16 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

I want to see Hogan kick 5 in a Quarter against a Top 4 side

He is still to hit Top Gear...

Agree - on top of that, I don’t think Petracca has played a four quarter match yet.  There is some scary potential on this list.

7 minutes ago, TeamPlayedFine39 said:

Agree - on top of that, I don’t think Petracca has played a four quarter match yet.  There is some scary potential on this list.

Yes, we still have a long way to go

and there are about 4 sides who are in the same position around us

46 minutes ago, TeamPlayedFine39 said:

Agree - on top of that, I don’t think Petracca has played a four quarter match yet.  There is some scary potential on this list.

Well it is a big year for Richmond, I think in the long run a small forward line is u unsustainable, if rotations go to  say 60 a game, it will not be as successful, they might get tired but they don't get shorter. Richmond are a good side who had a bad 2016, this gave them a fixture for a  ordinary team, what people don't remember is GWS have only ever won 1 game at the MCG, and Adelaide don't have a good record at the MCG, Geelong also don't play the MCG well because  Kardinia is  a odd shape oval, and they don't play well at the MCG, all their cards fell in the right places, if they go top 4 again then they deserve to be called a great team.

38 minutes ago, don't make me angry said:

Well it is a big year for Richmond, I think in the long run a small forward line is u unsustainable, if rotations go to  say 60 a game, it will not be as successful, they might get tired but they don't get shorter. Richmond are a good side who had a bad 2016, this gave them a fixture for a  ordinary team, what people don't remember is GWS have only ever won 1 game at the MCG, and Adelaide don't have a good record at the MCG, Geelong also don't play the MCG well because  Kardinia is  a odd shape oval, and they don't play well at the MCG, all their cards fell in the right places, if they go top 4 again then they deserve to be called a great team.

I think that's a furphy. They did well enough to wins some flags there in the last 10 or so years. 

Edited January 1, 20187 yr by Moonshadow

Good luck to Richmond for winning enough games with hardly any injuries for the year.

Good luck to Richmond for having the chance to play three home games at the G in the Finals. and so on.and so on. and so on

Bad luck to Melbourne, we had to tackle the AFL, GWS AND  GOLD COAST to pick the best possible players apart for a couple of years.

We have got it right this time, almost and we are on our way now, GOOD LUCK.

3 hours ago, don't make me angry said:

 GWS have only ever won 1 game at the MCG,

10 points for who they beat...

7 hours ago, Diamond_Jim said:

10 points for who they beat...

Another Melbourne first.OMG

7 hours ago, Diamond_Jim said:

10 points for who they beat...

I think they had 4 injured on the bench too...

5 minutes ago, TeamPlayedFine39 said:

I think they had 4 injured on the bench too...

They did indeed.... I still have nightmares about the "rent a crowd" cheer squad dressed as orange bananas !

15 hours ago, Sir Why You Little said:

I want to see Hogan kick 5 in a Quarter against a Top 4 side

He is still to hit Top Gear...

Hogan is a great possibility. He has endured a tumultuous series of interruptions to his game. He can still 'break out' without any reservations. He can be alarmingly attacking and contesting, with power and mobility. His fitness increase augers well for increased dynamism in his playing style and aggression for the ball. Two areas in which he may improve are: his kicking distances, and his leading to create space. He was often left static in the fwd line waiting for the long bomb that characterised other players' attempts at being effective. This did not help and soon, he was swamped against multiple opposition defenders - caught 1-out without the support from teammates. His improvement may well be linked to our game style and the support of other forwards to enable him to dictate terms of play with those about him and to do his 'magic' with less encumbrance. He would be an imposing and terrifying opponent to stop or slow down in a one-on-one contest when his blood is raging. SWYL is quite correct. Kicking 5 in a quarter may well release another raging bull to it again, and again, and again across the season. He has the skills to so do. It is a team game and whole side effort that will see this young superstar emerge to deliver his promising potential. 

13 hours ago, Moonshadow said:

I think that's a furphy. They did well enough to wins some flags there in the last 10 or so years. 

It is not a Furphy and 2011 is a long time ago it's a different team, I am talking about in the he last 3 years, not 7, every year is different, do u know we played docklands better in 2017 then at the MCG.

12 hours ago, nosoupforme said:

Bad luck to Melbourne, we had to tackle the AFL, GWS AND  GOLD COAST to pick the best possible players apart for a couple of years.

Richmond got stuck right in the middle of this and it cost them but they got some things right with the core of their team.

We had our opportunity before the compromised drafts and totally blew it, then we got stuck with nowhere to go.

The management of the club was appalling at this time is what set us back so far.

Nothing to do with luck.

Tompass before Wines.

Tambling before Franklin.

It's a raffle.

 

57 minutes ago, rjay said:

Richmond got stuck right in the middle of this and it cost them but they got some things right with the core of their team.

We had our opportunity before the compromised drafts and totally blew it, then we got stuck with nowhere to go.

The management of the club was appalling at this time is what set us back so far.

Nothing to do with luck.

