The Chazz

I am a big anti-Newton follower, however... Reality is, he has some ability in the VFL, but can't transfer that in to the next level. Why? or, why not??? My thoughts - he's on our list, we have to deal with that. Another thing we have to deal with is that we WILL NOT make finals this year. My challenge to Bailey and Newton - you've got the next 6 weeks to prove yourself. If you can't perform, pi$$ off, we don't want you or need you to be part of this team. Watts will be fully fit by then, and sadly for Juice, it's your spot that Jack will fill. I don't rate Juice, but think that in this re-build, we owe it to him to give me a chance to prove himself. Playing 1 game, then getting dropped, then recalled, then dropped, he probably does deserve better than that, but not too much!

Full forward and Centre Half Forward are funny positions nowadays. True FF/CHF are bigger units that demand the bigger defenders. Petterd does not fit this category, but that is not taking anything away from him. He adds an extra scoring option, especially when you fast forward a year or two when Watts and Martin/Fitzpatrick(?) are our key forwards. I cringe when people call Jurrah our FF, I hated it when people called Robbo our FF, and I don't like the talk that Petterd is a FF. Sorry!

You want to talk about embarrassing? You say Benny's 3rd quarter attempt was embarrassing, then you talk up Grimes. His (Grimes') attempt in the 2nd quarter deep in defence when Pendlebury (I think) walked in to goal, that was just as embarrassing as Bennell's mistake. Bad post.

DL - if you're blaming Bailey for the last 15 minutes, you're a tool, simple as that. Pressure is a massive thing in football, and when you are deep in to the final quarter, no AFL coach can control what his players do. This is where leadership, experience and the ability to hit targets get you over the line. You are correct in saying we had enough chances to win. How many goals did we miss that should have gone through? Jamar in the 2nd quarter, Green in the third, Jones on 2 or 3 occasions, blah blah, but if you blame the coach for these errors, you know zero about the game. Well done Bailey, well done MFC. A 1 point loss to the scum is fantastic. It hurts me, actually, it really hurts, and I'm sure you are all in the same boat, but the ones who will be hurting the most is the players and the coaches. They WILL benefit from this loss, more so than a 10 goal+ hiding. It SHOULD make the young blokes hungrier, which will benefit the team in general. Nb - I have never, ever called for the Coach to be sacked, and still believe he is the right man. Everything he has promised he has delivered. Name me one thing that hasn't.

Thanks. So I guess based on their accurate inclusions last week, and their inaccurate ones this week, it clearly shows The Footy Show, you and I have no idea what the bloody hell is going on.

If only Rohan Bail reads these posts! My message to him is that you have nothing to lose. You are coming in with no expectation to be a star, but you have been good enough to work your way in to a senior AFL team which means you have ability. Back yourself, make mistakes but make them because you were having a go. Again, you have nothing to lose so get out there and give the Scum something to talk about, and give our senior blokes something to think about. You're in charge of your own destiny in this team, you want be part of a team that could be winning flags in the next few years? Well, it starts tomorrow.

