Whispering_Jack

Hey, I was only kidding about sacking the Board and if Jake King is a life long friend of this bloke and the association doesn't affect his football then who am I to break up the friendship? On the other hand, if Richmond have given him an ultimatum about the relationship and he's ignored the ultimatum, then it's pretty weak on their behalf and they'll probably have to deal with the repercussions one day. Aren't we all lucky that this has happened while the First Lady of Football is having a break?

Hawthorn, Geelong and Richmond finished first, second and fifth on the AFL ladder after the 22 home and away rounds. In three week's time Melbourne embarks on the three game NAB Challenge/Pre Season Practice Match series against these teams and whilst their outcomes won't be earth-shattering, we look forward to signs of improvement to build up the team's confidence as we build up to the real thing. It's getting closer and, over the coming weeks, we'll see training stepped up and, since we have a new team of coaches this year, it's going to be interesting to see what unfolds.

I recently attended a fascinating lecture on the Titanic and the presenter went through the history of the "unsinkable" ship, setting out the cause and effect and the chain of events that led to the ship's sinking and the attendant loss of lives. The narrative had its villains and heroes (starting with the designers) who played a role in the disaster including some, like one of the major shareholders in the White Star line who was the subject of a vilification campaign by the head of Hearst Press and was hounded by that organisation for the rest of his life. Many of the accusations were false. Nothing's black or white in this and I don't believe in adopting a scorched earth policy. It was appropriate for Don McLardy and many of the other leading members of the board to resign over what happened but it was equally important in the transition to retain people who had experience and believed they had a contribution to make to the club. Like the Titanic, not all on the board were responsible for the "disaster", just as when a government falls, you don't expect the members of the losing party to resign en masse. In any event, if their staying spared us from having a Kennett or a Stockdale on the board, then all I can say is "praise The Lord". Yes, I was being tongue in cheek about the players but my example stands. We got rid of some who might have once been good servants of the club but a number were part of the problem. That is, if you describe the main problem as being a dysfunctional, poorly performing football club, the primary responsibility for which was the incumbent board but which was also the result of a build up of poor decision making and incompetence for a long period of time. Some might be happy with our current board and I'm comfortable for the time being but I also believe that at some time we will need to declare our independence from the AFL and that's probably one of the main challenges facing Glenn Bartlett in the future.

Over to you Caro. Reports: King spotted with Mitchell

I have an idea. Nathan Jones, Jack Grimes, James Frawley and Colin Garland, among others, were as much a part of the same "train wreck" as were Peter Spargo, Russell Howcroft, Peter Thurin and John Trotter (that's four by my counting). If we're going to sate our thirst for destruction and our bloodlust then why not just boot the players out as well?

Weather bureau says there's a chance of an early shower but nothing in sight ATM. Should be pleasant for training. I suppose the theme of the preseason so far is the tall KPP's as this article suggests - Melbourne sweats on fitness of key forwards Mitch Clark, Chris Dawes and Jesse Hogan. I thought Mitch Clark's problem now was a hamstring and how the recovery from that injury affects his need for fitness but I'm not sure on a reading of the above. Looking forward to reports from those lucky enough to have the day off and the ability to attend.

Which is all the more reason why the football information aspect of the evening is so important. A good balance between the administrative and football sides is what most people want. Very few have had the opportunity to hear Paul Roos' vision for the club in the future (apart from the brief grabs on the news) and most would prefer to ask him or our new recruiting manager questions than anything else even if balance sheets and bottom lines are also vitally important to the club.

