Leaderboard

Amazing that we have gone from people actually thinking we would go through the year 0 and 22 to now people hoping/demanding we go 6 and 16 at least and hoping for 10 and 12... Crazy lot we are, hmm?

Mark Neeld is warming up the realty bus and should be at your place soon to pick you up.

Good call i reckon. I was thinking something similar. It was instructive Neeld chose him to sit beside him at the presser following our first win (as opposed to Trenners who has a pretty tough time of it and could have done with a positive). Then Beamer was chosen to do a media call the following day (during which he reiterated that he played a new role and explaining what it was, which sort of discounts my theory Neeld shut him down in the presser). I may be going out on a limb here but i wonder if this was a bit of a watershed week for Beamer. I loved his presser and his interview, he was emotionally honest in a way that is incredibly rare in footy these days. He acknowledged he had found it hard to be out of the leadership group and to adapt to a new game plan. He also acknowledged his relationship with Neeld had been tough, but was improving and was now meeting with him regularly. I wonder if all this was evidence of Beamer turning things around but perhaps more importantly also evidence of Neeld adjusting his approach to managing his players, particularly his senior players. The performance of Beamer, Sylvia and Rivers might be as a result of this. I also wonder if Neeld has looked at his relationship with the entire list and recalibrated it a touch and perhaps has had a bit of heart to heart with them. There is definitely a much more united vibe coming from the club and much more "we" in Neeldy's talk. Neeld has said publicly he is open to learning and will take on constructive criticism. Perhaps this is evidence of that as is his preparedness to change tack with Watts in terms of playing him up back and even Garlo up forward and Beamer pushing up. Again it might be a long bow but this all gives me great confidence in Neeld and where we are currently at as a club. I listened to the audio of McLardy on 3AW and he was terrific, loved his passion and i got a real sense of a united club. Comments from Rivers and Watts reinforce this as does the club's open sessions with supporters. And the passion and concern for the coach from the players after the win was even more evidence. The club has had all sorts thrown at it and managed it really well i reckon. Cameron Schwab's role in this has been noted by McClardy and Craig. Perhaps there has the been the sort of healing happening that i believe is so necessary for the club to move forward. And if so there is no end of irony in the fact that it has been happening at a time when the club has been pounded by the media who, despite the 24 hour scrutiny and so called analysis may well have been completely oblivious to it - despite the club and players saying how well they have been training and that they are right behind the new direction. I hate to see what is happening to North but it just reinforces what i have said several times, what happens on field is merely a manifestation of what occurs off field. Only a truly united club (at all levels, from boot studder to CEO) can consistently "come to play" week in week out. I'd be interested in Hellsgate's perspective on this (ie the current vibe at the club)

From the HUN... "JIM Stynes's legacy and love for Melbourne will be honoured as the centrepiece of the city's newest social and community hub. A walkway celebrating Stynes's life will wind over the Yarra at the redeveloped Northbank promenade to link the city centre and Docklands through the creation of the Jim Stynes Bridge." http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/melburnians-to-walk-in-jim-stynes-shoes/story-fn7x8me2-1226386802938

I don't know. Can someone translate it into English?

Fair point, but do you actually talk like this in general conversation?!

Win the next 12. Make Finals. Win them, Kick Ass. YEAH!!!

I reckon about 6 wins this year, I just want to beat GWS and North (because of what scott said) I also would like scully to be treated in the appropriate manner (prison shanking)

How's this for a centre line. Johnson, Wilson and Flower.

