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come come xiss, "racism of the highest order"? What rock have you been hiding under? want me to elaborate on "racism of the highest order"? I don't think you would have the stomach for it you should be more considered before making inflammatory statements when you don't even have the facts or know if there is any truth in it

He basically admitted that in hindsight he'd water down his tone in the after-match presser, but in reality he said that he's grown up a footy person and has always hated the cliches we've all been subjected to. And he wanted to give the club's supporters more than trite remarks after such a disappointing performance. He'll work it out and realise when he needs to pull back, even if we supporters want the warts and all approach he gave on the weekend. It's a long journey, but he'll mould the team in his way. It'ill take time. He wants the coaching group to develop a handful of players on the list to be worthy recipients of Mike's top 50. We all know, as does Neeld, that Sheehan's top 50 is a sideline, but I appreciated the gist of his comments. He knows that we need to develop 4-5 true 'A graders' to be genuine contenders. I like the guy and just have this overwhelming feeling that he gets it. He's not patient, which I like, but he'll leave no stone unturned and I really like his values when it comes to accountability and head over the footy principles. But, as in everything, he'll eventually be judged on results. Dean Bailey lost his first two games in 2008 by a combined total of 199 points. His game-plan was built on attack. Neeld's game-plan is built on defence and then attack. I know which I prefer and I know which succeeds in finals. And it's not 186.

I get the feeling he wishes he hadn't said what he said in the press conference, but that he still 100% believes it. No Davey, no Green on the weekend. You can put your house on that. I hope he keeps an honest dialogue with the supporters, because I really appreciate it. Regardless of how we went on the weekend, there's not one coach in the league I would prefer over Neeldy. Absolute gun. Just you wait and see.

It matters not that Ocean Grove football club don't play in an elite league, you don't win 4 premierships in a row at any level if the players don't respect you. The Collingwood players had tremendous regard for Neeld and Pendlebury told my Brother just last week that Neeld would be fantastic at Melbourne. There are so many people trying to make a living out of football these days that they swarm to the latest newsworthy topic and right now it's the performance of Melbourne on the weekend. The result will be dissected to within an inch of its life. The emotional turmoil of the Stynes funeral is one theory and Neeld's hard-line approach is another. In my opinion Neeld is exactly what this timid club needs. Neeld made observations about the club very early. "They're a little more conversationalist over here", "They say, how will he or she react to that, etc.", or words to that effect. Like most things in life when you know you have to drastically change something there is a tendency to push too hard at the beginning in order to get the message across, or have the desired impact before pulling back a bit and finding that middle ground. If Neeld has been a little hard on some players I suspect he's taken the aforesaid approach. For me, it was the only approach.

Quite the contrary... I thought he looked very comfortable considering that he must have known what kind of grilling was coming. I particularly liked the way he was eyeballing his interrogators and refused to be intimidated. Handled himself very well indeed and was very forthright with his comments.

Mark Neeld will be the tonic that this club so desperately needs. Sure at first the taste may be bitter and hard to swallow but with time we will become accustomed to it . For years now we have cried out for someone with a spine of steel and unwavering commitment to raise this mediocre club out of its pathetic slumber. Not since Norm Smith have we had someone as focused and determined as this man, and yet as always they're our those amongst who waiver and baulk at the first hurdle. This isn't gonna be a joy ride folks. Buckle up and hold on for one rough ride. The jackals and vultures of the media are circling. Lets for once ignore their pathetic attempts to create a story and hold true. For good or bad we have decided this is the man to lead us forward and the truth is that we really don't have too many shots left in the locker. Like you I was appalled by what I witnessed on Saturday afternoon and then strangely I felt uplifted by his press conference. It was everything I wanted to hear, no more spin, no more excuses, no more B.S just the undiluted truth. The question is can we "Handle the truth". The good thing about last week is that he now knows without doubt what lays ahead of him and I for one do not doubt he will not baulk at the hard decisions. All power to you Mark Neeld. Drag this soft,self satisfied, mediocre football club kicking and screaming all the way to the top. At the risk of sounding corny to quote Thomas Yancey, " Cometh the hour cometh the man,history beckons".

