sylvinator

Agreed. The Bruce bagging is disgusting. He is not a complete player. He does have limitations. But he has been good this seasons (not fantastic), and well deserves his place in our starting 18. Great game last night

Bate has always been an outstanding prospect for us. Gary Lyon reckons he'd be All Australian if he played for Geelong. He always takes time to recover from injury and get warmed up, but he is a beuty. Strong mark on the lead, intelligent player, good goal sense, 65m kick... he's a big part of our future!

For those who hate looking too far ahead so early in the season, please look away now. So we all know the 2010 draft is a compromised draft. If the demons finish, say 13th (realistic imo), we will get draft picks 10, 30, 47, 64. Also consider that many of the 17 yrolds have been pre-selected, meaning the draft pool is not even as strong as a normal year. Note, there is a rule for 2010 that you do not need to draft a minimum amount of players! I think the teams with strong rookie lists in 2009 will be best placed to deal with a depleted draft situation. Freo are obviously best placed. However, I also think MFC are well placed to deal with this situation b/c of our rookie list. 1. McKenzie agreed to be on the rookie list for season 2009. That means we can upgrade him at the end of the year. I think most would agree that were McKeznie available in the draft, he'd be worth a late first rounder. 2. One of Spenser or Meesan. With Meesan fit in 4 weeks, and Spenser still developing at VFL level, I am sure the coaches will be closely monitering the development of the two rookie-listed ruckman during the second half of the season. With only Jamar, PJ and Gawn (Fitzpatrick & Martin both being developed as KPFs) as ruckman on our list, I have no doubt one of these two, whoever is most advanced, still be promoted at years end 3. Depending on the development of Hughes and Healy, if one of these blokes shows huge improvement, no doubt they will get their chance on the senior list. My point is that our overall 2010 inclusions onto our list could be: - pick 10 (a very good pick) - pick 30 (already getting more speculative, but will still be talent available) - McKenzie, - Spenser or Meesan + perhaps even a Hughes, or alternatively pick 47 (whichever is considered more valuable) Considering the draft is meant to be ravaged, that's not a bad outcome. Imagine if we had no rookie listed players worth upgrading, we'd have to start using picks in the 80s! This also means that we will probably have 4-6 places opened up on our rookie list. Meaning we can take on a few speculative picks, like VFL players, WAFL players, extremely athletic guys who might turn out to be gems. Has the rookie list saved our 2010 draft from disaster?

It's definitely allowed. It's just that your opinion of Grimes is laughable and so off the mark that it's as if you didn't even watch any of the matches this year.

Johnson for Martin----TICK: Martin performed poorly last week, PJ isn't great, but will contirbute just as much as Martin did if not more. PJ better backup ruckman, allowing Jamar more time forward Pettard for Hughes---- TICK: Like-for-like swap. This is the reason Hughes is on the list. Has played well at VFL level. If don't play him now, then when?! Joel McDonald for McKenzie---- TICK: we had 1 too many slow defenders last week. MacDonald was average last week, and Rivers is better than him. McKenzie is an extra runner we need! Inclusions that should come in the next 2-3 weeks= Wona, Morton, Bail, Watts

I have to say, if we don't play Hughes this week, the question must really be asked what the point is of having him on our list. He's been a rookie for 4 years or so, he's 23 years old, and has a mature body. He is not a developing player. His form is good at VFL level for a long time now. He is a mobile forward--- with Pettard and Jurrah injured, and Wanna and Watts out injured... surely this is the very purpose he was kept on the list! If he's not picked this week, then i question why we didn't delist him and take the opportunity to pick up an extra rookie, like Silvani or any developing youngster

I don't think any of our defenders who play forward. Our future forward line will come from: Watts, Jurrah, Bate, Pettard, Green, Sylvia, Wona, Bennel, Maric, Tapscott, (and perhaps Martin) Clearly we have plenty of guys who are forwards. Most of them are pure potential at this stage, but there is a bucket load of talent in that list. But my point is, we have enough options up forward that we do not want to be taking away from our backline which will be the core of our 2012 premiership!

