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Our style of game was much more in line with what Neeld has talking about. We tried to move the ball quickly, we made it awkward for Carlton and we even had periods of dominance (albeit we couldn't put the score on the board when we did). We played a style that is well suited to a big, tall forward line. We moved the ball quickly and gave the forwards plenty of opportunity to win the ball in the air. The only problem is that our forward line wasn't playing and we kicked it to ruckmen or midgets. But it was really good to see the style starting to come through because we haven't been able to implement it very well so far. That style will start yielding different results when our forward line consists of Clark, Dawes and Hogan. I thought that our intent to run defensively and disrupt play was good. We were down by 30 points halfway through the opening quarter, but had the better of the play for the first 10 minutes. I think the scoreboard looked a lot worse than the performance. If you compare that to the first 2 weeks then it's night and day. We still have a lack of run through the midfield, and it's often the younger players that contribute to this. Viney doesn't yet have the tank to do all the running he needs to do. He'll be great, but it's players like him that are hurting us. McKenzie unfortunately struggles with the quicker style of game. I thought that our work in the stoppages was generally pretty good against a very good midfield, and a lot of that had to do with the defensive work of our midfielders and Spencer (who was good today). So, overall, disappointing to lose but I thought it looked like a (fairly healthy) step forward overall.

Neeld is working with the same talent and you want him sacked.

Props to this man for turning it all around. If there was ever proof that everything rests on the players' shoulders, this is it. No change of coaching, no big sackings; just a 180 degree turnaround in intensity and effort. Bravo Colin Garland!

Must get a minimum 4 weeks for daring to execute a fair bump.

Tom McDonald had a disposal efficiency of 82% today, which is even more proof that the disposal efficiency stat is complete bunk.

Casey Scorpions Goal Kickers: J. Fitzpatrick 3, C. Dawes 3, N. Page 3, D. Rodan 2, A. Davey , J. Toumpas , T. Couch Best Players: L. Tynan, J. Toumpas, J. Fitzpatrick, J. Sellar, M. Gent, D. Rodan

No I don't like losing, but seen a few decent things today, Tappy is developing well gives us some hardness we desperately need, Garland has had a good season and is playing well, Sylvia looks like HGAF, Jones is a champ, Trenners seriously not right brave but needs to get himself right, Dean Kent is a good kid honest footballer, Evans, Matty Jones & Terlich all showing positive signs and will develop further IMO with further exposure at this level. Lynden Dunn kudos to you for your job on Juddy today, you were a quality tagger around 2010/11 & we need you to do that again. Dawes, Clark and/or Watts needed just for forward structure to make opposition defenders accountable and bring the ball to ground Greater effort brought today and intensity, just not up to it but something to work on. Need to go out next week and destroy Suns not on the scoreboard but physically make them hurt the way we have been hurt for several years by sides

As a team Melbourne are putrid. That's the problem, they don't run to space, shepherd or work for each other in general. A lot of the problems have nothing to do with talent, it's all in between the ears. We crave a "star" player or two but even they wouldn't have an impact this group of players that play nothing like a team.

Let's all appreciate the umpires shall we?

Toumpas also played as a loose man for a while in front of the defence. His kicking was very accurate. I think he is still getting used the physicality of the local game. He went for a bump (in the third I think) where it looked like he had a choice to either go or evade. He put in a tentative but solid bump (I think the Port player had similar thoughts by his actions as well). It probably shows he may not yet have full confidence in what his body can endure. I thought all the younger guys had decent games. Tynan got up very high to spoil a few times, Davis I thought had a good game. The times I noticed him coming out of defence, he always found a casey player by foot. Toumpas will get better once he has acclimatised and become a little more battle hardened. Blease continually seems to run too far. He gets around his man but then is either on he wrong foot or has run into a cul de sac. I didn't notice Taggert too much, he could have been on the far side of the ground to me most of the time. He did have a good game against Essendon though and I hope he gets a game with Melbourne at some stage this year. Too bad we don't have a David Rodan that's 4 or 5 years younger. He kicked a great goal after bursting through a pack but also got caught a few times. He tried hard though I thought. Sellar did ok down back, mixed a few good things with some indifferent patches, and Dawes did ok. I think his role with Melbourne will eventually be a quality foil for Hogan and Clark rather than the main target he was yesterday. At one time he had a go at Blease for trying to kick an impossible goal by screwing the ball along the ground. His message was to keep it simple. Overall, It was an enjoyable, entertaining match. Port got a few goals early in the last, and the crowd burst into life and helped them home. Casy were obviously without a number of players but tried throughout. Someone else mentioned Kyle Mathews. I didn't have a "Record" but I believe he was wearing the helmet. What an inspiration. He is courageous and very skilled. Credit to him for coming back from such an injury and playing good footy at this level. Oh, and thanks to big Maxie and Chip for having a quick kick to kick with my little boy at quarter time. Thankfully they pulled through without injury.

