Ollie fan

"Super professional, excellent tank, preparedness to work hard, disciplined, lacks X factor" - are you talking about Taj or his dad? What I am trying to say is: that is exactly what his dad was like, and he won a Brownlow......

It is very clear from that brief interview that the club sees him playing forward

Are you seriously saying that when Yze devised strategies of the "Viney goes to block Bont while Trac moves to the right...etc etc" (whichI assume is what the midfield coach does), Goodwin would override him? Are you seriously saying that? If that were the case, no assistant in the league would work with him; no player would want to play under him - and yet the players have consistently signed long term contracts, people like McQualter come to work with him - and also, Richardson would let that happen? Please, tell me you were joking.

You are clearly changing your own narrative here. In the second quote what you are implying is that Yze should have been the coach, not an assistant - but that was not what you earlier said. But then again almost all of what you have said in this thread is rubbish. And BTW, if Yze - great bloke, great player as he may be- was so good, given that he was the midfield coach of one of the greatest midfield combinations ever, why did we often get beaten out of the centre?

Completely agree with everything Macca has written in this thread. Yes, we lost in the last two years. But people seem to forget that there are 17 other teams on the competition and some of them have pretty good lists too - in fact, most commentators see Brisbane as having the best list, and how many cups have they won with it? There is so much luck and fate involved - just ask Stephen Milne (for those who remember 2010). With a good stable board and good recruiting we can stay in contention for many years. And i firmly believe that this is our year (although very distressed by this mornings news that Clarry is not back!).

He is always a good writer, but I agree, he didn't take into account with Max, the effect of injury and sharing ruck duties in 2023. But ultimately, he concludes what I think we all know: we CAN do it, the question is whether we WILL.

I'm glad You were able to predict that Petty, Fritsch, Brown and Melksham would all be injured, that we would kick horribly for goal, that Brayshaw would be smashed in a shocking incident and that JVR would be suspended for the second final, because without all of these occurrences happening we would NOT have exited in straight sets. Nostradamus: move over!!

Well, after a few weeks of total, well, boredom on this site, haven't things hotted up quickly in this thread? For some years, IMV people have rated out list really highly -as they should - but have forgotten that a couple of other teams had good lists as well. I think ours stacks up against anyone's. McQualter will be a great addition. Our forward line has dramatically improved thanks to some more recruiting brilliance. I am immensely confident. And to be honest, I would hate to go into a football season with anything but confidence and optimism.

The lack of development of his body, especially compared to eg Taj W, makes me wonder if he really understands what is required.

Petracca has improved every year and has come back to training looking extraordinary. With him, Viney, Sparrow and (we hope) Gus, our midfield will be fine. Max is still going strong and we might blood some backup this year. Our defence is the best in the league although I agree, May is getting on, unfortunately. Our forward line is immensely improved on paper at least and if Fritta is fit and firing, and if we can get Petty back relatively soon, I see us having a great year. And if Clarry is in there, and I hope for his sake as much as ours that he is, we will be almost unbeatable IMV.

I believe that if he can overcome his problems, he will be BETTER than before - in which case, other teams: LOOK OUT!!

I person to call for transparency and accountability in the selection of light-bulb-changers.

It was the early 60s, Melbourne were a great team and my best friend at school and all his family barracked for them - so i did too. Went to the footy with his mother and family for a few years; the my mate stopped going and i completely lost touch with him, but kept in touch with his mum for about 50 years (until she passed away).

I expect -and hope - it will be Goodwin's. He is the senior coach. I expect him to listen to advice but then make the decisions. If it were any other way, the tail would be wagging the dog.

Think i saw Rivers

Thanks

Can anyone tell me when preseason training starts? I can't wait for it to begin, so that we can move out of this horrible couple of months that we have had.

Well, I really like it. It is a winnable game, it gets one away game out of our system, we get the huge publicity of being the open game, and as it is on a Thursday we will probably get an 8 day break after it. Now we just have to win it.

Always liked him. Despite everything, as a player he oozed class. If he were starting with us now, with our excellent player development, he would become a champion if he committed himself.

Unfortunately that's true. I will never understand why Lever didn't kick sideways to Rivers who was on his own and burn up another 10-20 seconds with a bit of waxing it.

I absolutely love your optimism, but here and on other threads.

I suspect I am part of that groundswell. The thing is: I support Melbourne and its players. I have no desire to bring them down, abuse them, or to make ill-founded allegations.

I have no idea how channel 9 came to be there but a guess would be: someone saw them all, recognised them, and notified the media, probably earning a dollar in the process. Do you have any better info?

Binman, I normally have a great deal of time for your posts but you are in the chorus of critics here, and i think it is all wrong. As you say yourself, he does no promotional stuff - in other words, he is NOT media-savvy. He was caught on a golf course in an unguarded moment and after all, what he said was, he is happy to play for the Dees! He is a young man from the absolute back blocks of South Australia, not used to picking his words or to having his words picked over. One thing is for sure: if he is foolish enough to read the vitriol being poured on him here, he will be out the door ASAP. I say: support him, make him feel valued and welcomed, and he may well end up a great ten-year player for us.

This thread is so hard on him for some unguarded comments in an unplanned interview. In which he said he was staying at Melbourne. He was on the golf course!! He is a young bloke and not someone who is regularly interviewed. He said he is staying and I believe he meant it. Give him a break. Let's just hope he comes out fit and firing and adds the final piece to our forward line!