Leaderboard

Keep him at full forward. We on this forum and the club have been crying out for a pack-crashing, bag kicking forward, and we finally have him. Let Jamar, Martin and eventually Gawn handle the ruck duties.

Greg Denham is a troll with an anti-MFC agenda, but he is not wrong in his assessment of where we are at. The thing I never understand is when people say ‘they don’t stand for anything’. We are a football club, not a political party or a religious group.

Mind if I get up off this couch and go outside to get a breath of fresh air and clear my head? All of this analysis is doing my head in.

If Freo have likes Pavlich, Sandilands, Ballantyne, Fyfe on big coin plus offer Cloke a million dollars a year, surely we would have money in reserve for another 2 top players on our list. I believe Clark, Davey and Moloney would be the highest paid at our club and they would problably wouldn't be on as much as Pavlich and Sandilands? If Patrick Dangerfield who i believe is a victorian boy, is thinking bout coming home, Cam Schwab/ Mclardy should go full noise and offer him a big contract to play with us next year. The kid is 21/22 gun and plays exactly how Mark Neeld wants. Plus i believe we (assuming we finish bottom 4 this year) will end up with the possibilty of gaining a top midfielder through the draft aswell as Jack Viney. Imagine a midfield of Jones, Viney, Trengove, Dangerfield, Sylvia, Bate and Moloney. Not bad at all.

I don't always write to Demonland, but was having a cup of coffee today at my local cafe and happened to read Greg Denhams article in the Australian. I nearly choked........ The article is basically a total denegration of Melbourne, its players and how things have been managed over the past few years. As a loyal supporter of this club for over 40 years I do get sick of football journo's waking up one day with nothing to write about and decide it must be time to 'kick' the Dees again. Let's face it, the team is not in the place that we would like it to be, but I am getting a good feeling about the future. I think Mark is 'building the house', laying a solid foundation, selecting players who are prepared to dig in and give their best every week. Sylvia, Jurrah, Green will add strength, depth and flair. It looks like we have found a couple of good players in Tom Mac and Mitsubishi and I for one am prepared to give 2012 to building onto the foundation. Mark has drawn the line in the sand and we will see who can hack it, follow our new structures and develop the consistent effort we all crave. This week at Geelong I hope to see everything thrown at the opposition, courage under fire and a desire to win the hard ball. You just never know what we are capable of. I think we will build respect over the coming weeks, if not victories. Some commentators, including this idiot from the Australian believe we have gone backwards, I think we have restarted, with a desire to be good not just for a week or two, but for the decade ahead. Could be proven wrong and even if we were 0-11, still think we can win 8 or more games this year. Of course it would be sensational to win any of the games over the next 6 weeks. Just love to shove some stuff to these Journos who know nothing of what Melbourne is trying to do, know nothing about what is going on behind the scenes and just want a headline.Greg Denham could well read some of Matt Burgan's stuff to find out that you can actually write a good story based on real information and facts. Premiers 13

Jack is ours that's irrefutable and if we have to pay with our first round pick then so be it, it would be great to get him with a second rounder but it probably won't happen and if we win a few games from here on in it certainly won't happen. We have to show some integrity and restore some credibility back in the club, so we need to demonstrate that our word is solid and if we've said we will take him, we must, whatever the cost. He will be worth it but if we play ducks and drakes with his future what does that say to him about us?

I say we win the next 17 matches or so, finish top 3 and use a pick in the late 20's to snare him... bargain!

Nothing better than opening up the morning paper after a big win. But let's be honest, the overall quality of sports journalism is pretty poor. When we're good, bad articles will be written about how great we are. When we're bad, bad articles will be written about how bad we are. We're pretty bad...It's just so much more fun to read poorly written articles praising the team.

magner has been great, first year player, sylvia has played a quarter of football moloney 2 games mckenzie as you said is sub mature, will come on that leaves jones, who has been working his guts out all season, but with little support

Boak re-signed with Port last year long term... We don't need another big forward!! J.Brown wouldn't kick goals with delivery our forward line gets, we need mids only. Dangerfield is the perfect option. He fits the age bracket, is a game changer, a leader, is tough, kicks goals, tackles, everything. Perfect fit.

