Demon_Tingles

Didnt speak much about them tbh more about footy and how he is coming along. Also the facilities at Casey

Yeah they are nearly finished with the heated pool that was being built and he reckons it will be great

Just chatting to him on facebook and he seems confident about the year ahead. He is over his shoulder problems and the players are loving casey fields.

Fair enough. This is the main point of difference.

I think he is well equipped to deal with the pressure & maintain his form, more so than any other player on the list.

Fair I did state although these are my thoughts I do hope he does well because I have a large amount of respect for him as a player I just hope he can continue to perform because he is important to the side I just think he might not be able to handle thinking about the things on the field a captain has to think about and worrying about his own game.

Grow into it? By putting enormous amounts of pressure on a young kid to explain why his club is struggling under his watch?

Did you see what Geelong did to Leigh Colbert?

I don't agree with that. I think the sensible thing to do is to put the responsibility on the shoulders of an experienced player who can carry the load through the tough times and let the young players develop & grow as leaders without the pressure.

Not being captain in no way prevents a player from being able to lead, it just removes a lot of the pressure associated with the title.

I do agree with that actually however as I said a captain needs to be able to deal with that and also sustain high levels of pressure associated with playing well and I have doubts as to whether McDonald can captain and continue to play at the highest level to a level that is expected of a captain.

Junior is captain, embrace it. He deserves it.

I never said he doesnt deserve it actually i said i hope he does well but i just dont see the point and noone expects a captain to play all 22 i was saying taht he may not because of his age. No players his age play all 22 consistently and I just think that he should only be focusing on his playing not captaincy because that is what he is there for. To play consistent football and I just have a bad feeling that his football may drop as a result of this.

To me it reeks of criticism for criticism's sake.

I'm open to being proved wrong, but i'm still not hearing any real reason why having an older captain, that is only in place for a year, is a bad thing.

In collingwood's case I think it gave them time until Maxwell was ready. I fail to see a downside with their decision. They still made the finals. Had they have not had Burns as captain they still wouldn't have gone any further.

Now prove me wrong.

Point taken there but Collingwood were already in the finals and not rebuilding. As a rebuilding club there is no sense in putting in a captain for the short term because nobody expects us to challenge for a flag so why not give it to someone who can do the job and allow them to grow into it

who were realistically the other contenders? And before you say McLean, Green or others, its clear that the players did not think so

I wouldnt say Green or Mclean I would put Bruce in with Mclean and Green as VCs because Brock looks a natural leader and leads from the front on the field which is important.

Captains need to be able to deal with the media side of things but they also need to consistently be able to lead from the front on the field.

Brock Mclean and Cameron Bruce almost always start on the ground where as James McDonald is always nearly on the bench. I dont think he can sustain the pressure of being a captain and also making sure he does his job as a player.

My sentiments exactly. They used the same player voting system as last season. As much as we admire Junior, the appointment makes no sense on so many levels.

For starters, I'd hope that Junior's playing time would diminish this year, and the younger mids would take on a greater role.

Secondly, once Junior relinquishes the captaincy, does Bruce takeover the helm? If so, Bruce will be close to 30. Why not groom a younger player like McLean, and give him the VC.

And finally, Junior is not a great media performer which is a prerequisite of an AFL captain these days.

The player voting system got it wrong last season, and they got it wrong this year.

Exactly what i mean Junior is not guaranteed to play 22 games and he normally starts on the bench anyway

That's fair but as a club looking to youth there is not much point having a captain for a short time. Sure he can lead the team on the field and at training as well as Bruce but why make it official. If we are going to move forward with youth we need someone who will be at the helm for an extended time. There is no reason he cant do what Brad Green and co do but make someone captain who will be there for an extended period of time.

Well we will be noticed now ... For being absolute morons following Collingwood's Scott Burns captaincy. I am a fan of

Mc Donald and I love the way he trains hard and leads by example but for god sake this is stupidity he will not be around for much longer. He can lead the team on the field and at training as well as Bruce but why make it official. He seems to quiet and he will have to put up with a lot of media every week win or lose. I think we have played it too safe again which is annoying me. But good luck to Junior as I am a fan of his and I hope he proves me wrong.

joeboy this isnt a dating site haha jk mate

Awesome cant wait to make my debut haha. First footy game in melbourne for some time havent evenm chosen a club to play for yet

Cheers Russian

Gday guys I will be playing but I would appreciate if i can get directions how to get there on the train. Do i need to get off at Richmond station ?

Yeah he does and so does Davey. The guy looks huge

I dont think it will matter in the nab cup with blease he has pace and lets be honest we played Weetra last year and he was a stick insect I think we need to see how he handles it. OH I didn't realise i left out Bell. oops

As to the running aspect there is no reason why players cannot push back and run. In football you are named in a position but there is no reason to stand there like a robot which gets us into trouble. Players at the MFC need to develop two way running which will help us in future years.

Yeah i was going to add if fit to Rivers but if he is I think he should play as he needs match fitness. Feel free to put other sides down I welcome to comparisons

I agree with your point about the side however I think that we need a fairly strong team because whilst other teams are using rookies there is also prizemoney which is needed for the club and to use senior players to get some confidence going into round 1 is a must. We showed last year with some confidence we can be competitive as shown in our games against Hawthorn and Geelong last year.

Also in my opinion I think Melbourne made the wrong decision with JMac. Great player however I think it is once again a safe option from Melbourne as he will only be there for 2/3 years max. Vc would be better for him as he can still use his leadership qualities helping out on the field and with the young blokes around the club.

Might be but god it looks funny.

FB: M.Warnock, S.Martin, C.Garland

HB: J.Frawley, J.Rivers, B. Green (vc)

C: A.Davey, S.Buckley, B.Moloney

HF: M.Bate, C.Sylvia, C Bruce (vc)

FF: M.Newton, B.Miller, A.Wonnaemirri,

FOLL: P.Johnson, B.McLean, N Jones

INT: S.Blease, J.Grimes, C.Morton, J.Watts, M. Jamar, J.McDonald © , M Whelan

Is that Pj who has the kevlar armour thing going on on his legs?