Dappa Dan

Absolutely. The concern is not can they rebound (which they can, by the way)... it's can they change gear week to week depending on opposition, and quarter to quarter depending on what's suitable for the weather and oppositions' tactics. In other words, if the leadership is sound, they can direct the Frawleys and Garlands to adapt quickly. Hell, if they can change gear from play to play that would be the best. Frawley is pretty spectacular at this. You see him one-on-one and just hope he can make it a fifty/fifty and bring the ball to ground. He does so, you close your eyes and sigh... and by the time you've opened them he's ten metres off his man and delivering the ball 50 metres down the ground.

If you're asking generally... 4 more wins. Not sure who against, and not really bothered. But I reckon if we can get 8+1/2 or 9+1/2 with a big end to the season it'll gain us a lot of respect and have the pundits picking us as playing finals in 2011. Most importantly though, it'll make the fans VERY excited in the off-season, and lead to a big retention of members, and maybe even rope in a lot more. If we can match that with, conservatively, a 6-4 start or better that'll make a big difference to our bottom line. I can see it happening too... there's a LOT more improvement left in us. Oh, and one more thing. We play a number of games against teams that, for some odd reason, we've struggled against. Hawthorn, Port and North are 3 I'd like to see us solve some issues against, if not beat. Likewise, if we lose to Richmond or Brisbane (the latter by a large margin), it'll undo a lot of good work we've done this year already. So likewise, if we can just hold them at bay and not get humbled, it'll go a long way to giving me some confidence in our reliability.

The stories of Cam's demise are greatly exaggerated. I'm getting sick to death of posts claiming he's going to get a tap on the shoulder at the end of the year. (not this thread, by the way) It's garbage. He'll play next year and will play more often than he doesn't because he's a very important player in the side. As far as the comparison between the two goes... yes they're similar, but it's not like we're talking Warnock and Frawley here. They're similar in that they can play anywhere on the ground. The side can EASILY do with two players of this type... the genuine utilities. One won't squeeze out the other at all... and the cult of youth will not, in this case, claim another scalp prematurely.

Yes and no. They won't be as bad as they were at the G. It'd be about a 50/50 game I reckon. Impossible to pick. It may be our best opportunity for years to come. That club, with their resources, they won't be down for long... And even if they're mediocre over the next 3-5 years, they will still be a force at AAMI, as always. Maybe we should pray for Tigers-like rain? The funny thing is, I'm pretty sure he was actually AT that game.

Good thread. This is the only bit I disagreed with. Jolly is quality, though badly down on form. Fraser is a disgrace. I can't think of too many players less deserving of 10+ years in the system. IMO one of the worst #1 selections ever. On bigfooty someone started a thread saying they've never seen a guy play without heart as often, which I think is about right. I hope they play him and Leigh Brown for the rest of the year. I can't see them getting past a prelim with both those guys. He probably is in a couple of senses. The first being that there's a gaping gulf between our #1 ruck and our #2... whoever that is. Lose Jamar and there's no replacement. We have better players in the side, but in each case, an ok replacement is waiting in the wings. Grimes goes down? Cheney comes in. Frawley goes down? Rivers, Warnock and Garland are very capable and are already fit and firing. Then there's Tommy Mac. Moloney gets hurt, and there's a whole slew of youngsters who want a go in the guts. The other part is how much better he makes his midfield. I reckon Beamer would be much less of a player if he had PJ misdirecting his taps. Right now I'd consider McDonald, Grimes, Frawley, Green and Beamer as the difference between many wins and a few wins. But Jamar certainly is our most important... much like Rivers was about 3-4 years ago when he was our only good defender.

You've missed my point. That's true of everyone. The BEST kicks at goal going around wax and wane. They have a season of 60-65%+ or thereabouts... Then they follow it up with a season of just over 50% a couple of years later and in effect it all evens out. Lloyd is the only one I saw who was pretty much a metronome. And even his accuracy wasn't ridiculously high in comparison to his contemporaries. Which is exactly what I was saying about Green. This makes him the perfect example.

