LIFT

STATS FOCUS http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl...5015545,00.html Clearances Bris 35 Melb 25 Inside 50s Bris 55 Melb 42 Unfortunately I could not watch the 2nd and 3rd quarter as I had a party to attend but by the look of things we got smashed in the midfield. I wanted to ask others who saw the game, was it more a fact we could not get our hands on the ball or was it that we torched the footy with clangers? I think McLean's performance on paper looks putrid. Apparently "tagging" Luke Power & he has 10 touches and Power has 33!!! He has one tackle and one clearance to boot!!!! I think Dean Bailey should make a statement and drop him. He needs a huge pre season at the end of this one. Touchwood he can stay injury free for the next 12 months to get the work in. Also Moloney and Jones with 16 and 17 touches respectively are hardly great numbers. When Black Adcock etc are having 25 plus. Also Jack Watts: the link says he had 6 clangers? Is this accurate guys? I watched the VFL game yesterday and Bartram, Valenti and Dunn definately staked a claim for a recall to a midfield needing a lift.

I agree. Dunn and Valenti are too good for this level. Wheatley must be close Bell is finished and it is the best I have seen Bartram kick the ball. No one is really starring. Maric fine. They have Willy covered comfortably now.

F: Woenamarri Butcher Jurrah HF: Maric Watts Bate Maybe Newton, Dunn or Martin at Full Forward if no priority Pick. Green and Sylvia to swing through there for sure during games. Robbo and Miller are GAWN and will not be in this forward line when we are a contender. Robbo has been a great servant but age is against him. Miller just does not have the nouse, football brain and skills to be effective. I think good centre half forwards like Carey, Pavlich, Brown, Tredrea and S. Lucas were long penertrating kicks, who kicked goals and wanted the ball in their hands. Miller simply does not. I think Watts will.

I agree with you both. If he is not at least 80% fit he should not play and I don't think that will necessarily be a bad thing. His age means he will not be part of our next premiership side and why not get more AFL games into players who might be. Leadership will come from Brock, Rivers, Moloney, Green and Bruce. RE: Final Side: If Junior does not come up.* Bench should be PJ, Jones, Maric, Bennell, Cheyney* The forward line is a big worry. Harry o'Brien and Nick Maxwell willl match up well on some of the players we will have working through the forward line and I can see a low scoring arm wrestle as I think our backline matches up well on their forward line: Rivers to Cloke, Warnock to Anthony, Frawley to Medhurst, Whelan to Didak (Support from other midfielders when not in forward line), Bennell to Dick/Davis when in forward line. Davey more in the midfield to add pace and quality inside 50 ball use to an "inside midfield" Bruce and Green to add Class to a forward line crying out for fire power. Hopefully our man Jack can take a few nice clunks and jag a few snags floating forward and put a few on the [censored] of Robbo and co.

Get rid of Miller. He has had two stinkers in a row now. They need to experiment with options down there. Bruce, Green and Davey are 3 of our most talented players and have a record of kicking goals in the past they need to "rest" down there and improve our scoring capability, instead of having a "stat party" across half back. I think you have to play Newton, he get shots on goals and looks lively hopefully he can just turn his kicking around in an off season much like Roughhead has done for Hawthorn. Robbo was probably a bit stiff to be dropped too. Try Dunn down there too I don't think Miller needs support around him. I think he needs to be traded and even in another better side I think you will see him getting marks high on the wings, not using the football well, missing shots for goal he should kick. 2010 Forward Line H.F. Bate Watts Sylvia F. Woenamarri Butcher Maric I also prefer Stephen Martin as a backman I think we will have to trade one of our keybacks in Warnock, Martin, Rivers as Frawley and Garland can easily fill the 3rd tall defender spot too. And 5 does not go into 4. Maybe Hawthorn would do a straight swap for Mitch Thorpe given their defensive personel woes. He may be handy option as a forward. God knows he has been starved of opportunities down there

He is slow. But after his pretty serious injury last year a huge pre - season awaits Brock at the end of this year. If he can stay injury free try and work on this area of his game and improve it to a half decent AFL standard I think he becomes a very valuable player. I think he is a far better player than N.Jones whose decision making and skills are no where near Brock's. He is a great clubman and someone who cannot be traded.