Great opening post, has to be a finalist for "Post of the Year". Now, Thomo, I think a few of those names you mentioned should not have been named. Melbourne's backline would be in the top 5-8 in the league. Can't see how Warnock and Rivers have gone backwards - the year he won that he only averaged 11.8 disposals a game, 2nd to Kosi in regards to the least amount of disposals per game of any RS winner. Compare those stats to Buckley (22.9), Sam Mitchell (17.8), Selwood (19.2) - ok they are all midfielders, what about Chris Scott (14.8), Riewoldt (14.5), Nick Holland (17.2). The year Riv won it, he played very well, but can we compare this to Brian Wilson winning the Brownlow? My point is that maybe Rivers never had the ability to be a superstar, just a reliable defender who I happen to love watch play. He is one of not many who will get in the face of opposition players and tell them how crap they are. He runs back in to packs, and isn't affraid to run off his man and take a chance. Warnock over the past couple of years has been amazing, and instrumental in the development of Frawley. Give me Warnock's stats for goals against over the past 3 years, rate him alone in the top 5 full backs. I agree with you about Bartram and Dunn, thought they could have taken the next step (which would only have brought them up to B-grade players), but I think Bate, Petterd, Jones, Moloney and Jamar have reached their level, with only Jamar, Jones and Petterd having slight potential to go to B+ grade. The million dollar question is "does this have anything to do with player development"? Personally, I think not. I think the biggest factor is that we don't have those A-grade players to bring these blokes in to the game. Look at Joel Corey/Corey Enright - they would be A-grade players at the moment, but would they be if they played for Melbourne where they don't have the luxury of Ablett, Selwood, Ling and Bartel feeding them all day long? Re-visit this post in 3-5 years when Watts, Scully and Trengove are expected to be at the start of stardom. Reality check - these are the only 3 players on our list that you can put in this group - all Number 1 draft picks (some would argue that Trengove was the unofficial number 1!). If these 3 develop in to superstars, we WILL win premierships. They WILL bring guys like Jones, Petted and Moloney up to another level (not a-grade, but close enough), plus help Grimes and Morton hold on to the A-grade tag that they are very close to reaching. We ALL need to face the facts, our premiership hopes in the next decade hang on the progress of Watts, Scully and Trengove. If I were the development coach at the MFC, I will be doing anything I can to make sure these 3 reach their potential, the rest of the list will need work, but will naturally progress with 3 stars along side of them. We will not win a flag until these kids (Scully, Watts, Trengove) become men. The team will look and play totally different when those 3 our our marquee players, with Grimes and Morton (proven), and hopefully Tapscott, Strauss, Gysberts and Blease being part of "that" midfield. If anyone else puts their hand up over that time, which I'm sure there will be becuase of the amount of ball that will be given to them, THAT is the cream on top.

Sorry 45, didn't see this weeks footy show. What was said? Obviously there were a couple of questionable selections in our team?

It was, and let's face it, Moloney has been sh!t scared to throw his weight around since. That had a very big impact on his career. Just like the game against the saints when Bruce broke his collarbone thanks to Guerra. Been soft as hell since.

And with Bailey still at the realm. When will people in here realise that Bailey is as safe as houses until minimum of the end of this season. Why waste your efforts people in calling for his blood??? So many people saying "if I was in charge...", all I say is "Thank Christ you're not in charge". And I'm also sick of hearing about the search for this "game plan". If a game plan is predictable/obvious enough for us to see, our opposition will feast on it and we will cop bigger hidings. One thing about this game plan that everyone is so obsessed about, I think Bailey came out in his press conference this week and said that the overuse of the handball is NOT in the game plan, it was more the pressure the Hawks forwards put us under. Pretty basic observation I thought. This weekend - Melbourne (to lose) by 46 points. Start tall in the forward line with Jamar or Martin, as well as Green, and if that doesn't work, have Sylvia one-out.

While I too was not impressed that this bloke got off this charge, I think it was more out of frustration at losing a better player through injury, rather than the actual incident. After seeing the footage on On The Couch, I am not at all surprised he got off. I personally don't believe Sylvia was backing off. The Eagles guy hadn't got rid of the ball, was running in to goals, and people are saying Sylvia (when 2-3 metres behind him) stopped chasing? The bump happened well within an area where anyone would lay a bump to protect the ball carrier, and let' face it, when these guys are running as quick as they do, there is only a split-second to make a decision. It was unlucky for Sylvia, but going by the footage that showed the incident, I will agree with the OTC panel and say that the available footage was inconclusive.

Very ordinary post. There were reasons we had to rookie Meesen and Newton, something about the fact that they were both contracted and we would have to pay both players out to free up their two rookie spots. Assuming they have a 2010 that most are predicting, they will be the first to be delisted at the end of the season. To say it will be a few more meaningless years with these 2 on our list really concerns me that you support the same club as I do. Don't worry, you're not on your own on this site.

Leave him at CHF in that lead-up role. He plays his best footy when leading up to the wing/centre. I know people criticise his footy smarts and he hasn't got the best foot delivery, he knows that too hence why he is always trying to play on or handball. Maybe our half back flankers and wingers need to be aware of this and RUN PAST HIM and get the handball and kick to a full forward (aka Brad Green or Stef Martin). Personally, I would love to play on a wing if Miller was at CHF - I would tracking his every move and if I didn't end up with 25+ kicks in a match, I'd be dropping myself!!! NB - that last line is NOT for futher discussion - just giving an example of how our players should play around Miller.

