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Very true. But just on this Frawley on the wing idea. Anyone else think that James - with his speed, attack on the footy and man, and defensive capabilities - could be a decent run-with player in the future? If Pavlich goes into the midfield next week, I know who I would be trialling on him.

The team that 'is' has won 11 games out of the last 62. And no-one is being forced to lose. We are minimising our chances of winning using the same practices we would be using if the PP was not an issue; at the end of another losing season - injury sensitivity, youth opportunity, and player development - become more important than winning meaningless games. Befroe this year, I could struggle to name anyone other than Bruce who could play multiple positions on the field. Why shouldn't we experiment. Why look at Richmond? Yes, they are awful and got to win a game at the expense of us, but this experimentation is exactly what we would be doing no matter who we played in Rd 18, 2009 with a 3 and 14 losing record. An example of why this is valuable - it gives a chance for Newton, Dunn, Milller, Johnson, and Valenti to attempt other roles at AFL level to extend their stalling careers. Why shouldn't we give them that opportunity, considering the position we are in?

No, but I believe this year the AFL is trialling FA by allowing Rookie Listed players to go anywhere they want provided they are given a place on the primary list of a club. That doesn't really help you decide anything, I just thought it was an interesting aside... Not interesting? Hell, I haven't even heard it had been confirmed yet... In that case, don't worry about it. Can't help you 45HG16.

Jeff is not concerned with the win/loss ratio, he is disappointed because he thinks Bailey is a cheat. I, personally, have no time for this kind of crap but he can say what he wants. He holds a view that a few on here have too. But, I reiterate, thank Jebus that those that think 'Bailey is killing the club' are not in a position of authority at the club that is the reigning wooden spoon winner and are 16th once again. And that bloke he was twittering with is a [censored]. He is obviously a lowlife sh!t stirrer. If he gave a sh!t about Jeff he wouldn't ask him those questions.

My very educated guess - Int - Sylvia Dunn Bail Petterd But Dunn and Petterd being listed on the bench after good games indicates they might be carrying something, so it may finish like this - Int - McNamara Sylvia Bail Buckley. Johnson may have played his last game in Red and Blue...

Let them, and then DB or CC will explain why he didn't play for Casey last week and that'll put them back in their box.

Yes and no. That much tinkering would not happen in one game unless you are at the end of another losing season, your players are ridiculously one dimensional, you have an injury plagued list (and team on the day), and your talent is young. But wait... Those things apply to us. We would be doing this even without the PP.

Doesn't turn 22 till June next year. Always a speculative pick, I believe recruited because of athletic prowess. Those types, late in the draft, are always low risk/high reward. So disappointment is a strong word, for a project like Bail.

And what were they doing in the second half... Freo are awful, it is at the G, we will win.

We're crap, but come on BBP... Give us a little credit. Lose to Freo? At the G? Some people... We turned up at HT last year 50 points down and still beat them. It was like the Stawell Gift - gave them a head start and they still lost. If we win this Sunday it's done...

Warnock got a goal assist from CHF. That is a sentence I didn't see coming... We tried things out because winning isn't a priority and some see winning every game, no matter the circumstances, as something worth prioritising. We played unusually... Nuff said. Looking forward to the next unusual game this Sunday at the worst stadium in the world. It promises to be atypical.

I'm afraid not my friend. The things that would need to be done to lose to Freo involve the MFC asking members of the coterie to kidnap players on the eve of the match... We will not lose to Freo. This ends Sunday the 9th of August, one way or another...

Couldn't care less anymore... As long someone doesn't say it exists to exist... Oh, yes. 1 more week of intense experimentation to go, Dean. And if Newton gets 8 rebound 50s, Valenti 9 clearances, Warnock 5 goals, and Petterd and Grimes 35 touches all over the ground and we win. Well... Que sera, sera...

