Curry & Beer

I was just about to post that

not yet he isn't not by a long shot

Isn't it sad that N.Jones, Jamar and Dunn are basically the only players on our list who have played their careers at the MFC and can be trusted to go out every week and be solid AFL-worthy senior players. We have Cross, Vince and Lumumba also but we had to import them. It shows just how badly we have failed to manage our list and build a side. When you consider the corresponding groups at the top clubs you realise that this is the whole reason we stink

The frustrating part is that he was just playing tough footy and booked for nothing, under the new softc-ck style of football the AFL has imposed on us - and of course he was crucified at the MRP, because he plays for Melbourne

The truth hurts. Maybe not as much as jumping on a bicycle with the seat missing, but it hurts.

this is one of those laugh/cry threads sammy blease and tom scully just like luke tapscott and jack trengove were great mates, that was supposed to translate into good footy for the MFC...somehow (details were fuzzy on how exactly) if I recall correctly that idiot Bailey actually openly talked about having 'a team of mates' and there were several more examples of this in who we drafted around that time that worked out brilliantly didn't it (oh wait it worked out so poorly we were one of the worst sides to ever play the game in 150 years) None of this carp matters. Who they're mates with and where they're from and even what pick they were taken at. It's about developing the players you have properly and having them work hard and play as a unit - this is what the good teams are able to manage and we are not

agreed they are very well-versed in the subject matter, it is their entire job to be so. If they were 'ignorant' of where our club is at and therefore set Melbourne's win-loss line too low then they would lose money. If they ever do badly misjudge something, the immediate interest from the betters simply points out their mistake and they quickly adjust.. that's why the odds are pretty much always a great indicator of what is going to happen, and that's why the house wins no matter what. If we happen to go OK and make finals for example, it doesn't matter cos they just clean up off whoever bet on Richmond (or whoever it is) that we would be hypothetically edging out of the 8.. so it is in the interest to entice us (as Old points us) to back the dees as the long shot that they are

It's flag odds, but you'll find the ladder that it illustrates is practically identical to the top 8 odds or number of wins odds or whatever other metric they have. They have the line at 5.5 (17th) which seems far too low for me - although after yesterday's training sesh I am a little more understanding. Old dee is right - if these oddsmakers are genuinely not rating us, it is a very bad sign. The fact we are at longest odds of any side to win in round one, however, is genuinely staggering. I recently watched the replay of our MCG game against them in 2014 - we were right in that up until about 7-8 minutes to go when the protected species that is Ablett got quite possibly the softest free kick I have ever seen, when it was alleged that Jordie blocked him from a ball-up inside 50. Nathan Jones could play 10,000 games and he wouldn't get a free like that. Of course the bald pr-ck went back and slotted it and that was us done. Another outcome decided by inept umpiring. Even so the margin was just 8 points in the end, after Dunny torped one from a kick-out, to be hanger-grabbed by Howe in the centre, who kicked long to Dawes inside 50, who slotted one after the siren. I think our best22 has clearly improved on paper vs that match, and Ablett himself will be missing, or at least underdone. I think I might plonk something on that prior to the NAB cup, in case we happen to look decent and those odds shrink to nothing

I have invested far less in watching them this pre-season than you have, my friend, hopefully your outlook is more accurate than the feeling I had walking away from Gosch's yesterday. Will see what happens tomorrow!

you can do what you like - I'm just telling you what I saw. There are many valued contributors on this site who submit their assessment of training sessions, and some of them write very nice things which make us feel very happy - this is not my particular agenda

Not really. 90 minutes is 30 times longer than 3 minutes - and I didn't say we have no good players apart from Jones, as was your silly statement oh and I've been to several other sessions in late '14

I watched most of the session and I have to say it was pretty underwhelming. We looked a lot like a side that finished 17th. I realise it was wet and that they were coming off a flogging in QLD but still - I hate excuses like that. I don't want to be discussing excuses like that after we lose games in 2015. In particular most of the shots on goal in that full-length drill were pathetic. They were having shots 30 out, in front, under no pressure and most of them were missing. I could kick those and I'm rubbish. If that session indicates the year to come it is going to be more spilled marks and fumbled disposals as we tear our hair out I'm afraid. Hopefully they look better tomorrow.

unbelievable goal - tackles, dispossesses, stands up with ball, 180 turn, completely surrounded, standing start kick, 55 out - hard to find a greater degree of difficulty to pull that off

I know a couple of both and from personal experience I am not sold any of these 'experts' have a clue what they're doing TBH

Good post. All I can say is that I may well be wrong. None of us can know the truth nor put ourselves in his shoes - even for some, such as myself, who have their own demons, every person and case is different. Just to clarify, by 'toughing it out' I don't mean keeping it all suppressed. I mean refusing to succumb to it to the point that you would throw away the dream of a privileged few. I just feel similarly to that which is expressed in WYL's post #234 - I'm not quite buying the whole story. I don't see it as him going through some recovery process, like a knee reconstruction for example, and coming out all better again.... all of that aside, I still maintain that the secondary issue - that of going to the GFC instead of returning to us is utterly despicable

surely worth the risk though. He is a genuine KPF goalkicker, It is hard to imagine a more required type of player for this football club at the moment.

this keeps coming up but I have seen no poster substantiate what this possible reason could be. It is has been widely agreed, and confirmed by Roos himself, that MC was our best player perhaps bar Nathan Jones. His peak form for us was sensational and I cannot entertain a scenario where we would have WANTED him to leave.

The reason I linked and quouted an article in the OP was to point out the other agitators were "issued with convictions and community corrections orders".. one would assume that Garlett's punishment will be equal or less than that, meaning no interruption to his ability to play footy - wild assumptions of course.

Snide remarks like this really are pathetic. If you disagree with the poster's POV why don't you discuss it with him instead of throwing a quick jab and leaving the room.

even if that's a commonly held position, it may be appropriate for your 'average Joe' - in MC's case he was provided a vast amount of financial and emotional support from a great number of people, so the 'change of scenery' approach has a very nasty side effect, which is knifing all these people. Anyone with a brain (and/or soul) would realise that the 'change of scenery' method in this particular case was wildly inappropriate, but obviously MC and/or his advisor(s) felt differently - which is why there has been doubt cast on his entire story and motivations.

Good post, I agree substantially - however my position is such that the advice he was given was not only poor with regard to the Geelong move, but the very move of retiring from Melbourne in the first place was also a stinker. As I said at the time - to be howled at by muppets of course - he should have toughed out his issues in a positive way instead of running away from them. I called it and said he would rethink his decision in time, but I had no inkling that he would knife by us going to another club. That is the part of it that is inexecusable regardless of ANY other information surrounding his story or the topic of depression in general.

precisely my point

If he was just defending himself he shouldn't be facing any charges at all

Talking about our past glory is SO depressing Hawthorn has WON 11 since our latest one, which is enough to make you top yourself

good point