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Speaking as a resident of Central Australia, one of the things that has really frustrated locals during the Jurrah saga (I think we can turn that phrase now) is the media's infatuation with the fate of a fallen sporting idol rather than what is at the heart of the issue, which is the ongoing substance abuse and violence in Central Australia. I have come to feel the same way about a number of posters opinions in this thread. Do most of you have a genuine interest in the chronic problems prevalent in indigenous community's of Australia, or have you formed your opinions during the unfolding crisis that has enveloped Liam and his kin? Obviously for many of you Liam has highlighted or bought you closer to the these issues. The problem with this though is that many of you are basing your opinions on Liam's journey alone while not looking at the bigger issue. When Liam was first recruited to Melbourne my jaw hit the floor. I was thrilled, amazed and caught completely unawares. I know the community where he comes from and many others like it. I have known hundreds of men his age over the past decade. I knew the conditions in which they grew up, I saw the issues they are forced to confront and have witnessed first hand the carnage of alcohol, petrol, drugs and violence. For the vast majority of young men I knew, joining an AFL club and living away from family in Melbourne was possibly the most extraordinary thing they could do. By that I mean it is about a big a leap as they could take. For many, even the extremely talented footballers, players with ability like Liam, a move to an AFL club would be incomprehensible. Most, if offered the opportunity, would flatly turn it down. This, I understand, for those of us who harboured, or harbour aspirations to play at the highest level is in itself incomprehensible. Why would a young man turn his back on such a opportunity? Because a life living away from family and country, many would consider, is a life not worth living at all. It certainly wouldn't be substituted by money, fame and the feeling of running onto the MCG. So when Liam was not only recruited, but then accepted his chance I knew we had recruited an extraordinary man to our club. The fact that Liam worked his way into the team was quite frankly something I never thought would happen. Let me say this another way. I did not think Liam Jurrah would play a single game for the Melbourne Football Club. How, I asked myself, could any man from this region break free from the responsibilities of his family, the problems of his community and commit himself to the rigours of AFL football? How could he transform his body, overcome the enormous language barriers, conform to a strict routine, completely change his diet, live with a different family, navigate a city like Melbourne, forgo his ongoing cultural responsibilities and simply survive? I thought it all impossible, which makes what he did achieve the most amazing story I personally will ever see in football. But more on that later. When he started to play and play the way he did I honestly elevated Liam beyond anyone I thought I knew. I began to believe he was different to the majority of young men I had come into contact with and that somehow he had carved himself a special place in this world where he could achieve whatever it was he wanted to do. These thoughts were given air by the gushing write ups from the media, from people like Martin Flanagan. I left all common sense behind and slowly Liam's journey in my mind became less remarkable as Liam was no longer a skinny kid from Yuendumu making it big in the AFL he was different, so the laws of the gravity of his home country no longer applied. This of course was a terribly mistake in my mind. For what this slow unravelling of his life over the past year has shown is that he is no more capable of escaping the issues of his upbringing anymore than the next person. The problems of this most troubled space apply to him like they apply to every single other person who lives here. Liam was a man who was offered an extraordinary opportunity, who had the guts, determination and will to take it. I for one feel blessed that he did and I applaud the club I love for its support of Liam which I know continues to this day. I wish some of you felt the same. PS: Mistakes were made by all parties in this saga. But I believe there was no mistake the Melbourne Football Club made which can account for the current situation. For those of you suggesting that Rudeboy is in anyway to blame in this scenario I might suggest the following. He might have been the difference between Liam being recruited or not. Such is the enormity of the role he has played in Liam's life. Many young men and women from this region would love to have a mentor such as him, someone to assist in their journey in life. The assertion that some of the mistakes Liam has made can in some way be attributed to Rudeboy is absurd in the extreme and highlights the distance with which many of you see life for young indigenous and non-indigenous people In Central Australia.

The MFC is slagged, slated, not rated by all in sundry. Bloody fed up like all supporters but there is only one way to shut them all up.

I tipped Melbourne and gave away my Bruce Springstein tickets to go to the footy.

Much harder to come up with the name of a commentator who DOES demand a little respect! In that regard, for me, Gerard Whately stands head and shoulders above the rest. Knowledgeable, pleasant to listen to and, when he's calling a game, actually tells you what's going on (which is a novelty for radio commentators these days!). As for the rest...? All pretty hopeless, really! (Mores the pity Clinton Grybas left us too soon!)

