I went to the game, and it sucks to lose like we are but im not as upset as the rest of the mob here. Much like carlton not admitting to tanking, Melbourne are not admitting to the quite obvious rebuilding stage we are in. Financially we are in no position to come out and say we are writing the next few years off. But we are. Heres some of my thoughts.

Those of you thinking the team didnt try or had no heart where looking at the scoreboard not the play. I think the efforts of MOST of the players was there, problem lying in the fact they are very much struggling with a new gameplan and dont have the cattle to execute it at the moment.

Think about how quickly team tactics are brought in then thrown away in the modern game, and also how quickly teams can rise and fall. What i saw today and last week were teams that were in our position a few years back trying to get a grasp of a game plan (yet being made like 2nd rate fools in the process) actually blossoming within that gameplan after a few years travelling together in the same direction. I really dont think we played as bad as the scoreline indicates, they just were able to carry out a plan for 4 quarters and looking well drilled. This kind of movement of the ball didnt happen overnight, and teams like the hawks and bulldogs were smashed for a while before it clicked.

Have a look at the team on the field today compared to your standard dees team of the last few years. Everyone cried out to remove "dead wood" such as ward, godfrey, ferguson, bizzell etc. Sometimes having these people in the team actually helped us win, not thru individual talent, but EXPERIENCE. Just knowing how to contribute etc. While keeping these players on our list the younger players like dunn, garland, buckley, newton, bode who everyone has been taking to with a blowtorch where left to play at sandy. Which raises another issue. With the continued success of our VFL affiliate with reliable KPP etc, these guys never got the proper chances to grow in confidence, play full games etc. Now with our dead wood depth players gone these kids have been thrown to the lions and for the bulk of you guys to attack them is riduculous and completely premature.

This is going to be a horror year, this we can be certain of. Its something the club has put off for years with continual band aid solution to keep us competitive, occasionally exciting supporters with a finals appearance etc. Our new coaching staff came in knowing like most our senior players are not going to give us a premiership. Are players like bruce, green etc not as good as we hoped through just a general overrating of them, or where they poorly developed? Im leaning towards the latter as over the last 10 years we get glimmers of hope from draftees like them and the mcleans etc and then they just flatline. I think bailey is aware of this and his goal has always been to TEACH. Hopefully some old dogs can learn some new tricks, though its probably too late for them. Lets hope he gets onto mclean and sylvia before its too late to fully reach their untapped potential and for our under 21s to look up to leaders like them and form a new melbourne culture.

Im rambling a bit, so ill sign off. I hope you guys can look at this and see a bigger picture.

Great post. Just hope that bigger picture comes sooner than later

Great post.

X 2

Nice point. I just have to make sure that I'll remember that rather than wanting to drown my sorrows or forget teh club exists.

x4

I think we've just got to prepare ourselves for a couple of rough years

Have a look at the team on the field today compared to your standard dees team of the last few years. Everyone cried out to remove "dead wood" such as ward, godfrey, ferguson, bizzell etc. Sometimes having these people in the team actually helped us win, not thru individual talent, but EXPERIENCE. Just knowing how to contribute etc.

The fact is that most of that deadwood did play for us last year and was not competitive. They did not help us win. They should have been removed with others years ago.

We are reaping the benefits now and it is likely we are 3 to 4 years in the wilderness.

It was prophetic that CC said DB would be here 6 years. It will take us that long to see September action.

We are the new St Kilda I think.....

Will finish down the bottom for a few years, reap the rewards in the draft, manage the list accordingly and come out in 4-5 years with a side that will push for a flag consistently between 2010 and 2020....

The question is.... How long must we all wait and what have we done wrong to deserve this sort of punishment!?!?!?!

If you are clearly in a rebuilding phase, then you don't just trade out one underperforming senior player at the end of the year. We should've looked to trade 3 or 4 of them and further improve our draft position. It's easy to say now we are rebuilding, but I don't think the footy department intended such a complete rebuild.

If you thought the efforts were mostly there and you didn't believe we played that badly, then I must say you are very easily pleased. Our first two games have been so far below acceptable AFL standard that it's been a complete and utter embarrasment to all involved with the MFC. We have been disgraceful and the scoreboard has fairly reflected that.

Great original post.

I'm pretty sure we turned over 11 out of 44 players (25%) on our list at the end of last year - that's a fair wack.

