Chook

I'm not sure what our captains have to do with Port's captains. Think it's a bit naive to say the coach just decided by himself to make the players be good all of a sudden, it's no coincidence it's all happened since a new captain, leadership group, administration, draftees, etc, etc, etc. came in. I don't know what's made them so much better. Neither do you. Maybe they're not even that much better. Melbourne, GWS and Gold Coast are not exactly top-tier opponents, but that's neither here nor there. I get that you ascribe more influence to the coach than I do. I have had enough of looking for a single man to save us every few years. The players need to take this club by the scruff of the neck every weekend for twenty-eight weeks. Coaches can help, but the players ultimately have to decide what they are willing to give this footy club. It's the coach's job to weed out the ones who aren't willing or able to give us what we want. I feel like Neeld is doing this. Time will certainly tell if his recruiting approach is the right one, but Shannon Byrnes, Matt Jones, Dean Terlich, Jack Viney, Mitch Clark and Chris Dawes are enough to persuade me that he knows what he's doing. David Misson has an impeccable record as a fitness coach, and the manner in which he's reduced our injury list to almost nil is a great testament to the fact that we are on the right track from a training perspective.

The players decided to stop being flakey as they have been for years. No doubt their new coach has played a role in that, but you have to wonder what the impact of a new captain, a new leadership group and a raft of new players and administrators has done to shake up the environment there.

I said that GAMEDAY belongs to the players. Coaches do their best work during the week. Where did I say that? Do you have a binary brain or are you just unwilling to consider the idea that EVERYONE needs to take responsibility for our performances. At the end of the day though, no coach has ever kicked a goal after the siren to win a game. No coach has ever laid a tackle to steal victory from the jaws of defeat. All a coach can do is motivate and teach. The buck rests with the PLAYERS. They are the performers. They are the game. It is them in which we place our faith.

Are you excusing the players? I don't think you are, just as I'm not excusing the coach. I just think the players at the MFC have escaped blame for too long. For almost fifty years we've put the pressure on the coach, but as we've seen with Geelong whenever a playing group takes true ownership of their performance, great things can follow.

I don't like changing rules unless necessary, but if this rule change were implemented then perhaps a mark could be awarded unless the umpire deems that the ball has deviated significantly in its trajectory as a result of the touch.

Agree with you except on one point. Gameday belongs to the players. They must take ownership of their performance. The best Neeld can do is keep them on the tracks. They've got to shovel the coal and man the whistle. Do it right and we'll roll right back into the mix.

You underestimate Jordie McKenzie. He was really good against Port Adelaide in Round 1. But I think he'll go to Rocky anyway.

Not a chance. I don't even think losing by a hundred points would see him gone this week.

I'm really looking forward to seeing Nathan Jones, Matt Jones, Jack Trengove, Rohan Bail, Jordie McKenzie, Dean Terlich and Jack Grimes all in the same team. All of them are hard running, good tackling mids who will try all day no matter what happens.

Does anyone else actually really like the "no sliding" rule? I thought it would herald the end of "get the ball at all costs" play, but all it's done is stop players from sliding in and holding the ball up while they're lying on the ground. I really have grown to love it.

This ranking system has nothing to do with the media; it's all numbers.

Oops.

You inadvertently brought up a good point. This is a team that made a Grand Final just six years ago. Incidentally, this was the year our descent into hell first began.

I reckon Frawley will play on Brown and McDonald will play on the more athletic Cornelius. As for the sub, I have a feeling it will be Aaron Davey most weeks this year. But based on Blease's terrible performance against Essendon, I think I'd like him on the bench instead.

Today I'd like to kick off this week's gameday thread by asking who might be our sub for today. Will it be Aaron Davey, Sam Blease, David Rodan or someone else? Also, does anyone know whether we'll have to wear our clash strip today?

Enjoy!

There are those who believe that both McLardy and Neeld should stay until the end of the year at the very least. Further administrative and coaching instability is only going to make a bad situation worse.

How did that work out for Jack Nicholson?

One of the biggest problems with the Internet is that any debate seems to invariably descend into a "this or that" proposition. Life is complicated. Footy is complicated. It's easy to think that we who praise our opponents' performances seek to discount or excuse our own team's efforts, but don't let yourselves fall into such an obvious trap. Port and Essendon could each go on to lose their next seventeen games - topped off with a nil-all draw to each other - but that still won't change the fact that they both played phenomenally well against us; nor should it distract us from the truth that we were totally unwilling (and in many cases unable) to do what was necessary to match them. But we must remember that football games are contested by two teams, not one; to ignore the performance of either team is to render yourself completely unable to judge the performance of the other; we were bad and they were good. Deal with it.

Who's making excuses?

Did you ever think there's a huge gulf between "doing awesome" and losing to the ladder leaders? The performances of Port Adelaide and Essendon over the past five weeks have given our own performances a bit of context. We all know we're not setting the house on fire, but don't pretend that a big loss to a team that's 5-0 is the same as a big loss to a team that's 0-5. Interestingly, I'd say that our worst quarter has come against WCE in Q3. I really wish we hadn't been slaughtered over that thirty minute period, because the rest of that game was relatively good.

They are Giants in name only.

If I understand you correctly, you certainly have a high opinion of yourself.

Uhh...I don't think that's what he meant.