Demon Disciple

I was there. And like everyone has said, it wasn't good. I'll be there next week too. I can understand why. What Bailey and the MFC need to understand is, whilst Bailey's game plan may eventually pay off, if we have to go through 15+ thrashings a year, there won't be too many people signing up or attending games. Are the MFC and more importantly Bailey & co. willing to risk it all for a game plan that a rookie coach thinks will work? They won't only be risking the loss of games, they will risk losing a lot of supporters too.

The only thing going against Maric is his size (not his height). He is only into his first season and their isn't too much muscle on him. He is no twig, but when playing on AFL bodies he will struggle. Having said that, he is pretty quick and evasive, shows a bit of dash, and doesn't mind taking on the opposition. He is also a freak anywhere inside or around the 50. The ball just seems to find a way to go through the big sticks. He is a very exciting prospect indeed. For those that haven't seen him play, i urge you all to try and get down to TBO. This kid has got something, and will be the best thing to happen to our forward line since Davey or possibly even Farmer.

Going on his performance against Frankston, he will be in Sandy for a while yet. I am a strong supporter of Juice, but recently, some doubt has been entering my mind. Is he actually up to it? Apart from his skyscraper grab, what has he done that warrants his selection in the team??? Juice really struggled against Frankston (in his defence, the delivery into the forward line wasn't that crash hot) and cannot be promoted based on his effort from the weekend. Late in the third quarter when Beamer thumped it long and was going thru for a goal, Juice tried to mark it, couldn't, and a point was the result. I was about 2 metres from the fence behind the goals, and could clearly see his expression of disbelief in what he just did. It was just one of those days for him, and he knew it with his expression. He'll turn it around. C'mon Juice, kick a lazy bag of 7 to silence my doubts.

Yep, my old man has been saying this. IMO we need to get rid of him. Yesterday several times he was on a wing and kicked in to the centre, resulting in immediate turnovers. This from our potential next captain. Granted, all were absolutely [censored] yesterday, but i will go troppo if he becomes our next captain. Bruce leader? Yeah right. As soft as butter and disposal so poor. He does not deserve to hold the captaincy. If that means giving the captaincy to a young player, then so be it. Not one of our senior players, who are meant to lift the team and lead the team have given a yelp in any of our matches (bar Geelong). It is these senior players that have gotten us into this position. All Bruce does is talk. We need a leader who leads by example both off, but more importantly on the field. Bruce is never going to be the player he was back in early '05. It's time we realise this and get rid of him whilst he is still worth something. It is a harsh line and people will say we are trading away the MFC's heart with all of these trades of senior players. But it is this attitude of being content with being the nice club that has not gotten us within kooee of a premiership. We need to harden the f$%k up. This year's supposed to be a very decent draft, lets take advantage of it and get as many high picks as we can. Help fast-track our development by getting rid of soft, poor decision makers and get youth into the side that are tough and skillful. We're going to be down the bottom for a couple of years yet. By the time we start climbing up the ladder, the likes of Bruce, Green, etc will all be on their last legs and will be of no help to us. Get rid of them whilst they are worth something.

Frosty's best footy is when he is at CHF leading up the ground. When he does this there needs to be another tall filling his space as the next option to kick to. Miller as a deep forward does not work for me. When he stays inside or around the 50, he doesn't kick enough goals as a CHF should (a huge problem). He needs to be told to kick for goal when he's inside the 50. He needs to become more greedy. None of this dishing off to a running player 99% of the time. When he does this, more times than not he gives it to a player under pressure from their opponent. He also needs his mongrel to return, controlled mongrel. DB is working on this i think. It's time for Miller to become greedy and demand the footy, no matter what position of the ground he is placed.

As long as these favourites aren't the younger brigade, i'm happy for anything to happen. Something needs to.

The Premiership???

I'd prefer Rich ahead of Naitanui. However we desperately need another decent KPP (preferably a backman). I wouldn't mind drafting Michael Hurley. Is a very good KPD, and can be quite damaging as a KPF. I figure, if we get a priority pick (which can only be after the first round) and we trade the likes of Green, Bruce, etc for another first rounder, we could be looking at a very high draft pick (1-3), another first rounder (10-16), priority pick (17), second rounder (18) and maybe even another second rounder if we trade aggressively. Depending on the way results go for the year and who finishes where with x wins, we could potentially be looking at 4 picks in the first 20, and possibly 5 in the top 30 (in a draft that said to be pretty good). We could quite easily pick up a very good mid-fielder with our possible 2nd 1st round pick. I guess what i'm trying to say is, i am rather keen on Hurley. Hurley for MFC president!!!

If we are able to get 25,000 members, it would be a decent tally given the horrible pre-season and first few rounds. 26K+ would be a phenominal effort IMO.

More like netball skirts. Apologies to all those women who play netball. Even you have more heart than these blokes

Another AFL member with club support here too. Also direct member of the footy club with reserved seats in M16 (great seats). A total of 3 members in our household (other 2 same as me).

Too right. Jones has gone leaps and bounds ahead of McLean. If he ain't careful, McLean could be looking at a decent stint in the Sandy side.

