Rodney (Balls) Grinter

Biff, disappointment is understandable. I as I suspect were many MFC fans hugely diapointed that Aussie didn't make it completely, but as for the rest, your response totally lacks compassion and emapathy, which I actually find sad.

Biff, I took my lead from here on Lovell. http://demonwiki.org/Indigenous+Players He personally wasn't the first that leapt to my mind as one of our indigenous players but reading it on the demon wiki sight did jolt my memory that I'd heard he has some indigenous heritage, so I'm not going to dispute it. I don't think much was made of it during his playing days, in which sadly were not times indigenous players were encouraged to be as proud of their cultural/family heritage as they are in todays game, so I can well understand, assuming it is true that it wasn't brought up much.

You have more faith than I @low flying Robbo, at the time, I was getting the feeling that we could have been swamped by an avolanch of GC goals, they way they linked up and penitrated our defense for parts of the second quarter. Probably also getting psyched out by the comentaters banging on about GC's bye the week before leaving them fresher and also somewhat scarred by our incipid third quarter against Norf the week previous. So glad the players had more composure than I did.

Further to all the above @Petraccattack, one thing I have noticed about our play this season in particular is that while we have been very good at creating forward 50 entrys and keeping the game played in our forward half, at times we are woefully inefficient at actually scoring, which creates two problems 1.It leaves our defensive half very open for the opposition to get out the back and create quality scoring opportunities from limited entries and 2. We often don't have any score on the board for all our dominance and again letting the opposition get back in the game when they have the rub of the green for 5 - 10mins. Obviously 1. Is somewhat an inherent consequence of playing a high press and very attacking game style, so if we are going to play that way it is somewhat inevitable, though having some very quick players like Frost/Hunt to cover the open ground will help as will players who read the play and position well lIke T Mac and Hibbard. Once we can become consistly more efficient at picking off targets and scoring from our share of time forward half, we should really be able to put some teams to the sword early in games and set up some easier wins (assuming we don't then sit back and think it's just going to happen like somewhat like the Freo game). Again balancing the all out attacking with defense, it is encouraging that sometimeswe are getting better at simply controlling the game in between forward thrusts and that was another thing we did well at times in the third quarter against GC (it's just a little hard to know how much of that was due to an incipid oppo on this occasion).

Indeed and really appreciating the excitement of it. It is a problem though that we seem to get scored against too easily at times and either keep the opposition in the game or let it slip too far away from us. Until we get the ballance right and tighten up our defense just that bit more (it's not like we are bad defensively), we will struggle with consistency. Look forward to putting it all together and getting some real runs on the board wins wise.

Yup if it was the only thing he did all day, it just about would have been enough. Watching the replay, we had almost totally dominated the the third quarter up until that point, but we're getting no reward for effort on the scoreboard. That inercpt was a 12 point play and more, had GC scored I had the feeling they would get up and about and we could have dropped our heads. Reality is that we went on to kick another ten odd goals to GC's two for the game, so we certainly still had the tank and the weapons to out score them, but I do really wonder if we could have handled the scoreboard pressure.

Just watching the replay again now and Dermot himself sums it up nicely before the game after a cross from Lynch and Dixon on the boundary - "we have to work with idiots sometimes don't we", could have been talking as much about himself. I've got to admit that some of the champion past players like Derm, Brown and Carey do give some good insights into what could be regarded as footy smarts. It does shiiit me how often the game callers completely stuff up players names during the game, comes across very unprofessional. The ones that [censored] me off most though are the comentaters like BT who get completely off track and talk in circles for five minutes trying to crack pathetic jokes and completly neglecting what's happening with the game play.

One thing I'm finding hard with the eveness of the comp to this point is how to rate any one individual win/loss. Sounds a bit cliché, but I really think the only way to rate how a side is travelling is to look at them over a 4-5 week period. Beating the top sides of last year means little at this point when you look at how Hawthorn, Sydney and even the Dogs are traveling at present. I was devistated at the time to loose to both Freo and North precisely because it cost us the opportunity to string a group of wins together and put us ahead on the ledger, not necessarily because they are poor sides. More frustrated than satisfied with where we are presently at, but that we have been in every game we have played this year, despite some bad circumstances gives me hope for the second half of the year. I don't think we could have coped like we have without Gawn and Hogan like we are, last season. No doubt we are still having problems with consistency, but I do think the difference between our best and worst is narrowing. That we ground out and still could have almost beaten Geelong and particularly Richmond rather than dropping our heads and getting blown away suggests to me that we are getting mentally tougher and more resilient.

