From 2007 to 2009 we were armed with the type of draft picks you can completely rebuild a list with.

10 top 20 draft picks in three years. Of course there are no guarantees but surely you can at least secure a few stars with that draft bounty.

Out of those 10 picks 8 have been failures. One has been a success (Grimes) and the other may or may not be (Trengove). Of the others Morton, Maric, Gysberts and Scully are gone, Tapscott, Blease and Strauss may join them this year and Watts has been an enormous disappointment.

How can you have a 20% (or less) success rate with so many high picks? It's absolutely baffling and it's one of the key reasons why we are where we are.

Watching us yesterday handle and use the ball like it was a pineapple just makes you shake your head at what could have been had we made the right decisions back then. Instead of a clutch of talented 23-24 year olds we are left with a gaping hole and a group of battlers who are not up to it.

As loyal supporters of this club we have been robbed.

I believe that we have had over 20 (22 rings a bell ) top 20 draft picks since 2007

How many of those have gone on with it We have wasted the opportunities presented to us

the question is why ?

Under what criteria would you call Trengove or Grimes failures? No doubt they've been disappointing but they do not belong in the same bucket as Morton, Strauss, Tapscott, Blease, Gysberts, Cook et al. They can, have and do play AFL standard football.

I beg to differ Nash.IMO The may have at some time but not consistently enough. They are a part of the senior problems at this club and what they have taught the younger players and developed the culture

WTF?

McDonald was good today. Without his spoils today we would've gone down by six more goals.

I would be giving Garland a hard time before Tom.

Thinking back now with a clear head, Garland was and has been horrible, probly abit rough on mcdonald..

Did anyone else notice we got smashed off the line when brisbanes fwds lead?

From 2007 to 2009 we were armed with the type of draft picks you can completely rebuild a list with.

10 top 20 draft picks in three years. Of course there are no guarantees but surely you can at least secure a few stars with that draft bounty.

Out of those 10 picks 8 have been failures. One has been a success (Grimes) and the other may or may not be (Trengove). Of the others Morton, Maric, Gysberts and Scully are gone, Tapscott, Blease and Strauss may join them this year and Watts has been an enormous disappointment.

How can you have a 20% (or less) success rate with so many high picks? It's absolutely baffling and it's one of the key reasons why we are where we are.

Watching us yesterday handle and use the ball like it was a pineapple just makes you shake your head at what could have been had we made the right decisions back then. Instead of a clutch of talented 23-24 year olds we are left with a gaping hole and a group of battlers who are not up to it.

As loyal supporters of this club we have been robbed.

I believe that we have had over 20 (22 rings a bell ) top 20 draft picks since 2007

How many of those have gone on with it We have wasted the opportunities presented to us

the question is why ?

Under what criteria would you call Trengove or Grimes failures? No doubt they've been disappointing but they do not belong in the same bucket as Morton, Strauss, Tapscott, Blease, Gysberts, Cook et al. They can, have and do play AFL standard football.

I beg to differ Na

I remember about a decade ago now, Craig Cameron spent some time on 'land rubbing shoulders with the fans, and one of the things he discussed was how 'success' was measured in the recruiting field. One of the things back then was number of games played - which produced funny results like calling Aaron Fiora a success. By this measure, Grimes 85 games makes him a clearly successful pick.

Again, that's not to say that he hasn't been disapointing in my ways, but if people want to argue that Grimes has not been a sucessful draft pick, I'm very interested to hear what clear, measurable, repeatable metric they are using to measure it.

Well Craig Cameron obviously is using the wrong criteria That would make many under performers successful.

When did Grimes or Treeners really take the game on and make a difference, had real impact, won the game, lead his fellow players ?

Never in my opinion they are journey men players

sh.IMO The may have at some time but not consistently enough. They are a part of the senior problems at this club and what they have taught the younger players and developed the culture

When did Grimes or Treeners really take the game on and make a difference, had real impact, won the game, lead his fellow players ?

