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Congratulations to Brad Green. He had a pretty ordinary season, but there was heaps going on at the club, and hopefully this brings his confidence up for a good 2012. He reminds me of myself a bit Greeny; Handsome, gifted at a number of sports, after the weekend he'll have captained Australia in two of them (I was regrettably overlooked for captaincy of the Australian underwater hockey team). Actually, I now realise I'm not really like Greeny at all. Great to see the love and support from the Dees fans here on the site. Don't let loyalty or self-comparison get in the way of having a massive and anonymous backstab of the bloke who is the ever-loyal leader of our team, even if he did have a poor year on field. He's had plenty of absolute rippers, and hopefully will again. So let's all petition the MFC to have our anthem changed to Janet Jackson's "What have you done for me lately?". Only then might Greeny be 'embarrassed' by his appointment to captain our country in sport.

Apparently Neil Craig was the driver. He was seen chewing gum near the scene of the accident.

I'm missing something here. That article is about Alan Didak. Please tell me you're not extrapolating.

Call me old-fashioned, but... Thank God he wasn't hurt, and thank God nobody else was. Can't believe the amount of muppets on this thread who are trying to make this a big issue.

How ya feeling A Dent? Not one doctor,... both! Ready to step up?

I was excited when we drafted Maric. He was the best kick in that year's NAB draft. Unfortunately, we barely afforded him the opportunity to show it. If he'd been in a competitive side with good forward delivery, things may have been different. Unless you're in the calibre of Judd and company, this can be a fickle sport. I wish him the best, and sympathise with him over a lack of opportunity.

The opposition will have trouble finding a good opponent for Martin if he rests forward, now that they have to cover Clark. I love the domino effect this big fella is going to cause. I'm also rapt that the club has finally accepted that Jurrah is not a key position player.

Agree. If he's to become a good full forward, he needs to spend every second he's got perfecting that role. Can't expect the bloke to kick bags if he's only there half the time.

Sprinters are born, endurance athletes are made. Bate will never be fast, but he certainly could develop an engine to run all day. He is though, good in the contests, hard, and willing. We have lacked some of this recently. I hope we give him a go in there. My confidence rating would be ~ 50-60% that he'd be worth having, probably as a tagger/pivot. Given our new coach is a ranger, I reckon Bater will be VC under Jordie Mac.

Quote says it all. Thanks for awesome post.

Thanks A Dent. Sorry about the outburst, it's a topic close to heart. And I agree he's replaceable. Issue is that we shouldn't need to be replacing him on account of a person in a different role.

Well we will just have to disagree.

Not better. Different roles. Doctor usually has more connections with surgeons, can give medication (as you say) etc. Physio usually has very good understanding of how the athlete is functioning and has many tricks in the bag to fix less serious injuries, and to rehabilitate serious injuries after surgery. My prob is not with physios, it's with 'fitness' personal, who have bypassed the actual training (that both doctors and physios receive) in preference to a 'how to make them fit' degree, and then decide that they actually understand the medical field and know better than the trained professionals in the area. This type of deregulation will lead to heartache. Edit: Please note - Misson is not a Physiotherapist. He is a Physical Education person (and a very good one). My issue is not with the importance of his role, it's with his misconception of his role. He needs to stick to his job and let others do theirs. If you read the 'Daffy' thread, (I know it's starting to sound like I love the bloke - I've never actually met him) you'll understand. Is Misson going to diagnose a tension pneumothorax? Where will he place the needle to decompress it? Th 2nd intercostal space in the clavicular midline? From the back? Through the neck? Maybe he'd stick it up his clacker.. If you relate to the uncertainty here, you're in the same knowledge bracket as Misson. Point is, while guys like Misson should have every right to come in and have a say; they don't have the right to come in and start trying to run the medical side of things.

Heard same. Apparently Misson feels he knows more than a doctor. Not a rare illness amongst his like.

Yes it was. Sometimes hard to diagnose, particularly in the context of how the injury occurred (not typical). Petterd's condition was very serious and could have ended very badly. Dr Daff's not the only bloke who could have diagnosed and treated it, but there are plenty around who'd have missed it.

An experienced doctor is good at knowing how to manage the timecourse of players' injuries and when they are fit to return. When they should miss games etc. Leaving that in the hands of a bloke with a Phys Ed certificate (no matter how good he is) is like having a book keeper run the national economy. Agree that we'll survive though.

Still no official word on the MFC site about Andrew Daff - our doctor. My word is that he's walked. Not happy with one of the new appointments. Anyone else heard anything?

I think you're being harsh there mate (well... harsher than usual). "Can you name a player....more support around him"? Well, it's a very different story for Marc Murphy to win heaps of footy when he has Chris Judd taking the premium tagger. I could go on and on about players in strong sides that win votes in any poll, solely b/c they have premium back-up. Put Moloney back at Geelong, where he'd be the 5th midfielder, instead of the first. I needn't go on. Performing against top 6 sides, which usually have a range of tagging options, not to mention a superior midfield in general, really does require the MFC to have a number of players who present a problem to that opposition. Unfortunately we don't, and Beamer bears the brunt. Come with me here RR; Love the Beamer.

Agree. Collingwood with a new coach - wont reach the heights of this year. Geelong lose Ling, Ottens, and Wojinski. Aging list. Wouldn't write them off, but seem increasingly unlikely. Hawthorn - will be spewing on the Prelim loss.

How do you post a photo on this site?

Neeld may have a twitter account, but it won't be him twittering. It's a spin. Someone will sit there and follow a tree diagram on how to answer everything as per club policy. No complaints either. Twitter is no place for a coach.

4.28pm - Hocking has moved on after three years of great service and having secured another position in the AFL. yada yada. 4.38pm - Melbourne has secured Misson as new fitness coach and Neeld is very happy. yada yada. Do they think we're stupid? Why not just be honest and say we sacked a bloke and hired someone new. I am getting so bored with the political spin factor. No drama with the action, just the bulltish we have to read to find it out. Subtle as a brick Connols. The labour party awaits.

Hang on to your hats people ... his blue collar desperation and desire to get his hands dirty and get in and under... The clean-out has started. Neeld isn't pulling any punches! big changes at the MFC exciting times ahead! "find the best". We need a fresh start. I say clean them all out, i like this new cut throat coach. The season of change is upon the MFC (clear winner) get rid of this boys club mentality Well, a week's a long time in football, but apparently not on this site. We've managed 11 meaningless cliches in 22 posts. That's an efficiency higher than that of our midfield's disposal in 2011. Hopefully they'll take our lead!

Great post

I am really surprised that Bohdan, with his track & field background, has made an issue of someone's running style. Did you ask him abut anyone else in the team? (I'm not having a go at you - just realised I might come across that way - sorry). If I were at the MFC with a track & field background, I'd be pushing the old "got to fix his running" chestnut as well. I would imagine - Cale Morton (just corrected a typo that left the 'T' out - funny actually) - only gets knee lift to appropriate levels when being chased by a large opponent.