I can't believe how much pessimism surrounds our chances. We're going to struggle against most teams due to our weak midfield. However, if there is ever a situation where the difference between our mids and another side's mids is nullified, or even out-weighed, surely it's when Port Adelaide visits the MCG? Which of their defenders takes Clark? Or Howe? Which of their forwards is renowned for their defensive pressure? How strong is their bottom 6? One may be able to reel off some names like Boak, Cornes, Hartlett, Gray, Schulz and Cassisi, but beyond that, Port is weaker than we are, at a ground they do not like, nor play at very frequently. None of this means we're going to win, of course, but the amount of negativity surrounding this match is unwarranted. There will be plenty of games this year where we will clearly be a worse side and our chances will fairly be toned down. This ought not be one of them.

If we can't develop Toumpas Into an elite player we should chuck it in. He has quality coming out his ears.

Yeah, I like Derm. Unlike most "experts", this guy actually knows what he's talking about. And yes, he's arrogant, but he knows that, and is prepared to take the [censored] out of himself, which I find refreshing.

It's just a matter of time - Morton, Scully, McLean and Sylvia are all elite talents and top 5 draft picks and they just need to develop Oh Sorry I just had a flashback I'm sure that it will be a different story for Viney, Toumpas, Trengove etc

Did anyone else find themselves going "yes,yes" when they saw Robinson laid out cold tonight

Nah, if we win they'll say "it was only Port" If we beat Ess the following week they'll say "Its only Ess - they always beat them and they are suffering from the effects of the drug investigation" Who GAF what 'they' think.

Not his family, anyway.

Luke Darcy hands down...just listen to the carp he is talking tonight, he really has no idea. Taylor not much better, thank god Ling is there.

It's disheartening. All I could think was we'd have been blown away by those two middle of the road teams last night. And it all starts in the middle of the ground. No use having Mitch and Dawes if it hardly gets down there. I was convinced Scully would be great, he's rubbish. I really hope Viney lives up to the high expectations, I hope he gets more BOGs than he gets KO'd, these are some huge bodies he'll be throwing himself at. I'm sure Toumpas is the goods, I'm not so sure we have ball getters and structures to utilize his weapons. Jones has improved out of sight, but in any other team he'd be the soldier that compliments the star mid, not the main man. I've gone cold on Trengove. Not enough tricks, no explosive power, no deadly boot. He's a good mark for his size and a young leader, I want more from a #2 pick. The keeping your feet rule will work in his favour though. I'm confident Blease will be a gun, but again do we have the other blokes to get out to him and keep him busy every week? Not yet. Sylvia. The reason I'm so skeptical. Apart from Judd, there was no one out there last night that has played a better game than Sylvia did against Hawthorn about four years ago. Yet still we wait for another glimpse of that talent. Over it. It'd help if we had a better ruckman that gets us moving. Jamar's taps are infuriating, they just roll down his arm and land at his feet. Just hit it anywhere at least, give us some mystery. It'll be another tough year, or two. Having said that, I believe we have a team that can beat Port at the G.

Yeah well last night's match hammered it home for me too - most of the best 10 players on the ground were high-draft-pick players who have clearly become the developed product they were supposed to become when they were drafted. Why the F does this not happen at Melbourne? It's highly infuriating for me.

Is there a point to your post?

Cheering when a bloke gets knocked out on a footy field is just plain gutless and its the last refuge of keyboard heroes. Weak.

I like your defiance.

What the hell does anyone see in pederson?

So players like JPod & Barlow aren't worth picking up? Its a pretty closed way of thinking. A player is a player IMO & should be judged on the criteria or reason you recruit them & what role they will play now & in the future, not their age. There's many 18 year olds that just don't develop, the majority I'd imagine wouldn't get to 50 games. At least at mature age they can fill a need straight away while you develop talent for the future. Further to that, at mature age you can probably estimate whether they will make a direct impact or not. I see the players the club have recruited creating competition for places now. Pederson, Jones, Dawes, Byrnes, Rodan & Terlich have all been brought in to play certain roles that weren't being adequately filled & were at least equal or better than the players they will replace in the side. Sydney has done the same over the years but you must also develop youth. The next step is for the club to keep filling gaps in the list & to hopefully unearth a few superstars from our list or from the draft/trade table.

They over stated the 7 changes. The only player we've lost that we wanted is Rivers. Who would play instead of Viney, Toumpas, Jones and Byrnes? Cale Morton, Gysberts, Lazy Beamer and Ricky (can't get a game at Richmond) Pettard? I'll take the future over a proven failed passed.

