Am I the only one worried? That's 3 poor games in a row now, I know he's getting more attention now but he should be better then that, how long do you think it will take him to breakthrough this bad form patch?

  Madness said:

Am I the only one worried? That's 3 poor games in a row now, I know he's getting more attention now but he should be better then that, how long do you think it will take him to breakthrough this bad form patch?

He will become a champion of the club and a 250+ player.

He will captain the club for ten years starting in 08

He will win 4 Best and Fairests

Win numerous all australian selection

Win 2 AFL MVP awards

A Brownlow

Norm Smith

and 2, maybe 3 premierships.

The cream always rises to the top......

Yet to learn how to shake a heavy tag - will do so.

Not fully fit - hopefully will become so.

Huge heart.

Just finished watching the replay and was about to start a thread about a similar topic.

McLean is now getting heavily tagged, to the point where he is held, scragged and dragged at every single bounce.

The thing that worries me is, not that he struggles through that (who wouldn't?), but that his teammates don't feel the need to go out and help him.

He needs to be protected, in the same way Judd is. I saw his opponent literally hold onto his jumper and push him aside as the ball was bounced, which really makes you wonder how he ever gets his hands on the footy.

But here's the thing, our expectations of him, are far too high.

He has played 52 games, missed 8 weeks with a broken foot, came back to have a significant impact, and is now clearly feeling the effects of having missed 8 weeks worth of match conditioning. Not only that, he hurt himself in the third, limped around for a good 5 minutes before coming off. He is too brave for his own good, and I have no doubt he is having his foot heavily worked on before each match.

We have become Brock-centric. We expect him to dominate every single game, but the reality is, he won't. Nobody does.

The fact that we think he should, demonstrates how highly regarded he is. Every single Melbourne player this year has had poor matches, and we let those slide because it is part of football. That we highlight McLean's average performances is a credit to his amazing consistency in the face of some bad luck with injuries and heavy opposition attention.

If nothing else, he frees up guys like McDonland and Jones. He is the David Neitz of our midfield, in the sense that even when he doesn't get 20+ possessions and 10 clearances, his presence alone lifts the side's performance.

In short, he's carrying the expectations of the entire MFC on his shoulders and they must be getting sore.

He's still very young (I think a lot of us tend to forget how young) previously everything he did turned to gold, now he's on another learning curve. Injury has ruined his year and he needs to learn Scott West style how to beat a tag, he hasn't got the pace to try and do some of the things he's doing at the moment, but he'll come good.

I don't think he was poor yesterday, he wasn't fantastic, just an average game.

But he has set the bar for himself very high and we expect him to get there and he will learn to shake tags, a injury free year will hel a lot to get that fitness.

  grazman said:

He's still very young (I think a lot of us tend to forget how young) previously everything he did turned to gold, now he's on another learning curve. Injury has ruined his year and he needs to learn Scott West style how to beat a tag, he hasn't got the pace to try and do some of the things he's doing at the moment, but he'll come good.

Well said Graz.

Yeah - I agree. It of course opens up teh captaincy debate AGAI, but perhaps we shoudl let well enough alone and see how the year goes.

Watching the replay left me longing for one midfielder with genuine burst speed.

My observation from yesterday is that we look slloooowww from CHB to CHF. Buckley stood out for his speed if nothing else.

I was also amazed at the relative ease by which Carlton would break into open space. We were fortunate they could not do anything with it.

He was poor yesterday and has struggled to get his hands on the footy at all for the last three weeks. Clearly we need him up and running to be a good side as we are getting smashed at the clearances, even with ruck dominance.

I'd like to see him switched with Sylvia for periods in a game to shake the heavy tags he is getting, allow him to try to get some confidence (nothing helps like a few goals) and to give Sylvia some time in the middle as well.

There are excuses for his lack of form (youth, injury, heavy tags), but if people want him to captain Melbourne soon (and I do, probably 2009), his poor games have to still be competitive and a lot closer to his good games.

I'm not worried by his current form. He'll work through it.

One area he needs to improve is probably just to respect the pressure a bit more. He gets caught for holding the ball too often, either trying to take tacklers on or just taking too much time and not realising how quickly you need to dispose of the ball in AFL footy. He definitely tries to break too many tackles and there's not many AFL players who are going to let you slip through their grasp.

