RalphiusMaximus

My thoughts o the game: I think people are being a little harsh on Nev. The dropped mark was entirely on Howe. He charged in, blocked Nev's view of the ball and then completely failed to make contact. Nev did make a couple of bad disposal errors in the first half and i'm pretty sure he squibbed a contest he could have gotten a fist into, but he also did some very good things, and he let himself get crunched to cause a turnover that resulted in a goal which is always nice to see. I was very surprised at the high quality of some of Nicholson's kicks today. He made a few beautiful low trajectory passes that were pin-point accurate. Not at all what I would expect of him. He also took 7 marks, a great effort given it's not really a strength of his. I loved Dunn's game today. I was very surprised to see him standing McGuan given that he has been their primary target all year, but Dunn smashed him and hurt them running the other way. Great effort from him, and he's clearly much better suited to playing in the backline than as a tagger. It was very good to see Davey getting so involved. We've missed that beautiful delivery, and he had an impact on the scoreboard. The commentators said he last kicked 3 goals in a game in 2008. Great return for the Flash. Likewise Dawes was very handy leading our forward pack. As has been said, he wasn't hesitating in his leads, the kicks were floating and forcing him to stop and prop, giving his man time to catch up. Better kicking (as from Davey and Strauss) allowed him to take it at full pace and his man was unable to do anything to stop him. The inclusion of Jamar and Magner helped us enormously in the stoppages. Even if many of Jamar's taps fall too close and cause our mids to be tackled, it's better than a clear win to the opposition and a clearance to them. His physical presence at stoppages if vital while we get more games into Gawn. As others have said, how good are Terlich and M Jones? They have both cemented their spots in the side and shown exactly why we needed them. Terlich in particular is demanding the ball and delivering off half back, and he appears to be very nearly fearless. Jones showed a surprising burst of acceleration at times today to get a couple of meters of space when he looked like getting caught. Overall I was pretty happy with the game today. We fought for it, which is the first thing we ask every week. Every player on the ground gave it a go. Only two had no tackles, and they both impacted the game in other ways. As always it was our transition from HB to HF that killed us. We simply miss too many easy passes and take too many wrong options moving along the wing. Once we can get the team playing with more cohesion we should see these things becoming less of a factor and the scoreline becoming more competitive.

I have, and I just picked myself up and kept walking. Of course, when I sobered up the next day it wasn't fun... I have actually done pretty much exactly what Jimmy did playing soccer. I very nearly vomited it was so painful. Like him I couldn't stand on it and had to be helped off the field. Hopefully with the quality of medical treatment he has access to this will only keep him out for a few weeks, but it depends on how much damage he's done to himself.

6 - Dunn. Kept his man to two disposals for the game and kicked two goals while playing as full back. 5 - Terlich. Team high tackles, plenty of the ball and he's demanding it off half back and taking responsibility for setting up the play. 4 - Davey. A very welcome return to form from him. Could have had more goals had he been selfish in his play, and set up plenty of attacking moves with his precise kicking. 3 - Jamar. I know people will say he didn't do enough around the ground, but he had more hitouts than the entire opposition and that made a huge difference to our work in the middle. 2 - Magner. We've missed his hardness at stoppages. He makes a huge difference to our ability to get first chance at the ball. 1 - N Jones. As always, works hard all day through the middle. Had a hard time today, but he stuck to it and mostly broke even with Cotchin.

The doggies are in trouble in the near future. They're still being carried by the same senior group who are all close to retiring. They have one player in the mid-range age bracket who is worth the effort and their kids aren't that great barring Stringer. The loss of Harbrow and Ward really hurt them in that respect, given that they would both be in the mid-age bracket and starting to lead the club by now. Once their senior players turn over they have a pretty bleak outlook.

A bit harsh on Barry. He made a few bad mistakes, but he also nailed some really nice passes and got himself a goal. He wasn't a star, but it was a fair game for a player who's stepping up a level from the reserves.

Margin would have been less if we could take our set shots. Fitz was 1 goal 3 when I gave up. Plenty of others missed pretty easy shots too.

I'd love to see it happen.

Those of us who aren't misogynistic by nature? Just a thought. I heard similar things when the W-League appeared. Anyone who actually knows anything about the game understands just how good a move that was for Australian Soccer. Not only has it exposed our young developing players to professional training, aiding their development, but it has resulted far more quickly than anyone could have imagined, in a world class league in Australia. Our W-League is one of the strongest in the world, with serious international stars taking advantage of the timing to come and play down under during the northern hemisphere's off season and a massive pool of talented juniors who are being eyed off by other leagues every year. Compare that to our joke of an A-League, which can only attract semi-retired professionals from the big leagues. Obviously, the situation with the AFL is somewhat different due to the fact that we are pretty much the only place that plays it, but the benefits and possibilities of this still bring a smile to my face. Imagine if AWFL (or whatever they come to call them) games became regular curtain-raisers for the AFL. The interest is there to field teams, and with access to professional coaching and facilities the improvement would be frightening. I have no doubt that the game would be just as rough too (again look at women's soccer, particularly a few years ago when they still had the rule about using their arms to protect their breasts from impacts), although perhaps not quite as fast. I just can't see the bad in this.

My thoughts pretty much exactly.

I rather liked his breakdown of what Neeld told him. It sounds very much like what someone wrote on these boards a couple of days ago actually. Who was that again?

