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Ok... I have not posted for a little while now but, as always, have been getting my daily/hourly fill of Demonland reading.... As would be the case with most of us, I have not enjoyed what I have seen over the first 4 rounds (I don't count pre-season as anything to base gameday opinions on). We have all basically come to the agreement that our beloved club is bereft of mature leaders and of players with the quality of most other clubs... Yes we have recruited with a high amount of stupidity (in hindsight) but also without a lot of luck along the way.... We still have some players at the club who you can build a team around, without naming the obvious ones.... But we also have a $hitload of players on our list who would not be getting a game in any other 22.... The Melbourne Football Club have recruited 2 key people over the last six months.... The first being Mark Neeld.... This guy WILL get us somewhere! More on him later.... The 2nd key recruit is Mitch Clark... His effort and attack on the pill is exactly what our forwardline needs! We are just not seeing how good this guy is purely because of the cattle playing up the field... Our forward structure is ugly because our current list of available players is ugly... FFS you have Mitch as our go-to forward with James Sellar as his wing man! Our small forwards are either not playing/past their best/lost in previous drafts.... We rely on getting certain players back into the side who can hopefully have an impact under the new coaching regime... A forward line consisting of Mitch Clark, Liam Jurrah, Jeremy Howe, Ricky Petterd and maybe a fit/hungry Nev Jetta waiting at ground level would kick a winning score if the ball was coming down to them often enough (even if bombed in)... Currently Howe and Watts (both natural forwards) are having to play roles further up field because we simply lack quality midfielders who can find a teammate by foot... For all of Jack Watts' faults, finding a target by foot is not one of them! Our midfield is easily the worst in the league! Attack on the footy is not the issue with our mids (Nate Jones is at the base of EVERY pack all day long)... Disposal and the lack of outside mids with devestating kicks is! Unfortunately this will take time to rectify... Something we as MFC members are sick of hearing, but we MUST listen this time! Our defence is not bad... Take out Joel MacDonald and inject a running half back with silk (draft?) so we aren't relying on Frawley to try and evade 6 blokes and run the ball out of the backline and you have a core group of players who will stop opposition forwards from scoring.... Again we need the quality midfield to stop the ball coming into their F50 with reckless abandon! Now Mark Neeld... Give this guy a go people... Yes, I said this about Bailey after his first year but Dean was the unfortunate victim of a club bereft of money and resources.... Have a look at the quality of assistant coaches and fitness staff at the club now... A group consisting of Neil Craig, David Misson and Todd Viney is a group that will bring professionalism at the Dees to a new level... They are building what will give the Melbourne faithfull what we want... Finals football and a chance at success! They cannot do it with what we have on the park at the moment! End of story! We are in a position to draft well over the next couple of years... Make no mistake about it! The first half of this season is going to be hard to watch... Let's be realistic... But I have faith that the 2nd half of this year we will start to see some serious improvement (barring our injury list growing) in the results... As Mark has stated, the effort is good... But he cannot come out in a presser and say "The effort is good, but our skills are the $hittest I have ever seen!" Which is exactly what he will be thinking... Our current administration MUST keep this group of 4 men at the helm of our club together! Outside pressures will peak on Mark Neeld when we are sitting at 0-8... But we MUST be patient! I strongly believe that come the end of the year, the media will be saying that we will be pushing for finals in 2013... If we can string some exciting wins together in the middle/latter stages of the year there will be draftees WANTING to be part of our club... Football these days is all about professionalism... And the 4 coaches I listed earlier are demanding this! They will weed out the ones who won't make it and will be ruthless in doing so... External pressures will be massive on Mark and his crew.... But you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out the issue at the club is with the cattle and not the coaches! Anyone who can honestly argue otherwise has rocks in their head.... Patience is not one of my strong points.... But I can see what Mark and the guys are doing... And I like what I see.... Call me Krazy

God there is a lot of rubbish spoken on this forum. If Nathan Jones has a problem it is the ineptitude around him!

