Scoop Junior

I would ideally like midfielders with picks 17 and 19. Our midfield is weak and needs strengthening and we need a couple of guns in there. 17 and 19 in a strong draft is a good chance to pick up a couple of very good midfielders. I don't know the draftees that well so I can't really comment on which ones in particular I would want. But I hope that we can pick up two excellent midfielders to add to Jack Watts.

I agree with a lot of that sylvinator but for a few points: - We will not get such a high pick for Bruce or Green. First round picks are like gold this year with the upcoming compromised drafts. Teams are not going to depart with early picks for 28/29 year-old players who are very good but not elite. - If we can arrange a swap of draft picks with Carlton for White that would be good. Even if it's something like White + 35 for 24 or White + 51 for 40 (if the first option is too ambitious). I accept we won't get much for White but improving our draft position would be worthwhile. - I wouldn't upgrade Valenti. I don't think he has shown enough to suggest he can be part of an improving midfield. - I think Aussie is entitled to another year as a rookie. As a result, I'd keep him on the rookie list and if he performs well again, would upgrade him next year.

That proves that things can turn around quickly. Two seasons is a very long time in football.

True, but in an ultra-competitive environment you take every opportunity you get to improve your team. Doesn't matter how the opportunity arises, if it's there you take it. We should've ensured that we won 4 games max last year. We stuffed it. But now let's just move on and focus on maximising our picks this year.

Why is it pathetic? I don't blame them for not wanting to go. Why would you make yourself sit through a game when you want your team to lose? I only went because of my love and passion for the club. But did I enjoy it? Hell no. I just sat there and watched a boring game of footy and us move one step closer to stuffing up securing the no.1 pick in the draft and a priority pick.

And do you reckon bringing in talented footballers would help this notion of winning culture?

I don't see how stating the over-used archaic phrase "winning culture" provides an argument for winning the last two games. Perhaps if you could identify the link between winning three meaningless games at the end of the season and developing a "winning culture" as a direct result of these wins, that would help me out. I'm quite sick of hearing this winning culture argument. Give me some detail as to how it works. I'm not expecting anything as the argument holds little merit.

We are talking about a side whose recent record is as good as any team that has ever played. This is not a 100-point loss to the second-bottom side, this is a thumping by a team that has made a habit of thumping other sides in the competition. Geelong outscored the Dogs by about 10 goals in a half a few weeks ago. The Dogs are second on the ladder. The way I saw the game was they just came out and absolutely belted us in the first quarter, playing an awesome brand of footy that we couldn't match. We are the bottom side, have only won twice, and are without half a side. I thought the rest of the game we battled hard and tried hard but we were just completely overwhelmed by a brilliant, experienced, tough and skilful side. Geelong counter attack from defence better than any side. So take out your three key forwards from the start of the year (Neitz, Robbo and Miller) and remove your best small forward (Davey). Now how is your forward line going to function against the best defensive unit in the competition? Especially when the pressure from midfield was intense and our players had to bomb the ball in because they had no time to look for targets. And how then, with guys like Harley and Scarlett and Mackie doing it easily are you going to stop the brilliant Geelong counter attack? Then take out your best key defender (Rivers) and a very promising key defender (Garland). And your best midfielder (McLean). And then some handy players in Petterd and Moloney. Yes the margin was big and was more than what we would have liked, but I have been far more disappointed as an MFC supporter in my time. People getting stuck into the side need to take a good hard look at themselves. I've seen good Melbourne sides get belted in just the same way by mediocre teams. This was the bottom side, with a young, inexperienced, developing team in against the competition big boys. What really did you expect to happen? Things can turn around quickly.

White hasn't been the same ruckman since the centre bounce rule came in. This negated the one aspect of his game that made him a stand out as a ruckman - his leap at the centre bounce. I can remember time and time again in 2000 how he'd leap at the centre bounce and knock it in the path of Powell or Woeowodin etc. who would run onto it and pump it forward. It was exciting stuff. However the game changes and the centre bounce rule was always going to affect smaller, athletic ruckman. White is a great athlete and can still provide value around the ground and his kicking skills are very good. But there are two aspects that are going to see him struggle going forward: 1) Ruckwork - his leap has been negated at centre bounces and bigger ruckman just out-reach him. Only 11 hit-outs last night, with 0% effectiveness. At other stoppages, he just gets monstered by the bigger ruckman. They outbody him and outposition him and as a result he struggles to have an influence at these stoppages. 2) Handball - while a great kick, White is not the best decision maker by hand. The way the game is going and the way we want to move the ball, we need good decision makers by hand and foot. I think White has struggled to adapt to a style of game with more handball. White's been a great player for us but with the focus on youth and development and the financial situation at the club, it is increasingly likely that he will make way at the end of the year. I'm not hanging him on one shocker of a game, it's just that the game has changed and the style of ruckman has changed.

