Adam The God

38 something

At least our seniors are playing good footy. Cant ask for everything. Watts wont play for another 4 weeks or so.

I just wonder if that's playing on his mind? He handles himself very well, so I doubt it has anyting to do with it, but it could be playing in his mind: I won't be playing until Round 11, so anything I do, I'll probably be playing for Casey next week. It would be a difficult position to be in. Maybe, I'm not giving him enough respect for his professional outlook?

I thought they cost us the game today.

I think we underestimate the importance of this facet of the game.

I think we need to use some creative thinking on this point. This year's the ideal opportunity to try some innovations. Sides with a chance of making the finals don't have this luxury.

20m. kicks to the back pocket are not innovative.....or effective(but better than Rivo's short pass to an opponent 25m. out, straight in front.)

Am I insanely obsessed with this failing in our tactics?

I don't agree it cost us the game. In fact, I think it's an area we've improved on, as we've also dramatically improved our offensive and defensive zones. That said, we still need to strengthen this area of our defense. Wheatley helps this, when he's in the side, because he can kick it so beautifully long and 50% it works, whereas previously without him it's more like 25%. But this year, we're at about 75-80% effective kick outs.

It's certainly cost us games in the past year, but I think we cost ourselves with simply misses (Miller's set shot from 40 out, directly in front was horrible) and clangers in the corridor. Having said that, our kicking was extremely accurate again, which was good to see.

Now that we're beginning to use the corridor more, if and when we turn it over, it's made all the worse by the fact that we've used the corridor. I know it's an understatement, but effectively, if you turn it over in the corridor, you give the opposition the corridor, but without any real defensive pressure. That kills us a lot and it did so on the weekend.

What do we have to do to get our supporters to the game. It was Saturday, the weather was good (albeit they did forecast rain) and the team was a chance after last week. I watched Jimmy look around the stands whilst waiting for the team to come out and I could feel his pain. Even after texting the members to come and they still don't turn up. It is frustrating for us who do turn up but what must it be like to Jimmy who has put his life on hold to build up the club. Against Hawthorn it is going to be worse. It is no good whingeing about the twilight game etc etc. The team need to know that they have support. They need to hear that support and if all they hear is a whimper well if the club gets to that precipice again we will all know why. Why does Collingwood still get its members to turn up despite it playing woeful football. We don't have to act like bogan scum members but some of us could learn a lesson in being passionate about our team and that means turn up whether it is a twilight game rain, hail or shine. JUST TURN UP.

Yeah, well said. We simply have too many fair weather supporters. Mind you there are tones of people that say they 'support' Melbourne, yet never come to games.

I don't think 2012 is too early to expect big things. Hawthorn proved anything is possible.

What do I desire? A Melbourne premiership.

Short term goals though...

* Honourable loses and four wins, therefore snaring the draft picks.

* Slowly continued improvement (particularly from those that haven't really shown enough- Bates, Sylvias and obviously the other younger guys).

* Continued financial gains and increased professionalism of the club from an off ground perspective.

Long term goals...

* By 2010, start challenging for the top 8.

* Come 2011, we should be looking to secure a top 8 spot and begin to think about the top 4.

* 2012 is the first year in our window (which could be as much as 5 years) and as a result we should be challenging for the big one.

I'm so disappointed I missed this! I was coaching and the game finished about 30 minutes later than it should have, so I rushed there and did well to only miss the first two minutes, but unfortunately I missed this. I didn't even know it'd happened. Very glad they did it though. Pity there wasn't a crowd in excess of 40,000 to participate in it.

SOMETHING IS HAPPENING HERE by Whispering Jack

One evening not all that long ago I was walking with a friend through the streets of our neighbourhood when we came upon a distinguished looking gentleman waiting for a relative to pick him up from a grandchild's school concert.

The man was Dr. Don Cordner, a member of Melbourne's great football family that dates back to the first decade of the 20th Century. A champion ruckman who played 166 games from 1941 to 1950, Don had done just about everything during his lifetime at Melbourne. He was a Brownlow Medallist (1946), a premiership captain (1948), a Victorian representative, an MFC Hall of Famer and Team of The Century Member and, later in life, he was president of the Melbourne Cricket Club (1985-92).

