Johnny Karate

Anthony Rock

If we lose a game like that by 6-12 points then coaching tactics can come under scrutiny (as well as er strange umpiring decisions). But to lose by 50 points to a bottom of the harbour side (credit where credit is due Richmond came to play tonight) the players haven't done their job. It was [censored] me to tears when my fellow Melbourne supporters were blaming Daniher for the first half debacle when the sole reason we were getting smashed is we couldn't lay hands on the ball at the stoppages and were just generally inept in every facet of the game. I'd never seen (and never thought I'd see) a team that seemed to man up when we were in possesion of the ball and zone off when the opposition had it. We were disgraceful, slow, sloppy, uncommitted and cocky. For mine the coach was not to blame for tonight's result it was the players for not turning up at all in the first half. Back on topic - if I was Daniher I would walk, not even God Himself could've coached that rabble tonight.

He lives somewhere around Coburg - I hope you guys don't think less of posters such as me and kieranb_j because of it! People are way too harsh on Joffa. They feel they know him as the media have somewhat taken the mickey by portraying him as this complete neanderthal. Anyone who actually knows a little bit about him would know he is a pretty down to earth decent bloke who does excellent work in the disabled care sector. He is also a mad (is there any other kind?) Collingwood supporter.

A pretty good read. Nice to see an AFL.com journalist really do some in depth research for a change. A couple of points though: I thought Alwyn Davey would be in the same boat as Shaun Burgoyne and be only eligible for South Australia? I may be biased but Mackie in the Team SA starting 18 and Rivers, Bell and Johncock not even getting in squad of 25 is a joke. The Vic Team is always hard to pick but personally I'd have any combination of Mitchell, Harvey, Ling, Bruce, Gram, Lewis and Chapman in that side ahead of Stanton, H.Shaw and Swan. Jon Brown has hardly set the world on fire. Clement would easily make WA's team. I don't see why he uses injuries as a cop out in this instance as he has included Buckley, Hentschel and Hamill in their respective sides all have played sweet FA football this year.

Totally agree. PS. Y_M - I would hope Newton is kicking 15 in the seniors every week by 2009.

IMO we will beat the Kangas. And I know tis a little off topic but if we lose why is 0-9 so much worse than 0-8? Even if we win our current position on the ladder can't be elevated. People may want Daniher gone - I can understand that. IMO it should be after the season is concluded and if before it should be because he has resigned NOT because the board have sacked him.

Not surprising at all. One of the bigger tanks (endurance wise) in the AFL IMO.

Definitely has ability as an outside flanker type. Needs to get more involved and not spectate at AFL level - that is the reason why players like Ward and Brown (who have less natural ability) get in the side ahead of him because they DON'T spectate.

B: Whelan - Carroll - Bell HB: Wheatley - Rivers - Frawley C: Bruce - McDonald - Davey HF: Sylvia - Bate - Pickett F: Green - Neitz - Robertson R: White - Johnstone - McLean I: P.Johnson - Moloney - Jones - Petterd E: Yze - Miller - Bartram

Sorry to re-hash my old thread and I don't wish to smugly claim vindication for my original post- however I think it's fair to say that Bate has been pretty good around the CHF area in the past fortnight. What did everyone else think of his games? And can he be an answer for that position in the long term?

I agree most with this point. Consistency is the key. The decisions that were made just go to show Sam Newman (although I know he may be a discredited source) was on to something with "It's not the free kicks they do pay but the ones they don't that upset people" Neitz probably did push Wakelin in the back but Lade did on Neitz in Q3. (The only thing Neita did wrong was not take a soccer dive like that cheating pissant hack Wakelin) If McDonald's was paid delibrate out of bounds, Thomsons should have been. Etc

I reckon Buckley is a better chance than Newton this week. If we go too tall against the Dogs running brigade @ TD we're slashing our own wrists. The only change I'd consider making would be Dunn or Warnock for Buckley (although if either one was dropped they would be very stiff and it would only be because of match-ups.)

I actually thought Sylvia's game was a massive improvement on previous weeks. Don't be too harsh on him, it's unfair to single him out for poor finishing when the whole team was culpable today.

Agree 100%

By that logic Daniher has far more football knowledge than Robertson. So with your logic above Daniher's plan> Robertson's plan You can't have it both ways.

You've hit the nail on the head Bizkit with this revolutionary and stunningly original analysis without any personal agenda whatsoever. Melbourne have clearly been flooding and playing negative football the whole season and that is why we're 0-5. No more, no less. There isn't really any point in having a coach because the solution is so simple - kick it long to the forwardline contests and give Clint Bizzell his rightful starting 18 position and cannonisation with it. That is the way for MFC to stride purposefully into the future with progressive solutions like the original ones you offer up. Bravo.