Gees he looked good against West Coast at Subiaco when he kicked well and was decisive with the ball and that hard ball get and spin tonight was good, but in general tonight he was like a deer in the headlights everytime he had the ball and his indecision led to handball skill errors. I have never been a fan of him, he is an athlete playing football has no ball skills and has no goal sense. He can lead all day but has never been a great contested mark. What is the point in getting the ball if you can't use it? Good tryer and good clubman but will not be at the club when we start winning regularly.

Career Games Bell 63 Dunn 45 Bartram 52

I see your point but I think Bell has only really had one settled uninterrupted period without injury in the MFC side and I think this was only really for half a season or so in 2005 maybe?. I think he will be played in a new role forward or midfield and I think he is worth a try otherwise I think he will be delisted without been given a chance. Recruited in 2002 as a forward mid All Australian Junior. Surely he is worth a try in this role. Given the players coming back this week I think Dean would have said to Belly, "well played in the VFL on the weekend, DO IT AGAIN and keep pushing and we'll look at ya" Obviously my comments regarding Bartram and the lower ranked players in Supercoach with team selection this week.

A lot of guys are up and about at the moment and can only be a good thing for the sides performance. The final bench will be fascinating. Last spot between Petterd and Cheyney. I reckon Petterd would be fine down back in Cheyney's role last week. He'd get a lot more involved down there than wasting away in the forward pocket, although his forward pressure is very necessary.

Did ya see his clanger late in their Port Adelaid match? Bottom line just needed to hold onto the ball with 90 seconds to go but had dellusions of grandeur and attempted to bomb into the forward line but kicked it out of bounds on the full. Port kick it down the other end and get the match winner. Mitch Morton is that Russel Robertson type of forward, not key position and not a runner and to be honest I think his types are a dime a dozen. Sylvia could easily play Robbo's role if needed. Bate is essentially the same sort of player as Morton. Still if the deal was right maybe...... Could help keep Cale at the Dees.....

24 is not exactly ancient look at Warren Treadrea and Matthew Richardson Belly was pick 14 in the 2002 National Draft Bartram was pick 60 in 2005 A lot of people obviously saw limitations in Bartram's ability in his draft. Dunn was pick 15 in 2004. In general we have a lot of players we are hoping will become A graders. Would loved to have seen where Bartram would be without the injury late in 2006.

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/players/play...36&typeid=2 Refer to the above link and you can see Barty's clangers are 2.38 a game this year and god it was glaring on the weekend. A pretty big handball trend in his stats too. I agree with other posters. No kickouts for Bartram until we are on 3 wins. Then he can be one of our key point kickout players. I know Dean Bailey loves him but I just think he needs a VFL spell otherwise he will just become another Godfrey. I cannot really ever recall him been a great clearance player either, so he cannot really start in the centre square at the expense of a McLean or a Moloney. That is where you want the dees to get to; like the Cats; where midfield rotations really do not hurt the side. Eg. the mid combo of Selwood, Ablett, Bartel is just as a effective as Ling, Corey, Chapman. Dunn needs to be returned to the forward line. As another poster mentioned he is a good kick. No use forwards getting it and not kicking it through for a goal (Read Newton, Miller here)

Dunn is on thin ice too I reckon. Does not do enough and does not stay in the game and keep his possessions ticking over like other players. Move him forward for a whole game and if still battling to have impact back to the VFL.

I see where you are coming from but he is hardly a Jones at St Kilda a Ling or a Kane Cornes? I think the desperation Bell will show to avoid delisting is worth a chance at AFL Level.

I could not have said it better myself. These are my exact wants too. I would love one of our 4 wins to be over the bombers, just to show that our 2012 and beyond premiership credentials are better. My other desire is to have less injuries. But this is obviously difficult to control. It is so frustrating to see good young players like Rivers and Garland unable to keep developing and improving because of injury.

