Dr. Gonzo

If the players (certain players, certain senior players) are unwilling to go along with the new hard, disciplined approach implemented by the new FD, the new FD comprised of people from successful clubs who know how hard you have to work to finish top 4 consistently and win a flag, then that is absolutely a problem with the players. As has been mentioned by others if guys like Sylvia would rather just do enough to get by as an AFL footballer rather than exerting themselves to go beyond merely getting games and actually being successful then I hope that he or others like him are dropped and then cleaned out at the end of the year. Dropping Sylvia may fix nothing in the short term but it helps to set the standard of what is acceptable and helps to redefine our culture just as moving him (or others like him who refuse to understand how hard they have to work to be a successful modern AFL player) on at the end of the year will. I am not happy about this either but the fact is we were sold a lemon 4 years ago. Not to say all the work over the last 4 years has been for nought, but the work that has been done is not enough and there is still further work to go (in developing the players drafted since 2007 and in further culling/refining our list). This is not Neeld's (or the new FD's) fault - the people still around who can take some of the blame and should be held accountable are guys like Schwab, McLardy and the board as well as some of the senior players who have been around for long enough now to have built up an elite fitness base (they are paid athletes after all) regardless of the expectations of the prior FD. I have the feeling I could write a thesis on what is wrong with the MFC but I will leave it there for now and just say that I have complete faith that Neeld is the right man to turn our CULTURE around and this must be achieved before we start seeing results on the field. So whether he will lead us to consistent top 4 and/or a flag remains to be seen but he is the right man for the club right now. We can assess in a couple of years whether he will be the man to take us forward - though I have faith he will be and I think he is definitely going about it the right way. Every champion team has had a basis of strong defense before attack. Melbourne teams for the last 20 years have been the complete opposite which leads us to look very good against mediocre oppisition and against good opposition on off days but when it counts we fall to pieces as we only want to kick goals (as individuals) rather than prevent them (as a team). That is why we got smashed in '88 & 2000, that is why we fell apart in '90, '94, '04, '05 & '06. Our club has a soft underbelly and this is known by everyone else in the AFL. So this is not a quick fix 3-4 year rebuild this is the complete rebuild of the club from the foundations up. But once it is done it will more than likely not just see us be "competitive" but also successful and successful for long periods that will mean next time we have a downward turn it will not see us down the bottom of the ladder for years at a time.

If you dont think Neeld wants the players to run hard & spread to create options in attack and is telling them to stand around like a bunch of bewildered statues then you are not listening to what Neeld is saying in his press conferences and media interviews and have little understanding of how the game is currently played. What do you think he is telling them to do if not run and spread and create options in attack? Listen to his interview on SEN Saturday midday if you can find it online - he is not happy with the performance thus far and is clearly unhappy the players are either unwilling or unable to to implement his gameplan at this stage for whatever reason (fitness, intellect, skill etc). He seemed particularly scathing of Sylvia who I daresay will be playing at Casey in a couple of weeks if he keeps that rubbish form up judging by Neeld's comments.

I won't write him off but until he can start converting his set shots (especially ones from the top of the goalsquare) I'm not going to expect more from him than any of our other hacks.

GWS show more hardness and attack on the ball and man than we do. That is not an indictment that is downright embarrassing. How can a club that has been around for 150 years have such a pathetic soft underbelly? I seriously can't understand how some of our players can show their faces in public I would be ashamed.

2 weeks in a row is downright pathetic. Watts in particular can keep laughing and giggling like a private school girl while languishing in the two's for the rest of his career for all I care at the moment. Until he gets some c**t in him I don't want to see him back in the side. And that includes showing that the team getting belted every week hurts even if you're not on the field.

Evidently it is. Pretty sure Neeld explicitly told Sylvia, Petterd, Bennell, Davey, Trengove etc there's no point racking up more than 5-10 possessions that's not how we want to play.

[censored]. Some of it is fitness but a lot of our players just don't seem to give a stuff or want to push themselves beyond just doing enough to get a game. Sylvia had 6 possessions for the game. 6! Petterd 4. These aren't first or second year players so how can their fitness be so poor that they can't get more than a handful of possessions for the match. Davey refuses to run hard defensively. That has nothing to do with fitness it is a soft pissweak mentality. You might be able to comfort yourself week in week out by saying "well everyone expected us to lose, what did you expect?" I'll tell you what I expect, I expect the team to have a crack every time they step out on to the field and make a contest of every single game. Who cares who rated which clubs where before the season. Win, lose or draw you need to be able to look in the mirror and say you did your best. Only a handful of players can do that this year and two of them weren't even at the club last year. As for guys like Sylvia, Moloney, Petterd, Bennell even Jamar, Bate, Dunn they can all get stuffed as far as I'm concerned.

