w00dy

they showed some footage of him on "on the couch" tonight... looked pretty exciting... showed him laying a chase down tackle, and following up his ruckwork with the ball on the deck, as others have spoken about...

on an article on the MFC site too... don't stress 45hotgod... McNamee couldn't believe they weren't attending, and has rectified the situation...

i'd see him a little similar to Brett Ebert from Port, but think he could play the position well... total rejig of the forward line could be refreshing...

6. C. Sylvia 5. P. Wheatley 4. P. Johnson 3. N. Jones 2. J. McDonald 1. A. Yze

surely Zomer needs to earn promotion from the Sandy 2's before he gets a run for Melbourne..? i guess this means Valenti will be able to keep his spot on the list...

i think this relates to the Rectangular Stadium... that it isn't a done deal yet... this really does concern me... i trust PMac to do everything he can in the best interests of the club, but it is a worry that the rectangular stadium isn't locked in 100%...

yeah, not sure... my answers were: Current MFC Member *some strange question about whether i'm a supporter* Concession Membership Postcode Complete thought it could've been a browser issue... i doubt it but it is possible... i was using firefox

my survey was only like 4 questions long... i assume it was because I am a concession member... once i answered this question it said thankyou for completing the survey, which i thought was quite strange...

Stephen Quartermain - Hawthorn

calm down... for starters the likelyhood of one of these players coming off isn't that great... secondly, we do have one of these NSW players... can't remember his name or anything... it looks like collingwood have scrapped the last one they signed and have gone for some new ones...

I've been a Paul Gardner supporter, but I think it's the right time to go. I think that he's done a good job. As people have said, he's reduced the club's debt, whilst increasing football department expenditure. If we weren't injury riddled last season and made the finals like we were capable of, I would imagine the Melbourne Footall Club wouldn't be the focus of all the media attention claiming we're in trouble, and it would be smooth sailing. He's also helped us find a new home at the Olympic Park precinct. But I think Paul has taken us as far as he can, and a new board led by Jim Stynes is the way forward. Jim will be fresh into the job, he will be highly enthusiastic and motivated to do well. It's not Paul Gardner's fault, but after you've been in the job for a long time, your enthusiasm can wane, especially as he's a very busy working man on top of being Melbourne president. It's not his fault, it's just human nature. Paul has said before he's a somewhat reluctant president and that he would be open to change. I really hope he meant it and after presiding over the 150 heroes dinner, he hands over the reigns to one Jim Stynes. A man who will galvanise the club, and take MELBOURNEfc into the future.

firstly how else do you judge on what players you bring into the side? Yze and Chris Johnson have been in the best sandringham players consistantly for the last month... we know he gets his own ball, but he didn't do that for Melbourne... maybe it's because he wasn't getting enough time in the guts and it's not his fault, but when it comes down to it, there wasn't room in the side for him to play as that inside player... he was getting a lot of his posessions as an outside player... something which players like Johnson, Dunn and Yze are better at than Valenti... i agree on bell especially with Wheatley coming back in and the good form of our other backs... bartram is playing as a tagger, so this justifies his selection... has been solid the last 3 weeks or so... valenti couldn't tag i wouldn't think... don't get me wrong, I'm a big Valenti fan... and was pleased to see he had the poise and composure at AFL level... he will learn to find the ball before too long, and he will get another chance... be patient, this will spur him on to go back to Sandy and work even harder...

that's because everyone was going to trade for him this week in their dream teams and supercoach sides... i wish he played one more game then got dropped so they all picked him up then had him sitting on the bench doing nothing... i agree that him getting dropped was probably warranted... there are other people doing more to demand a spot, and Bailey has said that he will pick the best side available, regardless of age etc. he will get his chance

well maybe next week

interesting, Ben Holland has been dropped, named emergency with Bode and C. Johnson... this suggests that Dunn will play forward... final side... Melbourne Team Backs: M.Warnock, C.Garland, D.Bell Half backs: J. Frawley, P.Wheatley, C.Bruce Centreline: C.Bartram, B.McLean, M.Bate Half forwards: B.Green, R.Robertson, B.Moloney Forwards: S.Buckley, B.Miller, A.Wonaeamirri Followers: J.Whie, J.McDonald, N.Jones Interchange: L.Dunn, C.Sylvia, , P Johnson, A.Yze Emergencies: J.Bode, C.Johnson, Holland Team Changes In: Yze, White, Sylvia, Wheatley, Dunn Out: Holland, Davey Valenti, Jamar, Morton

I should clarify... I do mean in his career thus far...