Port only have Lade in the ruck at the moment - Brogan injured his ankle against the Pies and as far as I know isn't back this week. Therefore Jamar shouldn't get in as second ruckman by default - it is a good chance for PJ to show his worth at AFL level (if there is any). 2 ruckmen vs 1. It's no secret that we really are struggling for a third tall defender - whether you like it or not all the noises coming out of the club say Warnock is the frontrunner from Ferg and Biz, Holland is injured and it says to me P.Johnson will either be selected as #2 ruck or dropped. Hopefully Wheats/Frawley are back soon so we have more options. Jones is apparently a better chance than Green. Neita will probably come back. I wouldn't be surprised if this is the team that fronts up: In: Neitz, Jones, Warnock, Newton Out: Jamar, Garland, Brown, Bate (inj) B: Bell - Carroll - Warnock HB: Petterd - Rivers - C.Johnson C: Johnstone - McDonald - Moloney HF: Davey - Miller - Yze F: Pickett - Neitz - Dunn R: White - Bruce - Godfrey I: P.Johnson - Sylvia - Jones - Newton

Did Neale actually say this?! Refreshingly honest but wouldn't do Fergs confidence any good with the senior coach 'outing him' like that.

If your prediction comes true I'll self immolate in the middle of Junction Oval.

He's a great tackler, awesome vertical leap, attacks the ball and would be more useful steaming in off the back of the square than coming up from the forward line. I'd play him on and off the bench in bursts he could really have an impact on this game coming off a HBF.

B: BELL - CARROLL - BIZZELL HB: SYLVIA - RIVERS - C.JOHNSON C: GREEN - GODFREY - YZE HF: DAVEY - MILLER - BATE F: PICKETT - GARLAND - DUNN R: WHITE - BRUCE - MCDONALD I: P.JOHNSON - MOLONEY - JOHNSTONE - PETTERD E: JAMAR - WARD - BUCKLEY In: Rivers, C.Johnson, Garland, Moloney, Johnstone, Petterd Out: Whelan, Jones, Brown, Wheatley (all injured), Jamar, Ward (ommited) Moloney, Johnstone and Rivers are in some doubt and if all do not come up the emergencies come in.

I'd get rid of Cousins (only because he's not currently in the AFL), bump the others up 1 spot and sneak Lloyd in at 10. Other than that I don't fundamentally disagree with the above. Simon Black could sneak in. Glass and Scarlett would be on the fringes but I wouldn't call them top 10 just yet. It'd be interesting to see where the highest Melbourne player would be ranked - would we have one in the top 50?

No, I know we got a good deal for Jolly my only issue is that we seem to have developed some good ruckmen and let them go. From reading these boards for a while I know that you have rather strong views on Jolly and I generally agree with them. What it all boils down to is that Jamar hasn't come on as we would have liked. He and Everitt have worked rather well and I'd say pretty confidently Jolly has outperformed Everitt this year. I'd also like to say at this point that I don't think Jolly would be first ruckman at Melbourne but I believe he'd offer Jeff a lot better support than Jamar has. I get the feeling we may have been a little complacent while Jeff White was in ripping form in 2004 with generally not playing a second ruck be it Jolly or Jamar. Then again they didn't really demand opportunities at the time so it's a tough one. Agree entirely with all of the above.

Yeah depth is a really critical issue with our ruck division as much as anywhere else. White is still okay but he gets no support. A lot of people laud Jamar's tapwork (even though he doesn't get many hitouts at all) but he is useless around the ground, PJ is being used to pinch hit in a KDP and is doing okay but as a ruckman he isn't that much of an improvement on Jamar. I suggested Neaves but most of those in the know reckon he wouldn't do much better than Jamar or PJ. I don't want to turn this into a Daniher bashing session but IMO he has failed in developing adequate back up for White. At a time when White was in top form he was reluctant to play a second ruckman. We let go Jolly has excelled at Sydney and Simmonds would've been handy down the years as a 2nd ruck forward pocket. Hinsight is a wonderful thing isn't it. Jamar is pretty much there by default and we have had nothing in reserve when injuries have hit us at certain times in 05 and 06 (See Nicholson as 2nd ruck V Bulldogs rnd 2, 2005 and Nick Smith in the semi against Freo last year) The thing that concerns me is that 15 other clubs seem to have far better ruck divisions and depth than us.

White is definitely past his prime and his importance is fading. However he is still our best ruckman by so far it isn't funny.