angryfijian

Hawthorn and Carlton have re-established themselves as strong clubs by getting recent legends of the club with high profiles to return and help out at the Board and Coaching level e.g Dermie and Dunstall at the Hawks and Williams, Sticks and Ratten at the Blues. So far we only have Jimmy as the sole spokesman of the MFC revival - why aren't Lyon, Viney and the OX making a united Coalition at the MFC - actions speak louder then words gentleman. Especially considering you were all too happy too take money under the table which led to us losing draft picks. Time to give something meaningful back to the club that gave you the opportunity to become what you are today.

Dangerous Demon congratulations on your thread - although a little bit over cooked - I like your insight on what you see as Isaac's considerable barriers and solution to get the optimum out of him. As opposed to calling for him to be delisted - as anyone can say. In similar vain - Geelong showed potential for a long time - they started to be great team after each player did an honest (not sugar coated one little bit) appraisal of their colleagues and Coach. Players like Ablett and Mooney got a reality check and saw it as a chance for self improvement and win the respect of their team mates instead of cruising. Others like S Johnson (who reminds me a lot of Sylvia and Newton in terms of IQ), still didn't understand what it all meant. So after another off field incident. He was treated like the child he was, and given a punitive punishment that would hurt him the most. He was subsequently banished (by the leadership group) from training with the seniors for a long time to modify his attitude and behaviour. The results from GFC speak for themselves - maybe its time for similar hometruths at MFC - from President down.

We just need to stop bombing the ball long and start playing smart patient football - we are getting plenty of the contested ball. Dees need to lift in the last QTR especially for Bartram.

Dean Bailey needs to get Dunn into the forward line and get some crummers into the forward line.

ABC has some Woman commentating - very irritating :angry:

Fantastic win considering we were 1 man down from half way through the first quarter. Go dees

Dees shouldn't lose from here. But Green is at Epworth hospital with facial injury (could be a broken jaw) and or serious concussion.

Less skillful teams really struggle with this method of keepings off. But once you can master it - you can dictate the game, control the tempo and make play through counter attack. I have seen this tactic work really well at at the elite level in Soccer. But this is not Soccer

Pure Gold

I totally agree about Cam the Bruce. When he first started playing seniors - we all thought of him as a highly skilled kick. I was at that Carlton game and he seemed like an elite player. But somehow over the recent years he has become a Butcher of the ball - hospital handballs and wayward kicking - including at goals in important moments. On the other hand Green has gone from a skilled soft Footballer to become a skilled and courageous footballer. Go figure.

The great Lethal Mathews believes a Footballer who is going to make it will start delivering consistent football after playing 50 senior games. This gives me a lot of hope for our new recruits, in particular Morton - who has shown glimses of brilliance and so have his brothers - hopefully he doesn't turn out like the Houlihans, or the lesser brothers MFC has recruited in the past - Ottens, Gasper, Cockatoo-Collins and Jackovich (although he was brilliant prior to injury).

The resurrection begins. Also nice to see Grimes is playing in the seniors. Hopefully Robbo won't get too upset by some jibes from the opposition supporters :-)

Double dare DB to play 3 tall forwards (Newton, Miller and Martin) who can either take contested marks or create a contest, play Frawley as a mid sized tyro and two skillful crumbers Bennel and Jetta.

Thats what I am getting at - there seems to be a black mark against Rivers in regards to a leadership role even prior to him getting injured - is he like the Ox - a leader on the field - troubled off it?

A lot of leadership can be displayed off the field - as Beamer has proven. I feel the way he has handled himslef through his setbacks - including being traded to MFC - have defined him as a role model - he has always tried to remain positive and explored methods to help develop the younger players and the MFC club in general. But I still feel on the field Rivers just seems to be the spiritual leader of the MFC. Don't forget MFC's rise up the ladder coincided with his recruitment and his outstanding display in our much maligned backline. From his early days he was a General.

Every time I watch Rivers play - he oozes class and leadership on the field. He puts his body on the line time and time again. He is not scared of sticking up for his mates physically nor is he scared of giving teamates advice. Is he a total different personality off the field? It is a given that he has missed a lot of games through injury - as an established player he is currently MFC most valuable player. Barring injuries - he will win the Bluey this year.

Cheney is looking forward to playing with his red nut blood brother - Blease. It will be a magical day when all the Indigenous boys play for MFC alongside Watts, Grimes, Morton, Blease, Strauss, Rivers and Mclean.

A voice of reason. Thank you for your message.

Jimmy just keeps on impressing me. His response to this terrible event shows true class - MFC is in good hands. Bravo. It must be so hard for parents of AFL players to attend matches and listen to their sons being abused by supporters of the club and opposition alike. Maybe MFC can be proactive in this matter by providing seats in a MFC area e.g where injured players sit.

You are spot on. In terms of where our list is at the moment (age and experience) we are at our infacy. In our first two games last year we lost by almost 200 points. Hopefully someone can name all the players who played in those two games and have either left the club or are currently injured. Since Bailey took over, we haven't blooded any of our recent top picks apart from Morton. Remember Watts, Strauss, Blease, Grimes, Maric and Jurrah haven't even played this year. Bailey is giving Jetta and Bennel a taste of the big time because these boys have obviously shown something in the preseason. This will make them better players for the future - remember the hammering the Hawks took when Clarkson revamped the list - but he stuck fat by playing the young kids - regardless of whether the team won or lost - Clarkson was able to see first hand which players were going to make it or not - and had full confidence in the knowledge that influential board members like Dunstall and Bereton were going to support his decisions. Infact I think these guys even helped out with special skills training. Its time for the Ox and Lyon to help the younger players by being more involved around the club. I get the feeling big Jim understands what Bailey is trying to achieve and will allow this list to develop while senior players are shown the door in future years. Having said that - Bailey needs to ensure that young players are made to earn their spot on the list. For far too long MFC has had too many passengers on their list - last year was the first year in our five year plan - have a look at where Richmond are compared to us - we seem to be heading down the right path by following the Hawthorn and Geelong model. So stick fat with your club and don't expect many wins - look for improvements e.g our contested marks this week...as a small measure of where we will be as a club in another 4 years.

nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Going through High School in the 90's I hated arrogant Essendon supporters (is there any other kind). I wish all Essendon supporters suffer the same pain :angry: MFC supporters have gone through since our last Premiership.

Home of Melbourne Football Club.

I concurr.