Little Goffy

I broke my hand when Didak kicked that goal to beat Port Adelaide last year. I hate Collingwood so much, I stood up and punched the chair I was on... Hairline fracture!

You're lucky you didn't give away a free kick.

Very happy with Wehatley's return and good form.

Best stats of his career in the time since he came back, and his possessions have been pretty effective. Has also provided good support rebounding across half-back, where we get bogged down a lot.

And those kick-ins aren't even counted on his disposal tally, so he must be handling the pill 30+ times a game.

Admittedly, Collingwood was pretty weak at controlling the kick-ins which made Wheatley look particularly effective, but you can't complain about his performance so far.

As for looking stronger - definately. And he's a very good kind of stronger, too - actually looks less bulky while having more power and still retaining running strength. Pretty much ideal.

Very good stuff from a player we we're all starting to fear we'd seen the last of at AFL level.

Simon Godfrey 98 games as of the break. Due to play 100th against Essendon in round 13.

Any suggestions for a banner? Perhaps we could each suggest one sarcastic and one good one.

The poor bugger has played exactly one full season in his career - 2003 (and what a season that was, too )

But there is no doubting his commitment to the club and that he's earnt his name on a locker.

Also coming up -

DAVID NEITZ 300 Games (currently 294 games)

RUSSELL ROBERTSON 200 Games(currently 195 games)

That's some big milestones for two big players. Heart and soul of the club and all that.

It'd really be something to see those two both hitting strong form at the same time. I'm not sure that's happened yet, given the interrupted seasons they've had in the last few years.

...and finally, just for all the Juice fanatics.

Michael Newton 1 games (currently 0 games)

As we all know, Juice is a combination of all of the best features of Robertson and Neitz. But the coach says he needs to incorproate David Schwarz as well before he will be allowed to play.

You are to stupid to understand what a business is all about. Think before you put me down. I want this club to get on not wait another 10 years before we can win a flag. We will never win a flag under our present coach. Don't give him another year we have given him to many chances. Let us find a coach who can go into the futre with MFC.

Oh dear. To me, you look pretty silly right now.

I notionally support retaining Daniher unless a stand-out coach becomes available, and I am comfortable with retaining a a stable board which has set itself ambitious goals and appears to be moving well towards them while paying down millions of dollars of debt in just a few years. I'm not keen on a return to board instability in itself, either. We've all seen that and it's just not helpful.

Call me risk-averse if you like, but please don't tell me I'm too stupid to understand business.

I'd be interested in any particular criticisms you (and everyone else) have of Daniher. I'm not fighting from his corner or anything - his lack of initiative in that horrid run to finish 2003 left a permanent dent in my patience. But I recognise he has the respect of the players, and I can also see that we're really not far off being a powerhouse team. Some injury luck and some corrections to particular problems (eg Bruce's kicking) and we would be a truly potent force.

I just don't think we're in a situation which calls for major disruptions.

I remember going ballistic at the umpires during a game against Hawthorn back in 2005.

Saw spider Everitt grinding his forearm into the next of Simon Godfrey (who was lying on his back on the ground at the time), next thing you know we're being pinged for rough play.

It had been like that all game and I'd just had enough of it.

Another one was a low-key reaction at the time but has stuck with me for a very long time.

The elimnation final against essendon a few years ago, it's still relatively close in the last quarter, Lloyd gets a fairly soft but technically correct free kick against Alistair Nicholson, in the goal square. Goal.

Then there's a bit of you're standard push and shove as Lloyd has a gloat. Nicholson gets sucked in, makes a little push (definately, undoubtedly to the chest of Lloyd, and definately undoubtedly not a heavy push).

Llyod dives.

Blatant.

Comical.

He even clutched at his forehead in 'pain'.

The umpire awards a free kick in the goal square.

Essendon evetually win by a goal.

Despite all his talent, his phenomenal kicking skills. Llyod is to me a criminal of the game.

He sould've been fined for bringing the game, and umpiring, into disrepute.

Round 2 09/04/2007 Hawks 7 10 17 8 0 3 0 0 3 0

Round 3 15/04/2007 Cats 8 7 15 8 0 3 2 1 0 2

Round 4 22/04/2007 Freo 7 8 15 4 0 0 2 1 3 0

Round 5 28/04/2007 Swans 7 10 17 5 0 3 3 0 1 1

That's four pretty solid games in a row from Miller from round 2 - 5.

That's with Neitz and Robbo both out, right?

And of course there's the Fremantle game. Something went right for Miller that night, and we need to bottle it because THAT Miller is worth having on the field every week.

