MikeyJ

Hmm, tried that but no luck. No response from MFC, on hold to NB for ~25 mins twice without getting through. Will try another PC tonight on another network to see if that has any effect.

Yep, I'm having the same issue now. Have tweeted the club and am on hold to NB now. Will let you know how it goes.

You still don't get it. Every report on this matter identified News Corp papers, or the Herald Sun specifically, as the source of the names. AFAIK, no other media organisation has identified the players. That means, either explicitly or implicitly, every media organisation has made the decision NOT to name the players and in effect, explicitly or implicitly take a morally superior position to the Herald Sun. By your reasoning, that opens them up to "poor journalism" as you see it. Yet Caroline Wilson is the only one you're taking a shot at. Baffling. You're right, you're certainly no expert in the field. Don't get me wrong - there is huge room for debate as to the Herald Sun's position and whether it was the right one. That's I don't get why your first reaction to the story was to 'bash' a journalist whose only sin in this instance was to write unfavourably about the Demons in the past.

I made the initial criticism and I didn't misread it. I think you're wrong. EVERY news report about the issue has identified either the Herald Sun specifically or News Corp's Sunday papers generally as the source of the named players. Is every reporter wrong? I doubt it. Why have you singled out Caro? Seemingly because of some personal bias. Again, I suggest that you don't know what poor journalism is.

This is a ridiculous piece of criticism. Had Wilson not identified where the players were going to be named, you'd be crucifying her for withholding information relevant to the story. And it IS relevant to the story, whether you like it or not. Wilson's not the only one to have identified the Herald Sun as the source of publication. What about AAP, among others. Would you really prefer ALL journalists reporting on this story to NOT mention where the players' names were revealed? If so, you have no idea what poor journalism is.

I thought the same thing when I saw that stat. Tragic, isn't it? The line that resonated most for me - and the fact that seems to finally have caught on with so many commentators - is this: 'Melbourne supporters are sick of the ineptitude of the club and its players.' The very least we supporters can take out of it is that our discontent has been noticed. For once, no one is suggesting we lack passion.

It's a waste of time, it makes the club look like we're trying to bend the rules (again) and it makes us look amateurish at best. Tim Harrington should have played a straight bat 'no' to any queries about Hogan being eligible for 2013, instead of feeding the flames.

Apologies for prolonging the thread derailment but geez, if you're going to post 'facts' to support an argument, at least make sure they're correct.

It must be noted that Nick Riewoldt spent significant time in 2002 - his first B&F season at St Kilda - playing at centre half back. Also, I'm not sure where you got your stats from but my resource (AFL Tables) says he averaged 14.5 touches and 8.1 marks to go with his 21 goals. Considering Riewoldt led the league for marks (178) and won the Saints' B&F, polling 11 Brownlow votes, it's fair to say that Jack Watts' 2011 was a fair way behind Nick Riewoldt's 2002.

No aspiring AFL player in their right mind would turn down an invite to the AIS/AFL Academy.

To correct a few assertions already made in this thread: - The NRL have just appointed a CEO, a bloke named David Smith who is a banking executive from Wales. He professed not to know who Aussie league skipper Cameron Smith was. Agree with Left Field that John Grant has not distinguished himself after 12 months as ARLC chairman, nor is he likely to do so in future. - AA was once considered the likely successor to Demetriou, but that is clearly now Gillon McLachlan after AD's endorsement of him following the NRL's pursuit. - I get why people might not like Anderson but the idea that the League dumped its footy operations manager in the wake of senior operations official Rod Austin quitting, and the recent departure of two other members of the AFL executive doesn't bear up to scrutiny. FWIW, I am inclined to take Anderson's comments at the presser at face value. Time for a new challenge, which I reckon will likely be at Arden Street as CEO.

Ben Warren, Sam Lonergan or Hawks rookie Tom Schneider for mine. Wouldn't touch any of the others - especially Gram who has been dumped by the Saints for behaviour and character issues.

We spent a week trying to get Stefan Martin off our list for something in return.

You're assuming a bigger upper body will be an instant fix to Morton's woes. I think he would have the same issues he's currently enduring whether he was 75kg or 175kg. I reckon he would be much better served by actually playing some footy with his teammates in an environment (practice matches, NAB Cup) where he can build confidence in his ability again - and his teammates and coaches can regain confidence in him. That's what he's sorely missed over the past two years.

