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I would love to see someone come up with an anti-Royal argument that doesn't boil down to "I like shiny new objects!"

Nobody needs to calm down munga, because nobody is going over the top. He is currently borderline best 22, and yesterday may have put him in front of pedersen.

Me and my brother drove up from Melbourne to see the game. I thought the crowd was great and the atmosphere was really lovely, food stalls all along the fence and the Port supporters weren't too bad. The sun was quite unbearable (my shoulder got badly burnt) so it must've been hard for the players, in fact they used an ice truck to keep cool during the breaks. Magner was a stand out (and was played on the ball where he belongs), and as a whole our team's tackling pressure and work rate were good. Just a few defensive problems, especially in the last quarter. Sellar was fantastic and Hogan was good early. Davis looked good in defence. Davey kicked 3 and laid a fantastic tackle in the first half, as well as some nice disposal. Kent, Terlich and Taggert were also very pleasing. I was a bit sceptical about us resting so many players but it was great to watch in the end, I was very glad we got over the line. Our midfield looked very strong, we were probably just undersized in defence. Good to see a lot of other Dees supporters there too. It felt like a great playing surface that I enjoyed kicking with my brother on during the weekend. It's a great place and the trip was definitely worth it

After his first few games last year, I was convinced that he was the worst footballer I'd ever seen. That turned around when he was thrown into the backline on the night we beat Essendon, and since then my opinion of him has changed. It's nice to see that he played well as a forward yesterday, but from what I have seen he is better in the back half. I wouldn't be opposed to playing him as the second tall in the forward line until Clark comes back, though.

Only watched Q1 but I wish Fox etc would learn a thing or two from the Port telecast. First, the commentator actually described the footy (and did a reasonable job considering on the MFC players) rather than the usual self-promotion and nostalgia talk we usually have to suffer. But more importantly it was possible to see what was going on rather than learning via endless close-ups how closely shaved each player was. Instead of zooming-in on a player about to take a free, they often zoomed out so we could see what his options were. Admittedly a bit hard to see what was happening in a distant pack, but a small price to pay. You'd think Fox with its multiple cameras could do a bit of both, but no, it's close-ups all the bleeding time. A good telecast for someone like me who lives interstate and can only get to games rarely.

Daniher took us to 6 finals series in 9 years with a list that was never going to win a premiership. We simply never had enough A grade players when he coached us. He did about as well as any good coach could have done. He wasn't a 'great' coach but not many are. For some reason, in our sport, not many sacked coaches get a 2nd chance. The game has changed a lot since Neale coached but he is still involved at a high level - good on him for that. I thank him for his time at the club and even though we never won the ultimate prize under him, we still had 6 winning seasons. That's gotta be better than any of the last 6 years.

Daniher got us to the Prelim in 98, one of the greatest climbs up the ladder in one season in the history of the league. Then got us to a granny in 2000, followed by finals in 02 04 and 06. Considering where the club was in 96/97, id say Daniher did a very good job. We didnt get the cup but nevertheless we did a whole lot better than couldve been imagined on that night in August 96. MFC has some weak as [censored] supporters with memories of goldfish. credit given where credit is due. Not one poster has tried to say hes an all time great coach but to try and say he was no good is just very very lame. Its all so easy to sit back on the couch and bag players/coaches / umpires.

It's very tough marking to give Daniher none of the credit for the highs and all of the blame for the lows.

Absolutely agree, when Ingo first came to Melbourne I thought his position was standing on the mark but as the back line grew around him he showed himself to be a very good player. I reckon Sellar will play well for us with a better side around him he has much better skill than a lot suggest. He will give it everything, every week.

I am afraid I struggle to understand why the majority of Demonlanders have concluded that Royal is no good. He doesn't come over particularly well in media interviews - but that doesn't mean he can't coach. Our midfield struggled last year - but so did our forwards - and so did our backs. Of the 3 coaches - Royal probably hd the weakest cattle relative to the rest of the competition. Royal is a career coach .He was considered critical the emergence of the Bulldogs under Wallace - and was considered unlucky ( perhaps because of his lucklustre media work) not to pick up senior job. He coached the Saints midfield into two Grand Finals. With his track record as a senior assistant coach, he may be Neeld's most valuable off-sider. No premiership ..... but a clear association with clubs.that got the absolute maximum out of their midfield groups. How many would he have won if he hadn't coached against Swan, Pendlebury and Thomas or Ablett Bartel Ling and Selwood.THe list goes on.......... Now I 'm not saying that he is critical to our coaching structure - but equally reading through this thread I haven't seen any evidence to support the proposition that he is not up to it . As with rpfc, "I would love to see someone come up with an anti-Royal argument that doesn't boil down to "I like shiny new objects!""