While I am a big wrap for Barty's courage on the field and obviously wish him all the best with what his family is going through his form this year has hardly been sensational. He beat Brent Harvey in round but really I think Brent Harvey was having a shocking year before he got injured really only dominated one game before his injury (I cannot remember who. Anyone?). Then at the weekend he spent a fair bit of time on Cooney, who is a match winner but is making his way back from injury and an interrupted pre season and I don't think Bartram blanketed him really at all. And when he has the ball he panics and his kicking is horrific. He coughed it up twice really badly on Saturday. He really needs to be put on Mitchell or Sewell this weekend and see what he can do as these players are matchwinners and in form. If he fails he needs to go back to the reserves. I personally think Daniel Bell should be brought in for this game and put on Mitchell or Sewell with a view to earmarking him for this defensive midfield role. (Sorry to steal another poster's view in another thread) He has obviously played well in the VFL at the weekend and I think he is a better option than Bartram at the moment. Bartram has never really got back to his 2006 form before he was injured. Have a look at the supercoach points from the weekend. Bartram is down the bottom of our team's individual point totals. There is no room for Bell down back anymore and I am fine with this. The dees core backline group of Garland, Warnock, Rivers, Martin, Frawley, Bennell, Whelan, Cheyney is exciting and needs to play together as much as possible. Bell when he was drafted was regarded as having a beautiful kick and I hope he can get back to this been a strength at AFL level. What do others think of Bartram's 2008 form? Is he in our best 22?

PEOPLE THAT CLASS THEMSELVES AS FAIR DINKUM SUPPORTERS OF THE SIDE THAT DO NOT ATTEND MELBOURNE HOME GAMES MAY AS WELL STEAL FROM THE CLUB

I cannot believe this thread; of course he should be playing. He is an unbelievable runner. Sure he is skinny but he runs to create an option much like Chance Bateman does for the Hawks. He was a number 4 draft pick and has probably been playing against bigger bodies for the last 3 years in the WAFL and in the Under 18 champs (where he won the Larke medal as best in the Div 1 carnival). When he actually steadies himself he is an ok kick. Half the side cannot kick (read Newton, Miller, Meesen even Bruce is a bit hit and miss these days. Bartram and Jones have decision making issues when they have the ball. I do not think Morton is a hard player, but he can tackle and he went back with the flight of the ball a couple of times yesterday and was unlucky to be called for a free kick against. We have Jones, McLean and Moloney to be the at the coal face midfielders who win it in close and get tackled all the time. Cale gives us something else. He will put on weight and I think with his height he will add some flexibility to the side if we need someone to play in a variety of positions. The fact he gets the ball so often demonstrates my point of his obvious worth. That is the hardest thing to teach. At 19 this experience is invaluable and he will learn the tricks of the AFL trade and what is required at this level by playing NOW.

BRUCE WELL HELD TODAY BUT THE TWO WEEKS BEFORE THAT WERE PRETTY GOOD. HIS KICKING IS A BIT TOUCH AND GO THESE DAYS BUT. i personally think he is our best leader and speaks very well and has obvious intelligence. THE ENTIRE TEAM LOOKED LIKE IT HAD BEEN CELERBRATING ALL WEEK AND WAS VERY FLAT TODAY. SYLVIA WAS A FAR CRY FROM HIS SECOND QUARTER FORM LAST WEEK But I like him played in the middle more. Adds some grunt. Put a crunching tackle on someone today which was nice.

AGREED LIKE DUNN AS A FORWARD HE HAS GOOD GOAL SENSE BATE PLAYED WELL IN THE LAST QUARTER OVER IN PORT ADELAIDE. GOD I WISH WE COULD SEE THAT LEVEL ALL THE TIME FROM HIM MILLER NEEDS TO GET HIS HEAD OFF THE FOOTY SHOW AND GET HIS HANDS ON THE BALL. AND OUT NEWTON, JETTA IN ROBERTSON, MARIC

Would love to have both Maric and Woena in our team right now. Both accurate kicks for goal, both young. Did Maric not play in the VFL today just in case someone pulled a hammy in the warm up. Did not see him listed in the stats? Woenamarri kicked 1 goal today and Robbo kicked 5.3 Lets just say...someone will be making way for Robbo against the CATS. ALSO HOW DOES THE GOLD COAST IMPACT THE 2009 NATIONAL DRAFT? DON'T THEY GET THE FIRST 4 PICKS? OR IS THAT 2010?

