Johnny Karate

I consider myself libertarian so why not? I'm in favour of gay marriage, I think the key issue is whether it is labelled marriage or not especially for those whom hold similar views to TTP. As long as homosexual couples are given the same maritial and de-facto rights as heterosexual couples. As for the ability to adopt or have children, I again understand where the OP is coming from but still sit marginally on the other side of the fence. Whether homosexual or heterosexual I think people need to consider whether they are the right sort of people to be parents. There may well be a certain social stigma associated with being the child of a homosexual but I suspect much like that of the stigma that was once associated with single parents that will fade with time.

Traded him into my dreamteam this morning. EPIC FAIL!

Top post Jarka. Agree with most of your sentiments. I am biased but I think leaving would be the wrong move for Tom. Being a franchise player millionaire at a new club in risky territory doesn't seem bode well for his development nor chances of team success IMO. While he is an experienced top-liner Gary Ablett must've found the going tough on several occasions this year.

I don't think it's fair to call him a mercenary - he has every right to decide at the end of the year and focus on playing footy as per his current contract. I know, perhaps my post was worded rather glibly, however; surely his management would make a recommendation one way or another which is bound to influence the young man in some way. If I were his manager I would be saying: "You will be a rich man wherever you play but your chances of success are greater at Melbourne." Added with the fact for a third year player to be a new franchises number one player may not bode well for his own player development. It is different for players like Taylor Walker and Rhys Palmer who are struggling to play at their current clubs. Callan Ward may also never see that type of cash at the Dogs because of Cooney, Griffen and even Higgins.

If he does leave (I don't believe he will and hope that he doesn't) I'll blame his management. Do GWS have that much to offer besides money? He will be a rich man whomever he chooses. When he is in his prime he could well be playing in a Grand Final for Melbourne in front of his family and friends or leading GWS to a groundbreaking 8.5 win season for thirty more pieces of silver. His management have proven they are savvy when it comes to negotiating for a good money offer let's hope they aren't greedy and stupid in sending a bright young prospect to a potential basketcase and wasteland.

Fan, I agree with most of your sentiments. Perhaps my analogy was a bit too extreme - it was not my intent to trivialise personal vindictive abuse. I'm of the view it is about intent - some may stupidly think that personally abusing Bruce and Morton is an acceptable way to deal with feelings of frustration and anger, even more stupidly they may think it is a way of "firing them up". I don't doubt the impact it may have on the players as well as their friends and families - while it isn't acceptable this isn't the intended outcome. Racially vilifying someone is far more delibrate in intent it is a slur on them personally as well as their ethnic group this has always been the case. It also represents centuries of oppression and is advocated by proponents of genocide. While the impacts of cyber bullying and verbal abuse are felt by friends and families of the victims, Racism has been an absolute blight on humanity. Perhaps a more apt analogy would've been murder and manslaughter. Both deserve a heavy sentence but one is with intent the other through carelessness.

I don't think it is about people claiming certain forms of abuse are acceptable. You are right; abuse is unacceptable. However there are different forms which require different punitive measures. Stealing is unacceptable but should a pesky shoplifter get the same punishment as a malicious armed robber?

This is a good point. Personally, I think the club would be negligent if it didn't sound out other experienced candidates e.g. Roos, Malthouse - however it should be more about them actually wanting to coach and having a vision for the MFC rather than us chucking 30 pieces of silver at them purely based on past success. However, that's not saying that Bailey might not be the best person to take the club forward. I'd be pretty annoyed if we got rid of Bailey for another rookie coach. Just like drafting = best available.

Probably shouldn't bother quibbling over C graders - but I just feel he is a better kick & more versatile than a Petterd, Bate or Newton and could perform a defensive role. Probably wouldn't come back in if Bartram was fit.

Out: Warnock, Bate, Bennell, Petterd, Maric, Jurrah, Newton In: Trengove, Dunn, Strauss, Gawn, Howe, McDonald, Blease B: Strauss - Frawley - Macdonald HB: McDonald - Rivers - Nicholson C: Trengove - Gysberts - Sylvia HF: McKenzie - Howe - Jetta F: Dunn - Watts - Green R: Martin - Moloney - Jones I: Gawn - Evans - Blease - Morton

Ablett, marginally. That's not to say Judd isn't a superstar in his own right - I believe Carlton would be bottom four without him. Ablett's influence is also profound from 04-06 I would say that Geelong and Melbourne were about the same - perennial finalists but nowhere near the best. Geelong's success from 07 onwards IMO mirrors Ablett's transformation from good player with potential to complete superstar. For mine Ablett has it over Judd in terms of field kicking, goal kicking, defensive pressure and overhead marking.

