Rhino Richards

People just dont realise the load these young players are taking on. They are also doing at a Club that until this year did not have a ground to train on that had goal posts on it or with ready access to a weights room. Last year they trained at Trinity then had to drive for nearly an hour to do weights in a sh!##y little underesourced weights room at the Junction Oval. We have a lack of quality senior mid level players. Furthermore we have no stars, no A graders and few if any B graders.

Its more than that. Under the previous administration we had no development coaches. I have already mentioned the lack of leadership. The group of young players we have will have to be developed and nurtured without the benefit of strong leaders on the player and within a playing culture that is evolving but well short of where it must be. We have to be patient with the young group and use our resources to supplement these young players with further talent. BTW, we have not had a killer culture at MFC for 45 years.

The best captain I have seen at MFC was Robert Flower. He did not play finals football until his last three games. Arguably the best captain the Swans produced Bob Skilton played his first finals match in his last game. You clearly dont understand what leadership is about. Leadership has revolved around one player at MFC (Neitz) for too long and the lack of on field leaders has been a problem at MFC for the last 6 years at least.

None of our senior players have any significant impact or influence on matches. In fact Junior struggles to be remotely competitive at this level. A number of senior players cant get on the track (eg Whelan) and even then Wheels is a shadow of the player he was. If we dont access the talent through the draft then how do we improve? Any team that sports a 3rd ranked ruckman as the leading man at the centre bounce is going to get thumped? Renouf made Jolly look better than he is. Likewise PJ made Fraser look the same.

We played 4 debutants in the first two rounds. We have elevated three rookies in the past two years. We have taken a potential talent from the further outreaches of Australia who needs to develop both on the ground and off the ground to survive let alone succeed in AFL. We played an ex- basketballer we picked up via Sandy as PSD. He has played 10 games. We have a No 4 draft pick from last year that has been blooded in one of the most feeble midfields to learn his craft. We would have played another player with only 1 game played last year if not for back injury. We have 2 defenders (Frawley and Garland) who have had about 20 games each put into key positions. We would have been playing a player off the rookie list from last year except his hamstring is shot. We are about to play a small forward Maric with sharp disposal skills who is return from hip injury for his sixth game. In each of those games these young players have had to operate with little leadership around them, no on field stars or established players to often take the leading defender or forward. If all fit then our best 22 would contain at least half the side who have either less than 3 years or 20 games experience. How many more "risks" can we possibly take? Both Zakaharis and Rioli have debuted with both strong leadership and within winning sides. I wonder how they would fare being thrust into unsupported roles within MFC.

I agree with HT and Mo on their thoughts. How do you define tough? I certainly dont rank thuggery as being tough. I actually thought Lawrie Fowler was tough when he played for MFC

Often footballers are the last to recognise or admit that neither their bodies or their form is able to be sustained at AFL. No much how he tries, Whelan's body has been failing his best intentions over the past couple of years. I reckon this is Wheels last year.

There is nothing wrong with supporters having hope for the future. And there is nothing wrong with supporters having expectations that a 1st round pick and more so a No 1 pick will be a top or at least a good footballer. And if Watts and Blease do not fulfil those expectations, then they are and eveyone connected with the Club have a good right to be asking questions why not. And a further education for you Mo. Even if a player has played senior football its impossible to say what AFL impact they will have in future years. Many of the 1st and 2nd year players at MFC have shown nothing more than potential and its uncertain where they will end. Even the best players take some years to really demonstrate what they can do in the AFL. But at least the supporters you deride have hope for the future. It seems alot more than what you have sourpuss.

CCTV is best used for post event investigations. Unless the offender is in prison (unlikely) or is subject to police/security observation (cost/ civil liberty) there is no realistic way they can prevent a banned spectator attending a game. Legislation is useless and only works if the individual accepts the law. Drivers are not allowed to speed or drink/drive but a large number disturbingly do. Peter Hore is proof of this. How do we know he has not attended games at banned venues. How do other stadiums do it then?

He played with Casey. He is probably 2 to 3 weeks away from AFL selection. For most injured players there is likely to be 1 or 2 weeks with the VFL to be in AFL condition.

He will just get reported. I just want him to focus and play footy.

Given the state of things and our young list, MFC cant help but play many of the kids. However, the current administration has employed two development coaches which I think is a great move. Supporters, players and footy dept need to stick fast in hard times.

Why cant they talk of Watts and Blease?? They are on our list. I think its worse when there are supporters who dont realise that it those young players are critical to our future fortunes not many of the C graders that we currently have that are not up to standard.

Did the CCTV footage pick up the assault on Jones Dad? I cant see how it can isolate one person on film if it cant show footage of a fight. It would appear they cannot ban individuals from a sporting function.

I can understand the security surrounding soccer is greater including the segregation of opposing supporters at and coming to and from the game but I cant see how they can ban anyone. For example if a person was banned for a previous incident how do you isolate that person in a crowd of 90,000. Its a needle in a haystack situation.

The AFL rightfully have condemned the actions of those arrested. However, aside from cancelling a Club/AFL membership if they have one, how do they possibly ban people from games?

Maybe they worked out what has taken MFC 5 years to do...he cant ruck. I would think WCE would not to have either player on their list.