Davey look sharp made 2 great run down from behind tackles to get holding the ball, all his goals were on the run from a reasonably tight angle. Looked like he may be starting to get back to the davey we all know

Would have thought a guy with the letters C, A, W, and F in their name wouldn't be so quick to make up acronyms for others...

courtesy of the Official Site: http://www.melbournefc.com.au/dee-tv http://www.melbournefc.com.au/video/2013-03-04/deetv-chase-down-and-evans-goal http://www.melbournefc.com.au/video/2013-03-04/deetv-sellars-five-goal-performance http://www.melbournefc.com.au/video/2013-03-04/deetv-demons-go-coast-to-coast http://www.melbournefc.com.au/video/2013-03-04/deetv-magner-post-game-renmark http://www.melbournefc.com.au/video/2013-03-04/deetv-neeld-post-game-renmark Full Game Replay can be found here courtesy of portadelaidefc.com.au http://www.portadelaidefc.com.au/ptv/power-v-demons-full-replay Here are the links to all 4 quarters individually: Q1 - Full Replay - http://www.melbourne...ort-adelaide-q1 Q2 - Full Replay - http://www.melbourne...ort-adelaide-q2 Q3 - Full Replay - http://www.melbourne...ort-adelaide-q3 Q4 - Full Replay - http://www.melbourne...ort-adelaide-q4

Funny how we have had (have) a lot of indiginous players over the years and i can't recall any of them getting into trouble over alcohol now we have liam ex collingwood ex melbourne ex yuendumu ex alice springs ex port melbourne and his drinking problem is melbourne's fault that reporter must have done a lot of investigation add one more journalist reporter hack scibbler to the club's banned list

After watching the game some of the tackling from the melbourne players was outstanding. I saw 4 port players get absolutely monstered this is a very good sign imo

I was there and any other team would not have got within 15 goals of Essendon that year......Good grief man get a grip,,,,,,,,,,

An interesting article and, if true, then it's a good thing for the club that the football department and a number of associated personnel including welfare officers have been moved on and we have an almost completely different group of people in charge of the players.As for Scully, if I remember correctly, the timeframe coincides with his father's reported signing on with GWS as a recruiting officer. Funny how these things work out.

Maybe he was a good coach who got the most of a fairly average list If we had not made the finals during those years,maybe just maybe you could be right......But there are lots of coach that don't get into GFs Lyon must be a bad coach...never won a cup.... Eade must be a bad coach " And the list goes on.....Just give credit where it's due....

Very true. When you also consider the lack of resources he had at his disposal compared to the big clubs, he did a mighty job. Credit where it is due - we have only played in 2 Grand Finals in almost 50 years & ND got us to one of them. We're nowhere near that at present.

An assistant coach implements what the senior coach wants. If he doesn't, he gets moved on. If he's still there, he must be doing his job.

So by that logic.....There is only one good coach each year???? The rest are crap......Are you really say that ?????? I really liked Danners and I think he did a great job with the facilities and money that he had .......

amazing..unless im totally blind youd hardly notice wed played over the weekend according to the Aged !! lol pathetic lot arent they !!

Posted this in the video thread but thought I post the links here too: Here are the links to all 4 quarters. Q1 - Full Replay - http://www.melbourne...ort-adelaide-q1 Q2 - Full Replay - http://www.melbourne...ort-adelaide-q2 Q3 - Full Replay - http://www.melbourne...ort-adelaide-q3 Q4 - Full Replay - http://www.melbourne...ort-adelaide-q4 Videos cannot be watched on your phone and can only be accessed on your PC. Not sure about iPads and similar tablet devices. EDIT: Video can be watched through the Official Demons iPhone App.

I posted this on the match thread, but more relevant here: Only watched Q1 but I wish Fox etc would learn a thing or two from the Port telecast. First, the commentator actually described the footy (and did a reasonable job considering on the MFC players) rather than the usual self-promotion and nostalgia talk we usually have to suffer. But more importantly it was possible to see what was going on rather than learning via endless close-ups how closely shaved each player was. Instead of zooming-in on a player about to take a free, they often zoomed out so we could see what his options were. Admittedly a bit hard to see what was happening in a distant pack, but a small price to pay. You'd think Fox with its multiple cameras could do a bit of both, but no, it's close-ups all the bleeding time. A good telecast for someone like me who lives interstate and can only get to games rarely.