Jones is in our top 5 players this year. Pick on the other 40 hacks first!!! Stupid thread.

When we consider list management and planning ahead, the list that was handed to Bailey was nothing short of a disgrace. We're still paying for the repercussions of Neale's topping up with second hand goods on the back of an aging list, not to mention the penalties handed down as a result of breaching the salary cap and "drafting thin" as a result in the early 2000's. We're still seeing progress from those drafted from the start of the rebuild, but what makes it all the more difficult is the lack of senior players, leadership on our list (and of quality), and our clubs apparent failure to "hit" well in the draft and/or draft anything of significance to date (ie a star). Learning a new structure has its teething problems with predominantly a young list - and a young list lacking quality and midfield class even more so. We were left a carcass of a list and there were no guarantees with the senior players we had left after many senior players moved on over 3-4 year period, that the rebuild would be complete. It was always going to be a massive rebuild, and no one knew exactly what would transpire in periods of change. Granted some of our draft picks haven't come on as well as we've all wished. Which extends time on turnaround. People point to the year of 2010 and the win over the Swans by 73. And ask why ? What has transpired until now ? Why has it all gone amiss ? Different game style, different list, different structure, different midfield dynamic to what we have had in rounds 1-4 this year. Different regime and strategy. And confidence. Put in a fit Sylvia, Moloney and Jurrah over the last 4 weeks and our setup, dynamics, performance and even results would I guess would be a little different to a 0-4 and ~ 50% return. The likes of Magner and a Couch excite many - especially those involved in Supercoach and Dreamteams, but they are a by-product of an immature, underdeveloped, lacking class options, midfield. IMO they are a stop gap measure of blue collar work horses for the short to medium term, until the FD can unearth class from within or through the coming draft(s). The type of class we haven't been able to find, period. Or at least since Scott Thompson left in Neale's years. Now that there seems to be more clarity for those who have been unable to establish why our club is where it is (tongue in cheek), I wonder if they're prepared to hang on and support the club, instead of spruiking blindly that the last 4-5 years have been a complete waste without any understanding as to what has transpired and why ?

Memo to the Melbourne Football Club Football Department. Here are some pointers that no amount of GPS Data, Statistical Analysis or Past Coaches or Players can give you. Some comments may contradict each other. Bate - must play 50-70 meters out from goal. He must be the link player coming out of half back. Play him off the left half forward flank. ;If you put the ball out in front he can take a grab and swing onto the left and get in to a contest. He is too slow to run as a midfielder and is an excellent penetrating kick into the 50. His football smarts aren't the best;Can kick a long goal too if needed. Do not allow him to play on the right side of the ground. Whatever side of the ground has his left leg towards the boundary line, tell him to run that channel. Too slow to swing out onto his left and has no right foot. Do you ever see Buddy Franklin break to the right? Howe - Play him off the right forward flank. Can take a grab but his area should be between 20-60 meters out from goal. Seems to be one kick too far up the ground for my liking as most of his big grabs are towards the wing. Problem is when he looks up towards whats inside 50, he should be that player coming out towards the 50 and not kicking into it. Has great ground awareness and can crumb the ball if needed and doesn't mind the hard stuff. Too often this year we have no-one to kick into. Need to play Petterd and Howe in the same side. Petterd ;- Deep left forward pocket. I reckon he is a better kick on a tighter angle with his right leg towards the boundary. Has a tendency to hook shots when his right leg is facing centre of the ground. Can take a grab as well but prefer him to stay on the ground and work his opponent out of the contest. Needs to play a "ground"; game (in gridiron terms) and not an "arial" game. Too often going forward this year too many players going up for the mark which leaves either 1 or even 0 Dees players on the ground against 2-3 opposition. Take that a step further and need two ground players hitting most packs one on each side moving into the contest going towards goal. Covers space going forward and if ball goes out back of the pack a better chance to apply pressure if landing in opposition hands. Morton - Don't think i've ever seen a more "outside" player in the past 5 years. Needs to play the right wing and run the channel 10 meters past each end of the square. Biggest concern in his tendency to over finesse when trying to hit targets. He kicks the ball 5 meters too short thinking that the player going for the mark will make it to the ball. Has to learn to kick the ball to the player and not drag the player to the ball. Kick through the ball Cale!! Penetrate don't guesstimate!!! Can kick the ball long as seen during his kick into the 50 towards City End. Davey - Stick with him inside 50 on the right forward pocket. Flashes past packs but always decides where he is going to run to before the contest and hopes the ball goes in his direction. Likes kicking goals from deep in the right pocket. Can kick a ball very straight but has that left to right hook which in the right forward pocket would mean the ball would swing into the goals. Needs to work a lot harder on defensive pressure. Watts - Improving every week but is being moulded into a Bob Murphy off half back stopper or a Michael Hurley half forward ball burster? Seems to float over the ground and if he was pushing up the ground needs to NOT go further than the wing. Needs to start working on the double backing leads ala Reiwoldt. Loved the grab today when he threw his opponent to the ground but not just doing it enough. More aerobic work for Watts this pre-season. I'd even go so far as to alternate Howe and Watts in the double backing role. Can't be a steading influence in the backline as who is he going to kick to 50 meters up the ground? I'll add more to this during the week when i can.

