to your allegation that I want to sabotage all the good work we have done, I must confess. I really am Boris Badenov from the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons. Myself, Natasha and Fearless leader are using this website to convince the MFC to get Cale and Jamie back. I think Jack Viney and Mitch Clark should be adequate compensation for the Eagles to get them back to AAMI Park.

Put frankly, I can buy the 3 year plan bit but what I'm struggling to come to grips with is the lack of an upside thus far. Other clubs who have done this tend to show modest improvements by year 2 and onwards, rather than go backwards. Think Hawthorn 2006. Think Geelong 2002. Think of Richmond now. I was of the opinion that Neeldy needed to burn the village down to save it but it seems he has just burnt the village down. What helped me come to grips with the putrid football was that I felt that the coach and players needed time to get used to each other, that the injury list needed to be reduced and we needed one more preseason together. At times this year, we have had a close to full strength squad on the park and we still get flogged.

I would have thought that one life lesson you should have learnt by now is that you don't judge people on what they say, judge them on what they do. We can talk about what we intend on doing or we can actually go out and do it. 33 less tackles than a 3rd year club (albeit one on the improve)? 7 players without a tackle? They were overwhelmed by a lack of mature bodies vs. GCS? Give me a break. They couldn't give a toss last week pure and simple. I could have bought that argument today if we got pantsed by Richmond but against GCS? No way. Today made the week before an even more bitter pill to swallow as they can actually play to an acceptable level but pick and choose when they want to play. He wants us to become the hardest team to play against? At the moment, we are merely the hardest team to watch.

I also find it pretty funny that this is coming from the bloke who constantly pours scorn on Neale Daniher for daring to give us 6 years of finals in 9 and a bit seasons by saying that we were happy with mediocrity and then wants to build a statue for Mark Neeld for delivering (until now) 2 seasons of absolute shizer.

there you go again...

we are not 2 Yrs in... we are 1Yr & 8 games in... we are only just starting to get the side settled in some fashion, & are We are yet to field a full strength team. we haven't been close to a full side this year.

but you keep it up, like some sort of politician...

[stuie 7,374]

there you go again...

we are not 2 Yrs in... we are 1Yr & 8 games in... we are only just starting to get the side settled in some fashion, & are We are yet to field a full strength team. we haven't been close to a full side this year.

but you keep it up, like some sort of politician...

Actually, Neeld has been in charge for 21 months.

EVERY team is yet to field a full strength team, every team has an injury list, welcome to the AFL.

If it takes 21 months to get a team "settled" how long will it take before they can actually start playing?

[rjay 23,947]

Something is better than nothing P_Man. "Nothing" is inexcusable. It is something that should never be instructed from the coach, it should be a natural part of your game.

I'd drop Frawley for 2 weeks based on yesterday's performance. He needs to decide how much he really wants it, and how much he wants to stay at the MFC. If you don't want to work your ass off for it, then fcuk off. A senior player with a poor onfield attitude isn't going to help this team, hence why I was delighted to see Rivers leave.

I thought he was good, beat Reiwold, did his job. Difference of opinion.

[jazza 1,323]

Actually, Neeld has been in charge for 21 months.

EVERY team is yet to field a full strength team, every team has an injury list, welcome to the AFL.

If it takes 21 months to get a team "settled" how long will it take before they can actually start playing?

well he started with nuffin and then tore a hole in that nuffin

so 21 months is not unreasonable

but let this post stand long enough and the statistic family will come out of the woodwork in droves with more figures than you can shake a stick at

[Jara 1,149]

Glad to see Rivers leave?

Cheeeze

[dee-luded 2,958]

I was talking about Davey's chase on Vlastuin.

But, I feel your frustration about Chip - but, he's our biggest defender at the moment, so we cannot afford to lose him.

Me too, but I'm staying loyal to Mitch Clark

It concerns me that we continually get the 'look at me syndrome' at this club, when our players become the top of our totem pole...

this 5 Yr contract stuff is not the best way to go IMO.

too much comfort kills the hunger. Frawls, Davey, Sylvia ? we have to stamp this Out or our leaders will always resemble media Icons, instead of Football Hero's.

