I think the problem has to lie with the midfield and not the defense. If not for our defense on Sunday we would have lost by 10+ goals. We can say it's the disposal out of defense that is the problem, but I believe the problem is that our midfield and half forward line are not moving into space and/or don't have the awareness to position themselves properly in cases where we do switch the ball. It's the second kick out of the back line, into the middle of he ground where we get caught, and we are often kicking to a contest rather then getting it to guys in space. Thus why I think we turn the ball over so much.

If Richmond had have kicked straight we might have lost by 10 goals anyway, the biggest issue we have is we get belted in inside 50's, possessions and stoppage clearances, we actually matched them for centre clearances which surprised me.

lots of turnovers between half back and half forward that is quite literally costing us games, no composure with the ball, being more worried about tackling as opposed to being first to the ball and making them chase and tackle.

Rocket stuck up for us with the quip "so we should cut Melbourne some slack?"

Yeah, I really liked that. Maybe I read too much into it. But, I just got the impression that both Rocket and Bomber (as former senior coaches) can better understand where the MFC is currently at. And, it aint necessarily where the doom & gloom mongerers have us.

Yeah, I really liked that. Maybe I read too much into it. But, I just got the impression that both Rocket and Bomber (as former senior coaches) can better understand where the MFC is currently at. And, it aint necessarily where the doom & gloom mongerers have us.

no you didnt vagg

it takes 3 years to instigate change of fitness regime, team rules, gameplans, and mindset, this was stated by both

we are on the right track the positives show up more and more every week

the want it now posters dont seem too understand the implications of our recent list history and the rebuilding of the current and future list.the FD has a job to do and thier doing it the RIGHT way for once

no you didnt vagg

it takes 3 years to instigate change of fitness regime, team rules, gameplans, and mindset, this was stated by both

we are on the right track the positives show up more and more every week

the want it now posters dont seem too understand the implications of our recent list history and the rebuilding of the current and future list.the FD has a job to do and thier doing it the RIGHT way for once

My biggest issue is that team rule #1 should be give 110% effort at all times while representing MFC, when this fundamental is lacking you know there are serious issues, i would consider the constant negative press to be a very big distraction but lacking effort does not help anything.

Edited May 21, 201312 yr by Demonfan26

My biggest issue is that team rule #1 should be give 110% effort at all times while representing MFC, when this fundamental is lacking you know there are serious issues, i would consider the constant negative press to be a very big distraction but lacking effort does not help anything.

effort is not a team rule

its a must carried by any person that walks on a footy ground

thats why teams coaches and admin never talk about it

its just a simple credo that every footballer has, those that dont quickly fall out of the system

dont mix this up with the fd problems, they will weed out whats not needed, dont panic

effort is not a team rule

its a must carried by any person that walks on a footy ground

thats why teams coaches and admin never talk about it

its just a simple credo that every footballer has, those that dont quickly fall out of the system

dont mix this up with the fd problems, they will weed out whats not needed, dont panic

we have alot of weeding to do in that case, we lost to gold coast by 10 goals because our effort wasn't AFL standard, i'd say that's something the coaches and admin would be talking about quite abit

we have alot of weeding to do in that case, we lost to gold coast by 10 goals because our effort wasn't AFL standard, i'd say that's something the coaches and admin would be talking about quite abit

yep

they are doing it and good FDs will make the right decisions when the time comes

at least people care about us

the Dogs have have been going as bad as us and nobody gives a [censored] about them to comment on it

We are now six years into the cycle Dr. and we are worse now than six years ago.

I would not call that quick would you?

1) They still have to be good players who can develop into consistent AFL players

2) Most of our midfield hasn't been around 6 years except Jones & Grimes. This is Trengove & McKenzies 4th season but guys like Viney, Toumpas, Matt Jones, Magner, Evans etc have only been around 1-2 years. We will clearly need to add more midfielders over the next 2 drafts (and hopefully at least one through FA/drafting) but if these guys are good enough the wheel will turn quickly for us if we can keep our KPP stocks (Clark, Dawes, Hogan, Frawley, McDonald) together.

