warren dean

I was born the very next yr so I have missed pretty much all the Melbourne glory days except 2000 premiership run which is the closest thing to success I have witnessed. Was it still the top 8 back then or top 7 or whatever?

Final 5. Demons had to win last 6 in a row to make it.

Sam Reid (GWS) and Jamie Cripps both have the same condition, as does the great Dale Weightman. The Flea managed it right throughout his career. Needs careful management but others have shown it is no impedimant to a successful sporting career.

Trengove will be a great player. We need to make sure we recruit or develop the right players to support him. Viney will be a good start and if Gysberts can come on then that would help too.

We've got 5 'potential' stars who for one reason or another are miles away at the moment .

Watts - in the 2nds

Trengove - struggling , injured ?

Sylvia - an enigma

Frawley - lost his attacking flair

Jurrah - ?

If all these 5 were up and firing we'd be a much , much better side .

We're most probably going to have to bring some stars into our club with free agency , trading or the draft .

Just watching him this year I'd say a groin or thereabouts. That would explain his seeming loss of acceleration. If that is the case I would hope they would give him a spell

They are both growing into the role and in the fullness of time I believe Neeld's decision will be proven to be the right one. The criticism of Trengove especially is a bit hard to cop given the performances of some other far more experienced players in the side today. Jones is giving great support as a member of the leadership group, as did Frawley today and Clark as well.

FWIW, last year during trade week Terry Wallace was asked about Melbourne getting involved in the O'Meara stuff. He said he didn't think they'd try too hard because they were getting a certain Top 5 pick in Jack Viney as a F/S the next year. He said Viney is very much in the same bracket as O'Meara and Crouch. Different style but same quality! The reality is we will be paying about what he is worth.

You have not succeeded there. If a young player is to have any value then he has to perform. And if he is performing why would the Club get rid of them.

How much would we have got for under performing players???

Mortons first 2 years were on track...so why would we have traded him then?

Its ironic you pick out Frawley and Jones who both struggled in their first 2 years. You would have diced them on the trade table for very little.

Its very easy with hindsight to say shoulda coulda woulda. Its a pity that when you do think about it your argument does not hold water.

Bit harsh on Jonesy. Runner up in the Bluey in his second season( 2007), and rising star noms (for what they're worth) in 2006 and 2007.

On a positive note, most of the backline did a reasonable job given the disparity in inside 50's. Vickery hardly touched the ball, Riewoldt had next to no influence - if we'd been told that before the game we'd have been thinking it was our day for sure. Unfortunately our midfield is easily the worst in the league!!

6. Howe - super game

5. Frawley - with the amount of ball directed JR's way Frawley did a great job.

4. Jonesy -cracked in.

3. Watts - great first half

2.Jordie - worked hard

1. Trengove - ran it out OK

http://www.heraldsun...f-1111118040916

"We didn't waste him, but if you played him at centre half-forward or full-forward, he just ruined the game.

"So we thought we'd put him on a wing and give 17 other kids the chance to be part of the game.

"After the first half on the wing, he was easily best on ground, easily."

Easy to see why this bloke went number 1.

On the Couch did a quick review of Melbourne's drafting since 2007. The only picks that got a tick were Grimes and Trengove, with the jury still out on Tapscott and Cook. The rest all crosses.This was according to Sheahan. Was a very shallow analysis but seems to concur with a lot of the sentiment expressed around here.

I posted ths in another thread but it is worth a run here:

The lack of midfield support is a worry. I wonder what impact this will have on Trengove's development? There has been a lot of comparison between Trengove and Bartel and I thought it was worth mentioning here what Bartel's numbers looked like after his first two seasons.

2002 11 games 140 disposals 3 goals

2003 13 games 157 disposals 5 goals

Bartel played in a total of 9 wins over those 2 years.

JT

2010 18 games 343 disposals 8 goals

2011 19 games 387 disposals 13 goals

Trengove has played in 14 wins over those 2 years.

I'd say Trengove is well on the way to becoming A grade but Bartel was able to develop into the super player he is alongside a number of other quality midfielders. I don't see an Ablett, Chapman, Corey, Kelly etc amongst our current lot. It does say that Jack has had a bloody good start to his career, though!

My point being that Bartel didn't really become a reasonable AFL player until his third year and not elite until a fair bit later than that. He won his Brownlow in his 6th season. A number of other players around about Bartel's age and experience came through with him. Will Trengove continue to develop without that level of support - or is it already there? Have we recruited enough midfielders to be able to develop them the way they need to be?

It's just devastating that with all the high picks we've had we haven't built a dominant midfield. We haven't even produced an A grade midfielder yet. Trengove and Gysberts offer hope to become A graders, but it's just hope at the moment based more on potential than evidence.

