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The way that Brad Green has handled losing the captaincy and his attitude to the news has, from the very beginning, been all class. Dare I say it, but after a torrid 2011 season for Brad, he will in many ways be relieved that he can now go back to concentrating on his game and being a part of the team's revival where he will still have the capacity to lead by his example on the field. Time has moved quickly for those who have now become the club's elder statesmen. Players like Green, Davey and Rivers who have for so long been regulars at the club, now need to concentrate on holding their places in the team and once they have done that, they will still be required to provide leadership as the more mature players in the group. It's going to be fascinating to see how these players go about this because I see them as still having important roles to play if they rise to the challenges that face them. At the same time, Mark Neeld had taken a bold approach in giving the mantle of responsibility to the youth upon whose shoulders the long term future of this group rests. It's refreshing and exciting and the logical way to go after what happened in the last half of last year.

He's now on the same level as Setanta O'Hailpin, what a fantastic achievement. Let's hope he does something that pisses the Irishman off.

He called him 'Neeldy' though... And isn't Brad being incredibly open and honest about what happened. He has been allowed to expand on the chat he had with Neeld, the feelings of being a scape goat for 2011, and his disappointment of not even being in the LG. I am vexed. This probably gets all the questions out of the way now, and let's him concentrate on his footy, but it is a brutally honest presser that raises the questions Demonstrative has raised about Neeld and also pushes ones mind toward the fact that he feels somewhat betrayed after being abjectly blamed for 2011, and 186 in particular. That's footy I guess, tough decisions leave a few bruises.

Maybe its time the players stop getting treated like babies and only get a 2 minute talk when they are dropped from the leadership group. All I'd expect from Neeld would be to outline the reason behind his decision and what he wants Green and company to do better. If that only took 2 minutes then so be it. They had to get over the Junior thing and now Brad and co have to get over this.

Rhett, if you're still watching this thread the following sentence this page (http://www.foxtel.com.au/xbox/packages/default.htm?presel=pbtm) is a shocker: "Don’t add AFL now. For free^ AFL trail just add Sport. If you like it add AFL post 17 March." As a professional writer, I've taken the liberty of reworking it for you into something that makes sense! My invoice is in the mail "AFL coverage is free on the Sport Pack until the 17th of March. To continue to watch live AFL games after this date, you'll need to add one of the following options:"

FFS can't believe some posters are calling it amatuer the way this was done. You know what life is tough, Neeld did it man to man with no BS and that is what I respect in a boss. I've worked under plenty of bosses who talk BS and fill you with excuses when you know they just don't have the balls to tell you really how it is. On one hand posters call for a change in the culture of us being a soft club and when we do something hardline it gets frowned upon. GF Day 1993 Kevin SHEEDY walks in and tells Derek KICKETT sorry your not playing today, KICKETT has not spoken to him since Seedy makes the hard decision breaks it honestly and becomes Premiership coach again.

Think that applies to everyone..... This is a disappointing attitude especially after one, yes only one really poor year. And opinion on his contract negotiations are pure conjecture as we have no clue what goes on behind closed doors, so you are choosing to think that he is screwing the club. Is he really? Prove it? And where does it say that he (or anyone else for that matter) can't try to get a good contract, I appreciate the frustrations about delays and money, but you are choosing to ignore the loyalty and great play over years of service. Did you disrespect and dislike him to this degree when he won the Best and Fairest at the end of 2010? A bad year does not make a bad person and certainly shouldn't make loyal supporters black ball classy life long Melbourne players so easily. Was he a poor captain? Yes. But you are questioning him in his entirety and that is unacceptable and disappointing to me. I just hope that relieving him of the burden will give him the chance to retrieve the form that won him a Bluey. Plus no matter who you are being sacked is never easy, but he has handled it with nothing but honesty and class. He deserves better than this crap.

And WYL, I'd have money on him playing another one after that! Brad is a very consistent footballer in terms of return. Take 2011 out of the equation, and he has had a very polished decade or so of excellent football, and is a regular contributor. If he can come out in 2012, retain his spot (which will be challenge 1 under a new regime), give us a 30-40 goal return, there is no reason why he can't go on in 2013. If he struggles like what we saw in 2011, and his goal return is down to the high teens, low 20's, then it's hard to see him get another year. Good luck Brad for season 2012.