If you are clearly in a rebuilding phase, then you don't just trade out one underperforming senior player at the end of the year. We should've looked to trade 3 or 4 of them and further improve our draft position. It's easy to say now we are rebuilding, but I don't think the footy department intended such a complete rebuild.

If you thought the efforts were mostly there and you didn't believe we played that badly, then I must say you are very easily pleased. Our first two games have been so far below acceptable AFL standard that it's been a complete and utter embarrasment to all involved with the MFC. We have been disgraceful and the scoreboard has fairly reflected that.

Totally agree Scoop. Didn't Bailey get the gig over Hardwick because he believed that we didn't need to rebuild?

And Pipefitter, if the policy of the club is to keep everyone in the dark about our "obvious rebuiding", then members and sponsors will stay away in droves, and the media will rightfully come down us like a ton of bricks.

With our relatively injury free list, we should be competitive every week. And the basics of football should apply regardless of whether Bailey is implementing a new gameplan.

That ^ is the reason Knights got the job over Hardwick as well

No doubt we are in a rebuilding phase, ala Hawthorn did 3-4 yrs back...but with one big difference.

Hawthorn traded Hay, Everitt and Thompson for lots of 1st round picks. they drafted well, but they drafted with top picks.

Because of Daniher's lack of foresight, we now have a bunch of 27-28 yr olds who are frikin average players and who have NO trade value. we shouldv traded guyz like bruce and Yze a yr or 2 ago.

we are now gonna try and draft our way back into the finals, but we're gonna have to do it the hard way, with only our basic draft picks (and maybe an extra pick 17 here or there.)

our drafting in the past has shown hope, but in reality it seems we'v drafted quite poorly.

Dunn, Frawley, Garland and Weetra and already looking disapointing, and Mclean and Sylvia are massive dissapointments. Bartram and Rivers can hardly get on the park, Pettard isn't the same bc of his life threatening injury, Grimes already has back problems, and Davey seems to have lost the plot since the StKilda Final 2 years ago...

im struggling to see the light atm

Its good that you have some persepective. Its a rare and sought after quality here ..lol <_< Many of us are the least surprised in al honesty with our performances. This is on the back of the various observations and ratings we have made over the years.

If I had to be wholy cynical ( as opposed to the 50/50 eforts of norm ) then I could suppose in soe ways Bailey is shaking his headin dismay. Not that we are doing necessarily so bad but that some players dont realise the TEST they are enduring. its simple.. Here's my (DB ) plan. Here's my instruction. Go do !! He sits back..with list...checks off those that can first learn anything , those that can apply anything and also those with any real talent and ability. The later may or may not fall in the prior categories.

Slowly a picture of who he can work with appears. I have very little faith that that list is particularly long. Add to this teh likelyhood that at least half a dozen are penned for a pinkie( self applied or otherwise ) at end of season and blind freddy can see were in REBUILD

I think something that many dot get here is that many of the seasoned followers /posters arent ever annoyed so much about losing as hell we've had years of practice but that its the fraud that some players commit by alluding to one thing and offering another.

This year is stuffed..its a write off. You cant really rebuild properly until you start ammassing the materials. There will withot doubt be another 11-12 go at the end of the year. Anyone who can be got rid of will be then next year a real rebuilding can commence.

Im not really that mad or upset...if anything Im glad that the lie of some players is starting to be exposed.

Im not saying this is all true, its just an opinion mate. Not many business's are entirely truthful and transparent are they? And in the dees situation its prob in their best interest to spin doctor a bit.

Im not saying this is all true, its just an opinion mate. Not many business's are entirely truthful and transparent are they? And in the dees situation its prob in their best interest to spin doctor a bit.

We'll agree to disagree that spin-doctoring is in the best interests of the club.

As for your rebuilding claim, we had the perfect opportunity to trade Robertson prior to the draft. Why wouldn't it start then rather than 2 games into the season?

Does 'Rebuild' mean the same as 'Development year'?

Dean Bailey did declare openingly to everyone 4 weeks ago that 2008 was going to be a development year for the Dees.

Development/Rebuild... same coin different sides....its sematics really

Would've thought "development" would suggest he reckons the current list is going to get better as it is eg Hawthorn last year.

