The Chazz

Pathetic. What hope do our young guys have when they have got f*** all to look up to. A few of our "senior" blokes need to realise that these kids will play well above their (AFL) experience, providing they have great on-field mentors and leaders.

As you said ID, it's not the 80s-90s anymore. Forwards being allowed to continually lead in to space is harder and harder in footy these days. I agree with Killa, we definitely need a bigger body up there, not necessarily to crash packs, but just to make a contest and allow the ball to hit the ground. I don't think Miller is that person, Stef Martin could have that ability.

I would like to see Dunn run with Hodge. He has pace, and when Hodge floats around the half-hack line, Dunn is good enough to play off him and kick a goal or two himself. I don't think Bruce is at that level (of being able to tag the opposition best) anymore.

I think the original post might have said similar to "only fit players". J Watts is far from fit enough to play seniors yet.

Is that correct Inner? What source is that please? Not saying you are wrong as I don't personally know myself, but I couldn't tell you the last time a side picked a team with some different players that weren't originally listed on TFS, regardless of what day they were playing, and if it were an extended squad for the sake of TV. I''m pretty sure the clubs can get fined if they include players not originally listed in an extended squad.

The Footy Show must have got lucky when they made up that McKenzie and Spencer would be in the squad, considering us supporters and members didn't even know about their rookie elevation.

Just checked - finally we are playing on the 2nd weekend of the split round...in bloody Adelaide!

Cool, cheers for that. Good to see that is still a major part of our fixture. I think it needs to stay against 1 particular team each year, as opposed to a particular date/round. Would also be good if it were against a side that we might actually beat so we can receive some form of trophy!

Do we still have the ladies day for Breast Cancer awareness? I can remember a few years ago a mate of mine went to that match as his wife, a survivor of breast cancer, was part of the onfield festivities for this day. They both loved the day (from memory it was against Adelaide), yet one is a Richmond supporter and the other a Carlton! From memory, any lady that wore pick got in for free or discounted price? I have been in Qld for the last 4 years, so it may not be around. Probably too late now with the bye coming in next year, but it always puzzled me why Melbourne used to play the following week after the Collingwood/Queens Birthday round, yet this was a split round. Collingwood always played the following week, which meant 2 things...1. We only had a 6 day turn around as we played on the following Sunday, and 2. That Sunday game was one of 5 or 6 games that weeked. With Collingwood playing in the 2nd weekend of the split round, their games was always one of about 2 or 3 for that weekend. While this idea is not the themed idea as this topic suggests, it would creat more exposure for the MFC. I for one hate the split round as it meant there were only 3 games on during the 2nd half of the round. Nb - I haven't checked this years fixture to see if this is the same again in 2010. One other way of getting crowd numbers up would be to try and include more curtain-raiser games with our Reserves/Casey Scorpions to play before hand - just like the good old days! Even if we could somehow align to an under 18's side (eg Dandenong Stingrays), they too could play a curtain-raiser. I know there is the issue of too much football being played on our MCG, but I know that the Brisbane Lions quite often have a match of some description on before their seniors play. With the price of tickets where they are, it would add great entertainment for the customer and give more value for money. Plus, if the U18 idea happened, it would hopefully generate a bit more interest from the juniors coming through to consider Melbourne as a fantastic club.

Yes Pringle, showed an extended bench that included Trengove, Scully and Strauss. Couldn't tell you much more as I was watching it at about 12:30am - TFS is delayed in Qld.

Don't the squads need to get released before the team? There is a difference (ie. Squads will be released this afternoon at 5pm for teams playing on Sunday. Teams playing on Friday and Saturday will release their teams at 5pm tonight). If it is only different this week because of the Thursday game, why do teams that are playing on Sunday need to release their squads on the Thursday?

Not sure why you think they were made up 45. I am under the impression that clubs are required to release their squads (enough players to fill all positions including emergencies) 3 days prior to the game, then finalise their teams 2 days before the game, and obviously submitting their final team sheet 45 minutes before the game (I think). Under no circumstances can the team include players that aren't in the initial squad, otherwise the get hefty fines. I may be incorrect in the above timelines, and am happy for someone to confirm otherwise, but to say that The Footy Show made a team up is ridiculous.

