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Everyone down at the club as well as all the volunteers involved in the memberships drive/s deserve a round of applause. The job isn't over yet but 30k by April/May off a spoon season is fantastic work.

I'm with you on both of those. What strikes me about having the umps wired up though is I don't see how it could possibly be of benefit to them in doing their job. When you consider the amount of decisions they have to make and all the new rules they get every year we should be giving them every chance to focus on umpiring and nothing more. Notwithstanding that some of them do like the theatre of it all, I am pretty sure that before they were wired up they didn't spend half the time talking to players or explaining rulings or being politically correct and remembering every players name. To me it is an unecessary position to put them in to have to worry about what they say every second of a footy game when they could just focus their energy on the footy and only say what they have to say without giving explanations for the benefit of networks and loungeroom lizards.

I'm not phased by negative comments about the team/club in the media if they are expressed professionally and honestly without bias. What does annoy me is when we are not judged on merit (where applicable) and our brand is unecessarily damaged by people in the media who take opportunistic swipes. During a game, if we are bad who cares what they say as long as it is honest.

I have to agree with the OP. Our players (not just in defence) are playing pre-meditated football to the extreme where it is actually paralysing our players and keeping them flat footed. Especially up forward when we have a defender under pressure we are holding off either too long or too far back, either way we don't give ourselves any hope of tackling and we do indeed let opposition players out of trouble unecessarily. Holding off is a tactic, where used correctly can be advantageous but we are not applying it properly and it is killing us.

That is certainly the root of many a problem we have atm. I thinks Morton's development lies in more than just the other players though. At this point in time he simply doesn't have the body to perform the way his minds wants it to. I watched some of the clips of him for WA and he had spring in his step and his disposal was more fluent. At AFL level he looks to have the weight of the world on his sholders in the way he moves. One positive thing to me in the way he plays is that even if he takes a while to spot a player or get his kick away it is apparent that his focus is hitting a target. I am not saying that he always does but it is good to see a youngster who places emphasis on that no matter what position he is in. He just has to get stronger and quicker.

I don't think we were smashed. We were beaten easily in all the other games but I think Geelong beat us by about 5 or 6 goals which (given where we were at) wasn't too bad. Maric definitely looked good in that game too.

Maybe it was a pre-season game, either that or have had 1 too many amber ales. There was definitely a youngster who was hitting up targets against the cats early in the year who stood out. Perhaps it was Aussie but you'd think I could differentiate the two - oh well. ___________________ Edit: pretty sure now it was a NAB cup game: Saturday 16 February, 2008 where we didn't lose by that much. Either way it isn't really important just a nostalgia reference really.

IIRC Maric was one of our better players when we played Geelong last year at Skilled as well. I think we all want to see Maric run out for the Dees Y_M.

Indeed this is the crux of it and whilst you have pationately made your point you have also outlined how trivial the whole thing was for the very reason you outlined. It is football. Football supporters boo for what ever reason. On this occasion some MFC supporters decided to assume a moral high ground to boo an opposition player for a perceived indiscretion. Ultimately he was wearing a different guernsey. The whole thing was one of many infantile things that happens at a game of football every week. Was it silly and unecessary - yes, was it in "poor taste" - no because it didn't have any meaning. Did anyone get hurt? - no. When those supporters left the game were they still thinking about Bock and what they assumed him to have done? - of course not, the game was over and they just wanted to go home. Once you understand how trivial this was it is a non event. If some or many MFC supporters decided to yell out gutter trash stuff to put a player off then that may be a slightly different issue IMO. There is a difference between lowering yourself morally and making an ignoramous of yourself at the footy.

Notwithstanding the cognitive and psychological aspects which I don't really know about, I beleive this is one of the best sumamtions of Newton I have read to date. In my post in a different thread I echoed a similar sentiment where he roams around the forward line without really earning his pay cheque. Even if some of the others have a down day, they are still part of the group process and earn their keep simply by making contests and trying for the team. It sounds harsh but when Newton is on the ground I feel like we have a team of 17 out there plus one extra doing his own thing. "Social Loafer" sounds like a generic term but seems quite applicable here. The part where I am not so much convinced is why he is this type of player. Is it arrogance, lack of confidence, lack of smarts, sense of alienation, or is it just the old fashioned reason that he simply doesn't put in? If you take any of these factors into account it means that unless he kicks a goal or two then he isn't really relevant to any aspects of team process so when he misses them from 5 - 10 meters out I am struggling to come up with a reason why he gets a game (regardless of injuries).