The lack of midfield support is a worry. I wonder what impact this will have on Trengove's development? There has been a lot of comparison between Trengove and Bartel and I thought it was worth mentioning here what Bartel's numbers looked like after his first two seasons.

2002 11 games 140 disposals 3 goals

2003 13 games 157 disposals 5 goals

Bartel played in a total of 9 wins over those 2 years.

JT

2010 18 games 343 disposals 8 goals

2011 19 games 387 disposals 13 goals

Trengove has played in 14 wins over those 2 years.

I'd say Trengove is well on the way to becoming A grade but Bartel was able to develop into the super player he is alongside a number of other quality midfielders. I don't see an Ablett, Chapman, Corey, Kelly etc amongst our current lot. It does say that Jack has had a bloody good start to his career, though!

This is an idea I have had for a while, if you think it's rubbish that's fine but I just want to put it out there following the events of today.

I know a lot of us out there have put a lot of our own hard earned money into the Melbourne Football Club through memberships and the recent Debt Demolition. However, I am proposing a "Supporter Alliance" whereby we supporters donate money (however little) under this banner and sponsor the club. The money wouldn't be anywhere near what the club will have lost from "that company" but at the very least it is a sign of support

It's a great idea Clint. I already donated $400 to the Club earlier today ($100 for each member in our family). I think a Supporter Alliance tally board on the official site would be fantastic. It would never rival a business sponsorship but it would show everyone we are a Club of the members and supporters.

Agree and a great idea re the donations... but I hope you are not telling us that you have your 10 year old working in the mines to raise his $100 ;-)

Getting his helmet and lantern fitted as we speak!

4 members in our household - we'll donate $100 bucks each to the club for being a place of principle and integrity. Well done MFC!

Warren, if your son is disgusted by the comments I'd suggest he must be home schooled..plenty of people use this type of dialogue for banter...unfortunately this guy Polis is a CEO of a major sponsor, not condoning it at all but not too surprised either, I live in the real world. Polis should make a public apology.

I'd say everyone who has posted on this thread is disgusted by his comments and I'd take a guess that the vast majority of them haven't been home-schooled. Just because "plenty of people use this type of dialogue for banter " shouldn't make our disgust any less. I'm glad that my son has responded the way he has; and by the way he attends a government primary school!

Then contact EnergyWatch about it and tell them how you feel, don't blame the club.

Did this first! Was on hold there for a while too!

Good strategy - bully the club when it's clearly in all manner of poo through no (or little) fault of its own. Cut the self-important [censored] - your $1000 means [censored] all in the context of a $2m sponsorship anyway.

It's not about self importance, it's about principle. My son bought a new jumper last Saturday with Energy Watch all over it. He's 10 and disgusted by Polis' comments. Our Club can't afford to be associated with this sort of bs. $2m at what price?

I just called the MFC. Only got the answering machine which suggests they are experiencing a high volume of calls!! I left a message saying our family contributes over $1000 per year in memberships, donations etc and that this would cease immediately if our relationship with this disgraceful mob didn't end immediately. The number is 9652 1111 if anyone else feels so inclined.

I'd be amazed if he was dropped this week. Although clearly not the player he was, we desperately need a small forward and pace is critical at Subiaco. I can't think of anyone else on our list who could play the role Davey is being asked to play any better than him at the moment. As Rhino pointed out, Blease was subbed out last week so I'd expect him to be dropped before Davey - I'd play them both over there though.

http://au.sports.yah...-woeful/?cmp=fb

You can always blame the players. But are they really that good to begin with?

It comes back to the people that chose them and Melbourne seem to consistently pick the same type of player; weak reeds like Jack Watts and Cale Morton.

It's a very bland group of players that they have right now, and it comes back to recruiting. And the recruiting has been shocking.

Here comes the bandwagon of hate!

Nothing wrong with this at all. It is the opinion of a clearly frustrated Melbourne supporter. I've seen exactly the same sentiments expressed here over the many seasons.

The reality is he has only once in his career kicked a double figure goals tally in a season. Over the course of his career so far he has not been a particularly effective key forward. He has proven to be a reasonably effective ruckman. Neeld believes his best footy is ahead of him, and he will be given every opportunity to demonstrate his effectiveness as a key forward. At this stage, I'd say Matthews is half right (the bit about Hudson is a stretch); hopefully Neeld will be proven right in the longer term.

Really impressed with his performance tonight. He understands his responsibility to the members and supporters. His honesty is fantastic - he will find it impossible to [censored], no matter how much pressure is put on him. I don't think he'll drop Davey going into a game at Subiaco, but I reckon a couple of the other older blokes could be in a lot of trouble. Looking forward to seeing what Thomas has to say for himself.

Just showed it on 7 news. Didn't look that bad from the angle they showed. Colin was unlucky to spin in the air and land badly.

What I reckon, too! Butcher would be very unlucky to get rubbed out for that. Bad luck for Sylvia but that's the way it goes.