Whispering_Jack

for those that cant get the f*** over it

watch this video just to get the faintest idea why it was good to get rid of him

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAJ9v-nH0wI

If that's the sole reason why TJ was outed then there would be about 43 players on the mfc list who would be worried about their job security ATM.

If he could do all of that then I'd say that this other kid who rucks like Naitanui and plays like Goodes will go at pick 1 before Rich and Naitanui.

That's good because the Kevin Sheehan who works as the AFL's national talent manager said of him (Naitanui) last year that he plays like a young Adam Goodes and covers the ground much better - and he was only 16 at the time. I'd like to see him in this year's national championships and I'm sure cousin dazzledavey36 will keep us apprised of his height and growth over the coming monmths.

I don't think that ruckmen influence the game as much as midfielders. I think that that Rich would win you games of footy, while Naitanui is more fun to watch. But do we waste pick 1 on getting pretty hitouts, or on a dynamic goal kicking midfielder? Especially when our midfield is crying out for quality and Johnson looks like he could take over from White. I think that our main deficiencies going forward are

Has we lost one more game last year then we might have been in a position where we don't have to make a choice but could take both. As it is, your argument would be good if all that Naitanui can do is get pretty hitouts. However, what would you say if he can do that and play like Adam Goodes as well?

Some of the placements are very interesting in the light of the comments Andy Lovell made in his player review.

Take this quote about Stef Martin:-

"In the first half he played at full back, and played really well. His form has been very consistent this year. Each week he takes the opposition big forward, and he hasn’t yet been beaten one-on-one in that role. In the second half we moved him to half back, where he struggled a little, but he has steadily improved and we are looking to develop him into a key defender."

Martin's been named at CHB where he "struggled a little" last week. I like the idea of testing young players in the hard positions to garner improvement rather than taking the easier options of playing them where you already know they can do well. It should hold him in good stead for the day he gets promoted.

I also like what the coaches are doing with Addam Maric who should be playing AFL in the second half of the season if not earlier.

These two are the best prospects we have at Sandy who have yet to wear the red and blue.

G'day Everyone.

Sandringham v Bendigo will be the only VFL game on this Saturday, so all coverage will be on that.

TV - ABC1 will have the game live in Victoria from 1pm (unsure if on in Tassie)

Radio & Internet - 3XX 1611 AM in Melbourne from 1pm and on the internet at www.radio1611.com.au

Radio - 3SER 97.7 FM in Melbourne's South-East

I hope that helps, especially those outside the Melbourne Metro area, so you can catch up with your Zebras.

Pete.

Good luck with your call and thanks for mentioning the Demon supporter sites last time you broadcast a Sandy game.

Is there any chance your signal will improve in the future (last time I was listening I kept hearing some bloke speaking Greek interrupting the call)?

Bad luck Juice. Settle yourself down and you'll have a much better chance of making it in the game.

Round 4

Michael Newton - Sandringham

Guilty of Striking - 1 Match Suspension*

*Denotes player opted for the prescribed automatic penalty

No, you still miss the point. Caro didn't make a gaffe. Caro was spot on - our home attendances are pathetic (and have been for some time) and we are 0 and 4!

Ewww, I just defended Caro. I guess i won't get an invite onto the Footy Show now...

Yeah right. I see that you understand perfectly what I've been saying.

Incidentally, yo seem to think its indicative of good journalistic research to write that our "home ground attendances have been poor" when, in fact we've played only one home game this year and attracted 27,000 against the Western Bulldogs (instead of last home game against the Dogs which attracted 18,946).

Again, the point I'm making is that we are under notice from the AFL to lift our game. The rest including attendance figures is just window dressing if we don't get our act together both on and off the field.

I think you miss the point

I don't think I'm missing the point at all. The point I'm making is that Wilson's article is written as told to her by the AFL. The example of the gaffe about our attendances wasn't nitpcking - it was drawn to show that she didn't even research her facts properly before going to print. I have no doubt we are going to have problems with home ground attendances as the season continues - who's going to go to our home game at Freo in a few weeks time if we maintain our present form?

The message from the AFL is that unless we do something soon to shape up, we might have to prepare ourselves for something drastic. IMO that includes as one possibility becoming the Gold Coast Demons.

Wilson's a good journalist and well respected but this is an easy article to write because it's so easy to kick a club when it's down and it's easier to write when you're simply following your master's voice. All she is doing is stating the bleedingly obvious and regurgitating what the AFL is telling her and, of course, there's a lot of fact in there mixed with some fiction and the wishful thinking of those at headquarters who would for example, gleefully solve the problems inherent in starting a club up on the Gold Coast from scratch by disembowling a club from Melbourne and sending its carcass up north.

That's the challenge that Paul McNamee is presented with early in his administration. Yes, the bland vision of Steve Harris with the melbournefc symbolism has helped us lose focus and yes, the team is playing football that matches the blandness and yes, the club's supporters couldn't be bothered supporting a team that bungles its way through quarters of football like the first against North Melbourne last week.

But where did Caroline get this from ... " its home-game attendances have been poor with a 0-4 win-loss ratio to date"?

Just for the record, Melbourne has had one home game this year - against the Western Bulldogs whose membership numbers are apparently as low as ours. The crowd that day was 27,821 which I suppose, you could describe as "poor" but it's an "attendance" not one of a multiple number of "attendances" and it matches our home attendances against the same club in recent years.

I thnak Caroline for indulging in the form of journalism that is far too common these days at Fairfax. She's telling us very little that we wouldn't know if we opened our eyes anyway. Our team is playing crap, our supporters (like most others are fickle) and our administration needs to lift its game. Thankfully, we don't have to look to her or her sources for any answers.

was there ever a bigger case of prostitution in history? Notwithstanding the time I was made to eat my greens before I could go and see my beloved Dees trounce the Dawks at Glenferrie oval.

aaah, *sigh* memories - they won that day, too.

