Jonathan Steffanoni

It's true, and I tend to think that turning up to a game of football isn't too heavy a burden if you really care about the club.

Our Melbourne Football Club is perceived as being weak, a perception which accurately reflects the reality of our current situation. I was at the cricket ground on Saturday night, and it hurt deeply as a member, it hurt deeply as a supporter, it really did cut deep. I felt frustrated, angry and then even apathetic. The thought of tossing my membership card out onto the turf briefly crossed my mind, but then there was something which stopped me. Deep down something told me that this was the kind of attitude which made our club weak. Its the attitude which some call the curse of Norm Smiths sacking, and its the perception that we head to the snow in July, the reality that our players chose not to gut run to make space, the reality that there were 85% Essendon fans at the game at our home ground. On the field, as soon as the game started to turn against us the players seemed to abandon the club too. The curse of Norm Smiths sacking is the curse of withdrawing support when challenged with a difficult situation and it has permeated the supporters, the administration and the playing group. We often feel that we are powerless as members and supporters, resorting to expressing our frustration and anger with calls to change this or that in the hope that it will turn things around. There are even those who openly withdraw their support for the club. While it may be a way to blow of some steam, and even a noble effort to do something about the situation, I believe that this kind of attitude amongst the supporters is the very manifestation of the culture which we need to change if the club is to succeed. Can we not see the forest but for the trees? If the club is to change then it needs to start with us. Supporters and members of our football club are not impotent. We have to power to provide the support that the players and administrators are crying out for. As supporters we need to commit to our part in supporting the club. If there was ever a time where we are able to cast out the ghosts of Norm Smiths sacking, to be part of the change which we all want to see in the club then that time is now. Stand Up as a Club If you have posted here on-line that youre walking away from the club, please reconsider simply logging back on and stating your support for the club. Its not hard but its a significant step in our collective psyche. We are up against the Eagles this Saturday, and the most likely thing that will happen is that a small but loyal group of fans will be there, but there will be droves of supporters who have decided to spend their time doing something less difficult, maybe checking the scores, maybe not even bothering. I guarantee this, if we could get 60K Melbourne supporters at the game next week in a show of solidarity I guarantee we will see a definite change in the team. They will see that they are supported, that we care, that we are in it with them, that we are committed. We have the power as supporters to do this. We can actually do something. Speak to another supporter and say Hey, we need to get behind the club, come with me to the game on Saturday. Its not really that hard, but this is how change happens, stop blaming others and start doing what we do have the power to do. It's what Norm Smith would do, it's what Jim Stynes would do, it's what we should do. Stand Up.

More than ever.

So the All Blacks did end up taking the cup in 2011. Nice to get some closure on this thread. Sometimes it's better to look the other way...

I've failed many times and in many ways in life and football but there's so much that we can learn by understanding how we respond to failure. Failure in football is more than just losing matches. What we saw on the weekend was failure, not simply a loss. In today's game there is so much time and effort invested by clubs in ensuring that the skills, strategies, fitness, strength and composition of teams that one could be forgiven for thinking that these are the things which will lead to success if executed better than the opposition on any given day. The reality of the AFL is that all of these aspects of a team's preparation are more or less consistent with each other, being at the elite level. The small differences between teams may see teams lose by a goal or two, or even five. Results like that which we saw are caused by a deficiency in something else. Mark Neeld and Captain Jack Grimes were both shocked at the result on the weekend, but maybe this is because they failed to understand what the critical elements of success in this game are. Confidence & Resolve Successful teams generally win games because they have either superior confidence than the opposition, because they are more resolute or both. Confidence affects the offensive aspects of the game, whereby a confident player will swiftly position themselves in an attacking position when in possession, or move the fall swiftly to such a position. On the other side a team lacking in confidence will hesitate when in possession, both in disposal and positioning. Confidence is somewhat fleeting, and can not be artificially imposed on players or teams, it comes from real outcomes. We often see this as scoreboard pressure - when victory is within reach confidence swells quickly, this causes momentum. The opposite of this is also true, making confidence an element of our game which leaders needs to understand but can't actually control. Resolve concerns the game where the opposition have the ball or the ball is in dispute. A resolved individual will be determined and disciplined in attacking a loose ball, tackling, chasing an opponent or lunging for a smother. If a team's resolve is greater than the opposition, it will accumulate to stifle confidence, and possibly even break their resolve. Once resolve is broken a football team fails, as we did on the weekend. Unlike confidence though, resolve can be developed within a team by its leaders, and this is the role that our coach and captains have at hand. What makes this difficult is that the triggers or stimuli for resolve in individuals differ. Some people respond to criticism and failure with resolve, others respond to encouragement with resolve. It's the old you can do it/you can't do it response. Our leaders should know which kind of approach to take to develop this resolve with every player at the club. Ruthless condemnation to those who will respond to it with resolve, and reinforcement of the strengths which they can do well for those who will respond to this. They then need to apply this personally and as a team with vigour. This is the job of a leader. What our club needs at the moment is not changes in personnel, we've seen first hand this is not the answer to questions of success or failure. Our club needs to develop leaders who genuinely understand what's required, and are motivated to impress this, to demand this resolve from the team. I hope that what happened last week was the wake up call that the team needed, but it needs to be used to develop resolve by our leaders. I'd love to see the same team run out this week with resolve which leads to confidence, success and then, maybe, victory.

Liam's priorities in life are different to those of most of the players at the club. Not right or wrong, just different and I respect him for this. A brilliant talent, who will be missed. I wish him all the best. I wonder what impact Jim's departure has really had on the club.

