JJJ

Maybe they were laughing at what Russell was wearing...... I spoke to Don and he seemed like he always is, vanilla.

Watts was below par. Anyone who thinks his 1st half was good is well off the mark. I know for a fact he received some pretty frank criticism regarding his attack on the ball during the 1st half. I watched him pretty closely yesterday and he NEVER takes the responsibility of leading to the dangerous areas as a forward. Numerous times yesterday he had 2 options: 1: Take the responsibility and lead to the open side of the ground. This could potentially result in a shot at goal from a good position but it requires the forward to lead hard and with purpose in a similar vein to Clark. There is potential for collision and injury but a genuine footy player would see that opportunity, realise the potential pay off and go for it. 2: Double back to an area where players from both sides were already situated, engage in a 'wrestle' for position and watch as the ball is taken away by Hawthorn defenders without Watts impacting the contest. Which one do you think Watts chose? Watts' flaws are well known here but I have never seen a player choose to fail so readily.

He isn't our problem. Ask yourself, if you were a free agent key defender would you choose to play for a team where the midfield will get slaughtered weekly? He is at a hiding to nothing.

McDonald is in awful form. Pitiful. He should be dropped. I lost count of the times his mistakes lead to a shot at goal by the opposition. He seems to be getting a fair run by Neeld due to his strong pre-season, current form be damned. I really hate our coaching staff.

Ive tried not to post about last night but this is one thing I do not get. Jamar was absolutely woeful last week. Abysmal. Soft. Lazy. Clearly substandard and yet he was given the reigns to the ruck again last night? Why? Because of all the games he played so well in under Neeld's tenure? Nope. I can't for the life in me, see how he was selected. We were torched in the ruck last night. Our midfielders, who are admittedly mostly appalling, had little chance in the centre square with Jamar in the ruck. Just embarrassing. Neeld can talk all he wants about finding people who are up for the fight but he actually has to follow through on this. He also needs to pick players on form. We've made numerous mistakes at the selection table this past 2 weeks. Not mistakes in hindsight but rather, mistakes in the cold light of day that most learned supporters were openly questioning when the teams were named. If he true to his word and Spencer can play well today he should come in. EG: Round 1 Tapscott: His work in the preseason was lousy. Pederson: Showed very little. Blease as a sub. A role he is completely useless at. Nicholson: Terlich was the best small defender of the preseason.... Gillies: Both his selection and drafting were errors. Who shouldve played: Terlich, Jetta, Spencer, Kent, Evans Round 2 Trengove: Clearly underdone having missed 2 months. Jamar: See above Dont get me started on his misquotation of the "Moneyball" concept. Sounds and looks smarter than he is perhaps?

The guy went on an expletive filled rant about how the admin and board needed to take responsibility for what happens on the field. He must of repeated the line, "that's a [censored] disgrace" whilst gesturing towards the ground 3-4 times during the whole rant.Don gave as good as he got, without the expletives of course. It was interesting, they were literally centimetres apart. It made me wonder how many other presidents experienced such exchanges. Brad Miller looked pretty despondent too. Still at least he has Pia.

You must have seats near me. He looked and sounded completely gutted and angry all day.I also witnessed another member go toe to toe with Don McLardy late in the 4th qtr. it was an ugly day.

http://www.sen.com.au/audioplayer/Audio/Melbourne-coach-Mark-Neeld/7454 Listen to it yourself.....

Real? The reality is that we are still a very poor side, especially in the midfield. The numbers don't lie. It will take 10-12 games to see this list show some signs of development. That's ok. I am prepared for it.

I enjoyed his performance last night. Moves well, to the right places, safe hands and a huge amount of presence. Awesome. What was even better was the Tigers supporters behind me thinking that he was Dawes and how much better he looked. Once they realised who he really was they were rather envious.....

Agree. I didn't understand the recruitment of Pederson and I am still none the wiser. His centre bounce work was woeful and his work as a key forward was underwhelming to say the least. I guess Nth had their reasons to use him so sparingly last season but as you say, he has plenty of opportunities to prove me wrong. We have a long way to go and a lot of players to sort through. Sigh....

You're probably right but I always thought the training session before the game was usually lower in intensity and allowed the players to perform their skills at their best. We were pretty shabby, they were not. Nothing to do with today but I have set the bar for this season at a moderately low level. My only hope is that Viney and Toumpas are J.Selwood and Judd like 1st year players.... which is doubtful.

