BennytheJet

Hoopla spot on assessment re: mclean. Ill throw my two cents worth in - mclean is one paced, has poor skills, looks unfit, has average decision making, and lacks intensity (or the physical attributes to produce intensity). I thought he was ATROCIOUS against collingwood, and has been thereabouts for most of the year. He looks like he's running backward half the time, he is so painfully slow.. At this stage Id have jones and moloney before him, on the basis that we could only have 2 of "those" type of midfielders in our best side down the track.

Demonsg, You are an idiot. Syliva is EXACTLY the type of player we need in the midfield, and is finally starting to play like we know he can. Were you even watching against coll?? If it werent for him we would have been belted by 15 goals. 30 plus touches mostly effective, 3 goals and half a dozen contested marks. Ditto game against hawthorn Moron.

Mate, HE is 99% sure that he's playing.

I can confirm that Jack Watts is "99% sure" that he's playing on QB. Without giving too much away, theres one minor issue that it is contingent upon but Im advised that it shouldnt be a problem.

Ridiculous - 8 tackles from Sylvia = well and truly deserving of spot. Also, his 15 touches were far better than anyone elses on the field. Although itd be nice, he doesnt need 25 - 30 touches to be damaging. Dropping the only player on our list (aside from davey) who is damaging by foot when we are in dire need of foot skills??

Definite outs - Bate, Dunn. ins - any two of grimes, newton, bell, t-mac. Bate needs a spell. Robbo showed today that you can still be effective as a forward in our current side. On principle alone Bate simply shouldnt be able to survive 6 sub standard (some of which were VERY sub standard) afl games. Dunn is an egg. There's just no upside, and Im tired of being optimistic.. Maric - was appalling yesterday but cant be dropping kids for one bad game, we are not in a position to be doing that (unlike a top 4 side). Not good for their confidence. Bruce and Junior are on the cusp. Even when bruce plays 'well', he's just no good anymore. I cringe whenever I see his name in the best for 25 - 30 INEFFECTIVE disposals. Junior tries hard, you can't question that. But its time to step aside for the rebuild. I've got no problems with seeing him in the 22 each week to at the very least show the kids how to approach afl footy, but has to be his last year.

Call me crazy but I thought he was good yesterday as well. Me and doggo were quite pleased with the way he started the game, admittedly probably tapered off a bit but it was a far cry from his performance the week before. No problems with Johnson at this stage.

Its interesting to hear how so many people couldnt stand to watch the game on sunday. I agree the skills and execution from both sides were below par, but I was more than satisfied with our endeavour and attack on the footy - in fact was quite pleased. So was the ol' man. At least they're having a dip and putting their heads over the ball when its their time to go (sans morton). The skill level and game plan will improve in the coming years for various reasons, not least of which strauss, blease, watts etc. For now, so long as theyre competitive and have a crack, I enjoy watching them.

Hahahaha, now THAT I did enjoy... well done choko

Dangerous Demon, whilst Im not in the habit of forum bashing, you impress no one with your attempts at articulacy. Either you're taking the p*ss with your misplaced attempt at academic discourse above (which you very may well be and if so kudos, very funny)or you were serious - and if you were actually intending that to be a serious post on an afl supporters forum - you idiot.. I enjoy reading the posts on demonland because im a melbourne supporter and it gives some good, down to earth, no frills discussion on the team we love. What I DONT come to this forum to do is read tripe like yours - and it irked me to the point where I had to post on it, and I rarely post... I was having an enjoyable morning until I had the displeasure of reading your post, and its put me in a real surly mood to be honest. Please refrain from future amateurish attempts at psychoanalaysis and journal entries - this is footy not acadamia And back to the footy - good thread. yes morton needs needs to work on his kicking and attack on the footy, however I dont know if the magoos will be a better environment for him to do this. You generally find that footy gets more contested as the skill level drops (disposal not as clean, not as fast, not as much space etc) - whether this will be good for his development?.. tough question. Most of it will be in his head - watch the tapes and see where his attack on footy was not good enough then set him a challenge ie get 5 contested possessions next game/lay 5 effective tackles etc etc. At the moment hes best 22.

