GawnWithTheWind

Just a couple things I wanna know from some decent melbourne followers:

1)

I was at the game last night, like I am every week in melbourne, but at quarter time I was so nervous that we could be beaten 204 to 0. When geelong rushed that behind, I almost felt as happy as a win because we wouldnt go down in history as the team that didnt score. Where does the team go from here?

2)

We have a couple kids developing are any of these kids going to be superstars that we have been lacking for several years now? Have we wasted our draft picks?

3)

Has that win against Carlton last year smashed our chances of getting 2 awesome kids this year?

can someone please fill me in about these topics

thankyou

Come on... U have to put in the collywobble Ben Johnson for that attempted murder on Daniel bell last year.. THEN he started to cry about it...

and... any richmond player on their list

Heres mine:

1. Ben Johnson - obvious reasons

2. Brad Johnson - just a [censored]

3. Little Milne - litte smartass/potential rapist?/general [censored]

4. Kane [censored] Pettifer - Being himself is enough

5. Matthew Richardson - Abuses his own team mates too much

Yeah, after round 1 of the NAB Cup, Cale Morton is a dud and Henderson is a gun. Thank god we got rid of Craig Cameron so we don't make mistakes like that again! B)

Cale is a dud? ohhh ok....

Lets be honest with ourselves, what can we actually expect from our beloved demons this year?

I am sick of hearing how bad we are compared to everyone else.. and how we have nothing..... i wanna see the boys pull something out....... we have talent.... we just need them to show how good they actually are.......... Do we have any chance of proving ourselves?

Thats awesome.. thanks for that

[censored] him... why would he leave us to join a deadbeat club like richmond...

dont thank him, apparently he was helping rebuild.. and deserts us when we need him..

hope richmond stay at the bottom of the ladder for 50 years, its where the belong

Jeff White is now 30... getting closer to 31.. So how many years does this great have left with us?

How old can ruckmen last for?? Before things start going reallly wrong and they are spending more time on the sidelines then out on the ground...

Meeson could be the developing ruckman under him, but who will go with him? Johnson or Jamar?

Can any of these three take a number one spot in the ruck? Jeff will leave massive shoes to fill...

Sorry so many questions, just interested in thoughts on him... i'll be sad to see him leave in a couple years

3. Sir Cale

10. Cheney

16. Grimsey

33. Addam

26. Meeeeson

McNamara... watevaaaaa he wants

I believe that it will all come down to how well the players are responding to our new approach... and also how well injuries are managed through the season. People were expecting great things last year, but you cant do great things playing without 18 of our best 22 out.

I think that finals footy is within reach, but im not sure if we will be THAT competitive next year in the finals. I hope we are, but we do have alot of young players who are still working at it, so when they are ready, we will be a real force. i hope.

But then again, it is 150 time, that could just spark us up for some realll foooty next year.

Personally, I cant wait. I just wanna see a demon size up judd, who was 'too good' for us. Lets hope he gets in the way of neita running full pelt, like that poor hawks player did, many years ago.. haha

Ben Holland analogy suits I reckon.

Grant tested 2.89sec which is very quick, has super hands the best I have seen on a junior in a long time just doesnt fumble and feeds off very quickly under pressure. Huge concerns on his mental state and his ability to handle an AFL lockeroom environment, he is a nutcase simple as that. I wouldnt want him at my club as he is a huge high maintenance issue and will take constant watch and care to keep him in line - a massive challenge. Very similar talk about Grant as to talk about Buddy Franklin before that draft and the Hawks have had murder keeping Buddy in line particularly 1-2 years after he was drafted, both are freakishly talented footballers but the risk taking one particularly early in a draft is too great for some recruiting managers. Despite the success of Franklin, I dont think Grant will reach the same level and could go the way of other high picks Sampi and Beetham and out of the system before there time.

Gourdis super quick 2.83sec and is 193cm, super leap 83cm which is as good as Jared Brennan. Good workrate presents and presents at CHF and is a powerful athlete with a powerful body, will go inside the top 30. I have a doubt about his foot skills though but would under consideration for pick 21 I reckon.

Grant has awesome hands, your right, but he is no nutcase. He needs to get his head in the right place and keep it there, but its not cause he is pyscho. The kid has shown some skills, but every game i have seen, he hasn't been the best player out there, top three or four maybe, but never number 1. Good player but not sure if he could cope in AFL.

Next year is my proof...... IMO there would have been a huge gap left in our forward line without robbo... He can turn games

Hahaha.. whatever mate.. he is a strong lead, good kick and adds that sense of unpredictablity to our forward line.. whats why he is soo hard to match up on

Much depends on what style of game plan Bailey adopts, and the commitment of the players to do the 1 percenters, which was lacking this season.