Dangerfield has been mooted before, but he looks very happily ensconced in the Crows' revival as we speak. He might have been close to Neil Craig, but he's found the new coach invigorating and motivating - he's playing with freedom and audacity. I'd think about Andrew Moore from Port who was taken @ #9 and has had a few issues with settling in and injury. Eastern ranges boy who wants to come home. Further, throw some coin at Josh Caddy - he would be a great pick up!!

We actually haven't seen our game plan yet.

yeah agree with you on an immediate basis but plenty of those boys have their best footy in front of them so it is heartening, not for right now but for the upcoming few years

Ricky didn't have his own thread, and given there has been a bit of talk about him I thought I'd start one up. Ricky has obviously shown a lot off promise in his time at the mfc but has not been able to cement a spot. I think we'd all agree he can play when on song but he is inconsistent. For me, I think one of Ricky's strengths, his strong marking for his height, is also his biggest weakness. Ricky needs to play as a small forward, a crumber. He is surrounded by taller players, yet he is inevitably the one who tries to go up instead of staying front and centre. I'm not saying that he shouldn't use his marking; it is a dangerous weapon when one out or when you have a clear sit, but in pack situations he should be playing the crumber role. Add to that his forward pressure and courage I can see him making it, but of he doesn't adjust that aspect of his game he will continue to struggle.

I am honestly perplexed by the trenchant criticisms of Jack Watts by a handful of posters on Demonland. To be clear I am not a Jack Watts apologist nor do i see him through rose coloured glasses. I consider myself to be pretty objective when it comes to rating Melbourne players, have seen alot of them and I rate Watts highly. I understand the query about his hardness at the ball etc. I had the same concerns (and voiced them on Demonland) before the start of the 2011 season. To summarise those comments, in my opinion, he had to show increased intensity. Which in my mind, having watched him closely all season, he did. This view was largely shared on Demonalnd IIRC and most posters here would also have been watching closely. The issue of his supposed lack of hardness seems to me to overly colour the view of Jack, in the same way that the occasional flashes of athletic brilliance overly colours the opinions of many about Natanui (top 50 in the league - give me a break). Yes there are times he could be more physical with his attack at the ball but look, at this stage that is not his go - and perhaps never will be. That said his intensity improved last year and was acceptable and likewise has been ok this season. Clearly Neeld agrees or else he would have dropped him. Neeld made it perfectly clear when he started (and multiple times since) no one would get picked on reputation, that he was starting with a clean sheet, there would be no passengers and furthermore specifically publicly put Watts on notice. Does anyone seriously believe he would compromise himself with his players (who of course know better than anyone who is putting in and who isn't) or risk losing their respect and pick Watts when it wasn't warranted? Watch the snippet of his first speech before answering. So if we assume the answer is no, his continued selection is evidence that in regard to intensity (and his general performance level for that matter) he has satisfied Neeld and the FD, who are both well paid and well placed to make that assessment. That's good enough for me. So what about the other facets of his game. He is by far the best user of the footy in the team - by far, as evidenced by his disposal efficiency statistics. As we all have seen this is absolutely crucial in footy generally but even more so in a team of disposal spuds. He almost always takes the right option. He kicks equally well of both feet, indeed he is a better left foot kick than almost every other player in the team is on their natural foot in terms of not missing targets. He is clean with his hands, amazing below his knees and quick (for any size). The deft touches he so often does (clearly influenced by his basketball background) are creative and bring other players into the game. On that point i reckon these taps on and flicks etc sometimes unfairly give the impression he's not going hard at it, but they can be devastating. He is unselfish and has incredibly quick hands - as an example watch the bit of play in the 3rd quarter last week (AFL video on Bigpond) where he gives off to Davey putting him in space (who then gives it to Beamer who gets hungry, doesn't give the easy ball over to Dunn who was completely free and misses a sitter - Watts would have almost certainly got it to Dunn). He is a team player and looks to bring others into the game, as evidenced by his goal assist stats (a stat coaches apparently put alot of store in) I say all of the above because as i say i reckon many in the media and some on this site are not objective enough about him. There is way too much discussion (and has been throughout his brief career) about being number a 1 draft pick. Its a totally moot point now and again distract from objectively assessing him. Facts are he finished 9th in the Bluey last year and apart from last week has been amongst our best this year and has consistently put in Is he star at the moment - no. Will he be? I am very confident he will be but understand why others may not. Could he be more physical? Of course, it is one of the weakness in his game. But watching him again on the replay you realise how skinny he still is (this is not an excuse by the way just a fact) and that he probably won't fill into his body until he is 23 or 24. When he does there is no doubt, even if he isn't as aggressive at the ball as say Hurley, he will be much, much stronger and will impose himself more through that strength. In the mean time the dees desperately need his skill and ability to create. Realistically he and Jurrah (and perhaps Frawley, apologies to Trennners) are currently the only players in the line-up who have the potential to be legitimate top shelf, A graders. Neeld has got him early enough and if he is as good a developer of players as his reputation suggest he is then Watts will fulfil that potential (and i'm sure be taught to be more direct in his attack, something another 5 kgs of muscle will help no end)

