Deeoldfart

Our former skipper may be right in what he says, but he has missed a key point ie. having Fev on the Casey fwd. line will deny one or more of our youngsters the experience / development opportunity that comes with with playing in the VFL. Also, Fev. is likely to be pretty much the single focus in Casey's fwd. line The Casey game plan will revolve around him, and this is unlikely to suit the Melbourne game plan of having multiple forward options.

1. StKilda 2. Collingwood 3. Western Bulldogs 4. Hawthorne 5. Geelong 6. Fremantle 7. Melbourne 8. Carlton 9. Essendon 10. Sydney 11. Adelaide 12. North Melb. 13. Port Adelaide 14. West Coast 15. Richmond 16. Brisbane 17. Gold Coast

I read or heard somewhere that the Melbourne Footy Club is disappointed with Casey's decision, but given that it was ultimately Casey's decision to make, our Club would be 'moving on'. Despite my concerns, that's precisely what I'll be doing.

I'm not very comfortable with this decision for the reasons others have stated. However, at the end of the day it was Casey's decision, and they have opted in favour of the $s that Fev will bring through the turnstyles (ie. a high risk/ potential high return business decision). Let's hope that it doesn't come back to bite Casey or the Dees.

We were well down on our best 22, and had quite a few who definitely needed the run. However, BL also had some key players missing, and others who were having their first gallop for a while. From what I read here, we were very disappointing. Lots of work to do before we meet the Swans!

1958 ensured that for me. Irrevokable!

Exactly! Tom is an outstanding young man, and he handled himself brilliantly when confronted by the media hordes this morning.

Great work as usual, Jack.

Premiers for '11: StKilda Wooden Spoon: Gold Coast Most Goals for Demons: Liam Jurrah - 67 Leading Goalkicker in AFL: Jack Riewoldt - 87 Brownlow: Brendon Goddard Norm Smith: Nick Riewoldt Final Ladder position: 7th Wins: 12 Most tackles: Jordie McKenzie or Jack Trengove Most marks: Col Garland Most handballs: Tom Scully Most kicks: Aaron Davey Most 1%'s: Jordie McKenzie or Jack Trengove Best first year player: Lucas Cook Bluey: Col Sylvia Biggest crowd: 90,030 - Melb v Coll Queens B'day Worst Journo: Don't care Best Journo: Martin Flanagan Biggest news story for '11: Tom Scully declares "I want to be a Demon for life". Quote of the season: "I just go out there to have fun" - from Liam Jurrah's acceptance speach at the GOTY / MOTY presentation

Good analysis of where our list is at imo. I'm not sure I agree that there's no room for J.Mac and J.Riv in the one team, but apart from that I thought it was a pretty fair summary.

Well done nutbean.

Well argued and succinct ... an excellent response imo. Importantly, it doesn't read as a parochial, 'it might cost my team' point of view, but rather, it addresses the the big picture to demonstrate the double standards that underpin the AFL's thinking. Well done guys!

Exactly! That's what made it hard to watch for me.

I thoroughly enjoyed the story about Terry loaded on the MFC website today. I love these anecdotes, and geez, hasn't footy changed in the last 50 years.

Thanks for another insightful & comprehensive report Bhima. It will be fascinating to see how our set-ups and tactics evolve.

So sad to hear of the passing of one of our 'Heroes' and member of two premiership teams during our greatest era. No doubt catching up with former ruck partner 'Big Bob' Johnson. Condolences to Terry's family and friends.

I thought I had heard / read somewhere that LJ may not play. No injury concerns, but preference is to build his workload gradually leading into the season proper.

I would add Rivers to the list whose kicking is not as reliable as I would like. Just OK from my perspective, and very rarely damaging to the opposition.

Leave the hair alone 'bub ........ it adds to the flair!

Undoubtedly, but I reckon BrisBan would be the last club Joel would want to play for right now. Insightful recruitment by our Club!

Fantastic article about a young man on incredible journey. We are so lucky that he plays for Melbourne, and the good fortune clearly cuts both ways.

Green to repeat the dose in 2011. His durability puts him ahead of Sylvia IMO. Throw a blanket over the rest of field for third, but I gave it to Scully, just to underline what we already know about his professionalism.

You are being extremely polite there Roost.

Incredibly impolite post. Do you know Tom well enough to make some of those personal statements about him?

Great read. Thanks Jack.