stevethemanjordan

Oh and I'd throw Grimes in there also. A solid improvement from our two captains will do wonders for this club.

Rangey and BH may well be the same person, but my response to the OP is as follows. Nail. On. Head.

*** Attention *** For all those interested, I am having a wager that Stef Martin will touch his hair more than he touches the pill in tonight's GF. Will report back after the game with how many touches but I'm going to say at least 15 will be visible from the cameras.

That sounds South African to me...

Dal Santo ahead of Cyril? You're out of your mind. Am I correct in assuming that by 'inconsistent' you mean there are games in which he doesn't touch it much? Unlike any player we have, Cyril's defensive efforts, 3rd and 4th efforts, tackling, blocking and chase downs are like anything I've seen in an AFL player. The mere fact that he is even within the vicinity of an opposition player in possession can result in a pressured kick causing a turnover. Are you aware of how valuable that is? Don't even get me started on his offensive attributes. It's absolutely sickening. Dal Santo... Pfffffffft

Sadly you're right.

Of course they can't. Absolutely not.

RPFC forget the leader title. Please. We have had to draft and trade in leaders at the MFC. That's how pathetic our leadership was. Jordie is in the leadership because of his professional attitude toward everything he does which is one thing Neeld and Craig have drilled into this club since the day they started. It is a completely unique situation and he wouldn't be in a leadership group at any other AFL club in my eyes because no club has had such a pathetic culture and lack of leadership for so long. This argument has passed. All I was saying was I wouldn't have a problem dropping him after a couple of bad games to trial one of our new recruits in the same pos. Even if it was a H&A game. Turns out he didn't play on the weekend and I sense he will get a gig in round 1 but if he doesn't improve his decision making and kicking, throw someone else in.

From what I saw of the game, we are going nowhere in hurry with our curent level of kicking skills. Some of the players on our list have kicking skills that would be frowned upon in A grade Amo's. It's deplorable. They are AFL players FFS.

Well clearly we disagree because I am telling you that I'd play other mids ahead of Jordie. I rate them higher and even if it takes them a while to get used to playing the game at the highest level, I don't mind. As I said, we are going nowhere in a hurry. McKenzie is very limited as a footballer with not much scope for improvement in my eyes. Matt Jones, Viney and hopefully Rodan will move past Jordie this year. Bring him in to tag. that's it.

Wins, Stars and targeting demographs. We have too many ageing members and not enough youngsters. Youngsters need stars. Stars need strong leadership and culture. Hopefully we'll get there.

Fair call.

MMM?

No no, I'll just show you what you clearly missed in the game that day. Satyriconhome, the exact same could be said toward your type who continuously pump up anyone or anything to do with the MFC. I could ask you what you're doing on a forum like this in which people are bound to disagree with you. I'm happy for you to disagree with what I say, but I'm also willing to show you some things that I believe you missed in that game. I love the club. There, I said it.

I would be more than happy to re-watch the North game and show you how many silly mistakes Jordie made. It seems you enjoy watching stats, I enjoy watching the game.

Viney, N Jones, Grimes Trengove, Magner, Sylvia There's six for you. I'd be more than happy to start either of those two groups of mids. Why? Because they are all more versatile. Rp, I beg to differ when it comes to judging the attributes of some of our mature recruits. Rodan, Matt Jones and Kent all have mature bodies, I have seen them win contested ball and it's clear to me their decision making and footskills are better than that of Jordie McKenzie's. I don't care that they haven't played an 'AFL' game. Who are we kidding here, it's not as if we are risking playing Simon Godfrey ahead of Gary Ablett is it? What is your obsession with keeping Jordie in? We have nothing to lose as a football side and playing a Matt Jones, Kent or Rodan ahead of him will do absolutely nothing to the score board in my eyes. In fact, it will create a more even and competitive training and culture and hopefully standards will go up a notch. Now remember, I am saying this all on the back of a Nab cup game in which Jordie made many errors with his decision making, kicking and handballing and I want to stress that if those areas in his game don't significantly improve in next weekends hitout against the Saints, I would wholly endorse giving one of our mature-aged recruits a gig in round 1 ahead of Jordie. (Providing they also put on a solid display).

Interesting point, however I don't think reading the play/smart running is one of Jordie's strengths either. He is a kamikaze style mid who dives for a loose ball or an opponent in possession. Whilst none of our mids quite have his kamikaze attitude (except Viney from what I've seen), we still have a bunch of mids who can win the contested ball just as well as he can, can read the play better, are smarter and can use the ball better. We have developed bad habits as a side. Too many get sucked in to the contest. Not enough trust. Not enough spread. etc, etc. Jordie's kicking and decision making won't improve much because it does not come natural to him. Key word is 'much.'

RP, I would be inclined to start one of our mature recruits ahead of Jordie against Port in round 1 if his form doesn't significantly improve in next weeks hitout. Wouldn't you? Yes he is in the leadership group and his prep and attitude are of the highest standard, (which is why he got a gig in the LG), But how about Matt Jones for one? As everyone knows we are still a developing side and by no means do we have a solid 22 that can be reliable. Jordie's decision making and kicking can be atrocious. There are plenty of options if we were to leave Jordie out of the best 22.

