Deemania since 56

You noticed it too, WWSW? I really like the line of attack and that backline is the best selection of the year.

I did stay positive until quarter time, in retrospect, DZ and it was a reasonable quarter for us against Richmond. Not long after that I needed another ale or two to stay focused, not able to get a round of golf in the darkness of an approaching night. Weid and TMac didn't clunk anything except their respective reputations; Max was treated poorly by the umpires so the Nank could start the Tigers' engine. Sadly, we did not make them earn their goals - they just did as they pleased against us. Looks like a few teams are going to do that after the first five rounds...

How does this message get through? We have been recommending it for over a year, now - and whilst we are down with rehabs and the ageing know-it-alls, it would be bloody handy.

Hear, hear! Wish we'd kept Gysberts, too - he may have taught the Weed how to take a mark.

I think that his indulgence with half-sucked minties and the two or three musk sticks is a reason that he fails to gain the desirable bulk so required of a KPF who only operates in large packs to make social connections.

The blind kicks, the bombs, the mis-kicks to opponents, these are just killing us and playing to the opposition. Week in, week out. Just some of the many factors to be immediately addressed - so, I guess it will not be done, either.

Fritta is a forward, once again re-iterated.

Free boot-studding and a shower after the game - nothing more!

Midfield is magnificently potent - and remains deplorable. Thanks, SG.

Tim did offer more but was left too often without linking support.

No, the thoughts and languishing hopes of long-term MFC supporters and members need to be heard, heeded and appropriately responded to; and if Goodwin and Pert (who both in my eyes have very little entitlement to the 'throne' of credibility and its proximity to a protecting God as you suggest bing 181, and/or its status-only insulation) they must ultimately be seen as responsible for the amelioration of our current situation in Team management and/or its productive controls and outcomes, These two must be the drivers of both the present and the immediate future, and have unsuccessfully positioned themselves to be accountable.

Absolutely and one hopes that he reads this, and Pert, too, for that matter.

We take in the football environment, its highs and lows, its direction(s), its leadership, its street level culture and expectations, including recruiting, development, skill sets, readiness, game styles and plans, its sports medicine needs, the alleged 'brands' demonstrated by the clubs and so many wildfire coaching 'panels', plus an extraordinary chain of related, intertwined and over-arching considerations such as expert commentary and prediction, whether relevantly or irrelevantly, and genuflect almost continuously on the implications to our game, Club and operative abilities in that changing landscape. A great beauty of Aussie Rules is that these types of reflection and consideration take decades to pan even if only partially, to scrutinise and inform. We reach a conclusion or two across time and miss little, and learn more to better interpret and predict that which fascinates us about the game itself, including our hierarchy in the competition and its status in an ever-changing environment. It is a lifelong study that for some of us, indicates great learning and wisdom, including a sense of belonging. Now, we primarily ask ourselves, WTF is happening at the MFC over the past suite of in-depth 'reconstructions' and secondly, why?

Footy is off my brain for a few weeks, as from today. I'd rather play golf at the moment and enjoy life. The MFC, not the players, have yet again fumbled around in the dark to very poor effect. We even have Pert as the boss. My goodness; poor coaching to match worsening selection options to match catastrophic decisions and outcomes.

Sympathetic to your dilemma and difficult decision, PF. It has been a very painful trip this time around and one that has dominated the Club since '65. Many of us, I think, are reviewing our loyalties and our love of football. Then again, golf has its merits, as well.

The cheap, temporary-to-mid-term annulment of several Club issues from recruiting, coaching, player preparation, game planning, buy-in and communication, to realistic development, FD decision-making, whole team readiness and preparation, and internal tasking reliability.

Disagree, DD. Most probably a sensible - and rational - evaluation. Would Roos, for example, or other mainline coaches tolerate such ineffectiveness, repeatedly? Would these other coaches allow a season to be destroyed by losing such a list of ball-winners, by mishandling players and recruits on medical lists, by allowing 'big' recruits to arrive unready for the rigours of football, by not competently developing younger players with outstanding skills and aptitudes? He has been less that successful as a coach by pushing a series of onfield strategies that have questionable outcomes, are completely misinterpreted, misunderstood and poorly applied by the players themselves, and then, despite the evidence all around him, stubbornly refusing to change to alternatively successful methodologies?