A lot of what Geelong do isn't difficult, run hard and fast with the ball, run hard and fast without the ball and talk to each other. Somehow Melbourne can't manage that.

Seriously this is our midfield coach and he has had little to no impact on our midfield group. Our midfield stinks bad but we do have few goodies in there and he has had absolutely no impact on their game. Time for a coach that has been involved in a premiership and who has been a great leader. I'm thinking a Brett Kirk or Cam Ling.

According the channel 7 we had our least experienced side ever under Neeld today, average games about 46, Carltank were 97 I believe. On a very slow, very very slow, upwards curve from ground zero (186) I marked today as a slight upward blip.....not based on the score, but rather based on what goes in the comments column....a speculative as the bookies might say. If we picked on form both Trenners and Viney would get dropped next week.....but I expect both to play. My god we missed a CHF....today proved Howe isn't a good one out goal sq option, which might shut up the commentators for a few weeks. Please give us Dawes and maybe Fitzy. Even happy to see Pederson at CHB rather than T Mac for a few weeks. I think today showed Neeld can pick a footballer.....having the time to put into it I'm very happy with Kent, Viney, M Jones, Terlich, and at Port yesterday was very pleased with Toumpas and Clisby. Toumpas has time....skills and vision....at VFL level and SANFL level as an 18 year old.....it's only a matter of time.....not that far away. Big week next week.....let's win and go on from there. go Dees

Guy McKenna.

Tapscott..I applaud your efforts today.

Absolutely. Saw this happen a couple of times with Evans. Ran to space, wanted the stationary melb player and Carlton opponent away but got ignored. This guy gets it. A good forty brain. In the ptesser, Neeld said that Evans would be a player. I agree.

Jaded, watch this week's game again and last week's carefully. You'll see that some players who get what the game's about, like Evans, do run forward or lateraIly away from congestion as soon as they perceive or see that we have won possession. In some cases, players are running hard (making space) forward/lateral of the player they've just handed off to expecting to receive it back and for that player to then block/shepard after in order to protect space and allow the receiver enough time/freedom to spot up the next lead up target or player in space. Something Geelong do on the bit. Basically looking to create as much overlap play possible and run the lines. The point i'm trying to make is it is happening with some players in the team, they're working hard for the receive, but in many cases the other player with the ball just refuses to give off even though it appears to be the obvious and potentially most damaging option! I can't pin point the exact moments in last week's game but there was one passage of play where Evans ran forward of Terlich off the back half in the first quarter (near the boundary). I think Evans had just given it off to Terlich (although don't hold me to that). Evans was running past Terlich, heading inside and the best option for Terlich was to give it straight back to Evans and then protect/block to allow him the extra time/space/freedom to take the ball and deliver to a leading high forward. But no, Terlich ignored Evans and instead turned around, looked back and gave the handball off (backwards) to one of our boys who was surrounded by 2 or 3 Lions. Those 2 or 3 Lions would have been left behind had Terlich done the instinctive thing and given it straight to Evans as he ran past, but no.....he looked to go back to a boundary option. The outcome was that we lost possession and it resulted in a stoppage in our back half instead of a quick transition into our forward half. Another example today was McKenzie. I'm pretty sure it may have been Evans again providing the run and option to go inside on the Southern wing, but Mckenzie ignored him and handballed backwards/along the line to a player surrounded by Blues who gobbled him up and couldn't believe their luck. If this is a Neeld training expectation or method then we're buggered. However, If it's a confidence or mental issue (ie., lacking in footy smarts in the top paddock) then maybe it's possible to turn this crappy "losing" style of play around through more skills/drills or an injection of more skilled/instinctive players that don't see the boundary as their first option as soon as they take possession. When more of our players start looking "INSIDE" as their first option and when we finally have more players who can execute by hand and foot we might finally be able to start to look like an AFL standard team. Is Neeld training/teaching them this BS style/method? He couldn’t be surely! And if he isn’t, is he capable of changing the mind set/methods/skills of many of them from being SO defensive? instead getting them to realise that in many cases/situations times you have to just GO GO GO, give off the instinctive lightning handball to a forward/lateral running player or just play on and run forward on the burst as we saw at one stage in the last quarter through the middle with the resulting sweet goal on the run to Sylvia. This came out of hard chasing and pressure on the southern wing. I’m all for defensive pressure and acts, but for god sake look inside as your first option, learn how to dispose of the ball effectively and get the boys to run and take their opponents and the game on more often!! Opposition players will pay us no respect (and already don’t) and keep running off into space (seemingly spreading so much better than us!!) if we continue to play so defensively and turn the bloody ball over as easily as we do, often in mid field. And no wonder. The bloody defenders are under the pump so often, they’re no doubt half fatigued by the time they get free and look to dispose the ball up field from the place where it has just come....over and over again.

