pringle

I don't think we can get too many seats anyway. They're all pretty much reserved for Geelong members.

I wholeheartedly agree. However at the moment, the trend in the game is for a ridiculous amount of interchanges. This is necessary to keep up with other teams using this tactic. Next year it will change (via rule changes from the AFL). In the interim, we have been poor with our timing and this needs to improve. MInd you, it can be difficult. I work with a football team and the fitness guys do have a fair bit of control over this aspect. But the players are also instructed to bring themselves off when their 5 or 8 minute period on the ground is up. And they have to take some responsibility as well. They will learn.

Colin Garland played 1 and a half games of footy in 12 months and came straight into the senior side. The FD have shown that if they think someone is capable they will happily promote them after minimal gametime despite long absences.

Correct. See Australian cricket team over the past few years since the loss of some of our greatest ever stars.

I would just like to thank Cam Schwab for replying to this thread. Craig Cameron used to post on Demonland from time to time and it was a great thrill as a supporter of the MFC to occasionally get a snippet from inside the club. And it was fantastic to see someone from inside the club willing to come out and back our boy to the hilt in public today on this forum. As I said in my previous post, there is no problem from flower posing the question in this thread. It WAS brought up by a media commentator and he/she is entitled to ask the question. But some people should use discretion as to the content of their replying posts. Cam, I'm sure you are aware that we are all passionate Melbourne supporters on this site. Most of us are paid up. If you ever feel the urge to come back and post on Demonland for our benefit, your posts will be received with great anticipation.

Interesting. Now we're not as bad as we have been in the past few years, BT has a couple of nice things to say about us and all of a sudden he's not a goose anymore? I don't feel like posting my opinions on him at the moment as I'm trying to watch the cricket semi final, but sounds like you guys are easily influenced by his commentary on the MFC rather than his commentary about football as a whole. Has he really changed or has your opinion of him changed because we aren't pathetic anymore? If you were a StKilda or a Geelong supporter for the past few years would your opinion of him have been the same? Just tossing this up as an idea. I only see him on TV and all I see is a guy who loves being talked up as an ex-player. Don't hear him on the radio as I only listen to SEN if possible (Rex made it impossible to listen to 3AW previously, MMM suck balls and over-hype things whilst ABC are too boring).

Blease can have as long as he needs. There's no rush. And just think how exciting he'll be as a "new recruit" next year. It's not too hard to be patient with a boy like Blease when there are so many others queuing up for senior spots.

RIP sir. May not have been mentioned on the website but I'm sure the players will honour him with black armbands.

Oh, and good luck big young fella for tomorrow. I'm not going to be able to make it there due to work commitments (Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!), but I've already set the recorder and looking forward to a big win. Go Dees and go young Jack Watts!!!!

As an aside, can't be bothered reading everything in these 18 pages (though I think I've read most), this was in the Casey match report on the MFC official website: Jack Watts - Kicks 6, Handballs 14, Marks 7, Tackles 5, Goals 4 Jack had probably his best game for the year for us. We had him down for seventeen touches, seven marks, four goals two. He was also involved in a couple of other passages of play that created goals, and goal assists, and with the four goals two, one of them hit the post. He did beautifully. He’s got that kicking back, so he would have been well pleased with that. He worked in really well with Brad Miller and Michael Newton, as a forward trio. Jack’s heading in an excellent direction, and he’s been doing that the last couple of weeks. All I want to point out is the stats are very wrong. If he had 6 kicks, then all his kicks were shots for goal. That is wrong. I was there. He sent off at least a couple of passes by foot. And the coaches had him down for 17 touches. The stats above say 20. So when analysing the stats on the official site from VFL games, take them as a guide only. Use the coaches words as an indicator of form, not meaningless (and incorrect) statistics.

Why is everyone so touchy. Flower Power just asked a question. Don't blame him/her for starting the thread. Parkin is the dope who brought it up. Flower justs wants to know if anyone has better info than the hacks in the media. Personally i don't think he'd get a game if he had a bad attitude.