Maybe the board did that about 2 1/2 years ago. Can anyone answer this - how many games would we have won in the past 3 seasons had Malthouse, Sheedy or even bloody Norm Smith been coaching us? Maybe we would have won a few more (although it cannot be proved), but what state would our list be in if we had finished around the 8th - 10th mark for those years. I can assure you, we wouldn't have Watts, Scully, Trengove and even Liam Jurrah. Blind Freddy can see that a majority of the list love Bailey. Look at the press confrences when he is there with blokes rom Frawley, Grimes down to Scully and Trengove. Bails loves them, and I'm pretty sure they have great respect for him. If it''s the older blokes that don't like him, I'm more than happy for them to have similar outcomes to White, Robbo, etc. You older blokes are grown men, how about you grow up and play for your coach and your club. Reality is if you f*** around and don't play the game plan, or don't get your sh!t together, you will be forced out. And good luck getting a game with another club because you will be worth jack sh!t to anyone else. Don't believe me? Look at Trav Johnstone - was dropped on a few occasions last season, even though he has had access to better facilities. In regards to the original post...no thanks.

Easiest way to look at it for those that don't understand this post is by taking a look at the powerhouse clubs over the past 30 years (and probably longer - I don't go back that far - someone might be able to help out!). Essendon and Hawthorn in the 80's and early 90's were ruthless. They had a group of players that played all over the ground, and any sign of an attempt of physical pressure from the opposition, there was always someone there to jump in and lend a hand. Ok, there are a lot more free kicks paid behind the play these days, but both these teams were feared by a lot of players. Kangaroos in the mid-late 90's were bloody tough too. Archer defines toughness, but very rarely was he dirty. Then they also had the likes of Carey and Stevens who would never back down from a wrestle, especially if it were because of the way the oppostion treated a younger player. How can we forget Essendon's attitude toward us in the 2000 GF? They were ruthless on a younger MFC, especially on the scoreboard. They hit us with everything they had, and we were weak. Schwarz was one of not many who wwas heavily involved in the physical stuff - from memory was it his last game? Then turn your attention to Brisbane in the early 2000's and obviously Geelong in the later part of the decade, Brisbane especially. They bullied teams, they stuck up for each other, they were by far the best team I have seen in my lifetime of 30 years. What made them good? The way they treated every member of that team like they were all family. You take on one brother, you take on 21 of his other brothers. I think even Simon Black said that during his Norm Smith speech (the part about the family bond). Their onfield leaders consisted of Voss, Scott twins, Lynch, Power, Aker, Mal Michael, hell even Martin Pike put his hand up. When you have a look at their teams during the 3peat, there weren't too many champions there, but they had the hunger and respect of each other. We don't have to be the dirtiest team in the AFL, but we need to be the team that is renowned for sticking up for our mates. The clubs I mentioned above did it and look what happened...PREMIERSHIPS. I don't want to hear the excuse that we don't have the size about us to do the damage - surely with the weight programs and all the boxing training that the sides do these days, we should have a group of 6-8 players, scattered all over the ground, who can stand up and be counted.

