Questions need to be asked of the new fitness guy who made players lose weight to make them faster? Has this made them weaker and maybey also causing so many injuries? If this is the case he should be hung! I thought the club was trying to make our players stronger & tougher which has been a clear weakness of ours! Hasnt this fitness guy had a high injury list at every other club he has trained?

Never let the facts get in the way of a good conspiracy.

The fitness guy implemented the program designed by the FD to improve their on field game. He did this. However most of the injuries have been from collision or on field contact not new soft tissue injuries.

Absolutely off the track.

I have to say, some people here really have to get their priorities straight.

Bagging a guy like Bell, who is learning, growing and trying and was definitely not near our worst last night, get some perspective.

Questions need to be asked of the new fitness guy who made players lose weight to make them faster? Has this made them weaker and maybey also causing so many injuries? If this is the case he should be hung! I thought the club was trying to make our players stronger & tougher which has been a clear weakness of ours! Hasnt this fitness guy had a high injury list at every other club he has trained?

This is ridiculous rubbish! Don't blame a guy who is dedicated to improve the Dees general fitness. We have not faded in any last quarter this year have we? Our fitness level can be judged by cardio-vascular fitness which determines how long a player can run,chase and chase. Our level is as good as any other team and better than most. Get off BB's back and stop making him a scapegoat. Our injuries have NOTHING TO DO with fitness.

I'm thinking that you don't watch Belly carefully enough.

He never blazes away, which is why he sometimes gets caught. He refuses to take the first option, if it is not the best option. He is actually intelligent in the way he disposes, because he'd often look up and try to pin-point a viable target. Sometimes, because of the amount of pressure he is under, he takes a bit too long to do so, and consequently gets caught.

He's getting better at taking the first option more often now, but at the same time he will take his opponent on if he thinks he can break the line and move the ball forward.

When looking at him as a defender, the first thing he should be judged on is his ability to shut down an opponent. Apart from Didak giving him a bit of a footy lesson last year, Bell has at the very least broken-even with all his opponents since. He demolished Milne and Farmer in the finals last year too.

I know I'm probably talking to a brick wall here, and a lot of Melbourne supporters are set in their views of him because he got off to an ordinary start (due mainly to injuries!). It is just such a shame that their stubbornness doesn't allow them to enjoy the coming of age of this truly good footballer.

Bell is improving, having said that he was shifted off Nick Davis last night after getting towled up & then they tried Yze & then was it Sylvia

Jaded your diatribes of players is very patriotic, but almost always misguided or inarticulate, saying Bell has higher possession average than Johncock is ridiculous - Johncock has played two games, one of which he was carried off on a stretcher, still his average is less than .5 lower than Belly's, thirdly, they are completley different players and finally Johncock is in a different class altogether, why the comparison!!! Pointless blabber!!! Bell was destroyed by Goddard earlier this year.

I never said they are in the same class. That is not what I was trying to demonstrate. Don't attack me based on claims I never made.

The idea was to show people that he is coming along nicely, and that he is comparing favourably against some of the best medium defenders in the competition in terms of his involvement in the game.

Unfortunately, I can't find a statistic for clangers, but I'm sure Belly is nowhere near our worst player in that department.

Dee'viator, I am pretty sure Bell started and finished the game on O'Keefe. I thought Brown played on Davis, then Petterd when he moved onto the wing?

Btw, Davis only had 15 disposals last night, so I don't know when exactly he toweled us up. He did very little IMO.

All these people on here knocking Bell clearly have no f'ing idea about football. Bell would currently be leading our B&F this year, and barring injury will finish top 5. Knocking our best player for this year shows your incredible knowledge

if bell is leadin out best and fairest i will buy u ur membership next year lord travis

hes been improved greatly ... last year he was a talentless hack....

this year.... talented hack....

great too see him approve so much.... but still a class below....

BB, who else would be leading our B&F?

Bell has been solid-good in every match this year. Calling him a hack is the dumbest thing I've read on here in a while, and there's been som dumb sh*t on here recently!