Boyd was held by Magner to 19 possessions after having 38 round 1, 28 round 2 and 39 round 3. Would have liked him to have got more ball the other way but did a great job quelling his influence.

That's quite a rant, HT... I agree with what you say - our list was continually topped up under Daniher and we struggled to recruit good kids and didn't have the money or where-with-all to develop the good ones we did have. Turley, Ellis, Powell, Pickett, Vardy, Moorcroft, Heffernan, Chisholm, Johnson, Read and Bizzell were brought in with varying degrees of success because we didn't recruit kids and/or develop well. One-dimensional 'pros' or 'battlers' like Ward, Wheatley, Walsh, Rigoni, Williams, Nicholson, Grgic, Godfrey, Ferguson, Collins, and Carroll were perservered with because we couldn't find more talented kids (or couldn't develop them) to replace them. Bruce, White, Davey, Green, Robertson, Johnstone, and Yze were all great talents that we never were able to turn into A-grade performers (or whatever measure you wish to use). And other clubs have done to Jolly and Thompson what we never could - turn talented players into consistent A-grade performers. I hope, and have never had more reason to believe, that Neeld, Misson, and Craig can remedy this over the next few years. But, back on Daniher - this is why we fell in a heap - recycled older players, coupled with older NQR players, and a tiny smattering of talented players not ready to shoulder the team's burdens nor progress themsleves. Green, Bruce, Jamar, Davey, Bate, Dunn, Rivers, Sylvia, Jones, and Batram are all that's left of the 7 drafts that have built the best teams of today - 1999-2005.

Bit hard on Tom McDonald. The only way he'll become an AFL footballer is getting him up to the speed of the game and its wrong for anyone to blame him for our 'backline problems'. He's played a total of five games. Sending him back to Casey will just give him an easier time without learning the pace of AFL and what's required.

Yeah, just before the incident he was grimacing and looking at it. He's been a really great pickup I think. I even think if something HAD gone horribly wrong, and he had to wait until next season for his next game, fans would probably be mostly positive on his recruitment. He's kicked 10 goals, and has been invilved in numerous telling plays. He may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but he has absolutely no lack of talent, passion, anger, skill, courage, leadership... If you go on potential, he could quite conceivably be the next Neitz in the side. I've seen enough, and I daresay most would have. Watching it on replay, I can't believe he's still with us, given his head went into his ribcage like a turtle. Did anyone else basolutely LOVE his double tackle on the flank, that was eventually given as a free against? Bad luck, but wow the effort from a ruckman-sized player... If Watts doesn't look at that and think, I wanna be like Mitch, then he never will.

