Will we make the 8? Good/Bad Analysis

[deesrock 0]

I just want to clarify that my comments weren't directed to you maximum bob - sorry if you thought they were. I am referring to the press and all the so called experts that have a lingering at the bottom of the '08 ladder.

[paddo 0]

Neitz still at the club - Bad .. worst captain in the AFL

The Fixture - bad .. we play WCE , gellong , port and kangas twice

Whilst you are entitled to your opinion, your first point is totally uncalled for considering Neitz is a 300-game, twice All-Australian veteran who has given his all for the club. As for the fixture, they are the cards we have been dealt and it would be foolish to blame poor performances based on who and where we are playing.

[maximum bob 462]

I just want to clarify that my comments weren't directed to you maximum bob - sorry if you thought they were. I am referring to the press and all the so called experts that have a lingering at the bottom of the '08 ladder.

No worries deesrock. Like you I'm an eternal optimist but tinged with a touch of the realist maybe (as I see it).

We all hope for the best - what I'm basically saying is let's see which team DB puts on the field over the season and how well it can execute a new game plan. There will be a steep learning curve for all the players and it will take time for this to become second nature.

It sure as hell will be different from the last few years and I can't wait to see it in action.

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

Neiter is well past his best and well may be appointed captain because there isnt an obvious option.

If he is captain it is a choice he will make for the club more than for himself, Bailey has let him decide.

It is a shame we dont have someone in the wings, but it isnt Neiters fault.

We arent the only club with this dilemma.

Exactly. Neitz is no longer an elite player in the AFL. No-one's expecting him to kick 80 goals, and he will most certainly have his days this year where he's bundled out of contests and struggles to get a kick. But at 32 with 300 games behind him we shouldn't be expecting him to be pushing Feva for the Coleman. The point is, had we had Johnathan Brown, Buddy Franklin and Matty Pavlich in our forward line, and Brock and Chunk circa 2011, Neita wouldn't feel the need to stick around.

As it happens we have Bate, Newton, Dunn, Garland and a few other young KP forwards who, after Neitz, will have NO-ONE to show them the ropes. Neitz is a Coleman medal winner who has kicked more goals than anyone in the oldest footy club in history. And as recently as 6 months ago he was still capable of kicking bags of 4-6 goals. 18 months ago he was kicking bags of 8, and bombing 5 of them from outside fifty.

The captaincy situation at MFC is dire. Most people um and aah about Green and Bruce, and the only people not worried about Brock's age are the teenage fans.

Neitz is VITAL while guys as green as Juice are around. We have all seen what he is capable of, the guy has oodles of talent, but mentally and deveopmentally he's just so far off the pace. To place him at CHF or FF at this stage could be hugely risky on a number of levels.

Bottom line is, even as an ageing 3rd tall, Neitz could still average 2 goals a game for us. He'll still probably take the best defender, and like Lyon, even at 50% fitness, the team walks taller with him there. Maybe he's not the best player in the AFL at the moment, but he's a long LONG way from being the worst captain. In fact I'd put him up there with the top 4. Hodge, Tredrea, Lloyd, Simpson, Johnson X 2, Harley, the Sydney triplets and whoever West Coast, Carlton, and Collingwood choose... I would choose Neitz over them any day of the week. Not as a player in 2008 necessarily, but certainly as a captain.

I dont see its necessary for so many to come down so hard on a first time poster who didnt express himself very well.

I'm not usually one for picking on green posters still learning the ropes. He's probably been frightened off, and that's a shame, but if he'd read ANYTHING on this site at all, he'd have known he was going to cop it. If he wants to stick around he should come back and qualify his statements, or do an about-face.

[Jaded No More 68,965]

I'd bet that not even DB would realistically expect us to play off for the flag this year.

I doubt anyone of us is expecting that!

But DB said there will be no limitations put on the team this year, and that means that anything can happen.

We certainly have the on-field talent (when un-injured) to scramble 11/12 wins together next season.

Can we even think of 8 other teams that have a definitively better list, and who are certainties to make the finals ahead of us? I can think of 4 at most.

[Bobby McKenzie 2,385]

I doubt anyone of us is expecting that!

But DB said there will be no limitations put on the team this year, and that means that anything can happen.

We certainly have the on-field talent (when un-injured) to scramble 11/12 wins together next season.

Can we even think of 8 other teams that have a definitively better list, and who are certainties to make the finals ahead of us? I can think of 4 at most.

Quite agree Jaded. In 2006 we played finals and SHOULD have finished a clear 2nd. (Losing to lowly Carlton TWICE!) I feel that our present list is clearly STRONGER than the list of 2006. So why all the doubts over whether or not we will have a good season? Injuries at a reasonable level should allow us to finish at least 4th or 5th. Have faith fellow Dees.