All this midfield stuff is nonesense, proved last weekend by GAbletts 53 touches, how many were actually effective, even Mr Judd is proving mortal now he hasn't got a supporting cast around him to make him look good. A good midfielder needs to get clearances, have a lot of forward 50 entries, goal assists, work both ways, and if possible kick a few goals......last year Beamer was doing that for us, hence the 19 or so Brownlow votes, this year he has had a niggly injury and a drop of form. Swan and Pendlebury do this week in week out for the Pies that is why everybody thinks they are guns, but they also have the luxury of Blair, Wellingham, Sidebottom, Ball, Beames, Didak, Thomas and a few others rotating through to help them out Same with the gun midfield of Richmond now, there are at least six or seven We actually beat Essendon coz Jordy Mac shut down Stanton and Watson couldn't do everything, and his backup cast failed to turn up We are still developing our midfield, Magner has played 10 games, Morton is rotating through there, Grimes has now got his body right to move into there, Jones is playing his guts out every week....we have had quite a few injurites so players have been in and out, Bail last week So Mr Neeld and Mr Moloney sat down had a chat and thought we will play Beamer forward of the ball against Essendon and see if we can get him up and running a bit more, "I was stagnating" quoteth the man in his interview. It worked, he looked a completely different player again from previous weeks, try it again this week.... I for one hope Beamer stays, he deserves to get the success we all crave

some of you lot are born losers, plain and simple 'what if they kicked straight' i seem to remember us putting quite a few the wrong side of the post including absolute gimmies by magner and garland in the last, not to mention a clear goal to nicholson that wasnt paid. besides, kicking goals is actually part of the game you know. We smashed them in the clearances, handled the wet better and played tougher and we beat them fair and square. The low self-esteem of some of you truly makes me sick, even my bomber mates didnt bother with the 'we didnt kick straight' routine cos its a garbage account of the match

"One swallow does not make a [censored]."

Big Jim even on the comedy thread that is not funny. For a number of reasons the MFC needs as many wins as we can scrap together in 2013. Tanking gets you nothing but a bad reputation.

Perhaps, but i heard the sen interview with AD. Those guys are so soft and sycophantic it defies belief. I was crying out for them to ask the dead obvious question, which they never did of course. If indeed it was a joke by jolly ([censored]) andy d why did he choose North as the club, why not any other club. Even in jest picking North surely indicates they were/are worried about how it is being run. And please AD don't trot out the rubbish about private conversations, only jokes, can't we say anything when out in our free time etc etc. The AFL exec on the turps at a public function? Button your lip and be a bit discreet, of course it will get out otherwise. I can just picture it, a bunch of over weight middle age blokes who think they rule the world telling everyone in ear shot how they were going to fix all the problems.They'd soon take a club CEO to task if they were say, bagging the AFL in a similar public forum Also they didn't ask the other obvious question which is was it ever raised on another occasion? Which the very next day Cook volunteers it was, in a more formal way it would seem

Saw Jack Riewoldt? interviewed and he stated he bled yellow and black which was a far more frightening circumstance to a chap who was once married to a haematologist.

8 wins? Pssh. We're about to go on the greatest run in AFL history. 17 wins consecutive to win the flag. Watch this space.

Let's see how we go against the Pies this week. Was the game against Essendon the cliched 'we've had enough and will make one stand' game, or is it a sign of a more determined and united outfit going forward?

This is a comedy thread isn't it??

But who is available? All the premos have re-signed. Who is there to get genuinely excited about? Boak? Just doesn't do it for me. He's no Dangerfield. Cloke's a big risk, yes. But IMO we should be backing in Neeld (premiership midfield coach) and fitness guru Misson to get out our midfield lads playing to another level by 2013. You're limiting what the likes of Trengove, Gysberts, Jones, McKenzie and Grimes can become with your comments BB. They are C grade now. Why can't they become B grade by next year and A grade by 2014? Why limit them? This is not to even mention the fact that they will be joined by Viney and two top mids from this year's draft. This A + B + C + D = finals and flag outlook won't work in an 18 team comp. You've got to take bigger risks than that. Trav Cloke is that bigger risk.

A notion that is based on one game's evidence?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hV2lCnG5VA

without oxygen it will turn blue....does that help??

what about finishing top4 in the B+F every season except the three where he played 10 games each year due to injkury is that the career you are referring tio?