I don't thing our drafting has been that bad, the issue lies more with getting our picks playing to there potential. There has been a few reason why this hasn't happened but mainly through injury. Morton, Grimes, Strauss, Blease, Tapscott, Gysberts, Jetta and even Cook have all had injury concerns. Scully and Trengove were always going 1 and 2 so there was no reason to interview Martin. Watts is still only 21 years old he is 2-3 years away from being strong enough to dominate a key role. 2010 draft we went after a requirement rather than best available with our first pick, Cook is a mile off AFL football, but our late picks in McDonald and Davis look OK We need to keep Grimes, Gysberts, Tapscott, Strauss, Blease and even Morton fit they all will get better if they can keep their body's right.

I believe that are 'recruitment' looks worse because the kids are being exposed by the non-existence of the senior players. They have to do more than kids at other teams, and when they don't - we rail on them. We are deep within a false economy here and the only remedy is time, or an aggressive FA period. And for OD who is thinking "rpfc, what if those kids never make it?" What else can we do than continue forward? We can't make wholesale changes, we have to develop what we have - that's why Neeld, Craig, and Misson get paid the big bucks.

Cannot believe the haters are still having a go at Watts... Hands up if you relaise that our senior players are the problem? So stop blaming Watts' average progression and Cook's existence and put the pressure on Green, Davey, Moloney, Jamar, Jones, and Rivers. That's where it belongs. We won't be a decent team until they collectively pull their fingers out, and we won't be a top 4 team until Grimes, Watts, Trengove, et al take their place.

If you want "a power forward immediately" you don't find them in the draft, FFS. Darling isn't WCE's 'power forward' - Kennedy and Lynch are. We went and got a power forward 'immediately' the only way how - through a trade.

To be honest, I think it's more important to have an elite professionally run development program to ensure young players develop to their potential, than to be able to pick the right players. Certainly, all the years the club's facilities were based at the junction oval, I saw nothing remotely elite about the clubs development program. All that can be hoped for now, is that youngsters recruited to the Dees will be given every opportunity to develop and thrive, so that they reach their potential.

I finally got around to watching the first half and I was honestly surprised by how well some of our boys played. Listening to the fire and brimstone on these boards I had expected diabolical. The truth is that in the first half we looked ok. Not great, not a premiership contender, but not bad either. There were some very nice bits of play from a number of players and it wasn't all the long bomb down the line. A couple of points. Watts - He was certainly one of our better players for the half. Noteworthy to me was a contest in the middle (which ultimately ended in a ball-up) where he came in on his knees, took possession, fended off a tackler one-handed while still on his knees, and almost got the ball out of the pack. I loved seeing that on so many levels. It showed desire for the ball, physicality, poise and ability. I'll also note that his one goal showed just how fast he is. He looked to be jogging, but burned off a guy who should have had him, took a bounce and turned it into an easy finish. Trengove - I can really see why people compare him to Bartel. He has a similar approach to contested marks. Bartel once said that one of his junior coaches told him the harder he went at the mark, the less likely he was to get hurt. You can see the same sort of attitude when Trenners throws himself into the air and/or his opponents to bring in a mark. He marks well above his size and can win some good ball around the ground. Magner - I am so glad I saw this half from him. I can't believe it took so long for someone to take him. The guy isn't only a clearance machine, he can kick and for some reason the umps seem to love him. The second free was soft, but it wouldn't have happened at all if he hadn't slotted a difficult shot from a sharp angle to start with, and all after a great tackle on a guy who has made a career from getting out of tight spots. Martin - Not a lot to crow about, but that one contested mark in the square is something I've been wanting to see from him for years. He has always been able to get to the ball, but usually he can't get it into his hands and winds up fumbling to the boundary or a ball-up. If he can control the ball like that more often he will become what we all hope he might. Incidentally, I was listening to SEN today and they were adamant that he should have been traded to the Hawks for Ellis and Young. Interesting notion. Davey and Blease - I think they can both have the same comment. They were really involved in the first few minutes, then vanished. I don't know if that is an endurance thing or a concentration thing. If one of them can keep that level of play up for the whole match they will be doing well. I'm beginning to feel the Tynan Vibe. The kid is fearless. He doesn't have the poise or polish yet, but he has what so many of our draftees lack - appetite for the contest. Imagine him in a few years when he's got a bit more weight on his frame. He'll be the new Wheelan. So yes, very unhappy with the way we folded in the third, but there are positives for me in the first half.

