mauriesy

The Range Rover of caravans! Or are they just joining the 'band-wagon?

Nah, the media has just headed off to St Kilda.

This guy seems to think Abbott and Bishop are making a few serious 'rookie' diplomatic mistakes. He seems quite qualified to make a judgement. PM stumbling around the international stage.

Anybody able to read all those names on the board at the back?

I think you can endlessly argue about actual player selections without real resolution. Every club has busts and successes. More of ours seem to have been early picks and hence greater wastage, but they are not always of our (or BP's) own making (e.g. GWS buying off Scully with megamillions). Until someone does a proper comparison of drafting success, gauged by playing stats and games played at each pick level, then we really just fall back onto anecdotal evidence when comparing ourselves with other clubs. (Then again, Morton playing 73 games from pick #4 might not actually measure up too badly. ) However, the type of player drafted during the 'Prendergast years' (and maybe be the 'CC years' earlier) is also an issue for discussion, and that type of player wouldn't have only been BP's decision. Did we misread the progress and future of the game with a 'spine emphasis', or an 'outside running' emphasis, over the last decade? We seem to have spent a lot of draft picks on talls and 'outside' players and neglected the 'engine room', which is now the crucial driver of getting the ball. If we'd had the current midfield emphasis (i.e. 2012 and 2013) five or six years ago, maybe we wouldn't have found ourselves in such a mess.

It's an interesting article, but the question at the top doesn't match the rest of the article ... he asks what Melbourne needs to do 'to improve', then proceeds to answer with what they need to do 'to reach the top'. They're two different stages on the path from rock bottom. Reaching the top is a long, hard road. But we should be able to at least improve with our better personnel. The question then is how much?

Before the draft and pre-season makes sense though.

Funny how the article on the AFL web site from two days ago says this: Magner met with new coach Paul Roos the day after he was appointed and was given no guarantees. He said the chat was open and honest but it inevitably left his career at the Demons hanging by a thread. On the last Friday of the free agency period when Melbourne secured midfielders Dom Tyson and Bernie Vince and held on to selection No. 9 the writing on the wall would have been becoming clear to Magner. A day earlier the club had also gained Fremantle youngster Viv Michie, so positions for midfielders were becoming scarce. Magner had only good things to say about the Demons but he thinks he still has plenty to offer. "I have only been in the AFL for two years so I have still got upside," Magner said. "I feel like I've seen some of the highs and lows."

Everybody imports everything from China 'very, very cheaply'.

That's what they were called in the ladder this year (except for the caps for GC and GWS).

One is the Carlton game Round 4, the other will be determined tomorrow.

They're just looking for validation of the club's decision. It won't stop them from fearing someone will magically morph into a 'gun' when they go to play for someone else.

Looking forward to playing at midnight in round 23.

I'm hoping that Vince (among others) will be one of the catalysts to drag Melbourne up from being a 'poor side'. Clearly Sylvia couldn't, or didn't want to, hence why he went somewhere else.

He might have been tall, but he wasn't "bigger bodied". After four years on AFL lists, he still isn't.

Chapman: 'It was one of the criterias ...' Probably lucky he plays football.

OK, nitpicky ... it's May 31.

The Round 11 match will be in the cool of an Alice Springs Saturday night in June. Then there'd be a 9-day break before the Collingwood game on QB. We'd be complete sooks if we couldn't handle that.

Silence is golden. BS is just that.

It must be October. The Dees supporters are talking again.

He's just an average journalist with an opinion. Letting him get to you is pointless.

I hope everybody noted Jackson's comment in regard to Connolly and Craig's positions: "This is a business decision based on the best management structure for the Melbourne Football Club moving forward. This is not a performance based decision, but reflects the need to reduce the overall cost of our management structure." In other words, the football department and club administration have been bloated and we're tightening the ship. Jackson's new structure cuts out some of the crap like 'high-performance manager' and 'general manager of club performance', in particular reducing the previous inclination to create jobs for the boys. We've also got to be able to afford Roos somehow.

If 'lack of skinny' was your drafting criterion, Fremantle wouldn't have taken Fyfe or Hill, Essendon wouldn't have taken Heppell, Collingwood wouldn't have taken Thomas and Richmond wouldn't have taken Cotchin. I'd die for two or three of those.

If you don't wish to be educated on what is correct, you are within your rights to remain ignorant. "The proof is in the pudding" makes about as much sense as "the proof is in the brick".

A Demonland wedding? Will you be claiming official expenses from Demonland when you get back?