On Saturday night we saw glimpses of this confidence and belief which we need. I think it came about because of a few different things: i) We beat them last year with pretty much the same team; ii) Our defence held up early (and they wasted some opportunities), keeping us in the game. As time ticked by, the players would have started to think "Hey, we can actually win this"; iii) The criticism that we've copped over the last few weeks will have stripped back any illusions that results would come without hard work. It shows that at the centre of a winning team is the intangible spirit amongst the playing group, our strategy was nothing special, and the team was pretty much the same as that against the Swans. We really wanted the victory, and we took it! Let's build on this. We can do it.

I think that Mark Neeld does believe, but the playing group does not. Malthouse aluded to this when he recently said players needed love. Working them hard and tough is the first step, which I believe has been done well. The second step of installing confidence is where we have fallen over. The blame falls on the players as much as the coaching staff. The remedy is to be found from within, not externally. It is as simple as that, the darkest hour is just before dawn. While we can't see the light now, somebody will stand up, a few will follow, then we will click. The players are hurting now, we are all hurting. It takes a leader to stand up like Neita's hit on NcCabe and goal. The opportunity is there for whoever is willing to take it.

I think that the players need to get this message, and it should be delivered by somebody who the players respect. I'm not the only one who knows this, I believe Mark Neeld knows it. All true champions know this in every field or pursuit.I think he may be struggling to get this message digested by the playing group.

While I understand the frustration of it all, I think it's an easy way out to say that we need to recruit such and such, or de-list these players... The reality of it is that we will have a playing list which is not dissimilar to this year's, and this year's isn't that different to last years. Our malaise is psychological just as much as Geelong's recent success largely comes down to similar intangibles. The club and players need to be honest about this before we can start to turn the corner.

Something is seriously wrong at our Melbourne Football Club. We have slumped to one of our lowest points, and I don't need to provide the detail as to where we're at, it's plain and obvious for all to see. What's most troubling is the uneasy quiet of concession by members and supporters that we no longer even care to feel the hurt any more. This spells very dangerous times for the club. In such a position, we tend to seek answers as to what's missing, or what we can do to turn things around. Is it the coaching staff? Is it the players? Is it our foot skills? Decisions making? Willingness to run? Is it the administration? Is it the strategy? Is it the recruiting? What can we change?... The reality is that like all AFL clubs, we have a capable administration, playing list and coaching staff. Capability doesn't bring success, nor does it even bring competitiveness. I love Australian Rules Football because it is not just by measurable and definite qualities that can ensure success, as success comes to those who believe that it is theirs to take, and that they can take it. The MFC lacks confident self belief. The players don't believe that they can win. The supporters don't believe that we can win. The coaching staff must be beginning to have doubts. The administration must also be doubting our ability to win. The thing about confident self belief is that it holds a very strong inertia. It's contagious and self affirming. It feeds on itself, with success breeding confident self belief, and confident self belief breeding success. It's distinct from false or extrinsic belief, it can't be learned. It must be boldly asserted. It's elusive yet real, I know myself playing that I could do amazing things when confident, and the opposite true when I wasn't. The other side of the equation holds equally true. The lack of confident self belief ensures failure, which in turn compounds the lack of self belief. Like any unsuccessful person or organisation, this is the condition we find ourselves in. We often look to the wrong things to resolve this condition. Changes to the personnel (be it playing, coaching or administration) are not an effective remedy to the condition, as there is never a complete turnover of personnel. Every MFC player that runs out shares a common thread of Red & Blue with every player who has played. There's a large part of last week's team in every round. It's been that way for 154 years. Even if there were a wholesale change in personnel, the condition exists in the entity of the club itself through the image it has in the mind of the general public. We can't dig ourselves out of this hole by changing personnel, so let's just kill that idea here and now. How can we develop confident belief? Here's a positive. Confident self belief is contagious, so once we start to develop it, the inertia of it can help it to feed itself. The difficult part is finding out where it comes from at such a low point. This is something which can't be forced, but may be taken by any true leaders at the club (whoever they may be), and then slowly transferred. There is an opportunity for every player on our list to simply become great by starting to lead. There's nothing formal about leadership, it's open to all. Where and when this spark will come I don't know, but a good starting point is an awareness of this. Every player and official at the club needs to know that they are capable, that they do have the ability to win a premiership, all they need to do is just assert it, because success is there for the taking, but only for those who are prepared to take it. Who will stand up?

July 30th, 2011. We journeyed down to Kardinia Park to take on the GFC in the middle of winter with a team which had shown some signs of promise. We seemed to be developing as a team which was headed in the right direction, regardless of the inconsistency from week to week. We turned up at Kardinia Park feeling as though we didn't really want to be there, as we didn't believe we could win. I felt that the match was something which we needed to survive through and then move on to next week. This attitude and a ruthless GFC team saw us torn to shreds, not only on the scoreboard but the loss ripped the fabric of the club apart and took a part of our dignity. As we all know, Dean Bailey was sacked as the club tried to deal with it, but in reality we haven't been the same club since and we haven't fully gotten over it. There's been an painful darkness lurking in the corners of our collective MFC psyche since that day. There is only one way that the club can deal with what happened on that day last year, and sacking Dean Bailey or any other off field measures are completely insufficient. We need to go back to Kardinia Park and retrieve our dignity. It wont come easily, but must be torn back from Geelong, we must fight to take it back, and we must win to take it back. We must be ruthless in attacking every contest with absolute and brutal desperation. We must gut run from start to finish. We must treat every goal not with joyous celebration but with a sober resolve to bounce the ball and do it again. We need to punish Geelong every time they make a mistake or hesitate. This weekend is our opportunity to cast out the darkness, and we need to approach it head on, without compromise or excuse. Let's go to Kardinia Park, and let's fight to win our dignity back. Let's go to Kardinia Park together.

Pity a spine didn't nominate for the draft last year.