I disagree. I still think Rivers has a place in our future. He played badly this week, but it's only his first game back so he gets latitude. I think we will play 4 talls going into the future: - Warnock to take the big forward that plays closest to goal - Rivers to take the 2nd big forward/ floating ruckman that goes forward - Garland and Frawley can take the most dangerous forwards, whether that be small, medium or tall forwards. These two players' versatility is why our defense is so promising! I think the guy that has to go is Joel MacDonald. At the draft event at the end of last year, one of our assistant coaches made an interesting comment about Joel Mac. They said "you would want to have some back up in case Garland doesn't come up." Essentially what that means is that Joel MacDonald was drafted specifically for Garland's position in case he never recovered from his LTI. (That position being the versatile defender who has speed to take medium/small forwards, but is also capable of playing against taller opponents). Garland is superior to Joel Mac is every way imho. Faster, better mark, more agile, better spoiler. As long as Garland keeps fit and keeps improving he should be a core part of our future. And I don't think Joel Mac is good enough of a rebounder to take the place of Grimes, Strauss, Cheney etc long term. So, in summery, imo those 4 guys should be the players in our team long-term. Joel MacDonald, McNamara and perhaps even Stef Martin should be depth players who can come in and fulfill a role when we inevitably have injuries

HAHAHA Whoever wants to drop Grimes is dumb. simple as that. People have to get this through their heads. We are NOT a finals team this season. I am stoked we are showing improvement, but any person can see our genuine run for the finals will be in 2012, once Grimes, Scully, Trengove, Garland, Jurrah, McKenzie, Bennel, Wona have played 40 games, Frawley, Morton, Bate, Pettard, Jones, Sylvia have played 80 games, and Watts, Strauss, Bail, Cheney, Jetta, Gysberts, Tapscott have played 30 games. ATM we are VERY young and VERY inexperienced. This season is still about development of our team. As Bailey has expressed ad nauseum, we need our youngsters to play games and play games TOGETHER For that reason, Grimes, Frawley, Garland, Morton, Watts, Bennel, McKenzie, Scully, Trengove, Bail etc should be played every single game they are available to play (i.e. properly fit to play). That should be the case, EVEN if guyz like Dunn, PJ, Daniel Bell, Miller or Newton would offer more onfield in the short time. The benefits of these guys allowing us to be more competitive are nothing to the benefits of getting games into our young guys.

Is that a joke?

The game started on the wrong foot, bringing in Rivers who is purely negative tall defender these days, for McKenzie, a running midfielder. The last 2 weeks we have had: Out: Bail, McKenzie In: Martin Rivers I think we need more run, more midfielders who can win clearances and more contested possessions around the midfield. We cannot have Rivers, Warnock, Garland, Frawley and MacDonald all in our defence. That's 1 too many defensive guys, who aren't giving enough run. I personally would only play 3, maximum 4 of those. For next week i'd go IN: Bail, McKenzie, Cheney, Gysberts (4 runners) OUT: MacDonald, Rivers, Martin, Dunn

Take a nap, relax... clearly a post full of emotion. I agree generally that Bruce is not our future. And I agree he gives too many hospital handpasses... but I'm not sure this kind of harsh criticism is warranted

Simone Buckley wouldn't sit anywhere near our best 22 these days. Under our new game plan we can't have players who repeatedly turn the ball over to the opposition across half back. Buckley was built like the modern midfielder, but unfortunately his decision making is not up to it

I'm satisfied with the way Watts has been treated for the last few weeks. However, I still am adament that he should be playing at least 15 games this season. That way he'll have played 37 games by 2012 and will be able to genuinely contribute when we are pushing for the finals. He needs to be treated cautiously but also fast tracked! We are ultimately still a developing side. Get Watts in ASAP i reckon. I'd like to see him play next week. 4 weeks at VFL level should be enough to have match fitness