I think a demonstration against Judd for treating us with contempt could end up counterproductive and spur him on to play a great game. That said, if he's struggling and Melbourne are winning well (please ) then I'll probably be the first to let him know it.

I wonder how our players regard this situation. The likelihood is that they don't care one way or the other but back in John Northey's day he would have used this sort of thing as a spur to rev up his charges. Shows how different football is today and how different our club is these days. I think they play with all the emotion of a dead fish nowadays.

Enough already.

This thread has been locked for obvious reasons.

Whatever view one might have of a player it's a disgrace and an indictment on Wikipedia that it allows such nonsense as this on its pages -

"By the end of his career, Ward was best known for his inability to pick up an opponent or get his hands on the ball, and when he did get his hands on the ball he frequently coughed it up to the opposition, often resulting in goals. It is believed that his inability to play football in his last season played a large part in the sacking of coach Neil Daniher who was reluctant to drop him from the team."

looking at his legal options

There is a Latin maxim which covers exactly how the law would deal with this sort of situation - de minimis non curat lex or "the law does not concern itself with little things".

On that basis, he has no legal options B) .

The Weed went on to say the the coaching staff went over to him and exchanged pleasantries.

Phew, I misread the article at first. Thankfully, they were exchanging pleasantries and not the weed.

I have a hunch that Melbourne has greater scope for improvement in this area than North Melbourne but it still might not be enough to get the Demons off the bottom. On reflection, I think I'll have to disagree with our stats man and select North Melbourne to win by a margin of 15 points in what will, for the Demons of 2008, be a real thriller.

I watched Foxtel's AFL Teams programme and just happened to switch on The Footy Show when they were previewing this game and the experts have already written us off. That's no surprise given our poor efforts to date on the MCG and the way North played last week against Hawthorn but IMO this is probably the most important game for the club this year. We really need a win this week to get our season on track. It's OK for Carlton to happily tank away season after season, but we simply can't afford it. We need that win to get some momentum going and we need our forwards (especially the talls) to get the pill and do something with it for a change!

If reports are correct that PJ has a broken hand then someone will have to step in for him. Most likely Mark Jamar but possibly Stef Martin.

Or both could come in if the club feels it needs the extra height in defence to cover Nathan Thompson.

Cameron Ling always had a good football brain though, otherwise he never would have been picked up.

If Trent was Ling's height he'd struggle to get a game for Sth Croydon.

Keep in mind that Zoomer is now a 19 y/old. Ling would would have only just got his Ls as a bottom age Unders player

I will re-iterate what I said about having "once heard the same thing about a young Cameron Ling" spoken of in the same vein as you are doing about Zomer. Ling was eventually drafted to Geelong as a "top age" player in the same way that Zomer was "top age" when rookied by us. The comment about Ling was made by a person who has had a long term association with the TAC Cup Under 18's. I also spoke yeseterday with "Stevo" who wrote on the draft for Demonland last year and is currently involved in TAC Cup football. He doesn't agree with you. He believes that because of Zomer's basketball grounding he needs to be given time and good coaching and, as long as he approaches it all with the right attitude, he could be just as good as any of the young KPP's in this year's crop.

How long have you been watching football for boy? You come across as very immature and limited in your thoughts.

And perhaps you are limited in your ability to spell your own name?

Zomer's biggest problems will come from being lazy and not having a "footballers" brain.

The funny thing is that I once heard the same thing about a young Cameron Ling when he was a bottom age player with the Geelong Falcons. He was supposed to be fat, overweight and lazy. A year later he was drafted by the Cats and his hard work and persistence has led him to become a premiership player and one of the best players in the competition's best midfield.

Nothing beats getting the four points but I think today marked the start of a new era for the Melbourne Football Club. For the first time under Dean Bailey we played like true Demons and had we not been pittted against the best side in the competition on their own dungheap after unfurling their premiership flag from last year, we might have even gotten up and won.

Next week against North Melbourne should hold no fears.

I never said that you didn't need the cattle.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> One can't make chicken salad from chicken shit.

Correct and Trav can't really talk because, with all of their glorious facilities, a champion CHF, some brilliant on ball talent and 2 out of 3 games on their home turf without yet having played against the apparent top three teams in the competition, his own side is sitting with a 1/2 record at the moment.

You both have to much time on your hands!!

I agree. We both should be bard.

I must admit watching the doggies I was thinking similar.. . well you have to hang a coat on something !! :D

Im still going to stick with the concern we arent too flash just at the mo !! lol

I wasn't convinced about the Bullies even when they rolled us by 95 points last week but it takes a fair team to come from 37 points down at quarter time to win by 38. Their last three quarters against the Saints were almost as good as their last three against us.

Maybe, we're not so bad after all!

A word or two from Shakespeare.

Get thee to a cattery:

Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners?

I am myself indifferent honest;

But yet I could accuse me of such things that it were better my mother had not borne me:

I am very proud, revengeful, ambitious, with more offences at my beck than I have thoughts to put them in,

Imagination to give them shape, or time to act them in.

What should such fellows as I do crawling between earth and heaven?

We are arrant knaves, all; believe none of us.

Go thy ways to a cattery.

Where's your father?

Have a good day at the footy.

Peter.

(P.S. Later in the week we put the interview and highlights in our website, so you can listen back then if you miss it live)

No worries Peter. As long as they keep the Burrabergers warm, you'll find a big contingent of us there bright and early tomorrow.