4 goals or less for me. IMO The Neeld game style will suit our the boys on any "skinny" ground, like the Cattery, the SCG and yes....you guessed it ...even Etihad! More so than the G at this early stage of the Neeld era. At least until Neeld completes the reno to lock up, at which time we'll start winning most of our games at the G as well (at least against teams 6 and down anyway IMO). 3 to 4 goals i reckon (subject to getting Clark and Chip back). That's about break even for me, as this is approximately what most "away" teams lose in "Crowd Influenced" umpiring decisions at a genuine "home ground" advantage such as the Cattery. If, by some act of Lucifer, we see some fairly neutral and consistent umpiring, i think we might even win by 1 or 2 goals. This is gonna be one massive slug fest with no prisoners taken! Carn the Mighty Demons!

no reason why he cant rotate with the russian, who has proven dangerous at FF before

Nah, its a waste of my money ;-)

In a few years time we will be (hopefully) saying pick 4, 5 etc what a steal!

We already are competitive when we go forward. We're usually not competetive around stoppages, so we need some great clearance mids.

Denham is no sports guru. He fancies himself and a commmentator-at-large. His only real claim to fame is he uses oxygen !!

He has Brethren at the Hun...seems someone at the MFC has p!ssed of Murdoch.. ( that in itself is commendable..lol ) The News-family have become quite vitriolic of late ....poor sooki-la-las

Is the Australian Sports section relevant? I would have thought Greg Genham and Patrick Smith were the two most irrelevant sports journo's in Australia.

1 - He would've been a high pick anyway so no chance of grabbing him with a late pick 2 - We did this as the Crows were sniffing around and to aid his development

I think it's quite obvious that one of the driving forces behind Melbourne's new "Business Community" is having external sources to help get big names to the club. If Jamar leaves, that would give us the room to potentially get one superstar, one established, older player.

If we could get a hold of a Dangerfield and another couple good mids in the draft people may disagree but i think we will start clicking. Our midfield is missing something.

.... not to mention that he appears to be pretty close to Neil Craig, or certainly seemed to be indicating at points prior to Craig leaving last year that he would consider leaving as well if they pushed Craig out.

They'd be the same ones that, when they weren't at the footy, would be in the front row at Festival Hall on a Sunday, going at Killer Kowolski, Skull Murphy, Bruiser Bernard et al, with their handbags swinging.

Watts efforts last Saturday night were a significant move in the wrong direction, highlighted by the efforts of his team-mates in the right direction. Any progress he may have shown in the first four weeks was completely negated for me.

pettard is trade bait

I blame him for shooting the guy on the beach in the first episode of Revenge.

Yeah i thought about that after i posted. I thought that in that scenario that GC should probably shoot gWS a 2nd rounder as well so then it goes MELB Give: Draft pick #3 Melb Get: first Pick 17yr old (Viney can now be used with 2nd rounder) GWS Give: Both 17 yr olds GWS Get: Draft pick #2 and 2nd round draft pick GC give: Downgrade 1 draftpick(2 to 3) and a 2nd rounder GC get: second pick in 17yr old draft

Nice insight :thumbsup:

One poor handball sure proves he turns it over 40% of the time. And I don't have to prove anything - you're the one making outrageous claims. 40% turnover rate is a very damning brush to paint a player with. If you're going to make outrageous claims, the onus is on you to prove it.

