Leaderboard

I will put something positive up this time, hope you enjoy for those interested. Well after watching last nights horrible display in Adelaide I flew back home to Darwin and got ready to watch the Northern Territory Football League Grand Final between Nightcliff and the Tiwi Bombers. For those who may be confused footy is played from October to March up here as it is the wet season and they naturally play cricket during the dry which would be Melbournes winter. The Nightcliff Tigers, who have 3 premierships to their name last won way back in the 1964 season - how ironic. Nightcliff were the standout team all season after a huge recruiting drive and finished the season on top of the NTFL ladder, an amazing feat after finishing with the wooden spoon last year and consistantly being cellar dwellers. The Tiwi Bombers, a team originated from a group of Islands approx. 100 kms North West of Darwin, were invited to enter the Northern Territory Football League on a seven game trial in 2007. The Tiwi won all seven games and officially became the eighth NTFL club, ‘Tiwi Bombers’, for the 2007/08 season, securing the double chance in that and the following season but failing to win a finals match. A remarkable story of young indigineous men who live and die by the football. Seeing as Nightcliff havent had a flag for years and Tiwi have never won one, it was going to be a fairytale for one club and heartbreak for the other. 15 minutes before the opening bounce a monsoon storm decided to let rip dumping 20mm of rain, when this happened I quickly thought that would affect the Tiwi free flowing, fast outside running footy and put Nightcliff as favourites as this game was due to be clustered up. After the a nervous start from the young lass singing the national anthem the boys were away in front of a packed house at TIO stadium. Nightcliif got the first goal and looked the goods in the first quarter taking an early 13 point lead 16m in before the siren sounded with Nightcliff taking the lead to the first break 4.3.27 to Tiwi 2.2.14. Second quarter and Thomas Motlop goals 5 mins in to take the tigers lead to 18 pts, things were starting to look grim for the Bombers. Ross Tungatalum goaled on the run to bring the deficit back for Tiwi. I mentioned Ross Tungatalum in the "small forward" thread for those who want a bo peep. Then Tiwi flicked the switch from nowhere and started their running game, which is like something from another planet, and started peppering the goals, unfortunately squandering their opportunities kicking 8 behinds for the quarter. Half time score Nightcliff 6.4.40 to Tiwi 4.10.34. At half time chief Minister Paul Henderson revealed that the grandstand will now be called the Maurice Rioli Stand much to the crowds delight. Third quarter was underway and it was Tiwi playing the better footy and the Tigers defence hanging on for grim life as Tiwi attacked. From the second to the third quarter there was no score for 35 mins until a rushed behind for Tiwi. The Bombers piled on another 5 behinds and when Nightcliff goaled just before the siren at 3/4 time, Tiwi had 4.16 to the Tigers 7.5, Tiwi playing better but Nightcliff hitting the scoreboard. Last quarter Tiwi unleashed their run and never gave up while there was only so much Nightcliffs defence could handle and finally gave way. Tiwi Bombers running out 14 point winners of their first ever premiership 9.20.74 to Nightcliff 9.6.60. An outstanding game of football and one I highly recommend for anyone to holiday here and watch the Tiwi Bombers. The indigineous boys blow me away and theres nothing they cant do, some of the things are just unbelievable. Paul Scanlon for Tiwi won the Chaney Medal for BOG. Austin Wonaemirri played for Tiwi tonight. He spent most of his time on the bench, I asked a Tiwi member why and he said he just isnt fit enough and too slow for this standard. He has put on a few extra kg but did turn it on a bit in the last, but nowhere near what he used to be. Sadly I dont think he will play AFL again. Ross Tungatalum however will be on a few clubs minds as a small forward. Personally I rate him a lot higher than Waylon Manson and Wonaemirri.

He doesnt understand what depressed is yet the little boy.

An irish bloke walks into a pub and orders three pots and then goes to a table and drinks them This goes on every day for months, the barman and the patrons wonder why he has three pots at the one time so the barman asks him and he explains "I have two brothers back in Ireland and we vowed that we would have a beer every day for each other" Then one day the Irishman comes in to the pub and orders Two pots and then goes to his table. The barman and the patrons think one of the brothers must have died and are all very sad for him. The barman walks over and says "Mate I am very sorry for your loss" The Irish bloke looks at him confused and says"What loss?" "Well I notice that you only bought Two pots so we thought one of you brothers must have died." The Irish bloke says "Nah I've just given up drinking.