And on the 03 draft: Round Pick Player Recruited from Club Priority 1 Adam Cooney West Adelaide Football Club Western Bulldogs Priority 2 Andrew Walker Bendigo U18 Carlton Priority 3 Colin Sylvia Bendigo U18 Melbourne 1 4 Farren Ray Peel Thunder Football Club Western Bulldogs 1 5 Brock McLean Calder Cannons Melbourne 1 6 Kepler Bradley West Perth Football Club Essendon 1 7 Kane Tenace Murray Bushrangers Geelong 1 8 Raphael Clarke St. Mary's Football Club St. Kilda 1 9 David Trotter Calder Cannons Kangaroos 1 10 Ryley Dunn Murray Bushrangers Fremantle 1 11 Beau Waters West Adelaide Football Club West Coast Eagles 1 12 Ryan Murphy Gippsland U18 Fremantle 1 13 Brent Stanton Northern U18 Essendon 1 14 Fergus Watts Sandringham U18s Adelaide Crows 1 15 Troy Chaplin North Ballarat U18s Port Adelaide 1 16 Josh Willoughby Glenelg Football Club Sydney Swans 1 17 Billy Morrison Tasmania U18s Collingwood 1 18 Llane Spaanderman East Perth Football Club Brisbane Lions 2 19 David Mundy Murray Bushrangers Fremantle 2 20 Sam Butler Central District Bulldogs West Coast Eagles 2 21 Alex Gilmour Tasmania U18s Richmond 2 22 Cameron Thurley Tasmanian Devils Football Club Geelong 2 23 Matthew Moody South Fremantle Football Club Brisbane Lions 2 24 Chad Jones Claremont Football Club Kangaroos 2 25 Harry Miller Port Adelaide (SANFL) Hawthorn 2 26 Daniel McConnell Eastern U18 West Coast Eagles 2 27 Adam Campbell North Ballarat U18s Fremantle 2 28 Jay Nash Central District Bulldogs Essendon 2 29 Tim Schmidt West Adelaide Football Club Sydney Swans 2 30 Brad Symes Central District Bulldogs Port Adelaide 2 31 Joshua Krueger Glenelg Football Club Adelaide Crows 2 (f/s) 32 Brayden Shaw Northern U18s Colingwood 2 33 Jed Adcock North Ballarat U18s Brisbane Lions 3 34 Luke Peel Sandringham U18s Port Adelaide 3 35 Brent Hall South Fremantle Football Club Collingwood 3 (f/s) 36 Chris A. Johnson East Fremantle Football Club Melbourne 3 (f/s) 37 Thomas Roach Oakleigh Football Club Richmond 3 (f/s) 38 Mark Blake Geelong U18s Geelong 3 39 Robert Foster-Knight Essendon Port Adelaide 3 40 Eddie Sansbury Central District Bulldogs Kangaroos 3 41 Zac Dawson Calder Cannons Hawthorn 3 42 Matthew Spencer Swan Districts Football Club Geelong 3 (f/s) 43 Brett Peake East Fremantle Football Club Fremantle 3 44 Ricky Dyson Northern U18 Essendon 3 45 Amon Buchanan Sydney Swans Sydney Swans 3 46 Michael Pettigrew West Perth Football Club Port Adelaide 3 47 Andrew Eriksen Sandringham Zebras Sydney Swans 3 (f/s) 48 Heath Shaw Northern U18 Collingwood 3 49 Tom Logan Waratahs AFC Brisbane Lions 4 50 Izaac Thomson Woodville-West Torrens Eagles Western Bulldogs 4 51 Matthew Ball Box Hill Hawks Hawthorn 4 52 Pass Melbourne 4 53 Daniel Jackson Oakleigh Football Club Richmond 4 54 Pass Geelong 4 55 Sam Fisher West Adelaide Football Club St. Kilda 4 56 Brent LeCras West Perth Football Club Kangaroos 4 57 Ricky Mott Fremantle Rookies Carlton 4 58 Ben Hudson Werribee Football Club Adelaide Crows 4 59 Matthew Davis North Adelaide Football Club Sydney Swans 4 60 Julian Rowe Oakleigh Football Club Collingwood 4 61 Michael Rischitelli Western U18 Brisbane Lions 5 62 Pass Western Bulldogs 5 63 Glen Bowyer Hawthorn Carlton 5 64 Shane Morrison Brisbane Lions Richmond 5 65 Craig Callaghan St. Kilda St. Kilda 5 66 Pass Kangaroos 5 67 Pass Adelaide Crows 5 68 Pass Brisbane Lions 6 69 Jordan Bannister Essendon Carlton 6 70 Brent Hartigan Calder Cannons Richmond 6 71 Pass St. Kilda 7 72 Adrian Deluca Port Melbourne Football Club Carlton 7 73 Shane Tuck West Adelaide Football Club Richmond 7 74 Pass St. Kilda 8 75 Stephen Kenna Box Hill Hawks Carlton 8 76 Andrew Raines Southport Sharks Richmond 8 77 Pass St. Kilda 9 78 Pass Carlton 9 79 Simon Fletcher Carlton Richmond 10 80 Pass Carlton 10 81 Kyle Archibald NSW-ACT U18 Richmond 11 82 Pass Richmond 12 83 Pass Richmond Who of the above, in hindsight, would you rather have chosen with pick 3?? MAYBE waters (although just a back flanker) stanton and adcock probably (although if they were pick 3's their supporters would probably still feel hard done by at this point), mundy MAYBE. Sam Fisher was an inspired choice at 55, as was Tuck at 73.

