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Once bitten twice shy. nutbean pre Scully - "it is a players prerogative to wait until the end of the contract to negotiate - if i was a manager I would be advising my clients to wait" nutbean post Scully - "if you havent signed by mid season - gone-ski"

The most interesting things I heard last night were from Chris Connolly, Jack Watts and Russell Howcroft. Watts talked of the impact of Mitch Clark being there and providing an example of how a tall forward should play and more importantly train. MC has a good pedigree, being an understudy to J Brown for most of his career. Watts also spoke of being pushed hard by the coaches and having more expected of him, but that it was good and he appreciated it. Reading between the lines, it's something that wasn't done enough (or in an effective way) during Bailey's reign. Jack singled out Neil Craig for always being there on the sidelines, yelling, on your back, pushing, pushing, pushing. And that at the end of the session, NC is always there, coming over to have a 20 min chat, and going to pains to explain why he pushes and prods them like that, what he is trying to achieve, and what they should be trying to get out of it. We are lucky to have Craig. Chris Connolly mentioned the Future Fund itself, and growing the group, as one day we will be pushing the club forward in an off-field sense. We need to promote the quality of these events, which have been great so far (and continue to get better), and if we can grow the group to be 4 times the size, it will go a long way to make us one of the power clubs. Actually I think Don McLardy said a fair bit of this. But what Connolly did say was that he had spoken to guys like Brad Green and Cameron Bruce, life members, guys who had played the majority of their careers at the club - it was now their responsibility to do whatever, go away to another club for 5-6 years if they want, but come back to the club and work towards building into a power club.\ That responsibility to put back into the club, like those before them that set the foundations so they could have a decent career. And I guess it's not unlike our responsibility as supporters, especially when it comes to a "junior-coterie" group like the Future Fund. Finally Russell Howcroft told of what he had learnt temporarily working on AM talkback radio for the last 6 weeks. If you have a topic, and nobody is calling up to talk about it, you're failing as a talback radio presenter, and won't be on the air for much longer. And what's one thing MFC supporters generally don't do? - call up talkback radio to talk about their team. So to trace that back, radio stations won't talk about MFC because we're not a "sexy" club that will generate a decent response, like a Collingwood or Essendon. Personally, I've always listened to some extent, but thought that to call up was mostly the domain of idiots and those with too much time on their hands. And it's kinda true. But it doesn't matter how stupid you or your point are to the presenter - they just need something to keep people talking. And talking about MFC, keeping the brand ever-present, is good for the club. I had always thought to myself - as a supporter, what can I actually do to grow the popularity and strength of the club? Beyond pushing acquaintances who I know support the club to buy a membership, what can I actually do besides pour my money into it? Will this is one way, with really minimal effort - call up the radio shows. SEN, 3AW, MMM... Get on the air, get passionate, and it becomes infectious. It'll have a snowball effect. Hell, even if it's the same 10 blokes calling up, sounding like idiots, as long as they are filling the airwaves with MFC, talking about Watts' potential, Morton's skinny arms, Sylvia's guns, Blease's pace... I guess it's all about promoting the MFC brand - about brand awareness, and the increase in supporters and interest in MFC will come from there, and eventually it will become self-fulfilling. There is only so much the club can do, and we all as supporters have a responsibility to work towards a stronger MFC. A bit rambly cos I'm tired, but you get the picture.

Bambi continues to grow, From this > To this >

When we get a serious surge of Wattage the resisters will burst and this joint will go into overload.

Away from the puns - did anyone watch AFL 360 last night with Hall and Mooney ? They talked about KPP's and especially as forwards and how it took it both of them until 23 until they really could see what was coming at them from down the field and how it took that long until they felt comfortable in the position. They also mentioned that players like Franklin and Carey who matured very early were not the norm. I understand that and my expectation is that the improvement that Jack made in the middle part of season becomes the norm and his better games improves further than that. My criticism of our players is that they may show us something quite early on what they could be but dont continue to improve and take that next step. At various stages Sylvia, Bad-mo-boy and Bate to name but three have shown plenty and then stagnated or gone backwards. I'm putting it out there - I am not convinced we draft poorly - I think we have failed to develop players.

Ohm my god! Usually I will just switch off, but I must say it's good to see a thread that is generating positive energy as opposed to all of the negatives we usually see on here.

I think he could provide an alternate current to goal unless he plays deep in which case he could be a direct current . Agree he needs to switch on . Could be a lamp lighter for us . Just needs proper supply .

Possibly more embarrassing than the hoon charge.

