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This whole seven coaches in seven years thing really annoys me. 'Technically' true, but does it really represent the true state of affairs? No, it's just an easy way for the media to over-dramatise the situation. Included in the seven coaches are Mark Riley, Todd Viney and Neil Craig, who were never appointed as full-time senior coaches. Riley coached less than half a year, Viney about five games and Craig half a season. Then they include Daniher and Roos. Daniher coached Frawley for half a season in his first year and Roos is yet to coach Frawley in a home-and-away match. So as much as the '7 in 7' years sounds nice and fluffy for the media, the reality is he has essentially played primarily under two coaches...Bailey and Neeld. I know they are trying to paint Melbourne as a club that regularly sacks its coaches, but that couldn't be further from the truth. I am 31 and have only seen one coach sacked early in his tenure...Neeld. Compare this to many other clubs and it is quite favourable.

yeah we've been camping out in the wilderness for 50 years

Those who were watching him report that he led constantly up the ground and took his defender with him. His possession count doesn't reflect his real contribution. Doesn't make him first 22, but the guy is certainly working hard this year to hold a spot on the list.

Last year Pedersen was strongly and rightly criticised for that incident where he tapped the ball on with both hands rather than mark it when he heard footsteps. On Friday night he crashed a pack and nearly took out Vickery. I think every player should be entitled to a clean slate under Roos, who seems to have the capability to bring out new levels of commitment from his players. BTW, love the way Vickery can mark a Melbourne player's head in both hands and not give away a free.

There would be nothing more in the world that would make me happier than hearing Frawley and Roos extending their contracts with the MFC by seasons end. And by extending, I mean Roos realising that it is he who wants to take us all the way to a premiership. Succession mcmession. Let me dream..

One thing on JKH's speed: I noticed several times during the match that his pace when not sprinting --- when just getting to the next contest, or switching from one side of the ground to the other --- was naturally much quicker than his opponent. He just seemed to have that knack for going at 90% when others are at 80%. And several times that meant that, when his opponent was inattentive for just a second or two, suddenly JKH had three metres on him, and that was the crucial space. Good skill to have!

I spoke to Cam at the Family Day, that was his role, to go anywhere except the goal square. so the smaller nippier guys could get one on one and maybe nick a few goals, worked to perfection, couldn't belileve his luck when he got what he considered a soft free kick, and knew he could kick the 9 pointer with ease....he is like everybody else just wants to play his role and get a game, and like the rest feels like he is at a new club this year

Lets see how things develop.

I always rated Vince highly at the Crows. Usually though you do tend to watch a player a lot closer when they play for your team as opposed to the opposition. Watching Vince play on Friday, I struggled to recall a Melbourne midfielder of recent times with that level of class, composure, skill and football smarts. He just continually made the correct decision and executed it. If a quick handball release was required, he gathered cleanly and dished off quickly and effectively. When he was able to find a bit more space, he remained composed, used his time wisely and again made the correct decision and executed it. We have been so panicky in the past that it was really encouraging to see a player who has that innate ability to almost slow the game down around him. Class footballers always seem to have more time than others. Obviously the heat will be greater once the real stuff starts but that was a very, very impressive performance from him.

20,797 - 01 Feb 2009 21,448 - 11 Feb 2010 25,253 - 17 Feb 2011 24,195 - 16 Feb 2012 23,650 - 18 Feb 2013 26,641 - 17 Feb 2014 (ref: Membership tally threads from past years) First two years (2009,2010) aren't really comparisons because of date variances. But you get a better indication 2011-14 - these are as close as dates on tallies I could find. Note: 2011 figure was on the back of 'improvement' in 2010 after poor seasons in '07-'08-'09. You could also mount excitement factors such as Liam Jurrah during that season and Jimmy's influence off-field.

Geees.....All this after a win in the NAB practise game.....God help the players when we lose one....... All the footy club "experts" on this site will go into melt down The football dept know what they want for all the players....us mug punter don't have a clue though some will disagree with me.....

Peter is a kind, caring individual who does a hell of a lot for ex-VFL players who have fallen on hard times. He also earns a fortune by being 'Crackers' in the media and at sports nights interstate. And I'm proud to call him a mate.