Interesting comments by Brad Scott on afl.com.au. http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/93256/default.aspx He says "The footy they (Melbourne) are playing is just reflective of their talent" and that "they should be in the position they are now because of their prominence in the NAB AFL Draft in the last three years." However, is our recent improvement really due to the top-end draft talent we've brought onto our list in the last 3 years?! 2009 draft: - Scully and Trengove- yes are having an impact early, but for the most part have not really been dominant in games. - Gysberts, Tapscott, Gawn, Fitzpatrick- no impact... yet to debut 2008 draft: - McKenzie and Bennell- yes has made an impact, but are they on our list due to our high draft position? McKenzie(rookie), Bennel(35) - Watts, Strauss, Blease, Jetta, Bail, Jurrah- none played last round. Strauss has played a couple of games with no impact, Bail has done a bit but hasn't been crucial to any victories. 2007 draft: - Grimes- yes has made a big impact - Morton, Maric, Cheney, McNamara- none have played this season Summery: in the first 5 rounds of the year, Trengove, Scully, Grimes, Bennell and McKenzie are the only players who are making a genuine impact. And of those, Grimes (14), Bennell (35) and McKenzie (rookie) cannot be said to have come to us due to our draft position. They were just good drafting that anyone could have picked up. Therefore, I would argue that our improvement is NOT due to our great draft position for the last 3 years. Improvement has actually come from improvement in our 4-6 years players: Bate, Sylvia, Jones, Frawley, Pettard and improved performances from our senior players in Green, McDonald, Moloney, Warnock, Jamar etc. I think what is making everybody so excited, including myself, is the fact we are improving earlier than expected DESPITE the number of first round picks NOT in our team! Imagine how good we'll be when those guys develop into quality players: Gysberts(11), Tapscott (18), Watts (1), Morton (4), Blease (17), Strauss (19). Add to that the high hopes we have for Jurrah(PSD), Gawn(35), Jetta(50), Maric(21), Bail(66) Brad Scott analysis of our recent success is wrong. Thoughts?

I'm really excited by this. FINALLY, we will have training facilities on par with the big clubs. North have elite facilities now. We're pretty much the last club to get them. About time if you ask me. The prospect of 'the docklands project' is VERY long term. If is ever got off the ground, it would probably still be 10 years away. This is a good result. Players might actually want to come to our club!

I feel that Jetta, Rivers, Strauss and Watts are the only guys there who are truelly pressing for AFL selection. Also, Cheney- Bartram currently holds his position and at this point in time is playing well enough to keep his spot. Any drop in form by Bartram will see Cheney given his chance. and love having Wona and Blease playing, albeit for the ressies. Both could be rippers for MFC

PS- i don't believe that Watts could easily be replaced with Martin. Martin is a strong body that is critical for a medium sized forwards. If Jack Watts plays it will be as a high half forward, winger who plays occasionally in the forward pocket. He doesn't have the body to crash packs and provide a proper contest yet

I agree that it is short-sighted to not be looking to play Watts as much as possible. Playing Watts for 15 games this season, and then 22 games next season, will be invaluable to his development. That means that by 2012, Watts will have a bigger body, 2 preseasons under his belt, and have 37 games experience! Compare that to say a Gumbleton, who was pick 2 and has been ravaged by injuries. He is now 22, and b/c he hasn't been able to play, this year is like his first year of development at AFL level. As expected, he has started slowly, learning how to cope with the pace on AFL footy. His first 2-3 games at senior level were embarrassing. BUT, this kid was pick number 2 for a reason. He's immensely talented, and after only 5 games he is already improving dramatically. After 37 games, and another couple of years of senior footy, he will be able to significantly impact of games regularly! But, he'll only be doing this at aged 24, b/c injuries have held him back. We are in a perfect position to play Watts no matter what. We aren't going to make finals this year (probably come 10thish or something). There is no huge pressure to win. We are still in developmental mode. We have such an incredible opportunity to play Watts early in his career and fast track his development. I guarantee you that a Watts of 37 games experience will have a much greater impact on AFL games that a Jack Watts of 10 games experience. Get the games into the boys. Get them playing together as a group. and success will come. Holding him back will only delay Watts' ability to dominate AFL games.

Col Garland has had 12 months out of football. He definitely looks rusty and probably won't be back to him best for another 12 months. But he is critical to our team going forward. He is superquick and tall good mark. The perfect combination meaning he is tall enough to take tall guys (Stake=196cm), quick enough to take small guys, but is also able to take the difficult medium sized forward (Medhurst, Hahn, Pettard type). We should keep him in the team no matter what. Stefan Martin is a valuable swingman. Every team needs one. He can play forward, defence if we have injuries, ruck backup. I think he is really valuable at the moment, because he is so mobile and agile (so doesn't allow defensive rebounders to simply run off him), but also big enough to provide a contest when he have no options. The ability to kick long to Martin when there are no other options worked really well against Brissy.

