JJJ

It's a poor reflection on our previous attempts at a flag under Daniher when the players left over from his reign are our current senior players and have no idea about leadership, poise and footy nous. It would seem that we will have to rid ourselves of almost all of his players. Bartram, Miller, Dunn, Bell, RObertson, Wheatley, Bruce and Whelan should all be gone by the 2011 season when we hopefully start to rise up the ladder.

Its not unreasonable for a commentator like Matthews to say what he did. Watts hasn't shown much in his 2 weeks other than a propensity to be ignored by teammates when in space. He just doesn't stand out like some other 2008 draftees. I didn't take any offense nor was I disappointed and neither should you. Matthews is just a neutral observer stating the obvious.

Agree. I am a massive fan but he was awful. Another player that has been played out of form by the coach and his desire to make him more accountable. In the long run I hope it helps because it didn't tonight. Bate was good.

Oh ok..... Let me have another go: 6:Moloney 5:Sylvia 4:Frawley 3:Martin 2:Bate 1:Jurrah Green and McLean butchered the footy as did Bruce. I thought Davey was pretty average. Robertson is still borderline Casey in my eyes. Not working out for us and no future. This next line has made me throw up in my mouth a little: Newton should play FF for us......

5 McLaren 4 Bailey 3 Bartram 2 Green 1 McLean

Spoken like a true MCC member. I was merely asking a question of E25? I understand that the ground does not suit everyone IE MCC members who get disgruntled at ponying up extra cash to watch a game or that rolling up to the ground 15 minutes before the game may mean you will miss the start. You cannot argue with the fact that it is the best ground to view a game of footy and that 30,000 fans creates a better atmosphere than at the G. It may have no 'heart' as you say but neither does the MCG anymore. My last issue is the amount of MFC games I have attended at the Dome, both home and away, only to find that there are very few supporters at the ground. The 'supporters' who decided against coming to the games were only penalising the team. Same as with the situation a few years ago with us playing home games at Optus. My mindset has always been, 'Attend any MFC home game no matter where'.

Yep. Still waiting for that elusive home game against this rabble at the G. Weak by the AFL as I am sure we would request a home fixture against the 'Bombres' every year. I would trade Paul Johnson for any ruckmen in the league apart from Laycock. He is diabolical.

That is just sad. Do we lump you in with the other MFC supporters who only rock up to the G? NO. Yes you should drink beforehand and do not under any circumstances drive, expecting to park anywhere near the ground for under $20. NO. Docklands has no pulse. Luckily the CBD is a short walk. Level 2 is the best. Front 2-3 rows of level 3 is also great although I believe they are considered premium seats these days.

The idea that having a lottery would eradicate tanking is a nonsense. The National Basketball Association introduced the lottery in 1985 and teams still shut down players and played strange lineups to give themselves as many chances as possible to win the lottery. Certain teams and coaches are famous for recognizing a failed season early and tanking. Get rid of the Priority Pick, introduce Free Agency and put a cap on coaching department spending.

No offense to Green but I hope he doesn't make it. It would indicate that we, as a team haven't evolved enough. He isn't in the class of a Harvey or Crawford, players who played past their prime but still contributed to winning sides.

No offense to Green but I hope he doesn't make it. It would indicate that we, as a team haven't evolved enough. He isn't in the class of a Harvey or Crawford, players who played past their prime but still contributed to winning sides.

I agree that Rivers has struggled at times this year and has me worried. The only thing that keeps me going is what difference it would make to his ability to read the play if we applied more pressure through the midfield and didn't get smashed at centre bounces.

Oh but he is competing with the older players. By virtue of the fact that we can only delist so many in any given season. I would think the coaching panel would try to mold a player like Buckley into something more useful than giving an older player another 'go round'. He does possess many qualities that you look for in modern day player. I would rather see Bartram, Johnson, Bell, Newton, Wheatley and Whelan go before him. Comparing his exploits with those you mentioned is just flat out insulting to Buckley. He has played some pretty good footy for us where as Bode and Weetra gave us nothing. I am working on the assumption that his injury is OP as he has told numerous people. It is an injury that can be managed and allow him to play at a high level. His ability to break lines when healthy shouldnt be ignored in a team of plodders.