"I've been watching crap players at this club for 40 years. The fact that some "give their all" leaves me a little underwhelmed. I may remember some players quite fondly once they've retired, but either improve, or pizz off. "I accept that not all players can be stars, or even very good, but I just about have apoplexy when you're about to be given the ball, such is your diabolical usage, then I have little sympathy for the unpleasant comments that may be directed your way." So you said on April 30. You say Watts' softness is a "fact", and Neeld knows it. Watts'll be out of the team "soon", because Neeld said this would happen to players who weren't as they ought to be (as you said in your previous post). But Neeld said that before the pre-season, before the NAB cup, before rounds 1-5. What's holding him up from getting this "crap player" out of the team? C'mon Mark, get with the facts! You're holding us back! Why do they counsel Watts and work with him, when his softness is a "fact"? i guess you and I don't see the football the same way. I'm so ignorant, I enjoy it. I tried on your sneer for size and found that Watts isn't my "little darling" - as far as I in my inadequate comprehension can tell, it just doesn't describe how I think of any player. I wonder which supporters' thoughts you had access to, justifying that subtle comment. And, I wondered whether you would feel the need to sneer if there was a player at Melbourne who was an acknowledged star and loved by the supporters? Would it ever be ok to overlook imperfection in our enthusiasm for what a player was doing? If you've followed Melbourne for 40 years, that takes in Flower, Stynes, Lyon, quite few good players - was it really true of you all that time that "I may remember some players quite fondly once they've retired, but either improve, or pizz off"? Robbie often got under 20 possessions in a game... I enjoy watching them all, even feeling some fondness for them before they have retired. I certainly don't think of guys in a Melbourne jumper as "crap players". What I don't like about knockers is that they just wait, and often enough they get their day, when they can crow and say "I told you so!" I hope Jack Watts keeps getting picked, and keeps improving. I will be enjoying it, in my ignorance and stupidity, while you wait and guard yourself from feeling any fondness for any player. I love the footy, and barrack for my team and all of its players. Frustration and disappointment doesn't ruin my pleasure in it or my loyalty to the club and its players; I certainly don't ever run the risk of apoplexy over the game. Stupid me, I just can't get my head around the notion that the thoughts you express sum up what ought to be meant by "a supporter". I can see you are right about one thing though - the limits of my comprehension. That last sentence of yours that I quoted from April 30: I just can't get the thread of it. You appear to me to slide off criticising the player onto reacting to what people are saying about him, and the sentence derails at the word "sympathy": what you have written says that you are so disgusted by the player's poor performance that you cannot agree with criticisms of him. You sound confused in your misery. What I can't comprehend is why you have tormented yourself for 40 years; and I also can't comprehend why you can't see the enjoyment there is in going to the footy and getting behind your team. I'm sorry I spoke. This is just about the point of exit for me from Demonland. Footy is a good thing for me. This just feels nasty and sad.

This sounds right to me. Most kids have seen swaggering swearing hair-trigger violent behaviour at school. They also have TV. Close-up adult slobs may be a shock, but I reckon kids are in any case generally resilient. You shouldn't under-rate the power of a safe reassuring hand to hold. I got a lot of surprises when I went to the footy in the fifties, with my dad and my uncles, and stood there among the teeming masses who broke all our rules. Either in spite of or maybe even partly because of the thrill and danger, I was excited. I certainly wasn't repelled from the footy. I think that has to have been because dad and my uncles were fine in the middle of it all. I can well imagine they told me "yes, but don't take any notice", and pointed out to me what was happening in the game... Twenty years ago I took my then 10-year-old son in his scarf and everything to a Collingwood game and our seats were right behind two decked-out Collingwood yobbos with a slab each. They leaped and roared at everything the umpire or anyone else did right through the Reserves. Before the main game one of them turned round to make sure the "little fella" could see ok, and at quarter time asked if they could bring us back a pie! Often there is humour and goodwill visible along with the "rancid passion".