I don't think it's an awareness issue. I believe it's about recognising your limitations and playing accordingly.

I'm not too worried about his form, he's being heavily tagged and still looks a bit hampered by injury. It's actually quite good that he's getting experience at this age of having their no. 1 tagger, it'll teach him to shake 'em off for next year.

Plus he still seems to be ge getting enough of the ball at the stopages.

But he's still hurting my dreamteam!

He's an inexperienced player - these things are going to happen.

I also wouldn't be surprised if he's not quite right fitness-wise, but then again it's AFL and at this stage of the season not too many players are going to be niggle-free.

He has barely played 50 games and is 21. Let's be realistic, as good as he was last year he is now copping the opposition's best tagger week in week out.

In 2008 when our midfield is fully fit with Beamer, Bruce, Green and TJ back and Sylvia continuing his improvement he'll have it a lot easier because the opposition can't tag them all.

Imo trying to do to much. May be starting to beleive half the [censored] written on here.

  Rhino Richards said:

My observation from yesterday is that we look slloooowww from CHB to CHF. Buckley stood out for his speed if nothing else.

I was also amazed at the relative ease by which Carlton would break into open space. We were fortunate they could not do anything with it.

I was very impressed with Buckley's disposal by hand in close. He was often in heavy traffic but set up several plays with a smart handball. This was in stark contrast to a game a few weeks ago at Sandy where he continually tried to beat the field and looked ordinary. He has height, speed, good vision and good disposal. He is a chance with improvement and confidence to become a regular.

Only a matter of time before he bounced back.

Brisbane didn't tag him heavily, but it was still good to see him get a lot of the ball and use it well.

Plenty of contested possessions, which is what you want from your hard ball-winners.

If Neita doesn't play next week, McLean should be stand-in captain.

  Jaded said:

Only a matter of time before he bounced back.

Brisbane didn't tag him heavily, but it was still good to see him get a lot of the ball and use it well.

Plenty of contested possessions, which is what you want from your hard ball-winners.

If Neita doesn't play next week, McLean should be stand-in captain.

why should he?

one game.... not good enough... mclean needs to earn it....

dont say otherwise.

  BrownlowBruce said:

why should he?

one game.... not good enough... mclean needs to earn it....

dont say otherwise.

It's a rotation policy.

Junior had it for two weeks, Green won't play, Bruce will be coming back from injury if he does.

Why shouldn't McLean, on the back of being our best performer the week before, be given the role on the day?

Of course, if Neita plays, it won't be an issue.

he has not played well enough,

his form needs to be consistant.....

he doesnt need added pressure on his shoulder just yet

  BrownlowBruce said:

he has not played well enough,

his form needs to be consistant.....

he doesnt need added pressure on his shoulder just yet

Fair enough.

I think his form throughout his career has been very consistent. 3 or 4 bad games out of 55 is not exactly a bad return!

He'll lead from the front regardless, as he does each week. I just think that giving him the role next week will be a just reward for bouncing back from a bad patch of games. But it's just one game, and it doesn't make a huge difference to his overall captaincy aspirations.

He will captain the club sooner or later.

  Jaded said:

Fair enough.

I think his form throughout his career has been very consistent. 3 or 4 bad games out of 55 is not exactly a bad return!

He'll lead from the front regardless, as he does each week. I just think that giving him the role next week will be a just reward for bouncing back from a bad patch of games. But it's just one game, and it doesn't make a huge difference to his overall captaincy aspirations.

He will captain the club sooner or later.

very contrasing opinions ... guess we will find out next week

later rather than sooner for me jaded

  BrownlowBruce said:

very contrasing opinions ... guess we will find out next week

later rather than sooner for me jaded

What have you got against the rock?

He doesnt get tagged and picks up 31 possesions.

He's a freakshow. Nd said he will be captain one day. Brad Green on radio said he will be.

  demons06 said:

What have you got against the rock?

He doesnt get tagged and picks up 31 possesions.

He's a freakshow. Nd said he will be captain one day. Brad Green on radio said he will be.

i got nothin against him....

ND said alot of things.... and ND isnt the coach anymore