Demon Disciple

The coach needs to go. He can take Josh Mahoney and Brian Royal with him. I know i recently said that i think he will say, but he has to go. Whatever Bailey says to the group, it's just bouncing right off them. He cannot inspire the players and can't get them up for a game. The problem is, how long will it take for the playing group to get used to the new coaches? What have we done over the pre-season? We cannot play a press, we cannot defend against a press and we ran out of puff during the 3rd quarter, the 3rd quarter! What is our football department doing? The players need a rocket sent up their arses, the coach, well he should be just treading water until someone better comes along (so that should be in the next 5 minutes). We have zero gameplan, we cannot handle pressure, we put up a VFA performance in the second half, and the MFC expect supporters to sign up on the back of such a performance! DISGRACEFUL! As for kick-outs We take forever when we try and kick out, and we really struggle, at the other end, we provide gaps for the opposition to kick into, presenting the way out of our forward on a platter.

If we were to need a new coach come years end, i would think we would be after a more long-term coach. Dean is seen right now by the board, as our long-term coach. Should we go down the path needing a new coach (which i highly doubt - even if this season is not a successful one) i would think Melbourne would target someone more like Paul Roos. Sure the Sydney game style can be ugly at times, but they sure know how to play defence, something that would become invaluable to our young team. We have the flamboyance, the skill, the players. All we need now is a game plan (one i'm sure Bailey is drilling into the players - it's effectiveness is another matter). As they say, the best offence starts with a good defence. If we can nail down a good defensive style of football (Frawley the key) and then unleash our attacking flair (lead by Jurrah the great), it will go a long way to us becoming a sustained power of the comp. Of course, this is much easier said than done. Just ask Matthew Knights - great attack, but defence nowhere in sight.

When there's a draw, millions of plays re-run through the head, wondering if we could have done it better, if we did it better, what if? What's done is done, no point harping on about the past. I still have a bone to pick though. Jared Rivers was diabolical early in the 3rd quarter for us. In that period of play, his mistakes/turnovers directly gifted the Swans 2.2 by my count. Very costly indeed.

What frustrates me is that, after all the pre-season and the long wait, we didn't start like a house on fire. There was no hunger there. Not at the first bounce and not after half-time, to correct our lazy start. We only got going when the crowd started to believe and became boisterous.If our players can't get up for a round 1 game, apart from the filth, when will we get pumped?

I thought it was quite a poor crowd actually. If it was a mid-season game, then it would be half decent, but given it was round 1, i thought more would have turned up. I reckon Melbourne had at least 25-27,000 of the 34,000 crowd. Which is not too bad. I thought there would have been a few more Swans/South supporters that would have turned up. If it were a Melbourne v North game, then i reckon mid 40,000 would have been at the game, which would have been very good for a Sunday game. What i did like, was the roar from the crowd after the national anthem, too bad our players could only match our enthusiasm for 1.5 quarters.

Absolutely not Demon Tragic. The only reason McBurney reported Davey, let alone a free kick, was because McGlynn decided to have a sook. The case will be thrown out straight away and will hopefully show what a clueless fool McBurney is. Sylvia got polaxed in the centre of the ground later on and the only reason the sydney player wasn't reorted was because Col didn't have a sook. As for pathetic umpiring, how about when Stef got a massive shove in the back on the Southern wing and wasn't awarded a free kick. The bloody ump was shaking his head, even before the contact was made. Talk about amateur hour, the umpiring for both sides was extremely pathetic. And they no longer seem to be paying incorrect disposal, only when it is blatant. This is a massive step backwards, as it is no longer rewarding the tackler.

Whilst he got better as the game got older, Jack Grimes still needs to seriously work on his disposal by foot. Until such time that he does improve in this area, he can't be seen as an elite player of the comp. When he does address this issue, then the sky's the limit. But geez he can butcher the ball at times. We are lucky to walk away with 2 points today. You simply cannot play 1.5 quarters and expect to win (even though we almost did). Tricky Ricky dominated when he got on, maybe a little too late

I'm pretty sure he could kick the ball further than 60m if he wanted to. In one of his highlight videos for SA 2 years ago, he 9 irons a kick that goes at least 55m. Hopefully his boot will become as lethal as Daniel Rich's.

I'm pretty sure he missed the draft camp as well, because of a similar problem in his knee. Get him right MFC, we can't afford to have TS be riddled with knee problems, if we are to become a serious threat for premierships.

Let me play Devil's advocate. What the hell is our football department doing??? They hold Scully back for the majority of the pre-season because of his knee, then all of a sudden decide to play him at the end of pre-season and he does further damage to his knee. Very amateurish by our bloody football department if you ask me. Goes against the grain of recent times, when our staff have been overly cautious with the young kids, holding them back, but the most important one they rush??? Lets bloody hope they don't bring Chip back too early! And poor old Jordie can't take a trick either . It's amazing how players have 6 months to get their bodies right, yet on the cusp of the season-proper, they drop like flies. Speaks volumes about the preparation of AFL clubs, not just Melbourne's. As it seems to happen to most clubs too. All i want, is for our list to be injury free come the start of a season, just once! Dammit.............who do i replace Sculls for in my Dream Team now? With Scully down, it'sTime for Trengove to step up (not that he ever really went down) and show the AFL world why he was a #2 draft pick, that could have easily been a #1 pick.