I'm willing to bet we'd prefer the best 17 year old plus Viney with pick 20-something, rather than pick 20-something plus Viney for pick 3. Best 17 year old generally > pick 20-something. But I guess that judgment call is where our recruiters come in...

You mean the one that Moloney barely even reached out his hands to grab?

top5 is spot on for mine

Some people including Neeld and Ricky Petterd himself need to remember how much forward pressure this bloke can put on in a game. I am a massive fan of Ricky P I think we will see plenty of him this year. He is a forward in my mind and would be perfect in and around the packs that clark smashes. Centre clearance into a pack that clark smashes ball comes to ground Ricky P tackles and bartram check side snap in the pocket for a goal! That's a gameplan to take to the bank everyday.

dee-luded, "organic behaviour"? That's just nonsense to me - I don't think it's natural to unleash a tirade of f's and c's directly at a player when kids are in earshot. You (general "you", not you you) wouldn't do it if you were at a school, so why is doing so at the footy okay? In fact, I don't think it even matters if there are kids in ear shot or not. I think it's boorish, idiotic behavior and I think you're a boorish idiot if you do it.

Mitch Clark rocks and we now don't need a "gun" forward... We have one. I would like to see us use our first pick on a mid. Then for our 2nd pick I am thinking we could pick a mid. The third is a tough one but I think it would be best if we pick a mid. 4th pick is tough.... tossing and turning over it but I reckon we should go out on a limb and pick a mid.

What a load of drivel. Did you hear Mark Neeld in his first meeting with the players ? He stated that players could look at the player next to them and know that when it's their turn to go they'll go or they soon won't be in the team. There are some non-negotiables in footy and I don't care how different some players are if they can't or won't put their body on the line they're useless to this club. Do you have any idea of the intensity required in finals ? I've never booed my own and never will, but I do recognise that Watts' efforts in the physicality stakes are often poor. Put simply, he's soft. I keep reading that he's only 21, etc, but they're just excuses from supporters that spend their lives making excuses for their little darlings. Nathan Fyfe is a skinny 189cm/86 kilo footballer that exemplifies courage. His attack on the contest and efforts in dangerous marking situations puts Watts to shame. The same with Jeremy Cameron from GWS who's in his first year. He's 196cms - the same height as Watts, is 89 kilos, is over two years younger, has played only 4 games, yet throws himself at marking contests in a fashion that I'm yet to see from Watts and already has a 5 goal haul. Footy is a brutal sport and some don't cut the mustard. That's life. It's not too late for Watts, but if you can't see that he's a mile off where he needs to be take up watching another sport. Btw, did you call Jakovich and Jurrah "greats" ? Oh dear.

5 of us went last year. same 5 are returning for villies pies and plenty of beers. Going to skip the slab of beer on the way down this year. We're V-Line apparently. We've got standing room tickets again. We will be the loud ones giving PLENTY to Selwood every time he ducks his head and Hawkins (spud - well he was last year) it's a pity cokesy wont be playing. lets hope jordy lines up on selwood and gives it to him

I'm going. Got a ticket in standing room. Still unsure as to why I'm going...

Geelong have an unfair advantage by having such a bloody good team.

Some of these people would sterilize & homogenise all sports. Sport is all about competing. Competing is an aggressive act. Life is all about aggression to get things done. Harmony is lovely & I'm almost, Buddhist, but still IMO, aggression is necessary in life. To over protect is to disarm, & IMO that can have bad after effects.

Mate, I've been waiting nearly 5 decades(That's a rosary) for success. I hope you're right. Also I'll be interested to hear who gets the rosary pun!

The trouble is that so many of them seem to like to be show ponies with the grandiose holding the ball signal when some poor bugger has the guts to go in and get the ball and is ridden into the ground by some vulture, than actually look at the rest of he game. The illegal block is becoming a blight - but apparently not the cool issue of the season.

Geez this kid can't take a trick. When he improves(which he has done) every one says "Not enough" Just turned 21. Bigger lads take longer. Just give him a bit of time.