Jarka

I don't think that the idea should be completely dismissed out of hand, it definitely does have some merit....for the future. Sylvia's positives are that he does have enormous talent and he can lead on the ground with his physical presence. He also has an enormous amount of charisma, some call it arrogance. Regardless these types of people will always attract others, it's not hard to imagine that he'd be an alpha male. He's also demonstrated enough character to realise that he was heading down the wrong path and he's starting to turn it around. I still think HT's idea is premature, however if Sylvia can get his mind right, if he can continue to improve his consistency, he could become a great leader on and off the field.

I would never ask nor expect anyone to reveal their source. I really don't have a problem with this at all, this year is just about giving him a taste. Let him have a higher work load with a full pre-season under his built and a more mature frame.

Mate, that was the answer I was hoping for! I love his confidence.

Hey RB, how does Jurrah feel about his progress? Does he have an idea about when he wants to play for Melbourne?

I agree that there is an element of luck, but it also depends on the strength of the draft and the homework that the clubs do on the kids. 2003 was a pretty weak draft, just look at the rest of the top 10 in that year. 2009, while being affected by a change of age restriction, still looks pretty strong for the first half dozen picks or so.

RB, after reading your posts and japaljarri's I take back what I said earlier, my guess work about what happened came from newspaper reports, you clearly know the kid well and I'm thankfull for your contributions. As I said earlier out of all the kids taken last year Jurrah excites me the most, and not just because of his huge potential. His story (most importantly where he's from) is very important to his culture and AFL and I'm rapt that the MFC can be part of it all.

Don't be so sure about a guaranteed win against the Tigers, that loss to us early in the year badly hurt them, the next time we play them they'll be desperate to win.

I'm not sure that this is correct. Collingwood didn't give up on Jurrah, he left Melbourne due to an illness back home and he was always going to get drafted by someone, North were very keen as well. Also the tiggers actually agreed to drafting Cousins before the psd occurred but Melbourne didn't announce who the'd pick until they had their selection. I agree that he's ready to play though and I'm actually more excited by him than any other draftee from last year.

That just how Phil Cleary normally talks

I think you assume too much, take Sylvia as an example. It's only been very recently that he's realised how hard he has to work to be successful at AFL level, and his results demonstrate this. Watts is a very talented kid, but it's pretty well known that his work rate hasn't been the same as someone like Naitanui or Rich, to some extent he's relied on his talent to get him through. Not every talented kid who has played AFL/VFL has worked hard enough to play at the highest level.

Yeah, sorry, that remark was meant in general and not to be a direct response to your post. I acknowledge that he is a good leader and when fully fit is good enough to play, however due to his age this is going to be harder for him to achieve as the season goes on. In the games that he doesn't play why not put him on the bench to talk to guys as they come off the ground and while they're resting? Use his strengths to benefit the team

I agree regarding the our midfield and the fact that we'll end up with a pp pick. I think our biggest decision now will be who we selct with our second pick and as much as I like the look of Butcher two talented mids is very, very tempting

In most other team sports I may agree with you, using Mark Taylor towards the end of his career as an example. However, in AFL you can't have any passengers, and unfortunately McDonald was one of them on the weekend. He may be a great bloke and a fine leader but he still needs to lead on the ground, in fact this year we need him to do it more than ever to provide an example to the kids. I'm sick of this attitude from Melbourne fans that just because he's a good bloke means he deserves game time when clearly he's not up to it, regardless of the reason. If he is injured then give him two or three weeks break to get over it, bring him back when he's ready.

err, we're 1 & 10 for the season...

McDonald has been a good contributor for the club over many years, but he was always going to struggle this year due to his age. His appointment also higlighted our problems with leadership. It's going to be difficult to manage him for the rest of the year as he is fast becoming a liability.

Try the next 6 years, and I'm struggling to find the silver lining in this situation

It's a sobering thought isn't it? It's a true indication of how poor and how many holes our list has, but most importantly the lack of genuine leaders we have.

I was one of the few who thought that Watts was perhaps played too early and it looks like I'm going to also be in the minority again because even though he clearly struggled with the pace of the game I was quite impressed with his endeavour. Never once did he completely pull out of a contest, in fact several times I was impressed that he did something knowing that he'd get crunched. I'm glad he didn't dominate and kicked multiple goals, it's important that he realises how difficult this sport is.

We have to be realistic with where we're at though, Collingwood are a good team with a very good coach and there's a reason why we're going to get a pp this year.

I reckon we have a winner

I think you should break your crystal ball, probably our only shining light

I think alot of Melbourne fans continue to overrate our team, which surprises me a bit considering how many games we've won for the season... Overall I reckon this has been one of the most embarrasing weeks for the club.

We were extremely lucky to get Jurrah in the psd, the kid has a serious amount of talent and could be anything when he fully matures. His story is great as well, being the first to play AFL from central Aus, in years to come he'll become a very important player for the club, both on and off the ground.

It seemed like such a good idea at the time...

Correct