My theory - if he believes it's up to him, he can put in a very good performance. Sometimes I just get the feeling he's waiting for someone to tell him it's his turn. Similar pattern with the "always handball off straight away even if it's a bloody stupid thing to do at that moment" mentality.

Is it possible to get trapped in a 'sacrifice self for team' mentality to the point where you're afraid of getting in a teammate's way or stealing their glory? Could this be a lasting dent in him from being touted as the future captain, way back when he was about 12 years old? (Should we lay-off the Mclean talk?)

Miller has to get closer to goal, get a habit of maniac attack, and stop thinking it's selfish to do it yourself. I'd even say he needs to start playing a slightly more selfish and 'goal-hungry' game.

Encouraging signs from Sandy, but I'd give him a few weeks for him to decide for himself that he's earnt it.

See, there are idiots, nd then there are REAL idiots.

Quote -

"... Nathan Carroll kept Pies spearhead Anthony Rocca to just two touches for the day in a superb display."

By Michael Rogers

Exclusive to AFL BigPond Network

Those people out ther who want to give Neale another chance need to go to another club. We have given this man too many chances now. He should have been sacked 3 yrs ago. David Neitz is going down each year and should retire not what I heard on Monday that he wants to give it another year, NO DAVID NO.

We need new leadership on the field and off. Our current committee needs a great shake up and should be seen more. Paul Gardiner needs to look for another job as all his promises he made when he took over have gone down the drain. We need an exciting new President like McGuire, Pratt etc. Someone who has get up and go.

The problem with MFC is we have too many old foggies who are scared to change. Lets go ahead and win

You joined up yesterday, quote yourself, bag the coach, absurdly snipe at the captain, call for the ditching of the board, and insist we find an 'Eddie McGuire' to take over.

How ya doin, Joffa?

I'll go out on a limb here and suggest:

Brad Miller - Millsy

Miller's nickname is 'frosty'.

Aside from everything you've mentioned...

Sylvia's slight fake then quick turn and burst of speed on the southern stand wing that led to Bate's goal from 50.

That and his complete disregard for Danny Stanley I think it was in the last quarter when he literally lifted him clean off the ground to shrug him free and move the ball forward.

Yep, Sylvia's strength throwing off his tackler was a special moment. Made me sit up and think 'Hello, we've got a goer here'.

But when that was followed moments later by Mclean bursting out of the centre, looking invincible and unstoppable, that was when a deeper satisfaction set in.

It put a line under the message I'd been getting from the game all day - we've got stars, real stars, and we're going to get to watch their whole careers.

Mate, doesnt incosistent proformances show you that he is mentally soft. I also have heard from reliable sources he is a big drinker and gambler...I honestly hope I am right. He has all the potenitial in the world, but he just does not put in the hard yards IMO. You are entiteled to you opinion.

You have heard from reliable sources, have you.

Just as soon as I find a 'reliable source' who merrily dishes out dirt on Demon's personal lives, I'll be just as sure of my opinions as you are.

Oh, and I'm ever so thankful that you have granted me permission to have my opinion.

Which is -

Travis Johnstone has had a poor year but has worked hard to try to get through it.

He was putting in a great game on monday, I was beginning to think he might be coming back to the kind of form that won him a best and fairest. But then he tweaked a hammy and we'll never know how he might have gone on with that game.

I'm hoping that he'll be right in a fortnight to play Richmond, because at the very least he demands attention from opposition midfield-defenders, because he is such a creative and damaging player that he can turn games in the blink of an eye.

Like everyone, I worry about bad form from a top player. I guess I just don't see the point making personal attacks on him from the anonymity of an online forum.

Oh, and would everyone please GET OVER you're hate-crush on Godfrey.

"We'll never win a premiership with 'x' in the team" has got to be one of the stupidest sayings in football. Do you think Sydney was entirely comprised of Barry Hall's and Brett Kirks? Was Essendon five Dustin Fletchers, three Lucas's, eight James Hirds two Michael Longs and half a dozen Lloyds?

Actually, on that saying, and while we've got Essendon in mind - the Bombers won a grand final by ten goals with CHRIS HEFFERNAN in their team.

You might remember. Then again, you're probably still complaining about Troy Simmonds' pathetic stats for the day.

Go Dees - and Go Blues (one more win and they lose their priority pick. Haha)

Heh heh.

My brother is a Carlton supporter. He pointed out last week that it was the first time in two years that Carlton & Melbourne both won on the same weekend.

How far back would we have to look to find two wins in a row for both clubs?

Possibly 2000?

The thing with Miller is I just don't see what value he offers us. I like mobile, flexible players. The modern game requires good decision-making and execution. Turnovers are critical. Miller just does not have natural footy smarts and in his time at the club has not developed his kicking to a sufficient AFL standard.