There's also the subtle form of shilling for a club as we've seen in the reportage of the Essendon drug scandall where News Limited seems almost to be working in the interests of the Bombers. Agenda based journalism is nothing new but if you believe what lies at the end of this article (Ankle surgery for Tom Bellchambers a huge blow for Essendon coach Mark Thompson) the case is all closed notwithstanding the fact that ASADA has yet to issue its final report. Get it?The party's over and the Bomber players are free despite confessions of using banned substances and an off premises systematic injecting programme for which the club apparently has kept no records of what was injected. Not even the Mexican jungle juice prescribed for a complete stranger. When ASADA finally acts I wonder what spin the Murdoch press will put on the situation? Thankfully, there's been a more balanced approach from Fairfax which has utilised some of its best investigative reporters to get a broader picture of the issues. The Bombers have certainly used alliances within the media to press their case in an off season period when it's been important in terms of sponsorships and memberships to have friends in the media covering for you. Admittedly, the AFL's bungling and the tortoise-like pace of ASADA's investigation processes have helped the overall effort. Contrast this with Melbourne's treatment during the tanking inquiry where, by and large, the two media giants were battling to outdo each other to stir the pot against the Dees, often coming up with beat ups to sensationalise evidence that proved nothing and in some cases was misleading, irrelevant or plainly untruthful. I remain ashen faced about some of the goings on in the media from that time, particularly the cover ups of other clubs' tanking activities which made it easier for the AFL to sweep that issue under the carpet. The pity is that Melbourne needed a powerful friend in the upper management of News Limited at the time which is apparently the case with Essendon but then who would have thought that drug cheating was a lesser offence than what you could only describe on the evidence as poor list management?

... and it's always good to read about the Demons beating the Magpies http://m.heraldsun.com.au/leader/central/camberwell-magpies-dismissed-by-plucky-demons/story-fngnvlpt-1226806729354]Camberwell Magpies dismissed by plucky Demons

I think our test aspirations are falling away as a result of the commercial realities of cricket scheduling. The $ dictates when tests, OD games and T20s are played and the rest is left for Sheffield Shield (or whatever it's called these days). In the halcyon days there was an even spread of shield matches and the visiting test sides would play every state during the course of their tours. Not these days. I can't remember the last state four day game and with our test players often resting in these game, how do we expect our younger generation to develop into international test players? And what sort of form are players being selected on?

Thanks for that - I might invest in one of those.Cheers

I also have a lot of VHS tapes (of wins only) from the 80s to the present. Not many recent wins though.

I know how much Redleg loves his racing videos but this has piqued my interest. If I kept videos of all of the shows, sports including footy I tape on iq, I would run out the 100% of space allocated very quickly. Is there a way to save certain material from your iq onto another drive or are you stuck with what Foxtel allocates? [No abuse please - I know nothing about Foxtel. I just press buttons and watch the shows - thank you]

I think the closest we got was a few weeks later when we played Hawthorn in a must win game and were well in the game when our reigning b & f Aaron Davey suffered a broken fibula. I think we lost that game by about 20 points and after that just fell away in the remaining two games. Whatever it was that happened over the summer, we were never going to get there with this team. In 2011 we played the Swans in round 1 and drew the game (in hindsight a reasonable effort) and then we got smashed by Hawthorn in the second half. The signs weren't good but we managed to recover to a point where we were good against the lowly, the new franchise, some of the interstate clubs on our home turf but we weren't in the hunt against the stronger clubs. The kind of game that held us in good stead in that game against the Swans in 2010 failed us.

Watts embraces Roos' messageThanks for the reports guys. However, if Roos is back nobody told Matt Thompson and isn't the official site going into a bit of overkill on Jack Watts? Hardly a day goes by without a write up.

Devastating for the good folk of San Francisco and their supporters. I'm off Yankee imperialist sports for now. Back to the more gentlemanly pursuit of cricket and, once the tennis is done and dusted, the footy.

Ah ... our golden age. I remember it well.

A great interview from Crash Craddock in the Herald Sun - How Ashes star Mitchell Johnson bounced back to become an Ashes hero Lessons there for every sport including AFL.

Of course I didn't expect him to say that because that's not the way he thinks. It's more the content of the story and the reason for the improvement and how the footy department's going about it that's relevant.

Not really. The stats are telling me that in 2013, we struggled to get the ball inside fifty metres from goal as often as our opponents and, as a result, we lost most of our matches. It suggests to me that the people responsible for getting the ball into that area were failing in their task or, to put it another way, our midfield sucked.I think most people including our football department have recognised this and have done something to turn this around. Most of our recruiting concentrated on strengthening the midfield and one the major focusses of our preseason has been on seeing that this dysfunctional area improves it act so that we can get the ball to our forwards better and more efficiently. They also show there are many ways to skin a cat because one of the grand finallists finished 15th in the number of inside 50s and scored less heavily than the 11th placed side, so it also helps if you're good at stopping your opposition from scoring and efficient when you get the ball near goal. I believe our people are working on that as well. I look forward to seeing the 2014 equivalent of these statistics and hope that they show us in a more favourable light, in particular the extreme left hand column.

