titan_uranus

Andy mate I doubt anyone would be anything but sympathetic. The work you put in is enormous and a bit of advertising here and there, whilst not ideal, is far from the end of the world.

Team is in: Blease in for MacDonald. MELBOURNE Backs James Strauss James Frawley Daniel Nicholson Half backs Colin Garland Jared Rivers Nathan Jones Centreline Jack Trengove Colin Sylvia Brad Green Half forwards Tom Scully Liam Jurrah Cale Morton Forwards Ricky Petterd Jack Watts Stefan Martin Followers Mark Jamar Brent Moloney Jordie McKenzie Interchange Jamie Bennell Sam Blease Jordie Gysberts Jeremy Howe Emergencies Clint Bartram Matthew Bate Lynden Dunn In Sam Blease Out Joel Macdonald (Knee)

Thought Tomic played really well last night. Had the break in the third, but he unravelled at 3-1 when he could have really pressed Djokovic. Then had some chances to break in the fourth. Ultimately Djokovic is a far better player, so there's no disgrace in losing in the slightest, but there were definitely some immensely positive signs last night. Could well be a force in the next 5 years. A much bigger shock though was Federer losing after taking the first two sets. First time he's ever lost from that position in a Grand Slam, after 150 or so wins. And it wasn't Nadal, Djokovic or Soderling either. And it was on grass. Clearly coming to the end, is Roger. Nadal-Murray is going to be a very interesting semi. Nadal might still be a bit injured, and dropped a set to Fish in the quarters. Murray steamrolled Lopez. Maybe with a bit of crowd support, who knows?

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/jack-watts-says-demons-will-change-game-style-to-break-etihad-stadium-hoodoo/story-e6frf9jf-1226084708086 Watts talks about changing our game plan and potentially picking players who are more suited to Etihad.

Sheedy might be old, but he's not stupid. Surely he recognises that they both stink. That will be the biggest barrier I think. If other mid-sized forwards are on the market (I can't think of any at the moment), they'd surely take precedence over our two hacks. I also reckon there's a strong chance that they'll take Fev on a clause-ridden one-year contract.

GWS is not going to say to us: 'OK, which one do you want to give us?'. They will go after Scully until either they get him or he signs with us. If he signs with us, then they'll move their attention to Morton. It's like a millionaire who wants to buy 1 car. He doesn't start by looking at the Subaru until he's tried to find the Ferrari first. Why buy the Subaru when there's the chance of a Ferrari? Bad example, but you get the drift. GWS won't just take Morton if they can get Scully. At any rate, as was the case with GC and Brisbane, if GWS can convince one player to sign under the agreement, they can always trade for a second one, or convince them to walk and nominate for the draft. There are ways in which GWS can get two players from one club.

Right now, assuming we can't find a home for Bate or Dunn (strong assumption that, I'd think we would be able to find at least one of them a new home), the three who are in biggest danger are Maric, Warnock and Wonaeamirri. Whether or not Wonna wants to stay, if we can't move Bate or Dunn on, Wonna would probably fall into the category of 'three most delist-able' players.

I don't think I would go so far to say it's 'useless'. It's quite decent actually, and when they have the ball, our 'gut-running, pack plays', as you call them, don't really change anything. It's how we apply pressure to the ball carrier that will determine how we go against Hawthorn (and every other team, for that matter).

Haha.... Whilst it may well be true that Gawn only got his games because Spencer was injured, that only tells us where the players were at before Gawn played. Now that he has played, and played well, he is in front of Spencer. This is on account of the fact that Gawn looked comfortable and capable at AFL level, whilst Spencer has yet to display this.

Rule out Geelong. By Round 19 they're going to be beginning to start their climb towards peaking in the finals. They'll have Selwood, Bartel, Ottens, Kelly and most of the rest of their stars out there. We'll be cannon fodder as they strive to maintain top 2. You can also probably rule out Hawthorn. We don't play well against them (not for four quarters anyway), and I don't se us being much of a chance. As for Carlton and West Coast, at our best I can see us winning against either side (though I'd be a hell of a lot more confident if the Eagles game was at the G). I can also see us getting tonked by both (it's already happened this year against both sides). At our best, we can pick up a win. At our worst, we could be embarrassed for four straight weeks. Nonetheless, I don't think we need to win any of them to make finals. If we do the job against Port twice, the Dogs, Gold Coast and Richmond, we'll make it I reckon. And a team in our position should be good enough to beat all those sides, at Etihad, Darwin, or AAMI.

FWIW, I've heard from people with connections to the MFC board that he has not signed anything. The board is not drawing inferences either way on that. And neither should we. Take it or leave it. I really couldn't give a rat's tossbag anymore. Nothing's going to happen until the end of the year. The best we can do is keep winning and hope that he enjoys life as a Demon enough to offset the clear financial loss he will cop if he stays,

Don't like seeing players go backwards on the injury list. Must have had a complication or something. Boo. The six day break isn't going to help MacDonald much.

No, not that excited. Just wanted to make sure you understood that you have NFI... I haven't 'written off' Spencer. I just find it ludicrous that anyone could think Spencer is in front of Gawn at the moment, based on how Gawn played when he was in the side. Don't get lulled into VFL form. PJ always had that, and never made it. Dunn and Bate periodically play well for Casey, and we know how that works. But Gawn played well at AFL level. That's a huge difference.

PJ was horrendous that night. A couple of goal-umpire decisions went against us too. Green's scissor kick and then Lake allegedly touching Bate's (IIRC) long bomb. Also IIRC, one was definitely a goal and one was a behind, so we got dudded there.

OK, just to confirm: Bate and Dunn (along with Bail and Strauss) did in fact sign contracts last year taking them through to the end of 2012. So they are contracted for next year. http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/7415/newsid/102562/default.aspx Edit: Also, unless anyone knows more, this article suggests that Wonaeamirri, Maric and Morton, along with Sylvia, Grimes and Martin, are out of contract at the end of this year. http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/7415/newsid/85298/default.aspx

Lynch says more (or potentially less): http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/scully-has-not-made-a-decision-manager-20110628-1goap.html

2007, when we beat the Dogs. We've lost our last 10 there.

We certainly do match up better against the Dogs than the Kangas. I think we can win, and if it was at the MCG I'd be quite confident. But there's always something about us at Etihad that makes me suspect a collapse in form.

No.

Haha no he's not, but you can add him to the list to if you want.

Deserved to be out for the rest of the year. What an absolute moron. I'd love to see someone from the opposition team get into him when he comes back.

I'll pay that. Thought Howe worked tirelessly all day. Didn't get involved as much as against Freo, nor did he hold all his marks, but still gave us something and worked all day (unlike two other half forwards on our list).

Of course, how silly of me. Cheers. Still doesn't change the fact that we may now find ourselves in the awkward and unfortuante situation of having to keep Bate and Dunn on our list, totally undeservedly, whilst letting go of younger and possibly better or more promising players.

In other words, play like we do at the G? Sounds so simple, but if it were, we wouldn't be in this situation to begin with. It's all in the mind.

Agree with that. Which makes the whole situation so unfavourable. I mean, who wants to see Fitzpatrick go and Bate/Dunn stay?