Don Cordner died on Wednesday morning at the age of 87 and today, the crowd at the MCG stood in silence for a minute before the Melbourne v Western Bulldogs game to honour his passing and his contribution to our great club and our great sport. After that, the twenty-two young men representing the football team he loved and wearing black armbands to remember him by put on a performance that might well be regarded in the future as a significant turning point in the fortunes of the Melbourne Football Club.

…

We stood talking under a streetlamp. The subject was our favourite football team, the one that his father, an uncle, he and three brothers and a nephew represented with great honour over a span of eight decades from 1903 when Harry Cordner played the first of his 11 games until 1987 when David Cordner played the last of his 53 games of an injury ravaged career with the club.

We discussed the Cordner dynasty and, in a way, you could feel that he rued the fact that it was now over. The father son rule would not assist any more even if there were some young budding Cordner champions about. But he was optimistic about the club's future and no doubt, he would have been tickled pink while he was still alive, that there was a symbolic reconciliation of the football and cricket clubs that he served with such distinction during his lifetime.

At the time we spoke, the Demons were going through a rough trot and playing some insipid football. Neale Daniher was on his way out as coach and a generational change was needed at the club. Don wasn't the type who would tolerate defeat but he was a realist and quite the diplomat. Still, he would never accept a team wearing the red and blue that wasn't prepared to "have a crack".

Melbourne did not win for Don Cordner today but it fell tantalisingly short of the mark and was beaten by a better side on the day. Yet, the team did what Don would have expected of them: they had a decent crack and, in doing so, they did him and themselves proud.

…

There's something happening here.

The Melbourne Football Club is about to waken from its long slumber. The generational change is happening ever so slowly but it's been discernible since the team began its long pre season in October last year. The signs of improvement have been everywhere although the progress has been frustrating and slow, made even more difficult to accept by dint of injuries to key players. However, the process continues and, if you'll pardon a metaphor that might not be all that popular with fans of the Dees, I think's it's about to snowball in the months ahead. It might not happen overnight (especially when one looks at the next two sets of opponents) but something is happening here.

Two weeks and two narrow defeats. One in Perth which has been a graveyard for recent Melbourne teams and now at home to the third placed Bulldogs which slaughtered them by an extra 15 goals in the corresponding game last year. And the Dogs would have been greatly relieved to secure the four premiership points after trailing by as much as 22 points early in the second term.

I'm not suggesting that the Demons were perfect. There were still some disastrous turnovers, lapses of concentration and errors of judgment, mainly from the inexperienced but some from the more seasoned players. But overall, they worked hard, ran and carried the ball well and tackled the game with enthusiasm and courage. Don Cordner would have enjoyed their approach even if they overdid the handball at times; even if they made the odd mistake because, for possibly the first time since that chance encounter in the streets near my home, Melbourne played out a game of quality to the end against a top line opponent without looking out of place or undermanned. For the first time in two or three years, the light at the end of the tunnel was coming into focus. They were a football team again!

All of that despite the absence of young emerging back men in Colin Garland, James Frawley and Jamie Bennell, experienced players in Brad Green, Jared Rivers, Paul Wheatley, half of the club's ruckmen, the exciting Austin Wonaeamirri and with the first three draft picks of 2008 (all top twenty) still in the warehouse.

So it's time for everybody to stop and look at what's going down.

…

There's improvement everywhere and for this coach Dean Bailey and the football department must take credit.

Melbourne's on ball brigade was on top in terms of winning the football even if they did not do so with the clinical efficiency of their opponents. Brock McLean, Brent Moloney and Cale Morton all figured highly in the possession count amassing more than 35 disposals apiece and the efficient Aaron Davey, while not accumulating the same amount of ball was deadly with his run, accuracy and creativity coming out of defence.

Morton's role was, to be sure, more of a defensive one but it would not be an understatement to say that he is on the way to elite status. Not far behind him is another young defender in Jack Grimes. Hard to believe that today was only his third game in this company. It's also hard to believe that the cobbled together defence was missing so many of its first up selections. Matthew Warnock and Stefan Martin continued to shine and to underline the potential of the defence. Matty Whelan was a welcome returnee and Kyle Cheney added to the tough veneer of the back line.

