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The issues which Liam is dealing with are family related and are his personal business so I won't elaborate here or anywhere else. However, as he was still recovering from his wrist surgery and was a few weeks away from playing again, the club has been terrific in granting Liam some personal leave to sort some matters out back home. I expect him to return shortly eager to complete his rehab and be ready to do his bit for the team. The club should be congratulated for the understanding and support they have shown Liam.

How quickly Rivers has fallen away. I know Sellar has looked impressive for the past two weeks but I do remmeber Rivers have a fairly decent season last year. 2nd in the b&f was it not. He gets a gig in my 22 every day of the week.

If you want to mirror Watts progress I think of Josh Kennedy , now at the eagles, as a good model - drafted number 4 as a key forward. He was one year older than Watts when drafted ( and Watts first year was a nonsense as others have pointed out) . First three years netted a total of 18 goals. It took Kennedy until year 4 until he started to make a real impact - in fact his second year he played 13 games for 6 goals and in year 4 - 16 games for 31 goals.

Gibbs took a couple of years to get going - so your assessment he was excellent from the get go is wrong Kreuzer has shown glimpses - and been injured - so it's difficult to assess. Also, Kruezer was drafted as a man mountain - Watts was drafted as a 17 year old skinny school kid - this makes an enormous difference when looking at KP prospects It's popular to get stuck into Watts - a blonde haired private school kid, drafted to a club seen as toffee nosed elitists You could immediately see how the collingwood players attacked him as soon as he came onto the ground Watts should never have played that year - it served no real purpose other than to make him cannon fodder for the masses who like to attack Reality is - with his age at draft time, with his body type, with his previous experience, Watts needs time. He won't start hitting his straps until he is 23 - 24 People need to accept that He took huge steps last year, anyone who fails to recognise that doesn't know football, he will continue to take steps

That is spurious reasoning at best. This has got nothing to do with Jimmy whatsoever, so don't try and make it about him. This is the third time I've made this point in this thread, but as it seems it's not getting through I'll say it again. The club (like any good employee) has an incentive to do the right thing by its players. It instills a belief (a culture, if you will) where players (and other employees) know they are valued and know the club will stick by them when they need them to. As a player I'd be mortified if the club knifed LJ for this. How could I be sure I wouldn't get the same treatment if I ever needed time away for personal reasons? How would the next Chris Judd (or Mitch Clark) - coming out of contract and considering a return to Victoria view this when considering the MFC as a potential club to play at?

That just isn't true. Watts is a developing player. We are impatient, but there is significant recent history to suggest that key position players take a long time. Especially skinny ones like Jack. People here are saying that being pick 1 doesn't mean he's going to turn into a top quality player. That's true, but what is also true is that his many talents should see him become a top quality player. He has pace, agility, awareness, sublime skills, great hands, size and a bit of X factor that should get him to the top of the game. Many, many players take time to get there (like Goddard). He still plays the game like basketball a bit, but the game has moved away from that. I think he will be a very good key forward, but I also think he could be an absolute star midfielder. Pendlebury played the game like basketball, but that has now turned to his advantage. \ Once Jack starts flying for big marks we will see him become an absolute menace. He has it in him - he just hasn't yet worked out how. I'm not worried, just impatient like everyone else. I want to see the future today!

Worst Post ever in the History of Demonland....

Those knocking his performance v maggies should have another look at his tackling and knock ons. His involvement created 6 scores and he consistently helped create space on the forward line. I suspect that was his role, which I have little doubt will change when Clark is back, and change again when Jurrah plays. As long as he pleases the coaches, he pleases me.

Dr. your sources are excellent mate. This badge is spot on! The club was quite correct issuing this. It shows a very full, satisfied and bulked up Beamer having eaten Cale Morton for breakfast. Although the club did forget to add the the caption underneath which would have read ... "Pffft....anymore where that came from fellas?" P.S. The club's not being "completely" honest when it tells you that Morton's out injured!

