hemingway

There needs to be a cap on the number of posts anyone can post on the one thread within a 24 hour period or be traded or delisted.

There is a thin line Uncle between morality and immorality as you know full well.

What do people expect Pert to have done in the short time in the job ? For me, it's not making statements to the media. It's working away quietly in the background. Indeed, this was the style of Peter Jackson. No big fan fare just work on the things that need to be worked on. Not interfering in FD matters like someone else use to do.

Uncle Bitter, you seem to be cycling rapidly in mood state, ego one day and alter ego the next. Are you ok ? Has something happened in your personal life that you are not telling us about.

The old sage, would have trouble arguing with that OD. Remember that the old civilizations think in terms of centuries and thousands of years. Unfortunately, even a few years may be too late for some of us. But as they say in the classics, it's a long season! I can hear your response......yes, sadly.

The agent's job is to sell his product, like any salesman. The salesman will always try and convince the purchaser that it is a great deal. It is the buyers job to check for all the defects, the risks and make a judgment. I am not blaming the club. All you can expect is that the club made the decision on all the available evidence and came to a decision after a proper assessment and discussion involving medical and footy people. Another club could have made the same call on May, although perhaps not KK. Players change clubs every year with injury worries. Lynch, O'Meara, Scully, Rohan, Hogan etc. Some work out some don't. That is the risk. If it works out, it is a great trade, if not, it is viewed as a poor trade. Long term absences from the field always look bad as it does at the moment for both May and KK. Chronic injuries often mean that players will have to be nursed for the remainder of their career, missing games as the injury flares up. Anyway, it's easy to be negative at the moment, harder to be optimistic. As a old sage once stated about becoming wise, ""wisdom is to transform a curse into a blessing, a challenge into an opportunity-its just a matter of how we interpret the situation.""

May to stiffen up our defence and KK to provide outside run and delivery. At the time, both selections made sense. A huge blunder or at best a mistake or just rotten luck, but both players came to us with injury concerns. Of these two players, May is my big disappointment. He may still make it back and be a valuable player but at the moment, there is a big grey cloud overhead. Hugely disappointing.

agree regarding the big dance and perhaps a final when all is on the line, there are exceptions to the general rule.

Red, unlikely as it seems, I don't think the MFC can be blamed for the death rate during the Indonesian election. My best guess, is that either a cyclone has wiped out the banana crop or Earl Hood has skipped off with the entire banana crop to sell at extortionate prices in Australian supermarkets and greengrocers. People like Earl always turn someone else's misfortune into an opportunity to make money. Catch 22. Without the nutrients of the humble banana, the Indonesians have been dropping like flies. Perhaps we can contact Earl and get him to send a truck of bananas down to AAMI Park for our poor players.

I don't disagree, but lets assess May at season end. Attitude aside, his physical injury and history is now beginning to take on a chronic appearance. The question is not just getting him back playing footy but once he returns will his body allow for regular selection. He's no longer a kid. And, what will this mean to his fitness condition. Has to be a big question mark.

You do have to wonder. The macho bravado of footy means that players 9 times out of 10 will play on if they can. Its a battlefield and the brave and wounded always want to carry on. At the same time, medicos and other support staff are influenced by the need to get players back on the field wherever possible. But there needs to be expert diagnosis/assessment and common sense used. Is the club doctor on the bench and who has the final call on whether an injured player plays on ? I would have thought that these days, if there is any doubt about the seriousness of an injury, the player should not return to the game. In other words, the club doctor not the fitness guy or physio has the call. With the risk of long term injury and even litigation, caution seems to be operative word, or should be. Everyone rattles on about the professionalism of the game, but at times, the game appears very unprofessional. It would be interesting to know what is the decision making hierarchy for these matters.

Most people including Cats supporters thought as you. They looked old, slow and reactive, with a poor prognosis for 2019 and beyond. Their reinvention says a lot for their culture, professionalism and willingness to change. Hats off to Scott, who many have maligned. Sadly their reinvention and success this year following on finals failure last season is the complete opposite of our Club. Of course, we all draw our own conclusions why this has happened but the difference between the two clubs and what has happened over the summer period is stark.

