Demon Disciple

Getting Neil Craig would be fantastic on 2 fronts. The first is his undeniable sports science background. Working with Misson will only benefit our club (as any fanatical fitness freak or diehard weight lifter can attest to, the more experience and knowledge at your disposal, the better the results of the hard work you put in). The second is the experience he has gained as being coach of the AFC. He experienced high's and low's throughout, and the lessons gained would be invaluable to a new head coach like Neeld. Plus having an AFL hardened coach assisting you would ease certain pressures. From what it seems on the outside, Craig is an extremely professional person and doesn't look like one who would go into a footy club and tear it limb from limb because of his ego (unlike some at the MFC). Though, that's what many thought of Ross Lyon.

Of the coaches we could go after it will also be about what we can afford, along with if we go for a senior assistant for Neeld. B/L - Hudghton or Harley F/L - Sumich S/A - Craig or Laidley Of that lot, i'd go hell for leather at trying to bring in Harley and Sumich. The latter would cost a few bob, so go after Laidley over Craig (less $)

Whilst there are still 2 coaching positions left to fill, Neeld has indicated that he is after well-experienced people to be on his coaching panel. Given that we are quite inexperienced, even if Craig accepts another job elsewhere, i feel that a senior assistant will be brought in to help in these matters.

You only ever get to make one first impression, so i'd say that all players will try and stand up for Neeld. Whether they can sustain it is another thing all together. Neeld strikes me as a coach who demands that all players stand up, if you don't, you're gonna find yourself moving out very soon (which can only be a good thing). Demanding 100% and that you give 100% are 2 completely different things. One measures ability, the other endeavour. We've seen times at the MFC where there has been (brace yourself for the dreaded word) the potential for 100%, but never in my lifetime have i seen an MFC outfit show 100% in endeavour for more than 1 week at a time.

Damn you Ferguson, we could have had him several seasons earlier, DAMN YOU!!!!!!!!!!!

So with all the movement that has taken place, from a coaching point of view, what places still need to be filled? Midfield has been taken care of/filled - Royal/Greaves Royal moving to the midfield opens up for a new back-line coach and Mahoney moving into footy manager paths the way for a new forward coach too. Plus, Neeld might go after a senior assistant coach as well. Maybe Craig might become the latter, maybe he won't. Good acquisition if he came on board, wouldn't be upset if he didn't. More curious as to who will fill the coaching roles of fwd/backline.

HAHA, when i initially posted, i assumed that mahoney had gotten the axe too. Only upon thorough reading did i realise that he had been spared (Quick edit was necessary). Slammed the desk with words along the lines of "You've gotta be F%$#@ng kidding me" and laughing in astonishment. Haven't asked him yet though, almost afraid to and wouldn't hear the end of it. Though if Mahoney were to go, so too would the usual "Look at Josh Mahoney's forward line" quip. Such is its repetitiveness, it's almost becoming one of the great traditions at every MFC home game on level 1 of the Southern Stand wing.

This just goes to show how senile and idiotic Sheedy is. He has let his emotions get the better of him. He's gone out and recruited a fella that is only a few years away from being a pensioner (Jnr was finished as an AFL footballer and the game clearly passed him by, in fact he played beyond his years), and he's gone and "stolen" $cully as revenge as well. A fella who has an extremely suss knee (and will do for the rest of his career), a fella whose kicking is sub-AFL standard, and whose handballing, whilst quick, is so erratic, that every 3rd handball disadvantages his team. Let the old fool wallow in his own self-adoration. How soon will GWS realise that Sheedy is actually a cancer on a footy club? hopefully they find out after it's too late.