How on Earth you slap sense into someone in the Tiwi Islands when you're in central Australia is beyond me. Of course I'm worried too, but only to the extent that I'd be worried about a loved one who goes skydiving; the odds are in our favour that he'll come back soon. Nothing bad will happen.

I personally don't want to think about 186 ever again I don't want the players to either I think Neeld's idea of a clean slate has serious merit We can't change what happened in 2011, or 2010, 09 etc for that matter New Coach, new coaching group, entirely new structure, more resources, new captains, new look leadership group, a new brand of football - which we all witnessed last Saturday night (yes I know it was only NAB cup but one could argue there would be less reason to put their head over the ball in NAB cup) So far Neeld has impressed me, his my way or not a all mentality is refreshing. He's blunt, he's to the point, he's told them whats required, he's eluded to the consequences if what's required isn't given. Time to look forward, we're a new team now

Terribly sorry, I was being facetious. There is nothing more useless than having 30 players as good as each other. We need 5 player that can match it with the best. Depth is a red herring.

I can't think of anything more ridiculous than to suggest that, because of the way one player dealt with bereavement, that other players should be measured against that yardstick. Clint Batram can be commended for the way he dealt with his father's passing. That in no way can be any sort of comment on how anyone else should deal with a bereavement, and if another player takes weeks to deal with a passing of a family member, so be it.

The old man would have eaten more pies at the game on Saturday than little Tommy had kicks!

Most employees grant different types of leave like carers leave, bereavment leave etc. in addition to annual, sick etc.- its not welfare its maintaining good work / life balance and good relationships with your employees. The idea that it is "welfare" particuarly when the guy is injured and cant do his normal training is intolerant and dated in the extreme.

everybody needs to calm the f*&k down!!! this is not another wonna, completely different set of circumstances. From day one the club has said that as LJ is a leader of his people that the club will do everything in their power to respect that, his people come first and fair enough. He'll be back, he loves plaing footy and the dees. good luck LJ

I cannot believe some of the ignorant comments on this thread.. Liam is an elder of his community....given blessings to come down here by his people... There is community problems up there, and LJ is injured....he can do little down here but lots up there He will be back i am sure. Well done MFC for showing useful compassion. I am glad some of you aint my boss.

Thanks for the perspective RudeBoy. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but I was of the belief that Liam is (through birth???) regarded as an elder of his community. This to me would suggest that he has certain responsibilities to his community, that would sometimes need to come before himself and his other responsibilities, and I would assume if correct that the club would have been fully aware of the potential of this sort of situation occurring at some time. I won't even bother commenting on the ignorance of some, but put my voice to those who reasonably point out that he is recovering from an injury caused at work, and just like Jack Grimes (I remember no noses out of joint about this one) should be allowed a bit of time if required. The other thing to remember in this is that JG was not going to North Queensland to deal with massive upheaval in his remote community, he was going to a tropical island for R&R. So I ask, who is taking the [censored] more, Liam or Captain Jack?? Maybe some of you out there might like to take a moment, have a think and reassess a little. If this is still going on in a month or two, then perhaps we can take another look at this issue, but for now, best of luck Liam, and please come back soon champ. Note: I harbour no ill will towards Jack Grimes for his time in FNQ, am just trying to make a point.

Mono, you need to get up from under that rock you're living under and do some learning. Ignorant, ignorant comment. Little Johnny's savings? Jeez. You and Mono better be world advocates of 'save the tax payers' if you're kicking up a fuss over this. Do some learning brother. Gain some insight into indigenous affairs and you might have a slightly different view...

Geez, I'm glad I don't work for you.

He frustrates me sometimes but bloody hell lets get behind this kid. He's getting well and truly smashed in the media, I feel sorry for him.

Terry Wallace has an opinion but it doesn't really matter any more than the turd I flushed yesterday . Same goes with Mick Malthouse. I don't get called by Sen or any other moron riddled tabliod outfit for my opinion but Jack Watts will rip teams apart one day -I just know.