Thank god for Max, both on and off the field. Great work ethic, great leadership. The team leader for me.

I agree regarding Maynard, an honest footballer but no special qualities and slow. Disagree regarding Spargo, kid in his second year who played some good footy in 2018 including playing in finals. Petty worries me, reminds me of Oscar, lacks intensity and instinctively slow. Sparrow is tough and footy smart. However, pace is key. We need players like Bedford and perhaps Chandler that are quick and bring something to the game. I think Spargo has that quality but at the moment does not get the ball often enough.

This is the major failing of the club and specifically the coaching department. It reflects poorly on the professionalism of the club particularly the coaches. Rather than spending time on study tours, our coaches missed the opportunity to look closer to home and do some critical problem solving in a methodical and analytical manner. It's quite incredible when you think how complacent the club was in its view of our list, our game plan and our opposition. Like its supporters, the club approached this year with unrealistic expectations following two successful finals matches. We celebrated those two wins rather than address the problems that were so evident against West Coast. Consider the reinvention of Geelong after an unsuccessful finals campaign. Everyone outside the club wrote them off for 2019 and beyond, however, the Cats culture and professionalism has seen them emerge better and stronger than ever. What happens from now to the end of the season will be very important to the future of the MFC. I don't believe that we can rely on players return from injury as an antidote to our problems. It is not bad luck we are in this position. We don't have minor problems or issues to fix. The club has a hell of a lot of work to do to become successful. The improvement of 2018 has been smashed and destroyed. It feels like we have taken two or three steps back rather than one. Our window of opportunity for finals success has suddenly become very narrow. In the space of 6 weeks, we have regressed to the losing culture of the past. The players look beaten. Even in the first quarter of the game against the Tigers, we looked like a poor side playing well compared to the Tigers, who looked like a good side that could not find its rhythm. We can only hope that the club has the character, culture and professionalism to learn from its mistakes and can address the systemic problems evident this season.

Thought the response was appalling but then started to laugh. Thanks Legion. Humour is going to be a valuable thing over the long winter ahead.

I have had a number of attempts to write something but failed.

How about posting a selfie Uncle ? Just for the sake of authenticity and to provide some light relief to many heavy hearts.

Yep spot on. We knew Barassi demanded supreme fitness when he went to the Blues and North. At North, Brian Dixon preceded Barass. Last year, a past North player told me that despite Dixon's poor coaching record, he was the first coach to get the side fit. He went about transforming attitudes and behaviour on the training track. Although he got little credit, the past player told be that this was important foundation to the successful Barassi years.

Having said what I said, there probably has always been the motivated individual and the pack animal. Back in the 1970s, I remember watching the Hawks do some of their pre-season down at a local athletics track and the difference in attitude between individual and team was marked. Most players including premiership players would not start their warm-up until the fitness guy turned up and blew his whistle. This was the complete opposite to the attitude of athletes in training who started their warm-ups without needing to be told. At the same time, there were a minority of players such as Michael Tuck who were out running laps without anyone telling them to do so.

Nothing is wrong. Maintaining the faith somehow always provides hope. Often it's all we have, but it is fundamental to our existence. Certainly a key requirement to follow the Red and Blue over a lifetime.

This has always surprised me. Fundamental skills can always be improved. Outside of official team training sessions, I wonder how many players take themselves off to practice their skills on their own. In the old days, many footballers from top line to kids would go to the local oval and repeatedly kick for goal on all angles, off both feet or just kick to kick relentlessly until dark. I suspect that most of the time, official training is for the most part the only time players work on their skills. The motivation is team based but how many players are sufficiently self-motivated to work on skill areas themselves?

Much of a muchness.

Every moment of everyday we learn that we can't take anything for granted. Its football only football. Perspective, comes when when you look at the world, most recent examples being Christchurch and Sri Lanka. And that over 60,000 Aussie lost their lives in WW1 and over 150,000 were wounded, gased, or left broken, lives ruined.

or anguish.