Sellar to CHB with Rivers 3rd man up for the spoil in 1v1 situations Davey to be told that we are really struggling to find a spot for him in this team UNLESS he can provide us with some effective disposals from clearances as an outside mid. Move Moloney into a rotation with Jones and Magner as the inside mids. Watts and Morton on the wings to give us some versatility in that position. Trangove and Howe as HFF to move up the ground and use their overhead strength to maintain possession. Couch in the FP to read the ball off the contest, put his head down and get it out of the pack and into the hands of a scorer. I would start with those and go from there.

We missed Newton today.

We, the supporters of the Melbourne Football Club, hereby issue you with a writ in the Supreme Court of Footballing Justice of catastrophic ineptitude in the line of duty. 16 first rounders and a C-grade midfield to show for it. No stars. 5-year development stick insects and a host of NQR's. Good on ya fellas. The judge finds for the plaintiff. Guilty as charged. *BANG*

Right. I'm sick of all the end of the world predictions coming out. (Although if the Mayans are right, I'm going to be brutally [censored] off at my father for making me deal with THIS for the short span of my life). There are positives to come out of Saturday. The more cynical of you are probably wondering what the hell could be positive about getting done by 40-odd points by the team that finished 15th on the ladder in 2011. Well then... - Magner. Seriously. He goes like an Evo X. His disposal isn't great by foot (3-4 helicopters) but who cares when he drags it out so often? - Watts. Had a good game. Was quiet in the second half, but who wasn't? - Grimes. Good first half. - Neeld and the list. Remember, this is Neeld's first game as coach. First. Game. He's going to learn from this. He's also going to be working out what went wrong and who is going wrong for the club. The board put faith in Neeld. A select group of individuals too, including a gentleman by the name of Jim Stynes. - On that Neeld is going to pick guys who do what he wants and get rid of those who don't. - Furthermore, the players will learn. Remember the video of Neeld with Pendlebury? I expect every single player will have their individual episode with Brown, with Royal, with Rawlings (or the line coaches) this week. Their own footage cut up. Not just of their play when they got the pill, but when they didn't - the flaws in our zone from the angle kick will be stamped out. - Those that don't adapt will be shipped out. - Those that do will be better players for the MFC. Remember West Coast 2008-2010. Remember Hawthorn before them. It can all change very quickly.

You're missing the point IMO, nutbean. In simple terms, I think the role of a recruiter is to advise the club on the best players for each selection it has in the drafts in which it participates (generally, the national, PSD and rookie drafts each year). They get paid to do this. Presumably it involves monitoring and assessing a lot of players across a number of competitions, potentially over several years. None of this, I expect, is contentious analysis. To do this job effectively, indeed professionally, I expect the best recruiters employ rigorous processes. They then follow those processes. Part of that process would involve interviewing players, parents, friends, club coaches and school teachers. I don't expect this would always produce the silver bullet for each selection, but it would be an important information gathering component in the recruiting process. In fact, I expect questions would be asked if it this process wasn't followed. Most commentators seem to agree that Dustin Martin is the best pick from the 2009 draft - a midfield game changing pick. As we all know, we had the first TWO picks in his draft and we elected not to select him. That does not trouble me in itself - predictions are made and it is not always obvious as to how some players will develop. It is further troubling that one of the players we backed to build our entire midfield around (something you would really want to be pretty damn certain about) never truly committed to the club and then left as soon as his initial contract expired. On any construction, certainly in any results driven field, a major stuff up. But what actually troubles me is this. Despite the comments you have made above, the club seemingly failed to institute and follow a professional process in relation to these selections. If it did, it would've interviewed Martin. It did not. I would hope it would've also interviewed several other players (Rohan, Morabito etc). I'm not sure if it did. If then, after interviewing Martin AND Scully AND Trengove AND a few others (ie, after following a professional process), the club then arrived at the view that Scully and Trengove were the two best players to spend picks 1 and 2 on - that's fine. But it's not what happened - and I find that reckless in the extreme. History has also proved this to be a mistake. Most people I know who have some responsibility in their job will say that there will always be some tolerance given for the wrong decision, but only if it was made after adhering to a professional and appropriate decision making process. In this case, it seems not to have occurred. And that's why I am annoyed. I mean, how does one credibly benchmark Scully and Trengove if you fail to interview Martin. And, to the best of my recollection, everyone knew he was a certainty to be picked up by Richmond at number three well before the draft. Reckless stuff. And it has cost us a potentially elite midfield.

martin MUST play backline this week. rivers cannot be left one on one with any of kennedy, cox, nick nat or the big Q.......itll be a disaster.