Yes, about 5-6 weeks, but not on the trot - characterised by 'recoveries' in the nick of time. When the game plans were not working that time, the players themselves changed tack and led a mini-turnaround of successes. Of course, Goodwin in his pressers took the credit without elaborating (as he had so very little to do with it). He spoke instead on matters concerning longer-term successes and the intangibles surrounding the ethos and spirit of the team. These are some of the reasons why I would think an experienced Lewis who, at the sunset of his playing career and footballing capability as a player, would make a good immediate replacement for Goodwin and most of the rest of the coaching entourage. He would most probably also select a handful of his known contacts to assist him in such a role, bringing a relative depth to the conduct of footballing preparation and delivery. This is not change for the sake of change nor is it emergency action in a crisis, it is leaning to a change for considerable improvement where a team is static, overpowered and outplayed.

Just added up the numbers myself a few minutes ago thinking 'How long has it actually been?' You know, this was before your post was read, but By Crikey, I got the same number: 55 years since the glory of the '64 Flag. In a lifetime, that's a considerable amount of anticipation and loyalty. Thanks for the memories, MFC. There are roughly eleven years spared when that lifetime was happiest for some reason or another.

Tim Smith for a training/orientation in the AFL side. Good move after a few weeks of contesting experience. The Weed out until form ignites in his brain. Garlett is ready to return, surprise, goal. Spargo is working away at learning and should be in the heat spots for Casey right now. Stretch has runnability - goes two ways as second nature. Into the AFL side immediately as he is hungry and just that little bit uncertain with his disposal - but he'll give you value when timing and opportunity arise. Keilty, Keilty, Keilty. How long can our selectors ignore this bloke? Baker, another flanking speedster in need of experience. Surely the selectors can see that the talent at Casey will be fully inexperienced even when they have their 26th birthdays! Jordan out, alongside Jones. Hibberd needs a form 'rest' at Casey. Jordan should be moved immediately to the coaching staff with a view for head coach if Goodwin continues to fail the Members/fans. Viney needs to be given strict instructions to play with the team, at all costs, similar to Clarrie's game. Lockhardt - time for sustained presence in the AFL team. Role/function mentoring must lift for him. Goodwin needs a rattle and a warning on tenure ... he appears ambivalent and uncertain.

OMac back in the side would be a disaster - he hasn't even had a chance, yet, to improve. He has by default dragged our backline into the 'help me out!' doldrums and successfully acted as a role model for mediocrity. There are young blokes who would relish a chance and because of that eagerness, would put in plenty.

'Not many options. No point rushing May or Lever this season.' Fully agree, they might get injured. Then, where would we be? Same for Hannan, JSmith, VDB, etc, etc.

Agree somewhat with this idea. Born and bred Demon with a big heart for the Club and that is undeniable. However ... what is now years ago, I watched his across a playing career his dad, Todd, do similar good things for the MFC team. I held back quite a bit when Todd kicked the ball - certainly a long way and with power - but not well-directed and in tackles, bustling by all means but hesitant to dispose of the ball to better-placed teammates. Jack has these tendencies as well. It is often interruptive in the clearance and progression of the ball to the Team's advantage. In fact, apart from his first year, I really think that the overall skills of Jack have waned somewhat and recent injuries do nothing to improve this situation.

Viney does a decent battle in the game, yet he still has the occasional tendency to 'relay', when in possession of the ball: '...I've got it, you're trying to take it from me ... '; he then retains it (tucks it under his arm), takes on the opponent with the silent mantra '...OK, so come an get it...' and relishes still retaining the ball the other side. However, he often loses the ball in this self-possessed habit; he quite often drops the ball and falls on it deliberately which leads to a 'holding ball' decision against him or a loss of team momentum in a cessation of play for a bounce. Other teams are now well familiar with this aspect of his game and use it to their own good advantage. Whichever way you look at this pattern, it is not progressive. When this happens in the early part of the game in which he is fresh, it creates a stop-start sequence that interferes with team momentum and effective clearance. We see all other MFC players re-set, re-position, expecting to have to repeat the process that was initially successful just a second or two ago. Gawn most often has to re-ruck and re-clear the ball from that duel, time and again. Good football can often be characterised by not over-possessing. Get into position, get ball, use ball by hand or foot as quickly as possible, depending on how 'tight' the circumstances may be at that critical moment. It is not hold ball into a contest and come out with ball at the end of that contest. Such actions and brainwaves seldom work.

That was no fluke. McQueen applied canny logic pre-game to the situation across a number of noticeable variables that comprise a game of football. On judgement, he wins the prize.