mauriesy

So here's a continuum of some real player behaviours, from bad to moderate to nothing. All the information is on the public record through the media or the courts, so I don't think it's startling or slanderous: Player who is an admitted drug addict (2007); ran away from a booze bus and subsequently convicted for obstructing police and obstructing traffic (2006); found disoriented on the streets of Melbourne and jailed for four hours (2006); received phone calls from Perth underworld figures before and after a shooting (2005); punched his teammate (Kerr) in the face in a nightclub incident (2002) (Cousins). 6 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Player with three drink driving offences, one of which occasioned a six-month suspended jail term reduced to a community-based intensive corrections order (1996) (Pike) 5 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Player with a second offence of driving over the prescribed blood alcohol limit (0.121), driving while disqualified and driving without due care (after an accident in 2004). (Pickett) 4 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Players who admitted to a serious gambling problem and debts to bookmakers (e.g. Ward, TJ, Schwarz) 3 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Player who received an intervention order after an incident with his girlfriend (Sylvia) 2 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Player who got drunk once post-season in a well-known casino and was helped home by the police (Neitz) 1 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Player with no 'record' whatsoever (put Bruce in here since you noted him as a possible "out" to Cousins) Firstly, those below 5 show that we do work with players to help them with certain levels of personal problems and retain their productive contribution to the team on the field. Secondly, you can argue where you want to draw the line, but I'm definitely drawing it at 6 (probably 5) for any player.

That is really drawing a long bow. Let's take all the malcontents, druggos and misfits and win a premiership! P.S. Carlton was really patient with Angwin.

Really? Not hard to put two and two together ... he didn't want to get caught for something illegal. Is driving a car under the influence of drugs better than driving while drunk? You were the one who said "driving while completely drunk has the potential to kill other completely innocent people". What about driving while under the influence of Ice? And Cousins was found wandering the streets of Melbourne near Crown Casino in a blind stupor after a game, unable to even recognise where he was. I'm happy to take the moral high-ground ... he is not the sort of player I'd ever want, despite how wonderful he was as a player. If we took him, we'd be stepping into the same cess pond as the Eagles.

Tell me why Cousins ran away from his car and the booze bus again?

There is damaged goods, and there is really damaged goods. I'm wary of the former, and positively frightened by the latter. Do you think Cousins went to the USA for his addiction to Tim Tams or something? Now you're being silly. You know full well that a player like Cousins is not the only alternative to these guys. And if it came down to Cousins or Bruce, I know for certain which is the option worth taking and which would be the better (and more moral) player to have around the club.

So, Green is still hopeful about a mathematical improbability. No worse than fantasising about winning Tattslotto. Hardly worth the voluminous diatribes it's receiving, or being given more meaning than it deserves, which is fractionally more than zero.

So was Pickett a raging success? Did he overcome all his past issues? Did he lead us to a premiership?

I can't believe you'd even consider it. Even the need for a premiership has its limits.

A 29-year-old reformed (?) drug addict with a penchant for hard partying, no ethical standards whatsoever and a dubious past when it comes to the criminal element? Why on earth would we want that?

Came across this this morning. Wonder if James McDonald got a free kick for "hands in the back"? http://www.realfooty.com.au/ftimages/2007/...0205570464.html

A rumour repeated on 10's Sports Tonight at 11.00 last night as if it was fact, despite the clear statement on the MFC website.

KPP OP BB?

The sooner we get a proper training and administrative base, and develop the "Team Melbourne" concept (AFL, soccer, netball, basketball) the better. We have no way of competing in a 10-team city against the likes of Collingwood and Essendon (let alone the non-Victorian behemoths with 40,000+ members) unless we think outside the square and achieve efficiencies in other ways e.g. sharing resources with non-competitiors. Collingwood is an interesting contradiction though ... that you can have all the wealth and resources in the world and still not win a premiership. On the other hand, with all those resources they do seem to get more from a list that is not as good as ours. And Carlton is a good example of what happens if you get too financially big-headed.

Congrats to Brock. Loved him since he first put on a Dees jumper. All I want for a team is fifteen Brocks, three Rivers, a Bell, a Jones and a Neitz. If I could get that, I'd even give Yze last spot on the bench.

Why are we worried about old crocks struggling off their deathbeds to play against us? Sounds good to me.

Correlation does not mean causation. If I said "all the players with injuries have blue eyes, therefore blue eyes cause injuries", you'd clearly think I was stupid. Yet you're prepared to promote the argument "all the players with soft tissue injuries have BB as a fitness trainer, therefore BB causes soft tissue injuries". BTW, we've had good rain this month. Guess that means global warming must have stopped.

I know they often say "the Hirds, the Buckleys and the Judds" ... now we've got "the Bells" (on 28).

Don't know. He was selected with pick 19, three picks after we picked Yze. Richmond used picks 16 and 32 in 1995 to get him again.

Technically correct, but he never stepped inside the door of the club!

I'd much rather get back Nick Smith.

We are going to have a moderate cleanout over the next two years simply by virtue of age. If you look at our list, here's the oldest players (ages at end of 2007): 32: Neitz 31: Bizzell, Brown, McDonald 30: Holland, Pickett, Ward, White, Yze While the critical future replacements for these are a full-forward for Neitz, a ruckman for White and to a lesser extent a midfielder for McDonald, I don't believe the rest of the players in this age group are critical (other than for injury replacements) to the team's performance for 2007-08. We'd be much stronger with Bartram instead of Brown, Whelan instead of Ward for example. So in the next two years these nine 30+ players will retire (probably some will be forced out by non-renewal anyway). Given, say, 4-5 draft selections, a rookie elevation and a trade in any one year (12 new players over two years) that's only three other players to go ... probably players like Jamar, Neville and Ferguson would be the sum total of any "forced" cleanout.

Sorry, I don't see it. If the team has collectively only lost 12kg (i.e. about 0.5kg per player average), how can we be "much less muscle-bound"? Muscle is a much heavier component in the human body than fat, so if they'd lost a lot of muscle it'd show in their body weights, which clearly aren't down much. Conversely if they are near to the same weight but less "muscle bound" as you say, the only alternative is that they've put on a lot of fat, which clearly is not the case. I haven't seen evidence of the players being shoved off the ball any easier. Our tackling is near the same level as last year. I agree with Rhino when he says the loss of some tough inside players like McLean, Moloney and Pickett has made a difference around the ball. Jones, if anything, was overweight and as a midfielder is running much better than last year, while at the same time looking stronger.

I suppose he's responsible for someone treading on McLean's foot and breaking it? Or for Neitz, Robertson and Bartram wrenching their knees? They are the four injuries that probably hurt us the most. What rubbish.

10. Anticipating desperately over when we'll get our first win.

Looks like you'll be dead before the season's over then.