Scully has 3 main elite strengths. He has the potential to be the best in the afl in these 3 areas. These are the reasons he could be a superstar. 1. his endurance/ ability to get from contest to contest. Won the beep test at MFC in his first season. The best ever recorded at an underage level. something like 15.11. 2. Creative use of the handball- Simon Blackesk. Sets up our players brilliantly to advantage 3. His constant running speed throughout the game. The guy's speed for standard running from contest to contest is rediculously good. Other players jog, but he's just always skating over the ground. I really rate that.

Poeple who were bagging Bate were completely off the mark. He always takes 3-4 weeks to warm up after injury... and now he's fit and firing. He's one of our most important players with his mountain of work at CHF leading and marking

That's actually a decent point. Harvey demolishes Dunn every tme and he's the only guy in their team worth tagging

A post from den11 on bigfooty... Hi all, Quick update from today's game, Casey were down all day and only got infront at about the 15min mark of the fourth. Was a windy and wet conditions and bloody cold in the end. Missed parts of game chasing mates 18month yr old around and avoiding the weather. Martin didn't play, so half chance for tonight!! The following is just opinion no stats, Wona - Missed the resi's but apparently looked very good and snagged a couple (Thanks for the mustached melb supporter for that report) Rivers - One of best on ground, read the play better then anyone else in the back half. Back to vintage playing off his man to mark infront of pack and run out of defense. Also hit Watts up a couple of times which i liked. Jetta - Jetta did some nice things though as my mate pointed out doesnt seem to know how to use his pace, and doesn't make enough contests. Typical young player good was great poor was very poor. Spencer = Spud. Sorry but doesn't do enough and gets knocked off of the ball from smaller players. I can't see him improving enough around the ground to be dangerous, but would love to be proved wrong. PJ - Was ok, started game at full back, played a bit around the game. Took a nice mark in final qrt from an opposition kick in though missed the goal. Could still be a handy 2nd ruck but..... JUICE - Juice was busy and continued to chase hard. Scary thing is that when he went into the Ruck in the final qrt he killed the opposition rucks with some awesome taps. Could he be the number 2 ruck......... I shudder to think! (THough Martin not playing might have in line as No 2) Strauss - Took every kick in with no direct turnovers. Provides good run and nice kicking skills. I like this kid and is destined for a Gilbee style role in the ones. Cheney - Was another good tough performance. Cant really remeber him being beaten though also didn't stand out as being really dominating. I think this is because i like our other running defenders or is it the red hair...... Watts - I wanted to put him earlier but 90% will be just reading this post to see his input so i wanted to keep them reading for a bit. Was good but didn't star. Kicked a couple of goals and a close miss. Leads well though gets lost in pack situations, yet almost held onto a screamer on the goal line. Looks good running through the mid and did some nice things. Reminds me as a young Riewoldt, and has the tank and skill. Be patient people!! Maric - I should Prefix this by saying i am not a fan. Just one of those players that rubs me the wrong way. Did some really nice things today but very patchy. Drops the head and i think believes he is better then he is. I'm sorry to the Maric supporter just my opinion. Kicked a couple of good goals. Hughes - Was very good early working through the wing and having a couple of shots on goal. Worked hard all day and might get his opportunity later in the year Mcnamarra - Not one of his better ones. Right in front of me in the first qrt went to pick up ball and heard footsteps and just tried for the boundry. Lots of fumbles a couple of good things though won't be troubling the selectors on todays efforts. Belly - Good to see him back. PLayed as a midfielder. Will be interested to see his stats i dont think he had a heap but could be surpised. In old terms "Better for the Run" Miller - A good VFL game though nothing to suggest he is back to form enough to play for the Dee's. I would leave him at Casey for a while yet! Think thats about it. Just the thoughts of a country football fan so don't shoot me if the casey report is totally different!

I count 19 MFC listed player/rookies playing at both levels this week. (16 in the seniors and 3 in the ressies). This is probably the healthiest our list has been in AGES. With Morton back in 2 weeks, our only injuries now are 3 pretty insignificant injuries + Jurrah - Gawn (first yr player 206cm was never going to make an impact in 2009) - Tapscott (potentially could have played a few games this year, but first year player unlikely to make huge onfield impact) - Meesan (rookie who is probably 3-4th best ruck. Considering Jamar is dominating, I doubt he'd be playing seniors anyways Can't wait to see Jurrah and Morton back, and for Watts, Wona and Rivers to come back into the team, but apart from that our starting 22 looks pretty good