Demon Disciple

I hope it means that the MFC won't tolerate sub-par performances for the next 3 years, guaranteed. PJ and PR should apply the blowtorch to the whole playing group and see who makes it out the other end.

Yep all mentally weak. At the first sign of adversity, they'd go to water. The good thing is they are off our list, the bad thing is, many more need to go. Give me players' that give a [censored] about the results rather than whether or not their bank payments made it through on time. Well given Demetriou gave the reason that our senior players that were injured would see us rise, and they haven't even got on the park yet, whilst also using that same excuse with our u18 selection in Hogan, who also hasn't got on the park. I feel that not only should they owe us last years PP (end of first round PP), they need to give us one for this year (before first round PP). That would leave us with picks 1(PP), 2, 22ish (PP - factoring in other compo picks) and pick 23 (2nd round pick). Fantastic isn't it, talking draft picks at April! Though i did predict this cycle of pre-season excitement followed by reality setting in again early, followed by months of talking draft and trade. Don't know the depth of this years draft, but do know the quality of talls might make some clubs desperate to trade for them. Would rather make similar Dom Tyson type trades like last year, as opposed to going down the all draft route (ala 2009). Bring in as much quality as we can for next year, not 2018ish (we might not be around then). Keep one of pick 1 or 2 for the draft, unless a really good deal comes up, then try and bring in quality young kids from other sides like we did with Tyson with the rest of our picks. No club is going to trade for our scraps.

You list these 3, yet not Wright. He can play both ruck and KPF, something we seem to need more depth in. That and he seems a possibility for being the #1 pick, which we seem to be firming rapidly for.

We can only hope that this will be the case. That our situation is so dire, if they leave before we really get our house in order, it will look like they are abandoning the ship and their reputations might take a hit.

Agree that one way or another, we need a definitive answer from Mitch about his future, sooner rather than later, so we are able to plan for our future either way. It's totally up to Mitch and i bear him no ill will no matter his decision and that's the way it should be. But no one person is bigger than the footy club, so if he no longer wants to be an AFL footballer, better to act on it now, rather than drag it out. As it would do more harm than good to not only the club, but Mitch as well.

Top 2 pick! Who are we going to finish above? As for all those who say that Toumpas over Wines was the biggest mistake we made in years, come back to reality. A mistake, yeah probably. But had we drafted Wines over Toumpas, i'd dare say you'd be saying the same thing, just the other way around. Wines would be nothing like he is now, if he were drafted by the MFC. It's amazing how good a player develops when in a proper team, as opposed to a club that just sucks the life out of the young players'. Picking the right talent is half the battle, development is the other half. Development would be even greater (60/40) with picking the right talent, because a lot of players around pick 4 clearly have talent. It's how that talent is developed which results in their on-field status.

Totally agree. Talk is cheap, actions bring about results. PJ asked the many who were still to sign up to give the MFC another chance. Well the game against West Coast would have put a nail in that coffin. Our leaders need to stand up and lead from the front. Since we have none on the field, off-field is the only place where we can turn to. Our CEO and coach are going to be the one's who will need to push this sh!theap uphill for the foreseeable future. They continually say it is not going to be an easy and short fix. Well, lets start with locking in our leaders for the short-medium term, so the real heroes of our footy club (the members) are not alone in our fight to keep this club alive, then maybe one day thrive (maybe).

