Dr. Gonzo

Yeah I haven't seen or heard any ads or drives either like other clubs have had but maybe I missed it?

If it's less than $50 I don't want to know about it.

Is this serious? I can't believe we have committed to a teenager two years before draft day who has chronic OP issues and may never even play a game! This club is a joke, no wonder we are rubbish and havne't won anything for 40+ years!!! We might as well close up shop and relocate to New Zealand to put us all out of our misery. NB. This is a tongue in cheek post in complete bad taste. Please take a moment to breathe in deeply before the bile starts to rise and you unleash your fury on the interwebs.

At the risk of grinding your gears on two separate threads today, this is why it wouldn't biother me at this stage if we happened to finish last this year considering what we theoretically have to gain. I'm not necessarily saying tank and I don't think we will finish last but if we did it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. We would then have pick 1, 2, 12(ish) & Viney. Won't happen but I'm not gonna slit my wrists if it does.

That last paragraph was clearly tongue-in-cheek (hence the smiley demon) - sorry if it offended anyone but I thought it was pretty obvious.

It's not a matter of wanting to join - it's a matter of what's best for the MFC. Handing over $600 per year to the MCC with a token $60 to MFC when you could buy a Premium MFC Membership with that $600 is robbing our club of potential revenue which could be invested into our team/club to ensure it's off field survival and on-field competitiveness. I know there are a number of MCC who buy MFC memberships also but not nearly enough. You can't claim you are an MFC SUPPORTER if you do not buy an MFC Membership to SUPPORT the club. This goes for AFL Members with club support also although at least the club gets about $150 out of that but it still is nowhere near the same as getting $500+ for a Premium Membership (which is what the AFL Membership costs). Yes the MCC has agreed to hand over some extra cash but it is still not the same as if all our MCC based followers joined up and supported the MFC. It is also discretionary and ould change depending on the whim of the MCC. So come on all you toffs. If you want to claim to be an MFC SUPPORTER then hand over your (not very) hard-earned cash that you got from playing the stock and derivatives markets and buy an MFC Premium Membership. It won't cost you much more than the cost of filling up your Range Rovers for a month.

If Viney is not worth a pick 3 and GWS/GC bid pick 1 or 2 let them take him. Then he can come back home after his first two years contract is up. If the club does take him with pick 3 and he is only rated top10-20 then I think I would absolutely lose it. The club needs to be smart and ruthless about this and can't afford to stuff up another draft.

Mate alcohol is the only thing that gets me through Melbourne games these days. I understand your concern but this is the footy not a Wiggles concert. If you don't like who you sit near sit somewhere else (top deck is usually pretty empty at MFC games). And if your kids ask you next time why someone is bagging Macdonald the whole game just tell them it is because he is rubbish.

Now that we have secured our jumper sponsors this is the biggest issue off field at the moment. This is yet another draft where we will have prime position and we cannot afford to screw it up this time. Is Todd Viney really the best person for the job? As far as I can tell he is just a fill in between Prendergast and when we get our next guy (the Collingwood recruiting manager?) - we need to make sure we have the best guys in place in our recruiting area so that we don't stuff up again on draft day and can secure a couple of hard, gun midfielders. We can't afford another draft we recruit "project" players (i.e. players with "potential") we need ready made kids who can step in and go from round 1 2013.

A lot of clubs play home games at the MCG but how many have their Home there?

You can't help bone injuries, only soft-tissue injuries can be "attributed" to the fitness guys (see Essendon).

I could not give a stuff about lacrosse, golf, squash, tennis or any of those other poncey sports. Not sure what you're getting at here? My point is if those with MCC/AFL memberships (who can't afford an MFC membership as well) bought an MFC Premium membership instead it would go a very long way to helping our club not only have more members but having more cash to invest in our club and team. The other issue is with regards to the "exclusivity" of the MCC which as pointed out is where a lot of our history is however this excludes many members/supporters and would-be members/supporters from being a part of the MFC.

What happened to him?

Mate I'm already there.

That's the problem - the MFC supporters/members who aren't MCC don't have access to anything like this - there are MFC members areas and the other "rooms" (Hassett etc) for members but it's not the same. It is very exclusive and is an impediment to the MFC expanding it's supporter base as we are not able to open the doors to all comers due to a large part of our history existing behind the closed doors of the MCC.

I thought last year we should get rid of one of Jamar or Martin while they have currency. We would then still have on of them, Gawn (wasn't injured at that stage), Spencer, Fitzpatrick and Clark/Sellar as back-up. We can afford to get rid of one.

