Bay Riffin

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl...8-19742,00.html Bailey mentions Sylvia amongst others to take of the nucleus of our forward line. "Bailey named Paul Johnson, Colin Sylvia, Michael Newton, Brad Miller and Matthew Bate as the nucleus. " Thing is he has done better this year, mainly in the backline and that has been just gathering posessions. i want this bloke to succeed but have no confidence he will perform as a forward. At least his possesions rate is higher, but would like to see him have an influence. What do people think ?

some of the frees he got were stunning. at one point he was on his knees and we grabbed him around the waist and he got a free for it. think he had 6 before half time.

My notes on the McNamee interview... (Very friendly easy going interview.) We are actually competing with the AFL for the 150th celebrations, which has hurt merchandising sales. He also metioned how transparent he has to be in footy i.e make available commercial figures to so many different people, which is a lot more confidential in golf and tennis. Have not finalised Casey fields deal. Would love to say it’s a done deal, but can’t. Pretty likely we will not be at Junction oval next year. If Casey doesn't go through we will find somewhere else. Jim Stynes for president? – no comment but only to mention that whatever happens we not only have a smooth transition but more people want to get involved in the club. On the bugler – creating some show biz, and wants Melbourne to create a theme for each game, even if it’s a once off (e.g Neita’s retirement last week). Bugler has been good, but did jump in too early in the Freo match which wasn't considered won a few minutes before the siren. Missed his comment when asked about Demetriou (my kid was screaming).

very interesting - he is from Tassie you know.

Is Adelaide just some weird back hole of football for the Melbourne F C. Why is it we cannot at least look competitive over there? One of the major issues I thought the new coach had was getting us to not [censored] ourselves when we face a hostile crowd, especially in Adelaide. Why is it we can beat them at our lowest ebb last year at the 'G but no matter what we are doing, we travel over there and get bent over? Morton 3 goals is a good sign so far.

Bruce at least mixes it up in the midfield and gets an occasional hard ball, which is better than what green does.

Carroll is there for a reason, and I think we all know it, so why bag him?. If he competes while Warnock, Frawley and Martin and to lesser extent Garland are phased through as key positions, then surely it serves a purpose. The same people would be up in arms if we threw these kids to the wolves. They aren't quite ready yet. Garland in year 2, Frawley etc basically the same. If Scarlett, Glass took a while ,why should we expect them to hold down the key posts? Let's be reasonable.

Nah, McAvaney makes the footy for me. Go and replay the Wonaeamirri goal that put us in front. When he says 'HOW GOOD IS THIS", it will send chills up your spine. Best in the business along with Cometti. Tim Lane also a favourite on Ch 10. But Mcavaney best natural commentator going around.

We simply have to get top pick. We will not draw support without a very good team and we need 2-3 elite players I reckon. We need a few top 5 picks to build this team around.

Funnily was just talking about Hurley with his dad. very interesting conversation. He is playing for Vic metro v Vic country on Saturday. He reckons recruiters will almost always go midfielders and ruckman and most recruiters will admit its to save their won ass, as they can 'tick the boxes' and say don't blame me if things go pear shaped. I asked him about Natanui and Michael played on him and reckons he was able to take him out of the game and lead him into the forward pocket (Michael was playing full back). He reckons Natanui doesn't quite know where to run and there is argument whether you can teach that or not. Its like the Lance Whitnall argument in reverse. He reckons he has a fantastic pair of hands and not only a high leaping mark but good solid mark. His big question mark is he reckons he can't kick, but reports say he is getting better. In a nutshell he said Dees should take Natanui if they have number one, but he barracks for the saints and doesn't want me to buy him a tartan rug and thermos if the Dees get him.

wonder wehy he is unhappy - it's not as though he has set the world on fire and got dropped. He is still learning and would be in and out of most sides at present.

Sensational....Passion was what we needed, and we got it in the second half. Good to see Bailey getting angry as well. That is one out of the box and shows our young blokes aren't so bad after all. Still very very ordinary first half but a win is a win is a win and the press can at least bag someone else for a change.

I work with his dad - comes from Macleod F C. Is a superb kick and definite key position who will fill out. Melbourne are very interested and would go top 10 the way recruiters are talking. I think Adelaide said they would have picked him first if he was available last year.

Sylvia out sucks. it really does - I think its just plain unlucky to sustain so many hamstring/OP injuries. just when he was getting somewhere. Surely he deserves a full season to show his stuff.

