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Bloody hell. How long was he on our rookie list for?

I can see what you are saying: I am criticising BM for something that may occur. But I was just uncomfortable watching Brent do it to Brad in 2011: when the blokes call out "One voice!" right before you head out it is usually either the coach or the captain that assumes the role of that 'voice.' I just saw a fledgling captain, i feel, usurped by a well-meaning and passionate Demon. And I hope it doesn't happen to two very capable, if quieter, leaders. There have been a couple of unfortunate tangents in this thread but I did not mean to disrespect BM, but warn that his passion for the club and his teammates may get in the way of the progression of a couple of upstart captains and a group of leaders that none-other than the head coach has settled on. A group of leaders that, as Range Rover with brutal truth posted, does not contain BM. I am not saying that Moloney can not talk during games - I want him to keep doing that. And it does not mean he can't give the team a rev-up, but there is a point before every quarter of footy when someone yells out "one voice!" and I want that voice to be one of the two young fledgling captains. It may seem like such a small, pointless argument - but speaking from experience - it can be so important to a person attempting to become a leader of a group of players to have a minute with them where that leader is the only person they are looking at and listening to.

The main difference for mine is that Watts will be able to bring players up to another level by involving them in the game, where LJ does have that bit of independence (may not be the right word to describe it, but selfishness isn't it either!). The hardest part about LJ is that the gap between is best and worst is quite wide at the moment, which doesn't make sense considering on a bad day he kicks 3! But it's not just about how many he kicks. I often compare him to Robbo, with the main different being that on LJ's bad days he still hits the scoreboard. The Jurrah/Clark relationship will be one I will watch with great excitement this year. I want Jurrah knowing when Clark is about to fart, even before Clark knows himself. Clark will obviosuly be the main target, but if LJ can learn Clark's style, it should be another 50+ goals from LJ this year.

You're a nobody on this forum until rpfc has told you to f' off

Ummmm, we have a sponsor. We've nailed a major sponsorship deal, the biggest we've ever had in fact, with Energy Watch. We just want to secure another major sponsor. 3 years ago we started the NAB Cup with no sponsorship. None. Zero. Zilch! We also secured Volvo today as a continued sponsor. Kthnxby

how about I start with your 3rd point 3. Why have we seen no growth on membership figures year-on-year despite:blah blah blah I give you 2006- 24,698 2007 - 28,077 2008 - 29,619 2009 - 31,506 2010 - 33,358 2011- 36,937

When you say "no membership growth, what's this then? 2005 24,220 2006 24,698 2007 28,077 2008 29,619 2009 31,506 2010 33,358 2011 36,937 Don't use absolutes like "none" when this is clearly not the case.

Challenge accepted. Behold my poor photoshopping.

Sorry guys but my reply to thomo's post was actually posted amidst thomo's post. Not sure what I did there.

You do not know the game if you make statements like that thomo. What is with the rivers bashing? Poor kicking skills? Rivers disposal efficiency last season was around the 85% mark in just about every game. He held the defense down on his own until chip came into his own half way through the year and to state he did not deserve his place in the B and F is astounding. Yes, Rivers did get beat up by cloke last year simply because bailey got out coached once again. When Malthouse saw Rivers heading to Cloke at the start he sent Cloke straight to the goal square and that is where Cloke stayed the whole game. Dawes played CHF that day and Chip destroyed him but did bailey swap them? No, poor Rivers was left on his own with the ball flying over his head left, right and centre due the incompetence of our midfield. Rivers is not a full back but he is a hell of a courageous defender who puts his body on the line week in, week out. True club man!

Three zip to the Pakistanis, now if the Saffers beat the Kiwis in the upcoming series, they will assume top position - so sad for the English in fact I'd like to see that !!

Yeah we got it- it just wasn't that funny..