2 really interesting things today that are linked to the post. Can't remember who had the ball about 55 out from goal I think in the first quarter but Dunn was standing next to him calling for a handball. Now we know Dunn can get the journey but he was not moving and calling for the ball with Carlton players around him. It wasn't given off, one of the better decisions of the day. However surely Lydnen knows he should be moving to take the ball, that's what he did at Casey last week. It's not knocking him, he had a good game today I thought but it's how most of our players are. There is little movement and most handball is a result of pressure, it's why we have so many less disposals than our opponents. The second thing was again I think in the last in Carlton's attacking 50, Byrnes had the ball and was under pressure, he could have easily given a blind handball or one to a statue but held up and took the tackle. By not releasing the ball he forced a 50/50 ball up rather than a hit and hope handball. This is where his training at Geelong and experience can count, he didn't have a great game but if he can get more of our guys to think and be prepared to take the hit then he will add value. The turnovers are killing us. Message to Tommy Mc, find out what Corey Enright did to get his kicking action and ability fixed and do it otherwise you have a very limited to no future in the game. I know you have a few mates but you are the one with the biggest potential upside.

He already is.

A game plan doesn't dictate simple things like running hard, being goal side of opponents and body position in the centre ball ups. These are all simple things that are part of any game plan which Royal clearly can't communicate to the players.

If Scotland is lucky, Tapscott will forgive him and let him live.

I hope against all hope that we win today and I am proven wrong. Anyone who doesn't think us "Neeld haters" wish to be wrong, are kidding themselves. I'm sick of being a loser club, I'm sick of feeling sick at the footy. I want to be proud of this club and I hope I can walk away feeling proud today.

Still the best footy experience of my laugh. It'll take a Grand Final win to top it.

I believe they are following the Geelong and Collingwood model and playing new mids through the forward flank when they begin, so they don't get banged around too badly. Forward line is also a reduced workload which is what Rory needs after having an interrupted start to the pre season. His fitness may be part of the reason why he went missing in the earlier games and is only now starting to play more consistently.

IMO I believe people are being confused with the term rebuilding phase in Neelds statement, what I believe he means is that the football department has been overhauled to become relevant in todays game and the one major area they did when he stated we really only had Kelly O'Donnell and I think one other as development coaches now we have assistant coaches each having their own line coaches who I now believe are Casey's assistant coaches so that will be a great help in the development of the second tier players but this will take time but once it all gets up to speed when new players come to the club, support can be more one on one with them instead of a group which will quicken their progress dramatically. They have taken a club who's method was outdated 20 years ago and has now only scratched the surface, people can say what they want about Neeld and co but we are heading in the right direction IMO and yes it may take a bit more time but at least we are catching up with the leaders of the pack. The other part of his mantra is culture and to change a culture you have to show them a culture that also takes time, he always talks about roles and understanding your role, train at an elite level all the time not when you feel like it as in the past, prepare like a top athlete, recover like a top athlete etc. The reason I believe Neeld bought in Rodan, Byrnes etc was to buy some time so they can develop some of the players so they can then step into that role without having the best players playing on them and having extra pressure on them. So while some supporters want to sack Neeld I believe the club will honour his contract and those supporters who don't like it support the club or not that is your choice.