In regards to putting my top 100 players out there for the world to see will be a total waste of my time, as there will be endless questions raised about why a certain player is rated higher/lower than another, or why a certain player is in or not in. Sheehan gets paid to do that, I don't! However, I do appreciate you coming back with some form of änalysis", you obviously havwe a lot more time on your hands than I do. While you may think this is sitting on the fence, you would be correct is assuming that I don't have a list of my top 100, therefor my numbers from clubs that would have players ahead of our players is an estimate. I went through the Adelaide list, and easily found 5 players playing better, consistent football than Melbourne playres, might even be able to squeeze another 1 or 2 in there. Upon going through Geelong's list, I managed to get 13 players (obviously 7 short of my original estimate of 20). It does support my statement (and opinion) though that "I too would struggle to fit a Melbourne player in to the top 100 based on the past 3 seasons". Sure, I might be able to find 1 or 2 MFC players worthy of consideration for this list, but it's sad that some clubs (in my opinion) would have 10+ players in there, and we may or may not have more than 1 or 2. My issue with you is when you quote someone, ensure that you are accurate with your quotes. Also, when you paraphrase, you put in the words that you want to hear and run with it. At times your paraphrasing has been totally inaccurate, however, because you put it up in lights on here, other people read what you say and sadly believe your paraphrasing. I have no issue with difference of opinions, it's healthy, but when things are being stated that are incorrect, that's when it is very dangerous.

C&B, the players DO NOT need to read this site, or any other AFL forum to realise that they aren't in the best place at the moment. If they take offence to what we say, it is a bit of a worry. Good players/teams use any bad words about them as motivation (ie Nick Riewoldt and his whole Brisbane/Crying incidents from a few seasons back - I don't see him looking disinterested). Do you want Sheehan to stop putting in his top 50 in the Herald Sun just in case Sylvia, Moloney or aby other of our players reads it and gets offended because we only have 1 player that barely made the field? For them, that should be a wake up call. Pav made the list very high up while being part of a losing team, so I don't want to hear that excuse from our supporters or even our "top" players. I/We support our players through all times, good and bad. We support by buying memberships, turning up to games (albeit 1 game for me as I live in Qld), and everytime I wear my demons jumper/singlets to my own footy training. There are some players on our list who have more than enough ability to be in Sheehan's top 50, reality is, they aren't in it, and that's the frustrating part about our team at the moment. It's not negativity from my behalf, it's frustration.

Again 45, you have misquoted what someone has said. If you re-read my post, you will see that in my third paragraph, I have actually stated "...I too would struggle to fit a Melbourne player in to the top 100 based on the past 3 seasons...". With the list of clubs and the amount of players they have that would be ahead of our players, it adds up just short of 100. Not once in that post did I mention that we wouldn't have a player in the top 150 - I said I would struggle to fit someone in the top 100. But, you continue to change things, misquote, or even your own attempts of "paraphrasing" for the sake of starting or adding to an arguement. I think you have confirmed the last line of my original post to be accurate.

Ah 45, you're at it again. The actual comment from WYL was "Over the last 3 years we would have struggled to get a player in the Top 100-150". In no way he stated your words of "NONE of our players would be in the top 100-150..." In future, if you are going to quote somebody (especially when you are trying to make yourself sound like the "expert" on this topic), make sure it is 100% accurate. WYL's top 100-150 is their opinion, just like Sheehan's, just like yours. I too would struggle to fit a Melbourne player in to the top 100 based on the past 3 seasons. How about you inform this forum of your top 100 so we can see what Melbourne players you have ahead of other players. To give you an idea where I'm coming from, Melbourne wouldn't have a player in the top 20 of Geelong, top 15 of St Kilda or Western Bulldogs, the top 10 of Brisbane and Hawthorn, and the top 5 of Adelaide, Collingwood and Sydney, as well as random players like Pav and Sandilands. Before you know it, there's close to 100 players that I personally rate higher than any Melbourne player. I just hope that if I do a similar breakdown starting from 2011, there will be a lot more Melbourne players in that list - I have no doubt there will be. This is my opinion, but I'm sure you will manage to read far too much into this and reply with something far from 100% accurate as your recent history shows.