Put aside a very unimpressive interview which left many unanswered questions. The real issue is that a good coach gets the best out of what he has to work with at the time - no coach can afford to wait until the list suits their ideal world. In MN's case the Collingwood game plan won't work with the current group and probably not with any other team's group - the challenge is to come up with a new game plan, probably an iteration of the Geelong game plan, which this group of players can adapt to quickly. I did think they at least attacked the ball 'better' on Saturday - looking for any positive!

Firstly, in the words of Malthouse, it can take 3-5 years for a game plan to be perfected and adopted by players. Having said that, it is my belief (at least I would hope)that this long bombing is the "get out choice" of the game plan and we are just not seeing the balance of the plan being executed. Collingwood for the last three years have gone boundary but only use the bomb when all other options have dried up. We saw the last two years that the options rarely dried up. Collingwood players worked hard on the lead up. When we do not work hard at leading up or we do not honor or pull the trigger on a good lead up then it only leaves two options. Chipping backwards or long bombing forwards. Long bombs used frequently to stagnant contests are too easy to defend and the only time they should be used is when you are moving the ball really quickly and you can kick it long to advantage like we did with Stef Martin in the 2nd quarter. Neeld strikes me as an intelligent man and I dont believe for a second that long bombing to a stagnant contest is the master game plan.

Been married a long time, passion is usually contested, rarely get uncontested passion these days.

Of course, no-one is blaming Cook, only his existence on the list. Flippant but true. And I believe that our recent recruiting isn't the cause of our current predicament at all. Not one iota. Look back at the drafts from 2001-2005 for our predicament, or maybe it is the poor player development? But we are not shite because of the kids we have now.

Saturday was a special form of torture. We played contested and stoppage football and got murdered in the stoppages. The midfield was the big problem. No wonder Neeld was tearing his hair out, his premier mid got pantsed by his last year 6th rated mid's kid brother. We were smashed in the clearances - not just the numbers but the cleanness of them. There's no Pendlebury, Swan, Ball, Thomas or even Wellingham. I thought the backline looked well structured early until the avalanche from the midfield started. But I want to see Sellar in there, we're just not big enough. The forward line was mixed. Clark's not Travis Cloke but played an anchor role. So Stef got to a heap of contests but just cannot take a contested mark - but Brisbane's key defender was in their forward line. Green just can't play that role any more. Howe can't just go for mark of the year all day. Davey and Blease were not dangerous. Moloney, Green, Davey and Rivers got ditched from the leadership group and some are worried about Neeld's judgement? If Simon Black played for us and Stef held a third of the marks he got to we would have been very close. Should Neeld change his plan to suit our personnel or develop the personnel to suit his plan? We going to get the latter first and then some of the former. Hardwick started out with umpteen straight losses 3 years ago and we're probably on a similar path. I think Rohan Connolly is on the right track in today's Age. Buckle up.

We don't have the senior players to pull the team in line and show them the way, we require the coach to have standards and pull them into line with those standards. I know Grant loves to think he is right about everything but the players don't need a relationship with their head coach - if they want that they can pow-wow with their Line coach or the Assistant Line Coach. Neeld needs to be demanding and strong. The players don't like it now, but they will appreciate it later.

I'm sorry, but Grant Thomas talking about relationships is like Terry Wallet talking about list management. Marketing hype, and people who like the smell of their own sh*t too much. If we had won on the weekend, would Grant Thomas have said "Neeld's no-nonsesnse school teacher approach is what has been missnig from the demons for years". Probably. And fancy Thomas liking "humble" McCartney. I think the only time Thomas came face to face with humble was when it hit him in the face in the form of a pie when he got sacked.