Sure Schwab and Connolly really did a number on us, but come on, the on-field performances need to be held accountable by those who can affect it. We have a whole new coaching group in place, the only other thing that can change is the one thing that seems to have been held blameless throughout this whole deplorable affair (the playing list). We need to seriously turnover a quarter of our list (bare minimum) at the end of this year, and do the same for the next 3-4 years. Drop Grimes and keep Trengove in the 2's until they earn a re-call after several consecutive good performances, and put it in no uncertain terms that their careers are on the line. If i was the coach, i would tell a good 10-15 players (who we all know should be de-listed) that come years end, their careers at the MFC are over unless they can prove otherwise. We have few untouchables, but we'd need to plead with them to sign contract extensions and pay above market value. The rest should be told that their future's at the MFC cannot be guaranteed, and those who want out will be put on the trade table, whilst those who may want to stay will still be shopped. I'm so f&$@ing sick and tired of our playing group as a whole, putting in less than their all just about every week. For too long, they have gotten away with it. Previous management were too busy trying to run their own personal agendas to give a [censored] about it. With competent management and coaching now in place (i hope), we need to get ruthless, not nurturing little boys. This is a man's game, time to step up or ship out. I'd rather 18 Jack Viney's over 18 Jack Watts's any day of the week, because then i'd know that each loss would not only hurt, but it would be unacceptable. And something might actually be done about it.

A pet hate of mine, is when a forward entry is too deep in to the forward line, allowing the back-men to easily force it through for a behind. Plonk the ball 25m out and watch the back-men [censored] themselves. Get a big body to crash the pack (Pederson, all he would be good for), then get the crumbers to rove the ball. Simple? absolutely. Will it be effective? more than what we have got going at the moment, and good enough until we get some forwards back in to the fray.

Forward line or none, every game we name 6 players to take the field in the forward line. Why don't we keep a couple of them there? Then maybe, just maybe, we might have options to kick to (tall or small). If tall we can risk a high kick in now and then, if small, well these are meant to be AFL players who are earning an AFL wage, let's see some skill for a change and have them hit targets (ain't that bloody hard, it's done in high school grade footy). No quality talls? That's ok. Put Pederson in the forward line, sure he's just about as good as a tree, but he's as big as one too. I don't expect him to mark the ball, but bring it to ground, where our smalls can crumb. Footy is not a hard sport to figure out, plus with our lot at the MFC it needs to be as simple as possible. I'd rather a quick kick to the forward line that results in a turnover, than trying to play keepings off and it resulting in a turnover in the midfield or most likely, the half back line. No point having a sh!tload of the ball, if you don't do anything with it.

Ahh, i remember reading this well. It wasn't Emma Quayle who said this (it might have been in her article). It was in fact a recruiter who didn't want his identity to be revealed who said explosions would happen. Don't know if that makes it better or worse. I also remember reading a poster say that he spoke to Neeld, some-time pre-draft, and that the MFC (coach and recruiting team i guess) didn't rate Wines in the top 4. WHOOPS.

i like what we did in the Tyson trade. We didn't bring in an absolute new kid, but one that had a couple of seasons under his belt, so he could go just about straight away.

Frawley will be 26 this year. Anyone who thinks we will be seriously contending in another 4 years is kidding themselves. So before we are even a real chance at hopefully winning a flag, he will be 30 years old, or entering the twilight of his career. This is not a "get good pick for him whilst we can" type thread, look where we ended up on that basis. Rather, it is more an optimistic viewpoint if he goes. Should he go, one would think that we would get band 1 compensation, or straight after our first round pick. We could look to the draft (one that is strong on talls) and replace him with a young KPD (maybe one with good disposal), or we could do a Dom Tyson type trade, and get a good player plus a high pick in return for him. My preference is for Frawley to stay, but he is also a too regular culprit of picking when to put in 100% and when not too. If he goes, we'll get over it (it may make us a better team in the long run...............i know, i know - long run), if he stays, we keep a good KPD, one who at the moment thinks he is better than what he is and who also needs a serious change in attitude. I guess, what i'm trying to say is, we should not break the bank in trying to keep him, because at the moment, just about everyone on our list is expendable. Maybe it's time the players' truly started to understand this.

If they come out and say as much, then we'll be heading for a loss. How long now have we come out and talked the talk, and have failed to follow it up with actions? I'm sick of talk, from anyone at the club. How about shutting up and doing what is expected from them for a change, for more than 1 week at a time?

How is it, that after a whole off-season, our injury list is larger than the end of last year? How long do some of these blokes need? And more importantly, when will the heat be turned up on Misson, who seems to be escaping being held accountable for his department and lack of effectiveness?