Agreed 100%

makes me angry when i read on here supporters saying that the draft is a total lottery, i am not saying it is rock solid correct, nothing in this life is. But the MFC blew pick after pick and kept on promoting Blazers and Past Glories. 

The Club was a complete shambles and if it had been the 90’s we would not be here now. 

The Toumpas/Wines selection i shall never understand. 

One player was a gun, the other had 2 shot hips....

Luke Ball was the other. We should have stood up as a club. 

The Filth were allowed to cheat...

It wasnt our drafting

It was our development 

End of story

1 hour ago, biggestred said:

It wasnt our drafting

It was our development 

End of story

It was the a mix of everything 'big'...

Not just drafting or just development.

It also comes down to what goes on at the top.

Since Dimma became coach in 2010, he had Brendan Gale there as a rock to hold the place together. The vision he had never differed. I remember Sam Newman scoffing at their goal of 75k members and a premiership in 5 years. However, despite the hiccups in their plan at times, there has been no finger pointing, no mass turnovers and nothing Richmond like happening during that time. When a gang of drongos tried to overthrow the board, they were summarily dismissed.

The core of the premiership team came through in that environment. How much easier would it be to have a 10 year career when the only thing you have to worry about is your own performance within a game plan? That’s why those blokes got ten year careers as they couldn’t pass the buck back onto the club. Those who didn’t make it couldn’t complain that the club didn’t give them every opportunity.

Compare that to us from 2010 to 2014 and tell me that our players could claim that they were in an environment that maximized their potential. Some amongst that group were looking for a scapegoat for their own pea hearted efforts but the sad thing was that many could use the shambolic nature of the joint as a reason (fair or not).

As galling as it was, a small silver lining of the round 24 loss was that the loss was purely a football issue. Players couldn’t point to meddling CEO’s, ‘list management’ strategies, disrespectful treatment of veteran players or poor training facilities as an excuse.

One thing that did shif me was that there was talk of throwing the baby out with the bath water because of the round 24 loss. The lesson we should have learnt from the period 2009-2017 was that you need long term stability, patience and an understanding that a club is an ecosystem of many parts. 

Edited January 2, 20187 yr by Colin B. Flaubert
Punctuation

10 hours ago, rjay said:

Richmond got stuck right in the middle of this and it cost them but they got some things right with the core of their team.

We had our opportunity before the compromised drafts and totally blew it, then we got stuck with nowhere to go.

The management of the club was appalling at this time is what set us back so far.

Nothing to do with luck.

You need some luck to go your way . I assume then the timing wasn't right when the two fledgling clubs joined in consecutive years with most of the top picks. Don't quote me.

It ain't just draft choices.

it ain't just luck

it ain't just development 

but who gives a  duck.

WEneed players to be smarter,

WE need players to care

WE need  playersnot to think that it all relays on luck.

if they could only  understand the passion

of the demonland team

And if they could only match our dedication

we would have a winning team.

It’s always interesting to read the comments at the end of any article on The Conversation, and the final comment on this article is worth reading, especially the last paragraph. It’s about club culture and the writer singles out Melbourne, Carlton and Brisbane as having the weakest culture over recent years. 

A bad, lazy culture may take years to overcome: I believe the Melbourne Football Club has a way to go to eradicate this pernicious culture that has grown over decades of mediocrity. However, I applaud the club for its efforts over the last 4 years, but it takes time and strong dedicated players and staff. Is Goodwin good enough? Not sure! But Viney, Gawn, Old McDonald, Jones et al seem to have the passion and intelligence to steer that change. (At least I hope so,)!!!

just look at the hawkes

 

GWS have looked the good for the past 2 years but no silverware. When other clubs are constantly milking them does not help. The media in the past reckons that GC and GWS will dominate flag wins. Yet GC seem to be going backwards possibly because no one takes them seriously.Perhaps a lesson by the AFL wasn't learnt,Brisbane played out of the Gold Coast without troubling too many sides. GC should probably relocate to Tasmania,at least young Victorian kids recriuted would be closer to their mummies. The players we have picked up in the past three years are much better quality than those in the past. Injuries do play an important part but so does quality back up players. Are we a premiership side in 2018 ? possibily not. We need to get more out of Petracca and Brayshaw,J.Smith will be an asset if he can regain form prior to injury. Have we got a back up plan if Gawn gets injured,we may require a different game plan.

Sage wisdom as always Wayno.

The tales of 'depth' in the team and across the AFL/Casey articulation might just be the measure of the team's performance in 2018, where we can see 'alternative' or backup players prepared in the event of such needs. It will be an interesting season but I hope it is one in which such depth is really brought to the fore - we have never had such preparation before. 

11 minutes ago, Deemania since 56 said:

The tales of 'depth' in the team and across the AFL/Casey articulation might just be the measure of the team's performance in 2018, where we can see 'alternative' or backup players prepared in the event of such needs. It will be an interesting season but I hope it is one in which such depth is really brought to the fore - we have never had such preparation before. 

Depth is always a bit of an illusion...

I hope we don't have to see it too much this year at AFL level.

Depth will never replace your champion players, we need them on the ground.