I am a big Dean Bailey fan. But... Reality is that our game plan will never/should be published, nor predicatble. If anyone in here can tell me what our game plan is, I think our coach is failing. At the end of the day, if us punters know what the Melbourne game plan is, how easy will it be for our opposition to shut it down??? I'm happy for all of us to have no idea what our game plan is - as long as the players know it and play to it, I'm happy with that. If at this stage it is still not working, I'm more than happy to give it time. My biggest criticism of our coach is in relation to how we kick the ball out from the back 50m, and how sides kick out from our forward 50m. When we score a behind, the oppostion too easily and too often hit a target that is 40m out, then the next kick is another 40m away, and before we know it, our half backs are brought in to action. On the flip side to that, we too often have to take 3 or 4 kicks to clear our 50m line. Of course this will result in more turnovers due to extra pressure from the actual time it takes us to look to clear it from the "danger zone". To put it in simple terms, we put ourselves under far too much pressure when kicking out, but don't put anywhere near enough pressure on the opposition whern they kick out. This is where Bail's is letting us down IMO. Regardless of what people say, you can not blame Dean Bailey for the idiotic skill errors that our players make. Sure, he is the "boss" of our training sessions, and should work on certain areas where we need improvement, but poor execution in the wasy of missing easy targets by hand or foot has to fall back to the players so they can take some responsibility. Another thing you can't blame Bailey for is the list he inherited. He has done a fantastic job clearing out the so-called good players from Melbourne. He was involved in the forced retirement of White, Yze, Wheatley, Robbo and Whelan, he inherited onfield leaders such as McDonald, Bruce and Green, but when you compare us to the strong clubs like Geelong, St Kilda, etc, he really has had bugger all to work with. Look at Carlton, they had Fev and Judd - 2 superstars of the comp - both head and shoulders better than those 3 I listed from us, they have had a talented group of kids come in, and they are still a long way away from GF material. I personally think we are far better placed than Carlton were at the same time in our redevlopment, therefore think we should have more success than them in the coming years. Is success going to be a flag? I bloody hope so. Another of our biggest problems is that we have virtually no "X factor". I define X factor as someone who can find the ball and do something with it and literally change the way the game is heading. Judd obviously has it, Riewoldt has it, Hird had it, Buckley, Voss, Goodes, etc. At this stage, the only player we have that COULD be the X factor is Jurrah - Davey, Sylvia, Green, etc don't have it. Now, I am a huge fan of Jurrah too, but at the end of the day, he has played bugger all footy, and in the preseason matches, he struggled to get in to any game. Sadly, injuries have obviously blocked us from seeing if he can take the next step this year (well, a major part of it anyway). When he returns, will he be able to get in a take the game by the balls and change a result? I'm not convinced. This is only because of his lack of experience, he has the ability to do it, let's hope he can. Our better chances of X factor players will be out of Watts, Scully and Trengove. These 3 are proven X factor guys in junior footy, and I think we have more chance in seeing such a player come from those 3 than LJ, and even Morton and Grimes. That is in no way taking anything away from the players I mentioned, as I rate them all highly. One last thing I have to say on our team - they are trying to be too safe. This, again, is not a coach related problem. Yesterday, Bennell show glimpses of some brilliant footy, this occured when he back his natural judgement and ability and took the game on. Grimes was exactly the same, as were a number of other ÿounger" players. The times that they let us down was when the were too bloody focused on not making a mistake - you could see they were thinking far too much. All I ask from the players is this; you have been picked to play your chosen sport at the highest level possible. Most of you are there because you have superior skills, potential and abilities. Find these skills and abilities that you had as a junior and put them in to place NOW. Take risks, a majority of time in Aussie Rules footy instinct is the best decision maker. Back yourself, you are in the AFL for a reason, show us! Scully and Trengove did exactly this on the weekend and they were among our best players. All players, especially our senior players should take a leaf out of their book. Strauss and even Grimes would benefit in watching what Scully and trengove did - especially in the 2nd half. Sorry for crapping on people - this is what's been on my chest for some time now and I've finally shared my views. As the admin people say, don't attack the poster! It's my opinion - I'm sure people will agree with some parts and disagree with other parts!

So 45, still think we can get players in the top 100 of the AFL?? Green is good, very good, but not an A-grade player when comparing to other A-grade players of the AFL.

not sure why Martin wasn't playing. At least he provides an option down forward (even though a lot here don't like him down there).

Do Melbourne forwards know that they are allowed to sheppard (?) the ball through for a goal????

Far out - wouldn't have picked that! Any way, as I said, different eyes see different things. It's not a case of you or me being right or wrong, just our opinions. I have found him to be fairly slow - he is on the TV a fair bit which means he is near the ball, but he doesn't have it in his hands very often (although Dreamteam reads differently!!!).

Sorry Wonna, would have Jordie well down the list (And our skipper for that matter). Funny how different eyes see things differently! That 3rd quarter of Scully's has really helped ease some of this pain, thought he was fabulous.

And a majority put Bate in our top 5 players??? Connolly has been quoted that Jordie Mc will be a 200+ gamer, who for???

Haha, too true Queen! Some get a little precious if you state the truth though!!! Let's talk about the positive though - Scully will be a champ. He should be number 1 best player for us today. Great effort in this p!ss-poor team.

Sorry to break it to you mate, but Bailey wont be sacked this year if that's the head you're after. I would start by dropping some of our senior blokes who think they are "safe". They need to answer our questions, then we can work out if we need to look higher up.

I don't want to start an arguement, but is it Bailey? Does he kick and handball the ball for these guys on the field? The players do need to take a majority of the responsibility for missing targets.