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ok,been trying to stay away from this ,but here goes. ive been suffering the blues for a while now and unfortunately am not controlling it as much as IT is controlling me. i dont medicate and dont want to,im fighting this on my own and sometimes winning and sometimes losing. there doesnt seem to be a order to this problem,IT comes and goes as it pleases and how people in the community put up with for years is beyond my comprehension. ive learnt a few things of late,sometimes i post on here and feel great,also go about my daily business"normally". other times i get the dreaded blues and cant even turn on my computer or understand where and what im doing. im learning that i can beat this with time and only time. poor old mitchy boy needs time and patience,and a little bit of love and care. his family and freinds will do that. all we can do is welcome him back when he wants to pop in and say gurday at the club. there you go,ive laid myself bare and it dont feel good,now you know why i dont post for days at a time. now lets just get on with the game and enjoy OUR season. btw, i am good and only worry and mitch and others with this affliction. i will beat IT.old enough and ugly enough to handle a little problem. lets forget i wrote this and get on with footy yes.

I managed to get down to training this morning, not many spectators there. The boys all came together in the middle about 15 minutes in. Roosey announced something and there was a big cheer. I am guessing he announced Alex G's elevation off the rookie list. There were many high fives and a few Mr Bean references. Hogan, Viney doing a few run throughs over to the side early, then disappeared. Jamar doing laps but did get involved in at least one routine where both he and big Max played as lead up forwards. Gee Max should be a handful playing deep forward if we had control of the midfield. He took a couple cleanly at full extension, what nine feet up and took one cleanly off his boot straps, swung round and put it through. Fitzy was doing the same up the other end, leading up well and taking clean marks. My only concern was that he often took the mark at full extension above his head on the run. He should be timing his run to take those out in front away from a backman's fists. I took a day off with a bad cold but work keeps calling. I will provide some more observations a little later.

Some more observations I didn't see Dawes or Mitch as we know. The hyphen, Kent and Strauss were running laps. So was Tapscotts early, gee he looks fit and powerful. He took part in most of the routines before jogging off a bit early, knee is still strapped up but he was moving well and was clean by hand and foot. But keep in mind today's routines were run under minimal pressure, it seemed to be about honing the skills of kicking on the run to a leading target, running into space, presenting, looking for the best option. Generally our kicking was good, fast and low to a lead. The was some sloppy stuff from the three B's, Byrne, Blease and Barry occasionally. Blease moves so well but struggles at times with his decision making and some poor disposal. He stuffed up one routine and copped a spray from N Jones but took it well and got it right the next time. When they broke up into their groups the forward group was Fitzy, Pedo, Howe, Toumpas, Bail, Blease and Byrne. Did some innocuous leading and kicking to each other, not sure what it was achieving really. I watched Howe closely for much of the session, never saw him fumble a ball on the ground or in the air, he is looking really sharp. By the way there was some new bloke leading out from the goal square, if I didn't know better I would swear it was Lucas Cook!!! Oh no come to think of it It was Max King doing lead ups with Fitzy. Watts trained with the midfield group everytime. In the last exercise the ball was rolled at a mid who then had to try and crash his way through 4 or 5 guys holding big pads, you get the feel of body contact without the bruising. Jack got through this pretty well I thought so did Bernie V who at one stage got completely bowled over. Jones, Evans, Tyson, Cross, Riley all got involved. N Jones seemed to in everything, much higher profile than Grimes on the field I thought. First time I have seen Mitchie he moved well and looks fit and a good size I think M Jones was working with the backline group. At the end Frawley and MacDonald were going one on one as a coach kicked the ball up high to them. They did a lot of body on body and spoiling work. Grimes, Terlich, Jetta, Frawley, MacDonald, Dunn, Alex G with a big smile all doing a lot of punching away to high balls and running onto the loose ball to set up a clearance. I get the impression that Riley is a bit of a joker, always seemed to be smiling and having some running gag with a couple of the assistant coaches. He seems un impeded to me, moved well in the routines, ran some serious laps at the end. Doesn't have the most athletic build on the field, he is pretty solid.

When Matthew lloyd starts to sound smart you have to doubt the intelligence of those surrounding him

I'm calling it now - Aiden Riley - will be a huge pickup for us ( Note- I called early on Newton, Bate and Gysberts so my track recording on calling is pretty uninspiring)

I cannot understand this notion of not hating other teams. You barrack for Melbourne - therefore you hate everyone else. I'll concede that there are degrees of hate. For example I hate Carlton but I hate Richmond even more. I cannot understand anything outside these parameters. I had a few fights in Clifton Hill to support this rule.

if they stop playing our song before games we will never hear it...