I actually agree with this. I'm all for people getting off his back... (for the record I think people giving him praise for today's game is what happens when a player is picked on unfairly for half a season), but I won't be saying he had a "good" game, or that he had enough great touches to keep his spot in the side. He wasn't appalling, but as someone on bigfooty wrote, if we had 3 Jack Watts in the forward line today, we'd have lost by a LOT. It's just a simple thing really, no reason to string him up and crucify him. It's just his output wasn't good enough at this level. Plenty of good reasons why... chief amongst them, he's a kid. No shame in it, but they really should think about dropping him. It's not a knock on the kid, just good selection ethics.

They do. Though a good/great percentage is 60%... Green over the journey I reckon would be only just below that. Just like some of the better kicks at goal (Neitz springs to mind) he'll kick 3.1 or 4.0 for a couple of weeks... then play a game or two where he misses EVERYTHING. It's not that they're wrong about him being a good kick... they're wrong in saying he's better than everyone else. He's at the top of the pile, but even the most accurate kicks have crappy days.

Well... it's a moot point as of today since we were the only ones who were looking at a PP at the start of the draft, but I don't think PPs are available this year or next. I keep hearing they've been removed, then I hear they haven't... It's hard to know what to believe, but I'm pretty sure the latest is that they're out.

Jeez I hope not. I really hate this Grimes for captain garbage. If you give the captaincy to a kid like that, when there's 6-10 mid-aged players who deserve it a lot more, and would be more appropriate, that's a massive slap in the face. I reckon Green, Moloney and Davey would be justifiably [censored] after their contributions to the club in an awful, awful period for MFC. If you chose one of those three, I'd be disappointed for the other 2, and in that sense it would make sense to have 2 or 3 co-captains. I just hate that option. Can't stand awarding it as a reward. It's a job that has a LOT of responsibility that comes with it. And for that reason (and not his 38 touches) I'd go with Moloney. Takes his job, the club, the games, leadership and footy in general VERY seriously.

Ooooh what the FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!!!!!!!! A DRAW?!!!! COME ON!!! What did we do to the football Gods to deserve this?

Beamer 38 touches, his PB to go with Jamar's.

Scores level... Not again...

The Russian and Beamer the best for us I reckon. But not by much.

PB for Jamar in disposals... 23 so far, his previous best was 19.

Dick kicks 4 again... What the hell?!!!!

Oh my Gaaawd. Dejavu. We're running hot 15 minutes into the last, a goal up. Remember what happened last time?

Maxwell gone for the day. Daisy in the rooms with a shoulder.

Yup. This MFC squad doesn't like Dick. :D

Yeah, I don't want to sound like an apologist, but with the exception of Bartram, our defenders will all make mistakes... No-one EVER mentions it when Bruce does well. EVER. Oops... I what I mean to say is that Bartram hasn't had mnay goals kicked on him. Frawley is kind of the same too. But with the role Bruce plays, and the sheer amount of ball he gets he WILL have 6 or so bad touches. The fans will dwell on them exclusively, and ignore the good touches because they don't support their lame argument.

Watch out for the "put Garland forward" crowd now. Disagree. I reckon he was among the only players to stand up in the 1st Q.

Oooh that Cloke mark hurts. 3 seconds left in the quarter. Lucky he missed. Make no mistake... we're getting smashed here. Scoreboard flattering us hugely.

Wow... I can't understand how we're only 11 points down? 6 inside fifties, 5 scores.

Getting smashed. 2 goals to the pies already in the first 3 minutes. This has a smell of Geelong about it. 4 times inside 50 to nil. 13 touches to 3. Oh dear.

Getting smashed. 2 goals to the pies already in the first 3 minutes. This has a smell of Geelong about it. 4 times inside 50 to nil. 13 touches to 3. Oh dear.