$24 bucks, 45 min drive and paying for parking... To quote Darryl Kerrigan, "tell him he's dreaming"

I really hope Neeld, Misson, Craig, Brown and Rawlings will be long term coaches at the MFC. In fact, I reckon this coaching group is as good as virtually any other in the league.

I didn't see a ball bowled yesterday, but I can imagine what happened. The pitch was flat, Siddle and Pattinson bowled their hearts out but didn't extract any movement, rendering them virtually useless, Doherty was economical, which is his speciality, but bowled maybe 2 threatening deliveries all day, whilst Maxwell tried to be attacking but had no consistency and was attacked by Vijay and Pujara. We got nowhere by dropping Lyon, and now we're in a worse situation than before. Doherty is not a Test bowler, Maxwell is not close to a Test all-rounder, and in India we need much better than that. Thanks .

I've been called all of those over the years. Forgive my silliness - a moment of inexcusably bad manners.

If this was our line up for round one then we have no fewer than seven new faces. We have recruited well in my opinion and a lot of the 'deadwood' has gone. Maybe, I would like to see Sellar in there somewhere. If he performs well again next week against the Saints he will be in for sure. I hope the selectors try and pick a really competitive team for this game. I must say I was surprised with today's result since we had so many top players out. It could auger well for the future and our depth of our team though. Wouldn't it be great too if Aaron could return to his brilliant form in his early years? It would be a huge fillip for the team.

Sellers reminds me a bit of Ingerson. When he first came to us from Adelaude he was shocking and I wondered where he would fit it. Took some time but it was worth it. Maybe history will repeat.

Pedersen is a small ruckman. I think he's around 193cm.I don't know why her its being tried in the role?

Sellar snags five and you can't squeeze him in...?

Yeah found it - here it is for those interested. This attitude is what angers me the most in football and society in general. These clubs/people who have gotten fat off nothing other than sheer circumstance and the game being rigged in their favour come out swinging at the majority as soon as we want to either equal things up or swing things a little back in our favour. Eddie says he's sick of acquiescing? The league has been acquiescing to the likes of the Pies for the better part of two decades to the detriment of the vast majority of other clubs seeing them getting fatter and fatter while the rest of us starve on the streets. The league and other clubs allowing the Pies/Bombers to own ANZAC Day every year (and then they kick up a stink when someone else even wants to play on the same day in a different state) is acquiescing. The league sending clubs interstate 6 times a year while the Pies travel only 3 or 4 every single year is acquiesing. The Pies/Blues/Bombers being shoved down our throats on FTA every single Fri/Sat night while the rest of us are relegated to matches against soulless franchises in graveyard slots every other week is acquiescing. They say they are sick of other clubs digging into their pockets because they have managed themselves well while others are mismanaged and can only come up with taking from them but it is a fallacy. They have become larger, richer and more powerful at the expense of these other clubs. The thing we want most is not your money but to be compensated for the treatment we have received over the last decade or so and then allowed to compete on an even playing field with even draws and equal exposure on FTA in games people will actually give a stuff about. They say no-one wants to watch the Dogs v GWS but no-one wants to watch the Pies v GWS either. Neutral people (in Victoria at least) want to watch Richmond v North or Melbourne just as much as they want to watch Richmond v Essendon or Carlton. The big clubs and the AFL have convinced us this is not true in order to sell the game for more to the networks (because they can point to larger memberships/attendance as an easy sell) instead of doing the hard sell and convincing them it is THE GAME people want to watch and not specific clubs week after week. It really gets me angry especially considering the fans don't seem to have a voice in this and the AFL is clearly about anything other than "integrity" "fairness" or an even "competition". They are about money only, not as a means to an end but an end in itself (much like society in general these days). The easiest way to maintain the integrity of what is supposed to be a professional sport and not a business is to make the draw fair and transparent every year so everyone knows how the draw is drafted and no-one can complain. Give each club equal exposure in a few big games a year even if it means taking a short term hit from the media rights over the long term integrity of the competition. The article states each club was requested by the AFL to supply a proposal on equalisation measures following Colless' letter to them last year. Geelong made theirs public (at least initially) and it is a must read for anyone who gives a damn about this type of thing. I would love it if the MFC would do the same and am going to request a copy of them this week as a member of 24 years as I feel I am entitled to know how those in charge at my club go about representing me and my club to the AFL. If equalisation means no more Queens Bday then go ahead, I don't want to be beholden to someone who will pull the carpet from under us as soon as it is no longer beneficial for them to give us their charity. I hope our club is fighting hard in the back rooms and discussing this with the likes of the Dogs, North, Port and Brisbane as we are all in trouble (Vic clubs moreso) as soon as the AFL/rich clubs decide they've had enough and want to devour us. TL;DR the rich clubs got rich off our hard work, time to unionise.