Seven changes mid season may be an issue but ffs, It's round 1,

Im watching league teams on fox footy atm and this guys attitude and general persona is just ridiculous. He is a smug [censored] who loves to also sink the boots into the dees, has picked us for the wooden spoon. Pointless thread I know but does anyone agree or am I just taking his attitude the wrong way?

I would expect that most of those who missed out on selection for the Port Adelaide game will be involved for the Casey Scorpions against Box Hill tomorrow. Details: SATURDAY MARCH 30 Casey Scorpions v Box Hill at Casey Fields Development League 11am, VFL 2pm. One player I know who will be keen to get on the park is Max Gawn who tweeted yesterday:- Melbourne also re-instated Max to the senior list yesterday, having been on the long-term injury list since January 25 due to a hamstring injury. This followed more than a year's lay-off following his second ACL operation. I think it's fair to say that all at Demonland wish Max well on his return to the game. I'll be there to cheer him on! No doubt we'll also see James Magner who possibly would have been close to promotion to the senior list and even AFL selection but now would have to wait for a vacancy on the list to open up again.

I personally feel Blease will be something special come 2014 and beyond. My spidey senses are tingling.

Blease is a big inclusion, he's looked the goods leading into this. The fact our backs and forwards trump theirs makes me a bit more bullish about our chances (notwithstanding the omission of T Mac and Dawes). I'm not pessimistic about our chances, but I think teams will underrate Port this year at their own peril. Playing at home, If we can be competitive in the midfield and get some decent delivery into the forward 50, we should get over the line.

What's the problem with Dawes? You don't want a ready-to-go 100kg FF?

Being competitive is the only thing we can do at this point, it is unrealistic to think that we should be winning, it is also premature we are putting the cart before the horse so to speak. Winning is a result of hard work, perseverance, skill and luck. Last season our team was introduced to one aspect of that the hard work the rest is still to come. Where the media, the public and the supporters think/want/expect us to be at this season will not deter MN, NC and DM and the rest of the Football Department at the MFC from going through and ticking off each progression as it happens. I laugh when I hear the experts in the Media say it would sound the Death Knell if we lose the first round because they think that our Club would implode on itself. The coach and the football department have been quite clear from the outset about the amount of work that needs to be done to get this club back to greatness. It has been 17 months since this journey has started I don't think I will place any high expectations on winning games on the team for at least another 17 months more. But that's just me.

I want to see us play competitively in the first round if we win then that's great but if we lose god its only Round 1 FFS, no use droppin our bundles because we lost the first of 22 games this season. Idiots in the Media want to turn football into Days of our Lives or Neighbours and build the drama into football. A lot of people will get sucked into it, but really last year our competitiveness improved each round and all I will be looking for is that to continue and be sustained for longer the W and L's will sort themselves out as we move through the season. Go the Dee's

I like how this thread combines the whole drafting/developing, our midfield sucks, Sylvia is due, and who is "elite" threads that have already been done a billion times....

Dermot's biggest problem is that he is pretentious. He is basically a bogan who is desperate to sound intellectual about football, but in trying to inflate the language of the game, he uses words which he has no idea about, as well as words which have not yet been invented.

Bad moon rising for Strauss, J.Macdonald and Jetta there, but I imagine they'll all get their chance during a long year ahead.

Could be wrong, but I think Gawn has to come off the LTI List to play for Casey. Otherwise clubs could say any of their young/crap players that aren't in the frame for senior matches are "injured", and elevate rookies willy-nilly.

Honestly, if we lose i doubt its the end of the world. There will still be 21 rounds to play. I just want to see us compete for 4 qtrs and have a fair dinkum crack