I think it comes down to awareness and IMO Morton has this in bucketloads. I've seen him grab the ball in the air and almost change direction before he hits the ground to divert an opponent off course. I've also seen him look like he's about to get caught in traffic, only to manage to find space and get out of traffic with a clever change of direction or movement of the hips. It is this awareness that will hold him in good stead. Why I think he's getting caught a lot at the moment is a combination of lack of physical strength to break through or fend off challenges and just a lack of experience in the pace of the game. As he gets stronger over the years and adjusts to the speed of AFL footy, I think he'll improve rapidly in this area and won't be finding himself caught too often. I agree that he wouldn't be playing at many other clubs. His body is nowhere near ready for the rigours of AFL footy. He's getting games for us because our list is poor, we have injuries and we are in a rebuilding phase. This is nothing against Cale, it's just the fact that his body is seriously underdeveloped and he probably wouldn't be exposed to as much AFL footy at this stage of his career in a stronger side. I believe he has some fantastic attributes and is a really exciting prospect. Getting caught and making mistakes is not unusual for an inexperienced skinny youngster. But I've seen enough of him to know that he has the class and awareness, attributes that not all players are fortunate to possess.

I think it's called the Naitanui Zone

Demetriou's comments are ridiculous. Melbourne and Collingwood have attracted over 60,000 to all QB games since 2001 except for one year (which was during construction of the new stand). Where does he pull this 60,000 figure from? Why is the pressure put on all of a sudden when we had 70k rock up last year and nearly 80k the year before? Maybe if we were pulling low crowds continuously to QB games then make a comment, but to just out of the blue make completely baseless allegations about Melbourne not pulling crowds to the QB game is just ridiculous. The other factor is we're last. This is as bad as we'll be. No team gets huge crowds when they're playing poorly. Carlton and Collingwood, two heavily supported clubs, have only got more than 60,000 to their games since 2002 in 5 of 13 matches. This is meant to be THE rivalry and they have more often than not got less than 60,000. That's because Carlton has been woeful. Now they could get 80,000 next week to the Blue and Pies. When the Dees rise again, and if the Pies are still playing well, we'll get over 80,000 to QB.

At the moment he hasn't shown he can play anywhere. I can't believe a bloke with as much hype as Sylvia has done so little to date. Perhaps he just monstered his age group at underage level and doesn't have this strength advantage at AFL level. I know he's had his injuries, but he should have done a lot more by now. I don't get it - he marks well, he kicks well, he's tough, a good tackler, makes good decisions, etc. but there is just something lacking. He simply is not involved in the action for long periods of games. I don't know why he's never thrown into the centre to try win a clearance. He has hardly ever been in the centre during his career. Injuries? Bad engine? Who knows why. Maybe I'm expecting too much. But surely you can expect lofty heights from a no.3 draft pick. The next 12 weeks are make or break for him.

39.4% winning percentage for the Lions during the 2005-2007 period. They were a rabble at times during this period, losing home games regularly and getting beaten convincingly on many occasions. They were never as bad as we are now because they have had superstars in Brown and Black to keep them going. But it shows that teams go through the cycles and it's how you manage the downward process that is critical in how quickly to climb back up. Culture is important and there are different cultures in different teams, but you can only build a winning culture through talent. No club has a permanent winning culture. With the salary cap and draft all teams are going to go through rough patches. PJ started forward in the Holland role. I see what you are saying in regards to structure and yes we need better forwards down there, but we really didn't get it forward enough to make a difference in the end. Our midfielders were smashed and their defensive pressure was pretty weak.

Name them. Carlton and Essendon, the most successful clubs in AFL history, have been diabolical the last few years. Where's that winning culture?