As much as he says he moved on quickly from being removed from the leadership group I doubt that would be the case. Between that, a new coach with a new game plan that severely modifies his on field behaviours it has no doubt been a confronting period of change for Beamer. Couple that with a poorly timed form lapse (cause and effect can be argued) it is undertandable that he has laboured through the first half of the season. That said things can turn around quickly in this game and Saturday night was a step in the right direction. You have to applaud Brent for coming out and saying he wants to remain a Demon immediately after playing his best game for the year. It would have been a good opportunity to advertise himself to other suitors but he has chosen not too.

Haven't watched much footy this year have you.....

so, we can't have our cloke and eat it?......................pity sorry, couldn't help myself

So we just have gun forwards hanging around waiting for this Mythical miidfield 'develop' do we. ? Bit like getting in a cab, meter goes on and we park !! I as it happens think Trenners will become a very useful mid and a great leader. Jonesy is a go getter ( but withot the polish, might have one day, might not ) Beamer seems better suited elsewhere now. Vineyis the great hope, but will take a while to really get going at the elite level. We cant pin all on him or the others.We need an already developed game able mid to settle and power the midfield. This gives us options whether it be setup or injury etc. Persoannly Id rather take some of our money to secure the likes of Russian and anyone else worthy of resigning. Take whatever's left in the war chest and go buy a really good mid. A working and potent midfield will feed the likes of Clark, Howe, Jurrah, Garland/Watts. Chuck in the likes of Cook, Green ( though not for much longer one suspects ) Slyvia, Davey, Martin ...Petterd etc and we do have goal kickers....what we dont have is an abundance of supply. Pound the forward 50 with input and the scoreboard WILL tick over. Loading up the forward line with expensive guns is tantemount to putting the cart before the horse....imho

Anything can be justified in a hindsight methodology if a flag eminates. Problem is you cant guarantee such going forward. You need to take wise and balanced approaches to your shortcomings.. if you were to do a simple break up , forward , mid and back then the weakest link is without doubt our midfield performance. We HAVE forwards who can play. They are on a meagre rations bread and water diet currently as a result of a very ordinary and hit and miss midfield. Quite honestly anyone who thinks ours is in the top 8 of the the league is smoking something. An in form and potent midfiled not only powers the drive in the forward 50 but it contains the pressure on our backs. A double whammy, which also has reverse effect when not working. Evidence...well just look at our performances to date.. So many want to tart up the car without giving it a really decent running mechanism....foolhardy. if the car aint got no grunt it aint going anywhere no matter how schmick it looks. Translation. We dont need more forwards......well not before the engine is attended to....then do what you like. We currently have NO ball breaking game busting midfilelders. We have some who on their day can be adequate but hardly fuse-lighting. Who here doesnt understand the game is won or lost in the nidfield ?

Anyway... CEO's hey? Tough job.

I actually don't mind Mark Robinson. He displays a trait that is absent from many (most) journo's - he has the ability to admit when he gets a call wrong and he does remember what he says/writes. He does amuse me when he floats something on fox without thought and then laughs at himself for being a goose. I detest journo's who do one of two things (or both)- deny/forget they ever said/wrote something OR/AND will go down with the ship on wrong calls - refusing to admit they were wrong and defend the indefensible.

You have to take into account that the players at the GC and GWS (more particularly the GC this year) are playing amongst a team of young players. It is much harder for Caddy to play as well as he would if he were in a team with more than 1 good experienced player (they only have Ablett who has done a thing this year). You may need to look at their form and think how much better they could be in a better team. That being said, we are not doing much better than them, so coming to us might not be a [censored] change for him! I too have not been overly impressed with him, but he has shown some glimpses and has the body of an experienced player and a body type we dont have many of. Also we need to think, why would they come to us? We need to show continued improvement for anyone to consider moving to us next year.