Bump. I guess last week was probably the antithesis of the round one performance. I've been proud of the way the club and coach have handled themselves since. The dark days are becoming gradually few and far between and hopefully the great performances like last Sunday are not one offs. I don't think we'll make it (this year) but it would be almost unbelievable to think four months ago that, we'd be a sneaky chance at the eight. We've improved. We won 7 out of 44 games through 08/09 and have just about doubled that with 5 rounds to go this year. Lets look at the games in isolation. R1 Hawks Terrible loss but in hindsight we didn't turn up our toes in junktime and get massacred by over 100pts this would've been the norm in 08 and to some extent 09. R2 Pies Gallant loss good backs-to-the-wall performance after round 1 debacle R3 Crows Hard fought, ugly and important win needed to set the competitive tone for our season. R4 Tigers Smashed and gleefully handed the baton to the new worst team in the competition, a solid performance. R5 Lions Destroyed an undefeated team our first outrageous win under Bailey. R6 Roos Really disappointing after the previous 3 weeks - outplayed but fought it out. R7 Dogs Unlucky not to get the points in this one, a creditable performance against a good side. R8 Eagles Second debacle of the year - looked asleep most of the game and just didn't put pressure on anyone in an Eagles jumper, on balance probable worse than the Hawthorn loss. R9 Port Bounced back with a good win on foreign soil R10 Cats Smashed at Skilled - ho-hum R11 Blues Another poor performance but credit to Carlton they jumped us and kept the advantage R12 Pies Drawn game - could've gone either way, another good competitive performance. R13 Crows Smashed at AAMI disappointing but not totally unexpected. Round 14 Saints Ground down but still made them earn it R15 Bombers Good solid win R16 Freo Poor start cost us, but brilliant fightback, just couldn't squeeze in front R17 Swans A grade performance - the benchmark so far This year, I would say that in all games except the Hawks, Cats, Saints and Crows - our best football has given us a sniff. Hawks, Eagles and Crows were the most disappointing losses contextually IMO. The players within the side have grown too - its easy to see why Scully, Trengove, Watts, Frawley and Morton went so high in the drafts - all have A-grade potential IMO. Green, Moloney and James McDonald have all lead the side well as senior players also. The future looks bright. Much has been made of poor starts/fadeouts (see Port & Ess games) but the way I see it is the team are uncompetitive for 25% of a game now instead of probably 60-75% during games in the 08/09 period. Bailey has done a good job so far and has deserved his end of 2011 extension. After Jurrah and Morton going down compounded by a winless pre-season I felt that 6 wins in season 2010 was par - it's been achieved with five games to go.

1. The AFL and rules committee do the umps no favors by constantly changing rule interpretations. 2. The media put an insane amount of scrutiny on umpiring errors when you actually stack them up with errors that the players make during the course of a game. 3. Regardless umpiring is swings and roundabouts - somedays you cop the rough end of the stick and others days you get sevens shots at goal from 50m penalties. 4. The real crisis is the amount of derision and disrespect that umpires are generally treated with at all levels... My link Pack of bastards - the whole club should be suspended for the rest of the season.

Garland is a good kick. I'm more concerned apoplectic when Cameron Bruce has the ball in hand at the kick ins.

Great job and a good read. Without wanting to be a smartarse though - Did you deliberately not write assessments of John Meesen and Daniel Hughes?

As a Melbourne/Rangers fan that would take my self loathing to new levels.

Betts is WA native. Rawlings is actually unlucky not to be in the vic side because he is a Taswegian. On an actual footy knowledge basis, surely Kruezer's been better than Mumford this year?

If true that's a double fail as Hamish Mac is New South Welsh.

The above names are not star players. Some are good B grade players most are not even AFL standard. Under Bailey; Sylvia, Bate and Davey have definitely improved as well as Jones to some extent. I can't really think of any players who have backwards that were not already limited or in decline during the twilight of Danihers era. Bailey has backed youth in the effort to develop enough of the 2008-2010 crop to become stars and others good B graders, that is his next challenge, he deserves the next two years to be judged upon whether he can achieve that IMO.

From where I sat on Saturday we started pretty well, won the first centre clearance with ease and moved it forward quickly to have two scoring shots and the Hawks on the back foot quickly. As the game settled our players made mistakes - the B graders were exposed, the Hawks stars began to shine and we got smashed. I would argue that a cardboard cut out probably could've coached the Cats over the past three years. It's the coach's job to show the players the path, it's up to the players to walk it. IMO Bailey deserves to be judged on that basis over the next 43 games. Tactically, Bailey at the moment seems to be coaching for the long term. As another poster pointed out it may have been better game day tactics to play a Bartram or Dunn on Luke Hodge in a purely negative role rather than Jack Grimes who currently is better suited to a back flank or loose man in defence role. The team is currently like a building project that isn't much more advanced than ground zero, it looks ugly, there will still be some terrible days where we wonder if it's worth the while but hopefully the finished product is a grand design that we can all revel in.