Most teams are fitter Ben. Everyone goes up a notch. I agree we may see some improvement in some areas and noticed our contested ball winning ability looked better in those first games, however some aspects of our game never seem to improve and it kills me. Here's a list. Kick outs Field kicking Decision making Defensive running Trust I witnessed very little improvement from those five points in either of those games. North and Richmond's ability to move the ball fluently from coast to coast says a lot about where our footskills are at as well as our defensive running. It seems like we don't trust ourselves to hit a short target so kick outs are just the bomb long to a 50/50 contest and get our mids at the drop of the ball and move from there. Yes I'll wait a few more NAB cup games but holly balls there were some depressing signs again from those two games.

Nickelback and Linkin Park... I'm assuming that those suggestions are an attempt at humour because there's no way they can be seriously considered. I would honestly rather Kesha or Katie Perry. At least people would think that it would be a [censored] take... What the hell are you thinking!? You'll never walk alone is a great suggestion. Love the Liverpool fans singing it at a packed Anfield. No Western pop song should ever take place at the G before we run out. Otherwise I will relinquish my membership and follow Collingwood.

I'll give it a shake. (Obviously this is subject to change at the conclusion of the NAB cup, but for now here goes) My starting six for round 1 against Port would be as follows: B Garland Frawley Jetta HB Strauss McDonald Watts/Dunn Garland is great for versatility as we know he can play on smalls and talls. He's quick, creative and has finally developed some body mass so I hope that gives him some added confidence because sometimes he is not physical enough on the field. Lets hope he gets his kicking right this year too. If he had some aggression he would be an A grade backman, no doubt. Frawley needs to have an injury free year and get back to his 2010 form. It's pivotal for our improvement as a team for him to show the confidence he did in 2010. He's quick, strong, aggressive and a pretty efficient kick for a Full Back. The whole backline look a lot stronger when Frawley is up and firing. He's a confidence player. Jetta and Nicholson are competing for a BP position in my eyes. I've heard that Jetta will more likely play HB but I rate his footskills under pressure higher than that of Nicholsons so he gets BP for me. I'm still not convinced by Nicho. Yes he's always winning and leading the time trials at pre-season, but if you can't kick, I don't care how elite your tank is. I was playing footy against him in the Amo's not long ago and I've never rated him as highly as many on here. (It's not jealousy, I swear....) But seriously. It looks like Jetta has had the pre-season he's been waiting for and with his aggression, physicality, flair, and more importantly footskills, he gets the nod at this stage. Strauss and Terlich are competing for a spot with Strauss ahead for me. Whilst he wasn't rated overly high at Scotch college he's always had phenomenal footskills and a pretty good tank so if he can get his mentality right and show some physicality which is what he'll need, then he could be a fantastically damaging HB for us. Terlich looks to be similar and may turn out to be the player I want Strauss to be. NAB cup can't come soon enough. McDonald plays CHB on one of the big boys. He's got a tank to match any hard working CHF, a mongrel of an appetite to compete, and a serious desire to improve that has already seen his kicking come a long way. I will admit, there were definitely times last year where I wasn't entirely convinced but I certainly am now. In my eyes he is a much better kick than Nicholson and you can see at training and in interviews he is hellbent on fixing it. He's a very exciting prospect for us. Pretty quick for someone with such a big tank. A rare mix. Watts starts on the field with Dunn the 7th back on the bench. The beauty of these two playing the same role is that they can both go forward as well during a game for a bit of variety. I have a feeling the Watts is starting to piece it all together. He looks bigger, more assertive, confident. Playing on physical players such as Dawes and Clark at training will have helped him too, (even though Clark has been injured for all of it). Watts is not a naturally aggressive player as we know but I'm hoping we'll start seeing a little bit of it this year. Dunn is the guy who does have the aggression and I rate him as a role player. I'm sure he'll get games for playing on specific players to unnerve them etc. He is still valuable. Can play as a defensive forward also. That leaves Sellar, Nicholson, Terlich, Gillies, Tynan all of whom are behind in my eyes for various deficiencies in their game. Kicking mainly. Sellar is a good kick but McDonald, Frawley, Garland and Watts/Dunn are ahead. Can't wait for the season to begin. Go Dees.

Righto. If he weighs under 70 kgs, (which I don't think he does.. Surely not?) then I doubt he will get many games this season and if he does it definitely won't be up the ground where he seemed to play a lot of his under 18's footy. Forward pocket this year for me until he develops that little body.

Considering you took the time to correct a poster who stated Barry weighed 68kg, it seems you do indeed give a continental.

I can tell you now there's no way Barry weighs 78 kg, regardless of what the AFL website is showing. The MFC website had Rodan weighing in at 68kg at one stage and clearly they were wrong. I'm sure when the MFC do their player profile updates the AFL will change it. I'll be very surprised if Barry gets a game this year. Especially within the first half of the season. Thanks for the constant flow of training reports.

Well I am expecting big changes next year based on the mix of experience and youth that has been injected. As I said, that doesn't mean that I think Dawes will be kicking bags of 6 every week and Rodan will be amassing 30 possessions etc. It's the breath of fresh air that will lift the group as a whole. It's what we've been crying out for. We will be big improvers in my eyes next year.