Just read the HS over my coffee and was interested to see that 52.8% of our possessions were contested. Last year the cats went at 39% and the kings of contested foot, the Swans went at 44%. This tells us that we are taking the message to heart of getting our hands dirty (The contested footy must have been everywhere except at the clearances). What we arent doing is working hard enough off the ball. Run and spread, give and go, presenting options, hard leading. And we saw the end result of that with lots of long bombing. Aaron Davey, who I was less than impressed with went at 73% contested possession ( with the limited possessions he had). Whilst I admit I am one to scream at him to go harder at the ball, if he gets another crack I will yell something different - work harder to make space. We do not want Aaron Davey getting 73% of his possessions contested - thats not his game and nor do we want it to be. Jeremy Howe (who I do love) goes hard at a contest also needs to be constantly pushing up hard to make a lead. He needs to take more chest marks out in front. He is not providing his option enough. To anyone who says " I've been watching 4 weeks and I dont know what the game plan is" I will counter by saying, its 4 weeks old - what do you expect.**** ***for the record -I don't accept the crud we played on Saturday and whilst I expect the adherence to a cohesive game plan to take a little time, I expect a better effort to take no time at all.

I agree, but I think we should brace ourselves for a 100+ point drumming this week. I'm not saying that out of anger, just merely based on form. The second-half on Saturday was Geelong-186-esque. That game was of the utmost importance, and it shows just how far behind the 8-ball we are. I think we've taken a step back to take a step forward, but we did that last year as well... Ah, the perils of being a Melbourne supporter.

I'd be very surprised if the full game plan was on display at the moment. He's only had a few games with this team, so he will have drilled in thee most important aspects of it. Once we have mastered these parts I'm sure he will add extra layers of complexity, one at a time. Think of it like school. There's no point telling someone to write an essay on Romeo and Juliet if they can't read or write. So you teach them basic literacy first. You then teach them important skills that they need to form a strong argument. Then you give them a structure to use to construct an essay. Finally, once they have every tool they need, you give them an essay to write. They you keep practicing. I'd suggest that the defensive gameplan is being heavily focussed on for the moment. While this is happening the offensive plan is being made deliberately simple (although probably a basis for the ultimate plan). Kicking the ball long to marking targets and minimising the pain from turnovers. Once the players have mastered the inital aspects of the plan Neeld may give themextra options to move the ball forward. Ross Lyon took a while, with a talented team, to get his side playing to his structure. He was canned after he took over from Thomas. He won 4 of the first 7 games with a team that had Riewoldt, Dal Santo, Goddard, Hayes, Rob Harvey, Ball and Leigh Montagna. Neeld is also a very structured coach. I'm not expecting fireworks early.

Does anyone here really think our drafting from 2007 onwards is the reason we are in the predicament? We have been here since 2007... The senior players weak minds and average talent are the reasons we are where we are. You are pushed forward on the back of your 25+ brigade and ours are 1) not plentiful, 2) not good enough, and 3) weak in the head. So stop blaming Cook for something he has nothing to do with.

The ONLY option at this point for me is as first ruck. However, your roaming role might not hurt after the center bounce either. A roving ruckman through the middle. Takes the centre bounce and utilise him afterwards in a roaming role. Ocassionally resting up forward in the goal square to relieve Petterd/Dunn/Jurrah (if he ever makes it back). Seems to have the tank and agility to handle the responsibility here. He runs rings around a lumbering opponent in the middle once the ball hits the ground. Nice agility through traffic in the middle, good hands and delivers the ball quite well in most cases to a player in a better position. And he has a monster leap, as we saw against the Roos in Rnd 8 last year, where he nearly kicked Goldsteins' head off....twice (at least i think it was Goldstein). Jamar is just TOOOOO SLOOOOOW once the ball comes to ground in the middle (which it does most of the time because>>>) as he is no longer (post injury comeback) able to get high enough off the ground to tap to OUR advantage as much as he was once able to. In many cases he runs through/under the center bounce now, missing the entire contest completely. A HUUUGE advantage to any half decent opposing ruckman, let alone A graders like Cox and Sandilands. Jamar's still servicable sure, but a shadow of his former self (pre-injury). Had a nice close up look at Clark on the weekend. have seen him on TV a few times in the past with Brissy. Not much to go on i guess but IMO he's without doubt being played in the wrong posi. CHF and 2nd ruck to Martin IMO. His tank and agility are completely wasted at FF. Poor move to try and turn him into something he isn't on Neeld & Co's part me thinks and will only end up frustrating the crap out of him and waste what could be a great talent at CHF (back up ruckman). Particularly given how we murder the delivery i50. Let alone getting it i30 in a decent fashion and on enough occasions lol. Only 1 game i realise and happy to be proven wrong. Time will tell.