I was at the game today and thought we pretty much looked the better side all day barring the last 5 minutes or so. They seemed to overuse the footy a bit where we were more direct but our pressure around the footy was a lot better than theirs. We still made some basic errors by foot and hand across half back that they created goals from but all in all there were some promising signs. Any questions, I'll try my best to answer although I admit I've had a couple.

"ohhh siren... siren.." hahahahahahhahaha eat a dick commentators.

BH, I always look out for your view on matters relating to the playing list. In short, I respect your opinions and observations. That said, I think you're overly harsh on Watts. To me, he's not evolved into the player we had expected him to be when we recruited him (ie, Nick Riewoldt), but I think he has found a role which, albeit different to expectations, he fulfils very well. He's turning into this team's quarterback. He has great vision, beautiful skills and has class that is the envy of most other AFL players. He's not a crash and bash type, which may be a tad disappointing given his athleticism, but he more than makes up for it because of his other qualities. I think he is a very important player for us, and I'm predicting a very good year from him this year.

AFL Predictions: Brownlow Medal: Josh Kennedy(Sydney) Coleman Medal: Taylor Walker Rising Star: Jack Viney Grand Finalists:Sydney v Collingwood Premiers: Sydney Wooden Spoon:GWS Biggest AFL Story of the Year: Buddy (stay or go) MFC Predictions: B&F: Jones Leading Goalkicker: Dawes Best First Year Player: Viney Most Improved: Blease Final Ladder Position: 10th Biggest MFC Story of the Year: Brock gets attacked in the street by melbourne supporters after the game

All you pessimists shut up pretty quickly when Nathan Jones found his true form. No doubt you'll do the same when Jordie does too. The coaches LOVE him. He'll play 22 games this year, and next year, and the year after that. Jones' kicking three years ago bore no resemblance to the low bullets he delivers these days. Jordie will improve.

Theres a very simple solution to this problem. ALL gate proceeds from EVERY game in the season, apart from the finals(should go to the finals clubs), are taken by the AFL . at the end of the year the AFL divides the total gate receipts by 18 and gives each club its even share. That way the AFL can continue to base fixturing around maximising the number of "blockbuster" games without the less successful clubs missing out financially. The clubs get their cash, the AFL get a more even comp, and the TV gets their "blockbusters". There it is .

I am ambivalent about the upcoming footy season. In the past I have got myself up for the new season with always a touch of optimism however, the lack of success is finally eating away at this supporter. We have lots of young talent...and the best of luck to them, however the club still reeks of sustained on field failures and off field dramas. The MFC is still a joke amongst the media and those informed in the industry....this makes me ill with contempt, but where is the success going to come from? The late great Jimmy Stynes was our saviour......is there a hero or 2 ready to bring home the bacon for the MFC or are we totally irrelevant in this competition. I truly hope I am proved wrong.

Sorry ill add to that last post our mids were better close in

Pencil was ok thought they broke even in the rucks but I thought he used he body well blocking etc around the stoppages just needs to do a lot more around the ground

Also from the AFL website: INJURIES Melbourne: Nil

I have Sellar ahead of Pederson... and I am a Pedo fan!

OMG

Go for percentage lads.

8 wins and some real up and comers would be a great result for mine.

Daniher and Cameron re-built the list in the late 90's, finding 10 players who would go on to play 100 games or more. But unfortunately, that feat could not be repeated. We were good enough to play finals in 6 out of 9 years and in 2006 we were the best side in Victoria. (You would all have to admit the future seemed pretty rosy when you saw Mclean demolish St. Kilda in that elimination final). 2007 was ravaged by an unprecedented number of injuries. It accelerated the decline of many older players and exposed just how shallow the list was. Be it a failure of recruitment or player development, there were too few ready to take over from the side Daniher had built 8 years earlier. We’ve paid for it.

People really think that we're playing such a young side so Port don't get a look at the team that will run out in round 1 ? Imo, they're just managing loads and getting games into as many players on the list that they can. Nab 3 and certainly Nab 4 is when they'll start playing their likely round 1 side. I think people read way too much into things on here.

He needs to fix two things: 1) Stop diving. 2) Stop trying to always push his opponent under the ball, grow a set and actually try to beat his opponent in the air.