praha

We are on the right track, but there is still a very distinctive lingering of a lack of heart and passion for the jumper. That has been present for a while, and I don't think 2 wooden spoons in a row did much to turn the tide.

To be quite honest, I'll be really [censored] if we thrash a top-8 side in Adelaide because that'll show what this team is capable of, and yet we didn't show it last week. We shouldn't need a week of criticism to play well. That shouldn't initiate it. I'm just sick of this team playing insipid football and then essentially being told how they SHOULD be playing. It's happened countless times in the 20 years I've followed this club. Why can't we just play consistently? The last time we played consistent football was when we were consistently inconsistent with Neale Daniher.

As with most players that come to Melbourne, he has slowly waned into near non-relevance.

I personally think that Mick's opinion as to the ANZAC Day blockbuster being shared is quite the contrast to him saying Melbourne only get hyped up when they play against Collingwood. He is trying to heal old wounds. I'd say they are keen on each other.

Going by the logic of the OP, we should have been smashing teams in 2008 and 2009 because we had an old list and most of the teams we came up against we younger... Stupid argument. West Coast finished last in 2010. Last. Despite them being strong, older, taller and whatever else, they finished last. And yet, they absolutely destroyed us on Thursday night.

Melbourne missed out on a strong forward in the draft despite its great position? No way!?

I'm sorry :S I'm used to writing for a blog-like platform online, and we're encouraged to keep our paragraphs to 1-2 sentences for online publication. Demonland has a wide posting platform so it makes it look like really long sentences. Anyway, Demonland seems to be melting down because of the hype, like as if everyone expected us to be playing top-4 footy. Last night was terrible and the team is better than that, but I wasn't surprised by the performance.

Writing won't achieve anything. The only thing that turns the tide for a club is the media scalding. Supporter backlash means little these days. And I can assure you, the media will be out in full force.

Just before the start of the 2010 season, my dad, a long time Melbourne supporter, told me we'd push for the top 8. I thought he was delusional. He was. We were never a top 8 side in 2010, and we're still not. But my dads opinion defines this club's supporter base; neglected and void of success. This mentality drives delusion. But that delusional is driven by human nature: if something goes one way, it must also be able to go the other. Everything is up and down, and nothing is consistently and perfectly one way. That is a very common rule in the universe: NOTHING is perfect. So, therefore, Melbourne cannot be perfectly crap forever. After so long being irrelevant, Melbourne fans finally see a club with direction: a new logo, new direction, new team, new jumper, new brand. It suddenly seems like we have worth again. So, if we finish with 2 wooden spoons in 2 years, the complete opposite must be 2 flags, right? If we're down for so long, we must eventually be up, right? Yes, that's right. It might not happen in 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, but eventually, the tide will turn and we will be back at the top. But this club's failures have driven a somewhat romantic affiliation from the general public. People seem to want to see Melbourne succeed. The media, its fans, and many neutral supporters. And so comes the hype. "They are so young!" "They are so talented!" "They will dominate this league!" It's sensationalism at its finest. Anyone that had Melbourne in their top 8 by seasons end didn't genuinely believe Melbourne would make the 8. They WANTED them to make the 8. That prediction is driven by heart, not by brain. This team is no certainty to make the 8. Who will they knock out? Carlton? Sydney? Bulldogs? Geelong? Fremantle? Adelaide? Collingwood? Hawthorn? Who will they beat for a top 8 spot? North? West Coast? Essendon? All of the above teams, on any given day as it stands, are probably better than Melbourne. So then I ask, why would people put a team, the 2008 AND 2009 wooden spooners, as well as a team that finished 10th (I think...) in 2010 in the top 8? What justification is there for that prediction? If we take a look at Hawthorn, they were down and out all of 2004, 2005 and 2006. For Melbourne, that period of rebuilding is 2009, 2010 and 2011. Always was and always will be. The club says a 5 year plan, and they mean it. A top 8 spot is aimed in 2011, but it is a complete and utter direct objective for 2012. Absolutely NO excuses. But what about 2008? Well, we were a team filled with veteran players from the Daniher era, players that didn't quite know how to win, and had all been part of consistently bad teams. That was not a rebuilding year. It was a culling year. I am confident Melbourne will still win 8-12 games this year, but I will not be surprised if they don't make the finals. Neither should any of you. The really, really troubling thing for me is that last year's wooden spooners, as well as a team like Essendon, both seem to be ahead of Melbourne when it comes to on-field progression. Then there's Richmond, who the scare the crap out of me. Their team also looks promising ( ) What is our excuse for letting them bypass us at this stage? West Coast currently looks like a team that could be fighting for 8th spot, whereas Essendon looks like a top 6 team. So, on one side I see progression: our best players last night probably all had played under 40 games. On the other side, I see teams with just as much experience improving in leaps and bounds. That's what troubles me. It also troubles me that our coach is saying we need to go "back to basics". At the end of it all, most Melbourne supporters will not be all that surprised by last night's game. I most certainly am not. That's because we have come to expect performances like that. I didn't expect the team to stand up, nor did I expect the team to win. I expected them to be intimidated, and shown up by a young, promising side. That's EXACTLY what happened. Melbourne's 3rd quarter against the Hawks and 1st quarter against the Eagles have be two of the most one-sided quarters of AFL football of the year, including any quarter Gold Coast has played this year. We were absolutely insipid. In 2008 we were dominated, but we at least had inside-50s and applied pressure where we could. This team of 2011 seems to completely switch off. That shows signs of a team not ready for finals action. So I am going to end this saying that I don't think Melbourne will be playing finals in 2011. And I'm not at all surprised that I think that a mere 6 weeks into the season. It is Melbourne I'm talking about, after all.

