The Chazz

Really olisik, do you want to go ther? Brace yourself for another 30+ pages where 95% of what is written is crap. (My post probably fits in that 95% too before anyone asks!).

FFS La Dee. He kicked 2 goals agaisnt the Saints, prior to that he had kicked 1 goal in 4 games and he has had 2 Goal Assists for the season. He has given away 10 free kicks, but only got 3 in return. What part of Rohan Bail's game this season has been satisfactory, especially from a stats point of view? Normally I'm not too fussed what sort of picture stats paint, but this lot of figures confirmed that my observations of his game this year has been terrible. I really do hope he improves and he plays some very good footy in the coming games, otherwise blokes like Blease and Petterd will be pushing him out (hopefully they find form good enough to warrant that). I appreciate, and have acknowledged that he is not on his own, but this is the Ro Bail thread.

And bloody good on him if he does. I will put my hand up saying that I didn't think he would play a game of senior footy this year. The pending court case will be a massive outcome in Liam's career (as well as his life obviously). If he is to be found not guilty, the amount of support he will receive will be amazing, and I think he will feel that he owes the Club something, and as we've seen, just how special that something is could be quite remarkable. I hope it's not the alternative.

Personally, I'm impressed with Jurrah actually playing. I was highly doubtful of LJ playing at either AFL or VFL level this year, but to his credit, he has pulled his head in, worked on his fitness, and has given himself every opportunity to compete at the highest level. I hope LJ gets a further opportunity to put a pretty crappy few months behind him after the court case, allowing us, the MFC, and the greater AFL community, the opportunity to see what he does best.

Has to be pretty close to spot on I reckon Jose. I mentioned earlier about leaving him at Casey until the GWS game, but what are the chances of us going "back to the future"? Give him a 5 week program at Casey, tell him not to even think about playing AFL footy, just really concentrate on the areas that Neeld requires (which no doubt a lot of the ones Jose listed above), then tell him that his "comeback" game is Collingwood. This game is to be earmarked as Jack's arrival in the AFL, similar to what it was tried to be used for with his first game. If Jack can spend 5 weeks in the VFL, purely focusing on Neeld's demands, then he can come back against reasonable opposition and show that he has learnt and that he is ready to make a statement to the AFL community. There doesn't have to be a big soing and dance about it, just let it go under the radar so that the external pressures aren't as great. Thoughts of doing this, as opposed to what I originally said (bringing him back for GWS) is that in theory, most players should have a day out against GWS, and we won't get a true indication if he has taken that next step. Obviously this is all dependent on Jack doing what is asked of him at Casey on a consistent basis. Thoughts?

Wouldn't be at all surpirsed to see Watts play at Casey until the bye. Misses the "tough" run, which from a confidence point of view may be a good thing. Gets some good form at Casey over a few weeks, works on some of the areas that he needs to, then comes back mid season against some lesser opponents and finds the transistion from VFL to AFL a bit easier (as opposed to coming in from 1 week in the VFL to playing against Dustin Fletcher or someone like that).

As a pass it did not. As a shot at goal, it did. He wasn't having a shot at goal, and it was in the last sconds of the match (ie tired legs).

His 48m pass to Petterd in the last seconds of the Collingwood game 2 years back didn't appear to lack penetration. I hope Rohan can maintain his position in the team for the next few weeks. He had an improved showing on Saturday night (not on his own there), but to be averaging 12 possessions YTD is far from acceptable from one of our (potential) midfielders (he's not on his own there either). As I have previously posted, the sooner Blease, Strauss, Gysberts, et al start snapping at his heels, he would want to drastically improve his output otherwise a lengthy stint at Casey is on the cards.

I am totally blown away by the amount of positive talk regading RB this year. I'm not trying to kick the bloke in the guts, but am I the only one who beleives his form to date has been poor? I love his attitude, and his running ability, and he's not a bad looking bloke, but what are we judging here, a popularity contest or what we see on the footy field?

Mentioned this a couple of seasons back, so will be interested in seeing some responses... I don't think it would be a full time option, but as you said, will force him to see more of the ball. Can't see it happening, but I think there are definite arguements for it.

It's a standard condition that Sheedy will only pick up Melbourne players if they are well past their use-by date, so any current-listed player should be safe (although Brad Green's stocks are rising by the day). With that in mind, I have it on good authority that Paul Wheatley, Jeff White or Alastair Nicholson will be offered an assistnat coach role, with the view that they will be able to run out a solid 22 games in 2013.