Good on ya Jazza and Grand Old for bringing the human element back to this thread. Genuine best wishes for you guys.

Yep and the german athletes in the 70s are paying the price now. And it didn't help Raelene Boyle.... Its simple. You can have sympathy for their plight but they are guilty, they put their faith in the wrong people and they have had an advantage. They shouldbe dirty that their careers and possibly their long term health are affected but they are falling in line behind boy wonder. They are totally deluded. If every athlete that blamed their coach got off for doing drugs then WADA wouldn't have one conviction or suspension, It has to be zero tolerance.

I love this thread already. *sits back with popcorn in hand*

She's just expressing an opinion. Who cares whether you agree with her or not. Why are so many offended by opinions with which they disagree ? Say you don't agree and articulate why (like The Master). She doesn't need to be personally denigrated for having a view. So many precious peanuts around here.

This thread is a ridiculous overreaction to a simple 1 minute comment piece from Wilson that MFC shouldn't rush the succession plan and they for the moment should enjoy Roos. Hardly controversial and I would have thought common sense. You would not have thought so gauging much of melodrama here.

massive shoes to fill

I compare Cook to a very awkward Fitzy ( for his first few seasons) and I suspect the reason that Fitzy is still on the list and playing this weekend is because a club is prepared to take a risk and persevere with raw, untapped talent if the attitude and desire to succeed is evident. I suspect that Cooks attitude and determination to succeed just wasn't there.

Caroline Wilson cops a lot of stick from dumb "kick-it-long" MFC supporters. Yes she has had a go at this club over the past 10 years; but guess what, if the club responded to serious doubts over its admin and decision-making, rather than looking for cozy pats-on-the-back we wouldn't be in dire straits. Most of us just accepted the dribble coming out of the club over the past decade. Fact. Wilson is the closest thing to a footy journo (probably Whately) without mates, without conflict and with a cupboard full of ethics. Another case-in-point was that she had the names of the Essendon gang of injectees months ago; but this wasn't public until the gutter journalism of Mark Robinson wanted a lazy scoop. Then he had the gall to pretend to be respectful of Mitch Clark and his current saga on 360. Most of the short-term me-thinking Australian public deserve the Murdoch Press. Most of the dumb SEN blokey football public deserve your Mark Robinson's over your Wilson's. As for the success-plan? She is spot on. The "rush" to get in the 'anointed one' last summer was "old-Melbourne". Roos has signed for 2-3 years. Lets just sit back for once, and canvass our options.

It seems to me that the former players are more forthright and open about their situation than the incumbents. Lovett-Murray also revealed his concerns a few weeks ago about Dank's practices at Essendon and it continues to boggle the mind that nobody seems to be able to locate the whereabouts of any record of the thousands of individual treatments given to the players. Even more so is the fact that so many in the media are trying to play down the severity of this situation which can only be described as "high farce".

That isn't Clarks fault. Clubs need to do due diligence. If they draft a player - as we have done - then it's on the club to honor their commitment. It ain't on Clark, it is on MFC, and if Clark has any issues at all - or any other MFC for that matter - then the MFC need to do all they can to help. If players walk away, we pay FULL contract, if they want to stay, we do all we can. Cutting loose players when they are down and out - isn't the way to go, I certainly wouldn't support a club that done that and I am sure players looking to come to MFC - wouldn't come to a club if they cut loose players that were down and out. Clark for pick 12 even now rates ahead of any top 20 pick we've drafted in the past 5 years. I understand supporters are frustrated and angry after watching Ollie Wines tear Carlton a new one, but let's not take this out on Mitch Clark.

Good organisations treat their employees with respect. My experience is that this is repaid many times over in the fullness of time. The MFC is doing the right thing here. Some of the reactions displayed on DL border on the Neanderthal in terms of the management of what is clearly a disappointing situation for everyone. But the long term interests of the club are best served by getting Mitch healthy again, and creating a supportive environment for all the other players.