Eh, I won't "love" this club until they win a flag. 60s success means nothing to me, and I cringe whenever someone points to our "amazing history". In the big picture, we are an irrelevant club that has been highly unsuccessful over the years. I have passion for the club, no doubt, and it hurts to see them like this, but the ideals and direction of the club have always conflicted with my own opinions and mentality. I don't think there is enough energy, urgency, or passion within the club, but this defines us. The players can go on Twitter and say how much they're hurting all they like, but that equates to an excuse, which is insulting considering my dad has been at the club and been a member longer than anyone else currently there. Now, I look at our club and I see that all of our best players last night had under 50 games. That to me is awesome. But on the flip side, we were smashed by a team that is BEHIND us in terms of development, albeit AHEAD of us in terms of progression. This is another thing that defines this club. The Eagles know exactly how to win in this league. They know how to bounce back, and they do it often. Us? We look for excuses and "go back to basics". Basics? Why is an AFL club going back to "basics" when teams supposedly below it are dominating it everywhere on the field? The "basics" are what you teach little league.

We can all winge and complain about the coach, but we're forgetting one thing: This is Melbourne. This is the club that kept the most consistently inconsistent coach in Neale Daniher for 4 years too long. My dad has been following this club since the 60s, and he just can't see the club hiring anyone as high profile as Roos or Malthouse. It's not the club's style.

It seriously seems like teams come out particularly harder than usual at us. They know how easily we blow over.

Firstly, Twitter is tremendously underutilised on all fronts by most people, including the OP. It is a showcase of opinion, and is not actually meant to be used to tell people what you're doing. It's more a genuine portable discussion forum. It's awesome if you know how to use it. It allows you to make a quick, short statement, tag it, and get responses from complete randoms. If you don't feel like talking to people outside your scope, then I could understand how you wouldn't like it. Anyway, I assume the players will be rather diplomatic in their Tweets. Always have been most of the time. Although Colin Sylvia needs to go over high school English again. All of it.

I just want blood to run through this club. I want there to be passion. You'd think loses like this were behind us. Words mean nothing any more. Start playing for what you want. We need a Paul Roos and Mick Malthouse. We need one badly.

You mean the "wait for the opposition to settle and zone and then watch your teammates stand around before kicking it to a pack/where Jamar is"? Yeah, that's the only one they have.

The commentator said it well. You're not going to do well in this league with stats like that. That is a pitiful, really immature and somewhat intimidated performance. The club (not TEAM, because a TEAM changes, I am talking about the club as a whole) just does not have an urgency to win. It wants to, but it just sucks at the worst times. Absolutely pitiful. This team will not be better than us. And they are destroying us. Intimidating us.

Petterd should be playing.

Every team has the right to a rivalry and marque match per season. It happens in all the best leagues of the world, where lowly teams still have their own big games of the year. You don't have to earn anything. You just have to have an event to hold the match on, sort of like a marquee match, the only game on for the entire day (or at least until night). Good Friday would have been great for North. They're never get it.

lol @ "going to GWS ?"

I think Bailey's having of Watts as a sub has caused tension within the club.

Holy crap @ Bennett's punt.

To everyone criticising his nice guy persona, Bomber Thompson didn't have a stare down, and was normally very calm and laid back. To say you need to be a hard arse these day to win football is an utter joke.

1987, 1990, 1998. All years we very well should have won the flag. Adelaide winning in 1998 makes me want to punch a wall every time I think about it.

Agreed. I think only a premiership would save him imo.

Get out. Now.