No doubt that for a light framed kid he certainly puts himself amongst it and to get 19 games under his belt as an 18 year old last year was good for/by him. His attack on the ball will improve over time and hopefully this will lead to more contested possessions and tackles as well. At 191 cm you don't expect a 19 year old to weave in and out of trafic like a gun mid but my question mark over him is his speed of disposal. His body mechanics are very slow. He is slow at sidestepping players or getting out of trouble at times and this is compounded with being slow at dishing off handballs or kicks. He should improve over time with respect to making space and eluding tacklers but disposal is harder to iron out. Part of this is leg and arm strength ie you can put more power into your passes (with less wind up time) if you are strong and just drill it off 1 step which is fine. Another part of it though is just his style of kicking, it is gangly and slow - hence his obvious preference to make space by running prior to kicking. Without pressure he is a fantastic kick. Under pressure he loses composure, not because he is "scared" or makes bad decisions but he knows his own style and that it takes a while for him to get a kick off the way he wants. As a result urgency often creeps in. I have no doubt that in his head he knows what he wants to do, he was good at it at junior level. There is a difference between theory and practice at AFL level if you don't have fluent movement however. Last year we saw a young kid who learnt a lot about the game and played well on his terms but as this season goes on he needs to be instructed on how to play on the necesarry terms. This means incorporating body development and faster body mechanics - it won't happen over night though. That post by 'DangerousDemon' is also food for thought but way out of my league. Perhaps there is a connection there. On thing I would love to know is how did Morton play in the juniors prior to being drafted with regards to his psychological approach but more so his speed of disposal. I suspect that there isn't much difference in how he played except for a little more time to do the things he wanted. I do agree with the psychological angle as far as that Morton definitely likes playing his best footy in a comfort zone but he is only 19 so we'll have to give him a chance to work on this. I suspect that as he gets stronger and hopefully a little quicker his confidence within most situations will grow.

I thought the booing was unnecessary and bordering on poor form but "poor taste" is a little excessive in description IMO. I understand Craig's sentiment to a degree and it was right after the game so I won't pick him for his choice of words. Steven Trigg on the other hand echoed the exact same words later and I find it a little bit over the top tbh. Yelling out vulgar language is in poor taste, or words to the effect (by Pies supporters) to Ablett "your daddy's a killer" is grossly poor taste. We on the other hand had a few footy fans vent their dissatisfaction for whatever misguided reason and decided to use the universally adopted means since the dawn of time to simply "boo". Big deal. The Adelaide footy club is in many ways a benchmark club from the position of professionalism on and off field but if they wish to idealise themselves in a different light outright then they need to wake up and smell the coffee. They aren't squeaky clean like they would like to think themselves and perhaps the booing was an unwelcome reality check as much as it was unnecessary. Using a term like "poor taste" suggests to me a club that was taken out of it's comfort zone of feeling all good and prosperous and perhaps became a little precious.

This is the exact reason why Newton has to be assessed from the point of view of what we get out of him for what he is entrusted to do. Given the conditions of the game, Goodwin was always going to be a key player for the Crows. In a different thread I earmarked him as tagger worthy before the game yet Bate had to battle it out with him. Newton on the other hand had a slower defender to work off. Bate and Miller are not immune to bad games but the point here is that they earn their money (to a degree) by at least providing a contest and more often than not are the hard workers and key targets. In many games Newton is given the extra forward role where he strolls around without the same accountability of the other forwards due to being less experienced. Yes, Bate had a bad game but he isn't being used as well as possible or getting the support he needs. Newton is in most games inconsequential and his main avenue to having a purpose is if he is lucky enough if the ball falls in his lap and he can slot one or two. To say that his two miss-goals from 5-10 out killed us is an understatement. If he can't capitalise on such a small semblance of an opportunity to contriubute to the team then he is rightly in trouble. The thing to remember with Newton is that most of his opportunities are off the back of other players down the field or the other forwards who get most attention from the defenders and have to work harder. Bate (usually) is a very hard worker and earns his kicks like Miller, Newton more so only stands out with the spoils of this and missing those goals like he did reduces him to being irrelevant to our cause and kills the players who work their ass off to create those opportunities he gets.

