Rodney (Balls) Grinter

Interesting to see one of the games top players so openly speaking their mind against the AFL. I don't think we would see this happening in the men's game. You'd think this smacks yet again of pretty poor stakeholder comunication and managment by the AFL. If the six games only proposal is true, I'm woundering what the AFL's key motivation is? I can think of a few: 1. Releasing the womans games top players to keep a good saturation level for development of the talent at second tier levels and; 2. It would blunten external calls of underpayment if the same level of remuneration is paid for less games.

I guess most mere mortals would give and a leg just to play AFL for the honour, let alone the coin these days, but I think the professional life these days would be soo much different yo having a kick at your local footy club, that I would also have to empathize with those that aren't cut out for it. I had a similar experience when I was 18 and joined the defense force academy. The coin was grate as undergraduate student, I could handle the physical fitness aspect no worries, but the whole environment was completely foreign and hostile to my personality, so I left in much shorter time than he did. We knew the risks when we drafted him and too it regardless, no doubt because we were attracted to the talent he showed. He had a crack, it still didn't work out with us, so I have no hard feelings. I'm not sure that he was contracted next year anyway and/or if he would have been kept on the list, but at least he did it before final list lodgement unlike Lumumba did to us a few years back anouncing his retirement in the offseason.

Sounds right to me. From what I also recall, he is well up there for contested marks inside 50 as well.

Umpires setting a new standard for worst umpiring of the year. Two first half goals to the Crows from marginal RUBBISH, Zero to us. That deliberate out of bounds against Smith was a shocker, has been half a dozen worse sense from Adelaide that haven't been paid and in front of goal. This stuff really makes me mad.

Great pickup for the MFC. It took a little while to warm to him and count him as one of our own, but I have no doubts that his Lewie's heart now beats true for the Red and Blue. Congratulations Jordan on a great milestone. ...now get the job done tonight Demons and make it a memorable game 300 and 100 for Lewie and Dom in the best possible way.

Dom is one of those players that have helped lift the club to where it is from our dark days and deserves to be part of having a crack at some success. Congadulations on 100 AFL games Dom and would be good to get that to 100 MFC games next year as well.

Yeah, no don't think so. Bugg won our 3km time trial this year (be it in the absence of T Mac) and I'm thinking he is now at the point of having a mature body. Personally I agree with the assertion that he is worth using as a tagger. Harmes can do and did do the role well, but I think he offers more offensively than Bugg out of the guts. If I recall correctly, we used Viney as a tagger on Stevens in the first half against the Saints - now there is a waste. I'm not prepared to write off Bugg at this point. His kicking is a confidence thing and he has often played at times the teams confidence has been down. With the realitive lack of injuries we have had this year our midfeild depth hasn't really been called upon and at the moment that's kept Bugg out. I agree that he is certainly on the outer and close to out at this point though and no unless something changes dramatically, it certainly wouldn't suprise me to see him traded or delisted at season's end. But I'm also all for us trying to get the most out of every player on our list and think a taggers role for him could be just what our side needs, someone to get under the skin of the opersition and/or get into the taggers that will come after Oliver, Brayshaw and Co.

Given the way Max was putting it down our on ballers throats yesterday, I'm not sure we will really miss Viney's contested work. Just pray we don't loose Max. I think he has been the difference the past two weeks and probably for most of the year. Sure we have Pedo who I have confidence would step up and perform well, but he ain't no peek condition Max.

Would be really happy for JKH and the MFC if he can step up and cement himself as an AFL player. As others have hinted at above his introduction to AFL with our team of 4-5 years ago can not have been easy, particularly for a forward. He is a slightly different sort of player, but Spargo has certainly had a much easier introduction to AFL than JKH. My recollection of that first season was that JKH he showed real promise as a player that had a bit of X factor, good skills and poise delivering the ball. It's been variously stated by Roos that before his time younger players were both gifted games too easily and thrown in the deep end and that realistically these players should have been given more time to develop in the VFL. That all said, I'm not sure thay the MFC has been able to deliver on many of those long term development players in the VFL either, which has been very frustrating as a supporter. I've heard many on this forum write off the likes of Billy Stretch and JKH on the basis of a lacking of fundemental football attributes like leg speed and/or ball skills. At the same time many are also critical of players who lack mental strength and/or good character that drives successfully team culture. From all I have heard talked about both JKH and Stretch is that their character and training ethic are first class. Thus I think it's really important for the MFC that players such as these guys succeed and become a valued and embedded part of the team moving forward. Probably the best example of where it has come off for us would be players like Nev Jetta and ANB.

16th yes, 16th I get the point. We are also 1st in the competition for scoring . I say that again 1st and have the 2nd best percentage in the competition, so I think some of it comes down to game style and a deliberate decision that we will allow more scoring against us than some teams, to enable a more attacking game style. Clearly it's all about ballance and the stat I really care about is the wins Vs losses columns, which admittedly has taken a bit of a pounding over the past few weeks. To suggest that we are no good one on one is flawed thinking though when more than ever, it's a team game. I actually think the area of our game which has lost us the past two games particularly is the inability to make the most of our scoring opportunities, but that's a whole other discussion. We are not that far off the pace at the moment, but we do need to get back onto the winners list and start racking up the four points. Yes tightening up and few things defensively will help that, but it's no where near and dire as is being made out to be there case by some at the moment.