No, I've stopped reading the Hun since they've changed & charged.

Poor kid. I really feel for him, because nothing has gone right so far in his career. First he's drafted to a [censored] weak club that stunted his development and wrecked his knee. Then after finally catching a break by heading to the 2021 premiers in waiting, where - under the greatest coach of the modern era - he finally gets the treatment he deserves, he gets this terrible injury in a random collision with one of the greatest NRL players to ever play the game. Extraordinary! At least now he can focus on his true interest: the housing market. I hear he has quite a penchant for real estate.

I was at Casey yesterday and the highlights were James Strauss and a couple of kids we won't see in Demon colours until next year in Jack Viney and Jai Sheahan. Beyond them were two other important players from Melbourne's point of view in Jordan Gysberts and Cale Morton who will each get another effort in for Casey before being considered for senior selection. They will be joined next week by co-captain Jack Grimes who will make a bid to return to the Melbourne team for its round 1 clash with Brisbane Lions. Strauss was very solid down back, closing down opponents and delivering the ball with pinpoint accuracy. If both he and Grimes can get back into the side for the opening round, I think we should at least see our strongest backline on the park. Morton started tentatively and, at times tried to be a bit cute holding onto the ball a bit too long at times, but got better as the game went on. Gysberts was also fairly good and a class above the standard on show. Both Jack Fitzpatrick and Kelvin Lawrence had their moments but have plenty of work to do to earn senior berths at Melbourne. Fitzpatrick had a purple patch early in the final quarter. He palmed the ball beautifully to Gysberts who ran into an open goal to score and moments later kicked a nice goal from an angle. He remained dangerous up forward but had to be moved into the ruck because the team only had one other player who could fill that role. In fact, the Scorps don't seem to have replaced the lost height of departing players like Mohr, Fevola and Wall. I noticed their back up full forward from past years Ben Waite has crossed to Frankston. Those who thought Fev was holding back the development of young Demon KPF's now have their way but I think the Scorps will struggle for height. I was super impressed with Jai Sheahan and, on that performance, can't believe he wasn't drafted onto someone's senior list. He played full back in the old style, marked strongly, backed his judgement and teamed well with his fellow defenders. I take on board what B-H wrote about him kicking to a static target, which happened once or twice but such is the nature of things at this level. As for Jack Viney. Yes, he might have a bit to learn but he's a real chip off the old block with the one exception that his kicking is so much better.

Monoccular i found the article in saturdays herald sun 17/3 i cannot find it online but will try to get a copy of it and post the full artical for you when i have a chance I believe by the end of this season Neeld will have it summed up who to delist, who to trade and what to trade for and who to get with our picks very different side come 2012

Does anyone here think we have been crap these last few years because of our drafting from 2007 to 2009? We are in the predicament we are in because of our lack of solid senior players. Poor selections, lack of development, injury, whatever. We are beginning to move on to Jones, Batram, Frawley, Garland, and Grimes from 2005 and 2006 but it is because of those drafted pre-2005 that we are in this mess. If we are still shite in 2016 then come on here and complain about GRimes, Morton, Watts, and co. but, at this minute, they are not our problem.

How about people STFU about premiership windows for our team already? Let's try and have a couple of consistent games in a row first.

I don't have the figures at hand but I believe the investment in the football department over the last 5 years would have been bottom 5 out of all the existing AFL clubs. It's only over the present pre season that the club has been able to invest more money into the FD. Player development investment in particular would have been way behind other clubs in the past & we are still playing catchup with the bigger clubs. If anyone has the figures on FD spendature throughout the AFL clubs it would be interesting reading. Whilst it isn't an excuse, it still has to be factored in to the equation.

Yes there is a lot of science involved in recruiting and that's why those with the biggest budget will have more information than those on much smaller budgets, but that more than likely involves the later picks not the top ten or twenty. There is ample information available and certainly enough exposure of the top twenty draft selections up to two years prior to the draft itself, so to get it wrong is inexcusable. I would very much doubt that the average punter on here wouldn't have picked the same players in the top 20 that BP did but therein lies the problem, he gets/got paid to get it right and in many cases he didn't. There are recruiters at other clubs that have reaped the benefit of our misses and you can blame sports science, or deficient budgets or whatever excuse you like, but put simply he missed many opportunities to set us up for the future and that's a fact.