[iv'a worn smith 1,979]

well he started with nuffin and then tore a hole in that nuffin

so 21 months is not unreasonable

but let this post stand long enough and the statistic family will come out of the woodwork in droves with more figures than you can shake a stick at

So the MFC is unique? Unlike any other team in the AFL, we are immune from scrutinising the coach, because of a set of reasons, which no other AFL club has or will experience.

[autocol 448]

The inefficiency of our kickouts is not the fault of the guy in the goal square. It's the fault of the 7-8 blokes who are supposed to be running to create space.

We don't need a precise laser kick to get the ball out of the defensive 50. We need a plan. Currently it involved Lynden Dunn turning it over on the 50. Something new is warranted.

[Demon Dynasty 15,679]

dont know how many posters here have played footy.but here goes

its not often in a game you get a chance to hold the footy in hand without preasure.

jordie gets it 60 out and were 23 points down and confidence is building in within the club. this may be getting better

2 players outside to his right others streaming forward , go back enjoy the easy offload yahoooooo

ooops under 12 error, not a kicking error. its simple

dont worry i seldom knock any player for a skill error, unfortunately this wasnt. it was a never good for this level error

we understand neeld is making use of the list availablefor the moment. and hopefully with this rebuild we will not play under skilled players again

so im afraid jordie your papers are marked as soon as we have suitable list coverage

Would need to see it again to know whether he came off the mark or not. At the game it looked like one of the worst pieces of football i've seen from any AFL player for a long time. But i could be wrong. As i said, need to watch the footage. Everyone around me (ie., 9 out of 10 were Toiger supporters), including our supporters were laughing at that bit of play. Sorry to JM, i wish him all the best and all, but to me he isn't an AFL footballer's bootlace. Great tryer, and gives his all but he's lost out there and i have no confidence when watching him play that we'll ever win a mid field battle, against pretty much anyone other than a few of the other bottom dwellers

Viney, Sylvia, Grimes into the mid field rotations. Trengove/McKenzie out. Trengove is lost in there as well at this point. And that's nothing to do with fitness etc. He just is.

We might luck an occasional win against the doggies or GWS on a good day but against any half decent midfield.... Until we find some extra class mid injections in the next year or so (2 or 3....hopefully 1 being Viney), IMO we are toast no matter who we're up against. I think Evans will be 1 option as a decent outside mid which is at least something. And M Jones possibly another who we can rely on after another 2 or 3 pre seasons.

2 Posts from last year pretty much sum things up from our point of view on this (Apologies to those Rangy haters out there lol)......

You may be right. It's been a long season and I, like others, am frustrated.

Okay, McKenzie can do a job as a tagger. No issue with that. Has a dip and all that. But let's for the love of christ get some blokes in there who can extract the pill and deliver with skill class to teammates. We need to pronto or this team simply won't be watchable next year.

You might dispute much of what Rangey says but he couldn't have been more spot on with regard to the mid situation

Then there's OD, he's seen it all and then some lol......

DemonWA far be for me to defend RR he is capable of doing that himself.

But I think we all have to acknowledge that the MFC has a poor list, it is no accident that we have only one geniune win and sit last on the ladder after 5 years of rebuilding the team.

That suggests to me that a large number of our team are not AFL standard.

As Dees supporters we try and find the best in our team even when it is crap.

AS you describe JM's best attribute is his endeavour, and you need that ingredient as an AFL football.

But against the top half dozen sides it will never make up for a lack of skill.

JM may well be a symptom of our problem

He gets a game every week!

Edited May 20, 2013 by Rusty Nails

[Ted Lasso 16,919]

Taking our injuries and interrupted pre seasons to key player into account, when we play like we did against the tigers, are we ahead of the Bulldogs and gold coast?

[Guest]

there you go again...

we are not 2 Yrs in... we are 1Yr & 8 games in... we are only just starting to get the side settled in some fashion, & are We are yet to field a full strength team. we haven't been close to a full side this year.

but you keep it up, like some sort of politician...