The forward line is looking much better, especially with Russell Robertson creating a target. Matthew Bate was strong there today and Addam Maric chipped in with a couple of crumbing goals. There were opportunities missed and the team still struggled and turned the ball over and squandered some simple opportunities in front of goal. A tall key marking option or two up there might not hurt but, in any event, the improvement can be seen in the way they managed to keep the ball in attack and create scoring opportunities.

While it's clear that Melbourne is improving as a side, a major deficiency today was in the ruck. Paul Johnson was excellent around the ground but can't single-handedly be expected to control the ruckwork against the combination of Hudson and Minson. In the end, the edge that the Bulldogs gained from winning the stoppages was probably the thing that got them home.

Which is ironical given that Don Cordner, the man who passed away during the week, was considered by some to have been one of the game's great ruckmen. The Demons could have done with someone of his ilk directing the traffic and they might have that someone in Jake Spencer who is coming back from injury and was sitting in the stands today. At 203cm, he's a player who is always prepared to have a crack and is willing to learn. His time will come.

So while Don Cordner will be sorely be missed by the Melbourne family, it's significant that with his passing, there's a new generation and a new spirit emerging at Melbourne. There's definitely something happening here.

Melbourne 5.2.32 10.3.63 11.4.70 15.7.97

Western Bulldogs 3.3.21 9.6.60 12.10.82

15.14.104

Goals

Melbourne Bate 4 Robertson 3 Maric 2 Davey Jones McLean Petterd Sylvia Valenti

Western Bulldogs Akermanis 4 Welsh 3 Gilbee 2 Addison Boyd Cooney Hahn Johnson Murphy

Best

Melbourne Moloney McLean Morton Bruce Grimes Davey Bate

Western Bulldogs Gilbee Akermanis Boyd Giansiracusa Welsh Morris

Injuries

Melbourne – nil

Western Bulldogs Murphy (hamstring)

Changes

Melbourne – nil

Western Bulldogs - Addison replaced Hargrave in the Western Bulldogs selected side

Reports

Melbourne – nil

Western Bulldogs - nil

Umpires Nicholls Hay McInerney

Crowd 28,279 at the MCG

In memory of Dr. Don Cordner (1922-2009)

Fantastic article! RIP Don and GO NEW GENERATION DEES!

My wife asked me how he did his "thread the eye of the needle" passes. All I could think to answer was that if we could answer that question we would have 22 players doing the same thing. He is starting to remind me of Flower in that he gives you that feeling that all is well when the ball is in his hands.

Haha, yeah. I'd add Morton to that as well. Particularly, the Bulldogs game. Every time Morton touched it, I took a sigh of relief. Great decision makers: Flower, Davey and Morton.

I think Bails deserves a touch of the credit for Davey's resurrection too. It's obviously his move to play him off half back consistently and it's been a masterstroke.

All those points kicked against us tells me more about our backline and defensive pressure and successful coaching rather than poor football by the opposition.

Yeah. It doesn't happen week after week by coincidence.

I have started to believe we made the right choice in picking Dean Bailey as coach. He constantly demands effort from his players, and he develops players and he develops them pretty quickly. He handles the media well. And his game plan is starting to come together. The next step is to turn respectable losses into wins.

Does anyone else believe?

I agree. Have you heard what he's been doing with the media? Apparently, he gives away a prize at his weekly press conferences- usually something provided by our sponsors. Is that usual? It's almost as if he's trying to get them on his side and then in another way, it seems entirely professional.

Is it true that he's contracted next year?

That it is. We signed him up again last year. At the time it made slight sense (even though it bewildered me slightly), as we didn't have a prospective key forward and now we do. But he'll get delisted at the end of next year. By that stage there'll be no place for him in the squad. There probably isn't now either. I'm thinking someone like Butcher will come in and steal that other key forward position from him (rightfully so, he's had his chance).

Yeah, there are photos of Franklin in what looks like a Demon jumper. It is a Demon jumper, but it's the jumper of West Perth (Dennis Commetti's old team and hence his support for Melbourne), so it's more than likely Buddy (being a younger bloke) went for one of the Western Australia teams. As for Judd, he went to my school, so I know he certainly barracked for Melbourne (but in the end went to Carltank for money).