2 years ago I has us pinned for 'the magnificent seven' in Watts, Scully, Jurrah, Trengove, Frawley, McKenzie and Morton in my mind, these were going to be the all-australians in our premiership side in about 2014 aiding them of course would have been another 20 solid footballers.. jones, gysberts, bennell, etc it appears now that at least 3 of my 'elite' 7 are write-offs and that we would be lucky to find 5, not 20, solid players amongst the rest there are perfectly good reasons why we have about 3 star footballers in the last 20 years at this club, and NONE of them have anything to do with names being read out on draft night - it's about what happens once they are on our list. I think you all know deep down that Watts and Morton wouldnt be travelling the way they are now if they had gone to the eagles, hawks or pies.

Two points to contribute to what I nevertheless see as an utterly pointless exercise/thread: (i) One of the positives to come out of the NAB series has been Nathan Jones. Has been amongst the best every game he's played. Until this year (2012), there have still been posts characterising him as a "spud", and "not in best 22". This is his seventh season. (ii) Another big positive out of the NAB series has been James Magner. Definitely (it would seem), first 22. He's 24. It has taken him 6 years to reach AFL level. It simply isn't possible to formulate any reasoned critique of drafting until players are 24 or so, more in the case of big men. By that criteria alone, we have no idea whether BP's drafting was a fail or a success.

My thoughts too, but then i did a little research and dug a little deeper. Turns out he played for Melbourne last year. And that's why someone made a topic about it.

no one cares

Welcome to Darwin - enjoy the heat! Yes that shower was heavy ya poor bugger!! I just made it under the grandstand! Good on Tiwi - Love their theme song.

Ask the CEO.

:)

Revenue of said club...2008..... around $24-25 mill Projected 2012...around $40 mill A new Sponsor would be superb....but we can afford to search for real Gold, rather than a quick fix IMO

Bewdy ! I get to go out with Stella again . Cheers

Wouldn't think so HG , but I and a few others only got involved ( and sidetracked ) when in defence of the rank and file members re the proposed merger . I certainly didn't start the debate and I knew It was totally off topic , but as you know , it's hard not to bite sometimes . Some of the people on this site have no doubt heard it all before , but often stuff gets repeated in forums . Cheers

I believe Mark Neeld is endeavouring to take the club in the right direction. After the loss to Port I am not convinced some of the players are on the same wavelength. They have had it too easy for too long, being allowed to play mediocre football & reaping the benefits. Now they are being shown they have to work for their money & I sense some of them are not liking it. It's time for all players to either get on board with MN's or get out & let someone who wants to work for success to take their place.

Well, if he meant that, he hid it well. There was just no undercurrent of anger or disappointment. Just all part of preparing. No big deal. Agreed, disposal has been poor and has been for about 4 years or more. The top sides are razor sharp in this area. Ridiculous we aren't better.

like rpfc i had family on both sides of the fence......................a very troubling time, but surely there is little point now in rummaging through the ashes

I know this is a touchy subject for some - but I preferred the old Dr Who... (IWUAEHIIUE) (I Would Use An Emoticon Here If I Used Emoticons)

Nope I just cant be bother wasting me time talking to an obvious set of cloth ears. Thanks for the laugh.

Carlscum lost did they?? That just made my weekend!!

Funny, I just heard a Carlton caller on radio wanting to sack Ratten after todays NAB loss and watch them turn on Buckley if things don't go well at Eddie land. Supporters come in many shapes and sizes and every club has their fair share and mix.

I probably didn't put it right what you will see by the end of next season and early 2014 is the core nucleues of our solid group of senior players. Not talking flags by then thats 2016 and beyond IMO

I seem to recall the way from around 2008-2010 Collingwood under Malthouse started to leave out the likes of Presty, Medhurst, Lockyer, Holland and other senior players for a number of the kids they'd brought through. I think we will see the transition start to occur this season and our team by the end of 2013 heading to 2014 will be very different to what we may predict currently