Never in my opinion they are journey men players

sh.IMO The may have at some time but not consistently enough. They are a part of the senior problems at this club and what they have taught the younger players and developed the culture

Grimes basically won a game for us versus WCE early on.

After watching yesterdays game and having endured the last eight years I am very close to the end.

Not only are we still losing 90% of the time but the games are next to impossible to watch.

I don't have that many years left on this planet.

I am wonder why I should waste heart beats any longer on the MFC.

Because you heart beats true for the red and the blue. It's not getting any easier is it? My optimism meter is rapidly falling below the midway point. I hope the season ends soon so I can reset to the pre-season default of glorious, unbridled enthusiasm for how much better it's going to be next year.

Because you heart beats true for the red and the blue. It's not getting any easier is it? My optimism meter is rapidly falling below the midway point. I hope the season ends soon so I can reset to the pre-season default of glorious, unbridled enthusiasm for how much better it's going to be next year.

Now I know things are really crap Reverend when you are wavering.

Might go and have a banana.

There is nothing wrong with the game plan. It is the woeful state of a list that can't execute the basic skills to employ it or any other game plan. I expect if we had our two primary key targets we could at least bail out long to Clark and Hogan but since they played zero games between them thats not the option. Any one that thinks we haven't improved is kidding themselves but unfortunately we have too many NQR's on our list to carry. No losses over 100 points (although that could change this weekend) and 7 losses where we have led in the last quarter is testament to that but there is another major cull and some correct decisions required at end of year to get us moving forward.

The weekend was appalling but I think some people here seriously got ahead of themselves.

Edited August 4, 201410 yr by big_red_fire_engine

If getting ahead of ourselves means expecting players to kick 10 metre goals, hit targets 15 metres away and not handball to players feet then I'm guilty. The Lionswere younger and more inexperienced than us and yet we looked to be the rookies.

It was a lazy, brain dead performance and as fans we have every right to be angry about it.

There is nothing wrong with the game plan. It is the woeful state of a list that can't execute the basic skills to employ it or any other game plan. I expect if we had our two primary key targets we could at least bail out long to Clark and Hogan but since they played zero games between them thats not the option. Any one that thinks we haven't improved is kidding themselves but unfortunately we have too many NQR's on our list to carry. No losses over 100 points (although that could change this weekend) and 7 losses where we have led in the last quarter is testament to that but there is another major cull and some correct decisions required at end of year to get us moving forward.

The weekend was appalling but I think some people here seriously got ahead of themselves.

I think most on here would agree with you Big Red. However, accepting our yawning deficiencies, is it getting ahead of yourself to expect commitment at the very least.? These guys are professional footballers, albeit many who are not up to it, but it is there job to get the job done nonetheless. I can accept being beaten because we are simply not good enough, but I can't accept people who just don't have the stomach for the job at hand.

If getting ahead of ourselves means expecting players to kick 10 metre goals, hit targets 15 metres away and not handball to players feet then I'm guilty. The Lionswere younger and more inexperienced than us and yet we looked to be the rookies.

It was a lazy, brain dead performance and as fans we have every right to be angry about it.

My God chook you have high expectations.

There is nothing wrong with the game plan. It is the woeful state of a list that can't execute the basic skills to employ it or any other game plan. I expect if we had our two primary key targets we could at least bail out long to Clark and Hogan but since they played zero games between them thats not the option. Any one that thinks we haven't improved is kidding themselves but unfortunately we have too many NQR's on our list to carry. No losses over 100 points (although that could change this weekend) and 7 losses where we have led in the last quarter is testament to that but there is another major cull and some correct decisions required at end of year to get us moving forward.

The weekend was appalling but I think some people here seriously got ahead of themselves.

I agree 100% with the first paragraph. Very well said.

I disagree with the last line though, I don't think it is getting ahead of yourself being absolutely appalled by what was dished up yesterday.