Only other solid contributers have been Bruce, Moloney, Miller, and Rivers. Moloney and Rivers have both missed time through injury. Miller is Miller, tries hard and does alright, but not the best. Bruce has been OK, but not great, especially by his standards. Bell however, has shutdown his opponent every week, while giving drive out of the backline also. His disposal is now one of the best at the club. He has come along way in the last 6-7 months. Based on this years form, he has taken over the mantle from Whelan as best small defender, and most reliable player.

If he is not leading the B&F, he is definately top 3. I don't see how this can be argued. I think this also says how poorly performed our team has been this year.

21. daniel bell - personally, i'd be happy if he never played for the mfc ever again. has no lateral movement, dithers with the pill, disposal is shoddy, runs hard and works hard but should never be a starting 18 player. could go home to adelaide and play a role similar to torney - coming on and off the bench to do a pinch-hitting role every now and then. not up to it.

Oh for the love of....

Watch him properly. He has fine lateral movement. His work marking an opponent closely is exemplary. Disposal is flat-out among the best in the team. Kicks to advantage and straight down the throats of players who aren't even leading more often than not. Is absolutely the kind of player MFC should want in their starting 18. Not up to it? Come on....

daniel bell turns it over time and time again.

Garbage. Have a look at Trav. Does he turn it over? Belly turns it over less than this team-mates, and he has had little to kick to ALL YEAR so far.

bell's biggest problem, other than dithering, is that he too often simply blazes away, and not merely because he's under pressure because he hasn't taken the first option. in packs, that's (almost) allowed. he's fast, he's hard, he can tackle. i think he could succeed as an on-ball tagger - it's definitely worth a try.

He doesn't dither anymore. Hasn't been caught with it BADLY all season, if at all from memory. Bell blazes away as well as anyone in the side. I lost count of the amount of long kicks he drilled at distance down the throat of stationary wingers.

Bel has improved.

Bell costs us goals.

Bell's sideways movement inevitibly leads to problems.

Bell needs to go back to Sandy when a few others are ready for a go in the 1's.

Bell supporters need to do some open-minded video analysis.

Bell dithers when under pressure.

Bell lacks the defensive nouse of Rivers, Whelan, Carroll, Petterd and Frawley

WW, love your work usually... but -

- correct.

- crap. Costs us fewer than any of Brown, Ward, Carroll and Whelan this year with a miniscule amount of experience in comparison.

- Garbage. His sideways movement DID lead to problems LAST YEAR when his OP was still a factor. If you watch ANY football you'd know he's as clear as you'd want a player to be from niggles like that and he's barely put a foot wrong all year. Inevitably? Please...

- Who? Buckley? Bell is one of our best. Seriously, have you watched ANY games this year? If we had a full list to choose from, Bell would STILL be one of the first picked. Only Wrecker is a more automatic selection in our 22 on the backline.

- Bell's detractors need to open their minds and stop basing their ratings of him on his first 10 games, in which he was a different player, hampered by injury.

- Bell's decision making has been A-Grade this year.

- OH JESUS!!!!! Rivers? Fair enough. Whelan? Yes, but not right now. He's been towelled this year, and is a ways off his best. Bell's best can go with Wrecker on all but his best days. Carroll? Been thrashed ALL year. Petterd? OFF ONE GAME?!!! FRAWLEY?! He hasn't even played yet!!!!!! Grow up.

I started a thread about this a month ago. Go back and read it all of you blind supporters. For those who can't be bothered, I'll summarise for you, since watching 600 minutes of footy has done little to teach you ANYTHING about the quality of this kid.

- Had Bell been recruited at the end of last year and played like he has in the NAB and first 5 rounds you'd all be heralding him as our Wrecker replacement.

- He's been consistently beating opponents with little (Rivers) or no support at all for this whole season. It's one thing to defend well in amongst a defence like Sydney's, Adelaide's or Geelong's, it's another entirely to beat a player surrounded by opposition winners, match in match out.