Bucks would be unlucky to get delisted this year. We have many older players who are nearing the end who may be pushed. His injury can be managed and handled and there should be no reason he can't be up and about next year. Also in his favour is that he brings something to our game that few other listed players do. Up by 10 goals or down by 10 he wants to take the game on and try to create. His kicking is OK, decision making needs improvement but I believe with better players around him he will prosper. Plus, he wouldnt cost us much. Keep him.

I think this may help the Tiges this week. They have dropped some absolute rubbish and brought in some run. What we really need is for Brown and Richo to announce their retirements before the end of the season so their teammates fire up to get them a win.

I have experienced a broken fibula down near the ankle joint. The main problem is the extent of the damage to the ligaments. It took hundreds of hours of rehab and 12 - 18 months before I felt like my mobility was nearing something like it was. To say that he will return to 100% health is an uninformed view in my mind. Its not to say that he won't but Sam, the club and his physios won't know how well he will recover for a long time.

I can't take any positives out of this situation. He will miss out on valuable match experience, training and most importantly he may have damaged one of the keys to his game, his pace. As far as I am concerned he is a write off until further notice.

I dont think anyone can dispute the troubles McLean has had with injury. He has had 2 major injuries that could have an impact on his movement and definitely would have impacted on his 2009 campaign. Round 1 2007 he fractured his foot, an injury that has reduced the movement of many pro athletes around the world. He followed that up with a broken ankle and severe ligament damage last year. Speaking from personal experience, this is an injury that takes significant time to recover from fully. It is the reason I have essentially decided to not judge Blease on his movement until 2011 at the earliest. When you add to that the fact that he was hardly swift at the best of times and I think it is safe to say he may have slowed. The other problem is his interrupted preseason. His game is built on toughness and winning contested ball but I believe his inability to do the required work preseason has seen him get to less contests and impact a game the way he used to. Getting caught with the football is also a product of not having enough quality in the midfield to dish the ball to a teammate in an attacking position. In fact, we are terrible at getting a release man in space with the ball. As you suggest, surrounding him with pace and class should remedy this in part. If we land Scully, the hope is he is good enough to wear a tag and allow McLean more freedom to be the player we all enjoyed watching in 2006 Elimination FInal.

I can't see the problem here. We are in the process of bottoming out and haven't yet rid ourselves of the older generation of players who aren't apart of our future plans. At the end of the year certain older players will be forced out of the door as we load up on high picks again which will drastically lower our average age (a useless stat). So what if our team was older on the weekend? Our core players for the next 10 years are coming through but we don't have the depth to field a whole team of kids so we send out the old guard with them. At seasons end, players like Wheatley, McDonald, Robertson and Whelan will be under serious review. Add to that some middle agedish players like Bartram, Johnson, Dunn, Bell and Newton and we are left with only Green, Miller, Bruce, Moloney, Rivers, Davey, Jamar and Warnock over 25. Of our younger players we have Jones, Watts, McLean, Bate, Frawley, Morton, Sylvia, Grimes, Maric, Garland, Cheney, Wona, Martin, Spencer, Bennell, Mackenzie, Buckley, Blease, Strauss and Jurrah as a start. Add to that potentially Picks 1 &2 and another in the top 20 and we are starting to look better. By the end of this season we will be half way through our rebuild. People shouldnt compare us to a club like Collingwood (who will never win a flag with that list). They are pushing for finals etc. Compare us to North, Richmond and West Coast who are in similar phases. It makes for pleasant reading.