You're right in the sense that there was more experimentation than usual but why wouldn't there be? Playing an average side with little chance of a blowout, it would be the perfect time to do as many 'experiments' as possible. And CTD should recall about a month ago when people on here were whinging about DB playing Petterd out of position and his last few games have completely vindicated the time Petterd spent struggling to get the footy in the forward line. Davey on the HBF last year has helped improve his engine to the point where he was completely spent late in the second qtr yesterday with King tailing him and then he gave a great second half that nearly helped us pinch the game. Morton played his best game against WB off a HBF, Martin was a FB being pushed out of the best 22 until DB told him to try his hand at Ruck and he hasn't looked back. And Bruce and Macca should be nowhere near our centre bounces if we are serious about rebuilding our midfield. Miller and Bate deserve some freedom in the middle, as our forward line can be like the Sahara at times. My view on the situation - These are the tactics of tanking, but they are tactics that Bailey has been using since he started. The rhetorical question is - Why would he abandon those policies now?

You're answer to a corrupt system is to corrupt the system? This will not work. It'll be over this Sunday one way or the other...

12 premeirships? I think you're stuck on hindsight, not foresight... Mate, you're young. We have been crap since the mid 60s. Moderate success is just that, and is quickly forgotten, or in the case of 88 and 00, not so quickly forgotten. The Melbourne of the last 40 years has, up until recently, rested so completely on its laurels that the club nearly slipped into a coma. We briefly awoke before we got a new moniker in 1996, and then went back to sleep for a decade leaving our training facilities the worst in the league, our membership the lowest in the league, and the club $5 million in debt. We haven't in the past done what was necessary to keep the club thriving, and have been happy to just survive. I believe this has changed and Bailey is doing what he needs to do for this club. We need stars. Not scrappy wins against teams that don't turn up on the day.

I respect you for sticking to your guns. One thing I question is your signature: The Team We Love The problem is that I couldn't care less about 'the team,' I care about 'the club.' If you say there is no difference I would counter and say that significant parts of this 'team' has won 11 games in 3 years and heaped a sh!tload or embarrassment onto my 'club.' Bailey is doing the right thing by the 'club' and that is fine by me...

We have a few on here that would have written, and still might this Sunday night, something similar about the Dees. I just don't buy into it. The irony is that that same person probably felt exactly the same way about the way the Tigers finished 2008 - with 8 wins from 11. I'm hoping for our 52nd loss since 2007 on Sunday to help end our losing culture. That may sound counterintuitive, but it's not.

I really need Moloney and Jamar back in for SC... Sylvia and Morton in for Bennell and Whelan. With this backline - Johnson (he ain't good enough in the ruck, at FF, at CHF), Jetta (learn to man-up someone), Macca (let kids play in the guts), Cheney (keep going, you're doing great), Rivers (give the others some level of cogency), Morton (key defense post), and Sylvia (QB role). And this midfield - Dunn, Bate and Miller (for freedom purposes), Spencer and Martin (rucking), Valenti, Grimes and Petterd (for a majority of CB's). All rotating through and Sylvia and Davey making sporadic appearances. And this forward line - Warnock and Frawley (to continue to give them a break from our backline), Jones (to learn to kick properly forward of centre), Bruce (get him out of the center so the kids can play there), Batram (more strings? A string), Newton (put it on his head), and Davey (people always complain he is not a FP anymore...). As much as I would curse it, if we won at least it would be on the back of JG, RP, JS and the motley crue that is that forward line.

My mates chided me on how the Dees could almost screw it up and win... Sheahan himself said, about 3 months ago, that "finishing the year on 5 wins would be so Melbourne." Lamenting the fact that the club had no foresight and gumption... Well now we have both and I expect Bailey to finish the job this Sunday in... The Last Tank: Priority One When the brightest future is only one compromise away...

I don't have your strike rate just yet HT...

ironical an adjectival variation of ironic The ironical thing is that most people think ironical is an improper form of ironic. Couldn't help myself...

Showed a bit on FC last night with Maher basically saying that because Rivers was smiling after he effed up and gave Hislop that goal so he was tanking.

Why should Ferrari waste time? They should be looking to 2010 because that is their next opportunity to win the whole thing. Fulham are in a compromised league in which every team goes along but hopes that they can attract their own Abramovich to one day win the whole thing. Verbeek is setting realistic targets for a national team that wants to continue progressing in world cups, get a bit of luck in one, and win the whole thing. The Cleveland Indians, after another losing first 100 games, decided to reload for the future with excellent prospects in place of Lee and Martinez, in an attempt to next year onwards - win the whole thing.

The Tom Scully Cup will only happen against Freo and we would have to beat NM for that to be relevant. So lose this week and we're done. Finished. I can get less tense.