I remember when Robbo kicked all those behinds in that 2002 final against the crows. I remember Robbo been very hard on himself and going away and working really hard on his kicking. I think he made a clear improvement after that game. That is what Miller and Newton need to do. They are both not naturallly talented kicks but god we need them to work hard on this area. Would love to have seen the last 15 minutes of today's game with our score increased by 10points due to Newton kicking those goals. Maric is meant to be a good kick for goal why is he not in the team.. I think Jack Watts kicked 5 straight....behinds today in the VFL reserves. Robbo kicked 5.3 So lets hope that it was just the windy weather today and our forwards can improve in this are. Not worth getting the ball if you can't hit the scoreboard.

James Nankivel at the club is the person to contact if anyone is keen to join but the people who started the idea are David Jackson and Simon Martin who are just a couple of die hard Dees fans who are young professionals and wanted to contribute. All I will say is it was awesome. Essentially the Future fund (FF) is like one wealthy person or one big business which would normally sponsor a player outright on their/it's own. Most of the FF members are young people with a little bit of spare money in their early to mid 20s. A lot of APS (Scotch, Wesley, Brighton etc) school leavers in the FF membership. They have raised in excess of $20,000 with over 200 people involved now. Simon Martin was even featured on KBs hungry for sport recently getting free exposure for the club. Also an article in the paper about it too. So with all that money we have essentially spread that across 4 players. As a player sponsor you get invites to the best and fairest etc and other signed merchandise etc etc this was all pulled out of a hat on the night and many people won a night at the B and F or a signed Jack Grimes jumper. Unfortunately I did not. Chris Connolly gave a talk about how when he got to Freo in 2001 it was on it's ass and now it is one of the wealthy clubs and probably was a legitimate premiership contender in 2006. Also compared us to Hawthorn in 1996 when that was on it's ass and had 9,000 members and needed to merge with us to survive. There current on and off field success does not bear repeating. His message was one of Hope! Said there was some government money floating around for us for the Rectangular Stadium etc and this should flow soon. Aussie, Col and the Jacks all spoke. Jack Watts is a very impressive young man. Has an air of confidence about him and you just have a feeling that everything is going to be alright when you are around him. This reminded me of the good parts of Wayne Carey's on field persona. If I was a betting Man. I would say Jack will play for Brighton Grammar in the APS competition which is like a 10 game season and maybe play Casey when it suits and then push for AFL Selection in the last 8 rounds of the AFL season. Much like Grimes did late last year. Aussie seemed to be much more comfortable with Wheels, Flash, Jetta, Bennal (the Brothers) their with him and he spoke very well too. Col Garland and Jack Grimes appear to be absolute 10 year players and Grimes appeared to have a chip on his shoulder, wanting to show us what he can do this year. Great night. Very positive.

Rockliff looks like a Russell Robertson Replacement with an emphasis on good decision making rather than Robbo's leap. http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=zkJTUy88PA4 De boer could turn out to be a Daniel Cross or Rhys Palmer type given he has all that senior WAFL experience and he is an All Australian he could be ready to play right away..... I agree he cannot kick though. Looks like he can run all day too. http://diehardfooty.com/matthew-deboer-200...draftee-profile I still think the upside on CASEY SIBOSADO beats both these blokes who are pretty much playing as well as they can play. Casey is pretty RAW and given he boards at Xavier should be able to settle into Melbourne pretty easy. Also with the exception of Watts we really didn't take any talls at the National Draft. Imagine Watts and Sibosida up and about. It would be like Buddy and Roughy. I think Sylvia sort of plays Rockliffs roll. So my preference is CASEY SIBOSADO, DE BOER, Rockliff.