We are much better off with Carlton winning last night. The Weagles will win enough game to keep them off the bottom. Even last night they showed the crowd are 100% passionate and for a half they played pretty good footy. The normal home ground advantage they enjoy will bite them on the bum as it will not allow them to bottom out if that makes sense. I reckon Kennedy will be very handy for them and he got them back into the game last night.

Are we missing something here ? next year the AFL raises the drafting age to 18 !! That means if we got priority picks, we get to choose from a significantly smaller pool. For instance for this year, Natanui and Rich would be out of contention - how many touted as top draft picks in 2008 are over 18 ?. Hurley is 17 so he would be off limits as well. we may be effectivley choosing the 10th or 20th best kid. It's a F$cking joke if this goes ahead. Raising the draft age to 18 has HUGE effects on next years draft, because ALL the next years candidates are shelved for 2010. I could live with draft tampering in 2010 but not next year as I feel we will still be bottoming out. can the Dees ever take a trick ??

Well if we won less that four games this year and next, we would get priority pick but could not pick upthe next Natanui as all 17 year old cannot be drafted. In fact does this mean next years draft is only 18 years old who have obviously not been drafted yes. in other words no-one great.

http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/boos...9234957079.html How f#cking manipulative is this, and why aren't Victorian clubs having their say and having a go at the AFL. They are raising next years draft age to 18, so basically next years Kreuzer will be kept in safe keeping for 2010 for the gold coast. Then the Gold coast get the first 5 picks of the Super Duper Draft!! Plus how do they get the extra 10% salary cap when Brisbane had it removed - isn't that a precendence ? or does it only apply if you win 3 premierships ? Also they have access to 10 uncontracted players, first 2 preseason picks, not to mention sole ownership of the top 15 queensland players. Do they have to engrave their own name on the premiership cup, or does the AFL handle that ??? vomit,vomit,vomit. Only a proposal of course until its made undisputed law, probably when we least expect it. If Melbourne are down bottom next year and get a priority pick, we will be crucified.

Oh for f$cks sake. Yes lets go back to the good old Mark Riley days which were incidentally the lowest point of our club, and play blokes who weren't going to be there next year and refuse to blood more youngsters. Nothing would be sadder than bringing in old stagers, then getting to 5 wins and losing a priority pick. Menwhile these bloke retire and where are we ?

I think you will find Mclean has been concentrating hard on doing heaps of selfless things in contested situations to help his teammates. As does Nathan Jones. Mclean especially has sacrificed his game this year while racking up plenty of posessions himself. If we were winning he would be heralded as the next captain for on field behaviour at least. but alas it all goes unnoticed. These two in particular are playing playing consistent team orientated footy. It takes time for all this to gel of course. It took West coast years and needs good players to do it - but look at them, they still 'know' how to do it, but without passion and missing a couple of key midfielders they are lost. Hawthorn had at least 6 years to build a team with a new game plan, give us some time at least. Like it or not we are now fully rebuilding in the first time in over a decade and its the best thing that will happen to Melbourne.

I work with Hurleys dad and he is getting a lot of interest especially from the Dees. He played on last years full forward for WA recently and beat him and 2 weeks ago was playing full back for the Knights (I assume it was the knights), was shifted to CHF and snared 6 goals. He is a beautiful kick and well balanced. Consequently he is on the radar for a lot of recruiters. Problem is we would need another pick as he will probably go top 10.

Whether or not they are cheap possesion is not an issue. He normally got low possesion counts in the hardest parts of the ground i.e centre and half forward. Let him develop for a year in one position and enjoy just playing the one position. I reckon he could become a Jason Johnston type who could die a slow death at half forward but cut you up across half back/centre or even wing.

You can blame Mark Riley for continuing on the farce after Daniher had left. Very selfish coacihng and belongs at Carlton.

Fire engine I agreed and sick and tired of listening to supporters [censored] and moan to change the game plan. How f$cking pathetic are you guys if you don't get what you want in life. I say pick option 2 and stick steadfastly to your guns. and if I hear another person say change the game plan I will spew. go watch the Hawks for a lesson in sticking consistently to a plan.

How f$cking sweet to see those cheats lose. Have a cry. Ratten will win no friends having a whinge about umpiring. I think they just insist they have to be competitive now so it's obviously someone else's fault. As far as I can see they did not lose by less that goal so give it up, wipe away those tears and cop what Karma you deserve.