It was a joke, an irony. You see, when people say a person will make another walk taller - they mean they will progress and do better. I was mirroring that sentiment but infusing it with a ironic twist as Clark being in the team will mean Jurrah will do a number of things that 'smaller' forwards do, such as crumbing. Hence, 'Jurrah will be walking smaller' is to say he will do well, but do it in a literally 'smaller' role. I've heard the saying that if you have to explain jokes extensively then they are not funny. I do not prescribe to this idea. (Cough)

Steve Johnson is elite. His effort in last years GF was staggering considering what happened the week before. The other players mentioned above are not.

They are A grade but not elite imo Yes Milne is the best small forward ever going on goals per game or whatever But when was he top 10 in the league? depends on the definition of Elite

Morton

that would be shattering...... finds his best at 29 and wasting his whole career

Has to be out of Grimes, Watts and Trengove. I choose Trengove. If you put a scale together of every skill and quality required of every footballer, regardless of position or size, Trengove would rate very highly in every category. I see him as a cross between Bartel and Gibbs. Smokey: Jordan Gysberts. He just keeps getting to where the ball is. A few more kgs and a bit more aerobic capacity and the sky is the limit. .

It's very hard to go past Jack Watts Jordie, but just to be different I'll stick with Chip Frawley to still be our best in 3 years time (no real surprises there either, I guess). I also very much like the look of Tom McD., but I'll put out the bait to Old Dee and suggest Jamie Bennell as my smokey. I know it's a very long bow to draw, but he could be our Andrew McLeod, and two Norm Smiths would have to put him right up there!

They picked the right day to train at Casey. We had big storms yesterday in Melbourne but the squad was blessed with perfect conditions this morning - 20 degrees, blue skies and no breeze. The good news - all 8 of our new leadership team were in the main training group. Clark and Bartram were in the rehab group last week, but they stayed for the first half of today's session, together with Davey. This gang of 3 then finished early and walked a couple of precautionary laps. Once again the rehab group included Tapscott, Sylvia and McKenzie, plus Spencer Jurrah, Evans and Williams, with new boys Taggart and Tynan getting a break from the main group. The encouraging news is that the coaches who were overseeing the rehab session told Misson they were pleased with their progress, and that some of the rehab group are not far from getting back into the main group. My concern is that Jurrah, Tapscott, Sylvia and McKenzie should all be pushing for selection in the seniors, but they have all missed a lot of pre-season work. The earlier reports indicate they have spent very little time training with the main group. At least they have eight weeks till the first match. Green was absent, and Jetta trained with the main group but wore the green OH&S vest (do not tackle). The advantage of Casey is the main group can train on one oval while the rehab group can train on the oval next door. This allows the senior group use all of the main oval during the match practice. They started with the kicking drill where the ball is kicked to allow the target to run to space, then the target passes it to a direct lead from another target. At least I hope that was the plan - a few kicks went wide of the intended targets but i'll assume that was the aim of the session. . They then split into 2 groups of 2 teams and went through a handball drill for about 20 minutes. The team with the ball had to handball quickly under pressure and either kick a goal or hit one of the two portable targets. They could run and carry the ball, but they could also get tackled. No sign of tennis balls, unlike last year. Then we had at least three match practice sessions of about 10 minutes each, interrupted by a review of each session by the coaching staff. Clark was matched against Frawley in the first session and what a difference it makes to finally have a target on the forward line. In one play, Martin got the loose ball on the forward flank, then broke clear and passed to Clark who marked and goaled from the opposite pocket. They struggled to score goals in the final match practice sessions, and I didn't get a sense of a 'wow!' factor from the group. They definitely look fitter and will apply more contested pressure this year, but they still dropped marks and missed targets. To safeguard against these errors, the ball was moved around both flanks from defence, rather than up the corridor. If the contest started on the wing, the ball was passed to someone like Bate or Moloney who could kick it long to the forward line. They finished off the session with the players breaking into 5-6 smaller groups for specialised training such as goal shooting or kicking for goal. The highlight? - Jurrah. He walks back from rehab. He's still got the cast on his wrist. He picks up a ball on the boundary line of the main oval - 30 metres out from goal. He takes a couple of steps then bends the ball right-to-left and curls it through the goal. On his left foot!!! He's bent a reverse punt on his non-preferred foot. No wonder he was posing for photos and signing copies of his new book.