Fitness plays a part. But last year I called the team dumb and lazy and not much has changed. They make some of the most blatantly stupid decisions I see on a footy field. Laziness is exemplified by Davey running forward loose into the F50 at the Punt Road end. The ball wasn't kicked to him and was turned over with a Hawks player marking on our HFF Southern Stand side. So does Davey get on his bike to run hard back the other way? No he just sits their spectating until the ball is kicked to a loose Hawthorn player who he then decides to half-heartedly chase while giving him a 20-25 metre head start. Laziness is also exemplified by Sylvia having 6 possessions and Petterd and Bennell having 4 each. How the hell can you have 3 senior players play 120 minutes and combine for 14 touches? That is not fitness or smarts that is just plain couldn't give a f*** laziness.

I saw Blease walking outside the ground with some mates 10 or so minutes after the final siren. Surely even non-playing players are requried in the rooms after the game? Agree with Watts and co laughing it up while the side gets smashed on the field. Didn't see it tonight but did last week and thought it was pathetic. The side is getting pumped he has been dropped to the VFL and he is having a laugh while the supporters get more and more frustrated and angry. But he was quoted as saying a couple of years back that "losing doesn't matter." Not to single Watts out but it seems indicative of the whole playing group. As for chatting out on the ground after the game - I appreciated these guys may have mates in other teams or whatever but surely they can catch up behind closed doors. Shake hands after the siren sure but don't stand out there in full view of demoralised supporters back-slapping and yakking it up with the opposition that just made you look like fools (again) - there's plenty of time to catch up later on at Boutique, CQ or in Sylvia's case Spearmint Rhino.

I agree but this "chance" should last up until the bye. You can't chuck players in for one week and then drop them straight away if they aren't BOG.

Well looks like SEN was wrong - I just got a text with the ins & outs and Watts was not included. I think this is a good thing, sorry for posting false info but they definitely said this on SEN and it sounded like they had spoken to the club about it (though I only heard it for 10 minutes). EDIT: For those interested IN: Petterd Bennell Fitzpatrick OUT: Sellar (calf) Tapscott Dunn

According to SEN Jack Watts did enough at Casey to earn a call-up for the Hawks game and will play tomorrow. Not sure I agree with this another week at Casey might have been the go. I hope they decide to leave him in the forward 50 with Clark instead of playing between the arcs. The kid can kick goals he just needs time to settle down there.

West of Sydney not West of Victoria is my guess.

Perhaps he doesn't want out but is leveraging the club for the best contract he can get in what is likely to be his last big contract. I wouldn't read too much into it at this stage.

But Moloney bleeds red and blue.

We smashed them on a Friday night in 2006 (about round 8). In fact here it is, we won by 75 points with Campbell Brown acting like a tool and costing them about 4 goals. http://stats.rleague.com/afl/stats/games/2006/101120060519.html I have this game on my hard drive, might be better off sitting at home and watching this on Friday as I'm quite certain the scoreline will be reversed on the weekend.

I was not a fan of Gardner but credit where it's due, it was the Gardner board which initiated the move away from the Junction Oval, they just didn't get to reap the rewards of that move.

Can't remember who wrote it but best post in this thread was regarding our potential ladder position; 1 - finish 16th, get picks 3 & 4 - Viney pick 3 and a good compo pick - result we potentially pay "overs" for Viney but also get a top 3 draftee 2 - finish 11th get picks 8 & 9 (or 9 & 10) - Viney pick 8 and an OK compo pick - result we get a potential bargain for Viney but only get a top 10 draftee It's win/win - either we get another good draftee in addition to Viney or we get Viney for a bargain. Of course if we finish 18th we get pick 1, 2, 13 & Viney. Can't see this happening and would be crap to "win" another spoon but if it was going to happen this year would be the year to do it.

Don't think it's Striker. My point was they were all the same person, seems like Dr. Who is just another alias of e25/lutz/artie.

Whatever happened to e25, Lutz & Artie Bucco?

How far north of Melbourne is North Melbourne? Surely they are more central than Essendon.

Is that you Cale?

Payback for Scott Thompson

Patrick Smith is another one who constantly trolls the club - heard him the other day on SEN apparently Richmond deserve praise for having a red hot go but Melbourne don't because that's expected every week and the club is in dire straits if theyre getting praised for that. He also made comment about Milne being booed of the ground and said the Melbourne supporters were used to booing because they've booing their own team for years. I sent an SMS in having a crack at him of course it was ignored and KB just did his stupid little laugh. Smith & Denham are two that definitely have some kind of agenda against us much like Caro with North.

1 - He would've been a high pick anyway so no chance of grabbing him with a late pick 2 - We did this as the Crows were sniffing around and to aid his development