I watched Auzzie Wonaeamirri play for the NT Thunder in the NEAFL at Southport last year. He looked even less fit than the end of his time at Melbourne, but he impacted the game nicely with his skill and footy smarts. Gee the MFC would have had to have endured one of the most rotten runs of luck over the last 10 odd years, Jimmy, Sean, Aussie's dad and now Jessie's dad. That image of Aussie dad and Jimmy after that win is such an enduring powerful image.

I do like the look of Smith, but from what little I've seen of his disposal at AFL level, it's been pretty odinary. Perhaps it's just nerves, a little uncertainty and struggling to pick up the faster pace of the game. I'm certainly hoping he can tidy up this area of his game, because he looks like a more than handy prospect.

Nice article on Jeffy: http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/how-melbourne-star-jeff-garlett-has-gone-from-carlton-reject-to-demons-leader/news-story/556dd3fd93094b2b191cb33290f7e765 He was interviewed by Fox after the game on the ground on Saturday, but didn't speak very well. That's all right, his football speaks more than words ever could. Great to see Jeffy back in form, up and about. The article states all the players had their boots painted by an indigenous artist for Saturdays game again, like last year. I didn't notice while watching the first time, but will keep an eye out watching the replay. I do like this boot painting initiative that Jeffy started and the club has embraced. Jeffy states he'd like broader Australia to learn more about and embrace indigenous culture in the same way the MFC has - you've got me brother.

You've been pretty quite in your critique of Pedo too PD, since he has returned to the side and is quietly getting the job done whilst having a real impact. Personally, my only reservation with Pedo is that he is around that 30 y.o. mark and how long he can continue to produce the goods may be limited. Still if we can get another one or two years out of him at his present output whilst younger KPFs and the team in general develops, I think it's winners all round.

Not when it should be awarded to the MFC anyway.

Don't care, it's money in the MFC's pocket and that matters to our club. That said, one thing it does highlight is - does the MFC get any sponsorship funding fromy the Vic Gov? We often here quoted what the 'Melbourne' name is worth to promotional value, so "Show us the Money". I wonder how the MFC actually fares through government funding when considered how much public money has been gifted to clubs like Essendon, Geelong, Collingwood etc for their lavish training facilities and new grandstandsite etc.?

100% I was certaily one that thought we played like poop in the first half, but probably mainly because we wasted our opportunity with the wind after a decent first qtr. And after that goal that put GC up by 30 points, I was mentally preparing myself for what looked like it would turn into a thumping for the MFC (huddled fetal position in the corner of the lounge room for anyone who's wondering). Thankfully the players had better emotional contol than I. Again in retrospect, we really pretty much controlled the entire second half, because even though GC opened up the lead early in the third, even that was somewhat against the flow of play and it was just them making the most of the opportunities they had. Though GC are hardly a high quality team, it was still a good win by the team in many respects - I'll take it. It's a Grand Old Flag...

Apologies if I'm repeating (I've read some of but not the whole thread). A few quick observations: 1. In retrospect, I'm not sure we were playing all that badly in the first half. We were winning our share of the ball but were slaughtering it in front of goal; 2. That intercept of Bernie Vince's in the third quarter turned the game some what, as I'm not sure we would have come back from 36 points down; 3. Jones, Watts and Harmes purple patch mid third quarter was sublime.

Great way to finish the game

You are a MFC supporter though, that has to be even more frustrating, but hopefully we're done with our share of pathetic

Time to order Pizza for dinner... and a few celebratory beers!

A well earnt bag to Jeffy and in indigenous Rd won't he love that. You rock Jeffy

After last week and the first half we had, this is making me very happy - Go Demons

Pile them on now Demons, leave nothing to chance. About the only good thing Trac has done today. Gee Lewis is fummbly

Go Demons. Bugg's goal kicking continues to frustrate, but his competitiveNess has been good.

Got to kick one soon buggy

The Nibble strikes. Almost makes up for the horror shot in the first