Total-Dee

Current : Nathan Jones - maybe getting a little slower in his older age but has been the backbone of this club for a long time. Past - Robbie Flower

Been I while since I have been able to see a game live, unfortunately I was still disappointed with what was served up. What went right : defensive effort was there. Not always but most of the time. Nathan Jones - need I say More What went Wrong : Decision making. Our first thought for all players no matter where on the ground is chip back. This has got to stop!! Don't mind going back to get out of trouble but in open play back is not the right direction. Its got to the point that the forwards don't bother to lead as the know the ball is going back. Forwards must lead like they mean it. Half hearted 3 second runs is not a lead. Forward pressure was non-existant. Fixes I think could Help : Have at least one forward in the forward half at all times (Dawes is my pick). We got quick breaks but couldn't exploit them I think there is some kind of assumption that AFL Players have great skills and don't need to train on basic skills. We need to be able to always - Kick accurately between 30-40 meters - Handpass to targets under 5 meters - Lead with conviction/honour(trust) that lead will be honoured As "Roosey" has said if you not here to play you might as well go now.

I picked Nathan Jones. All through this season when things were getting worse and worse he stood up and played good football when all around him were crumbling. His Courage to keep going in the face of adversity makes him my number one for this year. How this man is not captain is just beyond me. Our side has a lot of gunna be's ( and i hope they are) but Jones is a FOOTBALLER.

I am not really happy with the degree of influence the AFl has on the club at the moment, But understand the position we are in. What concerns me is what happens if this scenario fails. Will the AFL take ownership and bail us out again or will the club be left to try and pick up whatever pieces are left, if any are left after another 3+ million. Remember the AFL doesn't run clubs normally and has no experience in this matter. They are taking a best guess with our money just as all the other previous boards have done. Our previous Boards increase football department spending, brought new high draft pick talents in, new coaches and got better facilities but this didn't work.

New one for me to. Never hurts to learn something new

Essendon were pretty ordinary with there win over GWS and Hirdy and coaching staff were not happy about it. Hirdy was pretty [censored] off at the insipid effort some of his players brought to the game. I hate to say it but we might be facing Essendon this week that will have has a rocket shoved fair up em. If they play anywhere near their potential it could be another 20 goal flogging. Lets hope their injuries help us out.

No doubt with runs on the board Lyon is the pick of the 2 coaches. This question would be better looked at in two years time and we will see what each coach has got then. I see both list as being talented and each coach is currently not getting everything from their list that they would want. I dont like Lyons style of football he coached at st kilda but the results did speak for itself.

Collingwood I am sick of the crap my wife has been giving me for the last 10 years

I think the OP has got it wrong. McVardy and his board have done a terriffic job of bringing the MFC back from the brink. Jimmy may of had the impetus to get things going but dont think the rest of the board sat on its arse and did nothing. Financially the MFC is quite strong now and has allowed more resources to be put into the football dept. The OP should of acknowlege this in his reply to be fair. To walk away from a club due to the decisions its administration have made is a pretty cheap cop out. The Board may of made some bad decisions (Re: new coach) but that is not yet to be fully realised. On the whole they have done far more good than bad at the MFC. On the on field side of things too many posters are too quick to dispose of players. A few years ago it was get rid of all the old blokes, now we scream for Veterans. I for one would not dump the likes of maloney and sylvia who have been in our best in the last few seasons. Maloney is the hardest and toughest we have and a bad start to his season does not mean we need to get rid of him.

Lyon or Eade. They seem to be able to get something out of a list but neither has tasted grand final success. No First timers need apply, wasting our time.

Our new coach WILL have a lot to do. Not good enough for me, expected far more this year than last year. Its time to stop the excuse of waiting for players to develop and put more emphises on actual performance. Too many going to be good players and not enough ARE good players. This is the turn around I want to see in the new coach whomever they may be. 5/10 is a fair assessment of the season. As for Cale Morton he and many other players I would put in the same boat, Got the talent but just didn't show it. I need to see consistancy from week to week in all players not just a few otherwise coming midpack is all your going to get.

I would left the decision on Dean Bailey till the end of the year. There nothing much a new coach can do in the last few weeks to prove themselves one way or the other. It would also show that we aren't just knee-jerk reacting like many other clubs. If Dean pulled us into the finals at the end of the year then I would put him on for another year. I expected us to make finals this year and its on this that I would place Dean Bailey's future not just losing one game to the one of the top two teams. I still believe in this playing group. OK we had a real bad game. ALL players must take account for this not just the leaders, I mean these are ALL professional players getting good money to play well. They can and should take us deep into the finals next year. If GC get smashed next week at Shell Stadium do you think they will sack their coach (I think not!) or maybe they are smarter then us.