Indeed they will. Watts will be a buzzword in the AFL , even if he has a few shockers . There is an electricity about him ever since he came on the circuit . Whether hes on or off , Watts is a power-player.

Lynden Dunn, this is how you grow a moustache:

So Channel Nine get their info from this site? They really are going downhill .

Really? Why doesn't the real Mike get it taken down then? I was a bit surprised to read it to be honest, thought Jack had shown some good signs last year, and was positive about having Mitch Clark around. He's still only young - the same age (give or take a few months) as John Butcher at Port (for example), who's only just now starting to be seen as a regular first-22 after a couple of decent games late last year. Not comparing ability, but more the time it takes for these bigger guys to even start to get it together. Anyway, sorry for the footy discussion, back to the puns ... larfing so much it hertz.

I'm not.

Forget new game plan - the above comment will be the biggest change of direction for our club.

For these symptoms I diagnose 1 geography lesson

Think it's fantastic used in moderation. Couldn't think of anything more professional than seeing all the boys arrive to the game wearing their blazers; getting off the buses for interstate trips etc. Tracksuits look so unprofessional when I played footy at school it was an honour to arrive to the game wearing our blazer before kitting up. This could be really good relying how they approach it.

Bright spark.

These puns are shocking!

How can someone hoon in a Hyundai Excel? And can cars like that go that far over the speed limit? 0-100 in 36 minutes....

As long as his form isn't just static

http://www.heraldsun...f-1226076710819 Bastinac - 16 June 2011: Similarly, he suspects his mate at Melbourne, Scully, 20, also knows where his future lies. He is just not saying. "He's probably got his mind made up and knows what he's going to do," Bastinac, 19, said. "I do feel for him a little bit, but knowing him well I know it's not going to get to him at all. "He will definitely make the right decision for him and the footy club." Fine upstanding young pen pals these two. In fairness, Bastinac was 50% correct though - Scully did ultimately make the 'right decision for him'.

His worst career move was to leave Melbourne.

I remember reading at one stage in the early days when we were courting Tom Scully a story about Phil Scully and Bastinac's father having been teammates at Dandenong in its latter VFA days. Now Phil is on the GWS payroll and his best mate's son is in the final year of his contract at North. Is Sydney town big enough for both fathers?

As it is with avatars, my mind went directly to James Van Der Beek being at the club. And it made me sad.

I like to think that our senior players have been a victim of a bad Football Dept for too long. Bad and out dated coaching. Daniher was kept too long. He was a great coach in his day but was kept too long and his coaching methods became out dated. Bailey was just a disaster. He came from a club who won a Premiership from the tail end of a style of play that won premiership's (similar to Daniher, greyhound types playing outside attacking football). Development. We have had skeleton staff concentrating on trying to develop players with very good draft picks. Development had not been good for ten years. Poor recruitment and trading. Great midfields have a team of players supporting each other to play to each others strengths whilst developing. As do the forwards and backs. Not since the 90's and early 2000's has the MFC had a good balance of each of the 3 different parts of the game. The club chasing tails. In the early 2000's we have a poor backline, now we have a decent backline. Problem fixed. At the same time we had a strong forward line and very good midfield. The forward line fell over and we recruited to fix this problem and tried to fix our lack of inside mids at the same time. The forward looks much better but now our mid stocks are bare. We are now chasing mids to fix the problem or have been for a while. Back to recruiting. One year we recruit all mids, the next all talls. Were is the balance? All trying to fix holes. This year was the same. All big players with grunt and mostly players within an age group. Still trying to fix holes wihjn the list. In regards to the senior players. We have some very good talented players but they suffer the consequences of the FD deficiencies. Moloney is a very good mid. Yes he is inconsistent, but you coach against us. Who do you stop? Only Moloney. No one else can be damaging. Green is a mid sized forward. We try and make him a midfielder. He has less impact, goes back to a forward, becomes AA, so we continue to stack on the pressure playing him in a KP. WTF, no wonder his form goes down. Davey is a small forward who can be damaging offensively and defensively. Coaches fear him and we make him a roaming mid due to damaging foot skills and his motor is poor and is easily stopped. Rivers is an excellent damaging 3rd tall, and he continues to play A KPB. Good teams play gorillas on him and push him deep. I'm don't like blaming the individuals as they are very good individually. They just continue to block holes due to a poor FD and coaching. I could go on about facilities of the past etc. Too Many reasons of why with our club. Blame the club not the individuals.