DeeVoted, I would take half of that trade I think. Daisy would be a great pickup, and it's possible that we might need to trade for him if Collingwood played hardball on his restricted FA status. I'd never consider trading Hogan after what we paid for him and how much he has shown already. I think it's worth bearing in mind that there is very little difference between our third round pick and the Pies' second or for that matter our second and their first. I wonder if they would agree to upgrading both of those picks for us as a sweetener if we gave up our (high) first round pick and a player? This again comes back to Neeld saying a few months ago that we are still one A grade mid short of what he wanted and we would target one in this year's trade period. I've always thought that remark was aimed at Thomas, and so far nothing has indicated otherwise. I wonder if the two have discussed it at any point and what it would cost us. I suspect we can pay pretty much anthing he asks. I am a little skeptical of the Prestia talk. Last year he was going to be coming back to play with the Bombers. Now we are one of the clubs being linked to him. We will have a better chance of trading for him given our picks, but I suspect the GC will ask a lot in return given he was a top 10 pick who is showing very good signs. I woudn't mind having him as another hard ball winner who can use it well. I guess we'll see.

Finally a match on TV I want to watch!

I feel for Jack Fitzpatrick. They guy has been in our best three weeks running at Casey and still not even a spot as an emergency in a side that's crying out for another tall forward.

Melbourne and the doggies have been very active in supporting Women's football, and as such have been chosen as the first two clubs to field women's teams in a one-off exhibition match to take place as a curtain-raiser to their Saturday night match in June. They held a draft which was basically taking turns to pick their squads. The nominees were the best players from the state leagues across Australia. 50 have been picked across the two sides. Personally, I think that this is a great move by the AFL, all part of the push to establish a professional national women's league. They could very easily have given this to two clubs who are flying and have a massive supporter base, but they have backed in the teams that have been supporting the women's game all along. I plan on being there early to watch both matches.

I largely agree with your write-up, but I'm not sure that the two toughest matches to pick can also be considered the biggest upsets if one side gets up. Surely if it's a massive upset then it should have been an easy game to predict (even incorrectly)? Personally, I am hoping (but not daring to pick) that the big upset will be a chastised and fired up Melbourne side going ape on an overconfident Richmond and pipping them in a low-scoring, hard tackling grindfest. Not THAT would be an upset!

My big concern with him is his kicking. I'll take the rest of the package. I think he shows a lot more than some of the guys who get a regular spot in the side and also can't kick.

I find this rather funny to be honest. We "need someone who can sell hope" do we? I'd rather have someone who is honest and tells us the truth. Neeld told us right from the start that the team was a shambles and it would take time to fix. He's not even halfway through his contract and people are calling for his head because it's turned out to be true. Before this season he said they weren't up to the standard he wants and there are still holes to fill in the list. He hasn't tried to sell us hope, he's sold us reality. The reality is that you don't fix a team as messed up as ours in one year. The reality is that if we sack him now we'll have another coach starting from scratch with another new message and we'll be a year and a half further back. The hope I hold onto is that Neeld is right and with time, fitness and experience these players will gel into a cohesive unit that can get the job done. I'm willing to back him for another year to see if he can make it happen.

That's not the worst side I've seen suggested on here. I don't think I'd have Barry in there just because he stands a good chance of being killed given the way the Richmond backs play, but the rest isn't terrible. At the very least you have some guys in there who will fight for everything and attack the ball.

He's a solid consistent B-grade midfielder. He does his job week in week out and we know we can rely on him with the ball in his hands. Hes a pretty good kick, a good runner and gives a contest. If he had a bit more pace and some x-factor with his skills he could be a potential A-grader, but as it is I think he is a very useful, consistent and solid performer without being a star. Happy to have him in the side.

When he was interviewed on SEN PJ said he was first approached by Demetriou to see if he would be interested in taking the job. They said that Demetriou merely suggested to the club that he would be a good fit, but we can all read the subtext there. Still, he's a very good administrator, the AFL love him and we clearly needed something to change. I have absolutely no problem with them pushing him on us right now.

I actually have no conceptual problem with our recruiting this time around. I do have a problem with who we got and how much we paid, but I can see the thinking behind it and it all makes sense. I maintain that we should have made a big play for Gumby before even considering Pedersen, and possibly even before moving on Dawes. We paid too much for both of those recruits, but the PTB decided that we needed them and went out and made it happen, which I respect hugely. Rodan we paid dirt for, so no issues. Byrnes was a freeby. Matt Jones and Terlich are both showing that they were good pickups and are doing well for the team. Viney is a monster in the making. Toumpas? We'll see in a year or so if he can get his head around the speed and ferocity of AFL. I do agree that we need tough, mongrel fighters in the club, but the lack there can't be put on Neeld. We had years of recruiting highly skilled players who can't handle physical pressure before he arrived, and we're still feeling the effects. He got rid of the ones he didn't think he could fix and is working on the rest. I think it's too soon to judge whether they can be rehabilitated.

I inherited Melbourne. Waaay back around 1960 or so, Melbourne tried to recruit my Dad. Sadly from my perspective, he turned them down. While I don't get to claim that my Dad played in a premiership for the Demons, I've grown up loving the club as if he had.

I'm generally an advocate for stability and avoiding knee-jerk reactions, but I think that we could probably use a president with a higher profile, both in terms of media and business communities. I'd love to get an Eddie or Kennett style president to get in there and throw their weight into the ring on our behalf. Someone with serious clout and the ability to use it to our advantage.

I got that impression as well. This fits in with other things we've heard about that time, of players cancelling time trials and not doing things in training that the coaches wanted them to do. If he thinks that it's better now, how bad was the feeling around the club then?

Jackson has been talking about how the early sacking of CS has cost the club and that we will be 1.5 million out this year. To sack Neeld would require paying out another contract with over a year to run on it, plus paying another coach to come in. It could well blow us out past the 3 million dollar mark. This if nothing else will see Neeld safe through this season.