Re the difference in training: Both teams trained at a similar intensity but the biggest difference was the pace and delivery compared to us. I agree it is almost impossible to make any definitive statements but the difference was quite stark, no pun intended. They never missed a target once the ball was in the hand of the 'release player'. Couldn't say the same for us. Comparing our midfield of mostly NQR players and theirs is a painful task. We have players who are physically gifted and hard at the contest but either cannot kick or consistently make the wrong choice. Bail, Nicholson, McKenzie, Rodan, Magner etc all have problems in these areas while some of our more talented players have other dowfalls. Trengove is one paced and Sylvia, our most gifted player, struggles to maintain focus and find the footy. Jones is as close as we have to an A-Grader but he isnt near the level of Cotchin or dare I say it, Deledio. Both of those players can win their own footy, break lines, bring others into the game and go forward and kick goals. Who can do that for us?

one of the comments I 'accidently' overheard from the RFC staff was that we had a forward line (when fully healthy) that would worry most teams but they thought our lack of midfield power would be our downfall. hardly ground breaking news but when you compare our midfield to the Tiges you see our talent shortfall. The other thing that was kind of interesting was how the RFC staff critiqued our stoppage work. We set up differently with Jamar than we do with Spencer apparently as Jamar provides more clean ball. One of them who I did not recognise joked that Viney's presence may change that.

Had the opportunity this morning to drop by for the 1st time in years. Mixed results. I also jumped on the bike to look at the Tiges which was a significant contrast in style and content. I did sit within earshot of Wayne Campbell and co for 20 minutes, their critique of our list and style was mostly uninteresting. Lots of skills work (it was needed) and a press breaking drill were performed for the better part of an hour. I didn't think it was too intense but it got a little ugly at times due to skill and decision errors. Good: The team as a whole looks very fit and stronger than the 2012 squad. Watts. When the game is flowing he looks a million dollars. Darts through traffic, makes good decisions and executes. I am waiting to see him get isolated by the opposition during the season proper though.... Viney. Scrubbed a few but clearly ticks boxes. His speed off the mark is surprising up close. He said he is very excited Hogan. Great hands. I watched him closely the whole session and he could be the best young tall (huge call after 1 viewing) since Schwarz, Neitz and Bergman(I think that was his name) were running around in the U/19's/reserves. I like his enthusiasm, size and did I mention his clean hands?... Hmmm what else... Dawes is huge, Frawley is super competitive in everything, Barry has studied the "How to" manual by Michael Long very well, Rodan is very cheeky. Bad: Missed kicks. The usual suspects; Bail, Fitzpatrick, Nicholson, and some of the newer guys were the main offenders but across the board I thought the skills were down. Richmond looks way better than us. FYI Tynan was running laps, could be why he isnt available tomorrow night. To be honest the session wasn't the best for getting a formline etc....

Either that or they are tracking a deadly alien Predator.....

Max began playing a little later than jack, that could mean he will bloom later. Jack could of played for us in 2011 and 2012 but he is bit of a freak. Still can't believe we got him so cheaply.

How any MFC supporter can want Hawthorn to win is beyond me.... To rank my least favourite: 1. Essendon 2. Hawthorn 3. Collingwood 4. The rest Back to the game. It has all the ingredients to be a corker. Every time I watch the Swans my admiration for them increases. Contrasted against the insipid efforts by our team, the Swans embody everything I want in my team.

Not a real contribution but my mate is a law Don and he told me 2 weeks ago that Goddard was signed. 4 year deal. Done and dusted. Told him he was an idiot..... I assumed the usual Bomber arrogance had clouded his mind. The next bit is pretty solid info. Apparently we are preparing to manipulate some of our existing contracts (1 bloke in particular) to clear more money for 2013 free agency as the club is aware that as a destination, we stink. Hoping for a better 2013 that will lead to more interest....

If we have to select Viney with pick 3 then so be it. I would still offer 4 for Hogan. Remember we're 99.9% certain to be crap again next year and will still have the ability to snag quality mids from the 2013 draft. Plus Hogan should be ready to rumble in some capacity by then.

Has talent but another flawed player that Bailey invested too heavily in. Great contested mark for his size but an awful kick and an average attitude to hard work.

His athletic abilities and attitude will take him a long way toward playing a lot of games for us. Needs to polish other aspects of his game but I like what I see.

A jinx hey? Can we put Nic Nat, Dangerfield, Fyfe, Rockliff, Hurley and Cotchin up there?

meh... I thought he was a solid candidate for delisting anyway. I am sad that it ended like this though. A breathtaking talent that only ever played the game on his own terms. An approach that won't get you far in 2012 and beyond.

I like it. Tell Scotty Thompson that Danners has moved to Port and it may make him leave the Crows such is his hatred of our former coach. Living in the same city will be too much. Trade them Moloney for Thomo.