Nothing Geelong did tonight was particularly spectacular, but since the muppets on Channel 7 started talking about the Cats' seemingly never-ending dynasty I knew we'd see a thread about it here. It's the same with our post-match threads. Someone says something on the telly and you can bet it'll be brought up here as if it's some amazing discovery. No disrespect to anyone who posted on this thread, of course!

Let you into a secret, Redleg is the man for the job. He would get everyone working together and build an inclusive, successful, football club. He would also get rid of the carbon tax and make MFC memberships cheaper.

I said to my son, Do you want to watch the game? His reply was dad I don't feel like watching Melb lose again. (unfortunately he was right, even I had trouble watching it) He is 9 years old. This is what the MFC is doing to the next generation of Dees supporters. Bloody sad if you ask me.

We are the hardest to play against. Opposition coaches must find it hard to make their players stick to their structures when they are rolling over us with such ease.

I know it's hard to believe but we are moving forward. Saw a lot of good signs today. Just to easy to join the Negative team.

Today Carlton had 110 more possessions yet somehow also had 30 more tackles. 30. Before today we averaged 94 less disposals and 4 less tackles per game. No question the effort lifted for a little while today, but why is our defence so bad when we've brought in an apparently defensive minded coach? Never been so frustrated with the club I love. If 186 was the players telling us something, what has this year been so far?

Well to all the tipsters here who had us getting done by over 100 points... There's a slight positive. Reality is we were second rate with disposal and spread but we are at least not laying down. I can see us getting better down the track.

110 possessions less again this week, since Neeld took over as Coach I doubt there's be more than 3 or 4 games where we've had more than the opposition. But there are some on here who reckon it doesn't matter that you have a 100 or so less than your opponents.

A well run club??? You are kidding! We need to get rid of our President. We have just sacked our CEO again (after re appointing him for 3 years in November). We are now entering our 2nd AFL investigation in 8 months. We have one employee on suspension for tanking after accepting a $500k fine for doing likewise. MFC don't know what's happening with a supplements program and have stood one employee down pending an investigation that may implicate others who had no idea what's going on. On field we have won less than 20% of our games in the past 6 years I thank God Peter Jackson is doing the review rather than your good self. I can see you now " Iceberg? What iceberg?"

Judd has actually been very good so far this season. Dunn deserves credit for the job he's done today.

Dunn has been excellent on Judd today. Well "dunn".

No, it's about time we dropped him.

Tappy reported for that. That umpire should be forced to publicly apologise for that stupid call.

As expected, the wheels have fallen off. Now if only Neeld would fall off his coaching chair. The only thing that will save this game is if Brock McLean gets punched in the face.

I'd feel much better having Magner or Couch out there instead of McKenzie.

a bit more composure and we are there. loving the TOUGHNESS

The coach will be sure to point that out at the presser when the demolition is complete.

Some tall forwards (Hogan, Dawes, Clark) and it would be even. Well done on great endevour that quarter. Some terrible misses.

We shouldn't criticize too much our president may accuse us of being fair weathered.

And now with Grimes being injured, I pronounce season 2013 officially dead. I hate everyone.

"The little fella is not playing, he's the mascot." And firetruck you Tim Watson.

Malthouse?

Unless you're Lucas Cook even a speculative tall is usually given 5 years on a list to prove his worth. I have seen enough to know Hogan will be a star in 3. If you can hook him for 5 do it but I would think a young kid in our current environment would want to know a bit more about who is coaching him beyond this year before he signed up long term.

Here is the biggest 2 issues that see us where we are. Our recruiting has been a disaster in choice of player and choice of type during 2000-2009 which should make up the key components of our side. People say we don't develop well but Scully, Gysberts, Morton and Martin aren't exactly carving it up in their new environments. We recruited poorly that is the cause of all our issues.