Rhino Richards

McLardy???

I said up to 3 games. No need to be pedantic. Cheers. Then peace in the Middle East to round it off. I would not be surprised that Neeld would be unhappy with 10th IF we put in the inconsistency of performances this year. Good. Because I dont think anyone made it. And the spirit of youth does not always equate to the physical maturity of men......

In all reality we were further away from the 8 than 1.5 games based on our inconsistency and our poor showing in many of our losses. We still had Hawks, Geel, Carlton and WCE to play which notwithstanding the actual outcomes were not games we were likely to win on form to date.

New coach and period to acclimatise to new game plan/style. 10th can put you up to 3 games shy of the finals. I think Sept is unlikely this year. Hope to see otherwise.

* Pace - mostly in the first 20m that star midfielders have. - Nothing special. In fact I worried having at one time, McLean, Beamer and Jones in the guts. Too many too slow. * Power - can break takcles, especially when Jamar is on top in the ruck. - Not sure how Jamar in the ruck helps him break tackles. But when Jamar is down Beamer goes missing * Strength - has very good leg strength, means he keeps his feet, and in return, his tackles stick - Strength should be a benefit particularly against young side but needs to be more accountable for his opponent defensively. * Awareness - knows when to kick short or long, rarely puts his teammates under pressure - Disagree. Moloney is only beginning to develop the nous as what to do with the ball. Too often he would bomb it long. Still needs to define the art against better oppositions. Many of his disposals in those games do not impact. * Kicking - can hit a target 55m+, or kick a goal off one or tw steps from outside 50m. - Too often kicks too long and does not kick to the top of square. He has only kicked 34 goals in 130 games. There would be few instances of the long goal happening over his whole career. * Leadership - was stiff not to remain in the LG in 2012, but won't sit back and let it happen, will do something about it. - Irrelevant given Neeld thinks otherwise and has dumped him from the leadership group. Needs to justify his role in the team.

Good. We should also demand that players with less than 30 games experience play like they have 130 games under their belt. Its only fair. Its basically the same list as last year with Clark and changes at the edges. Everyone can certainly hope for finals and I think everyone does. But there is nothing wrong with making an objective assessment of where your side is at. It may give you a broader horizon to understand the good and also the tough times as well. I felt we did not get much of out of Davey and Green last year. Anything we get from them is a bonus IMO.

I looked hard in Exmouth and while you see MFC supporters in strange places, all I saw were mangy Freo and WCE supporters. You would want Foxtel if you were an MFC supporter there and a greater yearning for life.

Ok. Great thanks for that. In past years I have found the pre season cup a bit of a yawn and it drags on. My interest is not in the format of the series. I prefer the practice matches. Well.... I prefer to watch Round 1. Having been to Exmouth in WA (aside from swimming with Whale Sharks), there is no reason to go there. Bloody awful distance to go for a game of football.

Hey Franky, do you think people are talking or were talking finals last year? If they were they were either impatient or unrealistic. If they are this year then I hope they are right. I think we are a year away from that.

The are certainly plusses to winning the pre season cup. And if we get that far then fine. However, I find the pre season cup annoying in that the test or contrived rules drive different strategies than what would happen in the real stuff. If we dont progress with the NAB cup then we focus on proper practice matches in preparation for the season. FWIW, i think we go into the NAB cup with arguable the broadest list of available players we have had in years. Previously we have seemed to mount up injuries through the pre season and carry over from the past years. When we have been a struggling club, injuries particularly to your better players just crucifies you. However, I would not be surprised if the team looks raw and rusty under Neeld. He has only been in charge of the side for about 5 months and its fantasy to think a team will be able to implement a new game plan/style in so short a time. I am not overly confident about MFC doing well in the pre season comp but I expect the side to improve subject to injuries etc as the season goes on reflecting the growing maturity of the young team and the understanding of Neeld's way of doing things.

I dont think anyone has made that statement in this thread on Gys You have only said in 100 words or more what most have said. FWIW, he is 20yo and played only 18 games in 2 years. In that time he was managed to scoop 2 Rising Star nominations from few appearances. I think criticism of his kicking is a little pre mature as a young kid in an overwhelmed midfield finds his feet. There is enough to be excited about with this player as he matures.

I would have thought your claim on Bailey and Robbo was half cocked and as informed mine is JS and RR. FWIW, I have heard Robbo a number of times on radio. He loves the camera and loves a mike. He likes to entertain. I think DeeTV would be good for him. But unfortunately he was not the most thoughtful or astute speaker when he was a player. I have no doubt Robbo loved MFC. But he seemed to do so on his terms at times. Some of comments in public whilst as a player reflected some of the adverse aspects of him as a player. When Bailey came to MFC, Robbo, Yze and a number of senior players were at the end of their careers and were struggling to make a contribution to MFC onfield. Bailey did what any sensible coach did and cut the deadwood. Bailey also too the fall and tanked the side for picks. These actions he took with the full knowledge of the MFC senior management. I note that when Robbo (and Yze) offered himself in the PSD, there was hardly a fever pitch of bidding by other clubs. I dont why you initially wanted to promote any alleged Bailey/Robbo rift. If there was any hard feelings then the player needs to get on with it. If you think Bailey was harsh I suspect Neeld would have been harsher in the same position. So if you are going to push bad blood with Bailey and the players, I am sure Neeld will spill lots of blood on the list in the next 2 years. i would be surprised and disappointed if Neeld didn't. You may be right on rethinking your humble pie comment. And happy on the beer!

