mo64

I've missed your point Nasher. What are you saying? Dunn won't change with experience and confidence? If that's the case, what would you do with him?

Unlike the past few drafts when we've gone for best available, this year we must draft on a needs basis, ie; ruckman and key position forwards. Listening to Vic Metro coach David Dickson on SEN this morning, he absolutely raved about Watts, but also mentioned another half a dozen exciting talls in the Vic Metro team, especially Mckernan. Hopefully this is the year we get it right with some prime picks in a quality draft.

Jeff White's stats in the past 2 seasons have flattered to deceive. His impact in the ruck and around the ground has been limited. Having said that, his 2 lieutenants aren't going to be our saviours. Unlike some, I can't see Paul Johnson being a key position forward. Sure he's agile and can take a mark on the lead, but a player of 185cm (Sylvia) can fill the same role. He can't take a pack mark, and hasn't shown the capability to bust open packs for our crumbing forwards. As a ruckman, Johnson has shown little to get excited about. Jamar on the other hand, does show potential as a ruckman, but does little around the ground. If Meesen doesn't come up to scratch, Jamar may well be worth a place on our list. The time has come for Jamar and PJ to be used in the ruck, as this will determine whether we take Naita with the no. 1 pick.

Premiership coaches also don't tolerate players who turn the ball over. The Port Adelaide side was full of front-running players, and Geelong were considered a soft side prior to last year. Williams and Thompson perservered with their skillful players until they developed the hardness. They didn't throw them on the scrapheap. I want us to do the same.

How many games has Dunn played?

Hopefully you are not a manager of people, Miracle. You don't drop a kid for a couple of soft efforts after he's shown the discipline to shut down the opposition's best player in consecutive weeks. It's a form of ridicule that Dunn doesn't deserve.

Then also drop those players who repeatedly turn the ball over. We'll have 10 changes this week!

So should Malthouse have thrown Davis and Rhyce Shaw on the scrapheap for their soft efforts in Grand Finals? And should Bommber Thompson have thrown Gary Ablett jnr on the scrapheap for his soft effort in a final? The answer is NO. Like Dunn, these players were young enough to learn from their mistakes. Dropping Dunn would be a form of ridicule that someone of his experience doesn't deserve.

Spot on. I don't disagree with RR's sentiments about achieving September success, but to suggest that Dunn has to be dropped is laughable. Sure, DB needs to pull him aside and have a chat about it, but at this stage of his football development, dropping him will do him more harm than good. As much as I dislike Malthouse, the 1st thing that he did when he got to Collingwood was delist the tough nut try hards that Tony Shaw loved. He culled the likes of Jason Wild and Frankie Raso, and later on McGough and Betherus, yet persisted with perceived soft players in Rhyce Shaw and Leon Davis. Players with talent will at least get you to September, whereas try hards won't. RR states that "This Club has tolerated players for too long who have played AFL to their own standards and not the teams", well the same can be said of players like Godfrey, Nicholson, Williams and Bell, who we persisted with despite their lack of ability. These players are never going to allow a team to achieve regular September success.

How many games has Dunn played? To describe him as a habitual offender in the courage department is b#llshit. Gary Ablett jnr committed a similar act in a final a few years ago, and nobody questions his courage now. We perservered with Bell for ages because he doesn't lack courage. Give me a footballer like Dunn ahead of a try hard like Bell any day. Was Dunn's crime any worse than the multitude of times our players missed targets when under no pressure? For Hannabal to suggest that he HAS to be dropped is laughable.

Cameron Wood was in the same position as Warnock, and commanded a 1st round pick. Tall ruckman with potential are always in demand. The PSD should be our 1st option in picking up Warnock, and if Freo are prepared to accept a 3rd round pick rather than getting nothing, all the better. As for Alwyn Davey, high draft picks are at a premium this year. Apparently the talent pool runs deep, so to trade for any player coming off a knee reco seems ludicrous.