I very occasionally sit in the outer so that I can meet up with my gardener and cook.

I really doubt that Jack thinks that he's done enough. I think a more plausible explanation is that he's just plain old buggered and can't keep it up due to that. His inability to run out games very early on is well documented, and while I expect it's significantly improved thanks to solid pre-seasons, I doubt it's where it needs to be. If that's true then it comes as no surprise to me that his first halves are always better than his second halves as they have been this year. Just needs to keep working on his fitness. Give it time and he'll reach the 100% effort for 100% of the game level, I've got no doubt about that.

WYL, when you turn things upside down in order to reorganise, you go backwards a bit.. the circumstances around our start to the season has Magnified this several times over. We only just look like starting to regroup now.

That ageing has-been is a brilliant footballer who was stunning in the first half yesterday. He was all australian for a reason last season. (just thought I'd correct you on this one)

I think you just don't get it stuie, and you ridicule what you don't understand.

Clark has tweeted he's alright. Hopefully available next week. Thought he did the number proud. It's a shame Dunn couldn't follow his leadership down forward and instead ran around mouthing off like the muppet he is.

Ridiculous.

In 2007, the then Gardner Board undertook a search for a new coach. They chose Bailey. Presumably during the interview process they established Bailey's football philosophy, game plan, strategies and measured those against the then "best practice". Bailey would have outlined the type of players that were needed to implement the strategy and then undertook the rebuild of a terrible list in conjunction with Cameron (2007) and Prendergast (2008 - 2011). In February 2010 the Stynes Board extended Bailey's contract by 12 months until the end of 2011. They had had the benefit of seeing Bailey in action for two years, had a chance to determine if his philosophies were sound and had seen how he managed the players and the other members of the club. Clearly they thought he was doing a good job and hence was extended on the back of 2 years "exposed form". in July of 2011, some 18 months after reviewing his performance and endorsing his direction they sacked him and undertook a search for a new coach. Among others Sanderson and Neeld applied at a time where Collingwood were seen as clearly the best side in the AFL. Sanderson would have come to interview and said "I've been at Geelong since 2007 and experience 2 GF victories and one defeat. Melbourne play a "Geelong" style of footy and I can take your group and build on what has been done since Bailey's appointment. It needs development but it's the same genre." Neeld would have come to interview and said "I've been at Collingwood since 2008 and I was involved in the 2010 GF. Collingwood are now the benchmark of the competition and it's game plan has superseded all others. It's designed on defence, stoppages and strength. Unfortunately your recruiting and coaching for the last 4 years is contrary to this game plan and I'll have to go back to square 1, rebuild your list and completely deconstruct the game plan. It will most likely take 3 to 5 years to build a list capable of competing at the top level. The last 4 years have been a waste." History now shows us that Geelong beat Collingwood in the 2011 GF and there game plan is being copied by most teams with the centre corridor being used much more frequently. Why did the current administration abandon 4 years of work and pain and opt for a complete rebuild last year when there was an equally well credentialed coach who could have taken that previous work and developed it? The only reason I can think of is they didn't believe the Geelong game plan could stand up. To make that decision a sophisticated understanding of game plans and the future direction of the game would be critical. And guess what, there wasn't a coach on our selection panel just a couple of Board members, a footy commentator who hasn't coached and an administrator. IMO Sanderson was clearly the correct choice because he would have develop and used philosophies based on Geelong and endorsed by the very people who extended Bailey contract and run our club now. Neeld was a knee jerk reaction to copy the team of the moment but which ended up failing in September and are struggling now. Our management panicked and abandoned their 4 year strategy and we are now back to square one where we don't even measure our performance by wins (Neeld presser after Bulldogs) and a President who by his own admission has got no idea why things have gone so wrong. Encouraging isn't it! Clarification: This is in no way a criticism of Neeld, it is a critique of the management flip flop that has given us the laughing stock of the competition and consigned us to yet another rebuild.