True, the game itself doesn't mean much any more given that on my reckoning we only have eight players left from those who played in that game. Jack Grimes and Jack Trengove were missing through injury and probably some others. For a number of reasons, a number of players have gone and out list is fundamentally different today to the one that ran out then but look at what we beat with that team. We can still learn something from the playing styles of both sides and what the Swans did in such a short time to become premiers and what we failed to do in the same time span. Here's some vision from the game -

It was Paul Roos' biggest defeat as a coach and it came towards the end of his illustrious career at the helm at the Swans. Conversely, it was Dean Bailey's finest moment but a little more than 12 months later, he was sacked. It was the game between Melbourne and Sydney played at the MCG on Sunday 25 July 2010 and embarrassingly for me as it turned out, I entitled my report on the game DAWN Here are the teams from that game - MELBOURNE Backs Colin Garland Jared Rivers Clint Bartram Half backs Jordie McKenzie James Frawley Joel Macdonald Centreline Jamie Bennell Cameron Bruce Brad Green Half forwards Lynden Dunn Cale Morton Tom Scully Forwards Colin Sylvia Jack Watts Liam Jurrah Followers Mark Jamar Brent Moloney Aaron Davey Interchange Rohan Bail Paul Johnson Nathan Jones Addam Maric Emergencies Matthew Bate Austin Wonaeamirri Matthew Warnock In Addam Maric Austin Wonaemirri Out Matthew Bate Brent Moloney * * Brent Moloney was originally in the selected side but was replaced by Austin Wonaeamirri due to a thigh injury incurred the week before against Freo at Subiaco. SYDNEY Backs Rhyce Shaw Ted Richards Martin Mattner Half backs Paul Bevan Heath Grundy Tadhg Kennelly Centreline Nick Malceski Brett Kirk Kieren Jack Half forwards Ryan O'Keefe Mike Pyke Josh Kennedy Forwards Ben McGlynn Adam Goodes Jarred Moore Followers Shane Mumford Jude Bolton Jarrad McVeigh Interchange Daniel Hannebery Lewis Jetta Brett Meredith Jesse White Emergencies Trent Dennis-Lane Sam Reid Gary Rohan In Lewis Jetta Out Nick Smith (hamstring) New Sam Reid (Murray Bushrangers) Two years later, the Swans were premiers under John Longmire and the Dees were going through a trough. Now, the wheel has turned and Roos is coaching us. What does it all mean for the Melbourne Football Club as we face a new year? Is it a new dawn of what?

Nathan Jones agrees that we're on the up and up - Nathan Jones is confident the new look Dees will improve

Magpies pick teens The Palmerston Magpies in the Northern Territory Football League have selected three 15 year olds to play Tiwi Bombers today. The Davey brothers are playing for Palmerston over the summer season and are having an interesting game.Palmerston lead at 3/4 - 9.10 (64) to 6.4 (40). During the third term, Aaron Davey conceded a goal after giving away a double 50m penalty and then immediately after evened up with a goal of his own. No sign in the Tiwi team of Liam Jurrah who starred in a few games prior to Christmas and before his latest altercations with the law. Interesting that the Davey boys started playing senior footy as 14 year olds. These days it's rare to see young kids starting out together and certainly not at AFL level. It will be interesting to see how these young blokes in Darwin develop, especially as the Northern Territory is an area of interest for the Melbourne Football Club. And while on the subject, here's a story about another young bloke from Central Australia who has ambitions of making the grade - Errin upbeat for 2014

Go for it OD. They should know that MFC supporters are taking heed of the partnership. If you don't want the package of Demon goodies on offer to customers (guernsey, cap and junior MFC footy), I'm sure it would make a great give away to some youngster whose folks read Demonland.