Lets stop putting "the complete clean-out" talk and put it down to the emotional drain of losing Jim Stynes after such a long and bitter fight . I've vented my spleen about softness from players .A lot of our play was reactionary .They will get a good kick up the arse and being away from us next week may be good for them . Does anyone think we have a chance against the Meth Coast Eagles? Or am I just searching in vain for hope?

Our best player was a VFLer who has been overlooked for a number of years. Says it all.

I think people are just speculating there is some kind of ill-will on Beamer's part re loss of leadership title- my theory is he just isn't that good period.

The game plan is bomb it into the forward line. I'm guessing Bate is following instruction. I agree with other posters re Bate, far from the worst and did a good job given limited game time. IMO bombing it into the forward line is far too predictable. I don't like that part of the game plan.Especially when there is no Eddie Betts up forward to do the crumbing.I much prefer it when we kick to a forward on the lead. Brad Green might as well retire now with our new game plan.

OUT: Davey, Green, Macdonald IN: Tapscott, Petterd, Sellar

Like everyone else here I have experienced the bleakest time (football wise), in the last few days. Like most melbourne supporters I am so used to disappointment and sub-par performance that I could see another disastrous season ahead and bemoan our inability to draft the best players. It's important to keep it in perspective. We support a club that has had a traumatic decade. Tragedy, near bankruptcy, a divided board and administration, two dramatic coach sackings, and a player awaiting the results of a court hearing. This has culminated in the passing and funeral of it's shining light and saviour in the last week. To think that this would not have an impact on the performance this week is unrealistic. I would also say that looking at the recent culture of the cub in the last decade it has displayed ridiculously inconsistent form, and dare I say it, a soft mental attitude. there is evidence that the players have thought that they were better than they are. The culture needed to be turned around. I like many, am not sure whether Neeld's hard-arsed approach will turn achieve it or kill the spirit of the players but I have to hope we are on the right track. I have read much of the wailing and gnashing of teeth on this site and admit that I also indulge in it. We Demon supporters are now so reactive and willing to see a catastrophy at every turn. If we bury ourselves in this site and whip each other into a negative frenzy it can have a multiplying effect and be very bad for our mental health. These articles may help explain what happened on Saturday and what is happening at the club. http://www.heraldsun...q-1226315845268 http://www.theage.co...0401-1w6nl.html http://www.theage.co...0331-1w5ii.html http://www.theage.co...0331-1w5cs.html http://www.theage.co...0401-1w6jc.html http://www.theage.co...0331-1w5kr.html http://www.heraldsun...f-1226315687415 As much as the coach and the players say that Jimmy's passing was no excuse, its obvious that it had an enormous impact on the preparation and the performance. Malthouse's comments were very revealing. It shows how important the control of the emotional energy levels is when leading into a game. What I saw after half time on Saturday was a tired team who couldn't respond with any team cohesion. We saw players who are normally smart, like Frawley, do dumb stuff. Jamar had a rough day and his taps went to Lions players a lot of the time. Our mids were pushed around and outsmarted. Players who couldn't do anything constructive to turn things around. Along with us, they watched the train-wreck happen in front of them. I trust that there will be accountability at the selection table and Neeld's comments suggest this. Davey is completely bereft of confidence and zip. We know that he doesn't like the physical contest. That has never been his value, but he is obviously injured and does not know what to do. He need to get himself right and fight his way back into the team. The boundary hugging, long-bombing game looked particularly bad as players lacked the confidence and energy to convert it any sort of smart creative attack. Jade Rawlings commented on this so hopefully the game-plan is not to play the boundary like robots and then bomb it in to the dead pocket. I would like to think that Saturday's performance was due to the recent trauma and the adjustment to a new approach. I believe (hope) that our effort will improve next week and that we will "trend upwards" as the year progresses.