That's what i'm heading down for. To see a team atleast be competitive. Hell, we get that in bucketloads at Sandy.

Twice in the 2nd quarter yesterday on the GSS wing, Junior kicked the ball to Garland and he just waited for the ball to come to him. This happened right in front of where i was sitting. James told him to present and to meet the ball. A WB player came from behind and knocked it away. Then seconds later, junior kicked it again to Garland (virtually in the same spot) and it happened again. The members in our area were very frustrated and let him know about it. (Junior was furious) Garland just waved his hand and jogged away. Both times it was a pathetic attempt. If he does not want to play AFL footy with the right mind in place, send him back to the Sandy reserves to force him to work his way back into the team. By then he would atleast be a little more aggressive. I know everyone else was pretty pathetic yesterday, but those 2 identical incidents within the space of 20 seconds are unforgivable.

I know you said don't ask Dee Man, but i cannot resist. Assuming that your screening is correct, and also assuming that Sylvia is the only Melbourne player to kick a goal (or score for that matter) during the game......... it would mean that the Bulldogs would still have to kick atleast 34 goals to beat us by 104 points after we score at worst, a minimum of 97 points. Now i'm not saying that this advanced screening is wrong, and i do not doubt your abilities to see into the future, but i just can't see it. Again i don't doubt what you are saying, i'm just a little perplexed is all.

And all hope of Sylvia fulfilling his potential goes out the window just like that!!!

Franklin love's himself to death, he's the best young talent in the AFL and he knows it. Atleast he doesn't feel sorry for himself, unlike the majority of our list. Arrogance comes from extreme confidence and huge self-belief. Something none of our players come within light-years of.

Well we're going to have to win one eventually this year, so Y_M will have a strike rate greater than 0 one would think!............One would hope

I thought that if a team wins 8 or less games in 2 years, they receive a priority pick before the first round. If we were to win 4 games this year, we'd get a priority pick after the first round. We won't need to tank this year, we are unfortunately going to be that bad this year that we will probably get a priority pick anyway. (whether that be before or after the first round). one of Naitanui, Hurley and Rich would good, the thought of 2 would be even better. But lets stay in our seats, it's only round 1.

I feel sorry for our backline, especially Carrol and i applaud his efforts for keeping Franklin to only 6 goals, who is superior in size, strength and speed. They just couldn't stop what was coming down to them, no backline could. Our mid-field was woeful in manning up, our HF line even worse when trying to apply some pressure. It took the likes of our 33 year old FF and Juice to try and chase. Bailey is new, his game plan will take time, he is in it for the long haul, we as supporters need to be too. Melbourne will be down the bottom end of the ladder for a coule of years unfortunately. A quick rise up the ladder will just result in a mediocre effort of making the semi's at best. We need to get more kids into the club and continue to do so. As supporters we need to keep turning up to games to ensure that the club is around for such a time that it is able to again rise up the ladder. Hawthorn were on the bottom for atleast 3 years, now look at them, they will be premiership contenders for atleast the next 5 years. For ultimate success, we need to face facts and see it like it actually is. Please don't lose the faith melbourne fans, a premiership will eventually come to the MFC, it has to! All droughts are made to be broken. Stick by the club, even moreso in the lowest of times, and that eventual premiership will taste even more sweeter. I am young, a mere 20 and my patience no doubt will be greater than many on here who have waited for more than double my lifetime. Stick by the club, our survival very much depends on it.

This is such an easy choice for mine. I would prefer Judd to get 35 possessions a game, and the Blues to still finish on the bottom. That way, all the supporters and all of Carlton finally realise that even with Judd, they are still [censored]. Thus eliminating any hope of finals appearances for a very long time. If Carlton were to finish last with Judd out with a knee injury, there would be excuses created from that rabble of a club, giving hope to the supporters that with Judd they would be good. And whilst this false sense of hope would be good to watch, the fact that everyone at Carlton realising that they are doomed forever would be all the more satisfying.

and you wonder why the MFC is not making more of a profit. I know it's a little malfunction, but it still cost $. A couple of years ago, both my dad, brother and I were on the mailing list 3 times because of different ways to spell our surname. We contacted the membership department to sort this out, yet for another 3 or so years they continued to do it. So far this season we have only received one each, so hopefully they have fixed the problem. But it ain't hard to see how we don't make as much money as we could, with issues such as this.

Well then, in order to stop Mr Chins from getting his grubby hands on our project, we need to instill into the Chinese, that Colling$#@% are filth. If we get them believing this, then they are well on their way to being true Melbourne supporters.

Opening ceremony......... i'd prefer to watch the Blues vs Freo game in Africa. Hopefully i will be coming home that night celebrating a fantastic Melbourne win. But as previously mentioned, the TV audience might be up a little. It will be on this elevated stage, that Juice will reveal himself to the country (if he already hasn't from his 10m leap over Neita), with a big haul of 10. Too bad Bruce will be in Beijing, as he's gonna miss something ssspeeeeeeecial

I know we don't look at the Wiz as kindly as we used to, but surely he would have gone close to capturing your imagination Y_M.