It's funny isn't it that we are now starting to get good reports about Cook and Morton, two who came in for a fair bit of criticism prior to the match practice. The good reports about these two plus the fact Jordie McK and Tappy are approaching full training is good news.

Really..? What do you want? Neeld to give him a cuddle and sit with him for a few hours? Honestly, some people...

To the contrary-he is not here to make mates and play favourites with club stalwarts . Amateurish is the best way to describe the attempted coup on CS . Those associated with it have had the unnecessary burden of politics removed from them . Good job too. The slate is now clean. Redemption awaits those that feel aggrieved .

Morton vs Howe - want to Howe run Morton around, and make Morton accountable as a HBF Clark vs Sellar - give us a look at Sellar on a key forward Petterd vs Strauss (if fit) - would like to think that Petterd can take his I50 pressure up a notch, and will teach Strauss to hit targets under pressure Bail vs Trengove - see what Bail is like shutting down one of the better mids Bate vs Moloney - make Bate accountable against a quality mid that will be on the end of Jamar's taps Jones vs Nicholson - both gut-runners, with Nicho looking for a promotion to senior list Frawley vs Watts - see how much JW has been doing in the gym Bartram vs Davey - Flash to play forward and Barty tag him Points; * Tapscott, Magner and Couch are not to go near Grimes * Jurrah to play after a restricted preseason and kick 4 goals * Morton BOG.

And not only was Judd at the Eagles long enough for them to get a reasonable return from him, they also got equitable recompense for him in a trade. (I'm not bitter!)

Queeny I have just returned from a nice restaurant down the road, Illoner Staller, and my outlook on the world and Brad Green has changed. Im happy you've been in his corner as I have myself in the past. I accept your argument and concede. I was too harsh. I reflected over a nice bottle of Sangiovese and while all looked cool around me, I wasnt very classy in what I posted. I withdraw and reckon you did well standing up for him. Cheers.

I pledge to bag the living daylights out of him at every single opportunity until the day either he or I die.

There are a number of reasons why I would like the season to commence. However, top of the list is that we might all forget about the Scully family. After all that has been said and written I cannot believe this latest thread has 7 pages and 261 comments ( including 1 from me ). Can we please forget this ex player and get on with talk about the MFC? I swear I will say nothing more about him this side of June. Am I the only one in this band or will others take the pledge?

I remember reading many times that Green had not signed and may put himself in the draft. it was in the papers more than twice. It was discussed if not here, then on Ology. So thats my source. He heroically signed on at the death knell every time. He had us over a barrel and fair enough went for it. I dont see him as anything more than a professional player who has been a good player amongst mainly average players. Did he put himself on the line? How often? Well a few times. Much like Paul wheatley's bombs into the centre it only happened a couple of times. But in the retelling it gets better. So he brave yes, going back with into pack to take a big mark a couple of times. he kicked 55 in his best year which made him A grade that year. He shouldnt have captained Australia but I was happy for him. Does he speak absolute Bulltish? Yes, in my opinion. His glib "Oh we will give it what for" smiling talkfests were cruel to endure, and hardly ever did it mean anything more than words. Loyalty. Im over loyalty to tell the truth. Give me Mitch Clark over Green, without seeing him fire a shot. Classy? Thats just an opinion you have. I dont give a fig myself, if footballers are only good footballers. Maybe Im not classy. Ive known a couple of good footballers and ive known some "classy" people. The twain dont meet... The bottom line for me Queeny is that he had a year to do plenty but he the only leading I saw him do was to run sideways of the ball screaming for a stat. I reckon he went behind Baileys back to the board, which is mainly the incumbent presidents fault but he was a part of it. He blotted his copybook in such a manner that Ive dropped off him.

You don't need to be in the LG to be a leader or a mentor. The brothers shouldn't dwell on anything and neither should Davey. Head down, bum up and perform is how they should be. It shouldn't. But we'll see what he is made of. Same goes for Rivers and Green.

