Rhino Richards

What make you say North are an average side??

Yes it is. And it is ridiculous indeed. YM is taking a break for a while.

FFS, we have been an ordinary club over the past 3 years. In that time North made the PF in 2007, 7th in 2008 and 13th in 2009.. They have hardly been an average side over the stretch. BTW, we have put some putrid performances up against Geelong, Doggies and Saints. Stop whipping it up to be something its not.

Agree. If all big men are fit. Jamar/ Martin in AFL Spencer/PJ in the VFL. GAWN will be back in the 2nd half of the season. I'd focus any big man opportunities on players with a future. Meesen in the VFL seconds. He is playing out time on his contract.

Agree with your judgement. Lucky male commentators never make that slip at all.

6. Grimes 5. Green 4. Bruce 3. Scully 2. McDonald 1. Davey

He played 22 H&A games in a team that was an AFL finalist in 2009. MFC were a bottom dwelling underperformin side. On this site it was aptly recognised by a number of posters that JoelMac would add something at MFC. He would have clearly been selected for MFC. You do love the melodrama to cover some gaping holes in your argument.

Ouch!!

No. The MFC is not a family repatriation service. And its aan unfair comparison of Davey with Maric, Jetta and Wonna. Davey is older and should have more runs on the board than players who have either young,been chronically injury or have less than 2 years football experience. At this point there is no surity than any of them offer a long term AFL proposition to MFC.

I guess reading idiot cue cards on a low brow football show is the pinnacle for some supporters that a player has arrived.

Agree Chaser. I am keen to watch there young midfield go through their paces. We must remember that their selected midfield of Ziebell, Cunnington and Bastinac is around 18 to 19 yo with a total combined experience of less than 20 games. Attendance....MFC supporters may turn up to Etihad but I am not sure about the Kangaroos. 26k to 28k. Its interesting after Rd 1, the armchair critics of Bailey and MFC were touting Scott as the model to compare against and why Bailey has done nought in the past three years. They have gone very silent and slid back under their stones.

To make the Top 8 you need about 12 wins (Yeah I know abot Essendon in 2009 but never make the exception the rule) To make the Top 4 you need about 14 tto 15 wins this year (Same rule applies). I predicted we would get 8 wins this year before the season started. Richmond was one of those wins. Adelaide and Brisbane were bonus wins. North was down as a win. So if we win all that I have budgeted plus the two expected we have 10 wins. End up 9th. My other expected wins were Rd Team 8 WCE 9 PA 15 Esse 16 Freo 17 Swans 19 Rich 22 North Port, Syd and Freo look better than last year and will be a challenge while teams like Adel...not so. However, the moral of the story is that its very early days and there is still so much too achieve and overcome in a long season for young players. Enjoy the ride but be realistic.

On the face of it you are right. However your last sentence says it all. Would they be trying to give Bolly a break before the Paki test in England and next season's big Ashes summer? Bolly has been at it hard for some months now.

Agree HT. TJ would be the antithesis of Voss. He is exactly the sort of player Voss would not trade a first round pick for. His rundown of Sylvia was as much Col getting a bit headstrong and taking on the world. TJ is the ultimate good time forward runner when the pressure is off.

It only works for the Anzac Day game because its a near sell out at the MCG. I dont there is a problem for QBW. I imagine that a Tigers 3 day ticket is made of paper to allow disgruntled Tiger supporters to tear up a membership ticket after another loss and not feel like they have lost anything.

So are you are saying that defensively that our players were under instruction to be "filling a space" rather than stand or pick up a direct opponent?

The reason is irrelevant to whether we want him back in the future. The situation with Trapper was completely different. TJ now realises what a waste of special talent he has been. I thought for all the possessions that TJ got that they were cheap,easy largely uncontested and did little to hurt MFC. Many of the disposals missed targets. I note Voss had him in the last line of defence. Clearly does not rate him enough to move through the midfield these days particularly one that was getting flogged. He was unlucky with the Green tackle when watched on replay. But what stood out was that he was S-L-O-W and with little awareness of whats around him. When the pressure is on, TJ dissolves....I thought he was trademark. So much for all the class we lost when we traded him. TJ is a sad shadow of the player who could scythe his way through a congested situation and hit targets with exquisite decision making and foot skills.

The fact that you dont like forwards pushing up the ground is not a necessarily a flaw in the plan. The only difference is the execution of the tactic. MFC forwards are still emptying the 50 when defending then run hard to the open 50 to take the inside 50 pass from the midfield. MFC are executing better and have players like Sylvia and Green as mid sized marking forwards. There have been lots of changes since Rd 1. But they are focussed around player commitment and effort particularly around 2nd and 3rd efforts. Our ball use and decision making have been a couple of miles better. The performance of our senior players Beamer, Jones, Jamar, Bruce and Junior has also been instrumental. Our young talents are improving at a greater rate than expected. This is what was not there at Round 1 and in the pre season (at least what I witnessed in the games).

Its called being accountable for your opponent. And thats execution of the plan. This requirement has been there and evidenced toward the end of last year. Given we do normally get up to 18 players in the defensive half of the ground there are both players directly spotting their opponents and players (particularly forwards running into the defensive 50) who may play a zone.

What player do we have that provides a better marking forward/midfield role than Sylvia? What role and match up would Rivers have provided that could not be adequately covered by Warnock, Frawley and Garland. Morton and Jurrah will only need conditioning at Casey as I cant see players that will readily keep them out. Both are definite best 22.

MacIntosh was playing on PJ who allowed him to drift forward unaccounted. I am not sure why Jamar/ Martin run with MacIntosh. I cant see the need for Rivers to be selected to do that. I would have thought the form of Warnock, Frawley, Garland, Grimes, Bartram and Bruce up back against some of the most heralded forwards in the game was even more compelling. After what people saw and witnessed on Saturday night, why is there a desparate need to play Rivers? He only has some of the skills the bigger defenders have and the skills he is lauded are easily covered.

Correct. Some MFC supporters might be shocked to realise that. I would not be happy if the MCC were selling Collingwood memberships and merchandise.

Correct. Because they are better players than what is there. Better players enhance the balance and lift thec standard. Bennell is not necessarily competing with Morton and Jurrah but Dunn's best to date is not up to the quality of the two injured players

Too much sense there. I doubt that will happen. It not a matter of dropping one not solidly built player who spectators dont think ie hard at it for another.

You have been away too long. MFC 2007 to 2009 brought out the best in most teams. North during that period have had respectable and highly competitive teams so its no doubt that they and other teams have had the wood on us. And your efforts to build North as the bogey team for MFC just lacks any basis. Last week there were 4 upsets in the AFL and outside the bottom 2, the competition is indeed even. And the lack of "form" should have damned us against Crows Tigers and Lions. I think that would be more telling. It should be a competitive contest but with a young team .....anything could easily happen.