http://www.theage.co...0920-1kjlc.html Good move this one. Opens up the role for Neil Craig to step into Connolly's role, and still provides for Connolly to use his mouth for the betterment of the MFC. As has been stated previously on these boards, Connolls could sell sand to the Arabians, CS too. Their strengths are of fantastic service to the club, and we are seeing that happening right now with CS. Funny what happens when they stick to the roles they were hired for. Me thinks Gary has said a thing or two to both of 'em, and Neeldy would have said that he ain't gonna put up with any of that crap. We had a real [censored] season, but so far, the off-season (which has lasted all of 2.5 weeks) has been really positive. Plus there is still our other major sponsor to be announced, along with a few more changes in the footy department (how many bloody lives does Josh Mahoney have?), cutting loose all the dead weight of our list, plus the possible successful bid for O'Meara or a good player in trade week. Good strides, and all this coincides with the appointment of Mark Neeld. Has there ever been an MFC coach loved as much, whose been in the job for only 4 days?

I understand what you're saying, but Neeld seems to not put up with any crap. It's his way or go home, uncompromising. I'm pretty sure if things got muddled up, he'd walk in and fix it within a matter of seconds. I can't wait to see what he will do to our playing list and the many pretenders and dead bits of wood that have been riding on the coattails for far too long. Take no prisoners Neeldy!!!

absolute [censored] that he was awarded mark of the year. Being totally unbiased, Walker's speccie was one for the ages, was night and day ahead of any other this year, then came NICNATS, then daylight to Petterd, then even more daylight to Krakouer's. Walker was robbed. His would have to be one of the highest grabs to be ever taken. Such a clean jump, such a clean grab and he was up near the top of Eureka Tower to boot. Agree with the goal of the year though. Fantastic run and carry down the entire field from ballantyne.

Neeld will be absolutely licking his lips waiting for Viney to get onto our senior list. Viney Jnr is a no-nonsense tough, physical, uncompromising, take no prisoners type of player that Neeld will have lead this team out of the 50 year darkness.

Agree with you DeeTerm. We need a small forward who is willing to play the full time role of a crumbing forward. That way should no other option be available, we can always go long and direct to our KPF's (if they are bloody in the forward line), if it cannot be marked then force a spillage and wouldn't you know, there's the small forward being front and centre to the pack, waiting for the ball to hit the deck and picking up the crumbs. Sure we have Aussie, but he needs to deal with more important things atm, like his mental health. Once he improves there, he needs to address his injury problems that plagued him, then maybe, just maybe, we might have the crumbing forward that we have dearly missed since he burst onto the scene back in that famous game in '08. Football only becomes complicated if you want it to be.

Let's see..............We have no stay at home FF, nor a player that's willing to play the crumber role full-time, our midfield gets killed in contested possessions and clearances, and our backline would have to have one of the worst records with disposal by foot. Neeld has heaps to work with.

What. no Jaeger???? In all seriousness though, i think it looks great. If there was one thing i would do (and i know you can't have everyone in the banner), i would have Sean Wight next to Jimmy on the right hand side of him (seems to be a little space left for that, maybe take a bit more of Jack Watts' left shoulder off). Just a way to pay our respects an acknowledge what he gave to the MFC. But other than that, i reckon it looks great

Is currently on MMM and Barret asked him what type of footy will the mfc boys be playing, whther it be match ups or a real focus on suffocating the opposition. His response "we'll be hard". Was then asked "harder than the way they have been?" Long pause........... "i can't comment on that as i wasn't there at the time". One gets the feeling he sees our list as predominantly soft, and is gonna do something about it. If i was Morton, i'd be starting to get very worried, lol. Will he survive the pre-season? Will he make it past trade week?

HS went one way, so the AGE decided to hedge their bets and go the other, just in case they were right and the HS was wrong. Neither one of MS or CW would know what is happening in terms of our footy department. That became glaringly obvious when MS stated that Ross Lyon was more likely than not to head to the Dees, and when Caro produced the gem that the filth wanted to keep Neeld on until after their campaign, which has turned out to be so far from the truth a blind man could see a likelier outcome. What this past week has shown, is that you should not trust a word said, unless it has officially come from the club

