praha

Bravo!

It's not anyway near as bad as GF 2000 for me (it being the first year I'd seen Melbourne being real successful), but today has to be one of, if not the, most disappointing days. We all had the optimism and excitement for the future, but today was just a shot in the gut. Not angry, just disappointed. They let a lot of people down today. This was not what any of us had expected.

I think that quite a few Melbourne fans were optimistic about this season. I was one of them. I was hoping for a 6-8 win season, but I'm very disappointed by today. They were dispicable. If this club wants to be coupled with the Fremantle's and the Richmond's for the next decade, then so be it. Because after today's performance, it's quite obvious we haven't improved as much as we though we had. The issues that have plagued us for the past 3 seasons still remain. They haven't been rectified in the slightest. I think we are still another 2-3 years off a finals appearance to be honest. I'd be surprised if we make the finals before 2013.

It's not? Just curious then: who takes charge of training sessions? Who decides what areas to focus on during training? The players? Isn't it the coaches responsibility to ensure the skill level is high? If we can't blame the coach for that, then what exactly is the purpose of having a coach? To look pretty?

I left at half-time. Few things I took note of: - The backline is under fair too much pressure. Why are Hawthorn mids running so freely into their forward 50? It's clear that Hawthorn are playing an aggressive attack with the lack of Franklin, so they are throwing everyone in there. It's worked. - 4-5 dropped marks without a Hawthorn player in sight. - No leadership from Bruce, Miller. - Scully has been OK - Dunn is done (pun intended in every way possible) - Handballing to players under pressure constantly, over and over again. - Terrible around the stoppages. Bailey has probably said that is one of the main areas we've had to work on over the pre-season about a million times. Clearly didn't work well enough. - Always a step behind.

Jonesy really has been great for us over the past 3 years. Never hangs his head, always dives straight through the pack. Not the best player going around, but has the dedication, which is encouraging considering he was a young player coming into a very poor side. He's kept his aggression up. Glad to hear this.

Yeah, my post was kind of a joke at first, but he had a pretty good game tonight. And yeah, I still love him too. I have a child with him.

Sorry to bump this, but I like laughing at my own stupidity. He is destroying Richmond atm, and has kicked a goal. How often did he kick a goal within the first 20 minutes for us?

Did I just read a few posts saying that was a good forward line? I threw up in my mouth a bit when I saw it. Would prefer Sylvia, Watts, Wonna and Jurrah in that forward line. If you've got Jamar at FF, you know you've got problems. I'm getting much more excited about our back-half and interchange.

I'm anticipating a 7-10 goal loss to be honest. As long as Scully and Trengove rip it up, and our younger players are in the best, I'll be happy.

I'm all for being optimistic, but really?

I'm surprised to even see Davey in there...

I'd say we're a pretty good chance to finish last again.

I think it's probably the best and most honest and on the mark season preview I've read thus far.

3-19 season, 0-6 to start. And we can't sack our coach because we just signed him to a 2 year contract. Woohoo for rewarding mediocrity.

I can sympathise with the article. I think we have been somewhat our own worst enemy. The hatred for Jack Watts might seem unjustified, but the amount we hyped the poor kid up in the days leading up to QB was pretty laughable. The intro before the game over the speakers was the final straw. We've talked the talked. It's just a matter of walking the walk. We've talked up our drafting skills and young players, neither of which has been proven a success yet. Wonna is a perfect example. He's played pretty much just one good game in his career, and to some on this board, he's a superstar. I'm a little more grounded. I started a thread about how over the top the handling of Watts was in 2009 in the week leading up to his first game, and I got flamed to hell and back. I'm not willing to talk about our young players and drafting until we're in the finals. Our PR department seems to think of it the other way. It might look good when the coach and people within the club come out saying it's time to perform, but it doesn't really help the young player's mindsets. If anything, it puts more pressure on them. Talking up something that is completely unproven is pretty reckless, especially from a club that's had no success in 40 years. We did it with Johnstone, we did it with Watts, then Jurrah. The latter two have anything but proven themselves as good players in a good, winning side, which, in my opinion, is the only time a player's worth can be truly judged. EDIT: Here we go. My thread from a few months back.

Fixed. B)

No Garland in best 22?

I disagree with you both. I think online forums, while in some instances can be a form of "social cancer", they are great environments for debate and discussion. Online communities do work - I've been a communication and community manager for a web-based publisher for three years now, and much of our success comes from our online forums. An online community, just like society in general, needs monitoring and authority. An individual might be fine, but a group of people can cause trouble. You need order and rules, as well as strong etiquette, none of which BigFooty seems to have. I visit another sports-based online community (Basketball Forums), which is US based, and it's a fantastic community. Why? Because it's monitored very, very well. I think the team here do a wonderful job, but that said, this isn't an overly populated community (compared to Basketball Forums, Big Footy etc.) If someone wants to come here and give thoughtful, mature and intelligent opinions, no matter how negative they may be, they have a right to. It's only when a handful of morons come along to provide nothing but negativity in the most immature and moronic ways that they ruin the community. It's no different to one or two morons in a classroom of 30 students. Or 1 or 2 bad eggs in a work environment of 30. This is a community, whether you like it or not, and it should go by the same basic fundamentals of what makes a community work in real life. Some of you might disagree with me on that, but I've seen online communities work very well, at my own hand. If you can implement the same rules and morals we use in life, an online community can work. BigFooty may have already dug itself a hole too deep though. EDIT: To add to this, I think AFL clubs should work a lot closer with some online forums. Much in the same way film studios and game publishers work with online communities. What it comes down to is we are a community of dedicated fans that give our own time and money to the club, and some people spend loads of money to get these communities up and running. The least clubs could do is support them.

JONES!!! Arghhh. Could have gone 7.0

Apparently Bailey did a shoulder now too. Was writing too hard on his note pad.

MILLER GOAL!

"FOUR OR FIVE POSSESSIONS IN A ROW FOR ADELAIDE!"

For these commentators to say Trengove is impressive must mean he is destroying it.

These commentators orgasm all over each other whenever the ball goes inside Adelaide's 50.