Little Goffy

With thanks to finalsiren.com for stats, I've put together our finishing positions and finals performance since 2001. I'm not sure what my own agenda is here, but I figured everyone might have an opinion on what this record means, and it might be useful to have it handy in front of us. My personal opinion, I've just about lost faith. Those three years of 'coulda-beens' from 2004-2006 were ok so long as it was a case of coming back next year to take the extra step up and genuinely challenge for a premiership. Looking back of the finals performances, I'm feeling pretty negative. Depleted and injured St Kilda, plus a solid win over the Kangaroos in '02, are our only finals wins since season 2000. So here's the results, to jog people's memory. What do they mean to you? 2006 End of Home & Away Season 7th Melbourne 13 1 8 2146 1957 1L D3 54 109.66 2006 finals EF St Kilda 5.4 6.6 9.8 10.12 (72) lost to Melbourne 2.2 3.4 8.5 13.12 (90) Melbourne Cricket Ground SF Fremantle 3.3 7.9 11.15 14.18 (102) dftd Melbourne 3.0 7.3 10.4 11.8 (74) Subiaco OVal 2005 End of Home & Away season 7th Melbourne 12 0 10 2171 2266 3W U1 48 95.81 2005 Finals - EF Geelong 5.4 12.5 16.8 18.8 (116) dftd Melbourne 2.3 6.4 6.6 9.7 (61) Melbourne Cricket Ground 2004 end of home & away season - 5th Melbourne 14 0 8 2127 1900 4L - 56 111.95 2004 Finals EF Melbourne 5.2 6.5 13.6 15.9 (99) lost to Essendon 5.2 11.6 11.10 15.14 (104) Melbourne Cricket Ground 2003 End of Home & Away Season 14th Melbourne 5 0 17 1899 2344 8L - 20 81.02 2002 End of home and away season 6th Melbourne 12 0 10 2243 2245 1W U1 48 99.91 2002 Finals EF Melbourne 2.2 9.5 11.10 18.14 (122) dftd Kangaroos 3.4 5.8 7.11 11.18 (84) Melbourne Cricket Ground SF Adelaide 8.2 12.3 14.5 20.10 (130) dftd Melbourne 1.4 8.10 16.15 17.16 (118) Melbourne Cricket Ground 2001 End of Home & Away season 11th Melbourne 10 0 12 2136 2364 3W U2 40 90.36

Things to aim for - Players: Judd, Riewolt, Ball all seem likely to be available. Picks: get em high or leave em low - I'd trade to upgrade from pick 30 to 15, for instance, and would trade pick 30 to move pick 19 to pick 10. Did that sentence make sense? I think our best bet for getting Judd is to keep our very early pick (I'd never get rid of one of them, to be honest) and try to trade players like Miller/Jamar for a second round pick, then trade a major player (thinking Johnstone), and possibly two second round picks to get Judd. Go on, someone tell me we wouldn't be coming out ahead. I still believe in persevering with Green/Bruce/Robertson. I think the way they respond to a new coach (excuse the assumption) would be a very imortant thing to watch. Come to think of it, Miller might finally feel released and step up at CHF/FF if the response to a new coach was positive enough. I don't think there are many younger players who should be traded, beyond Jamar, Miller and Ferguson, and all of these I think could have decent careers from a restart at a new club. What I DO think is that all of those 'veteran' players who never quite make the extra step up need to have an element of performance contracts, or a plain and simple pay cut. There's some vanity there, built on daydreaming about how "we were so good and we came so close. Might be lasting psych damage from 2000 when frankly we did so well but there was never really a chance we'd take home the Permiership, not against the machine that was Essendon 2000. A new coaching panel (I would not settle for blaming Daniher for the whole mess) could make a big difference to psyche, and we might even lose a disgruntled player or two but I'd pay that price to see that excellent, excellent crop of young players grow freely in a club that feels like it belongs to them.

BINGO! The assitant coahcing revolving door at Melbourne is a disgrace. Sign some good people on extended contracts and enough with the project coaches who bail after one year (Ratten, dare I say Williams). I've been a patient man. Hell, I first got a membership in 2003 so I'm prepared to cope with failure, but these last three years of "WHOO HOOO - SPLAT" and now this abysmal year... I think I'm just about done putting up with it. Ok, those of you with a better knowledge of the state of play in the potential coaches stakes, fill me in on the options for 2008. Show me some good prospects and that's what I'll be looking forward to. My personal preference is for ex-Melbourne people, but that leaves it at Connolly from Freo (not impressed), Alistair Clarkson (as if he'd leave Hawthorn now) and Todd Viney, who has been coaching the Hawthorn midfield for a while and seems to be getting results.

The AFL site has an article on kids to watch in the uner-18's championships, I thought it might cheer people up to know that there is at least a second highly touted tall mobile ruckman likely to be available in the draft. I get very nervous anytime someone mentions high draft picks for rucks - they seem to develop and change in the most unpredictable ways. But lets face it, good quality of this kind of player is the most pressing need on our list in the next few years. It's also very hard to 'make do' and use competent but not standout players in such a key role. Ben McEvoy (Vic Country) Born: July 11, 1989 Height: 199cm Weight: 90kg From: Murray Bushrangers/Dederang-Mt Beauty A two-metre prospect from the Murray Bushrangers, McEvoy is a one of a number of potential ruckmen looming as outstanding prospects for the AFL according to Sheehan. “Ben can also play up forward and occasionally down back, but he's got outstanding AFL qualities,” he said. “He's played at this level in 2006 and has continued to develop as an outstanding player in the TAC Cup this year. “He has got the height, athletic ability, nous and leadership qualities to be a top player in the ruck in the AFL.”