Now why would he want to go and ruin his coaching career, by coming to us?

I think it's a case of damned if you do, damned if you don't. Just don't sit on the fence, otherwise you'll end up like many of our players, waiting for someone else to make the decision for you

Exactly. Once out on the park, you are 100% fit, even if you are not. The thing going for Fitzy, is i don't think even he knows what he's going to do, so maximum unpredictability. So long as he has an effect on the game (which he doesn't).

Agree, he would not be the first i would target. The one thing he needs to work on during this season, is his willingness to take body contact. I'm not saying he should go looking for it every time he goes near the ball, but he gets pushed off balance too easily. If he is able to take the hit/contact yet keep the ball to his advantage, he will be an immediately improved player. As for positioning, it is much harder to be an outside player than inside, as not only do you need to predict where the ball is going to be and keep up, but also which side of the pack the ball will fall, as opposed to the inside mids, who just need to follow the ball.

Agree, everyone has their own standards/criteria for which players' are being picked, but the one thing we all agree on, is that there are very few MFC listed players' that are of AFL quality.

It's about time that the real problem is focussed upon, and with it the responsibility and blame go towards. The playing group. It doesn't matter if you have all the best coaches with an unlimited amount of $$ to spend on development, if the playing group as a whole have the wrong/lazy/ignorant attitude, nothing will improve, the cracks will just be painted over. This football club needs to become extremely stringent, so much so that even before players' walk in through the door, they know they have to earn every dollar of their contract. These players are getting paid premium dollars, yet they are continually putting in sub-standard performances. Since when is putting in less than 100%, or their absolute best 100% of the time, less than adequate? If they were in any other industry, they would have been shown the door long ago. I know it's wrong to single out one player, as many are guilty, but i'll use Frawley as an example. He is going to be demanding quite a contract come years end, but does he deserve it? No. He continually chooses when to put in a good game or bad game, or whether he will put in 100% or not. That simply isn't good enough. This is the highest level in the world where a person can play aussie rules. Nothing less than there absolute best is acceptable! Do they not realise that it's a privilege to play at the highest level? How many people try to get on to an AFL list, and how many actually make it?

i did say cynical. I'd even go so far to say Mitch Clark shouldn't be on that list, as he hasn't really played for 2 years now.

Not having a go directly at you Scythe and Sassy, but having Tom McDonald listed as 'keep' or 'yes', is a big part of our problem. He lacks the 2 most important skills of being a decent (not great but decent) AFL player. His decision-making is abhorrent and his disposal is even worse (i wouldn't even consider it VFL standard). Sure certain areas can be improved with development, but there needs to be basic talent there to improve on. Unfortunately for Tom, he lacks so much of both. It's not his fault, he just isn't good enough and no matter how much development goes into him, the return on investing so much time and effort would not be worth it. Sure he can run all day, but he lacks the basic skills required to play football at the highest level. I'm sure he's a great bloke, but he is simply not up to AFL standard, along with about half our list.

I'm going to do this with a very cynical, yet realistic, point of view. 1st/2nd year players are not included, as they have yet to establish themselves. The following players are of AFL quality: Nathan Jones, James Frawley, Mitch Clark (when fit), Dom Tyson, Bernie Vince. Some other players are borderline, but they aren't included on the list, because they either lack the basic skills of football that their position requires on a regular basis, or are just too inconsistent (such as Grimes and Watts). Quite damning really, but it indicates why we are where we are, and why we have been there for so long. As for developing young talent. How can any young player have a realistic chance to become a decent player, when there are so few role models to learn from at the club.

I'm still bewildered and absolutely staggered that he ran a sub 3 second 20m sprint at the 2009 draft camp. Surely the stop watch malfunctioned on his run. Trengove is of a huge concern to me. He had a great debut year in 2010, and followed up with an even better 2011, to the point where we were happy that it was T$ leaving and not Trenners. Ever since Mark Neeld got a hold of him, he has been in reverse.