It's ridiculous to suggest that we put him on ice again. Let's find out if his body can stand up to the rigours of AFL football. We put him on ice last season, and what good did it achieve?

Too early to make a call on Hampson and Grigg, and your assessment of Andrew Walker is unfair. And you also conveniently left out Nick Stevens being picked up in the PSD. Just remember that Judd and Stevens both shunned us for the Blues.

Spin doctoring to the extreme! In the case of the MFC, the debt is a bad thing. So let's not kid ourselves with creative accounting.

$4 million dollars in debt with another projected loss of around $1.5m, and you're happy with our direction. As for Bailey, Connolly, and McNamee, aren't you jumping the gun a bit in lavishing praise on their appointments? I'm not being critical of them, but they haven't achieved anything as yet. As for the Casey relocation, it's come with the same bells and whistles as our proposed new training facility at that old Olympic Park. A move to Casey doesn't guarantee us of anything.

And where did I make mention of the current board's credentials? I was responding to TonyMelb's desire to make an assessment of the candidates' credentials, and allow the members to vote accordingly at the AGM. Szondy is a case in point of someone with impeccable credentials, who was a lousy football club president. That's the point i'm making. I trust that Paul Gardner's decision to stand aside mid-season, as being a ringing endorsement for Stynes and his proposed team. Gardner obviously believes that the Stynes board have a greater chance of dragging us out of the mire, than the current board.

What a load of tripe!!! You make it sound as though we are investors in the club. Personally, my membership is a donation, and at the moment, I don't expect any return other than survival, and ultimately success. You would have been rapt with Szondy's appointment, given his impeccable credentials? Sometimes in business it requires intangible qualities, that aren't found in a business degree, to achieve success. Passion and the ability to promote change are a couple of qualities that Stynes has to offer. If our members elect the board based on how many letters the candidates have after their name, we will continue to be a basket case.

He is a figurehead that the club desperately needs at this time. He is someone that the general public can relate to, which can only help the Melbourne brand. We need to change our image of being a conservative, dormant club, that is unappealing to the masses. How many kids wear Melbourne jumpers at Auskick? Clubs like West Coast, Adelaide and Essendon don't need a figurehead president. We do!

grazman, business credentials alone won't save our club. The nature of the industry, and in particular the MFC, means that during times of poor on-field performances, our bottom line gets hit. Now is the time to get people with energy, passion and the time to devote to the club. Football is all about perceptions, and regardless of how well you think the current board have performed, the status quo can't remain.

You and RR seem to forget that Stynes already has the imprimatur of Demetriou and the AFL, which means that his vision and plans are not half-baked. For John Phillips to dig his heels in, suggests that his board position is nothing more than an ego-trip.

All this talk of trading for early draft picks is garbage. With the new Gold Coast side having a stockpile of early picks from 2009, clubs will not trade early picks unless there's a Jono Brown trade involved. So all this talk of trading the likes of Sylvia, Bruce and Green for 2nd or 3rd round draft picks is senseless.

Correct. Nothing worse than a Melbourne team coming off an honourable loss. Especially when the oppostion have been slammed by the media all week. Is it just me that thinks that Morton is being rested this week (no Sandy game), and the bit about the flu is just a ruse to avert any stigma with him actually being dropped.

To describe any player as being "nothing at the moment", is more than just being circumspect, it's downright insulting. Newton played some good football last season, but like nearly everyone on our list, he started the season poorly. He has since been out injured, so your assessment of how he's going on and off the field is unwarranted.

Nasher, you're just like Rhino. You make open-ended statements such as the above, which gives you a get out clause when you're proven wrong. Now give us a definitive assessment as to whether you think that Newton will make it as an AFL football.

Nasher, that's just your opinion. And we know what your initial opinion of Aussie was as well! And do you know whether or not he was carrying an injury early in the season? In my opinion, he has all the tools to be a good full forward at AFL level.