16 hours ago, Sir Why You Little said:

Sounds exactly what Bails told us nearly a decade ago, Hopefully this time it is far better resourced

RIP Bails...

Without the white-anting.

19 hours ago, McQueen said:

Just edits out of his recent presser regurgitated by another paper.

I hope this style of play is done in a way that mitigates serious injury.

Easier said than done, I know.

I don't want the boys getting bruised either Stevo.

Last year Wattsy got a nasty scratch on his knee and there was a serious chance of infection.

I also like this part:

"The Demons enter 2017 with a strong core of young inside midfielders, with co-captain Jack Viney, Dom Tyson and Clayton Oliver all strong ball-winners. 

Throw in co-captain Nathan Jones, hardened recruit Jordan Lewis and tough youngster Angus Brayshaw and the Demons won't be caught short for contested midfielders.

Outside pace could be a query, but Goodwin was comfortable with the midfield balance on his list.

"I see the game differently. I'm not a big believer of inside or outside players," he said. 

"I believe in players who can operate around their decision-making in the game … but if you asked me, 'have we got some speed?' We have.

"Jayden Hunt, Jay Kennedy-Harris, Dean Kent, Josh Wagner, James Harmes … we've got a lot of guys who have actually got speed, but it's not something I focus on."

Totally agree that speed can be overrated. Players with game smarts are much more important.

What Goodwin actually said was ...

Quote

"Hopefully they [fans] will identify a brand, a consistent brand from us," Goodwin said. "I think we started to emerge a little bit last year in that. I would like to see that become a really consistent brand of footy in the way we play. There will be little differences [from Roos]. We focused heavily on some fundamentals that drive our game style. So there will be little changes but you will see a strong brand emerge over time."

"We are going to build our game from the inside out, so we will start with our contest and build our brand around that and we know from there we will attack better and defend better," Goodwin said.

The 'Fearless Football' comment seems to be only an interpretation from the article's author ... Michael Gleeson.

My reading of Goodwin's comments are that he hasn't said anything over the top and most of it could be interpreted as 'Coach-speak'.  There is quite literally nothing to see here apart from a few words that any coach might say.

The journalist (Gleeson) has taken license with what Goodwin has said and made it look like Goodwin has said something completely different.  The article's title is misleading and so is the content of the article. 

Gleeson is no footy guru either - he's just another no-nothing journalist like most of the rest of them.

Here is the link to the article again ...

Melbourne aiming to be fearless under Simon Goodwin

Agree. Sam Blease had speed. In spades.

But he ran around like a headless chook. And he didn't want to tackle. Ever.

Hence, the well known equation 'speed x 0 = 0'.

Speed + footy smarts + ability to strictly adhere to a disciplined and well structured game plan. Well, that produces a different outcome.

 

2 hours ago, Fork 'em said:

Without the white-anting.

Exactly. 

Between 2012 and 2013 we played fearless football every week.

There was no fear we would get the ball very often.

No fear of bruises.

No fear we would trouble the scorer more than twice in the first half of a game.

No fear we would win.

I hope we dont return to that era of fearless football.

21 hours ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

Melbourne aiming to be fearless under Simon Goodwin

"Goodwin wants his team to stand clear of the pack in their style and approach. Unwavering in intent at the ball, unwavering in the way they move it."

"The mantra is for them to play fearless football. They hope that is to be their brand and what they stand for. That can be interpreted in any number of ways – fearless and ruthless around the ball, brave when using it".  

How long have we waited for our team to play like that:  Fearless Football - has a nice ring to it! 

No more stinging criticisms of Demons, like: a team that doesn't stand for anything; a team and a club no longer irrelevant.

Now for the team and the coaches to 'walk the talk'.

God my first thought when I saw the heading was "we want to be the hardest team to play against". 

I hope this works out better than the last one did. 

The article is misleading, mischievous & disingenuous ... don't get sucked in.

Many of the words attributed to Goodwin are wrong.

 

 

 

 

.

 

Edited February 18, 20178 yr by Macca

Sounds like we're going to be the toughest team to play against.

Preseason strikes again.

But at least this time the cattle look strong and well-fed.

A bit more info from Goodwin on our new 'brand':  'Fearless Football'.  http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2017-03-01/brand-a-major-focus-for-2017-goodwin

He hasn't quite said we will make the 8 but its great to hear that our 'brand' of 'Fearless Football' will stand up in finals - he knows he has been there a few times. 

We have a good early fixture with a lot of very winnable games!  Can't wait for the real games to start and get a read on how we are going. 

Edited March 1, 20178 yr by Lucifer's Hero

On 2/18/2017 at 1:53 PM, Macca said:

The article is misleading, mischievous & disingenuous ... don't get sucked in.

Many of the words attributed to Goodwin are wrong.

It certainly appears now that Goodwin did indeed use the term "fearless", as he's highly spruiking it now.

Turnovers! Better buy extra hosted disk space for the TMac threads Nasher.

On 2/17/2017 at 5:52 PM, Lucifer's Hero said:

 

I thought that was the karma bus!!

The two are not mutually exclusive - in fact are usually one and the same

Edited March 1, 20178 yr by binman

It's all well and good. We have played a good brand of footy in the pre-season but as we know when the real stuff starts and we lose some games the pressure comes on. That's when you can tell whether the team will go back to bad old habits or whether the team has genuinely turned the corner in terms of attitude.

For years I have been writing about and lamenting our ability to run and spread. This takes confidence and belief in your teamates that they will honour your lead move the ball quickly and follow up with options. We have started that way before and fallen into a heap. 

I genuinely see this team as different now but will wait til the real stuff starts before believing it has finally changed.

 

1 hour ago, ProDee said:

It certainly appears now that Goodwin did indeed use the term "fearless", as he's highly spruiking it now.

Either way I don't particularly like it.

There's no need. 

2 minutes ago, Macca said:

Either way I don't particularly like it.

There's no need. 

Better than the soft underbelly we have hidden behind since 1965

(The John Northey years aside)

Maybe Neeld was just too soon when he stated he wanted us to be "the hardest team to play against in the AFL."

Edited March 2, 20178 yr by Ethan Tremblay

Just now, Ethan Tremblay said:

Maybe Neeld was just too soon when he stated he wanted us to be "the hardest team to play against in the AFL." 

What Neeld said was fine, but he had no idea how to implement it. 

6 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

What Neeld said was fine, but he had no idea how to implement it. 

He was just ahead of his time, we possibly could be in the near future. 

 

Edited March 2, 20178 yr by Ethan Tremblay

Simon Goodwin is starting to sound a lot like me circa 2007, it only took 10 years but we got there in the end.

24 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

Better than the soft underbelly we have hidden behind since 1965

(The John Northey years aside)

You're normally part of the "Talk is cheap" brigade Wyl ... have you changed your tune? 

I'm excited for the season ahead and I understand the supporters love this sort of talk ...but this sort of stuff has never really been for me. 

I'm a big fan of Tom McDonald but not when his name is used in the same sentence as "fearless  football "

It may be an over complicated message but perhaps Tom's brand should be "first option football" and then whoever he gives it to can be fearless 

32 minutes ago, Ethan Tremblay said:

Maybe Neeld was just too soon when he stated he wanted us to be "the hardest team to play against in the AFL."

a visionary, eh ethan? gotta love revisionism 

10 minutes ago, fndee said:

I'm a big fan of Tom McDonald but not when his name is used in the same sentence as "fearless  football "

It may be an over complicated message but perhaps Tom's brand should be "first option football" and then whoever he gives it to can be fearless 

That would be Oscar 90% of the time.