There is no doubt in my mind that Beamer would excel in the role as captain. It would mean that much to him, probably go as close to as much as it meant to Garry Lyon or Robbie Flower. No doubt if he was captain, unlike someone now, if he was having a bad game, he would do something about it. My only negative is that he is not old, but getting on a bit. Our greatest captains have been one's that have had time to grow into the role and make it their own. Not just some fill in until the next heir apparent presents himself. That's where Trengove comes in. He is all class, presents well to the media, has shown fantastic faith in the club, plays with his heart on his sleeve. He actually truly hurts when we lose (not that many at our club do). Trengove is mature beyond his years, and sure he is young, but think of how much of a better captain he would be if he was able to learn how to deal with it from a young age, learn from the mistakes that will certainly arise. The negatives that are bound to come up, would help make him become a better player, person and captain. We are a young group, and i want someone to lead this group all the way through to maturity. Grow with the players, as they themselves grow too. Grimes would be a great captain, but at the moment, he has got to make his body his top priority. If Beamer was a few years younger then maybe. But for what this club needs, Trengove has the answers, or if not, he will do his absolute best to get them. But hey, i'm not part of the playing group or the inner sanctum. But something tells me that they would have learned a lot from naming Brad Green as captain last year.

For those contemplating giving Grimes the captaincy, injuries aside, Trengove has played more games for the MFC than him. So why not Trengove? Age - lol, please. If Junior and Green can get it during the twilights' of their careers, why can't Trenners get it at the start. He's the type that would grow as a player from it. He'd relish the opportunity, he'd take it with both hands run up to GWS, and wack it over $cully's money hungry head.

Yeah well if it eventuates, I'll be the first to come over and give you a big hug, but until such time, I ain't gonna count the chickens til they hatch.

[censored] Rusty, you'd be the type of bloke on Grand Final day upset that we've just won a flag, because you don't want to stop at one!!!

One down 2 to go. The announcement of our second joint major sponsor, and the drafting of Jaeger O'Meara. Go Dees! To all you pessimists, go back into your holes!

If this is the case, we have done very well indeed. Gotten the best senior assistant coach up for grabs, as well as attained the enormous experience and sport science knowledge of Neill Craig! Me too Choko, aside from getting MM (who unfortunately seems not to have been available) this is the best best option. Problem is DeOx, how can we catch something that was never in the pond in the first place? Doesn't bother me either way. The sooner he comes the better, however, hiring a 2-time premiership senior assistant coach would bring in even more success. Yep, Craig's defensive mindset as well as vast expertise in sports science will do wonders at our club. And Neeld's experience gained from possibly a 2xpremiership winning team can only be a good thing. What's more, we'd have brought in 2 people with fantastic credentials that is outside of the old mates' club. A big round of applause to one G Lyon if this is what transpires!!! We are bringing in 2 highly regarded people from 2 very well run organisations. And have stolen Neeld from the grasps of Adelaide's hands!!! And it's a Friday night too!!! And we're not gonna lose this week either!!! You fukin beauty!!!

I'd love for him to come out in his press conference and firmly state that he favoured us over any of the other teams, "i had several offers, but i considered the MFC's opportunity to be above and beyond any other. At the end of the day, there was only really one choice for me" kind of thing!!! WOuldn't mind Neill Craig coming into the PC too kicking Connolly out of the seat and saying "time for things to be done right"!!!

Well if this is the case, i won't be at all upset. My only question is, even though he has vast experience as a coach in several roles, will we go down the path of appointing a Director of Football such as Neil Craig? I'm sure that Neeld alone would be a fine choice, but there would be no harm in adding another senior figure with a heap of experience and knowledge in Craig to our footy department. As previously stated, like icing on the cake! Our boys club needs to be shaken up, what could be better than a guy from them Pies plus a fella with a wealth of Sports Science knowledge. The Adelaide fellas are huge, don't for one second think that Craig isn't responsible for that! With these 2 in charge, at least our defensive side of things will be sured up, the midfield it seems as well. All that is needed then is to lure big Dawesy and the puzzle is complete! Either that or one G Lyon might be putting the boots back on! He's surely given his back long enough to heal. Go Dees!