Several people in the media have thrown it out there. Tim Watson a big fan.

didn't you know, Watsons coming back to be his runner, & CCameron is back to be footy manager, the fagan is opposition annylist, & corcoran is boot studder.

_{Tommy Hafey. Can still do a hundred push ups in his 80's.}

at least he'll have the players fit an on their vitamins...

No dramas with The Rev coming back in Footy manager capacity but time as coach past him by IMO should have done more between 2002-06 with the list we had

Exactly, he would be a great Football manager. Always had an excellent report with the players who played their guts out for him. I doubt though that he would consider returning to us after being dumped.

We need to look at where Daniher left us when his coaching stint ended and the fact that he's been out of the coaching caper for so long.

Pass.

You're absolutely right about where he left us. It was a result of his clock idea and hanging on to players that had lost it. We all loved him but my 14 year old baby sister Isadora was picking moves that needed to be done 10 minutes before Daniher did. He never seemd to have a plan B.

You're absolutely right about where he left us. It was a result of his clock idea and hanging on to players that had lost it. We all loved him but my 14 year old baby sister Isadora was picking moves that needed to be done 10 minutes before Daniher did. He never seemd to have a plan B.

Got us to a grand final though...

Got us to a grand final though...

Prelim in 1998, Granny in 2000, Semi final in 2002, Semi final in 2006

finals in 2004, 2005

Anyone here would give their left nut to be that good again.

I love the Reverend.

I don't think that Neale left us in any more a dire situation than Rocket Eade left the Dogs ....

I view Neale as a coach who loaded up for one last reach towards the brass ring and fell short. I find that more admirable than gutting a playing list and achieving nothing of substance in the process of doing so.

Absolutely agree.

But I disagree about the semblance of a spine. Aside from Junior, the other players including Neitz were in hindsight finished in 2006. And FWIW, most of them could not consistently got on the park or had no inkling about providing protection (eg Robbo,White and Yze).

The problem with our list started with the salary cap penalties in 1999/2000 where we lost picks and then the horrendous recruiting under Cameron/Prendergast. Our facilities did not assist the development of what talent we did get.

in the Reverends last game he was given a guard of honor by both teams

This is a guy who the players loved, and who the opposition respected

Neale Daniher ?

NO NO a THOUSAND TIMES NO!!

First Northey now Daniher. Anyone suggested Balme yet?

For the record, Northey is now coaching Learmonth in the Central Highlands Football League.

Sign him up now!

Got us to a grand final though...

And somehow nowhere near a flag.

Exactly, he would be a great Football manager. Always had an excellent report with the players who played their guts out for him. I doubt though that he would consider returning to us after being dumped.

I think Darren Jolly disagrees with this. He wrote an article earlier this year (or maybe late last year) where he clearly identified the "special" treatment Daniher showed to some players over others, which lead to Jolly departing. Man, it would have been nice to have had Jolly post White wouldn't it....

Read Schwarz's book, "All bets are off" and you'll also find that he was a great nurturer of players 1 on 1.

Question has to be asked. Would you all welcome back the idea of the Rev being the coach again? made melboirne a good side to watch, good finals record, took us to a grand final wih a young team and hardly no recources and no money. Was a pretty passionate coach i still remember him flying down the stands against the dogs celebrating like he won a granny lol.

Thoughts?

YES YES & YES! Bring him back!!! Lets face it...it was only time that ran out for Neale in the end! He was a fantastic coach & motivator!

He was Melbourne through & through in the end without a doubt!

I wonder if MFC are considering it???

He gave us personality! And he gaves us a winning culture!

Bring back Neale!

I posted this a while ago and some liked the notion & some didnt....but the fact is....he got us in a granny and many finals!

He knows what it takes!

Would take him back in an heartbeat!

Absolutely agree.

But I disagree about the semblance of a spine. Aside from Junior, the other players including Neitz were in hindsight finished in 2006. And FWIW, most of them could not consistently got on the park or had no inkling about providing protection (eg Robbo,White and Yze).

The problem with our list started with the salary cap penalties in 1999/2000 where we lost picks and then the horrendous recruiting under Cameron/Prendergast. Our facilities did not assist the development of what talent we did get.

Almost agree word for word with all of this

Clarkson gave him a big rap, said he was the best coach not coaching now or words to that effect. Didn't Parkin and Walls have 2 shots at Carlton? I guess stranger things have happened.

Absolutely agree.

But I disagree about the semblance of a spine. Aside from Junior, the other players including Neitz were in hindsight finished in 2006. And FWIW, most of them could not consistently got on the park or had no inkling about providing protection (eg Robbo,White and Yze).

The problem with our list started with the salary cap penalties in 1999/2000 where we lost picks and then the horrendous recruiting under Cameron/Prendergast. Our facilities did not assist the development of what talent we did get.

I guess when I mean protection, I mean protection in the sense that some of these older blokes could carry the load but not in a physical sense per se. Robbo is a good example. If you are talking about putting your body on the line, I agree with you. However, when he left in 2009, he was still our leading goal kicker.White was playing OK when he was delisted. Why was it a case of either/or in recruiting? Either you are good or a waste of time? Whitey could have been used in a forward pocket for the last year of his career while Jamar was the number one ruckman. Of the three you mentioned, I would say Yze probably needed to move on as he had already moved from the midfield to the forward pocket and was still declining.