These are two words that get bandied around and many make of it what you want. Call it what you like...we in one place working towards anotherdoing so with regard to changing th ecomponents along the way..

apply what ever word you like...its all the same thing

The original post was a great one. And i am sticking fat with DB and his vision of what his team should play like.

I am going to use a golf anology in reference to our change of game plan.

If you have been swinging a club a certain way for so long, but you haven't been able to achieve a level of standard that you desire, you can go get some lessons of a pro. He would probably restructure your whole swing in way that would see you at first actually hit the ball worse as your mind and body comes to grip with all the new processes that have been put in place.

I believe with all the teaching of new postioning of players under the gameplan that we have a situation where many players are thinking too much out on the field at the moment, because the new game plan is not yet second nature. When put under immense pressure we fall back into half old habits, half new ones and hence we look a rabble and get belted.

You can hit all the balls you like straight at a driving range, but how will you swing the club when on course over the tee?

The only way out of this is plaenty of hard work and persistence till the gameplan becomes second nature and we can sustain it under pressure and gain some confidence. This may not happen till the second half of the season, and even then we may still not get wins.

Hawthorn were awful when Clarko first went there with a new game plan, but he played much more negatively and negated the floggings.

Ross Lyon with his star studded team couldn't make the finals last year with his new game plan.

Harvey and Ratten are yet to win a game, and Knights was already coaching most of his plyers to a system at Bendigo before this season, so he has a slight advantage.

We are just going to have to suffer some pain for a while and hope the team start to improve as the year goes on. I am on board regardless, but it is far to early to make any calls about whether DB is any good or not.

I am going to use a golf anology in reference to our change of game plan.

If you have been swinging a club a certain way for so long, but you haven't been able to achieve a level of standard that you desire, you can go get some lessons of a pro. He would probably restructure your whole swing in way that would see you at first actually hit the ball worse as your mind and body comes to grip with all the new processes that have been put in place.

Let's hope that Melbourne doesn't become the next Ian Baker-Finch.

I really hate losing! :angry:

But....if all of this short term pain will mean a PREMIERSHIP in the future then I think it will be worth it.

The players need to change their attitude and LISTEN to what Dean Bailey has to say.

Most importantly we need to RAISE our skill level! How few of our players can actually hit a target? We are excited about Cale Morton because he actually CAN! The rest are sorely lacking.

These problems will take a while to fix but I'm hoping by the end of the season the players will have improved enough to actually WIN a few games.

I see light at the end of the tunnel......................... B)

Just heard the odds for us to win the spoon are $1.33 which is a record this early in the season. Shoulda got on the $3.80 offered 2 weeks ago and we could all have enjoyed something this year! The one positive I am hanging my hat on re Dean Bailey is the fact that Port Adelaide only had one maybe two bad years after rebuilding from a flag and a subsequent cleanout!We are basing ourselves on the same gameplan that he was a part of for a number of years including the premiership year.Admittedly, I find it hard to believe the players even understand that gameplan at the moment or if they do they certainly can not produce it. The problem will probably be the cattle out there. Port have recruited very well and not necessarily from high draft picks. We need to be a lot smarter with our recruiting and get some big bodies in the backline! Hang in their guys it will be along long couple of years in the wilderness. We have had them before , this one is just a lot more sudden than usual and harder to take because of poor list management and an incredibly poor showing from senior players for far too long. Give DB a chance!

Great post. Just hope that bigger picture comes sooner than later

this is all good and well the bigger picture the only problem is just say if we get smashed tow or three times over the next few weeks, it might well be that Bailey cant coach, just like price in the nbl south dragons. Also melbourne can not afford to lose games this way, because by a about round three our crowd numbers we be so low and all the sales down the dees could lose over 2moillion dollars, and this could spell the end of melbourne, because if they lose that amount of money they will have cut back in the footy department spending, and this team might not have the money to rebuild again, and with the two new teams coming in they will get the top drift picks in the next few years, the afl will be doing everything to help these two teams, and not give a stuff a about the dees, this is the beginning of the end sorry everyone its over there will be no team.

THIS IS NOT PART OF THE PLAN

They had the chance to trade Robbo and Miller for some good young kids but they didn't

Why? Because they thought they would turn the side around quickly, and would need RR and BM to be competitive straight away.

It has all come tumbling down now and those 2 players are worth less than nothing.

Massive error