I was at the game on the weekend and was apoplectic when the scoreboard read 12-92 midway through the third term. I felt that we haven't improved at all and wondered why the hell the club had extended Bailey's contract. With the scoreboard being kinder by the final siren and a few days days reflection my mood has changed somewhat and I now see why. Fact 1. So far Bailey has delivered what he promised... No, not two wooden spoons and numerous shitful performances (in b4 flame). If I recall correctly Bailey promised to turn over the list and build a side through the draft since he took over in September 2007 the following players have either retired, have been traded or have been delisted; 1. Simon Buckley 2. Clint Bizzell 3. Ben Holland 4. Brock McLean 5. David Neitz 6. Daniel Ward 7. Adem Yze 8. Travis Johnstone 9. Chris Johnson 10. Russell Robertson 11. Nathan Brown 12. Luke Williams 13. John Meesen* 14. Isaac Weetra 15. Michael Newton* 16. Simon Godfrey 17. Paul Wheatley 18. Byron Pickett 19. Jeff White 20. Nathan Carroll 21. Jace Bode 22. Shane Valenti** 23. Matthew Whelan * Redrafted as rookies ** Not retained on rookie list With the exception of John Meesen, all of those players were from the Daniher era. Bailey also promised to give opportunities to young players, he has given 19 players their senior debuts in 45 matches as coach that is a new player every 2.5 matches. The point is when you look at the above list that is half a senior list culled with a hell of a lot of AFL experience from some players being replaced by debutants. He hasn't played favourites, and although I don't want this to come across as ND bashing (I like the guy) - it's fair to say his predecessor did. He also has spoken of being a teaching coach who wanted players to be able to play a variety of roles and positions. Now, of the players who have been pensioned off, traded etc some are definitely AFL standard footballers but I would say all were pretty much one position players. Whether it is perceived as the right or wrong approach it is what Bailey won his job based upon - he has been courageous in sticking to a long term outlook with a short term contract. It appears Bailey looked at the list in 2007 and decided that it couldn't win a premiership in the short or medium term for a key reason. Fact 2.The Melbourne Footy Club does not have and hasn't had any stars for the best part of a generation. I'm talking about real stars who year in, year out are in the top 5-8% of footballers in the league. Melbourne has had a lot of good footballers who I would consider B grade (not in a derogatory sense) maybe from the top 8-25 percentile range of footballers in the league but not quite star players. It can argued that outstanding footballers such as Judd, Ablett, Hodge et al have a profound impact on teams performance. Stars make B & even C grade players look better - how good did Heffernan and Blumfield look in Essendon 2000? How bad did they look at Melbourne and Richmond after? Stars can also accelerate/accentuate player development as draftees at West Coast and Hawthorn Judd and Hodge had the training standards set by Ben Cousins and Shane Crawford would they have been as good (or as good as quickly) if drafted to Melbourne with B grade players like Yze and Woewodin (with all due respect to both players) to look up to? Most stars are drafted and stick with their clubs so therefore especially in the MFC's position they are hard to poach so Bailey has decided to go the draft route. Most of today's stars were taken in the drafting period 01-04, once again I do not wish to turn this into a Daniher/Cameron bashing thread (they did their best and what's happened has happened) but I would argue with the benefit of hindsight the only solid B grade players we got from those drafts are Bate and Sylvia which is/was a disaster. Put simply our list is in such a shite state, and the teams we field often get embarrassed like last weekend because our best players are B grade, role players who should be icing on the cake rather than the backbone of a premiership or even a good side. Bailey is making an effort to create a balanced list by recruiting the best young talent develop them into stars all with a long term view to the flag. In my opinion the club was right to give him an extra year because while the W/L is pathetic he hasn't ostensibly done anything wrong by the club as yet and whatever comes at the end of 2011 his tenure shouldn't hurt the club in the long term. i.e. He hasn't recruited Mark Graham for experience nor traded picks for Graham Polak or Troy Simmonds on long term deals after promising to play the kids! I would expect 15-20 wins from the next 43 matches for DB to get a contract renewal. Bailey has been brave. It's said that there is a fine line between courage and stupidity and it is fair and reasonable to give it 43 matches to see if Bailey's bravery crosses into the dumb zone.

If it were tomorrow.... B: MacDonald - Warnock - Frawley HB: Davey - Rivers - Bartram C: Sylvia - Jones - Moloney HF: Green - Miller - Maric F: Wonaeamirri - Newton - Petterd R: Jamar - Grimes - McDonald I: Martin - Bennell - Scully - Trengove E: Spencer - Dunn - Cheney Hopefully, Bruce and Bate are fit enough come round 1. Throw Garland and Jetta in after the first few rounds, Blease and Watts showing some signs as well as LJ and Cale hopefully coming back before middle of the season and we've the makings of a good side IMO.

It is a good post and I do disagree with the assertion that Bailey is rubbish. However it is worrying when we are getting smacked by Essendon and Freo who are both mediocre sides. Time will tell.

Agreed. I forgot Gysberts.

My stab at the unconfirmed: 1 Warnock 5 Gysberts 13 Bennell 17 Blease 24 Jurrah * 28 Strauss 35 MacDonald 37 Gawn * 39 Tapscott 43 McKenzie 44 Healy 45 Jetta 46 Fitzpatrick * = all but confirmed