If the players aren't prepared to put their head over the ball and commit to tackling and chasing, how the team lines up is an irrelevancy.

Having said that, we need to be more creative on the forward line, rather than relying on players who get their goals by taking marks on the lead. We can't have 2 stay at home forwards like Neitz and Robbo, plus Newton. The other forwards spend all their energy chasing the opposition backmen, rather than being creative. This will shock a few, but i'd only play Robbo against weaker backlines, such as Carlton, Richmond, Bulldogs, and possibly Collingwood. My preferred forward line is:

HF - Dunn/Bruce rotating on the ball and bench

CHF - Newton leading forward who stays within forward 60

HF - Bate leading forward who can also push back

FP - Davey crumbing forward who stays within 70

FF - Neitz leading forward who can crash and bash

FP - Green/Sylvia both can mark on the lead and rotate thru the middle and bench

Your kidding me right... we are one of the best creative teams in our forward line... we dont have any really strong mark and goal forwards.. Neitz tends to drop them and we rely on davey, yze and robbo to make something out of nothing. Robbo is a superstar, you need to give him ALOT more credit then that mate

I like, i like

One thing that could be powerful next year.. is our CHF line.. or even our whole forward

Bate - Newton (?) - Green

Davey - Neitz - Robbo

and you cant even fit Miller and Yze in there

I think this kid has the POTENTIAL to turn a game on its head... he is agressive towards the ball and his first 5 steps when he gets the ball seem to be faster then alot of them running round (could be juts his hair, tats why he looks soo fast)

But potential is the biggest killer for our Dee's.. we have soo many players that have huge potential and some of them never get there. Hopefully Sir Bailey can get some of these kids, like Dunny, to there full game. He's going to be good.

Which players are playing out of position do you think? Could we be wasting a talent because we havent tried him in other positions? What changes can we make for a better result next year?

Chops goes forward?

Whelan to rover? (hes got the toughness to win us the ball)

Newton bulks up and goes back????

Yze back in the guts?

whats your thoughts?

Its awesome when he does actually get the dukes out and takes the big strong grabs......

and he also is a good footstool for Newton and Robbo to take their marks... haha

He really is just another play that hasn't hit the expectations everyone had for him. Hopefully Bailey doesn't take any of that crap and gets the best out of him

As we all know this guy can pretty much play anywhere on the ground. But where can he be most effective???

We have seen him on a wing, or a flank with his lovely kick into the forward line. But we know the kid can also mark very well, is it worth having him as a permenant forward, kicking 50 or so a year? or should he be in the guts where we can get more ball use out of him?

??

I'll still have him in my 22 but he needs to get on the park and lower his eyes.

What? Thats why he was soo effective.. cause he could pass long, not chip around with it, he could pass long 45-50 meters and hit a target.

Lots of things are changing down at the Club, with the new Coach, new ideas and saying goodbye to 7 or so players. The players will need their Captain there for one last year just to steady the ship. If you watch the games when he plays, the players (especially the young ones) play a head taller, knowing the great man is watching over them from FF. He needs to be there for one more year. Neitz will get his body right, (maybe not his knee 100%, but enough to play) and he will contribute all through 2008. The club needs him for one more year, thats why he is not retiring.

love to watch this kidd play...... gets the ball, breaks some tackles, kicks a 40-50 meter pass into someones hands..

The way the game should be played.... doesnt [censored] round with it, or fall back into the melbourne ways of making sure they hand pass it to each other 45 times before looking to kick

Cant wait to see the boy back...

Sylvia is only one good pre-season away to playing the type of footy we are all hoping from him. I think that if he gets through this pre-season, you gotta start using his natural talent in the midfield. He has a great set of hands and not only can find the footy, but normally makes good decisions. I hope to see him slip right into TJ's shoes and show us how good he is.

I'd like to see PJ played down back, he is tall and agile for his size. Possibly FB but More likely CHB. Wheatley taking the kickouts and white/PJ taking the mark. Perhaps 1 of them could run forward to stretch the defence?

No way PJ for CHB.. Too big and slow.. Imagine Reiwolt on him, he would run an absolute muck. Possibly FB but for only the slower, lead/mark type players. I wish Melbourne got somone like Scarlett or Glass. Perfect FB's.

i can see white retiring at the end of next year with pj and meesen being our ruck partnership. remember pj was an all australian under 18 ruckman

end of next year? geez... cutting a little short.. i reckon 3 more... if pretty much injury free