An Yze Magic type comment I know, but I'm backing him in this week. This is of course contingent on him getting selected in the 22, which I hope and believe that he will be. I think it will also be dependant on us being competitive with the Saints for the majority of the game, like we were against the Hawks, not like we were against the Crows. The biggest concern I've had for him in the past has been his ability to find the footy, as his skills have always been quite good. In his last game for Melbourne in round 4 against North Melbourne, he had 19 posessions. His skills were poor that day, but we know that he's better than that, what really pleased me was that he managed to get his hands on the footy. He's dominated for Sandy the last two weeks. I think our new game plan, which is finally coming together really suits the way he plays. His run and skill on the half back line will complement the way we move the ball out of the back line.

he is a bit of a muppet isn't he? surely he won't follow in Andy D's footsteps and become the next CEO... *shudders*

poor form from nine... sam isn't on there to patronise people, he's there to speak his mind and try to be funny... he's certainly offended people before, i don't see why this should be any different... just because he was wrong, doesn't mean you take him off the air... and it wouldn't surprise me if this is stumps for Sam... won't appreciate being dumped like this all too much...

ST KILDA B: Jason Blake, Max Hudghton, Sean Dempster HB: Jason Gram, Sam Fisher, Brendon Goddard C: Nick Dal Santo, Luke Ball, Leigh Montagna HF: Adam Schneider, Nick Riewoldt, Clint Jones F: Shane Birss, Justin Koschitzke, Stephen Milne Foll: Steven King, Lenny Hayes, Robert Harvey Int (from): Michael Gardiner, Jarryn Geary, Ben McEvoy, Andrew McQualter, Matthew Ferguson, David Armitage, James Gwilt In: McQualter, Ferguson, Armitage, Gwilt, McEvoy Out: Aaron Fiora, Leigh Fisher New: Ben McEvoy (Murray Bushrangers)

also some notable non-inclusions in Matty Whelan and Jared Rivers...

plenty of changes... paul williams said that the form of dunn, CJ and Yze had been good for Sandy... I'd like to see the interchange read: P. Johnson, C. Sylvia, P. Wheatley, C. Johnson Yze to come in if Robbo doesn't come up from his corkie unfortunate to see Valenti miss out on the squad, but gives him a chance to go back to the VFL and get some touches again... should be given another chance, especially ahead of bode...

here's the team... B: Matthew Warnock, Colin Garland, Daniel Bell HB: James Frawley, Ben Holland, Cameron Bruce C: Clint Bartram, Brock McLean, Matthew Bate HF: Brad Green, Russell Robertson, Brent Moloney F: Simon Buckley, Brad Miller, Austin Wonaeamirri Foll: Jeff White, James McDonald, Nathan Jones I/C (from): Jace Bode, Lynden Dunn, Chris Johnson,Colin Sylvia, Paul Wheatley, Paul Johnson, Adem Yze In: Bode, Dunn, Johnson, Sylvia, Wheatley, White, Yze Out: Aaron Davey (hamstring), Cale Morton (flu), Shane Valenti, Mark Jamar

good to hear meesen had a good game in the ruck... while hackland is nothing special, he's still played plenty of games at AFL level, so good to hear Meese has beaten him... also good news about CJ and Sylvia... could Col come in for robbo if injured and play forward next to Dutchy? Brett Ebert style forward? he as the speed and the hands...

he's bought his ticket, is on the train, but the train hasn't arrived just yet... I think the simpilest way to answer this is how i think the posession statistics (especially the uncontested posession) can be misleading, as we overused the ball a lot early in the season before getting tackled and giving away a free kick... for him to be elite he needs to impact games like he did on the weekend, on a regular basis... still goes missing a little too often for mine...