I agree with your sentiment here...i watched my 2 Nephews Change schools & become A grade Students within weeks. It is possible. Our List may struggle in 2012, yes. But with the right teaching this list could also suprise the S@#$%t out of all of us all.....It is possible.

I would never wish what was imposed on the MFC last season on any other club especially one which is struggling in the bottom eight.

I don't...They Should have gone to the Gold Coast when they had the chance.. Nought Melbourne are the reason GW$ exist....

"The last thing Ryan would want is for this to turn into a saga," he said. Well Guess What...... It is now officially a saga..... "Bye"

I think his dad shovels elephant [censored], so he'll be working under Phil.

Honestly I think the talk of Watts needing to "step up" is just a myth now For a young KPP his output has increased each year: Year Team Games Kicks Handballs Disposals Marks Goals Behinds Tackles Hitouts Frees For Frees Ag. Brownlow 2011 Melbourne 22 9.0 7.1 16.1 5.6 1.0 0.5 2.4 0.4 0.6 0.8 0.05 2010 Melbourne 15 7.7 4.9 12.6 4.7 0.7 0.3 1.0 0.6 0.9 0.9 2009 Melbourne 3 5.3 3.7 9.0 3.0 0.7 0.7 0.3 0 0.7 2.0 The reality is 2009 he shouldn't have played 2010 was about getting some confidence - 2011 was about him understanding he belongs Honestly (whilst I think he will be an exceptional player) - anyone expecting him to do any more to date was merely getting in on the perception he was a dud pick up

The Demon Shop told me that Cam is waiting for this thread to hit one thousand posts before any announcement will be made.

This site is a bit addictive for an enthusiastic Demon supporter retired to the country. Yes there can be plenty of skiing and much involvement in the local community including our own Beechworth Bushies who carry the red and Blue and Milawa who carry the demon colours. We dont have the benefit of 5 year rebuilding up here and I think that MFC has often confused a 10 year business plan with a game plan. The window for player performance is very short and we should be aiming as Neeld apparently is for success quickly. I am pleased with the list development and hope that all players are used with maximum exploitation of their skill. I agree that Saints and Dogs should be sliding and hope we are ahead of Richmond Essendon etc We dont have a proven Judd star but Trengove and a team around to create space and movement will be interesting. With Clark adding muscle Watts getting stronger we could have a Brereton/ Brown figure in the forward line. Although I like Watts speed on the wing. We have plenty of options with Davey returning to the forward line for the small crumber and with Bate and even Dunn of the flanks we have plenty of options also for attack. I can even remember when Green was a Striker, every touch though not many seemed to result in a goal, I hope he can find that form again. The Defence as many of you guys have pointed out is solid with options for every forward line in the comp and if we can get the mix right on the day we are competitive in every match. Despite our miserable years we have been more competitive against the pies and have shown we can play great patches. A new coach to inspire the performance we need from every player can see us get a great start with some surprising (to others) wins. I just hope we can see every match that we are competitive and that players have given their all. With heads up we can win more than we lose.

To suggest that we delist our captain on the basis of a contact injury is nonsense. To suggest that the fitness bloke is responsible for injuries that occured before he arrived or that occured as a result of contact in a contact sport is nonsense. To forget hawthorn's injury list from last year or just overlook geelong's ruck problems (and say that these things don'tr occur for them) is nonsense. I do not want to read ignorant guff on this site. BASIC inquiry would have got rid of the need to post pessimistic MFCSS dross that polluted my mind. To ask you to not bother in the future is a pretty mild response. Sloonie, it is sweet that you suggested I am silly...given your name. And no hint of irony. You should take that show professional. Don't get me wrong, i like that name. It is sooo much more creative than just using your real name (like i did). And it is better than calling yourself hannibal, or ben-hur, or spartacus or ego-projection or anything else truely pissy.

Your motto should be STFU

Because as previously reported, on a number of occasions, discussions are on-going and a decision is hopefully "imminent". Sorry Thomo, but your converse argument carries far less weight.

You know this for a fact? I would have thought that the fact that Energy Watch is on the BOJ with a very large sponsorship coupled with the fact that the Reach Foundation logo on the FOJ is a temporary placement for the NAB Cup, might be an indication that a major FOJ sponsor has been in the works for a while and that an announcement is imminent. There is still a little over a month until the season proper gets underway, so it is hardly time for hitting the panic button.

Hardly a low point. It shows respect for a legend of the club and his work with Australian Youth. That, in itself, carries a significant amount of kudos and marketing nous. In any event, it will be an interim measure, until we secure a foj sponsor, which I am more than confident we will.