Yep forgot to say Clarkson did say he was gobsmacked that the ND wasnt still in the coaching caper.. think he is still one of the best coachthats not coaching. Rates him very highly. Just one thing though i dont remember Clarkson playing under ND anyway? happy to be corrected.

_{Tommy Hafey. Can still do a hundred push ups in his 80's.}

And he will probably be doing 80 pushups in his 100's...... Just saying

Daniher left us screwed list wise, he kept backing blokes that ultimately weren't up to it & his development of youngsters after 2000 & our list was pathetic. He had energy & positiveness, he got fans & 'some' of 'his' boys fired up, but he never made game day changes, we were a very offensive one way team (that's where our down hill skiing culture came from that bailey & beamer were tapping into) and he created the no Neitz, no demons forward line structure. Or how about backing Jeff Whites wishes to be sole ruckman? Ha!! Yea, lets let the inmates run the asylum, like that has ever worked to win a flag before?!?! It ruined Jeff's body and ruined out ruck stocks!!! He was an old school coach from a bygone era then, imagine now!!

I would strongly pass on him as coach, the Rev was passionate and he appears to have kicked on as a good administrator, so maybe he can help in that department. He hasn't been anywhere near a coaches box for what, 7 years now? No one hired the then president of the coaches association to coach ever again, not even as an assistant! He was elected presiden cause everyone likes him, not because he could coach!! lol He had 10 years & that young team he got to a granny not only got killed but never got back there. He got sucked into thinking he had enough to win it all with that group.

Yes, we are soo bad now that even the daniher years are seen as some sort of golden age, but for me only flags can equal a golden age, otherwise it's just more false dawns. Anyone here remember just how frustrating those 'off' years were every second season? If things didn't go just peachy for that group of players they dropped there bundle, repeatedly..... Now we just drop our bundle running out of the banner.

Also, his treatment of Schwatta was a disgrace, Schwatta was the only bloke in that gf side who kept pushing all day, he had mongrel, but daniher wanted 'nice guys'..... Then he called for them to get ruthless!! What a joke.

Also, his treatment of Schwatta was a disgrace, Schwatta was the only bloke in that gf side who kept pushing all day, he had mongrel, but daniher wanted 'nice guys'..... Then he called for them to get ruthless!! What a joke.

To be fair to ND, and I do respect what Ox has done with his life, Ox wasn't exactly the best influence around the club when Neale was coach.Ox says so pretty much in his book.

I agree to an extent about him holding on to other blokes though I would be a little bit more conciliatory.

Several people in the media have thrown it out there. Tim Watson a big fan.

And Watson has shown he knows what about successful coaching exactly? He is a romantic fool too, same school as Daniher himself, these Essendon boys stick together no matter where they are. Plus he's paid a living to talk BS that gets people like us talking....

Hell NO! was good for a while but cost us a lot of players in the long term. Wouldn't play guys like Thompson and Jolly enough which impacted on their decisions to leave. Constantly played older guys instead of younger guys. Traded picks for old washed up players.

NO CHANCE

No dramas with The Rev coming back in Footy manager capacity but time as coach past him by IMO should have done more between 2002-06 with the list we had

Okay, I'll bite. Could someone please explain to me this great list we had. We had a midfield of Rigoni, Leoncilli, Powell, Woewodin, Yze, the Macca's, etc - not sure but this doesn't scream competition elite (particularily as they mostly were in great form in differing years). Our Backs were the likes of Ingerson, Nicholson, Collins, etc - again no All Australians or close. Yes we had Neitz and fleetingly Farmer/Schwartz in the forwards, but not much else. While White was quality in the rucks, but with no support (Jolly/Jamar were not AFL standard at that period). I actually think Daniher over-achieved with the list he had.

Also there seems to be a bit of a myth about young kids not getting a run. I encourage everyone to watch the Melbourne/Carlton semi final and you might notice there is a fair component of young kids running around, like Green, Bruce, Johnstone, Ward, Walsh, etc. If you follow up the next couple of years you will see Mclean, Sylvia, Whelan, Carrol, Miller, Davey, Ferguson, etc all given games in their first or second year. Note: I actually don't believe in this train of thought, as I much prefer the Swans model of not giving "teens" games untill they have well and truly gained experience and maturity through the reserves.

Daniher did suffer from some recruiting disasters later in his reign; which meant that his overachieving average list, would fall very quickly and consquently be exposed as weak; but part of that lies with the recruitment department, some of it lies with the salary cap penalties (flow on effect) and a lot of it was just poor timing - we had high draft picks in the wrong years; there is not a lot of gold in the top 20 of 2003, but if it were 2004 then you could pretty well swap us with Hawthorn and in all likilhood Daniher would be a premiership coach

My two cents - Loved Daniher as a coach and a clubman. Since he got the boot, where have we gone? If (and I say if, I don't know that it is the right thing to do) Neeld got the sack, why not bring in Daniher as a caretaker and try him out. Loved his passion too - great to see someone get excited about the club instead of the poker faced 'handball' Bailey. He made you feel like he actually cared if we won or lost. Something we miss lately.