I don't see what he offers us on top of Bate and Sylvia. He only takes marks on the lead, which Bate and Sylvia can both do. They are better kicks and smarter footballers. If Miller could pull down pack marks and kick multiple goals, he would offer something. But what he gives is adequately compensated by Bate and Sylvia, plus they provide added flexibility in their ability to pinch hit through the midfield if needed.

I don't think Miller should get back into the side unless he can develop different strings to his bow. He needs to be able to take contested marks, kick goals and use the ball better. If he can't develop these attributes, then there isn't much point playing him IMO.

Hey, it's a post I agree with, literally word for word.

Has this sort of thing ever happened on here before?

Freaky.

Bruce had a dog of a game, as far as his kicking went. Considering he was pushed forward to kick goals, that's a real dog of a dog of a game.

Still does a lot of clever things and you can't doubt his initative.

But damn, 4 behinds, no goals. We would all have been seriously filthy about it if we'd lost.

Still, kicking can be practiced. Bruce's 'x-factor' can't.

If he can get the kink out and stop mangling the bloody thing, he would be right back up there with the pre-crunch Bruce we all loved.

So then, if Neitz needs a rest is Miller perhaps the replacement?

I'd try him close to goal, but honestly Bate and Sylvia are sharing a CHF/HFF role so well that I don't think Miller will be a regular at CHF again.

It's close to goal or bust for Miller, especially with competition for spots in defence so tight as well.

Retrain his brain at Sandy, get him kicking goals, then he might get a run at AFL.

And to pre-empt Yze_Magic -

"If Miller gets a f$^ing game anywhere then we might as well throw it in. He's just not up to it, to one-dimensional, lacks initiative and makes bad decisions. 'Retrain his brain?' He'd need a whole new central nervous system before he should be allowed back onto the MCG"

But seriously, Miller really does need to change something dramtically if he's going to get back in as anything but a depth player.

Either that or the big 'mid-age' step up like Carroll did last year.

I thought Davey was pretty quiet for a lot of the match but improve as it went on.

Poor Bruce... what a dog of a day for him.

ROBBO!! ROBBO!! ROBBO!!

More good performances from our younger squad, Bate, Sylvia, Bell, Mclean, Petterd, Paul Johnson (who took some very fine overhead marks, you may recall) all had pretty good days out.

How satisfying was it to see first Sylvia and Mclean just burst through people to set up goals, one after the other?

And special mention for No. 2. I never had the priviledge of watching Robbie Flower play, but that little re-enactment by Jones of the swivel-around-the-man move that must be Flower's most replayed highlight was something special.

Loved Holland's scragging of Rocca. too. Spare a thought for all the poor buggers who had Rocca in their dream team.

And finally, a big special mention to the defenders coming back from wretched injury runs. A lot of us, myself included, were getting the feeling we might have seen the last of both Bizzell and Wheatley at AFL level. Bizzell was good all day with a tough job to do, Wheatley was just priceless. For once I enjoyed some daft commentator chat when they started talking about Wheatley's 'Big Weapon'. (The booming kick, I'm fairly sure)

That Bulldogs game with Jeff White winning it for us in the dying minutes produced my first ever football-related injury.

I'd been getting steadily louder and crazier for that whole last quarter, and for the final passage of play after that goal (remember a goal the other way would still have costs us the game) I was standing on the seat waving the scarf over my head and screaming for the bloody siren to go. Couple of security 'attendants' were hovering in the area ever-so-subtly. Gotta love a bit of official interest in my enjoyment of a fine game...

Even a few of my usually pretty placid friends were having a shout about that game.

Anyway, the injury - turns out I actually did scream my guts out, I had to be kind of 'helped' out of the stadium leaning on friends because I'd managed to wrench something, so we're winding our way down the exit ramps with me doubled over, still can't stop grinning and shouting, and spurting out the occassional 'arh F%#' as my gut spasms.

Great stuff.

thomas deperated in a fairly unceramonious way, whereas if danner's went it would be largely attributed to our terrible season and win-loss ratio. Don't think they're really comparable situation..

I reckon these blokes will be fine.

Yeah, you've got to remember that Daniher has been given a pretty good run - very few people would have been cheering for him after 2003 but he still got the nod to continue.

I don't think there would be much bitterness in the departure, which always helps a transition.

Hell, maybe Danners could just take a load off and coach Sandringham for a while, finally get himself a premiership!

Honestly, I'd be much more concerned about replacements. Like it or not Daniher has been a good coach and who'd blame the players for being annoyed if he was ditched just for the sake of it, without a good succession in place.

