praha

Really disappointing loss.

They aren't working hard enough to win. They don't want it. Smells like the Brisbane game. Winnable, but not enough drive to win.

How can they get space without any rotations off the bench? Doesn't make sense. No player accountability. They don't have the urgency to win.

Must. Convert. Miss this and it's game over. This is why Neeld recruited you Byrnes. EDIT: Urgh...

Ablett sore now too.

They simply cannot convert.

They have 3 down now. One on the bench. Still managing to run over this Melbourne side.

Urgh...

Come on Tappie, gotta convert.

Ball went in at waist height. Unbelievable.

"That should have been a free kick to Ablett." "Why wasn't that a free kick for Ablett?" "Now, Melbourne players are focusing too much on Ablett." "That's unbelievable. Why wasn't that a free kick for Ablett?" "They have to start paying Ablett some free kicks." etc etc

So I'm almost certain Tony Shaw is having an affair with Ablett. Either that or he has a massive man crush. Seriously, please shut up.

I wasn't alive in the '70s but everyone I know that was says this is arguably the worst Melbourne team they've seen, maybe even one of the worst AFL clubs of all time if you consider the room and flexibility the club has had to build a respectable squad. GC had 2 seasons and is looking finals bound in 2014, GWS might not be far behind with some of its talent. IMO next year won't be much better, even if the club does land a super awesome experienced coach with magic powers. Not expecting any more than 4-5 wins. TBH I just want a win against a decent side. While off finals yet.

Pa-lease! If the kid wants to go home, he can. Either way the club gets a nice return. I'm so sick of these kids going home because of "home sickness". Get real. I get that life is good in WA and Perth and Adelaide (hmm maybe), but you're at most a 5-hour flight home. Get over it. That said, I'm sure he'll stay. If he does leave, wow, that might be even lower than where the club is now. It would be perhaps the final tragic nail in the coffin. Bam. It would be the universe saying, "LOL Peter Jackson" and Hogan leaving and never looking back. Can't happen. Shouldn't happen. IMO Hogan is Melbourne's first big challenge of this new regime. Nothing is more important than signing someone like Hogan. This is the club Melbourne should be but hasn't been for 50 years. We could all have it wrong. Whether he intends to stay or not is actually quite irrelevant, because either way he'd do the same thing. He knows he'll be worth more after a good first season than if he signs a contract now.

DEAL!

Pederson's got pace. What he lacks is a football brain.

I still think Port is a considerably different situation. We don't see it here but they have a lot of backing from the football community in Adelaide and big support from the Port Adelaide football fraternity. It's a much better community and environment than the Melbourne Football Club atm, and in Melbourne, a city where AFL dominates, there's always a better option than the Demons. Harsh reality. He's playing his cards because ultimately he wants out of the basket case. Trengove and Boak at least had a 2004 flag to look back on as insurance that the club knows what it takes to win. Watts' career at Melbourne has been nothing short of awful, and not just in relation to his performance and development. The club has been a shambles from the moment he walked through the door, and there's been NO stability, and NO success in 50 years. Considerably different situation. He wants to know if the club has the balls and capacity to hire someone that knows what it takes to win. Boak and Trengove had the backing of the club. Watts has nothing to turn to because the club itself doesn't even know what it stands for. I appear to be far more apologetic to Watts than many others here. Open your eyes, guys.

When Grimes cost Melbourne a goal on Saturday when the game was up for grabs, I fell right off his bandwagon. Nothing made me more frustrated on Saturday than seeing our captains make the worst mistakes of anyone else in the side. It was a terrible display by our captains, and neither stood up when both were needed. The great thing about "average players, great captains" is that, even without the polish, they still contribute and stand up when needed. Maxwell is a good example. Very ordinary footballer, but has the patience and complacency to hit a target when under stress. Grimes' errors on Saturday were often under no pressure, direct passes that should have hit the target. They were either intercepted by a Giants player nearby that Grimes didn't see (poor vision), or his kick was smothered because the urgency was lacking (story of the day for the team). Trengove on the other hand is completely gone. Truly astounding how much pace he has lost. An indictment on the football department. Forget Watts: Trengove is now officially our most poorly developed player at the club. He's visibly REGRESSED. At least with Watts he's been consistently disappointing over 5 seasons.

Beat me to it. And Melbourne's falling off towards the end of the season in the mid-00s was certainly not exclusive to that year. They did it basically every year leading into the finals. We should have seen all of this coming. The club was never great at its height in the 00s. It was only ever "really good", and this always seemed to be enough.

I inquired about the History site. The club said they are currently redeveloping the site and an exciting new design coming soon.

inorite!?

Eagles having many a Premiership player on their list would have helped.

We tanked in 2008 because, in retrospective, the team was better than what it was outputting. If THAT team was a 3 or 4 win side, that team would destroy the current team.

Yesterday threw a spanner in the works. I need to work on how I can measure failure in the face of change. Thankfully with a sports club I have statistics to strengthen the analytical approach.

We'd have ended up with Viney anyway Clark may never play again. Hogan is great, however... ...our midfield. Scully, Brock, Moloney would make this team 4-5 wins better, EASY. What is the cost of revolutionary change -- erratic, immediate change -- for "sustained success"? With the vision of being a consistent finals side, the club has hit arguably its lowest point, will struggle to attract sponsor AND members next year, and may lose another $2-3 million in 2014. The logic was that the club needed to be completely turned over in order to go up. It's no more an assured direction towards success than a slow, refined shift towards sustainability. For what the club has given up, was it worth it? Melbourne has ended up with lots of potential, but has regressed. And further to Hogan, if I had a dollar for every superstar VFL player that's been on the club's list, I'd be a millionaire. I am still not convinced that Melbourne has come out better of losing Scully, or letting Brock and Moloney walk. Because the club gave up its heart -- and lost a potential star because of it -- for what has turned out to be a spectacular failure of an attempt to create sustained success. Peter Jackson is the last - very, very last - chance the club has to get it right. Every week the club appears to set new lows. Yesterday was lowest of the low. Can it get any lower? Gold Coast's biggest ever win next week. Bookmark it. For the love of God let this season end.