Interesting to hear MN say that Sylvia was right to play yesterday but the club decided to enforce its Rd 1 suspension of him given his injury ultimately meant the disciplining exercise was redundant. I am happy with that. Could be the making of Col. Our most frustrating player bar none...

So. Many. Face. Palms... Not. Enough. Hands...eeerrgghhh. *collapses*.

Good post MikeyJ. Thompson was class in 2004 but I know why he left officially but am wondering why he actually left? You are spot on with the Jolly/White issue. Neither at the time could play forward. Jolly was mediocre in 2004 and became a petulant sook. He wanted out in 2004 with a year on his contract. We traded him for a first round pick and we use it get Lynden Dunn. Bad pick. 1. ND did well given the on field and off field resources we had. Neitz, White and Yze have been rightly criticised at times but they did form a back bone for this team. 2. We had a string of underfunded indifferent adminstrations who at times behaved for their own interest. 3. Smith and Molan were poor picks front and centre. We recruited the C-Collins brothers pre ND in 1996. Worst decision we did times 2. 4. Salary cap stuff hurt us. It would have have been more in Gutnick normal corporate behaviour if he had said nothing. 5. Complete myth. None of the young players were competing with Yze, White and Robbo. We erred in trading for PJ and Pickett. We stuffed up the 2001 draft badly.

My 2 cents worth In the third 1/4 when we turned it on, we backed our run and handballed to moving targets. Moloney found a lot of it during this period. Also, Tom McDonald was good in this period (the rest of his game was terrible). The key difference was the run to receive. It's been missing. Too often we handball to guys that are flat footed. We tackled and pressured better than we have for a long time. Magner has had two off weeks and may have been found out. Needs to have a good one against the 'Aints this week. Mitch Clark is a dominant player. He earns respect by being a bullocking type player. You cannot question his endevour. I would hate to see the effect of him receiving some decent delivery. I thought James Frawley lowered his colours. May have beaten his opponent but his general skills and disposal were sub-standard. All good to do the twist and turn in the middle of the ground, but if you get caught and turn it over, you are a liability. (side note: saw Chip at the supermarket in Victoria Street richmond at about 12pm. Doing some shopping. Thought it was odd that he was not at home preparing. I guess they want their day to be as normal as possible.) Morton was good. I have been a basher, but it was his best game in a long time. He needs to remain in the side. Davey showed flashes. Still HATES body contact and did not go in at teh contest a number of times. It hurts the side. Jamar's ruck work is SHITHOUSE at the moment. He jumps too early. Does not hit to advantage and has falling away in the last few weeks Howe is a gun, not just coz of his marking ability but general field play is good too. Glad we have him. Watts was good in parts but dropped a crucial mark at a crucial stage of the game. He too often takes two bites at the cherry. Needs to learn how to clunk them one grab. He did take a great mark (contested) on the members wing, punt rd end fifty). Joel Mac is a tard. Should not be seen in the red and blue again. Sellar is worth persisting with. Dunn likes picking fights and niggle but cant actually play. No use keeping hot air on the field any longer. I tip my hat to Matty Bate. He really had a dip last night. We all know he has limitations but had a red hot crack. Why oh why do our players seem to have no awareness? We get caught from behind far too much. Clearly not enough talk onfield. We need to use our picks wisely at the end of the year. We MUST look at mature players. 22-26. The gap is too great. No use loading up on more kids who may or may not take the next step.

Consider this cuddles asks. "i had a conversation in my head that i now believe is real" Dean Bailey was hung out to dry, but it was not personal. He worked under conditions that were sub standard. The board got its priorities wrong & Dean took the hit. Once the debt was cleared the FD should have been beefed up straight away. We now have a situation where our high draft picks need to be reprogrammed. What a mess it is sadly. But Neeld is the man.

Have they? Where are the similarities? Forget the style of play -- the Geelong list is full of big-bodied contested ball winners. Even kids like Menzel and Duncan have put on some decent size already.