Well they're getting smashed regardless. Might as well get smashed with more youth than smashed with blokes that won't be around next year. As for winning culture, you won't be able to build a winning culture until you get the requisite talent on the list. Footy is cyclical these days, winning cultures come and go as your team goes up and down the ladder.

You and I obviously have different approaches. I look at what's best for the club going forward, not what's best for the team right now. What is achieved by playing Yze in terms of the future of the club? He's not going to be there long term. Playing a young bloke instead will at least give that player some experience and development and even if that player doesn't make it, at least the coaching staff will have had the chance to assess that player at AFL level. When you are having a crap year, you might as well get something out of it. And the best way to do that IMO is to develop your youth and hopefully pick up some high selections in the draft to rebuild your playing stocks. If we happen to win five games like last year and cost ourselves a free top 20 pick, not to mention a very early first rounder, I'll be spewing. We already stuffed it up last year by beating the Bulldogs, hopefully we don't do it again. Get ruthless.

He can retire if he wants. I want to see the club develop youth so that we can develop a premiership side. All players 30 and above would be well aware of where the club is at the moment and the future direction of the club. The club is bigger than the individual and while Holland might feel harshly treated, it is a reflection of where the club is at and I'm sure he'd be smart enough to understand what's going on. That said, I can't understand Yze's selection.

I was also pleased to see young defenders given the jobs on Franklin and Roughead and do well. But it must be taken into account that the midfield pressure was as good as I've seen from Melbourne in the last couple of years. It was vey difficult for the Hawks forwards to get lace out delivery with the way their midfielders were being pressured. But full credit to the defenders for being well organised and helping each other out. I've been a big Bell fan since he started but I'm a little worried about him. He hasn't developed his footy smarts in his time at the club. He's a great athlete and his skill execution is good, but his awareness and decision-making are huge problems and I wonder whether there's much improvement in that regard. With the way the game's played and the importance of having running defenders who make good decisions, I'm not convinced Bell is the answer. Perhaps he could offer something in another position because I like his attributes.

Why is Holland in the side? Aren't we looking to the future?

Yep. It was probably one of the only times where you could categorically say that the umpiring over the course of the game cost Melbourne the game. If I recall correctly umpire Caulfield retired soon after that game. I usually try not to worry about umpires, but it was so frustrating and downright disgraceful that night that I remember ringing up the radio station on talkback to complain about it. First time I've ever done that!

Richmond looked good today but we need them and Carlton to win 5 games at least. I will seriously spew if we finish bottom and don't get the number one pick. We play Richmond twice so they should get there. There can be no excuses for beating Richmond if they are under 5 wins.

Yes Miller is being crucified by our delivery. But at the same time he's just an ordinary footballer. I feel sorry for him. He tries hard and gives all he can. Trouble is there's just not much to offer. We need better talent.

Agree with your post, sylvinator. The only change IMO is to replace Round 8 with Round 5. I'd be happy to do it now. We've shown where we are at. And for those that argue the lost confidence from less competitive performances, let me point you to one thing. Our confidence couldn't be any lower than it already is and we couldn't be less competitive if we tried. 4 goals against the worst defence in the league by 3/4 time on a great day for footy is bloody disgraceful. Forget all the rubbish about hitting the lead and improving later in the game. 4 goals in 3 quarters says it all...pathetic.

It doesn't matter what the view on Bailey is. No one can defend him because our performances have been disgraceful, but at the same time it's ridiculous to make outlandish statements about his coaching ability. The main thing is this: we need superstars. We have none, haven't had one for a while and bloody hell we need a few. The things is they lift others around them. Commentators go on and on about the strength of Geelong and blokes like Stokes and Mackie. How many goals would Stokes kick in the Dees forward line? But put him in a team with Ablett and Bartel and Chapman etc. and he looks a great player. It's the old Chris Heffernan syndrome - looks a fine player in a good team, but what did he do at Melbourne? Stuff all. We have blokes on our list who are struggling, but I genuinely believe that with stars around them, they'd be valuable players. There's just so many players at sides like Adelaide, Hawthorn and Sydney who wouldn't be half as good if they were at Melbourne. Stars not only impact the game themselves but they make ordinary players good players. We are going nowhere until we get some stars. It can be turned around quicker than you think - but you must get stars into the club. A few years at the bottom with astute drafting could have us pushing back up the ladder within a few years. But please...recruit some damn stars!