I think some of the discussion on this thread is hard on the Toump. I keep hearing how he played 2 seasons of SANFL footy. He actually played 5 games at the end of 2011 (including the Eagles Premiership where he starred) and then played the first 5 games of 2012 Season before beginning the National u18 Champs ( where he was made Captain in a side including Luke Dunstan, Scharenberg, Mayes, Aish etc). This makes a grand total of 10 Senior SANFL games guys. He then proceeded to play in 4 of the 5 Champs games where he also made All Aust. The only game he missed was their only loss to Vic Metro and the 3/4 of a game against NT where he injured the hips in the first 5 mins of the game. I have followed his short career closely and feel he is harshly treated here. He played a grand total 5 SANFL and 3 State games in 2012, followed by double hip surgery where it has proven to be a 12 month recovery period to getting back to levels of fitness you have prior. This year will be a break out year for the Toump. Mark my words. Those questioning his courage have no idea. The comments someone made about being pushed off the ball too easily are very true. I think even he would admit that as he did in his end of season review interview on our site. His confidence would have taken a massive hit last year playing when he was clearly not ready. Look at the way he ended the season to see the Toump's potential. He will be a classy player for us. He will start to take the shots on goal mentioned by one poster as that confidence grows. You only need to see what he did for his SANFL club. As a reminder of what Toump can, and will, do for us, watch these highlights. www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr4jzuL-IJM

I actually thought what happened on Stuie's thread was terrible, it was a genuine positive thread and as usual demonlanders had to wreck that with their stupid negative [censored] and inability to use the other clearly marked thread to voice negative opinions, certainly understand why Stuie is annoyed, and surprised so many demonlanders can't grasp the idea of a positive thread.

By the same logic, why don't we flood the visiting team's dressing rooms and turn off the heaters in the coaches' box and accost them with knife-weilding maniacs as they come down the race at quarter-time? Stupid idea, though I guess I respect the motivation behind it.

qantas isnt a patch on what it USED to be but is an OK airline..Singapore runs circles around them Id say though. Malaysian was ..ok emirates...a tad disappointing in a way , not sure why thought theyd be like singpaore. Thai I like BririshAirways...ho hum Air Asia..bit like Jetstar... a little better though i thought. It often just comes down to which crew and how many screaming kids !!

The day we stop expecting first year players to come in and over take games can not come quick enough!, they're effectively first year players learning their trade! There is one in every draft. I voted for Wines as previously mentioned i like tough and under players who don't hesitate. We picked Jimmy not Ollie. Lets get over it hey......

He has been on the list for one year... seriously.. get a grip bud

Just plain sad. Time for Hird to go away for good. His contribution to the game is forever tarnished. He should walk away quietly and leave a note of apology on the desk.

Psychopath = no remorse

Apparently, unlike others, I don't have a brain like a sieve. I'm well aware of what my view were prior to the draft. it's the same with Watts. I wanted him too. But I don't hold tight to views that were clearly wrong. I'm an amateur. I don't get paid to recruit players. I had no clue Toumpas would be soft. I love big bodied inside mids and I've posted that countless times. I posted it around the time of the draft. That said, my view was that we needed some outside class. We still do. With Viney coming on board we had some of Wines' qualities covered and Toumpas would be a nice complement to Viney's manic approach at the footy. What I didn't envisage was that Toumpas was going to be so out of his depth at AFL level. He should improve and naturally I hope he does. Right now his physicality is virtually non existent and he's not up to AFL footy. Toumpas would not ge getting a game for GWS at the moment. As stated, I don't remain wedded to views that were clearly wrong.

He had OP as an 18 year old and then did his quad a couple times and then was in the preliminary AA Squad of 40 before his 22nd birthday. He missed 8 games in the three years before he came to the MFC. Again, you can allude to whatever you like, but don't delude yourself into thinking that Clark brought this freak injury on himself or that he was already an injury plagued player when he arrived - he wasn't.

Yes it does! Try it! It's fun!

Blistering pace ( like Blease) is great but you only require good leg speed which the likes of Watts and Salem have but more importantly you need speed in ball movement. Geelong, Hawks and Swans ( save Lewis Jetta) don't have exceptional legs speed but they have all exceptional ball movement speed. Carlton have some really good pace in Yarran and Gartlett ( and Betts until last year) and you sometimes see it rip at team apart....for 5 minutes.. Carlton seriously lack smart ball movement.

Made me smile

I was about to give you a like, because I largely agree. I suppose it's disappointing for many of us who have been looking forward to seeing Viney (concussion) in his second year and Hogan take the field. Not to mention getting all of Clark, Hogan and Dawes together. You're right in that it's not a huge deal in the scheme of things, it's just that I seem to have far less to look forward to for round 1 than I was hoping.

