Lord Travis

Not until we get more talent into the midfield. We need players who work hard and can be damaging both ways. At present we have few players who can do this. We have a few players who can attack but can't defend (eg Sylvia), and a few who can defend but can't attack (eg Mckenzie). We need good all-round midfielders who work hard and have the skills to do what is necessary. We could have Buddy Franklin and Jack Reiwoldt up forward at present and still lose every week. The game is won and lost in the midfield and until our midfield is good enough and firing, everything else is irrelevant.

Brilliant post Colin B. F., and pretty much sums up exactly what I think. Daniher was a good coach, but had been at the club a long time and it was time for a change with another rebuild. As someone who was born in the 80s and can only really remember footy from the 90s onwards, Daniher is the best coach we've had in that time. He delivered us the most success, even if it wasn't a premiership, and got the most out of the list and resources he had to work with. I loved the Danhier years, and I miss going to the footy thinking we would win. Since he departed the club it has been torture going to watch our boys play. It's embarrassing, and has been for 6-7 years now, yet we're still down the bottom and rebuilding. God help us if we don't improve this year and it gets to 8 years without finals. I never thought we'd be in the situation where we became a joke like a Richmond or Fitzroy, but it's happening Miss Daniher!

Was subbed on in 4th quarter for Hogan. Played more in the ruck than up forward and was pretty useless. Basically just tried to scrag the Port rucks and provide some form of contest, but was ineffective. He's yet to show anything yet and shouldn't be in the team Round 1 IMO.

They have. Magner, Sellar, Couch and Davey going alright thus far. The commentators are only concerned with Port Adelaide though. The only time they name a Melbourne player or even mention the team is when we score a goal. Otherwise they're just talking about their local team in Port.

Sh*t result. He had a good preseason, looked prime up until the injury too. He definitely looked worried when he pulled his leg out quickly from under himself after he was tackled. Commentators noted it as well. It's best to take a cautious approach considering his history. Let's just hope it doesn't hamper him long term and it's not another never-ending dreaded 4-6.

We need gun midfielders, pure and simple. You can win a flag with an average forward line or back line. You need a good hard working midfielder to win. Everything revolves round that. We need more good midfielders, both inside and outside, before we rise up the ladder. At this stage our midfield is a bottom 4 midfield, and we're going nowhere in a hurry until this is rectified. Bringing in Viney and Toumpas should help hopefully with time, but we still need more. Good news is our forward line and back line stocks are good. Infact, with a good midfield helping to apply pressure defensively or send the ball inside 50 with clean disposal, I'd consider both our back line and forward line to be in the better half of the league. It's just the midfield holding us back.

8/8 so far :D Let's see how the last match pans out

He's set for a good year. He's fit going into the season for once. Hopefully he will play midfield permanently and stamp himself more consistently on games.

Re-watching this now. It was heartbreaking. I miss watching a decent Melbourne side play football. Here's hoping 2013 we become a more cohesive bunch. It's been unenjoyable and embarrassing watching our team play for years now

That game was the biggest roller-coaster I've ever attended. I never recovered from this loss. It was the best game I saw a Melbourne player play in the flesh (Travis). I lost my sh*t in the carpark after this game. I lost all hope that night. There have been more important games in my time, but this one affected me the most for some reason.

Looks like the suing has already started. http://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-02-12/croad-to-sue-fairfax-for-defamation Here's hoping that Fairfax cop it from all angles and get absolutely destroyed in court. It's only fair they get comprehensively shat on, so their reputation gets destroyed just as they have destroyed the reputations of others.

You're in luck! http://www.melbournefc.com.au/the-club/sponsors The Age are no longer a sponsor of the club. The Herald Sun has taken their place. I'd hope once this is all over that several different parties sue the pants off Caro and The Age for the rubbish they've printed.

Swap Grimes for Febey. Swap Howe for Bruce. Then it's pretty bang on IMO

I still think he'll be a great player for the club. His first two years were fantastic. He was still ok in 2012, but was a lot more defensive. He laid a lot of tackles, did more grunt work, but wasn't very effective offensively. I thought it was widely noted he developed a form of O.P. and thus lost lots of his running and kicking power. His kicking was well down last year. He wouldn't make the distance from 40 metres out at stages when taking set shots. He'll have an average season this year due to his foot injury and lack of preparation. Missing out on preseason is massive. Even stars like Luke Hodge can't perform when they miss fitness training. It's just crucial in this day and age. Long-term though I think he'll be a star. He is just a superbly rounded player in the Jimmy Bartel mould. He can play anywhere, do the hard stuff, use his skills outside, and take a hanger and nail a goal. With more fitness and development his star will shine and thankfully it will be in a red and blue, as he's a loyal and level-headed guy.