Good idea! We need to get LOUDDDDD!!! we need to make some noise for the players to hear us and hopefully it will help fire them up. when they come out after half time melbourne fans will give a small clap and then our opposition will come out and their fans will give them a huge roar! i know it may sound stupid and little but we need to do everything we can to fire up the team and even the crowd and let everyone hear us! go dees!!!

I wouldn't mind at all if it's a "Geelong 1-2 weeks"...didn't Ottens come back in time to win a premiership with the Cats? I could live with that sort of injury concern.

I just found out that we paid Jack Grimes while he was on the holiday he took to Qld with his missus last year while recovering from a broken foot?!?! Outrageous. He needs to work off his debt! By playing you say? He's always injured! He's going to work in the AAMI Park mess hall! Classic Mono.

Reported in the HS this morning that it is "bereavement leave". I can't help thinking that anti-aboriginal stereotyping is so close to the surface in our society. It makes me very sad. The sentiments expressed on this site are often thinly masked as in some other supposedly logical argument.

As much as I would love to have him back for round 1, the punishment fits the crime, and the players need to continue to respect Neeld's approach.

Good call, and if you think a reversal is a distinct possibility then I would like to know how. For Neeld to back-pedal on a decision like that would go against his whole elite performance mantra. Sorry but no chance. I do however hope that Col rips it up this year.

No retraction it sends the message to all that lack of discipline will not be tolerated, the benefits far outweigh the negatives here

Watch the 97 GF JARMAN & MCLEOD Changed the game after half time and I think back to back Norm Smith medals makes you a game breaker in the best possible way BROWN was at the peak of his powers from 02-05 and it was Black who dominated the clearances in the 03 GF early on when the games was there to be won

So by this rationale the Swans shouldve docked Jarrad McVeighs pay last year every time he skipped training to be beside with his terminally ill newborn? Absolutely unbelievably callous post! I hope everything settles down up in the yuendumu community and we see Liam back here soon with a clear head and recuperated wrist kicking goals on the G.

1) ABLETT 2) PENDLEBURY 3) FRANKLIN 4) JUDD 5) GODDARD DEES 1) FRAWLEY - MUST STAY FIT 2) JAMAR - AS ABOVE 3) JONES - ON THE UPWARD CURVE 4) SYLVIA - IT'S TIME TO REALISE THE POTENTIAL 5) CLARK - ONE OF THE MISSING PIECES IN THE JIGSAW Unlucky to miss out TRENGOVE & BEAMER if these guys all have big years and GREEN gets back to 2010 form we make the 8 easily

Try Jonathon BROWN, Michael VOSS, Simon BLACK just to name a few plus quality B-A Graders LYNCH, MICHAEL, LEPPITSCH, POWER Adelaide - McLEOD, JARMAN, RICUITTO then their B-A Graders, EDWARDS, SMART, HART The only team I can think of who were really a team who just had 1 real A grader to win the flag was the Swans of 05 with Gooes but even they had a number of B-A Graders in HALL, KIRK,O'KEEFE, O'LÓUGHLIN, JOLLY an maybe KENNEALLY

Yep, I have to agree. We have too many still, who are under the pump when having to give it off by hand, and still don't have the balance & agility to get into a good body position to clear the ball accurately. We'll still be tested Hard when under pressure, in trying to keep possession.

I guarantee you if LJ gets too comfortable at home he will be chased out of town (in a friendly way). His community want him to succeed.

Finally watched the replay. Magner looks a gem. Jones was so impressive. I think we all forget how young he still Is. I think we are going to be mincing our words about Jones.