Like I've said before and will keep saying for ever, we need stable, long-term assistant coaches who can be groomed to step up to the main role in future. Ideally, these would be 'favourite sons' committed to the club. My tip is Viney to shift over from the Hawks.

The story is that my grandad played reserve level for Melbourne around when Julius Caesar was asassinated.

Seriously, the best detail I ever got was 'between the wars'.

He's passed away now so I'll never be able to say for sure, I guess. There is a terrible possibility that he might have actually played for South Melbourne, that would be embarrassing. Particularly since I'd still stick with the Demons without a blink.

Anyway, my brother was introduced to AFL when visiting some friends in Melbourne. He kind of brought it back with him, the problem being that these friends were Carlton supporters, and he's been a Blue ever since.

It was only when he started yacking endlessly about the Blues that mum mentioned grandad's playing history. Damned if I was going to support my brother's team, so Melbourne it was.

And that happened... wait for it... early in 2000.

So the support was set firmly in my mind, and I have serious issues with anyone who talks about trading Green or Bruce!

A side note - having grown up in Rugby League land, with the bloody Canberra raiders winning everthing and the neighbours going berserk, I built up a good understanding of both games.

AFL really is, without a second thought, a much, much better game with a much, much better culture.

I laugh at Rugby League anytime I see it - watch for ten minutes, have a chuckle at how drab it is, then flick it off.

i think we lost our second round pick in 2000, perhaps our 3rd also...

we also got godfrey (not 1999 according to wikipedia) along with james cook and steven pitt from the preseason.

Godfrey was technically in the 2000 pre-season draft, you're right. But I lump a 'drafting session' together - so I refer to the draft period between 1999 season and start of 2000 season as '1999'. He debuted in 2000, so I'm assuming the 'pre-season' draft was before the season.

Whelan in the forward line!

Freaking genius, that is!

He'd add a lot of pressure against the defenders, work hard to keep it in there, could negate rebounders like Mcleod, lay some killer tackles to get frees inside 50m, and be a tough player read to extract crumbs from messy packs. It's very easy to picture him creating that extra half second it takes to get a shot away.

The risk would be limited - I think we could count on Whelan to find a way to contribute even if he just couldn't get a win up forward. He wouldn't be one of those 'no goals = no point' forwards, that's for sure.

I'd want to see how well he hits a short lead or snaps at goal, but damn, there's a really possibility there.

Expanding on the idea of divisions, and maybe relegation, in the state of origin, how about the winning state of origin team earns the right to tour Ireland for the international rules series.

It would add an extra incentive for sure.

You'd have to balance it, though. When the Irish come to Australia they could play the each state team in a tour match series.

This would go some way to balancing the ledger in the 'professionals vs amateurs' issue, as well.

Just throwing a thought out there.

could this be our biggest problem in terms of list development we're facing?

any ideas?

No, no it's really not.

Seriously, no.

Young midfielders / rotation runners from HB/HF =

Mclean, Sylvia, Bate, Bartram, Bell, Moloney, CJ, Petterd, Jones, Davey (10 already) and the untried but possible Buckley.

Add Wheatley, Dunn and likely even Frawley for some tall mobile options in a pinch.

Then you've got the established midfield of Bruce, Green, Johnstone, Whelan and Godders (4) and the older runners of McDonald, Ward, Brown, and even Yze and Pickett (5).

How 'bout that, we could have a starting 18 entirely of players capable of rotating through the midfield, plus a bench of mobile talls.

Barring a total failure of recruiting for three years in a row, I can't see us getting caught out in the midfield.

I'd suggest focusing on mobile ruckmen and key position players for a while, given that they typically take longer to develop than small-medium sized runners. White and Neitz seem to be the two players most difficult to replace of everyone we have even remotely close to retirement age.

I'd really hate to end up in a situation where a credible player gets shown up again and again because they were handed too much of a burden before they were fully matured (Zac Dawson should bloody well sue).

Of course, Newton may be about to kick 10 in a quarter for Sandy, which would at least reassure me on one count.

Remember that we still have just about the longest injury list of any club at the moment. Five weeks from now we'll be shocked by who can't get a game in our running brigade.

james hird just confimed a few hours ago that no matter the conditions, form that he is in; he will be retired by the end of this season.

Except maybe to Captain/Coach the ACT State of Origin Team for the next thirty years.

Yze in and brown dropped! buckley named emergency along with brown and holland

I must admit I kinda thought it would be Ward who'd be dropped, even though he got twice the possessions of Brown.

Brown did a job on Mcleod, and did it well.

Ward has just been too loose, and his, uhhh... overexcitement... in the last quarter was one of the reasons Adelaide was let back in the game.

I love em both, I really do, but I like Ward better as a BOG player at Sandy.