praha

lol @ "we are in real danger of winning this"

Couldn't go today - sick as a dog! Going to watch the game delayed on Channel 7.

The entire AFL is in the stone ages. No free agency is the biggest joke imo. If you have a decent salary cap and enforce strict minimum percentage salary cap restrictions, no one team would be out of favour (pending teams like Melbourne fix up their training venue debacles to attract free agents and re-sign players). It should be a lottery system. The bottom 8 teams are all entered into a lottery, with the lower based teams having a higher chance of winning. So if you finish 16th, you get 3000 balls in the lottery. 15th get 1000 balls, 14th get 900 balls, 13th get 800 balls and so on, so at least then 16th still has the best chance (by far) to get the No. 1 pick, but any other of the bottom 8 teams also have a chance. If you win less than 5 games over 2 years, you get two positions in the lottery, and the 9th placed team gets the 9th pick as opposed to the 8th.

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We won't beat both Richmond and Freo. We might not even beat one of them. I seriously think we have a better chance of beating Port than any of our remaining games. They are not an MCG team (nor is Freo, but they always play well against us on the G)

I don't think I've ever walked into a sports store and seen an extensive range of Melbourne gear. I always just put it down to have been sold out

One of the top teams will grab him. Can see him going to one of Collingwood, Bulldogs or Saints.

Can't believe we traded Travis for this hack.

Sylvia gets 3 weeks, yet Brennan gets 1 week for a headbutt? What a disgrace...

Let's just have a look at who we can beat in the following weeks. Port Fremantle North Richmond That's four of our remaining 7 games that are all very winable. So yes, if we want good picks, we cannot afford to win this week. I want to beat Fremantle if any of those teams. I have WC and Freo more than any other teams and absolutely love when we beat them.

Yet we seem to be the only team he plays well against.

We would be a -4 goal better team if Garland was playing. Warnock, Rivers and Grimes have held up so well. Our backline has been the surprise packet of our season I reckon. Granted, lots of goals kicked on us, but they've done a hell of a job considering the pressure. It's our midfield that has let them down.

Spencer is not a ruckman. That's pretty obvious when he goes up for a contest in the ruck. Jamar is good, but he needs to do a lot more around the ground. This is where Meeson comes who. PJ is a hack.

I thought they were consistent. Both teams got some horrendous calls against them. There have been worse games from the umps, but yesterday wasn't good.

Hmmm where were you sitting? I was right on the wing on the first level in the Southern Stand, could hear it fine. No problems at all.

My post was more about us overhyping the kid rather than whether or not he was ready. Actually, the latter wasn't even mentioned in my post. I just think they let him debut against Collingwood with a hidden agenda is all.

Am I the only one to think that the Melbourne Football Club's handling of Watts over the past 4 weeks has been anything but professional and in the best interests of the boy? I am really disappointed when I think (and strongly believe) that the only reason Watts debuted against Collingwood on Queens Birthday was to add another 5-10k fans on the gate. Furthermore, the lead-up and hype to that match, mainly by MFC personnel, was bordering embarrassing. Was the hype really warranted? No. Was it justified? No. Why? Because it was an 18 year-old kid, yet to debut and yet to prove his worth on the big stage. Why advertise him as the next best thing when he is yet to play a game? You only dig yourself a grave when you do that, leading yourself to embarrassment and criticism if the plan doesn't pan out like you expect it to. I'm not saying the kid doesn't have potential because he clearly does, but what would have been wrong with simply announcing his name like every other person when the teams were officially announced? No media briefing, no press conference. Just a normal call-up that happens week in, week out. Was it necessary to allow him access to the media for interviews? Was it necessary to feature him on the official website and [censored] the young kid to the media like as if he was Jesus? The answer to those questions is "NO!" Had he been announced normally without much hype, the media would have talked it up anyway. With the club talking it up as well though, there was major overkill. I know how some of you think. You believe that because he is the No. 1 pick and because he had pulling power, why not take advantage of it, right? But we're forgetting an important thing. He might be a professional athlete now, but he is just a kid. How is putting the weight of a 150 year-old club on the shoulders of a kid yet to prove himself a good thing? Granted, doing so is a great way of judging his character and true potential, but to say the whole fiasco leading up to the Collingwood match was overdone is a massive understatement. It made me cringe when the pre-match announcer actually used Watts as a way to hype up the 60,000+ crowd...while Watts was actually on the field warming up. When has that ever happened? Does it happen in Geelong with Ablett takes the field? Did it ever? Has it ever with any other club? I think this whole instance is clear of how absolutely desperate the club is at the moment. We, as supporters, really know so little. We might look at him as a messiah for the team that will lead it to success, but from a business stand-point, the club used the kid as a marketing ploy to bring some much-needed attention to the club - and it worked. I genuinely feel sorry the kid. This is a kid studying VCE (which, unlike some of you may think, IS important to some people) and is obviously dealing with things most 18 year-old kid deals with - puberty, girls and popularity. Throw the expectations of the worlds oldest sporting club, which is currently struggling terribly on and off the field, and you have a kid with way too much responsibility, only three matches into his career. Is that right? No it's not. You can put expectations on him, sure. But the weight of a club? Let's not be so naive to think that the club doesn't hold him to be the key to the future. That's fine if they do, but to advertise it as blatantly as they did over the past few weeks is just asking to be disappointed.

I believe his fibula broke through the skin, which is never any good. I broke my fibula in 2004 and I still get pain there every now and then.

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I guess we can assume it's prostate cancer or a tumor of some sort, both of which can be cured with surgery and the recovery is only 6-8 weeks.

Facilities is an issue. Worst in the AFL in 20 years. That effects the culture. There is no "home" for the players, so less bonding. People underestimate that. It effects injury management, team morale, bonding, dedication. There was no place the players could really call home, so less of a "team" feeling, so less dedication to the club and history. I don't think anyone could argue that we have had too few players who have played and just didn't care for the jumper. Look at Essendon. An outstanding culture there. Haven't moved and don't have to. Still deep within Essendon and the suburb, with a consistent "home" and great place for players to bond.

At the start of the 2007 season, an article on real footy actually had us as the best chance to bring the premiership cup back to Melbourne. Injuries and a departing Daniher ultimately ruined the season. It was always going to be the last year we were going to have a chance.

It's an article from a Melbourne supporter. I feel the same way. All of us do. I could have written the same article. I just want to see that from someone who isn't a Melbourne supporter. I don't need another supporter to tell me to "stick around". I'm going to do that anyway. I want someone who wouldn't normally give a crap tell us we're going in the right direction.

Yes. I am so sick of losing. I just need a win, because I can't see us winning any other games this year.