I sat next to Carro at a recent function mastermind, she has a lot of time for the club and our pathetic plight, don't be too quick to discount what she says, maybe she's trying to put the heat on Roos to commit as he hasn't as yet

By the way Sydney traded Darren Jolly to Collingwood when he was reaching the peak of his career. At the time some questioned it I'm sure even if Sydney got a first round draft pick for him. Last year Jolly revealed that at the time his wife was suffering pretty badly from Post Natal Depression and they had to move the family back to Melbourne. Roos didn't tell Jolly he had to stay he just told Jolly no problems, got the trade done, no leaks in the media etc. Jolly won a flag at Collingwood, Sydney have since won a flag as well. With what I've read here I can't help but think some would attack Jolly's wife if this was the Sydney board of whatever year that was.

Apologies to m'kaay this guy has now taken the lead as the biggest muppet. Where the [censored] is the compassion for a guy who knocked himself out one game and snapped his foot in half in another game and up until before christmas was training so well he was in the leadership group.

Dom's going to be something special but that was expected. Vince and Cross's output was expected. You could argue Giorgiou, although he had a well known reputation in the SANFL so people had an idea of what to expect. Michie is shaping up very nicely but also had a great season in the WAFL last season so there were expectations. I don't think you could call any of these a "Find". To me a "Find" is a player no one knew about and you find them when you didn't know you had them. Surely on that basis JKH is the find so far. By the end of next year it might well be Jayden Hunt.

Geelong have been the absolute professionals but Daniel Menzel's career is practically over before it started with what 3 or 4 knees. Nathan Vardy nearly had to stop playing with a hip injury and now has done a knee. Hamish McIntosh missed the entire of last year. Yeah you can draw parallels between Clark and Jurrah. Both struggling with injuries and other happenings and therefore both granted leave. But what I don't get is why you are so negative on the individuals. Jurrah was always a risk of things going bad. He came from a culture that was pretty much another country to Australia, may as well be another planet. Not to mention half his family was fighting the other half. Jurrah's actions post AFL have told me enough about him and his community that we did all we could. Clark himself may have been a bit of a risk with homesickness but ultimately pick 12 in a weak draft for an immediate impact key forward and leader. It was a steal. The injury happened. It was terrible luck. Whatever troubles he is facing now are massively contributed to by his initial injury. If he was playing for most of the last two years and ready to line up on the weekend I bet all the other problems in his life could be managed around footy. Either way I refuse to hold it against the club for making some decisions that took a bit of risk and I refuse to hold it against individuals who have troubles in their life for whatever reason that the feel they need to walk away from their employment. Take a deep breath, consider the individuals and move on. Plenty of other injustices to worry about.

Cannot see him replacing Byrnes

Looks like its Geoigiou http://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/melbourne-to-be-without-three-firstchoice-forwards-for-round-1-clash-against-st-kilda/story-fndv8pdq-1226856221159

Mentioning Mark Neeld shows me she doesn't understand it. It's about bringing in the number 2 to get to know the plan and work with Roos then carry on that plan with some minimal tweaks as needed. Neeld was a failure when we appointed him in charge of everything based off some power point presentations and then he let the club go off on the direction he chose. Sure they will have to make sure they pick the right person for the job and there is some risk involved but mainly it's about keeping stability for the players. It's less than perfect but it was what we required to get Roos. The idea of hiring the assistant earlier is fundamental to it. Hiring Roos was all about him setting the club up with a culture, getting us competitive on the field, getting all aspects of the footy department up to scratch and then setting up a young coach with a side on the rise and looking at sustainable success. For the assistant 1 year is too brief which is why I hope Roos commits to the third year so we have a guy getting 2 years under him but it's the seamlessness of the transition thats most important. It's not going to be Malthouse to Buckley. It's really not that different than Demetriou handing over the CEO of the AFL to Gil McLachlan. As I said before I see no point trying to force Roos in to something his initial instincts told him he didn't want. If we get what he originally signed up for which is a turned around club in 2-3 all set to have the reigns handed over to an assistant who has the trust of the playing group and has desires to continue Roos' work then it will be a great result.

unless we know exactly what problems mitch is facing we are just floundering around in the dark at the moment we have no better option than to allow the club to manage it as best it can it's not a good situation for anyone and prejudging it leaves one open to looking like a fool later on

Done our 3.2 million cold it's as simple as that.