We have to many dumb footballers. It has been this way for the past 6 years we continually make bad decisions on the footy field. This was highlighted on the week end our players took the wrong option made silly mistakes just dumb football. On Saturday Magner was good but the only player that created something everytime they got the footy was Watts. It is Dumb when midfielders play like under 9 footballers, we don't need 3 players going to the footy or for a tackle we need 1. This has been going one for 6 years we get sucked into the contest all our players are flat footed around the contest all it takes is for the ball to spill out and we are gone. Stick our tackles, we don't need 2-3 players tackling 1 player its not rugby we get sucked in again we don't hold our position we get stuck between the contest and the next contest. Our Backiline is dumb, Rivers, Frawley, Garland and Bartram seems to always make bad decisions It is dumb to kick to the members wing on all occasions, great I sit on that side of the ground but the other side can be used as well It is Dumb to long kick to the forward pocket, if you kick long into the forward line kick to 15m out directly in front and not to the point post It is dumb to handpass the footy back towards your opponents goal line when you are under pressure It is dumb to constantly drop the footy when you are tackled, you don't need to do this if you haven't had prior opportunity Finally it is dumb to play slow stop start football, take risks but smart risks and that is the problem we have to many dumb footballers to take the smart options.

You are letting the players off the hook and whilst we continue to focus on everyone else ( the coaches***, the recruiters,) but the 22 players who pull on the jumper we will continue to be a mediocre. Have we learned from Jim Stynes - how did he get to play 264 games ( i hope got that right) win a brownlow, AA's and best and fairest. Who exactly should we credit with his success ? Jim Stynes thats who. Our best player on Saturday has been at the club two minutes. Are Neeld and the coaches responsible for him having a kamikaze attitude towards the ball ? No - its Magner who is responsible for Magner. *** I will concede that I believe that the desire to be the best must come from within the player however the coach should be able to positively encourage the player to display correct attitudes to footy and in equal measure send strong messages for non performance.

Is it our development of players? How would our top draft picks be fairing at a powerhouse such as Collingwood, West Coast, or even Hawthorn? I'm getting fed up with our alleged next generation rotting in the reserves every year. Morton, Cook, McDonald, Tapscott etc. I realise a couple of these boys are recovering from injury but gee its time to get games into these guys rather than guys like Joel Macdonald who has peaked as an average AFL player. Jackson Paine a raw 18 year old kid played on Friday night for the pies and had an impact up forward, why is Lucas Cook yet to get a game? I just don't understand where the improvement is supposed to come from. Tynan had a crack on Saturday. The faster we get these kinda guys up to 50+ games the better. I was willing to cop some beltings during the Bailey rebuild of 2007 and 2008 and I am willing again this year, as long as the young draftees get the nod to learn Neeld's way as quickly as possible ahead of consistently underperforming average senior players.

He's a basketballer, who came very late to footy. Nothing more to say. Ed: oh yeah, he was good for super coach teams in 2011. FFS Ed2: the only basketballer of note is Pendulbury who was equally good/great at both basketball and footy. The rest, including Tippet and Martin, are basketballers.

# Green to retire. # Davey to be traded if he continues to sulk. # Rivers, X roads this year # Sylvia, X roads this year # Morton, X roads this year # Bennell, X roads this year # JMac, X roads this year # Dunn, X roads this year # Bate, X roads this year as I see it.

Forward pocket or CHF, changing 2nd ruck seems a good Idea.

DrG every supporter for every club wants a premiership cup, so what? we have been talking up premiership windows ad nauseum the last few seasons whilst we languish near the bottom I'm sick of premiership/flag discussions. I want to walk before we run. That means winning a few games and being accountable if we can do that then i might start dreaming again put away the rose tinted glasses, focus on the basics and cut out the crap flag talk or there won't be a MFC in a few years time

Look. We now have a depth of talent that we Can use to replace player for player until the work ethic changes to a healthy work ethic. We have to start to use the Selection table to discipline players. Simple, don't play hard & to team Ethos, > OUT !!!

From within! From the individuals Pride! A desire for a game! Team Pride! And from getting used to the clubs changes and Gamestyle.

Hearing Magner speak, he fully appreciates his opportunity to play AFL after so many years of being overlooked. He got to where he is the hard way and sees playing football in the AFL as a privilege, not a right. I think many senior players need to realise this, and follow the example set by Magner.

Magner, Trengove, Watts, Martin.

Harsh. Joel Mac was not great, but i thought he was among our best of the 20 others that were rubbish.

A good balance between defense and offense. Playing the whole ground allowing run and spread, forward kicks to advantage. Pace in the middle. Drop Beamer. I love the guy but he hasn't done anything. Perform at Casey and your back. I would rather Gysberts getting beaten and developing than Brent playing that bad.

I got a free Sherrin with my slab of Boags on the way home from the G today. The footy was easy to get, I just had to go in and get it.