Having met Beamer and Jonesy a number of times through friends they are quite similar. Both ripping blokes that's why i will always stick up for them. Both love the dees but more so Beamer as he grew up barracking for them. His garage full of memorabilia is awesome! Both love the beach and have similar dogs. Would love for supporters to see what the players do behind closed doors and what guys like Moloney have gone through with there injuries etc to show how hard it really is. Also with regards to the 'shopping around' by the manager, Moloney's has done it one way or would you prefer the Cloke way?

If Healy said that his brother should punch him in the face.

Gorilla forwards. Or forwards that are any good. Geelong had two very average forwards in 2007 (Mooney and Ablett). In 2009 they had Mooney and Hawkins. Again they were hardly superstar players then either. And Hawkins played half a game in 2011. West Coast had Lynch but he was hardly a superstar. Collingwood lost with Cloke and Dawes. St Kilda lost with Reiwoldt and Koschitzke. Port Adelaide kept getting done with Tredrea. The pertinent question is actually whether you can name any team of the last 15 years that won a flag with anything less than an outstanding midfield unit in the premiership year. The simple answer is that you cannot. For the time being, Mitch Clark fulfils one of the big key forward roles. We can continue to develop Cook, McDonald, Sheahan, Fitzpatrick, Gawn, Spencer etc whilst we build midfield strenght. If they start seeing the ball 70 times a game like the Geelong, Collingwood teams of recent times, watch how good our forwards will look then!

I would rather Matt Rosa. Victorian boy, 26 in Nov this year. In the form of his career this year, averages 25 disposals per game but doesnt get the accolades he deserves in a strong Eagles midfield. He would be a walk up start into our midfield and probably be our best.

nice modern terminology like quarterback................riiiiiiight thanks for the pep talk Dg. Drugs are wonderful eh?

The next logical thing is to determine who our tight ends and linebackers are I suppose. All this terminology related to completely unrelated sports is a yawn. I still await the prospect of seeing our supposed quarterbacks hands fiddling around behind big fat arses though. The QB's hands seem to spend most game time there in that other so called version of football.

Irony.

that's a nice long bow you've got yourself there Dg B)

Robbie Flower was a wonderful wide-receiver in retrospect and Sean Wight such a reliable linebacker.

Rubbish Dave. A quarter-back (or point guard) has no equivalent in AFL - totally different roles with no comparability What next? A tight head? lol

Quarterback or point guard, for all their limitations, are better descriptions than the anachronistic Centre-Half-Back. The reason people use these descriptions is because the traditional AFL positions are woefully inadequate. Listen to Mick Malthouse - he has a whole range of new role descriptions - the sooner these get into the common vernacular and replace quarterback, point-guard and back-pocket the better.

billy, stop acting like a fascist dictator. Who cares how other people refer to the rebounding defender's role? The quarterback is a good analogy and it shouldn't matter if it originates from an evil American code or Aussie rules. People can say whatever they want. Stop wasting cyberspace.

The same will happen with GWS, nothing would give me more pleasure than reaping that club of its talent. I personally dont mind GC maybe because they didnt take anyone from us, anyways lets try and get some GWS players when we can!

"But you hear about it and it’s a little bit frustrating, because the people who are saying it aren’t actually inside the footy club and they don’t know what happens behind these walls." I think a lot of us here are guilty of that. Brent's form has been ordinary, so many come to the assumption that he is disgruntled and wanting out. Despite this years form, Brent has been a passionate, 'spiritual leader' for years now. That plus our lack of senior, experienced, leaders make him such an important part of our team.

A great article and provides a good insight into how Moloney was personally affected by the changes around the club. Glad he wants to remain a Dee to the end.

With all due respect, his team is 1-9.

Morton still frustrates me (I know, I know he was OK last night), wouldn't mind Bail coming back in for him.

Correct. And he would be a priority to sign IMO as there isn't that much behind him to compete against the best.

Jamar cannot be traded! Again, he is an UFA and he is free to go wherever he wants for nothing.