Think this is a balanced team. There will likely be a few more harder body players recruited in the last 1-2 years in there such as Magner, Taggert, Kent etc. B : Strauss Frawley Garland HB : Tapscott McDonald Watts C : Grimes Trengove Sylvia HF : Blease Clark Howe F : Pedersen Dawes Byrnes R : Jamar N.Jones Viney INT : Davey Toumpas McKenzie SUB : Rodan Emergencies any of the following depending on injuries, form or needs: Nicholson, Magner, Dunn, Jetta, Spencer, Taggert, Terlich

Was escorted from the ground during Queens Bday a few years back. It was when Daniel Bell nearly got his head taken off by that gutless sniper Ben Johnson. There were some Pies supporters behind me and they started yelling out at Daniel Bell calling him a softc*ck and to stop faking it and get up etc. I told them to shut up, they swore back at me and one of them spilled a drink on my back/head, so I lost it. Broke one guys jaw, sunk anothers eyeball into the socket, and broke a couple of my own fingers in the process. Filth supporters are just that; Filth. Most d*ckheads who talk sh*t can never back it up, and they need to be taught a lesson so they stop running their mouth. I hope those two never forget that lesson I gave them. Who knew studying Kenpo would pay off Also lost it after the Adelaide 2002 semi-final. My mates had to calm me down after I threw a bin just outside the G. Oddly enough, these are the only two times in my life I've gotten legitimately angry. Both caused by footy Back to the main topic, when I tell people I support Melbourne I am met with either mocking laughter or sympathy. We are a sh*t football club unfortunately. Doesn't mean I don't love my club, but being born in the 80s and still yet to see any success, means the club is seen as weak. Hopefully this new cultural shift moves us forward and we can see some success. Us supporters deserve it more than anyone.

Most Kicks: Grimes (Sylvia and Jones next) Most Handballs: Jones Most Disposals: Jones (Grimes and Sylvia getting close) Most Tackles: Mckenzie (Viney perhaps getting close) Most Marks: Grimes (with Howe and Watts close) Most Goals: Clark (assuming recovery is fine. Otherwise Dawes and Howe)

I'm writing off for the first half of next year. Stress fractures in feet are usually a long term injury. His status seems to have gone backwards, so I'm a tad worried also.

Hope someone knocks him senseless. I intensely dislike players who just march out on their club, yet somehow call the shots and get away with it. It's mental that he was able to walk out on Adelaide, bypass the draft, then put a magical price on his head that apparently only the reigning premiers can match? Mental. Nothing would please me more than to see someone absolute bury this c*nt on field. He's had a few concussions this year, another one seems par for the course!

1. What are your realistic expectations for Viney and Toumpas, or even Hogan in the VFL? Keep in mind it's their first year. I expect Viney to cement himself as a midfield starter quickly. He has been in the system training with us for a year, and has a fantastic work ethic and hunger for a contest. I expect Toumpas to play a decent number of games and show some of the run and class he's known for. I expect Hogan to start learning the key forward role against men in the VFL, and be ready to debut in 2014 after a year in our system. 2. Who do you think will take it to another level? Sam Blease. As he gets fitter and is able to spend more time up the ground he will really tear teams apart. He already showed on a number of occasions this year that when he gets the ball he is dangerous, whether it's providing run or nailing goals. Trengove could also have a good year if his injury isn't too bad. He worked hard last year under duress and trying circumstances. He did all the team things, the defensive things, but offensively he wasn't very effective. I hope he can find a balance between offensive and defensive and become the player we need him to be. 3. New mature aged recruits, who needs to prove their worth? Pederson. We traded away Gysberts and downgraded a pick for him. He's 25 years old(?) and has barely played any AFL games, so IMO he needs to cement a spot fast or we've stuffed up there. 4. Last chance, who has flown under the radar for far too long? Dunn. You'd think if he doesn't have a good year he's a good chance to get delisted like Bate was. Strauss needs to show us those elite kicking skills we've heard about for years now. Bail needs to cement a spot and not turn it over repeatedly. 5. Combination (as discussed previously) where should all this lead us on the ladder, who the the key clubs we should be beat in order to climb the ladder? We need to play finals. We've been a pissweak [censored] team for years now, and frankly it's gone on too long. The supporters of our club deserve better. We've given lots of our money through Debt Demolition, not to mention all the passion and time showing up to games over and over knowing you'll be destroyed and questioning why you bother at the end of it all. Sitting in the cold rain watching your team get belted by another rubbish team infront of 15,000 people is not an enjoyable experience. Ever. I have barely enjoyed watching this football team for years, so it's time I get some pay off on everything I've invested for the last few decades! Finals is a pass. Anything less and I'll just about be done. A few years ago I expected us to be a flag threat by 2014. Now we're more of a threat to win another spoon and it's embarrassing and pathetic. We need to beat teams like St Kilda, Richmond, Bulldogs, Port, GWS, Gold Coast, Brisbane, North. It shouldn't be hard. Hell we did most of that during the Bailey years. Give me finals and wins!

We play finals next year or it's another failure. It's as simple as that everyone. We shouldn't stand for mediocre results, and the club will die if it sits down the bottom of the ladder forever.

Clark, Toumpas, Viney, Watts, Blease.

Welcome to the club Iron Man

Hopefully it's not too serious, as stress fractures in the foot can be troublesome to overcome properly. We need Trengove to be fit and firing, as he is a captain, but more importantly one of the few midfielders on our list with potential to be an A-grader.

Eight wins gets us back to where we were under Bailey. We need to play finals, and fast. Anything less is failure. Our club has been at the bottom of the ladder since 2007 and we can't last there too much longer. We play finals, or it starts getting even more ugly.