Greeny is the sort of bloke who will put the hurt and disappointment behind him. But what about the others? Flash couldn't realistically expect to be a captain or vice-captain after last year - but he might have hoped to stay in the leadership as mentor to "the Brothers". How will the brothers react? Then Beamer. He has gone from favourite for captaincy to nothing at all. He will be hurt - he might be angry. Will his on-field spirit drop even 5% as a result? To make the Jacks captains was a big call - to leave people like Green and Moloney out of the leadership group altogether was a huge call. I'll back Neeldy in for now - but it was a high risk decision High risk: high reward ..... but equally high risk: heavy loss...

i'd run laps for 2 hours a day if someone paid me $250,000

Running of any sort if boring as hell. I'm one of those people who is bored to tears by training for training's sake. I think anyone who can run laps for an hour or so has a level of dedication I can't even imagine, let alone aspire to.

I have to say I'm very impressed with Liam Jurrah's commitment. For a person who comes from an area where the only kind of training for football games is more football games, his willingness to keep at it all through his rehab is exciting. Running laps can be boring as hell for some people, but it can really pay off when you can't do much else.

Maybe the offer was - Captaincy or .........................we give your Dad a 6 year job for doing nothing ( 680k ) , your sister a lifetime supply of fake tanning cream and all the free haicuts you like at "Blind man Bob's barber's" Cheers

Because he is not a leader's a$$hole?!

Sylvia could , however , become a 'very good' Centreman/Midfielder . I reckon we're gonna need him in there against the top sides . Otherwise he may be standing around in the forward line twiddling his thumbs ( unless we flood ) . He's too talented to be wasted . Our current lot of midfielders will have to improve dramatically if we want to have Sylvia as a permanent HFF . In an ideal world that would be the case but for the next year or so he may be needed in the middle ( on occasions ) . You'd like to think that Green , Jurrah , Pettered , Howe and 1 or 2 others will be better forwards this year . That's not a criticism , all players can get better . Cheers

Giants name their 3 Co Captains.. guess who wasnt one of them !!! even this lot knows you cant have a Squib as a captain !!

I am glad that he admits that it hurt. There is an honesty and directness creeping into the club. I like it.

I aslo arrived part the way through the match practice. One piece of play in particular stood out - Morton outmarked Dunn (again), baulked the man on the mark and delivered a perfect 50m pass to Clarke who took a strong mark over the pack 30m out (the sort of mark only Jamar could take in recent years). It was a passage of play we haven't seen since Neitz retired. One other thing that stood out to me was how good/soft Lucas Cooks hands were. The forwards did a drill later in the session where they led to the coaches who speared a pass at them When the ball hit Cooks hands they were much softer and cleaner than either Clarke's or Watts'. Let's hope he can find another 15kgs

Our most damaging and dangerous midfielder is Col Sylvia, hopefully he can get his head right and the new coaching staff can get his best more often, he has all the attributes to be an elite midfielder, his first 4 years at the club he was limited by injuries, to me he is a midfielder resting forward and not the other way around. The last two years we have seen a couple of games from him that teases us, hopefully he can become more than a tease. I've had the opinion for many years that our midfield is to one paced we have the grinding type midfielders rather than the explosive types. Once again Sylvia is explosive can get away from the contest and the other is Blease but he will blow up to quick playing in the midfield for now. We tried adding Davey to give this speed worked for a little while then he started getting tagged and it was all over for him. I'm OK with what we have in our midfield all we need to do is add some outside quality and we will be OK. The best way to beat the zones is to have some players that can take it on with speed and skill, the old run and carry like any sport that has zones its about drawing the zone to you to create space.

I took this to the table last year for discussion with other mods and it got turned down. Does it matter if two leagues of teams are posting on the one thread ? I don't think it matters, it's like one big happy family. Taking a positive spin on this, maybe - just maybe - with two divisions going this year. JA, OMR, IWAP ,etc (or for that matter all concerned) we could discuss the possibility of a relegation/promotion system for the following years leagues. ie. bottom four, top four teams switch leagues next year ? How does everyone feel about that ? And if there comes a time when there's 3 divisions, the process continues, etc. Just a suggestion.

