TeamPlayedFine39

That's very generous to Neeld and his approach to development, communication and people management. Each to their own, but tactical footballing nous is just a small element of coaching and you don't 'toughen up' young people by neglecting to nurture and support them. If a player has a positive relationship with their coach, they will run through brick walls for them. You don't hear many stories of Sheedy, Matthews and Malthouse being cold to their players - they were more akin to father-figures. The club was at its lowest point in its long history when Neeld left. He, and the regime that he was working under, completely gutted the club.

Morton's done a few podcast interviews in the last year and they're always pretty insightful (honest discussions always are). Same group had one with Russel Robertson last week; that one was very good.

Toughest one yet by far. Gawn is in his prime and could finish his career with 4 or 5 All Australians if he can hold his form. Lyon was another player marred by injuries and could have stacked on a ton of goals if. he was able to consistently play at full forward for the last few years of his career. Will go Lyon, only just, and fully expect that if this poll is run again in 4 years, it'd ge Gawn.

The Demon decisionEdit The most controversial moment of Peter Matera's career came in late 1997 when he shocked the football world by declaring his intentions to leave the West Coast Eagles and join the Melbourne Football Club via the pre-season draft for the 1998 season. Citing a desire to play more at the MCG, Matera's announcement triggered major public outcry in Western Australia and saw many of his longtime Eagles teammates, including captain John Worsfold visit Matera's home (which was staked out by the media). Days after news of Matera's defection broke, he did a back flip, agreeing to stay on at the West Coast Eagles. While he remained in the blue and gold for the rest of his career, many believed his form slump in 1998 was a result of the extreme pressure he was placed under as a result of his decision to originally leave the club. (Wikipedia)

I remember this one well. We did some great signings when Daniher came on board. Matera would have been the best and of them and with him running the wings on the MCG we would have won the lot in ‘98.

This is a mighty 11 year bump! In no particular order... 1. Stynes 2. Neitz 3. Farmer 4. Gawn 5. Lyon * Schwartz could have been ** Jurrah should have been *** Jakovich almost was **** Oliver definitely will be

Correction, now all the Murdoch rags are running it. Hypocritically, they're running the photo in an article about the photo being leaked.. just a thinly veiled opportunity to give people a gawk.

I've watched the last two minutes of this game many times. It always amazes me that, even up until the moment the ball touches Cross's foot, Der-wayne is still yelling that Dawes is the only option. Stubbornly ignorant man.

Fox Footy has published the photos. It's a sad state of affairs when fan footy forums have higher standards of integrity that media outlets.

Viney was a gun and an inspiration throughout 1998 in particular. But I can't go past three All Australian selections for Gawn - he'll be remembered as a great of the club.

A genuinely exciting night. Gysberts tore it up in the midfield as well. Sad to look back at that line-up, that had the potential to play such exciting football, just melt away.

Anyone who hasn’t read Schwarz’s biography ‘All bets are off’, give it a look. Astounding story and very easy to read. Recasts his career in a completely different light.

Interestingly, we’re seeing a bit of a discrepancy in the Demonland votes and the social media votes. I doubt we will in this one though. Robbo was a very good player and a fan favourite, but Neitz is an MFC great.

The hub needs to keep players quarantined from the general public and possible sources of infection. They can interact with each other, but not the general public - otherwise a hub can become a cluster.

Yes! Strangely, I hear more praise for him from opposition supporters than our own. He is a highly respected player in the community, but seemingly not so much in our own.

How does a ‘hub’ work away from families if the players can get out and about? It’s a quarantine to limit potential expose to the virus.

Population density helps locking down, but counts for little without isolation. Put 60,000 people in the MCG on 3 times over a weekend and you'll have 'mass graves' no matter how sparse your population. Yes, a hubs proposal essentially keeps players in detention - an isolation much more extreme than any measures in Australia and on par with Wuhan, Ital and Spain. Like a racehorse, they let out of their stable to train and play. It's absurd and such a low priority.

No worries.

You'd be hard pressed to find any children begging for less time with their fathers. AFL is so far from an essential activity; it is a luxury for society. If it is safe to play, then that's fantastic. Playing is isolation hubs where players are essentially under draconian lockdown however is absurd. This is a global pandemic the likes of which hasn't been seen in 100 years. Literally pulling families apart for a luxury spectator event is absurd. Australia is not Covid-19 free and most likely, won't be for another 14-18 months. It will spring back up as soon as restrictions are eased - that is a certainly. The government can test, and track and attempt to contain it, and that will probably prevent it running wild and overloading the system. But it won't be gone. The only reason we don't have mass graves and AFL stadiums as field hospitals is because of social and economic lock-down. IMHO, we may be able to get to a stage where we can play to empty stadiums like round one, but if the situation is such that we need 'hubs' then it is not worth it. It may be nothing for 2020, empty stadiums 2021, then normality 2022. Western countries have already lost patience with the pandemic, they want it to be over and believe that sheer strength of will and positive thinking is enough to get it done.

Jimmy was a great player and the reason I started going for Melbourne. Absolutely idolised the man. With that said, Jeff White is a massively underrated player in the AFL for the past 20 years. He's very much overshadowed by the emergence of Cox and Sandilands toward the end of his career, and now with Gawn and Grundy, he doesn't really rate a mention by most. He was a gun. Stynes... but I did have to think about it.

Scully and Trengove were an absolute lock; as certain a top two as Rowell and Anderson last year. I challenge anyone to find a source from 2009 that says otherwise.

As a kid who was forced to play full-back every week, I loved watching Sean Wight play. He could punch a ball further than many could kick.

If the 'since' is including 2000 then it has to be the Wiz, though he left shortly after (not so exciting). For the excitement of seeing a player dominate and carry a team on his back, it would be Neitz. For the excitement of believing we had a genuine superstar emerging in our side, it would be Hogan, followed by Oliver.

Regardless of what happens with the draft this year, this was a good trade at the time and I'm stoked that we've got Pickett. Good luck to Nth, but I have a feeling their supporters may look back at this as a 'We could have got Kozzi moment'.

Todd Viney ‘retired’ to train Mark Philippoussis, only to later return to the Dees when that inevitably went aas over elbow.