1 year and 8 games in/into our second year. That's just a semantic game you are playing. And you call me a politician?

BTW, I think besides Chris Dawes, we have had a pretty full list to pick from.

[Theo 263]

dont know how many posters here have played footy.but here goes

its not often in a game you get a chance to hold the footy in hand without preasure.

jordie gets it 60 out and were 23 points down and confidence is building in within the club. this may be getting better

2 players outside to his right others streaming forward , go back enjoy the easy offload yahoooooo

ooops under 12 error, not a kicking error. its simple

dont worry i seldom knock any player for a skill error, unfortunately this wasnt. it was a never good for this level error

we understand neeld is making use of the list availablefor the moment. and hopefully with this rebuild we will not play under skilled players again

so im afraid jordie your papers are marked as soon as we have suitable list coverage

Neeld recently agreed to a 3 year deal for Jordie. Total incompetance in his decision-making so far.

[jazza 1,323]

So the MFC is unique? Unlike any other team in the AFL, we are immune from scrutinising the coach, because of a set of reasons, which no other AFL club has or will experience.

dont think i proposed that .

how was your weekend

the fishing is good on here today

[jazza 1,323]

Would need to see it again to know whether he came off the mark or not. At the game it looked like one of the worst pieces of football i've seen from any AFL player for a long time. But i could be wrong. As i said, need to watch the footage. Everyone around me (ie., 9 out of 10 were Toiger supporters), including our supporters were laughing at that bit of play. Sorry to JM, i wish him all the best and all, but to me he isn't an AFL footballer's bootlace. Great tryer, and gives his all but he's lost out there and i have no confidence when watching him play that we'll ever win a mid field battle, against pretty much anyone other than a few of the other bottom dwellers

Viney, Sylvia, Grimes into the mid field rotations. Trengove/McKenzie out. Trengove is lost in there as well at this point. And that's nothing to do with fitness etc. He just is.

We might luck an occasional win against the doggies or GWS on a good day but against any half decent midfield.... Until we find some extra class mid injections in the next year or so (2 or 3....hopefully 1 being Viney), IMO we are toast no matter who we're up against. I think Evans will be 1 option as a decent outside mid which is at least something. And M Jones possibly another who we can rely on after another 2 or 3 pre seasons.

2 Posts from last year pretty much sum things up from our point of view on this (Apologies to those Rangy haters out there lol)......

You might dispute much of what Rangey says but he couldn't have been more spot on with regard to the mid situation

Then there's OD, he's seen it all and then some lol......

son played against him, great kid really good footy family, it just seemed the truth to me rusty. thanks for your support

[Scipio 5,868]

As was mentioned in the telecast there still isn't enough pressure on the opposition ball carrier.

Too often Melbourne players think they are too far away to have an impact so they just jog, they need to sprint and really push to put any kind of pressure on.

Agree with this. Even if it is just token pressure, like a yell or the opposition seeing you running hard towards them, it all counts.

[iv'a worn smith 1,979]

dont think i proposed that .

how was your weekend

the fishing is good on here today

My weekend was fine, except for a few hours on Sunday afternoon. Very nice of you old chap.

[drdrake 3,045]

Not going to jump onboard the small steps band wagon after 1 half decent game against a top 8 team. The underlying concerning fact is since 2007 we can't get enough footy and enter into our forward 50m arc enough. If Richmond had kicked straight they would have broken us by half time. The back 6 were great, the front 6 scored well, the midfield was smashed. What we do at the moment is get the footy and try to hit up a leading player, usually a leading forward onto the wing, if we get possession we have to stop because there is no one forward of the footy. That wing possession should be midfielders working from behind the footy, same as when we switch, great option opening up, but we don't work to create the next possession, to me this is two thing confidence that you will be rewarded for work and confidence that we don't turn it over, we don't want to be to far from our man if we turn it over.

Yesterday the effort was there but until we gain the confidence that our team mates will execute the skills we will struggle and good teams like the three we have coming up will smash us.