I know you watch from Tassie on TV and I reckon it's hard to pick up nuances of the game from the television, but all I'll say is that Watts has too much concern for his own physical being and if he can't overcome it and learn to play with a little bit of reckless abandon, not a lot, but a little, then he'll never fulfill his undoubted talent. His concern for physical contact is his undoing. It's one of the reasons he lacks confidence.

Cuddles I agree with you 100%. The current crop of players we have were recruited and built to play an attacking game similar to that played by Geelong. Bailey himself came from Essendon and Port Adelaide, two sides which played attacking fast flowing games. Despite the second half of last year we had made steady progress. We shouldn't have jumped ship and abandoned the way we played. We should be embracing the qualities that we already have and enforcing a tough defensive edge. There should be no need to start from scratch and change the philosophies of all our players.

Your whole premise (and conclusion) is based on an "imagined" conversation between each of Sanderson and Neeld and the board - time will tell if Neeld was the right choice.

Might be an old chestnut, JM, but why can't we get it right? Atm, there's too much predictability....the ball goes long to the defensive side, in dispute, we're outnumbered and the ball flies straight back in there. Who's the designated kicker? I think it should be Garland and (every now and then) a massive torp straight down the middle wouldn't go astray. Keep the kick in duties away from Chip.

In the cold light of day and reading these posts, perhaps it wasn't such a disaster. I guess the source of my frustration is I believe we should've won and I know how much confidence that would've instilled in the group and, more than anything, been a fitting send off for Jimmy.

Fingers crossed for Mitch. Been to the 3 Vic games this year and Mitch is everything we have been waiting for in a KPF. Just excites me when he goes near the ball. Even though he only got the 1 goal against the Dogs I saw it as probably his best, or at least as good as the 5 v the Eagles. Just the presence he has up forward, the way he attacked the footy, his unselfishness, toughness, exactly what we've been crying for since Neitz. If we can fix our midfield (Jack Viney great start) and get him and Jurrah (when fit) a ton of opportunities, will be really exciting. Good on you Mitch for proving many wrong thus far, keep it up and hope the neck scans are all good.

Just to contradict yourself when you stick the boots into him with your last comment. You dont even know how to support your own argument. There were numerous reasons for our loss missed early set shots by Clark, Watts and Howe, errors by Watts, T-Mac, Joel Mc, Frawley and Morton, our inability to shut down Murphy in the first half. The complete lack of impact on the game by Trengove or Jamar even when he has 46 touches. The refusal of some of our midfielders but most notably Moloney to not run or offer any defensive game. These could all have been mentioned yet you chose one. To me that says it in itself. People have been asking for Morton to get more involved and he did. They have asked our midfield to offer us spread and he did it in bucketloads. They have said that he is too outside and he responded with 8 contested possessions, 6 clearances and 6 tackles. I will focus on that improved output over 2 short kicks and a poor handball.

Can you do it running at full tilt? What about running at full tilt, when you've already been running full tilt on and off for an hour?

He should still add pace to our midfield then..... Patently incorrect. Lyons spoke on 3AW yesterday and said the opposite.

Every sports betting agency had the dogs easily as favourites as did most of the experts. I always believe we can win every game however I was under no illusion as to where we sit.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not chemically fortified and I'm not saying we'll win any of those. I just think that the prevailing view of assuming absolutely zero improvement from here on in, and that not a single team will have an off day against us, might be misplaced and that 0-11 isn't a dead certainty.

Cale will keep improving, and prove a lot of you wrong. I'm amazed so many can watch so much footy for so long, yet still learn so little.

Probably the dumbest post I have read all year. And that says something. Demonland's Tea Party element is starting to raise its stunningly enlightened head.