The patella is usually the one that recovers well. Without having seen your knee, I suspect you have damaged the articular cartilage (under-surface) of your patella. This is probably causing your current grief. How bad was the break?

Stef didn't play. That may be the reason PJ got the call-up in the end. Stef may have not been 100% and therefore they decided to give him a rest rather than risk having him as a liability in the AFL game. And if he's not 100%, no point risking him in the VFL either. With respect to Morton, Jaded, seemed to move fine. His main improvements will come with more match fitness and reading of the play (touch). This shouldn't take him too long to recapture. PCL (posterior cruciate ligament) strains aren't so bad in terms of recovery and returning to full mobility. They take a while before becoming completely stable (hence 10 wddks out) But certainly nothing like an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) or "knee fracture" (I assume you mean you fractured your tibial plateau?).

Me too. Post it as a quote so we can see. Make it clear that it is a nasty rumour. Unless it is slanderous. Then maybe not (for the sake of the site). Edit: spelling.

My impressions from Yesterday were: Gysberts: Looks to be a very classy player. Excellent skills, clean hands and a really good decision-maker. The surprise of the day for me. Looked very much at home out there. Is quite tall and, as many have said, a bit thin, but not as thin as I expected from previous reports. He is certainly big enough to play AFL footy and would probably weigh as much or more than Cale Morton. Miller: Played well, but still can't kick. Is definitely good enough in general play and contested situations to play AFL footy, but loses immeasurable value by virtue of the fact that he can't kick to save himself and makes poor decisions. Should not play again except in an emergency. Morton: Was just OK. Nothing special, but will be better for the run. Needs another couple of weeks. However considering Garland made the jump up to seniors almost straight away after over a year out, may be a surprise inclusion. Maric: People are a bit harsh. He was fine today. Didn't dominate, but didn't do too badly either. Set up a Watts goal with a clever pass and played a part in quite a few nice passages of play. Also kicked a classy goal from 50 on the run around his body. I don't really know what people are expecting from the kid. He got caught a couple of times trying to do a bit too much. He'll learn. That's what the VFL affiliation is for. To learn your trade in a good quality competition without losing your confidence. The small forward role is very hard to play. He has the ability to do some very classy things on a footy field but he needs to learn when to try and when to do the team thing. I still think he can make it if he learns the lessons he's supposed to be learning. Bell: bell was very solid today. Doesn't do anything spectacular but would not look out of place back in the AFL. Handy depth at worst. Cheney: Was probably the pick of the Melbourne listed players today. Really solid defensively and then ran off his opponent with monotonous regularity to set up countless forward thrusts for the Scorpions. Looked very quick and made good decisions. Skills were impeccable. Deserves a call-up more than anyone else out there, especially given his reported consistency over the whole season to date. MUST get a chance soon. MacDonald: A quiet game for Joel today. had an excellent wrestle with Tom hislop on the wing at one point. Casey got a free kick out of it as Hislop had Joel's face buried 4 feet under the boggy Casey turf for a good minute. That was about it for Joel. Hard to see him back next week. Even if we had an injury in the backline, it would be unfair to Cheney to bring macDonald in ahead of him. Newton: See Miller. Is good enough in general play. Works hard nowadays. Would be fine with him playing AFL if we needed him desperately. Can't kick. McNamara: Was very similar to Cheney this week but just a bit behind him. As someone else mentioned, they seem to have good communication these two and regularly passed between eachother or conspired to foil an opposition attack. One query is his size though. He is neither tall and strong enough to play a key position not nimble and quick enough to play small defender. But has good skills and will get a chance if he continues to play as well as he did yesterday. Wonna: Wet my pants every time he went to ground or tried to lay a tackle. Was it just me or did it look like he was about to grab a hammy or was a bit slow to get up every time he hit the deck? Consistently fell awkwardly when tackling from behind. Could that be due to the new tackling technique? Or am I just paranoid? Didn't do very much. Took a gutsy mark running towards the goal line and then hit the post with the snap. Otherwise didn't have any impact. Got close on numerous occasions to pulling off a tackle and I guess that made the opposition get rid of the ball more hastily than would otherwise have been the case. But just a smidge away still. 1-2 more weeks at Casey at least I would think. Jetta: Was excellent today. Showed great defensive pressure and used the ball well along the wings and through the corridor. Has a tough edge to him as well. Will be a player. I think they are just trying to build his tank. In my opinion though, he is not a forward pocket. Not sure why people think he is. I think he is a midfielder. So he and Bennell and Davey and Wonna and Jurrah could all easily play in the same team together one day. Spencer: Is massive. Does little. Can't kick. REALLY. CAN'T KICK. Project player??? My grade 3 school project volcano had more potential to play AFL than Spencer. NEXT. Healey: Impressed by his few posessions. Seems to lack a bit of composure at times. Don't really know too much about him, but acquitted himself nicely. Watts: Was VERY good yesterday. Not only was this my opinion, but also the opinion of the opposition players and support staff, who were all very impressed. The boy has oodles of class. I'm really not sure which game theat bloke was at who reckons he was just ok. He wasn't BOG, but he was clearly the classiest player out on the field yesterday. He did some things that were unteachable. Little things. Things that people don't always notice. He took marks, turned players inside out, had great acceleration, found space, kicked a couple of majestic 50+ meter goals straight through the middle that came flush off the boot like a Tiger Woods drive down the fairway. He gave off goals unselfishly as well and hit the post from a difficult boundary line set shot. Could have kicked 6. And all this despite the fact that at times he was being manhandled. I have no problems with our selection of Watts over Naitanui. He is exactly the type of player we need going forward. Unless you are the MFC marketing people dreaming up dreadlock holidays as prizes for the Naitanui fanclub competition, if you saw yesterday's game and understood the deficiency Melbourne has in terms of lacking a KPF you would be absolutely content with our choice. Don't think I'm trying to comment on Naitanui's ability. He is good. So is Jack. We NEED Jack. I don't think we NEED Naitanui. We would LIKE to have Naitanui. But we don't NEED him. Anyway, the most pleasing thing for me about watching the game yesterday was that it is now clear that we have incredible depth. In previous years there were players wearing a MFC guernsey that would not get a spot in any other team in the comp. Now there are players playing in the VFL who would get a spot in quite a few other AFL teams. The tide is turning. P.S. Every player looks good when you demolish a team like that, so this week's opinions may be skewed. Still... they were all actually very good.