- His few mistakes are WELL below par for an MFC footballer, let alone any footballer in 2007, but his detractors only see 1 or 2 blues and write him off instantly AS USUAL. We have a successful, hard at it, accountable defender with great disposal, rebounding ability and heart and typical demons supporters, they ask for him to be gotten rid of straight away. And people wonder why we are disrespected as a supporter group.

- We complain, complain and complain about lack of heart, and there are people here who string him up that actually AGREE that he is hard at it.... And they STILL want him gone.

I'm getting sick of drilling this out again and again, but as many times as people come on here and post the crap that is written about Belly, I'll come on here time and time again to disagree. Prove me wrong if you like. I'll continue to raise the bare facts about his footy now and in recent years, and prove the point MOST people realise about him. He's a very good player. Mostly though, I think Daniel will make fools out of each and every one of you.

I think it's a mistake to jump on a player's bandwagon before he's proven anything concrete. What's annoying here is that he already has done what's necessary to be rated highly by his fans, or at least by the fans of his own club. He ended last year beautifully and has started this year equally as well. Carroll did precisely the same thing and was adored almost immediately. And here we are debating whether or not he should be in the 18...

Unbelievable.

if bell is leadin out best and fairest i will buy u ur membership next year lord travis

hes been improved greatly ... last year he was a talentless hack....

this year.... talented hack....

great too see him approve so much.... but still a class below....

I'd love to meet you in person...

BB, who else would be leading our B&F?

His disposal is now one of the best at the club.

He has come along way in the last 6-7 months.

leading

miller ,bruce, moloney BELL i dont know where he really fits.. in award for most improved hands down.... he has come a long way... im lookin foward to seeing if he can become our best small defender even by the end of the year....

dont think his disposal is the best of our club or near that tho

I'd love to meet you in person...

and why is that...

Do u think bell is leadin our best and fairest also do u DD?

he has come a long way... im lookin foward to seeing if he can become our best small defender even by the end of the year....

Yep. Should be interesting. Whelan is still pretty good though. He'll have to stay strong for the next 17 rounds to knock him off, even though wrecker has been injured. Bell has not dominated a match in the way Whelan has shown he can in the past.

dont think his disposal is the best of our club or near that tho

Not the best, certainly. Green, Trav, Yze and even Neitz, maybe even CJ have great feet. Bell's FIELD kicking is not elite, but it is only juuuust below that, and he has time to improve. And for a defender, that's a huge bonus. For my part, coming out of defence, I prefer it when the ball is in Trav's hands (current form notwithstanding), and then Green's and maybe CJ's. Bell is just behind this group. He has a great kick that loses none of its accuracy and penetration when he's hurried. The perfect kicking defender, in theory. Rather like stiffy...

Do u think bell is leadin our best and fairest also do u DD?

Hmmm. He'd be in the top 3. I don't know who'd be leading it. Could be Moloney, could even be Miller barring Saturday. I think Bruce might be up there, along with JMac. If I had to put my life savings on one player, I'd say Bell, since he's played 4 good games and was hurt in the other. But then I'd do that with no confidence. Also, my life savings total 48 dollars and 33 cents, so the point is moot.

Oh, and I'd want to meet you to put a face to everything you write. Would be interesting to say the least.

My observation is that the boys have dropped significant weight & muscle to try to obtain an advantage in speed. This unfortunately, may have lead to a severe drop in tackling, which we were considered one of the best last year, and an increase in injuries.

We are also pushed aside much easier now in a contest than last year.

the problem with the team at the moment is plain and simple, no confidence, taking no risks, too scared to make mistakes. Its the coaching panel who are paid to fix this and its not happening. I agree with a few observations, Jamar is crap, shouldn't be playing, Bell can be dodgy sometimes but he's good enough to get a game at the minute, at least he puts in. Its got nothing to do with muscle tone or anything like that, its between the ears, ND must instill confidence in these blokes or walk and give someone else a go, simple.