Unfortunately, yes they do. Much of the argument - such as it is - re drafting is based on the fallacious assumption that if Player X taken after our pick turns out (5 or 6 years down the track) to be a better player, then we failed, people should be shot, heads should roll etc. etc. But players' success or failure does NOT depend on where they were taken in the draft, and the draft is NOT a reflection of a player's capacity or capability. If it was, we wouldn't even need to bother with the rookie draft, as they'd all be total spuds. But there are rookies who were passed over completely in the draft who have become AA players, B&F winners, club captains, 200 gamers, etc. etc. Even looking over recent Brownlows. Judd, sure. Ablett - hard to say where he would have gone, he went F/S and was NOT a walk-up first 22 player by any means. But Goodes (pick 43) and Swann (pick 58) - they were taken at those picks because that's about how they were rated as 18 year olds. Which is all the draft is. It's an assessment of a bunch of kids just out of high school, a guide. Not only is not an accurate predictor of 25 year olds, it's not even accurate a year later when they're 19 or so - the Rising Star attests to that. And even then the Rising Star isn't an accurate predictor of players becoming "elite". Jared Rivers anyone? (not knocking him either ...). If you go by the Rising Star, the best pick in the 98 draft went at pick 67 - Byron Pickett. There have been some good posts in this thread, and even some good analysis. If people think that we should be winning more games, then they're going to think we have a problem. But that problem, as alluded to above, is not our recent drafting. And if Cale Morton turns out to be an average player, so be it. It just means that his capabilities at 25 didn't match his capabilities at 18 - when he was in fact, very very good. It does not mean we "failed". Finally, a suggestion to those still not convinced. Take an afternoon. Take 4 years' drafts, say 2003 - 2006, those players should be fulfilling their potential by now. Classify the players by round (first, second, third etc.), right down to the rookies, and put all those players names on bits of paper. For each of our picks, make a selection AT RANDOM from the players available for that round. At the end of that, rate the selections and throw away the bottom half of those (players who didn't make it), and then see where you end up. Different? I'm sure. Better than any other team around? Not so sure. And just remember people, the same Hawthorn recruiting team who took Franklin at pick 5, took Mitch Thorp at pick 6 two years later. Speaking of Hawthorn, the player who impressed me two weekends ago was Suckling. Rookie who didn't even play in the firsts till his third season.

We are bottom 4 at the moment! I can only see GC, GWS and Brisbane possibly below us. Richmond & Port are just so much more urgent and hungry. We dont have the hunger. Richmond & Adelaide I am most impressed with there pre-season. But it is only the pre-season! Lets see 10 rounds in. We definitely need our medicore players to break out! If only we had Dustin Martin. He just gets it done and his teamates follow.

But isn't that the whole bone of contention - "where are we HONESTLY at" - budgets do preclude you from developing your whole player list from reaching their highest potential. Access to good picks stand for nothing if you cant develop them. What comes first the chicken or the eggs. Its clear the facts are pointing toward if you dont at least match your opposition FD departments spend you wont get to the "pointy end"

I completely agree with you. Personally i dont think our premiership window ( if at all) will open until 2016 onwards when the old brigade have departed and the younger guns like trengove, howe, grimes, frawley etc are the senior players. Naturally our drafting over the next 3-4 years will need to be spot on. Based on what we've shown in the pre season i can see us finishing between 12-15th. If this is the case we will have 3 top 10 draft picks to play with. Hopefully we dont stuff those up either but without a proper recruitment team it is a concern. At least if we finis 16th we will only need a 2nd round pick for Viney. Lol

Wait a second. WAIT A GODDAMN SECOND! PLAYERS WILL BE DROPPED IF THEY DON'T PERFORM!? GIVE THIS MAN A GODDAMN CONTRACT EXTENSION AND GIVE SALARY RAISES TO EVERYONE AT CASEY. NOW!

I've noticed a few mentions of Peep Show. Mitchell & Webb play the main characters in the show but are also very funny in their own right. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3JKcExmQlA

Not sure if anyone has mentioned this on here. I was just watching a re play of league teams on fox footy. Dermott Brereton was talking about how Leigh Matthews asked him to help with the development of Jonathon Brown as an 18 year old. He has now been asked to assist with the development of Folau at GWS. I think it would be a good idea if Mark Neeld did the same & asked Dermott to help out Jack in his development by acting as a consultant outside of the FD.

Thanks for the amazing thread.