I voted a B+ Our defense this year is cohesive and works as a team. The new Boys Trengove and Scully added with Moloney, Sylvia and Jones in the middle have made for a much more effective midfield. The forward line still only has promise but it is a better setup than last year. The biggest hurdle we must now work on is consistency of effort in all games. Being great one week and good the next is not going to win you premierships. The biggest plus I saw for this year was our backline. With some more size in the boys next year it will develop even further and hopefully become as effective as collingwoods', Geelongs' or St. Kildas'. The biggest minus I saw for this year had to be our forward line. Although we had some good performances in some matches, I would not say overall that we have a good forward line. Our forward line is way to inconsistant to win us another 5 or 6 more matches next year to be a real finals contender.

Unfortunately I whole heartedly have to agree with Ralphius. Its just going to be a matter of who they break first. For melbourne to survive as a stand alone the off field must be as good as on field. A failure in either part in the next decade could see the end of us. I dont think Richmond will have too many problems but the dogs and North are a different story.

I voted 8th 11 wins for the seasons After Bails put games into the young blokes last year I am expecting a lot more. No more testing players out in different positions I want (and expect) more wins from a much more experienced side. I believe we will be about as good as the Essendon of last year. With all players fit I think our forwards should be able to kick more goals and our defense will consolidate to be stronger each week(we were becoming much better by the end of last year). As with many of you I feel our midfield is a little weak, Sylvia was playing great but really was the only one. With more wins comes more confidence I dont think 8th position is a great stretch.

I dont think Barry Hall should be so quickly dismissed. MFC needs a capable forward in the next 2 years to show the young guys how the job should be done. He does have a good record as a FF (leads out and demands football as well as one on one wrestle for the ball). Theres no doubt there is a risk of his behaviour being a problem again, its just a case of risk vs reward (think cousins and richmond) I dont believe he would be around when melbourne has a true chance to go for the flag. The obvious question would then be how much to pay for how long? Is he capable of teaching watts/Jarrah/Newton to play as top line forwards? I think he could be a very valuable asset for 2 years but top dollar/draft picks are not worth it.

Definitely a midfielder for me. Pace and class and better than most in decision making. Tough and aggressive is being somewhat wasted in defense.

At the moment I see no great joy coming for the MFC. I sometimes find it hard to see all this potential talent that I read about here. I see players play well one week and crap the next. What I do see every week is a lack of plain basic skills. (1) Kicking to team mate (whether under pressure or not) - Our worst problem of all (2) Bad judgement of where the ball should go next - players recieving the ball, dont know what they are going to do with it next. (3) Handballing (execution under pressure or not) (4) Not willing to accept the reponsibility for moving the ball on or kicking for goal - over possessing, making certainities of goals with one more posession (5) Inconsistant performances - very few players playing well every week. These problems need to be addressed now for a sound foundation. Even when we beat richmond we did not display the basic skills well. I believe the younger players we have do have the potential to be a good side in the future but we must fix the fundamental things that are wrong. New draft picks and the like will not solve the problem. There needs to be a concerted effort at the MFC to teach these players the basics of the game, from there something can be built.

Maybe its not the coach that has to go but the players. I think Terrry Wallace is a good coach but the players are doing their best to get rid of him instead of playing football. All I can say for the richmond players is "Put your your own mind on Your own Job". Their mid season review should also look at the playing list as well and remove wannabe player/coaches from the list.

Thought he was gone when they said last week they wouldn't do anything until the mid season review. No coach under pressure can survive the dreaded "The board and players are behind you 100%" public speech!!!

I agree with a fair bit of what has been said about Newton. I picked 0-20 because I reckon if he did play 22 games for geelong he would only get about 15 goals in a year. The other geelong forwards demand the ball comes to them by good leads and solid pack marking strength. Newton has not showed enough of either in the games that he has played. he wouldn't get many goals beacuse the other geelong players would not see him as a good avenue to goal with his current form.

The first quarter showed us what we can have if we put the effort in. The last three quarters just showed us more of the same form last year. When kicks goto targets we can move the ball as good as any team. We just HAVE TO HAVE more belief in ourselves when things are not going right. We need the youth in our side but leadership and experience is invaluable when the chips are down. Miller gave it all today even though in the last two quarters you could say he was beaten. Our very young backline was pretty positive and kept trying but really lacked the finishing skills needed to clear out the ball. I hope Bailey plays the first quarter to all the players over and over to reinforce what it takes to win a 4 quarter football game.

Its more than I thought they would get. The pies need these guys desparately if they want to make the finals. I figured they would come up with some soft punishment and a bigger fine. Hopefully the message will finally get through to a few more AFL players who do stupid things. I have no time at all for drink drivers, I would of sacked Heath Shaw and left Didaks punishment as just a fine (But I am a lot harsher than most)

To drop jones is just plain stupid. Jones has been willing and able to go in and get the ball and for that he is punished. The reason he is always under pressure when he gets the ball is the rest of the midfield is not up to the job of helping him out. I dont like to set a culture of "Try hard, be successful, get DROPPED" - To close to carlton's decisions last year for my liking.

"We need 4 quarters of good footy". - The real answer to our current form. We have shown in some quarters we are equal to the best in the comp. But we must put 4 of them together to get us a win against the bombers. Essendon's relentless pressure on the ball carrier over the last 4 weeks has been a big key to their success. We may need to take a leaf out of their book.