Not that I would encourage this sort of behaviour but ... http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=908378&page=1 Nice Nirvana photoshop work there

All I can say is that it must be a slow news day for the Herald Sun's Jay Clark to come up with this piece of incisive piece on Brad Green's absence from training yesterday - Brad Green given time off training The cutting edge of investigative journalism. ... but what's next?

Hmmn, it must be hard juggling work & family commitments.

Beamer is red and blue through and through. He was our best player in 2011, and has been our best on-field leader for the last few years. Any bashing of him, or any of our players, is moronic. We are here to support them. Beamer should be himself, and play whatever role he is assigned. We all know he will do whatever is best for the team because he loves the MFC like no other. If it's the captains job to rev up the team then they will do that. I know our senior leaders haven't done the best job in recent times, but people need to show some respect. They've been with the club through hard times, and knocked back offers from other clubs to stay at a club that's been woeful on-field and off-field. We all want success, but if you don't respect the players, then don't support the club.

Where is all this Moloney bashing coming from all of a sudden? Guy was our BEST player last year, busts his gut EVERY training session and EVERY game. Quality player, passionate team man, has a bunch of qualitites we've lacked for so long, yet people here are acting like he "should do this, or shouldn't do that", I'm sure at 28 the guy has been among professional football long enough to intuitively know where to fit. The Jack's haven't even captained their first game yet and so many are passing judgement ahead of time. Original thread topic is a valid one to discuss, but some people get too far ahead of themselves or too far from the point.

Given that almost everyone involved except Moloney himself have been shown the door, I'd say that's a pretty emphatic non-acceptance.

I was a training, I am not too big on training reports as we have seen too much gets read into them but just a few notes. - Cook is still skinny but really puts a lot of effort in, good hands and his goal kicking was good. I think we forget how promising he looked in the NAB Cup last year. - In the match simulation drill there was a lot of long kicking into the forward line which had forwards in it, after a series of (five to be exact) contested handpasses. Will this be a tactic used in games? Who knows but it was good to see. - Massive Petterd fan, but his kicking action is holding him back. - Sellar is big unit and tries very hard, he reminds me a bit of Kepler Bradley which isn't the best, but he is ready to go round one if needed. - A lot of dropped marks and missed kicks, which is a little frustrating even in non-costested situations. - Strauss was pushing himself very hard, kicking was excellent. I am hoping he proves me wrong. - Morton was hiding his huge new biceps under a t-shirt so I can't comment on those. He did make a couple of good spoils though in the drills which was good to see. - Bennell was a highlight, fast and skillful. Again, don't read too much into my comments, just some casual observations from the day. And yes, High Tower the "vibe" was good.

Wow. Thats the first time I have seen Davey's 50 metre penalty in another game be the catalyst for 186. Brilliant. Or even worse agendas that deem to write off an MFC player without a scintilla of substance.

Always award a pick at the start of round 2 is the way to go IMO. This should be helpful - in theory if you finish last and are the only team to qualify you've had 3 picks by the time al the other teams have had one. i.e. 1 (1st pick R1 for finishing last), 19 (prio pick), 20 (1st pick R2) - but it's not worth tanking for pick 19.

Ah, yes. Note to oneself: Skim less on Fridays.

It's all there in code. Jack TReNgOve .... TRNO ..... The Real Number One.

The contrast between seeing the picture of Scully in a paddock somewhere with his shiny new GWS jumper and bogan haircut against seeing Trengove standing up in front of the press as the new MFC [joint] captain gives me goosebumps.

What's wrong with having your age on the back of your jumper?

I think its the combination of the two he has definately gotten trimmed down but i think he looks fitter and yeah we actually look like a decent sized football team now!