The selection of eight players in Melbourne's squad for Sunday's game against Port Adelaide recalls the season opener for 1921 when Harry Bruce, Harry Coy, Joe Flanagan, Clarrie Lethlean, John Lord, Enos Thomas, Ted Thomas and Percy Tulloh and captain coach Percy Wilson who had crossed from Collingwood all lined up for the club against Essendon on 7 May making it nine newcomers to the club on the one day. Two years earlier, Melbourne had made an inauspicious return to the VFL after a three year wartime break failing to win a game in 1919. It improved marginally in the following season rising to 8th place in what was then a nine team competition. The club then looked to new captain coach Wilson, who the Magpies felt had passed his prime as a player, in the hope of lifting it to a finals appearance for the first time since 1915. Melbourne certainly needed something to bring about a lift. Its membership number for 1921 stood at a mere 397. A crowd of only 3,500 turned up at the East Melbourne ground which was then home for Essendon, known as the "Same Olds" in those days, and they started the game strongly kicking five goals to Melbourne's solitary major for the opening term. This was the first year in which scores from other grounds were displayed on the scoreboards of the grounds, with codes to decipher the scores available in the Football Record. The new Melbourne coach introduced the tactics employed at Collingwood and his inexperienced side went a long way to reeling in the deficit by half time and before going ahead by the end of the third term by 8 points. Essendon was not to be denied and clawed back the lead but a mistake by one of its defenders gifted Melbourne a goal. When the final bell rang the scoreboard showed Melbourne leading by two points, but the scores were actually level. The error was corrected leaving the result as a draw. Ironically, the Redlegs also drew their game against St. Kilda a few weeks later after a Saints' protest against a point given to Melbourne during the game was dismissed. The newcomers were all impressive eapecially Lord in the ruck, Ted Thomas at centre half-back and Lethlean at full-back. Wilson was instrumental as one of the players who gave his team the edge in the middle of the ground. The team finished two games out of the final four in sixth place with six wins and two draws in a 16 game season - a big improvement on its last two seasons although it would take another five years before the club would taste premiership glory in 1926. Melbourne 1.2.8 5.6.36 11.6.72 12.6.78 Essendon 5.6.36 6.8.44 9.10.64 11.12.78 Goals George Haines Harry Harker 3 Bill Allen 2 Jack Brake Enos Thomas Percy Tulloh Percy Wilson Thanks to Supermercado's DemonWiki - a great source of information about the MFC.

NWA kept their act together for longer.

There's only one club in Melbourne.Stop codding yourselves Essendon Carlscum Collywobbles Hawthorn St Kilda Richmond and North Melbourne (i don't mind Footscray so i'll leave them alone) you lot always were and always will be mere peasants and upstarts in our eyes. B)

We need some guys to show some good old fashion mongrel. Get in there face and let them know we are not here just to make up the numbers. Im sick of us just rolling over.

Apropos of nothing in particular, when a player changes clubs does he take the number of strikes he's accumulated with him and, if so, is the club he's going to made aware of that number? PS: apologies if the question sounds a little incoherent.

no. he is just a [censored] of the highest order. total [censored]. hes a [censored] amongst flogs.

Screw away jumpers..we seem to wear ours all the bloody time.

bloody hell its nerve racking but so bloody exciting. Jamar taps to Jones who gives a quick handball to Viney who laces it out to Clark on a long lead. Clark lines up and rams it home for his 5th.

Yes , but even better is good ole concrete boots Mclean is back too his usual poor form.

Taylor is useless.

Paul Roos is the worst football person on TV.

Melbourne by 6 goals. Eff the haters. Cant wait to rub peoples faces in it.

An even bigger [censored] would be Dwayne Russell....

I like him, he is who he is. He can afford to be smug, he was a champion. And to be honest, he has great footy smarts.

Year after year? You're tipping the Bulldogs and GC for the 8 this year? The clubs who were down the bottom last year are certainly going to be down the list this year as well. Adelaide last year is the exception that proves the rule. Our two captains have played around 50 games each - simply because there is no-one else at the club with more experience/games who's really capable of being a leader. Adelaide have and had the strong, experienced on-field leaders and performers that we just don't. They also had a much better fitness base than us, but that's another story. No club, whoever they are, where a large part of the list is around or under 50 games, is ever going to dominate anything much over a sustained period. No-one on this board is trembling in their boots because of all the stars at GC or GWS ... we (rightfully in some respects) dismiss them as being "just kids". Yet much of our list is of similar age and experience as ours. Look at what Neeld said the other day about Dawes and Clark regarding whether they'll play or not - he remarked that they had 6 or 7 solid pre-seasons behind them. Trengove doesn't, this was his third - or second full one. That has an impact, and a big impact, on what happens on the field during matches. Turning around organisations and cultures Just Takes Time.

Y'know what? I get that we all want to have the best 22 that we can on the park each week, but the reality is that if we want to push for top 4 and beyond, we need to have depth and flexibility in our squad. If Dawes is out, Sellar or Pedersen need to step up. If Jetta becomes our first choice back pocket, Tapscott or Garland need to do the job if he is unavailable. Don't like the specific names I've used? Fine, choose your own, that's not my point. The coaching department will pick teams each week where particular players will be tested and asked to prove themselves. That is part of our journey, from rounds 1-23. This is not a sprint, but a marathon. If you want to see a rebuild, look at Hawthorn, circa 2005. That's where we're at, and I for one have the confidence and patience that we will get there.

Four quarters of consistent effort