Melbman its the lack of money being invested into our football department that is the root of the blame. Where should the money come from? The coach and players are important if they are allowed to compete on a level playing field. Is the MFC on a level playing field with all other AFL clubs? I dont expect you to answer that by the way. Oh thats right thats the players fault! Oh thats right its the coaches fault. Oh thats right its the drafting team fault! But wait a minute coaches come & go, players come and go , footy department personnel come and go. Boards come and go. Do we have one constant at the MFC? Again I dont expect you to answer that either. Just think about it. Is it possible we as "fans" are responsible for our own destiny? Are we responsible for our own "culture"? Just a thought.

I understand the truth will hurt for some. I understand your ignorance I deal with it ever day. You and your like will continue to blame the players, blame the coach, blame the recruiting staff - blame whoever you want. Players come and go, coaches come and go, recruiting staff come and go, football department staff come and go. There is a reason we have not won a flag in modern day AFL football - there is one constant. If you cant see no big deal little Jim. Now back to where we HONESTLY are - a long way away from where we want to get. But we have made many improvements investing in our footy department. Thank the Lord for Jimmy Stynes & co for addressing the real problems.

Wonder which one of his faces got smashed?

An interesting comment from the West Coast - Adelaide game tonight. The commentators said that Sanderson was fortunate to take over an Adelaide side that had such an excellent fitness base - due to Neil Craig. This meant Sanderson was able to spend much of the pre-season working on structures and game plans. I don't think Neeld had the same luxury - which explains all the lap work we did before the NAB cup. Maybe this means we have to be patient and wait for better performances.

Yes. The ONLY ground I have never been to more than once is Darwin - due to work commitments I've never been able to get to Darwin. I will never forget my first trips to AAMI & Subi. AAMI was 12 hours in the old Ford Cortina - Subi the lady actually asked me - "What is an away membership discount?" The train trip back to where I was staying in Perth was an eye opener for me. I truly for the first time in my life understood the passion the West Australians had for our game - since that day I've welcomed them into the AFL before that I had my doubts. I was the only person on the whole train wearing my then funny red & blue demons scarf. I copped heaps but took it on the chin - after I left the carriage I'm sure I left a few with the thought - "these Melbourne supporters are passionate buggers" - they respect that trust me few on the carriage did not acknowledge me with a wave and a smile. Now I dont expect every supporter to be like me - hell far from it. But dont knock my team without first quoting the cause. Shivers I couldn't care less if I was the only person at the ground as long as my team gets the chance to play on a level playing field.

I always find it funny when people use MFC & impatient in the same sentence. Anyone at the '87 Prelim will know what i mean. We are a lot of things but impatient is not one of them.

Every AFL player and ex-player, as stated by Cam Mooney on radio this afternoon, knows that your form leading up to round 1 is a definite gauge on how you're likely to start the season. You can't turn form on like a tap. While I'm happy to acknowledge that the coaches are trialling systems previously foreign to the players and that we're a work in progress I'd also be a fool if I thought 'nothing' should be read into these matches. We've got a lot of work to do.

Casey win 10.12.72 d Frankston 7.11.53 Jack Fitzpatrick with a goal and a good tap out of the ruck to Gysberts was instrumental in the win. He finished the game with two goals. James Strauss was off the grounf in the last quarter and his calf was in an ice pack at the end of the game. Didn't look too bad. I think he will be an important player for the Demons because of his brilliant disposal. Jamie Sheahan down back finished with 23 disposals (10 marks) ahead of Wade Lees with 20 possessions and Jordie Gysberts 17 possessions.

Bit surprised regarding the after match interviews with Neeld, Brown, Moloney and Jones...every single one of them thought we matched or even outscored Port after quarter time. Either their maths isn't up to scratch or they were watching a different game: Melbourne after quater time: 7 goals 9 behinds. Port: 11 goals 7 behinds. We were outscored in every single quarter! Cannot take these guys seriously if they can't face facts...

Bailey was terrible at these functions. Danners was outstanding. Danners gave nothing private away, but he told us things that the industry knew that we didn't know. I can think of a few examples, like wanting Dunn to learn to play forward (when he started on a wing), what he expected from a kicking coach in terms of improvement, where he saw our weaknesses, etc.... There are many many examples of things that can be said that make fans feel like they are a little bit special, that does not compromise game plan, confidentiality, etc... I am not having a go at Neeld, bc he is so new and it's always better to play it safe, especially before he has coached a competitive AFL game. Of course we all want our footy to do the talking. But that is a different issue to when fans are at an MFC event. I should say, MFC generally does events very well - to the envy of quite a few clubs.