Let me S-P-E-L-L it out for you. You are not correct. The key is the each team had the players that were able to execute a match winning plan and most of those players could play to any of the plans given their skill levels. They dont get easily pigeon holed as omse would think. Each of the premiership coaches of recent inherited a great nucleus to play a successful style of football except for Thompson. He had to complete rebuild his list and in his case it took 8 years. Again you are wrong when it comes down to September, the really good teams which there are one or two rise above all others. Its a mixture of number of factors coming together but a good coach with a skillful side is a pre requisite. No injuries help. The last two years there has only be one or two sides in it. The others are filling spots. Who is actually arguing your first sentence? Its not me or Mikey J. The top sides had more in common than you think. You are greatly mistaken a well drilled side for a side just left to play

Its not his kicking that is necessarily the problem. He kicked a beautiful goal on Saturday from 50 metres out from a set shot.

No one has said stated that so I dont know why you need to argue. Each team needs a good players and a good coach. A team cannot be successful without either. To say it was one more than the other is fantasy. I know Roos would be sage enough to do that. Both Roos and Worsfold came into their roles with nucleus of a champion team. Roos top charges have been mentioned. Worsfold had Judd, Kerr, Cox, Cousins and Embley. Thompson won a flag in his eighth year at Geelong and in his early years went through a complete overhaul of his list. During his time he has drafted and been gifted through the father son program a number of star players that has allowed him to build a talented list. Its an absolute crock, to suggest that Thompson's influence on Geelong has been any less than Roos. In fact if anything its been greater. Thompson is very much a hands on coach and to suggest that he just lets his players play is a misnomer but also a tribute to the discipline that he has instilled in every member of the teamThe top Geelong sides are no less disciplined or talented than any other team. What champion teams have is a blend of skillful players that are disciplined, committed to the game and well coached. To suggest that there is a wide array of successful teams is also a fallacy as football goes through trends and evolutions. And the asterisked comment about assuming that all players who are drafted have good kicking and handballing skills has as much truth as the three bears.

No you haven't. You go missing when I or timD or other poster put the questions to you. Same answer for 24 days. Sorry for the slip up It is pointless because you get pantsed every time you make ridiculous statements like our midfield is the same as Sydney's or that this list is the same list that competed in the 2006 finals. Both horrendously wrong. Its no wonder you carry on like a cut cat about the results. You dont understand whats happening and you are the last person to realise it. To win a premiership Mo you need a very good coach and a very good side to complement it. A number of other factors have to go well for you also. In Sydney's case, a magnificent low injury count and dubious tribunal decisions all help. And win you win or lose a flag by less than a kick, they all count. However, you cant win a flag without a good coach and a good team. You're trying to argue that its just the coach. It isn't. Another case of naivety or its another case of trying to twist the argument to salvage some illusion of superiority to massage the chip. By the way Kit also thinks your comment on Kirk was a bit of chuckle too.

Will you answer any of mine or other posters Mo? BTW, the results of the past 24 months have reflected the state of our list. Now what's the game plan sugar?

Ask Mo because he put Sydney's midfield on a par with our midfield. Whatever, certain individuals lacked in pace they made up for it elsewhere in spades. If a side won one flag and then came a whisker of winning another against a "clearly" superior WCE, might you be underestimating Sydney? I think so Nearly all games played between them over a 3 year period were decided by a kick or less. Hardly superior. More likely a great matchup. Now a coach can pull a winning move in one game but over the course of the period Sydney were equal of WCE. Its a matter of whether you like how they did it. Roos is a smart coach. But he had a very good team at his disposal. Dont worry there are lots of chuckles with Mo.

Nice try Mo. I am suggesting that your argument that that "Sydney's midfield is as pedestrian as ours" is plain wrong and a fallacy. And its irrelevant whether they are quick or not. Bolton and Kirk have been top class midfielders for a number of years and were a crtical backbone in Sydney winning a premiership and just being pipped in another. And your comments about Goodes are just silly. Goodes is an elite mobile player who if not ruck roving through the midfield, is an top class line breaking player. And the McVeigh comment is relevant in regard your original argument. Keep running and hiding Mo. You get shown up continually. Both coaches inherited vastly different quality lists and arrived at Clubs with vastly different infrastructure, financial support and stability. Your inability to show any sound judgement in understanding either the state of MFC's list and where it stands relative to other teams is at best self serving and in truth rather weird. Now for the long awaited game plan of yours Mo?

What just like you do? Coaches indeed do make a difference. But in your argument the players dont count. You belt on about us not having cattle without recognising the cattle Sydney had. But of course its all just "brilliant coaching". Sydney dont have to play it like WCE and PA to do it. That was not your point. At their peak, Sydney strangled the game and sort to coral the play where they would flood numbers to the contest. They have wonderful inside on ballers like Kirk, Bolton to effect this play. They will perpetuate the contested situation until they can break it open and use line breakers like Goodes, Kenneally and at times Barry. The Swans would only kick to a contest when they either had the better one out or would be more likely to win possession. It was not a tenet of their plan to kick to a contest as a rule. Sydney have Kirk, Bolton, Goodes, McVeigh and they had a competent ruck in Jolly. And they are as pedestrian as MFC??? You really dont have a clue do you Mo. Now whats that game plan we should be playing Mo?? Are you good for it?