Not at all was I sleeping. I was standing prouder as the next Melbourne supporter. Since the end of 2009, I have been a realist in regards to LJ. Look at Aussie, he was an icon of our Club at the end of 2008 - how much did we cheer for him in 2009? I have had too much disappointment in my life (as a Demon supporter) to hang my entire season on 1 player, and thank god I didn't get sucked in again.

I agree that we should have gone for Bradshaw. Give him 2 years to be our main target - let's face it, he WILL get through 2 years. Gives Watts, Jurrah, etc to get a bit older/stronger/smarter, but still gives us a forward target. Yeah sure, he went to the club that he nominated, but we chased Ball to some extent didn't we? Isn't Bradshaw meant to be right for Round 1?

Most likely, but at the end of the day, WHO GIVES A TOSS??? So many people on this thread making out they are experts in drugs, and drug dealings in general. Seriously, unless there is a lawyer or a true drug dealer that submits posts on this site, stop trying to pretend you "know the facts". Stokes is an average player at best, let's move on people - bigger and better things to worry/talk about.

Great post. Didn't think much of Jordie last season, or probably more to the point - didn't take any notice of him, but what he did for the Club was fantastic. A young bloke willing to make a sacrifice like this automatically earns respect. The fact the Club has given him the #13 is a sign that they appreciate it as much as he appreciates the opportunity to wear the Red & Blue. More than happy to admit I have a new player that joins my "favourite player group", having been promoted from the "wont take us to a premiership group". Well done Jordie.

A corky will be a relief in every way HT. You are right - they are hard to shake off SOMETIMES, but when we still have 7 weeks or so til Round 1, I'm not losing any sleep whatsoever.

So Martin played forward in the match? I was told by BP that he is being groomed as our Full Forward that plays 2nd or 3rd ruckman (a la Kosi for the Saints). I know that will annoy a lot of people on here as they believe he is a better defender, but he's still a kid that hasn't fully developed, and is still relatively inexperienced as an Aussie Rules footballer due to his basketball background. Give this guy a year or two with stability in his role and he will grow. I look to the future forward line of Watts at CHF, Martin at FF, LJ doing what he does best, and Wona, Tapscott and Maric playing at their feet. Like a lot of the future Melbourne lines, it will be very difficult to match up on let alone contain.

I know exactly what you're saying Steamin, but I am a supporter that expects his team to win every match, every year. Just like I expect my racehorses to win every race, every start. Where it is vital as supporters is not to be disappointed when it doesn't happen. I, like you, am predicting 7 or 8 wins, but, if this amount is less, it's not "slit your wrists" material that a lot of people will consider. Reality is that 2010 is STILL a development year, but we should expect competitive performances for a massive majority of the season. If things go our way (ie. Established players take the next step, young players hit the ground running, minimal injuries to our players but more injuries to opposition players, etc), there is no reason why we can't push for 10-12 wins and maybe knock on 8th's door. While we have struggled recently, the AFL is still a bloody close competition, and on any given day, anything can happen. Let's hope that our day happens often this season! As you said, it's going to be an exciting year. It has been a long, long time since we have had bulk players with that much potential, but seeing this next phase of the development - which I see as the team-building phase, is going to be great to watch. We will be able to see it in the faces of all players when we get in those rooms and sing the song after a hard fought victory.

Thanks Curry - you beat me to it!

I remember seeing Nath Jones at a MFC Family Day at Caulfield Racecourse. It was just after he had been drafted; he was a standout in my view, by which I mean he was there with other draftees of that year, and he was the only one of them that wasn't walking around with a stick up his ass! Earned a lot of respect from me that day. Hope he can take his game to another level this year, as I think he will be a vital part of the development of our midfield.