Schtacker: I agree with your post. The facts are, sylvia is among the best players on our list period. Im sure some of the col bashers wont admit it, but the reason why he attracts the ire of melbourne supporters more than the bells, bartrams etc is because he IS so damn talented and we all dream of the player he COULD become. The bells and bartrams will never reach the level of stardom that the melbourne footy club has been yearning for, and that sylvia has the potential to. I know its been done to the death, but OP is seriously a debilitating injury. Ive had it myself and it ruined 3-4 years of my football - your mind is telling your body to go 100% and get to the contest, but in reality you look to others that are watching as if you're running backwards. Then once you get the pill, you've got ZERO power in your core to accellerate etc. Your decision making then goes out the window, and your confidence. Im not trying to be sanctimonious, but ive got no doubt thats what sylvia's been experiencing the past 4 -5 years. Even once you get rid of it, OP still lingers and causes ancillary problems - hips, abdominals etc. You can get forget about becoming a midfielder with it - this coupled with his marking strength and our complete dearth of forwards have resulted in him playing the medium forward role, and everyone seems to despite col for it simply because we all think he should be an elite midfielder, and that its a cop out for him to play that nomadic forward/utility role. His got all the tools - skills, size, speed, marking, aggression and arrogance (YES arrogance, look at the akermanis', the voss', the richos') if he stays injury free and puts it all together, he could become the genuine superstar we all hoped. If he doesnt, he'll still be a very handy player. This talk of him being 'just' a player - rubbish. Just lay off him and hope that he stays healthy and puts it all together.

Just on the footy game boys, im gunna do a bit of a shameless plug here and see if anyone was interested in actually playing this year (if they dont already). I play for a club in the sfl (moorabin/bayside area) who are looking for new faces, seniors and reserves. Would love to welcome anyone down who was interested in having a kick. PM me if you'd like to know more, id be happy to have a chat. Benny

Apologies 45hotgod, i left it behind with the other gear. And dont worry, size aside i couldnt fight my way out of a paper bag! Im sure you'd have me on toast in physical combat

Im not a regular poster, but im a melb member and will play if u still need players. If it helps i currently play division 1 senior footy in the guts. Let me know, cheers.

Hi all, this is my first post, ive been over in london for work this year. A melb supporter all my life and when im "lucky" enough to be sent a dvd of a game here and there, i must say its a painful experience.. Now please dont crucify me if im way out of left field here as i dont intimately know how the players are going individually this year, but this talk of getting rid of youngsters at seasons end is surely irrational.. Anyone under 24 surely deserves a reprieve - i dont think anyone appreciates how difficult it is for a youngster playing in a team thats getting belted each week, has lost their spiritual leader to retirement, and is copping it constantly week in week out in the media. Blokes like sylvia and bell, whilst i hear arent doing too well, at least appear to be putting in 100% on the field. Thats the ONLY thing they should be judged on at seasons end. Skills and decision making will improve when confidence, morale and the calibre of experienced players in the side improve. (Also i spoke to someone in the know who says that sylvia, whilst a but of a [censored] off the field, has been busting his gut to get his body right but has lost a lot of his power due to that dreaded op.) Even yougsters at carlton and essendon have blokes like judd, stevens, lloyd, lucas to help and guide them. Who have our youngsters got??? White? Robbo? And frawley a wasted pick?? get real - which key defender has ever shown in their first 2 or 3 years (rivers aside). bock, rutten, scarlett, glass - they ALL take time. It sends a bad msg making an example of young players. Get rid of the bruces, whites, robertsons etc. who are not gunna be part of the future. Once theyre gone, blokes like mclean, jones, sylvia, and bell etc. are going to have to step up and be the new batch of leaders. Challenge them at seasons end to start a new era at the MFC, and reassess end of 2009. Well thats my two cents worth anyway. Again, i caveat this post with the fact that im halfway across the road so please let me know if im off the ball. Cheers, Benny