Yeah, it sounds like he's pretty much the exact match for our recruiting needs - helps to cover both the White and Neitz retirements. I'd see him more in the ruck, because I moslty like our forward line options for the future, and if he's got the ground skills they should be put where they can be used.

BIG RED SIGNING IN: The last thing you want is to bring him up too early, not get a kick and then dent his confidence at Sandy. The kid will play but lets make sure he also believes he is ready.

Ok, lay off Brock's face will ya? If anyone else has noticed, he's been noticably changing over the years (as teenagers /twenty-somethings tend to do) and he's getting better looking every year. I s'pose it'll still take years for him to shake the chatter because gossip is always well ahead or far behind reality, never in step with it. Along the lines of Brad Johnson, it's a CHARISMATIC appearance even if it's not "tween-girl crush lets all draw hearts on our diary" stuff. An adult's face, one that people respect and warm to. Not a boy's pretty little soft-scrubbed bathed in milk face. He'll look great at 30, and 90, too. Mclean actually has just the right looks for a leader. Seriously, how many captains have been pretty, other than at St. Kilda? Barry Hall? Lance Whitnall? Warren Tredrea? What does Richie Vandenberg look like? It's been so long since I've seen him I can't remember!

Nathan Brown (Richmond) is very good, but extremely out of practice. Remember that he didn't exactly set the world on fire in his 'comeback' match for Coburg last week. And the Tiges would be entering lawsuit territory if they required Brown to play a full game after such a long and uncertain lay-off, one more twang of that leg and it really could be the end of Brown's career. Would you risk that when there is so little to gain? TJ was always unlikely. Real shame too because he looked good early in the Collingwood game. Still, there's Yze to come back in, and remember - Yze has performed well upon every return from injury in the last decade... The Juice buzz is contagious. I haven't even seen him play, I'm not sure I'd recognise him on the field, but I'm excited and hoping to see him this friday. This despite being a big fan of Dunn, and remaining a fence-sitter on Miller. Good to see Whelan and Pickett both available. Either of them look like a surprise full-forward? Give Pickett a dopey moustache and he'd look just like Leigh Matthews.

PettUrd? Pootard? Potted? Peeturd?

Godfrey is the next captain of the Melbourne football club. Mark my words. But seriously, though. He can keep doing the job he's doing now for an indefinate period, and does actually seem to be improving. He might never play a full season again (only 2003 so far) and might not even get ten games a season playing as a depth player. But bizarrely, I don't have a problem with him being on the list. Maybe I'm just feeling guilty because I used to abuse the television every time he came on... I'd puke if he was taking away spots from players like Bartram and Petterd, though. It's crass, but he's a dependable/expendable back-up. Jones is a tennaged second year player who leads by example. 'Nuff said?

Which teams can Melbourne out-perform enough to climb past them on the ladder? I'd say it's realistic that we could win two mores games than the blues, so there's one. St. Kilda seem to be floating turds at the moment. I'd say two games up on them would be credible. Two places up. Brisbane are looking a little worse every week to me, two wins and a draw/win over 11 games? I think we can pick it up. Three places. We'd out of the bottom four. Fremantle. Who knows? Really, does anybody know? On current form you'd say they'd struggle, but it wasn't until mid-late last year that they turned it on. Too tough to call anything. Like the Blues and Brisbane they have already played this round. Like the Blues and Brisbane we play them again this year. Moving onto the incredible - reaching the finals. I think it's fair to say that for our best shot we would need to see three teams out of seven at the upper-middle of the ladder fall away badly in the second half of the year. Sydney. Port Adelaide. Kangaroos. Bulldogs. Collingwood. Essendon. Adelaide. (Rnd18). (Rnd17). (Rnd16.). (Rnd19). (Rnd20). (rnd13). (---) Do any of these teams look potentially flaky? My read of the scenario is - if all these teams continue on existing balance then we would still be counting on percentage even if we won every remaining game. If we win a spectacular 9/2 then we would need three of those teams to finish with 4/6, and we could slide in on percentage. On balance, I'd say that's the most probable scenario for a finals appearance. That's "most probable", not "actually probable". The worse that three of those seven teams perform, the fewer wins we'll need. After all, we only need one slot in the eight. But always, one week at a time. The realistic goal is to get ourselves out of the damned bottom four. Pick five in the draft has served us well in the past, too!

Maybe it will turn out right, timing wise. We'll see what comes of this 'injured hand' rumour. I wouldn't be too unhappy personally about his 300th being in Canberra, what with living here and all, but I can see that for him and for the club it would be good to play the milestone in front of a big crowd at home. I'd seriously think about making the trip down there for it, too. So, a quick bit of split-round coorective work, a couple of weeks off, then strom back in to lead our final charge towards the eight, or at least out of the bottom four. What odds for 400 for the big fella? He's four years younger than Harvey...

Just what we need, another Johnstone/Johnson/Johnston to figure out on the stat sheets. Good news about Hayes, is anyone going to write up a report on the demon players nad how they fared in Sandy & Sandy reserves?

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.

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

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?

Miller's nickname is 'frosty'.

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.

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.

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?