1. He wanted to go home because he was raising a young daughter. He took the extra cash and easier trade because that was what he thought would help his family long term compared to being home in Perth 2. Brisbane players are morons. They pretty much happily sat back and watched 5 talented youngsters walk out of the place. The culture up there is nearly as bad as Melbourne's 3. If Mitch needs to be in Perth to be supported by his family on and off the field I'd gladly trade him tomorrow. Heck delist him now with full pay and let him train under guidance from a WAFL club and try to be drafted by a WA club. I've got no problem with that. But Mitch Clark played with more passion than anyone maybe besides Nath Jones and James McDonald in the last 5 or so years when he pulled on the red and blue. Until I hear otherwise I'll trust that he wants to give his all to the MFC. As far as I can tell he's having issues that are exacerbated by repeat injuries that have him questioning his commitment as an AFL player and those types of issues can't be overcome with just a click of the finger and saying ok I'm going to do it for MFC. But until I hear otherwise I have full faith that he'd really like to be out there for us.

I got there about 11am and watched from the punt rd end. First training I've seen under Roos and co and to reiterate the obvious it was all ball use and game-time simulations rather than athelitics and Roos was so much more involved than Neeld. enjoyed watching. saw miller kick the ball 70 metres to another couch. I was surprised by Watts and how fit he looked. Trenners is a beautiful running kick, Toumpas was training like his life depended on it - very vocal and it seemed Bernie is a cut above at the moment - fast, agile, great kicking accuracy. Cross was also giving his all. I saw Bail kick a running pass straight into Cross (?) 's hands. Also saw Bleasey getting a lot of the ball in the semi match Sims. Pedo, Georgio and Michie were feeling the running. good to see them look like a real footy club. fits looks pretty fit - didn't see any other forwards. every time Chip got the ball all the players were vocal - making him want to stay??

Got there at 9.30 passing Dawes on bridge as he was heading to tan with a trainer. A few Casey players and a few Dees out there warming up. Bulk arrived 20 mins later, warming up together, JKH hardly did anything but some goal kicking, saving himself for tomorrow. The session consisted of a hell of a lot of ball work and the skills were very good, though a perfect day for it. Bernie Vince was sublime, excited to see how he goes this year. Roos very involved, chalk and cheese to what I saw last year. On a similar vein, was not impressed with Pedersen during preseason last year, didn't think he worked hard enough, was very impressed with what I saw of him today, worked hard the whole session, expect him to start the season up forward with Howe and Fitzy. Georgio will probably play his role down back till our tall forwards return. At the end of the session, him and Howe practiced providing multiple leads over and over again. Those playing tomorrow left after roughly an hour, hopefully some posters get to tomorrow's game and give us report. Tyson and Mitchie will be great gains, was impressed with Salems size, beautiful kick as well. Overall, the team are looking much stronger than I remember for a long time, talking of strong, can't wait till we see Riley, he looks a tough unit. Another difference to last year was the constant movement, it made it seem much more realistic to the workout they would get during a game, last year I felt the players were stationary too much in drills. At the end of a very long session which included a lot of match type simulation drills they then put the boys through a number of short repeat sprints, something that must have hurt considering GPS reading were showing they had already covered similar ground at a similar pace to what they would have if they played a match. Looked like the club had a number of players families there, showing them training and then a tour of facilities, not certain they were the new players families, but got that impression. Will be on and off today, will try expand later, my 6 month old preventing me writing more now as he tries hijack the ipad.

Anyone is more accurate. We have been blessed with geese. We have seen a smattering of "good gets" taken before their rating ( Howe and McDonald - then go back to the likes of Davey, Robertson) - we have had little success with our top draft picks that were taken exactly where pundits thought they would go - Sylvia, Brock M, Morton, Watts, Trengove, Scully ( even though he isnt with us - he is yet to prove that he is a number one pick), Toumpas (disclaimer - some are still in the formative stages and could yet prove that they were taken at the right pick). So we have had high picks taken at the right pick that haven't come on, we have had speculative picks taken high that haven't come on. Again this all poses that thorny question - have the recruiters got it so badly wrong or have we just not had the workplace, the culture and the development programs to allow players to thrive ?

We got Toumpas and not Wines. Now it's up to Jimmy and the club to make him the best player he can be. That is where the future lies, not with lamenting what might have been. That is so pointless. Natanui Vs Watts Dangerfield, Rioli Vs Morton Martin Vs Scully, Trengove Vines Vs Toumpas These things are in the past. The future is the future

Unbelievable. It's March 2014, and the same people still making themselves appear even less in touch with football than they were in 2013 by continuing this Wines nonsense.

Who cares? We got Jim. He plays for us. He's a young player just strarting out his career. Its ridiculous to compare him to someone else based on 12 months. Let's try somethimng new fo D Land - support him