Thank god for that. Missing not 1 but 2 shots at goal from 5 - 10 meters out (when you contribute hardly anything else) relegates a player to having no purpose what so ever - he kills us more often than not. Miller and Bate provided contests at least and I'm pretty sure that neither of them would have missed from where Newton was shooting from.

Bartram should play a very important role in this game IMO. Maybe not on Thompson but if he can blanket a senior Crows player then that could be pivotal. Our mids should go ok at the centre bounce against the Crows youngsters but as Bailey said their drive is off half back. It seems unconventional to tag a half back but if Bartram (or other) did the job on Goodwin it would hurt the Crows massively. Goodwin is still racking up massive possesions and is the starting point to many of their drives forward. I am expecting Meesen to play an important role as well in the centre if we use the corridore a fair bit. Jetta is probably due for a rest more than anything but these games Bailey is giving him are pretty important for the big picture so even if he only mildly improves they are games that he has to have. I'm looking forward to seeing Maric as well but it is only round 5 and there is a process here so be patient.

In relation to this issue, does anyone know how long Whelan is contracted 'till?

When did Pavlich ever play in Victoria?

BEST SONG EVER!

Yep I agree. Of course the Tigers were ordinary and we weren't exactly on fire but the way the younger players came together and fought for the win was a massive step forward IMO. We also had many efficient passages of play from the back line to the forward line. Not just the experienced players were missed either, we couldn't pick from Aussie, Grimes, Garland or Buckley either so I think we should pay a bit of credit here to the young brigade that stood up. Losing Green early meant only 3 on the bench so the players had to really put in and they did. Regardless of how we evaluate the win (based on the opposition) the players thoroughly deserved it.

Biff, If he had kicked a few more today he would have been rather damaging for us. The mere fact that he only kicked 2 for us with the opportunities presented meant that he was slightly on the other side of the ledger IMO. We had a similar stanza of footy against the Hawks in that pre-season game where we kept pushing when under the pump and Newton killed us. Today we got over the line and Juice slotted one on the run after a Richmond mistake (lucky). As far as your point about him being on the list goes I can understand also that we needed some insurance with Newton but I doubt he will ever transcend that status unfortunately. RB

The best thing about today was that we were mentally strong for 4 quarters (apart from losing legs at the end). Bailey primed the boys well for this game. As well as being a confidence booster to the younger players it is evident that we have a coach who the players are beginning to respond to out on the park. Another added bonus with today's win is that (by our recent standards) it is reasonably early in the season so this will do our membership tally no harm at all.

If Richmond win today would Wallace feel sorry for us?

Ironically earlier in the show they were lauding the playing ability of Dangerfield for Adelaide and he was in the exact same situation as Watts (last year when he did year 12 in Melbourne). I realise Dangerfield wasn't "the" #1 draft pick like Watts but he was still Adelaide's first pick at pick 10 in 2007 so still an important player. Of course, many of the nuffys in the media don't realise these things they just comment on impulse most of the time.

Very well argued. I have no idea of the impending talent out there with regards to this years draft - in fact just talking about it (in April) will probably give me a head ache. All I'll say on the matter at this point in time is that our priorities must rest on at least 1 gun inside mid with pace, skills etc and a more than capable tall forward as a 2nd option to Watts - as another poster stated, agility will be important. We have Jurrah but we quite simply have to treat him as a project player (as Bailey referred to him) so high expectations at this time are pointless. No doubt the closer we get to the draft this year we will all have some insight as to who the best prospects are.

Firstly, we are not Geelong. Secondly, the fact they only had one main tall forward option was not by their choice. They are continually developing Hawkins and Lonergan to be alternative options for the long term. It is called playing the percentages and it is also about redundancy in case you cop key injuries. Thirdly, your midfield is going to have off days and there is no substitue for quality and (tall) options up forward to get you over the line in games throughout the season. Forthly, you don't put all the pressure on one tall forward especially if they are young. It is no good for them and it makes your attack too predictable. Fifth, having multiple tall options stretches the oppositions defence - they may have one quality medium/tall defender but do they have two? If you have the option to make your forward line as dangerous as it can be then you do it.