You're my hero I appreciate your views RR, but at this stage, I don't think all those resonses are that difficult to fix, especially with this new, so-called whiz bang, ex-midfield miracle coach we have in charge. * You have totally missed my comment about his pace. An inside mid like Beamer to have acceleration over 20m is more than useful. * The power comment relates to when Jamar puts it in Beamer's space and he can hit the contest in motion. Some players can hit a contest hard and still get stopped, others, like Beamer, hit a ontest hard and keeps going. As you rightly said about Beamer going missing when Jamar is down, this is defintely an area that I expect Neeld to work on (ie learn to rove opposition rucks). * The strength/accountability side should improve with increased fitness and the reported couple of kgs that he has lost. * His awareness is improving, correct, but that's more because we are slowly having more players around the ball, rather than looking around and not having anyone to pass off to. A more structured clearance set-up will see Moloney's disposal effiencency increase I'm sure. He is the clearance king. * His long kick doesn't go to the top of the square because we haven't had anyone there for 4 years. There is a myth about kick to the top of the square - it's too easy for defenders to punch it through for a point. A kick to 20 metres out puts far greater pressure on the opposition, providing you have forward pressure. I also think you will find that a majority of his career goals have come from outside 50. Check it out and get back to me. I do acknowledge that he needs to kick more goals, but the rest of our midfield are in the same boat. * How is his leadership irrelevant? Of course it's bloody relevant given he is in the engine room and can have an impact on a result. It's irrelevant tha the hasn't got a title, but his onfield leadership will be as important this year as ever. I don't think I've said he is a star, but while there are a few things that he needs to work on (which all the Beamer supporters are happy to agree with), I think they are quite achievable in a short space of time, especially if Neeld is as good working with the mids as everyone tells me he is. Neeld talks about elite compliance - I would imagine most of those Beamer issues you have raised would definitely fall under this category. No doubt we'll see a response from you soon - you always love having the last word. But, like everyone, we'll be watching Beamer's 2012 with great interest.

I would also like to see Brad concentrate on his set shot kicking again this year. He pretty well used to be the most reliable kick for goal in the competition, but in the last few years he's lost that accuracy/dependability.

Jamar vs. Martin - Will be good to see how much Martin has improved. Clark vs. Frawley - Give Clark a go against one of the best backmen in the competition. Sellar vs. Watts - Interested in seeing what both of these guys can do Anyone vs. Howe - By all accounts has been training the house down... looking forward to seeing how he goes in a match situation. Anyone vs. Morton - Gets a bad wrap on this site, but has been reported to have done well over the past couple of weeks. Would like to see improvement on 2011. Garland vs. Jurrah (if fit) - Jurrah is arguably one of the toughest players to match up on in the league because of his versatility. Would love to see how Garland goes against him.

If Neeld's no nonsense approach effects anyone's confidence, let alone the senior group who let the team down so badly last season, then it will have been effective in weeding out those who have neither the steel or fortitude to take this club where it's going ... to a premiership.

Very well said moloney is a gun for our club bottom line. And he would be the first pick for mine every week going on current form if you cant see that then you are a joke to the red and blue army. Love some of the hate out there to go towards some collingwood scum or even GWS. lets go back to loving the best and fairest player.

OK you can have Jarrod Grant, Lachlan Hansen and Scott Gumbleton. I suspect you wouldn't take them...

The human psyche is naturally inclined to look for symbols, stars ,and a hero . In the words of Tina Turner- we dont need another hero . We need 22 of them .

I don't think Mark Neeld gives a damn about the past 13 years. That's what I like about him. I love that Schwabby gets so involved and likes to drone on about our proud history. But I want the coach to be 100% present and future. Brad is getting on. He needs to start focusing on his own game. He will be fighting for his spot this year. We have lots of mid size forwards.

Trengove turns 21 in September, Scully is 21 in May.

I'd preferred it if he just shut up and do all his talking on the field.