I hear ya Diablo. If you're a member, you're a supporter. Anything less and you're just a fan.

Great news indeed. I had a training tank on hold (christmas present) because of the colour malfunction with new balance. Hopefully will be able to wear it to the gym soon.

I think the reason Mike included Blease, is because he gives us something we lack and desperately need, PACE! How many on our list can break the lines and just take off with genuine pace. Imagine the excitement of him running down a wing. Like a Darren Kowal, but with better disposal. Blease, if he comes on, will give us something we don't really have. Davey rarely goes on his super fast breaks anymore, possibly because he is a) exhausted b ) protecting the hammies or c) too lazy.

I was reading in another thread, might even have been demonology, that a poster signed up last night and was told by the membership department that there are still over 10,000 from last season that haven't signed up yet. Yet we are still around 4,500 ahead of this time last year, so things are looking up. Maybe the 40,000 barrier could possibly be achieved. I'd still be thrilled with 35,000 members though (2 years ago, it would have seemed impossible to achieve). - Correction, it was over on bigfooty

"Our ratings"??? You wouldn't still be presenting ABC TV news at 7PM by any chance would you, WYL???

he'll definitely be an influence on our players. An influence on what not to be. I would not let Fev within 100 miles from the MFC. He is a cancer, a leopard that will never change his spots.

i am disappointed with the loss and i feel that Bailey is simply not getting his plan to come across with the players. Whatever we want to achieve at training simply isn't being done on game-day (serious concern). However, looking at the list of outs, it isn't panic station just yet. Although, the likes of Mckenzie, Frawley and Morton won't be returning to the squad in a hurry. Without Frawley our back-line is a disaster and it highlights the rest of our back-men as sub afl level players. I will reserve judgement until after next weeks game against the Hawks/Eagles,as that game will be a full dress-rehearsal. Not panic stations yet, but if i was Bailey, i would want the team to start performing at a respectable level very soon.

Could work quite well. Get the ball on a half back flank and then boom..............ball is 40 metres out from goal. Bypass all the midfield traffic. Or, kick-out from a behind and then boom.......... ball is 40 metres out from goal.

You all have to be kidding, right? The next man to coach the Dees will be Paul Roos. Bookmark it.

Of the two, i'd have Jones in before Moloney to be honest. Jones is quicker and breaks the lines, Beamer has a huge kick, but isn't always effective (same thing could be said for Jones). Jones's Athletic capabilities outweighs Beamers sheer size IMO.

WHilst i hope like hell he'll sign on, i doubt we would have put a legitimate offer to him, out of respect for him wanting to talk contracts after the 2011 season.

What i also find perplexing, is that people always say that it takes a good 3 years (minimum) for a naturally raw and talented KPP to find his feet in the AFL system. Don't worry about the ready-made one's, i'm talking about the skinny fellas. It has always been said that it takes a good 3 years (does this not also apply to Watts - being a #1 draft pick has nothing to do with it). Factor in that Watts was extremely young when drafted (a year in age behind some in the same draft) that makes it 4 years minimum. So with that in mind, i really don't expect him to start truly hitting his straps until next year. Sure i would like him to do some nice things this year, like some consistency and maybe dominating 1 or 2 games. He will become a very good player for us, maybe even great, but we can only speculate. Brilliance cannot be rushed, most of us MFC supporters understand this, everyone outside the club lay into him because they know he will become a good player and they don't have him. Riewoldt didn't have his break-out year until 2004, his 4th year and was 21 and 5 months old. If Jack was to follow the same age timeline it means he would hit his straps in August 2012!!! A whole 1.5 years still to go. Think what Jack Watts will be like with another 1.5 years of development in him!

I wouldn't worry too much about Watts' kicking distance atm. When the club finally decides to put him on a very intensive weights program (when he has fully stopped growing) he should start to do very heavy squats (proper form of course). This compound exercise releases huge amounts of growth hormones for building muscle and builds serious strength and size in the legs. When this comes, the power behind his kicks will be much greater. Look at Luke Tapscott for instance, sure some people can naturally kick longer than others, but all the big kicks in the league have rather big legs. Rich, Tapscott, Sav Rocca, Ben Graham, etc. With size comes extra distance and the power to penetrate (which will help stop him 'slicing' the ball).

In another thread discussing last night's future fund event, it states that Don McLardy told the audience that we (the MFC) have spoken directly to Scully and his management etc, and we respect Scully's decision to wait until post-season (or until he is ready). This is the best way to go about it IMO, as it let's the player know that the club respects him and his decision and that we trust him. This greatly enhances our chances of retaining him as we don't place any further pressure on him. There's a right way and a wrong way to go about things and i feel we are doing all we can to keep him and the rest of our players coming out of contract, but we're going about it the right way.

Control of the Sun. And even then we'd be getting ripped off.