Vipercrunch

Very surprising INS. Hadn't heard about Valenti being promoted. Hmmmmm

I can't belive our leadership hasn't responded to this....

In: Jetta, MacNamara Out: Sylvia, Bate Jetta didn't play anywhere on the weekend and will miss another week if he doesn't play AFL with Casey having a bye. Jetta is in Wona's spot and should stay there until Wona is ready. MacNamara was really good on Saturday, and is more than a tall backman. Was very impressed with his work. Sylvia took the first half off on Sunday, so we may as well give him the week off this time. Needs to drastically improve his consistency. I am not sure of Bate's role anymore. Only seems to come into games after halftime once the sting is well and truly out of it.

So you can tell how much work he does in the gym, simply by the "definition in his arms". It's nothing to do with his physical make-up. It's all about putting in the work. Robbie Flower, Michael Tuck and Kevin Bartlett must have been lazy sods in that case.

Let's get over all the bad injuries now and have a clear crack at in 2-3 years time. Hopefully he doesn't have any long term issues with this and can be ready to push for senior selection for the pre-season games next year. No point stopping these guys being kids though. Accidents will always happen. I think it is good players can continue at school if they are drafted young.

Confirming the ABC coveregae here.

The only teams I can see us possibly beating this year are WCE, Freo and Brisbane in Melbourne and perhaps Richmond again. Without studying the fixture, I can only see us winning 3 at the most more games this year. The younger players that have played so far will soon run out of steam (Jetta and Bennell in particular), and the ones yet to play (Watts, Strauss etc) won't be game winners for a season or two at least. I hope to see continued improvement from our mid teir players, overall "competitiveness", good skills under pressure and gametime into as much of our list as we can. The fact we have made the 30,000+ members mark shows that supporters of the MFC know where we are and where we ae going, and that is good to see.

It's interesting to hear/read the differing opinions about Newton. What some people see as lack of effort, skill and work ethic, others (myself included) see as very low confidence. We know he can kick and yet he choked under the pressure he felt on Sunday. In many ways he reminds me of a young David Schwarz without the self confidence.

I can't believe anyone seriously thought Morton was running away from Lade. Very funny!! He was running to the next contest. He couldn't care less that Lade was there wanting to fight. His expression quite clearly showed me he was taking care of business (playing footy), not that he was scared. As for how he approaches contests, it seems he is more playing within his means. He doesn't possess a large, robust physique, so why attract heavy body contact? He will only damage himself more than the other player. The real test for him and all footballers is to show courage when it is really needed and I haven't seen him fail to do so.

I wasn't at the game, but if I was, I would have booed like so many others. Why the hell not? It a game of footy, not the opera. Oppisition players have been booed for far, far less than what he did.

Pretty much sums up my thoughts on Newton also. Hopeful that he can make the most of his obvious talents. If he does, MFC will be the better for it. Big, key forwards that can jump, kick and mark like he can will get more chances than they may deserve because of the upside. I think/hope that once his confidence improves, his work ethic will also imrpove.

Even with the strong personal connection to Melbourne with Connolly/Schwab, there is really no benefit for Pav or us. If he was to leave Freo, then an Adelaide team would be a likely destination. What is certain though is that somewhere along the line he will be linked with Collingwood and will be sighted having coffee with Malthouse and Eddie somewhere on Chapel St.

I know of several whose main gripe is the proplonged lack of success. One bloke who loved his sport and footy was always extremely pessimistic about the MFC. I would always give him a hard time because he would buy membership of other clubs that had better chances to reach the Grand Final so he could go (Brisbane was his choice for several years). For him and many like him, the only "cure" is success and if they are old enough to remember the 50's and 60's it may very well have to be prolonged success.

Man, I just had flashbacks to my primary school days. "I'm better than you coz I'm 6 and your only 5!!" I think the title of this thread is perfect.

Does anyone else find it interesting that so many of the posts in this thread have called Fremantle "basket-case", "train wreck" etc etc? Supporters of many other AFL teams quite often use those sort of terms to describe the MFC. People in glass houses....

Does anyone know if our number includes the automatic renewels that are sent out by the club? Is the figure paid up members only, or does it include all the renewals they hope will turn into paid up members? I received memebership cards for myself and two kids months ago, but only got around to filling them out and returning them today. Will the membership go up by 3 or are just 3 of the already counted members just been confirmed?

lol Poor YM would be at the cross-roads then.

I say bring him in so we can all see him play It does make sense that his debut will be planned ahead of time so his family/friends can be there. His level of "readiness" is also interesting. Jetta and Bennell don't seem ready physically but are doing fine. Whenever it is though it will be very exciting, and will be another step in an very unique story.

YM's new sig caught my eye. There are some interesting, albeit optimistic comparisons there. My possible changes would be to add Ricky Pettard as the James Hird comparison, and make Cale Morton compare to one of Nigel Lappin or Nicky Winmar. Finding a suitable comparison for Robert Harvey would also be fitting.

I really think it is a non-issue. I hope we play everygame with an eye to win, but I truly see 4 wins is the best we can hope for. From the form we've seen so far, the only two teams I think we are capable of beating are Fremantle (in Melbourne) and Richmond. We may get other wins on a day when we play at our best and the other teams plays poorly (maybe against WCE and Essendon). For whats its worth though, I don't like the idea of losing specifically to gain draft picks, but do see the sense in doing whatever is required to secure the future. If a player needs surgery, give it to him so he can be ready to start the next pre-season. If young players needs AFL gametime to continue their development, let them have it, even if they haven't completely earned their spot. I know it is a very fine line, but I like to see early draft picks as a bonus rather than an objective.

The gameplan isn't meant to be suited to our inexperienced list. It is meant to suit our list in 3-5 years time when they are no longer skinny, inexperienced kids. The gameplan has to be judged assuming it is being carried out by seasoned AFL footballers. Time will only tell if it is a Top 4 gameplan. Remember the critisism hurled at Clarkson for his gameplans.

I would hope Brock makes himself the obvious choice to replace Macca in 2010 or 2011. If his body, form and off-field behaviour is at the level most of us hope it can be, then I can't see anyone else being close.

I think he would be good for 40-50. I have seen enough talent in him to average 2 goals a game given the quality and quantity of Geelongs inside 50's. I haven't given up on him yet.

My thoughts exactly Sleeve with the exception that Newton may not be the only option. The reports from Casey have said that Martin was used up forward. Perhaps he is the better option at the moment. I think Bate and Miller are best playing the role Sleeve has described and we need only one key forward (Newton, Sylvia or my prefered option, Martin) leading from the square with the smalls (Pettard is a must here) running towards the contest from half forward.

Interesting observations PP. My observation of the two has been a little bit different. The Age had several long periods over the off-season (and I mean several, week+ periods) where no mention was made at all of Melbourne. There was a steady stream of articles about other clubs, but nothing about Melbourne. The HUN on the other hand seemed to keep a good amount of articles coming through. The conclusion I was getting was the the HUN was helping us out more than The Age. They were just my observations. As far as the sponsorship coverage and the Sylvia covergae goes, I think Caro got the scoop due to good luck or good journalism. The HUN went hard with Sylvia because it likes the sensational stories. Personally I think Syvia is a bit of a disgrace and deserved the negative coverage due to his priors and the clubs situation.