Sorry I think Jack is going okay an has taken great strides in his 3 years (I don't count his first year as he was still in school) he stepped up well last season, but Hurley will be a gem to in Round 22 2009 he was the difference against Hawks in a virtual elimination final took a few pack marks in the last quarter. Both will be good players an it was interesting to hear Matty Lloyd on 3AW tonight defending Jack from Gerard and Dwayne, Lloydy was saying Watts has been drafted for where he will be in 5 years and IHO the criticism was unfair his exact words against Malthouse were is Mick forgetting this was March not September

Yeah too right and whilst we're at it lets get rid of paid: maternity leave, paternity leave, compassionate leave, carers leave and even sick leave. All that leave is just plain [censored]. Employers are not welfare agencies! (oh except the ones that are - and they don't have enough money to pay for the namby pamby frivolous leave listed above)

Don't know that anyone is writing him off egd! Some people are less convinced than others. You do your arguement no good by slagging off MM. The guy has coached 3 teams and two of them to premierships over a long period. I think he has the runs on the board. Ignore what he says at your peril. He makes mistakes like all humans but he is no fool.

Yeah, they're very tight lipped out at Casey. You can't get much out of them. On the VFL Footy site, they're also only discussing Port and how they only lost because they had players out:- e.g. 1 e.g 2 It's true that it's practice match time and they don't mean much but the fact remains that over the weekend, Melbourne and its affiliate at Casey beat the two best performed clubs of last year from their respective competitions. It may not mean much in the long run but it's a fair start.

Biffen at the risk of offending you, TW and MM carry a bit more weight than you. You cannot simple defeat their arguements by slagging them off.

I agree number 1 does not make you elite but watts has shown some good skill in 2011 and should see some more improvment in 2012. You dont go number 1 for nothing at the same time he was the best in the contry at the time along with nic nat so if we put the right coaches around him he should be around number 1 again when he is 25.

I'll keep it simple. I like what I saw mid season last year This season, I want to see progress on his good mid season patch last year. I will not write him off after two NAB cup games.

There are no guarantees in the football business. Just because you are a high draft pick does not guarantee success. The league is littered with guys that did not make it. Simpily because JW was a no.1 pick does not mean he will be anymore than an average footballer. Time will tell but do not fall for the line that because we chose him at no.1 automatically make him top line.

Sylvia has simply not delivered. Best finish in Bluey is 5th. For a talent with 8yrs under his belt its simply not good enough, Poor second efforts and previously has not done the work required to become elite - which he could be. In short a very frustrating player as his best is brilliant. Hopefully a hard taskmaster - as Neeld appears to be at this early stage - is exactly the spark that Col needs. I hope so because if he can step up we are in for a ride....

His Brownlow year was sensational. He was even the go to man from full back on the kick ins. He would be outnumbered and or against a bigger player and would still take the mark. He was short, a little chubby and a bit slow, but a really good player for a number of years.

Excellent in heavy traffic a gun player for melbourne and a playmaker when he was on. offloaded to saints and paid us back by kicking a bag and beating us off his own boot.

He was ultra hard at it and got where the ball always was in the year he won the brownlow - getting himself concussed on more than one occasion. Not quick but skillful and a good mark for his size. If my dodgy memory serves me right he moved out of his favoured centre position to make for a very talented Chris Connelly and placed on the HFF where he had a bit of success early on but he drifted from being a hard working gather of the ball and became a bit showy and lairy and was lastly offtraded to the Saints.

ALWAYS fired up against the Filth....Willo was a dam good player..he sometimes looked like he was doing too much, but he was always trying to be creative. He was good on the yap as well...knew how to stir up opponents...Long after his Brownlow he still played well under Northey. Always remembered in my house. 7.

Brian Wilson was a talented and skillful player who had a few issues which prevented him from ranking with the guns you mentioned. He was often overweight which was the reason Royce Hart unloaded him from the Dogs, he was a tad lazy and he was a lair on occasions. Make no mistake though, he earnt that Brownlow - I witnessed most games in 1982 and he was brilliant - it was the one year when he was quite fit. Later in his career he spent time in the forward pocket where he excelled, his stats for MFC show 154 games and 208 goals. Personally I loved watching him play.