I think the Webjet sponsorship is 12 months, with a 2 year option after that. Other than that I agree with what you are saying.

If you actually read my posts, you will notice that I'm saying that Howe is more than a HFF, therefore idicating that he has more tricks in his bag than RP. And if you still are unsure of my opinion, just check my posts #3 and #17, and you will find it clear that I didn't mean Howe had bugger all tricks.

It's not about writing him off, it's about the fact the players have either gone past him (ie Howe), or are holding their own (ie Dunn). I don't think the MFC will win a flag with Dunn in the team, it may with Ricky, but at the moment, as Nasher said, RP can't get a game ahead of Dunn so a few supporters have their concerns.

I seriously question some views, with this one being at the top of the list. The OP talked about how we should have a fair bit of money up our sleeve to throw at players during FA, yet the best name you can come up with is 1AW? If we are serious about spending big money on someone, they have to be a game breaker and Walker isn't one. Why don't we look at some of the better players in the league and target them? We are crying out for a bona fide star, let's get him rather than 2nd and 3rd rate players (we have enough of them!).

My concern with all of this post is the idea of throwing coin at potential stars. I'd rather throw double the amount of coin at a current star, especially one that has a good 6-8 years of elite level performance in him.

Personally, I wouldn't rate Dangerfield higher than Boak. I'm not saying Boak is ahead of him, but I just don't see why we need all this juice flying around for Patty.

Has played every game this year, yet averages 12 disposals a game, which is less than Trengove (16) who I think has had an ordinary start to the year also. I dispute the claims of good skills - I think his disposal this year has been dog ordinary. Don't get me wrong, I like Ro, but at the moment, he is very lucky that we have no-one at Casey pushing for his spot.

There's 2 roles in our team that I can see (in my view); 1. Solid HFF that is a competent midfielder 2. A defending/shut down/HFF-type that can kick goals At the moment, we have Howe and Sylvia ticking the box of number 1, and Dunn ticking the box of number 2. Petterd isn't our best option for either role, hence he is playing at Casey. Same could be said about Green. Some on here praise Ricky for his defensive pressure, but he has not shown anywhere near any form of consistency in this area. The days of a HFF with bugger all tricks in their bag are gone, hence Howe's development in the midfield so far this season.

Travis Boak is out of contract at the end of the season I beleive. Ex-Victorian, would see him coming home if the $ were ok. Not saying we throw everything at him, but he is quite classy.

Yeah, if Neeld loses by anything less that 186 points he's better than Bailey? This weekend will do nothing for us to be able to compare Neeld and Bailey, especially given our most recent trip to Geelong was memorbale for all the wrong reasons. Where I will be judging any sign of improvement will be in the effort indicators (or whatever it was that Neeld calls them). If we can keep up the effort that we showed for a majority of the St Kilda game, then yes, maybe our future is looking a lot brighter. If we turn up and put in a shocker, where no different to where we were last year. If we get flogged due to a lack of effort, I'll be pi$$ed off. If we get flogged but show the same work rate or more than last week, I'll accept it. I'd prefer we didn't lose at all.

Has had a far from inspiring start to 2012 in my opinion. His best game for the year was last week, and even that wasn't too great (I appreciate he isn't on his own there). I have absolutely no idea what his best position is, as at the moment, I have very little confidence in him being in our best 22.

I'm pretty sure it was Dunn that did a very good job at shutting down Fisher on Saturday night, after the 1st quarter that is. I believe that's Neeld's best option with LD, play a defensive forward role, because he also makes his opposition accountable. To play him as an attacking HFF he struggles. But, this is where even Dunn has it over Ricky - I would not be confident giving that Fisher role to Ricky. As one of the callers said a couple of weeks ago, our midfield depth is poor. We need our HFF to be able to solidly compete rotating through the midfield, and that's exactly what Howe has done. Petterd at this stage is an attacking HFF, who is ineffective going in to the midfield. If you want to be a "stand alone" HFF, you need to do what Dunn can do in terms of playing it as a defender.

I blame him for shooting the guy on the beach in the first episode of Revenge.

Best advice I can give Ricky is to sit and watch tapes of Jeremy Howe, and understand that if you want to play as a HFF in the AFL at the moment, you need to add so much to your game. I'm of the view that RP and JH are fighting for the one position, and at the moment, JH has it well and truly covered.