Bartram - 3 His failings are still the same as previous seasons and hasn't built on his strengths Bate - 6 Above average without playing up to his ability. Playing KF is a shocking gig at the Dees. Bell - 2 See Bartram Bennell - 6 Expectations for this guy were low early on but he is legit. Has class. Bruce - 6 More of the same from Bruce Cheney - 6 Shows promise but like most of our list has much to learn. Davey - 7 leading the b&f as off round 11 Dunn - 3 Not a key forward, not a tagger, not a mid and no room in defence. Frawley - 7 Most improved defender and a chance to be something special Garland - NA Green - 5.5 Good pre injury. Unsighted since Grimes - 7 Shows plenty and is in the 1st 6-8 picked in my books. Jamar - 5 Rucks well and competes. A nice change. Jetta - 2 No pace, no tricks and can't find the footy. Johnson - 2 Ughhh......... Jones - 5 Has tried to rectify his disposal. He is a work in progress. Maric - 4 Got skills but needs to find more ball and contribute. Martin - 5 Started well but needs to make a position his own. McDonald - 3 Performance well below par. Gets a 3 for calling Colin. McLean - 4 Was always going to struggle after a very serious injury. Expect him to improve soon. Meesen - 3.5 Showed he could play. a little bit Miller - 4 Not enough from Miller. Not the answer up forward. Moloney - 6 Consistent but loose. Morton - 7 Our most prolific, shown how to be accountable down back. Still has star written all over him and I think should be played with Grimes as mids later in the year. Newton - 1 Every time he gets a chance he wastes it. I dont GET this guy. Petterd - 3 No room down back and not a forward. Petterd needs to force his way as a mid. We could use his better than average pace. Rivers - 4 Not enough out of Rivers. When he was very good he lead the comp in marks from opposition kicks. He should improve as the season goes on, like McLean. Robertson - 1 Happy with his form after an awful injury but lacking in so many other intangible aspects of the game that he gets down graded heavily. Spencer - 4 Contests but has a LOOONNNNGGGG way to go. 18months more development is required but he has the aggression that all of our other rucks lack. Sylvia - 7 Solid up until a month ago and now our best player on current form by a fair margin. Needs to keep going. Still could be an A Grader Valenti - 1 Bags packed. He is out with Jordie having better size and pace for Casey and McLean, Moloney and Jones already in the seniors. Warnock - 7 Solid. I was hoping that Martin would beat him out for fullback but Warnock is very consistent. Watts - NA Whelan - 2 Love him but he is gawn! We never saw the best of him due to injury. He could have been all-Australian many times. SUMMARY DUX - Sylvia and Davey would be clubhouse leaders in an awful year. High Distinction - None Distinction - None Credit - Davey, Sylvia, Frawley, Morton, Warnock, Bennell, Grimes Good - Moloney, Jones, Green, Bruce Supp Exam - Bartram, Johnson, Miller, Dunn, Bell, McDonald, Robertson, Newton, Wheatley, Valenti and Whelan.

Dealing with the players won't be a problem. Collingwood are an average side with players like Daisy, Dingleberry, Medders, Josh "Please don't hurt me" Fraser, Wellingham, "Hold on" O'Brien, Wood and the Metre Maid (Cloke) running around, Watts should feel at ease. The Collingwood fans on the other hand are a different story. They should have to go through metal detectors before entering the ground.

was there anything of interest to report?

100% correct. It was so obvious that Martin was in the gun re selection. Looking at the balance of the side, we could hardly afford to carry a 195cm+ player who wasn't required down back, is ineffective in the ruck and lacks the ability to play as a key forward. He is direct competition with Warnock for a place in the senior side and needs to continue to develop at Casey and hope for Warnock to have a drop off in form.

Not sure why they dont come clean with Buckley. He was struggling preseason with groin related issues and is now missing again with a problem in the same area. It is shocking news for Wona and his development curve, his season is almost shot.

Does Jack Grimes' kick in turnover count to his disposal efficiency? Unless the defender plays on he doesn't receive a kick in his stat count when kicking out after a behind. For a 2nd gamer Grimes was very good under a lot of heavy fire. The West Coast forward line had much better service than ours.