I spoke to PJ at the AGM and he seemed to be suggesting that Roos would be with us for 3 years at the minimum. I don't think I misunderstood him.

I would say Tom McDonald becoming a good kick of the football is more likely to happen than this.

Well there goes Demonland Reverend. might as well shut it down now.

Yep, if Roos was impressed with Cam Pedo's performance, that's good enough for me. His teammates have indicated on DeeTV that he's been one of the hardest trainers this preseason.

You were watching the game? Or is this just another of your arguments for arguments sake, get over it, Cam played his role on Friday night, so did the other 25, we took a small step on the journey

Credit where it's due. When he flew into that pack running the wrong way I was gobsmacked. It just shows you what a different mindset can achieve. He does have talent and is certainly excellent depth.

But this game that was a function of not having a tall target to kick to while in previous years it was because we'd turned the ball over before getting it in range of the forward line.

Spencer had more hitouts than any other ruck on the ground on Friday. You can add up the combination of the Richmond crew but he was basically working on his own with some help by King & Pedersen neither of whom you would call ruck men at this stage. I think Spencer has been harshly marked for that bad kick. Being at the ground I thought he did a lot of good work around the ground and held his own in the ruck.

I spotted PJ in one of the sponsors tents. I couldn't help mysef...I walked straight up to him, shook his hand and thanked him for everything he has done.

Speaking of kids, the MFC got a new member today, my latest grandson who I registered as a baby Demon (he's seven month old). In going through my membership package to find a form to register him, I found the brochure the club sent to members with their season's tickets and right there in the middle of the box "Play a Role - Demon Heartland" is a picture of my oldest grandson wearing his Demons guernsey and pumping his fist. The photo was taken before the Gold Coast Suns game early last season. It's safe to day he'll have more opportunities to enjoy the Dees in 2014 than last year.

Daniel Rich is a bad player to pick for not much upside. Yeah he had a strong first year but he has all the talent to become a top midfielder at winning the ball and the best kick in the comp. He started to show it last year. Wines had a first year like Selwood and there's no reason I can see why he can't be as good as Selwood or Jobe Watson or Mundy or so on. Doesn't mean I think he will be but I don't see how anyone puts limitations on him. Putting limitations on Wines is just as bad as putting either limitations or outlandish statements on Toumpas.

no i am suggesting the reason they go to indonesia in the first place is to pay smugglers to get them into australia and setting up a processing centre there will encourage more refugees to fly to indonesia what is so hard to understand that we already have a proper (UN sanctioned) process with processing centres the proper process is being bypassed and this would only exacerbate it the lack of indonesian UN sanction is also a barrier as it would be their processing centre not an UN one there are 35 million refugees (in and out country) in the world the vast majority are desperate and in a miserable position - that is a given those in indonesia are no different or more worthy (Increasing our quota is another debate)

You're aptly named.

You make sense. Strange thing here sometimes. Not forgetting that the best 22 are not always the best selection when it comes to playing some opposition teams. Sometimes you need to draw on quite specific skills and characteristics to achieve a win. This is where depth and competition for spots is crucial.

Howe can just find space on top of Dawes head

I actually think Rawlings is the front runner to being our senior coach (via senior assistant to Roos) he has experience at several clubs including almost half a season as senior coach @ Richmond and did pretty well. Also why wouldn't the club take the opportunity like it has done with Josh Mahoney in backing one of their own in through this succession plan. I also am lead to believe that the backline rate Rawlings pretty highly, so you would think in terms of peace of mind a succession plan from Roos to Rawlings (hoepfully after 3 seasons) would put his (Frawley's) and other players minds at ease. For what it's worth, I feel more confident that Frawley will sign on (and I suspect in the first half of the season) than I was that we would be able to keep Watts last year. I am a little more nervous about Hogan at this point... but it's early days there.

If you say it 100 times it doesn't make it true Stuie. The concept that he wasn't working hard after half time is bogus. I see Riewoldt blowing hard after half time it's cos he works ****ing hard. We play a chip around style of football in the back half which means there's plenty of time to flood back for the opposition. When a spare man isn't available to chip too forward there needs to be a release target who will provide a target down the line. In case you didn't notice, we switch the ball alot now, which means Cam was working side to side being the option for the long ball down the line. His job. He didn't duke any contested marks, but realistically that won't be his role this year. That's Dawes and Clark's role in our team. WWithout Pederson playing how he did, and expecting King to do that role, we would be lost that NAB Cup game. FWIW, in the 2005 premiership Jason Ball played that exact role for the Swans in the win. He had 4 touches..