You don't rate Jetta or Hibbard? Say what you will about his lack of pace, but Lewis is pretty decient one on one as well. Salem is hard as nails an always brings tackle pressure. Oscar had a brilliant start to the season, but has obviously gone to [censored].

Why not pay in the back when that's what it is? Balling it up just causes more stagnant play. If a player wants to tackle a player in that situation, they should stay on their feet and lift the player so the actually have a chance to get it out, or the other alternatives are that they let the ball get handballed out or let the player stand up again giving them an actual opertunity to dispose of it. I didn't think Port deserved to win the game last week either, yet they did (more poor umpiring a contribution there), if we are to become a good team and finish top 4, then we need to win more of these games we don't really deserve to and rack up the 4 points. Not many teams bring their A game every week, but the best ones find a way to win regardless. We should have done that round 1 against Geelong and probably against Port and the Saints too.

Sorry, you lost me a bit there Wil, but talking about holding the ball, I get so anoyed with some of the ones that get paid when players are on the ground trying to pick up the ball and distribute it out. Fair enough to pay holding the ball for someone dragging it in and making no attempt to get rid of it, but when someone goes to pick it up, ends up on the bottom of the pack and then getting ridden like a bull on their back like the Lewis one yesterday, then I think it should be paid in the back.

Not that it was the issue with this decision, but one of my chief beefs these days is when a free kick is called and 99% of play stops, ball carrier keeps running (but only really in a half hearted way, expecting the free kick to be called back) and then the ump decides to call play on advantage, with the player 20m further down the feild and in miles more space than would normally be the case. ALWAYS happens more against us than for us!

Without getting too carried away with what it means for where we are at as a club, bathing in the glow of Sunday's glorious record win against the Carlscum, it has basically taken me to this point in the week to get interested in Demonland. Can't help but think how much better the win was being played in something clearly identifiable as a MFC jumper and how it would have taken the edge off it, had it been performed in one of those crap white Bali singlets. Also got me to wondering would beating Carlton by 109 points have been the biggest win for the MFC in a royal blue jumper? ...pitty T Mac missed what for him was almost an unmissable goal after the siren, or it could have been a 114 point win.

Agreed. Bar that one game where we had a complete brain fade, if you look at the respective sides played, won Vs lost and the ladder, I think we are going at least as well as Hawthorn. Yet they keep getting talked up as a strong finals bound contender and us a good chance of missing out again. I guess it's reasonable from an outsiders perspective when you look at the recient history of the teams over the past 10 years, but hoping we prove them wrong, that we keep improving and they have peaked this year and start dropping off. Can't stand those Hawthorn f#! $ers, so pussed with the way we lost to them.

On the flip side it was refeshing listening to our own Daisy Pearce on the ABC's call of the Lions V Dogs last night. Some great special comments. I particularly liked one she made after Hipwood missed a fairly elementy set shot: "Do you think a haircut would help?" lol Gold - telling it like it is!

It ant rocket science (I'm just a poor old ex-garbo). They (footballers) might talk up all this "one club player" stuff, but at the end of the day, they (probably at the urging of their managers) think with their head not their heart when deciding to accept a deal and stay or chase a better deal and leave.

...many footballers like the romantics of being a one club player and I believe a reasonable level of genuineness in this assertion from most, but at the end of the day, I believe that almost all would be making their contract decisions on an dispassionate, pragmatic basis, so on its own, the stated notion of being a one club player is almost irrelevant.

Puss off BT for starters. Wheatley is a moron - he has nothing on BT.

I know what you are saying, but: a) I really don't mind if the media and rest of the footy world underrates us, so long as we keep improving and winning (when they will inevitably and regrettably jump on the band wagon); b) Some of our lapses within games still righty cause the objective observer to question the MFC's present capability to be a finals side. Until we consistently put together convincing four quarter efforts against all commers, I think many will have trouble having any confidence in us - refer point a).

Yes, the over [censored] zealous auto censor.

Until it's a done deal it's not and then these days, it's still not completely binding if one of the parties looses faith or goes shopping, i.e. Jack Watts, Tom Boyd. Right now he's with us and playing good footy and the team is starting to win and perform, so let's see where that takes us.

What player would be?

Sorry, I am going to sick my neck out a bit and compare him a bit with the asertion that at this point I think he uses the ball better for is than Lever does. It's actually a bit more of a statement of non confidence in Lever at presemt as much as anything. Where I think Oscar makes sound, safe decisions and generally passes within his capability with good execution, I think Lever is the complete opposite and I would go as far as to say that I think Lever is the worst ball user in our backline right now. Whether it's because he is uncertain of our system of ball movement and his teammates positioning and that he will get rapidly better once he finds his feet more, I couldn't say, because I didn't take much notice of him at Adelaide, but right now, I recon his ball use for us is rubbish.