H_T

"Now the talk???" you say...as I 'said' before Xmas...here comes United. Talk started back then.

So, is character or "incredible sporting brain" a significant or major component of an elite player? Which helps identify between a champion player and an 'elite' (champion) player...? Does the elite include those within the Hall of Fame? Ie: - A little free-wheeling exercise I've undertaken, feel free to play critique..heres some players for discussion of which I have divided up, tell me which ones you disagree or agree with - if you want to that is.... ELITE STATUS (LEGEND) :: CHAMPION (otherwise known as very good footballer - but not elite) STATUS Nathan Buckley :: Garry Lyon Michael Voss :: Glen Archer Wayne Carey :: David Neitz James Hird :: Matthew Lloyd* Leigh Matthews :: Ben Cousins* Jason Dunstall :: Glen Jackovich Gary Ablett Snr :: Chris Mainwaring Tony Lockett :: Jim Stynes Ron Barrassi :: Gavin Brown Chris Judd* :: Chris Grant Robbie Flower :: Matthew Pavlich* *still playing Are these players or former players fairly divided into these categories?? Personally, I think the elite column is correct. There may one or two arguments however on the right hand column..

No, Casey.

Its beneficial, no doubt. Hopefully somehow the Dragons form translates to the dees form this season.

Luna Park. Kids will be happy about that. Free admission for members.

As they say in the classics, what a season 2008/09 is turning out to be. As I said before Christmas, here comes United.. Man U will take out the Premier League. They haven't yet hit their straps yet boys.

Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara? With regard to JP Duminy. An absolute cracker. Has star written all over him. This tour is definitely the coming of age for this bloke.

Yes. Good point. However I was enjoying the read on the debate about "elite" with respect to the mfc from all posters, until I came accross yours, now you've gone and ruined it for me Monty..... just kidding. Back on to the debate and I pose a question for posters, is Glen Archer an elite player or just a very good player over a period of time? I agree Robbie Flower is an elite player.

Indeed. I'm sure if our Demons were given a much more accomodating draw by the AFL, we would be a much more attractive proposition for a sponsor wanting to spend between $1 million and $1.5 million dollars a year for 3-4 years. CS is working very hard along with others, it will happen soon. Blaming CS is barking up the wrong tree IMO.

Now there's an idea Gippy Dee........perhaps you could send it into [email protected]

We also had no game plan and no cohesion under a new coach in Round 1 last season, up against a team on the charge towards the premiership. Fwiw, no AFL side would of beaten the Hawks on that day IMO. This year we'll have a new team take the field after another preseason with Bailey and a team committed to gaining back some respect with a positive showing for the supporters and members......and even prospective major sponsors, perhaps.

I was told by the membership department after asking about my family m'ship, that because I have 5 involved, that 5 counts towards the tally.. . Hope this helps.

Certainly. Every side can make the 8 in January, hell, even February and March given a little latitude! Does this mean Brad Green will be on the way down with respect to his form. I concur with the quote, it did go like that, at least words to the effect of...

Really pleased to read that he has knuckled down over the pre-season and feels stronger as well as slimmer. Also pleasing to read that many back in the Territory are jumping on board Melbourne in their support for Aussie and the club.

Great photo's, good report. Looking forward to the season proper commencing. Gee, the field looks nice and lush at Casey..

What group is that Schtacker, the Bantam Featherweight division (83Kg weight division) which includes Morton??

RR. Despite Lyon's injury setbacks late in his career and his broken leg in 1987,Rd 22. Lyon was a very,very classy player who booted 426 goals and played in numerous positions for the mfc. Named on the Half Forward Flank in Mfc Team of the Century. How elite does elite have to be RR? Where is the fine line between the 'elite' and very good wonderful players over a long period of time? Is it simply premiership medallions that help distinguish between the two? Or is it just your opinion?

So take some of your own advice and don't go there....

How good was that innings by David Warner at the "G" on Sunday night?? Awesome. What a debut 89 runs off 43 balls. Whilst its only a 20/20 international. It shows definite potential for a 50 over one day international debut.....soon.

I've just read this "Barassi" thread for the first time. Quite astonishing really. For the record, I'm pleased that Barassi did what he did. Most likely saved the woman from severe injury. End of story. May I add, I fail to see how on earth 'we all got sucked into this story' TheShaft...? Care to explain...

Correct. No use making an announcement when there is nothing to announce at present. P.S. Agree with Iva, that article did seem a re-hash from prior-christmas with Robbo's quotes. Now that the 20/20's are out of the way, tomorrow looks as though its a window of opportunity for an announcement...

Not that dissimilar to Lyon's last couple too.

Great work JJJ, thanks for the detailed update. Much appreciated. Buckley's report comes as some concern. Hopefully its not a prolonged OP. We need him on the ground IMO. With regard to Bruce & West. You can't teach an ol' dog new tricks. No pun intended. When you referred to Spencer's kicking as 'something else' I thought it meant 'out of this world' (as in good)......then I read a little further. Ward was called 'Sauce'. Some correlation perhaps. Bruce, Green or Macca might be behind this..

Yeah great....you can enter the coming tournament at Crown and go on a recruiting spree...

The player taking the field for Visy seconds is far from the quality level of skill of 'the player' who went home to Adelaide after 2004. That's it...enough said. Stop mentioning him.