My observations, for what they are worth. Finally, we saw Melbourne play out a game when it looked pretty hopeless (eg when 5 goals down in the last) Umpiring was absolutely awful. Flash got some confidence up and I think it would be madness not to have him running around the forward line for the season. His first goal, front and centre, was vintage and the perfect compliment to Clark. Cale Morton isn't as bad as everyone wants him to be. He did a few really good things and, despite a few clangers, is consistenty up near our top possession getters. Jamar will never dominate anybody like he did today. If we couldn't win today's clearances (which we didn't) we never will. How did Cooney run 20m without anybody being able to catch him, when he only has one leg? Jared Rivers is a cornerstone and so underrated. Watts did some great work, but he just doesn't attack hard enough. His ball use is too good to waste as a deep forward. He's heaps better running around the wings, taking strong contested marks through our midfield, and delivering precisely into our forward line. James Magner makes our midfield look 250% tougher. Moloney's sleeve doesn't. Unfortunately for Neeld's gameplan, we looked excellent when we were far enough behind that we were forced to take some risks through the corridor. Best footy we have played in ages. Having said that, our forward pressure was better than I can remember seeing. Bate looks much better in the midfield and makes the team better, which says more about the team than him. Rohan Bail takes a great mark for his size. We desperately need Gysberts and Sylvia back. That's enough for now.

I know it's stabbing at the umpires, which is normally awful, but I genuinely think they cost us the game tonight. Sure, 20-odd point margin. But I counted 5 ridiculous frees which lead to Dogs goals, coupled with probably 2 or free unpaid ones (Dalhaus dropping the pill 20m out in the 3rd quarter, obvious to the other side of the ground but not to the 2 umpires standing 20m away?!) really hurt us, to the point where it genuinely did cost us the game. We held our heads up. I was genuinely proud tonight. Another Doggies game, another annihilation by the umpiring.

I was really proud of the absolute tenacious endeavour of our team today. They absolutely threw themselves in. That's how we managed to only lose by 20 -odd points despite being overwhelmed in possesssion of the footy. In fact, if we'd kicked straight early, and they'd been twice penalised in the forward line for failing to dispose legally,resulting in goals, we'd have beaten them. Somehow we stayed in touch despite them having the ball 100 more times. I think it reflects the way our guys gave their all. If our supporters didn't notice how hard and fearlessly our platyers went in, I reckon they weren't watching very closely. Also, I reckon the sombre pre-match function would not have helped our players to be in a positive state of mind. It had to be done, and was well done, but I felt it left us with a "flat" feeling.

Stop what? We played Footscray and had 90 less possessions than them. It is not acceptable.

Eh. You know what. We have a very young inexperienced list. Bulldogs have been shocking but I still rate them. We were all over them but lacked polish. I'm sure we all would have loved a win, but you know what? We had a crack. Finally. We needed Clark in that last quarter. Add Sylvia in the midfield. Jurrah up forward. We WILL look better. Ive been guilty of being pessimistic this year, but without sounding like bailey, lets get these kids to 100 games before we hang crap on them. I saw heart today. That's what we want.

http://www.opel.com/vehicles-and-services/concept-cars/gallery/exterior-views.html Just like our midfield. Sleek, smooth and not quite in existence yet.

It's a Little annoying is All...

Hats off to Davey for his 2nd goal, kicking one from the boundary on your non-preferred foot is impressive to say the least.

It was his 5th game - give the kid a break (not you personally but all those having a dig). He is the least of our problems at the moment.

Well said, tonight was atrocious. We apparently were at base camp 2 years ago and clearly have fallen off the mountain and into a river.

I got news for you - it will not matter.

If you are first to the footy generally you receive the free kicks or the first opportunity for a free kick to be called in your favour. Mitch Clark in his first 4 games for this club had done nothing but show absolute spirit, desperation, pride and leadership and today when he stood up after that sickening accident he well and truly did the number 11 guernsey he wore proud.

It's just disappointing we are loosing and not getting games into youngsters. All these draft picks are sitting on hospital beds and not on the ground. I could deal with loosing if we could get more than a handful of games into Straus, Gys, Gawn, Cook etc. Where do we go, play our 'best 22' or play the 'let's play the kids' game again?