rpfc

They are a plucky bunch of kids - that's what you can draw from their first few games. And the difference in culture between us and Port - that's what you can draw in a comparison between Port and the Dees. We were professional and did what we had to do. Port did not.

You should have gone to bed a couple hours earlier... Honestly, go back and read some of your posts, try to understand where others are getting their impressions from and move on. We have.

Or "another Melbourne" 6 weeks... I don't think we are at the stage where we can expect a win in Perth against an up and about WCE. Maybe next year...

I think George W's IQ is 110. So you would really want to hit three figures...

While we are on the subject... I was in the top 5 percent in the country for maths in year 5... So, yeah, impressive.

He didn't have a thousand yard stare... He wasn't a 'finisher'... The players appeared not to be playing for him... His performance on BTG were embarrassing... Had no discernable gameplan... And so forth...

I'm not sure that the Baseball analogy really fits... But Collingwood and Geelong didn't move for their Jon Papelbon, they stuck with their Roy Halladay and he threw some decent pitches down the stretch and into the last, and they.... You get the point... We will see how the season progresses and the club will make this big decision as best they can.

We are going to have some great games with the Tigers over the next decade. Cotchin, Deledio, and Martin make an incredibly promising midfield. The defence isn't much but Riewoldt is a force. Really pains we to say it. North are all workers, little flair. Harvey and Wells were quiet in the last and they had very little run and imagination. Doesn't mean we won't have a tough run with them though. Swallow, Anthony, Adams and Atley will be tough in the middle.

plg - if you were here a bit longer or took notice before you posted here you would realise that WYL doesn't make fun of people's names like that. It isn't his game - I could tell you some strange ideas he has about the AFL (Mel Gibson in Conspiracy Theory strange... ...I propbably could have left it at Mel Gibson...), but that is beside the point. Anyway, just let it go.

Yes. And it's a funny one (sometimes not) because most of the humour that I have been seeing lately relating to Aussies under duress, and at their most stoic - ie. during wars fought in other lands - is sarcasm. I know it's easy, and I know we use it too much - but some of the best Australian stories contain a fair dose of sarcasm. Anyway, topic. Dean was pretty at ease with himself, which is good. No-one wants to see a Mark Harvey of a couple of years ago, that was difficult TV...

Did you think that bing was making an anti-Tassie joke when mentioning 'cutting down trees?' It is a common refrain when posting on the internet because everything we write is in digital binary and not on paper. I don't know you, plg31ni, but you need to calm down and not be so sensitive. When someone questions a post of yours, they are not attacking you. And bing was just pointing out that Hodge did play against us in Round 2. As for where we are; we will see on Thursday to a certain extent. I am not expecting a win, as I don't think we are at that stage but I want a good performance in contested possies and clearances and near the half century in Inside 50s.

WYL is misreading your name. He means no offence. Time to let go of the indignation.

Amazing comeback and win. I don't know what it means to Melbourne (probably very little) but it just shows us that we didn't play a great game but we were professional and did what we had to do.

19 months ago we were last. Apparently, there are no reasons for things anymore... Everything is an excuse... Sometimes, your environment affects your capabilities.

If they are wondering about whether Bailey is the right coach - they are doing their job. If they are working through the best way to enhance the FD - they are doing their job. If at some point they have a chat to Malthouse or Roos (or reps of them) during the year - they are doing their job. Wilson has given nothing that concerns me. I don't see it, still. If someone can explain to me the disconnect I would appreciate it.

While I think that RR overreacted to your capital letter ridden posts - it can be very annoying to read so many posts with CAPS LOCK stuck on... You aren't 'rocking the boat,' we welcome passionate Demon fans to come on here and share their views, but as I have posted before - if you don't want people having opinions on your opinion... Get a blog. And disable the comments. If sarcasm is the worst thing you encounter today - consider yourself lucky...

Let's have a look at your 'position.' 'Dis cent'? You have a problem with him being calm. Fine. You only see the after match press conferences. He gives the players bakes when they deserve it. Weak argument. So Moloney is acting up because he doesn't respect Bailey? No-one is to blame for their mistakes any more... And Bruce and McDonald wouldn't have played in a flag for us and Tapscott and Gysberts are playing in the positions vacated byt hose two. Adding considerable weight to our future flag push. Which teams out of Geel, Haw, Coll, WB, StK, Freo, adn Carl are we better than to push them out of the top 6? We were never good enough to push any of them out of top 6 and we won't this year. You're overestimating the team's capabilities and we were always headed for an inconsistent 2011. Lovely imagery. You don't like Bailey, fine. But you have unrealistic expectations about the rebuild we sarted in 2008 and only reached the 'base camp' of last year. We're improving, we just weren't as good as you thought we were. We got pantsed by the eventual wooden spooners at home last year. We are going to have qtrs like the one we had against Haw, hopefully not as many as last year and the years before that. Finally, Bailey has to prove his mettle this season. The team must continue to improve and I am sure we will have discreet discussions with Malthouse and Roos but I am not in favour of moving the goalposts on a coach that has done very little wrong over the last 3 and a bit years.

lol WTF?

And that's a clever line... Well done.

If you don't remember the past...

MASSIVE BUMP The recriminations that we went through after the West Coast loss at home last year that everyone has forgotten. We have a long way to go, and I hope we don't have a game where we get outscored 5 goals 10 behinds to 1 goal 5 behinds in the second half at our home ground by the eventual wooden spooners. Just a reminder that 2010 was not the smooth sailing after the Hawks game that many think it was...

This is a rewrite of history. I am going to trawl through and bump the game thread after the WCE game last year. The Eagles beat us by 5 goals at the G, and we scored 46 fracking points! The Roos made us look second rate, the Power did too, the Saints at the Dome, and the Cats down the road. We are a bad, inconsistent team, and we want to see marked improvement, fine. But don't move the goalposts based on your bad memory.

What about the rubbish we served up in 2010? The WCE game, the Port game, the Hawthorn game, etc. We are not a good team, yet. We have been getting ourselves into a lather in the preseason, a mastubatory internet session in which we fooled each other into thinking that the Sydney game from last year is what we should expect in 2011. We are not a good team in 2011. I could name 7 teams better than us. Geel, Coll, WB, StK, Carl, Syd, and Haw, at a pinch. Why are we surprised by this inconsistency? We have the ability to be absolutely rubbish...

We smashed Sydney in contested possies, got smashed by Hawthorn, and beat the Lions and the Suns. We were beaten in the clearances against the Swans and the Hawks and beat the Lions and the Suns. Make of that what you will. Personally, it's too early to make any judgements on progress in this area.

I'm glad you'll stick around. One thing - surely we cannot, after pleading for, and applauding, the bottoming out that got us the talent we are now expecting so much of, turn around and say that Bailey W/L record is a noose around his neck... 2009 Richmond, I know what I was hoping for when McMahon had the kick heard around the Land... I'm not reading anything into it, and I take every season as it comes, it's too early to tell whether Bailey will be re-signed. Miles to go before we sleep.