Supporters have every right to be disgusted by the skill errors and mistakes that plagued yesterday's performance. I watched five games this weekend and ours was so far below the standard of the others it was like watching another sport.

Surely at a bare minimum you should expect a reasonable level of skill to be executed by elite professional footballers against very poor opposition. We didn't even come close to being reasonable.

I agree 100% with the first paragraph. Very well said.

I disagree with the last line though, I don't think it is getting ahead of yourself being absolutely appalled by what was dished up yesterday.

Supporters have every right to be disgusted by the skill errors and mistakes that plagued yesterday's performance. I watched five games this weekend and ours was so far below the standard of the others it was like watching another sport.

Surely at a bare minimum you should expect a reasonable level of skill to be executed by elite professional footballers against very poor opposition. We didn't even come close to being reasonable.

I was appalled yesterday but its the same players making the same skill errors they made last year (Riley and Vince aside who had a couple of shockers). I would hope they would improve but if not they will be moved on and hopefully better decisions will be made with what is brought in and how they are developed.

By getting ahead I mean the level of our improvement this year and references that we are not any better. We are a lot better, just coming from very far back.

Edited August 4, 201410 yr by big_red_fire_engine

The players will go before the game plan does, that needs to remain constant because the side will improve their scoring as they understand the game plan more and more, but it has done exactly what it was intended to do and that's dramatically reduce the scored against stat, when Hogan comes In and the midfield naturally progresses and the team gains more and more of an understanding of the plan it will become autonomous and we will see significant improvement in all area's of our game.

expect a big clean out and an aggressive and clearly focused recruiting plan for the offseason and a much improved side again in 2015

Travelled the length of the country to watch what I hoped would be a solid effort, if not a win. How disappointing. One of the things I took out of the day was the resilience of the members. The members who continue to pay up and show up after being kicked in the teeth for so long are truly remarkable.

Travelled the length of the country to watch what I hoped would be a solid effort, if not a win. How disappointing. One of the things I took out of the day was the resilience of the members. The members who continue to pay up and show up after being kicked in the teeth for so long are truly remarkable.

I think you might find a large number are getting very close to the end Jack it.

a large percentage are running out of years and are not being replaced.

Member appreciation is very much a vital part of our clubs position. I think that the access, for all members, to The Victory Room, George Stone, Christian Salem and Jesse Hogan yesterday was a very good idea. A free drink was given with every meal purchased. Meals and drinks were reasonably priced. Access to the room was available before, during and after. However, not many people took advantage of this for some reason.

I think you might find a large number are getting very close to the end Jack it.

a large percentage are running out of years and are not being replaced.

you will drown in those speech bubbles, OD

you will drown in those speech bubbles, OD

Does not alter the actual robbie some of us are in the final quarter.

Holy [censored]... Merret no suspension...apparently legitimate attempt to spoil.

Does not alter the actual robbie some of us are in the final quarter.

my mother's 92, going well, very positive outlook, laughs a lot and learning all the time.

Plenty of time-on in the real game, OD...

my mother's 92, going well, very positive outlook, laughs a lot and learning all the time.

Plenty of time-on in the real game, OD...

And the longer you hang on, the sooner that miracle breakthrough will come when everyone lives to be 150. So we have many more years of watching Melbourne not win Premierships yet.

See Martin got 10/10 coaches votes. FMD - so much for Jamars per match rhetoric. Typical.

See Martin got 10/10 coaches votes. FMD - so much for Jamars per match rhetoric. Typical.

cheer up, at least we have Jake Spencer

How many times do we have to watch a player leave us and then tear us apart.

been going on for 30yrs FMD

my mother's 92, going well, very positive outlook, laughs a lot and learning all the time.

Plenty of time-on in the real game, OD...

very happy to see your mother is still going at 92 but i can absolutely guarnatee you I will gone long before then robbie genetics are a pain some times.

I entend to enjoy the next few years and I doubt the MFC will be part of that joy.