We have the same problem with creating space in our forward line. Too many times everyone goes to the same spot or leads to the same spot. Nobody makes dummy/decoy leads to open it up and drag their opponent away. Rarely do we have someone sitting back in the square keeping there opponent away. At one state in the third we had a free kick on the HFF Southern Stand side/Punt Road End. There were about 3 players (all with opponents) about 10 metres in front of the player with the ball all leading in a straight line towards goals. Combined with this we had about 3 players (all with opponents) deep in the forward line all leading in direct lines to the player with the footy. The result was a giant clusterf*** where everyone ran from opposing directions to the same spot crowding each others space and making it the simplest job in the world for the Dogs players to kill the contest. It's just dumb football.

You are prepared to write his legacy at the age of 20? Bit premature I would have thought.

You're trolling right? We weren't a basket case last year when we lost by 31 goals (biggest losing margin since the equalisation measures of the AFL ie draft, salary cap etc). We have been a basket case since 2008.

So you want the coaches to instill belief over structures but also want the defensive game plan that Bailey lacked implemented? How did "instilling belief" go for Bailey? A: 186.

If anyone thinks our "game plan" is to just whack it on the boot and kick down the line on the wings/flanks they have rocks in their heads. Do you really think Neeld, Craig and the rest of our team of coaches are telling the players "get in there, win the contest and then bang it on your boot as quick as possible without looking"? Our players do this because they panic, because they are trying to become accustomed to a new style of play and because they are put under the pump by lousy disposal from teammates. Bartram on 774 after the game indicated they had KPI's they were looking at (like every team would) and they are focussed on the process at this stage rather than the outcome. You take care of the porcesses and the outcome will take care of itself. Neeld is trying to implement a game plan but is doing it step by step. Step one is to win contested possessions and teach a more accountable and defensive side to our game (something we have been crying out for for 20 years). Step two is to get our defensive structures right (forward press) something we saw implemented quite well in patches tonight. Once we get these things right (and it will probably take all or most of 2012) then we move on to implementing the attacking/offensive side of our game. As much as it is painful 2012 is another "development" year. We will not win many games. We will finish in the bottom 4. I am not happy about this but really how many sides turn everything around in one off season after sacking their coach the year before especially after losing by 31 goals only 10 games ago. If we can keep improving our defensive game and have it down pat by the end of 2012 with a view to implementing the offensive game plan over the next summer and into 2013 I will be happy. On top of all this we are still one of the least fit teams in the league and will take another one or two pre-seasons until we are we need to be fitness wise to be able to compete with the top sides.

I think we will be 0-11 but who knows? I also thought we'd lose by 100 points R2 2010 and we were paying $16 for the win. We lost by a point and should have won. No I'm not hanging my hat on that game I'm just saying that things can turn around quickly in footy. If we can get Sylvia and Jurrah back we will be an improved side. We will still have tonnes of improvement to go but may be able to catch a team on our day and pull out a win. I wouldn't expect more than maybe 1 though.

Not really sure what you mean??? There were plenty of things I was unhappy with but they did have a crack and I could see what they (or the coach) was trying to do. When Rivers (late in the game) ignores three players relatively on their own across CHF and kicks it wide to the flank directly to a Dogs player it's not because Rivers is an idiot. It is because he is trying to reinforce the coaches instructions of where he wants the players to be. Rivers basically seemed to be making a point that he would kick it to where the players were meant to be, not to where they were. Now this might be nothing more than one of our older heads trying to make a point on discipline to his team-mates. It could also point to greater issues within the team but at this stage I'll take it as Rivers just trying to make a point when the game was done and dusted.

It was his 5th game - give the kid a break (not you personally but all those having a dig). He is the least of our problems at the moment.

Our problem today was not our endeavour or game plan. It was our disposal and willingness to run hard. Too often we would win the hard ball and turn it over with clangers. Other times we would handball to players under pressure or kick it high to players on their own allowing the opposition time to make the contest. Other times we would panic under pressure (sometimes minor or perceived pressure) and just bang it on the boot. Trust me this is not our game plan to just bomb it high and long in hope of a pack mark. We do this because our players panic and go for the tried and true "safest" option. As they become more confident in themselves, their team mates and the game plan they will know where to position themselves and where to pass the ball instinctually like the best teams do (that is the hope anyway). I thought Davey had a red hot crack today and was his best game in years. He put his body on the line several times, had second and third efforts and kicked his best goal since that wet Friday night against the Cats in 2006 (from the same pocket but this time on his right boot). It was disappointing no one went to him after this goal to show support and help build his ocnfidence. Morton did some good things but too often lets himself down by avoiding contact at all costs and missing easy targets under minimal pressure. You can't play footy if you don't want contact. He needs to be given another few weeks to show if he can improve but I'm not holding my breath. Macdonald needs to go as well. I don't know why he came back after only 1 game at Casey but I would rather see Blease, Davis or Couch in the side. Overall I thought there were some improvements (mainly endeavour) and some disappointments (mainly disposal) but we still have a hell of a long way to go and the next 2-3 months will not be pretty.