Unfortunately it would seem deeko that in recent years we have planned for the best and got the worst.

It seems pretty clear that his role was not to take marks and get touches. It was to take the opposition defenders out of the 50 meter arc to make way for the small forwards to work. My guess is that this was a clear instruction and one that the midfield and half-backs understood. They simply weren't looking for Pederson as a target. Seemed to work pretty well from what I saw. Why do you not understand the idea of playing a specific role as asked for by the coach? We need to judge players according to whether they have done the job required of them.

Agree with all the comments to date. For me the most promising thing about him is that he kicks the ball properly, can mark above his head, and instinctively knows where to run...i.e. he is a natural footballer. We don't have to teach him these skills. Which unfortunately are lacking with our current crop of rucks, and have been trying to teach for up to 5 years in some cases.

My thoughts: An impressive performance overall. The way we controlled the ball was excellent and Roos showed in one quarter how diabolical Neeld was as a coach. I would like us to attack a bit more aggressively immediately after receiving a turnover, but this may be Stage 2 of Roos’s game plan. Howe is really well suited to being the main man up forward. It will be interesting to see if he can adapt and have the same or greater influence when we get our key forwards back and he gets a lesser opponent but has less space to operate. Vince is a better pick up than I thought. Our midfield still lacks pace, but we should be able to win a more reasonable share of clearances this year. Hopefully Watts going into the midfield and Viney returning will help in this area. Dunn was fantastic and is a certainty for Round 1. Bail was also very good and has penciled himself in to the side. It was good to see Trengove get so much ball, but he is still slow and we need to be tactical in finding him the right match up. (i.e. not Deledio) Spencer lacks the requisite skill to make it as an AFL player. If he gets a game in Round 1 it is because Gawn hasn’t developed an engine, Clark is not fit and Jamar is past it. A fit Clark would be ideally played as a first ruck given our weakness in the ruck and our strength up forward. Kennedy-Harris is an exciting pick up. He isn’t all that quick but reads the game very well and uses the ball effectively. Michie was a bit quiet and doesn't help our pace issues in the midfield. He will need to have good games against Geelong and Hawthorn to be certain of a game in Round 1. Tyson is also slow and his kicking was rusty. His work in centre square was pretty good. Frawley was dominant at the start of the game and is a lock in my Supercoach team given our change in game style. We still have one or two small defender spots up for grabs. I would like to see Blease trialed down back next week. Based on what we know, and assuming Clark and Garland aren’t fit, the Round 1 team is shaping up as below. The bolded players are locked in. Dunn Frawley ??? ??? McDonald Grimes Trengove Cross Watts Howe Hogan Bail Fitzpatrick Dawes Kennedy-Harris ??? N Jones Vince Tyson M Jones Viney ???

CHF in first pre season game blowing hard in the third term. Stop the presses...

Stuie in all fairness I don't know if you have ever played football but to be blowing hard even after half time in your first pre season game for the year is no issue at all. Every first game you play everyone will be blowing up hard. Its the nature of not playing for 6 months. Even though he has trained pretty strongly, AFL intensity is a complete different level to training intensity. Pedo was working really hard so its a good thing he was blowing hard. Even the commentators were saying how hard Dustin Martin was blowing up in the first qtr.

Being a volunteer helps occasionally, was standing next to Peter Jackson whilst Chip was doing the presser, as Chip finished he came over to Peter Jackson and said with a laugh paraphrasing "that should be worth another 300"....Jackson laughed back and said "No".......I don't think there is problem.......I asked Chip how many times a day he gets asked about the contract, he said at least once a day...........said he is really enjoying the 'new' Club but just wants to see what eventuates, too many false dawns

They've clearly picked up your zest for life.

. No, but you said he did nohing memorable. His kick was memorable was it not? I agree that he will struggle to play week in week out but roos likes hard workers so if he works as hard as he did Friday night who knows?