1. Watts

2. Morton

3. Davey

4. Garland

5. Rivers

6. Warnock

7. Frawley

8. McLean

9. Wonaeamirri

10. Martin

11. Bennell

12. Jones

13. Blease

14. Green

15. Grimes

16. Moloney

17. Pettard

18. Strauss

19. Maric

Does this mean that Mike thinks that Cale could potentially be the best player in the AFL by 2014? Big wraps.

Yes, that's what I take from that. It is indeed. Though, Mike is a Melbourne supporter, so maybe that's it?

I think you must have forgot about 10m square. So lets say 60. But still very very good.

True :D

Both kicks resulted in Melbourne marks. One to Sylvia (I think) and one for PJ (who had another good game btw).

Cheney had another solid game. His attack on the ball a number of times set up thrusts forward. He's worth another next week. Another thing I realised is he's quite tall. I remembered him being around Peter Walsh's height, but maybe I was just blinded by the comparisons the first few times I watched him. When he stood next to Johnson, he was comfortably taller than him.

How were his two 70 metre kick outs too. I thought he was very exciting today too.

Was that not the most exciting game of football you've seen from a young Melbourne midfielder in at least the last 10 years? His composure under pressure today was just sublime. Furthermore, I thought it was a brilliant move by Bails today. Everyone knows that the most difficult and priceless thing in football these days, is hitting targets inside forward 50. So, instead of Davey (arguably our most skill player) playing across half back and buillding thrusts, he puts Morton, an equally superb user and decision maker across half back to play a similar role, which then in turn allowed Flash to play up the ground, across half forward. This meant that we had someone with absolute quality delivering passes inside our forward fifty and as you saw today, Aaron's ability to hit targets inside forward 50 is second to none.

Great coaching by Bails and fantastic games from both Aaron and Cale. They weren't alone today, by any means, I thought the majority of the team were fantastic, but I think Morton announced himself to the competition today, as the next big thing.

It wasn't just that he backed up his 34 touches from last week, with 37, but every time he touched the ball it seemed to turn to gold. He simply had stacks of effective disposals. I know I was willing them to give it to him every time. He's a pleasure to watch and I dare say the first top class midfielder we've possessed in my life time (not counting Flower, who played when I was only a few years old).

He was soft today wasn't he?

That happens on busy messageboards. None of us know each other, there are bound to be clashes of opinion. I could do without the snipering though. You're spot on though, we're all supporting the same team, let's have a bit of harmony.

ahhhhhh C`mon Melbourne supporters OPEN YA EYES. We Need your support. That is the weakest effort ever to anyone who is planning not to attend the game at Etihead. It is 5mins away from the G. Sure I love the G way more than Etihead but we can`t be selfish about this. What do we get out of melbourne supporters complaining its getting moved to Etihead WE GET NOTHING OUT OF IT we just have to deal with it and forget the fact that we are attending Etihead but we are attending a Melbourne Football club match. I`ll be there.

CARN DEES

Well said. Your screen name suits you.

I can see all of them potentially still on our list in 2011 and if you're talking about in our best 22 by round 1 2011 I'd expect our side to read.

FB: Rivers, Warnock, Bennell

HB: Frawley, Martin, Garland

C: Blease, Scully, Davey

HF: Green, Watts, Petterd

FF: Jurrah, Butcher, Wonna

Foll: Spencer, Morton, McLean

Int: Grimes, Jones, Meesen, Moloney

Emerg: Bate, Maric, Strauss

Mouth watering prospects. I keep forgetting about Blease. There's a lot of early draft picks in that team.

I'm very worried about losing Petterd. The fact we haven't resigned him as of yet is pretty concerning

I thought we had re-signed him? I thought that was discussed in another thread?

Saints are now 30,368.

They only have that many??? I thought they regularly (I don't know how, with the lack of success they've had down there) got 35,000+. Apparently, I was wrong.

Go the dees though! Just imagine if we were on top, 7 straight...we'd have at least 35,000 then.