You are correct on both counts. I forgot about Jackson. Played a ripper game on a big ground, kicked 3 in a low scoring game. And I re read that section in Robbie's book yesterday. He had multiple pain killing shots in his arm to go back on with his arm limp and he referred to the frustration with Campbell blazing away.

Ahh some habits are hard to break..... Time will tell with Morton.

As President of the Club and someone who for time had been involved in the FD, he would have had scope to influence list management. And by the way Harrington, Schwab and Connolly were more involved with list management and they are still there. I think you have as much evidence on the JS/RR relationship as you do on the DB/RR relationship. And if a player does not like getting told that he is no longer good enough for AFL which Bailey rightly did to a number of the senior list at MFC at the time, you are surely going to come up with some ripper conspiracy theories on Mark Neeld.

Its also a coincidence that in Stynes' first month away from the Club sees Robbo return.... Humble pie there??

RDB, Stan Alves, Greg Wells have an odour do they? I am not sure a Club's blessing is necessary or required. Or should a player wait until a Club kindly puts them on the scrapheap? Good move for Robbo. Always loved a camera and a microphone.

He has said the bleedin obvious on this occassion. Neeld's real test starts in a couple of weeks. I hope the lovefest continues....

In the GF, the Hawks replaced a low possession Loveridge in the PF with Andy Collins in the GF. They were basically the same side from the prelim final. We lost Wilson and Flower for the GF and possibly others (we will ever know). MFC were bludgeoned in that prelim final The Hawks went into their 5 GF in a row as hardened experienced campaigners. WYL is right with his analogy of 1999. Both the Hawks and the Demons spent lot of fuel tickets in that game. If MFC had've won the PF I have no doubt they would have given it there best shot but they would have been easy prey for for a fresher, capable and focussed Carlton on a 31C day in late Sept.

The bottom line is the numbers are irrelevant to the fact that Moloney best against weak oppositions represent a yawning gap between to where he is invisible against quality oppositions. Its not the fact that players have variations in form. Hell, there human!! However Beamers variation is wide and low end of his performances are too frequent and too often against good opposition. And its not just measured by number of possessions. Blind Freddie could see his absence in big games and his touches are clearly ineffective and do not impact. Thats why he has been given the flat track bully reference. And you were making a comparison and a poor one with Bradman when you tried to allude he was a flat track bully. And your stats highlight the complete opposite with Bradman. For someone who has stated that "my expectations are always relatively high with regards to the footy club "Its clear you make exceptions for the individual. You need to stop trying to fudge the numbers to create an outcome.

FWIW, I just watched the DVD "Fire in Babylon" on the history of WI cricket from 1975 to 1995. Fantastic DVD with great footage of their era. Excellent interviews with past players. A must for cricket fans.

....they should through a Club level. Its a disgrace that a player can evolve to senior cricket (International level) and have issues with their bowling action. Given the international panel of umpires this should be identified earlier.

Could not think of a greater chalk and cheese analogy posted on this site! If we compare Beamer with Bradman it means Beamer get 70 touches a game against the weaker teams when he plays well and 30 touches when he plays badly. Beamer aint in that stratosphere. (FWIW. most Test batsman would give their right arm to retire with an average of 43.27) Beamer is not a great player. And Bradman had few off days. Well stated Big Red. And for those you surprised at Beamer not being in the leadership. Neeld has stated that he has picked the leadership group on what he has observed at the Club since he has been there. He removed Beamer. As well as Green, Davey and Rivers. Neeld does not rate Moloney as appropriate as a leader.

Oh dear JJC. Robbie efforts up forward in the finals and his presence on the ground was critical to MFC's success. At the start of the year they had built the push for the finals for Robbie. It is without doubt that Flower was as important to Melbourne at that time, as Voss was to Brisbane at its peak and as Hird was to Essendon. He was MFC's talisman and the unifying reason for them playing September football. He was also a crucial player in the win at Western Oval. Playing a fresh and rested Carlton after being physically belted by Hawks was not going to augur well. We would have been missing Wilson and Flower for starters. We had no fire power up forward. For good reason. A team that wins the flag with Bradley, Silvagni, Hunter, Kernahan, Madden, Rhys Jones and the Dominator Johnson is hardly an ordinary winner. The were 18 and 4 from the H&A. They were clearly the best side of the season. Its no disgrace and no smear on them not being ranked with the magninficent Hawks of 88 and Dons of 2000. They are only dimmed by a small margin. Well reasoned.

Good post. There has been so over optimism about the MFC's chances had we got through the Hawks. The PF really punctured the momentum MFC had built up and doubt had strangled MFC in the 2nd half where confidence had been before. Had we got through the bruising slugfest we would have come up against a committed, rested and dedicated Carlton who had 2 key drivers (Motley and English) and a hot day on GF to achieve their aim. Either MFC or HFC were sitting targets for Carlton that day. FWIW, Des English had leukemia and the best I know is that he recovered after treatment and is still with us.