1 point win to Coburg. 14.10 to 14.9. Came from 20 down with a few mins to go but couldn't get up. Gutsy effort.

Coburg lead by 13 with a few mins to go. 11.8 to 13.9

9.8 to 7.4. Casey lead. 3qtr time.

Nearly 3 qtr time. Casey 8.8.56 to Coburg 7.3.45.

Disappointing news. Blease not on the ground or bench this half. Weird. Was definitely warming up on the boundary line 1st qtr. Not seen since. Score now 6.7.43 to 6.3.39.

Goal after the siren to Coburg sees Casey leading by 4 pts at qtr time. 4.7 to 4.3. Still no blease.

4.6.30 to 3.3.21 Casey lead. Blease still not on. I assume playing a half only. Is definitely suited up so expect to see him in the 2nd half. 23 min mark.

3.4.22 to 2.2.14. Casey lead. Blease watch - yet to come on the ground.

nearly Qtr time in reserves. Blease still yet to get onto the ground. Has just been warming up on the sides. Clearly being eased into things. Don't expect seniors for a while yet. 1.3.9 to 0.2.2 Casey lead.

NO. F'ing FFFFFFFFFFFand any more derivatives of FFFFFFF you can think. of. It's not OK that we lost tonight. REALLY NOT OK. This and the CollingF'ing wood F'ing game are going to see us miss out on finals and we really deserve more. I f'ing hope we hurt like hell tonight in the rooms. I am not going to be able to look at football this week in the media. I am devastated. We were a five goal better side tonight. They just knew how to score from nothing all night long and we couldn't buy one despite multiple more efforts in fwd fifty. Every freaking thing seemed to go for them tonight. I hate the footy gods. F'ing hate them. Cry rant cry.