Bang Bang Bang

Eddie said in his original segment (i.e. last week when the story broke) that he has "heard nothing from management", so I doubt his source would be as rock solid as Kleiman himself.

Anyone else remember the Naitanui hype reaching fever pitch this time last year? It was straight after he dominated against Essendon in NAB Cup Rd 1. Apparently Melbourne had made a massive blue taking Jack Watts when NiKNat was going to be the best player of all time. Seems to have died down a bit...

A couple of BigFooty posters have mentioned that they said on last night's telecast something about Scully having a new manager? Anyone heard anything about this? Or what was said on the telecast? I'm thinking maybe it was a tongue in cheek reference made by one of the commentators as this would be big news if true.

Well Dustin Martin was courted by the same clowns midway through last year - offered 800k a year if he moved but he stayed loyal and signed with Richmond for exactly half that amount. Why can't Scully do the same? It's not like we'd be paying him peanuts.

I'm starting to think he might stay. I don't know about you guys, but I thought the recent press release from Velocity Sports was very re-assuring. I mean, if he is staying or even undecided about his future, then they simply had to release a statement to put as all at ease. And they have... it said all the right things. Doesn't quite warrant opening up the champagne, but still. Really if Scully does go then he wouldn't be able to justify the move for anything other than pure greed. Ablett and Judd both appeared to move clubs based on the coin, but they were entirely different. Both had achieved all they could have at their respective clubs, Judd also wanted to move home and be closer to family, while Ablett probably liked the opportunity to play with his brother again. What excuse would Scully have? He would be moving further away from his family, he'd be playing for a soulless team that won't challenge for a long time, and he is leaving a good club that invested a #1 pick in him after one year. He'd be viewed as a pure mercenary and his career and rep wouldn't recover IMO.

First one that sprang to mind was Scully's goal against Sydney midway through the second quarter. Put as about 50 points up. Nothing particularly special about the goal itself - but he was on the run from about 45m and it was gun barrel straight. The crowd started cheering as soon as it left the boot and you could almost feel the sense of "Oh my God. We are playing like a dream" from the 30,000 strong crowd at once. EDIT: found the clip on YouTube We were epic that day. Will never forget it.

Thanks for the report. How did Scully look? Improvements in his kicking still on display?

ROYAL RETURNS TO MELBOURNE

He kicked 11.8 in like his 10th game of footy and 71 in half a debut season, strewth!!!! Imagine if that happened in this day and age. This place would go into meltdown. Early to mid 90s were the good old days of footy. Someone like Jako wouldn't get a look in to the AFL these days.

Chris Johnson walked out on the club at the end of 2008. His departure allowed us to use one pick in the Pre Season draft in December 08. We used that pick on Liam Jurrah. That's all...

Strauss might find himself in a bit of trouble if he doesn't pull his finger out. In previous years you'd hang onto him based on his junior rep but tough decisions will be made. Actually come to think of it I have a feeling he signed a 2 year deal recently

Genuine star at 21. 10 years of good footy ahead of him. I reckon it's fair to say he has every chance of matching the career of someone like Matty Scarlett - he's light years ahead of where Scarlett was at the same age. Craig Cameron has copped a bit of flak on here - but picking Frawley at 12 is something we should be EXTREMELY grateful for.

I was expecting this to be a bumped thread from years ago. I was wrong! wow

I really do think that if he gets a full pre season and plays 22 games next year, he'll kick 70-80 goals. He's just an amazing player. I did have some doubts - on whether the opposition might work him out eventually - but he just keeps getting better every game. Freak

Pretty much the same as what happened to the Crows this year. We had a lot of fading stars and limited young talent on the rise. And we lost probably our best player at the time (yep Brock McLean believe it or not) for most of the year. 2007 was a shocker.

6 - Jurrah (he's going to rip a game to shreds one day and kick 10-15) 5 - Frawley (does not get beaten, even if his opponent today was a bit of a spud) 4 - Scully (made a couple of errors, but his running and ferocity is second to none) 3 - Dunn (dangerous) 2 - Green (5 goals but could have definitely played better. harsh but true) 1 - Sylvia (hard at the footy, used it well) I like Cale Morton but he had me pulling my hair out in the last!!!

He's not exactly likeable but IMO he's far from the worst umpire. His twin brother McBurney is worse for starters I reckon.

The West Coast game was an absolute howler. We kicked 6 goals total, 1 after half time, yet were in the match until midway through the final quarter. Disgusting game of football. Sydney game was definetely the best... but I have a lot of love for the 50 point win over Brisbane earlier in the year. Remember they were 4-0 with Brown/Fev on fire and most still saw Melbourne as spoon contenders. It was unreal atmosphere walking out of the ground, MFC fans going crazy everywhere!!!

Nup, sorry. Can you point me to every instance in this game where Scully's disposal was not "AFL standard"? I can remember one clanger kick and one hospital handpass (to Trengove) early in the game, but otherwise he made the vast majority of his disposals count. I agree his kicking is not great, but it certainly isn't as bad as some make out to be (it's no worse, than say Chris Judd and Dane Swan). His disposal by hand is elite.

6 - Sylvia (good game. threw his weight around) 5 - Bruce (have to give him some credit... he is playing well) 4 - Bail (big fan of this guy) 3 - Joel Mac (big fan of this guy) 2 - Frawley (broke even with Buddy, and would have beaten him if it wasn't for those f***ing imbecile maggots) 1 - Scully (takes the game on)

I'm thinking it's only 3 in a row (Sydney, Bears, Richmond) and 4 from 5 because we lost to Freo remember.

6 - Dunn (X-factor) 5 - Frawley (smashed Riewoldt) 4 - Green (Mr. Reliable) 3 - Scully (this guy is going to be unstoppable with his engine + skill) 2 - Davey (creative) 1 - Jurrah (wouldve been higher up if he kicked straight) sorry to Bruce + Bail

I'm sure Strauss will play seniors again but I do tend to agree - just doesn't look comfortable 1 on 1, even at this level... and while he has a nice kicking action, I'm amazed at how often he kicks it straight to the opposition. Needs to have a big pre season and start to show something in 2011. Really like the look of Tapscott and Blease even if they weren't dominant today. Also think T-Mac has what it takes, but it may not be at Melbourne (who is he going to push out?).

Not sure where the other thread went but I'm pretty worried about the Jamar being injured rumours. Would certainly explain Miller's undeserved promotion to the squad...

I think Jamar will be the only MFC player to make it. I think Green and Frawley SHOULD make the side on form, but would be very surprised if they did.