The midfield is by far the biggest problem on our list made more evident when you go through the players one by one - we have a lot of "flankers" but not many guys who you would have confidence in running through the middle (Blease, Nicholson, Strauss etc etc)

no you didnt vagg

it takes 3 years to instigate change of fitness regime, team rules, gameplans, and mindset, this was stated by both

we are on the right track the positives show up more and more every week

the want it now posters dont seem too understand the implications of our recent list history and the rebuilding of the current and future list.the FD has a job to do and thier doing it the RIGHT way for once

Not quite, I think you will find that Thompson also said you need to win games.

Rocket stuck up for us with the quip "so we should cut Melbourne some slack?"

Doesn't mean much.

He's just angling for Neeld's job.

Dogs have a worse record then us since mid 2012 (hard to believe)

I'd still reckon the dogs would be favorite for our game in rd 14?? haha

footscray have won one more game than us since the beginning of the 2011 season - very much under the radar

footscray have won one more game than us since the beginning of the 2011 season - very much under the radar

they are under the radar as they as fans accept that they are in a rebuild phase and are willing for the long run. if the bulldogs supporters bood their team off the ground or sat at the runway and hurled abuse or waved a white flag during matches then they would be in the spotlight aswell. The media knows when they get a reaction they sell papers, and we as fans give a reaction, not all of us, just the "passionate" or "stupid" ones however you look at it

they are under the radar as they as fans accept that they are in a rebuild phase and are willing for the long run. if the bulldogs supporters bood their team off the ground or sat at the runway and hurled abuse or waved a white flag during matches then they would be in the spotlight aswell. The media knows when they get a reaction they sell papers, and we as fans give a reaction, not all of us, just the "passionate" or "stupid" ones however you look at it

They made several prelims in a row only a couple of years ago we've been in the bottom 4 or so for 7 years.

They made several prelims in a row only a couple of years ago we've been in the bottom 4 or so for 7 years.

this is true, but i would almost suggest that their list is in a bit more trouble than ours, with players like boyd, cooney, murphy, giansiracusa being on their last legs and having no real key forward (liam jones) whereas we have potentially got 3 (dawes, clark, hogan, fitzy)

i agree we havent played finals, but also fans were supporting the "tanking" we implemented in earlier years and even though neeld says we are in a rebuilding phase this doesnt stop supporters from having their expectations up.

at the end of the day, over the past 30 odd matches the bulldogs have been just as poor as melbourne, recruiting wise melbourne have had a few wins with mitch clark and chris dawes, although they have two cornerstone midfielders in wallis and liberatore, it could be seen that we are slowly starting to get games into our mids aswell.

the bottom line, my whole arguement is the fact that melbourne supporters, rightly or wrongly, arent patient, this is acceptable because we have been down the bottom for so long, but at the end of the day neeld is a new coach, transforming a list and developing young midfielders, i am not saying that we shouldnt be out weekly giving it a red hot crack, like we have against carlton, richmond, west coast for a half, but if the supporters actually supported the new system and the rebuild i think the media would ease up

this is true, but i would almost suggest that their list is in a bit more trouble than ours, with players like boyd, cooney, murphy, giansiracusa being on their last legs and having no real key forward (liam jones) whereas we have potentially got 3 (dawes, clark, hogan, fitzy)

i agree we havent played finals, but also fans were supporting the "tanking" we implemented in earlier years and even though neeld says we are in a rebuilding phase this doesnt stop supporters from having their expectations up.

at the end of the day, over the past 30 odd matches the bulldogs have been just as poor as melbourne, recruiting wise melbourne have had a few wins with mitch clark and chris dawes, although they have two cornerstone midfielders in wallis and liberatore, it could be seen that we are slowly starting to get games into our mids aswell.

the bottom line, my whole arguement is the fact that melbourne supporters, rightly or wrongly, arent patient, this is acceptable because we have been down the bottom for so long, but at the end of the day neeld is a new coach, transforming a list and developing young midfielders, i am not saying that we shouldnt be out weekly giving it a red hot crack, like we have against carlton, richmond, west coast for a half, but if the supporters actually supported the new system and the rebuild i think the media would ease up

I think it's because of that list it could be said that they are in better shape. They have quality senior players to lead the way.

Having said that I think our list is under performing.

I think it's because of that list it could be said that they are in better shape. They have quality senior players to lead the way.

Having said that I think our list is under performing.

for this year their list could be in better shape, but for a 2-3 year look i feel that our list is in better shape if we are able to keep our defenders and keep our forwards, having said that i would be very happy to have a liberatore or wallis in our midfield