Whatever you think of Cale Morton, it needs to be recognised that his pre-season injury issues in the past two years have come at the very tail-end of the summer, just when he needs to be ramping up into match mode and getting used to game plan changes etc with his teammates. I'm sure he and the coaches would prefer that any interruption to his preparation comes now, when it can be managed in conjunction with others, instead of in late February. This surgery might actually give him a better chance of improving.

You and I have different definitions of intelligent.

Reckon I've seen an episode of Coach's Box with Neeld saying we were at least top eight in terms of contested possession and clearances in the second half of the season. A dysfunctional (or non-existent) forward line was just as much of a problem as the stoppages after about round 10. That's not to say we stop working on that part of the game, of course, but we need to broaden the focus.

My top 5: 1. Continue to pour the aerobic and fitness work into the players while building bodies in the gym. Building AFL-level resilience into our players' bodies must be the no.1 priority. 2. Bolster the midfield with two 'plug and play' AFL-quality mids. Wellingham and Caddy would be ideal. If not, target Salopek and Stevens with later picks. 3. Draft at least two more potentially A-grade mids with early picks. Viney is one, raffle the other among the SA guns. 4. Ensure we get Jesse Hogan in the GWS 17.y.o mini-draft 5. Build some sophistication into the game plan. Focusing on stoppages and playing the percentages around the boundary keeps it simple but it's relatively easy to counter. Forgive me, but did you watch any footy this year? Neeld and co did practically nothing in a football sense this season apart from trying to develop a competitive unit at stoppages. That's why we were so boring to watch most of the time. If nothing else, we improved in terms of our ability to be competitive at the stoppages. What we did after that was generally more of a problem.

David Parkin was a school teacher too

Knights was a gun bottom-aged youngster who slid to 66 in his draft year (2004) due to injury in his top-aged season. Played with Matthew Bate at Eastern Ranges. Good skills, loves a goal, strong body like most of the Crows midfielders. Not sure if he has the tank to run in the middle (injuries have probably hampered his development in recent seasons) but he has played some excellent footy as a half-forward. If he can improve his endurance to the point where he can change through the middle, he would be a very good pick up. Even if he can't, he'd be very useful around the forward line.

I've been fortunate enough to spend significant amounts of time around the Swans, both observing them in action and talking with their players from the rookies to the captains. That club's culture is among the best in the league and I can assure you it is driven almost solely by the club's leaders. The idea that a club's leadership group is NOT is control of the club's culture is laughable.

It's a pity that Moloney's decent 2011 was the exception to his career, rather than the rule. Like Jose Mourinho, I was very critical of Moloney at the start of 2011, particularly before R1 against the Swans. He played very well that day and I was forced to eat my words to a degree. Unfortunately, he then went about beating up on kids for the rest of the season and often went missing when we needed him. I marked his cards about three years ago when he missed a few weeks through injury or suspension (can't recall which) before returning against Carlton. We were in with a sniff against the Blues that day until Moloney gave away a couple of ludicrous free kicks trying to be a hard man. Those indiscretions swung the momentum Carlton's way and the game was gone. I said then and there that I didn't care if he ever played for Melbourne again. He has since been a handy player at times, and even excellent in some games, but nothing has substantively changed the opinion I formed that day. I wish I could say otherwise.

Let me get this straight... A club employee writes on the club's website that a player WILL - not might, WILL - debut and you still think it's speculation? Right. BTW, the AFL doesn't fine clubs for revealing players who will debut, or return to the side. They will fine a club that reveals all its team changes before Seven had the opportunity to do so.

Err... http://www.melbournefc.com.au/News/NewsArticle/tabid/7415/Default.aspx?newsId=141248

I agree with your guess at Neeld's instructions to him. But I'll say for a third time - my opinion of Martin as a key forward is not gleaned from ABC commentators or anyone else. It's gleaned from watching him stuff up set shots from 35m out on a slight angle, time and time again. For all his excellent qualities, I wouldn't holding up Mark Jamar's goalkicking ability as something to which others should aspire. And I'll give up on trying to explain the idea of 'playing tall'.