I wouldn't blame him - I'd probably do the same thing in his shoes. I would still be bitterly disappointed though.

I will bet any money that Toumpas will be a better player than Wines in 2 years time.

I would like to keep playing Spencer and see if he is better second up. He doesnt get to string many together. Keep Gawn for later on. I reckon many remember Mark Jamar as a good ruck but forget how slow/stiff he is. He also doesnt win many in the ruck, just negates the other ruckman IMO. Having said that, because we have so many on the bench, NAB cup is perfect for him to only play 20-30% of the game, as I doubt if he can go much more. Spencer has a red hot go, and its good see a big man ready to get low for a ball, not stand around waiting for it to come out.

If we have a couple of tall marking options, I would expect to see much the same in the back half but much quicker movement through the HF area. By necessity we were moving the ball up to HF and then stalling to find a hard-leading option to kick to or for someone to slip into the gap behind the lead. Once we have the talls in place this stall won't be necessary and we should see much quicker movement of the ball from half way to the marking forward. Hopefully this will allow us to get the ball in to one-on-one contests before the opposition can send extra help back there, thus giving our forwards a good shot at marking and making sure our crumbers aren't outnumbered. As to who those tall options may be, I don't want to speculate too much, but as I've said before, Fitz could find himself playing more than many people suspect.

Which is strange because when drafted he had top quality repeat sprints. Maybe the broken leg and bulking up has hurt his speed but I get the feeling he's a bit like Watts so far in that he hasn't unleashed his real speed. I think he needs to play with more confidence which is why I'm not against giving him all the NAB challenge and 4 weeks straight without being dropped. Grimes, Terlich, Frawley, Tom McDonald all are very good attacking defenders at finding the ball but they just don't hit the targets perfectly, we need to invest some time in a skilled player back there.

Hey Guys. What a game! The inclusions of our new recruits has so far been a success. To see the rolls played gave me great encouragement for the teams future. Vince, Cross, Tyson and Michie were all fantastic. Like everyone else, I was mightily impressed with JKH. What a star of the future. Grimes back to the halfback line, Trenners everywhere, Dunn and Chippa our back line generals, Alexis chiming in beautifully. Toump seems to have a completely new roll this year. He seemed to be playing high half forward and rolling back to the scrimmages. It looked like he was running more freely than ever. What gives me hope is his ball usage. After a very indifferent first half, I can now see what he is going to bring to the table. That kick to Ro when Toump was setting up for a set shot(watch his eyes when he's faking the shot on goal just before the release to Ro) then the pass to Howie to set up for a goal were awesome. I have no fears with Toump. N.Jones showed us another side to his game with help on the inside. His kicking has always been great, but wow, he is unbelievable. Is there nothing this man can't do!! The new guys were amazing, and I think we are going to have a great year. I'm not expecting finals, but with some talks to come back, depth players now, and of course, JV soon!!! C'mon Dees, lets show them how good we can be this year.

There is also no point in a ruckman who is seldom on the park.

He was great vs RIchmond and will be one of the first picked every week, and rightfully so

Ridiculous. If Mitch didn't have any outside interests, particularly over the past two years, he'd be in a mental institution. It is in the best interests of everyone to have some interest away from work - keeps you sharper and much more pleasant to be around.

I see JKH every second night, walking down that subway with his headphones on, worried about shadows that turn out to be protective services officers.

This is the thread people. This is the thread. Look, we will lose this game in the real stuff but we will be a real footy team this year if they can keep this up. 331 and 319. Those two numbers have significant meaning; 331 is the number of uncontested possessions we won in Roos' first game, and 319 is the TOTAL number of possessions we averaged last year. Uncontested possessions get tarred as being a 'soft touch' but the trust and hard work required to get them is some of the hardest work in the game. I can't stress enough how impressive it was to see every player reward ANY player willing to run into space and/or overlap. This is a risky gameplan that will ask for enormous effort and trust in your teammates skills (and your own) but I can see relevance from it. And that is what I hope to see in 2014.

No......You are either in or out....no matter the state of things......whether we win or lose....are good or bad......Sorry you just can't pick and choose when you become a member on how you think the side will go from year to year.....