* Pace - mostly in the first 20m that star midfielders have. - Nothing special. In fact I worried having at one time, McLean, Beamer and Jones in the guts. Too many too slow. * Power - can break takcles, especially when Jamar is on top in the ruck. - Not sure how Jamar in the ruck helps him break tackles. But when Jamar is down Beamer goes missing * Strength - has very good leg strength, means he keeps his feet, and in return, his tackles stick - Strength should be a benefit particularly against young side but needs to be more accountable for his opponent defensively. * Awareness - knows when to kick short or long, rarely puts his teammates under pressure - Disagree. Moloney is only beginning to develop the nous as what to do with the ball. Too often he would bomb it long. Still needs to define the art against better oppositions. Many of his disposals in those games do not impact. * Kicking - can hit a target 55m+, or kick a goal off one or tw steps from outside 50m. - Too often kicks too long and does not kick to the top of square. He has only kicked 34 goals in 130 games. There would be few instances of the long goal happening over his whole career. * Leadership - was stiff not to remain in the LG in 2012, but won't sit back and let it happen, will do something about it. - Irrelevant given Neeld thinks otherwise and has dumped him from the leadership group. Needs to justify his role in the team.

Footy is an opinion business and clearly we disagree when it comes to Moloney. I don't see any of the tricks you speak of. There's no doubt that Moloney can be more damaging in a better side, that's common sense, but I also think he'd struggle to hold his position in a better side due to the limitations mentioned. You say that he can be a "star" midfielder ? He could be our Dane Swan. Wow. We really must watch football differently. I look at Jordan Gysberts and I see a potential star. In his limited games I see a really smart footballer, one that makes great decisions quickly, one that has clean hands in close, one who instinctively knows where to run, one that puts the ball to a teammates advantage, one that rarely gets tackled, a player with balance, put simply, I see all of the attributes of a star and all of the attributes missing with Moloney. And I disagree with you on Judd. He'd be a star at Melbourne despite the lack of support. Judd wins his own footy and improves those around him. Did you not go to the MCG last year and see him single handedly destroy us ? Someone described him as a white pointer playing with a school of fish. They were right.

Does that include the tragics on this site that think they are "in the know". I think it does . There's something in that for all of us- even the former leadership group who are now not . Once the season begins -there is only 1 general and all the rest are soldiers .

I don't think it is tough to sit in the grandstand and bag our players or sit in the comfort of your study and bag them on a supporters site, they are human and as such have faults. Just re watched last years prelim (Haw vs Coll) So many mistakes, so many missed kicks and so many missed shots for goal, yet all players were launded for such a great game. I see the faults but I also see the effort and the direction we are striving for without calling for player's heads. If all of the players that this site bagged were culled, we wouldn't have a team.

Yeah, those rants weren't about preparation... They were more about entities having a boundless confidence borne out of nothing but never questioned. Point: We have very little confidence in our club and those that run it, sometimes with good reason, but more often that not - with no reason at all. (These are the clift notes of what I was ranting about)

I think you seriously misinterpreted those rants, if that's what you gleaned from them...

Really? How exactly do you explain Geelong having had Ford the whole time they were rubbish and hadn't won a flag for 40+ years? Whichever way you like to paint it, Geelong had retained Ford because of Ford being located there. Nothing more.

Oh, Watts needs to improve on the ten good games he played last year?! He needs to improve his physicality?! You get frustrated by the MFC's 'soft' supporters? I get frustrated with those supporters who shift the goalposts for this team and its players. Watts had a good 2011, a number of supporters didn't think it would be as good as it was. But here we are and they can't see the forest for the trees. Why don't we keep the fire on the feet of those who actually didn't live up to expectations last year: Green, Davey, Petterd, the midfield as a whole, Moloney against decent teams, etc. This desire to keep Watts 'dancing' (that is a reference to shooting bullets at his feet) is getting tiresome for all concerned. Let's see how he reacts to the new FD and the preseason and actually wait until April to cast judgement.

Well at least he should get plenty of help finding his way home after a night out.

It's a harmless bird...