Keyser Söze

I heard calf - an old man's injury. Let's hope not.

No. The kids won't develop and learn anything good from playing with a guy like Robbo. Newton's oft-criticised attitude is the type of attitude i think you'd cultivate from the kids learning off Robbo. He may have been skilled and loved the club, but he played selfish front-running football.

Bursitis is what Scott Lucas had on his elbow last season. Ive had the same before - it hurts like hell if you get a knock, but you can't really damage it more, it just won't heal until you rest it. Functionally you should still work the same with a torn bursa, just that you have to deal with the pain. I get the feeling Morton's injury is a bit worse than that. I was only metres away and it looked like a clash of knees.

Morton's knee injury happened only metres away from me. Looked to me like he knocked knees with an essendon player. Doubtful that it's an ACL judging by the way it happened - looks more like a collision injury (like the fractured patella I've seen mentioned) He was running back with the flight of the ball showing great courage, which is the great shame. On the bright side, maybe this will force him to get on the weights while this injury heals..? Guess we just need to wait til the morning when we hear the results of a scan.

Unbelievable. Have you read any of this thread?? It was a NAB Cup match and it is still a group of kids. Where did you expect this improvement to come from?Where do you expect improvement to come from in general? I'm not exactly sure disposal was their biggest problem, moreso the decisions that were being made, ie where to place the ball with their disposal.Obviously they will be a bit rusty in the 1st NAB Cup match. This is not something exclusive to Melb and it will improve as the season progresses. Would you even identify a gameplan if you saw it? If so, can you please give me an explanation of another team's gameplan..? What the hell do you even mean with this question? The promise of better results has been that it will be gradual and that it will come as the kids play more games and gain experience.Not that it will come after a preseason and then suddenly in the 1st NAB Cup match they will be world beaters. Because he might not be the best player in the team but he has experience and is a great leader. This shows your lack of understanding of leadership. Not sure. Can you tell me? A serious question..? Bailey has a mandate to develop the players and the list to the point where it will contend for a premiership. Winning NAB Cup matches is irrelevant. There is also a chance that you are blindly underrating Freo. You really think one preseason game is an indication of the team's performance over the next 2 years? If you do, you have rocks in your head. Ridiculous.

Will be there.

You mean we have to have a game plan??!?

Actually that was because James was injured through most of his final 2 years of junior footy, mostly with shin splints. (I've just recently been reading his autobiography) But I agree with your point.

Re: Jetta, I mentioned to a Swans supporter mate the other day how good young Lewie looked and he said as good as he looks he'd trade him for our Nev... Big call, but it shows that even if demon supporters tend to underrate him, it looks like not everyone does. I rate the kid. Will be an integral part of our future.

I hate that guy. Some supporters I want to punch in the head because they feel the need to push their stupidity down the throat of everyone in the vicinity.

If a player wants to leave via free agency (assuming he is one of the top 10) then his club has the ability to match any offer he is given WITHIN THE CAP. To outbid his original team another club can only play within the cap, otherwise the player must roll the dice in the draft, or a suitable trade must be worked out. I predict teams will become more ruthless in demanding better compensation for players who defect. Edit: Feel free to prove me wrong - this isn't a topic I've spent much time thinking about. This is just my initial reaction.

Because, in the end he is a small forward pocket who might be capable of stints in the midfield. He isn't built like a Judd, a Morton or a Naitanui. He might have slipped to 21, but he didn't slip to 58.

Are you sure you agree..? I don't think that's what he was saying at all.

Depends on the setup of the defence you are attacking against. A direct approach is good when attacking in transition. After a turnover and defenders are caught out of position this is great. If the defence has had time to set up and it's a zone or flood which you are combatting, you need to find a way around/through it. This can lead to a possession game where the ball needs to be moved around to draw defenders before breaking a line and moving forward. It all depends on the situations that develop throughout the course of a game.

I think you'd find the idea is to move the ball around, without coughing it up, to draw defenders and create space further afield. No point being direct if you are moving it directly into a sea of defenders.

I think that free agency will make it easier to enforce the salary cap

At the end of the day, they just take it one interview at a time. Yeah, nah, maybe.

Semantics? You're arguing semantics?? "Huge" in this sense is subjective and, to be honest, I think most years are huge. But in the sense that it is important for our development, in that we have hit the bottom of the trough and are now ascending the J curve. It's like someone saying something is "awesome" - very rarely does it actually inspire awe. Don't you have something better to argue about Steve..? You may find my comments ridiculous, but i'm yet to see you offer anything of value.

I feel the same way. I think it's the contrast and the colour scheme. Something is holding it back. Just doesn't quite do it for me. Great work nonetheless.

Some would prefer emotional carry-on that gets the club nowhere. I still can't figure out why. I recall Nathan Burke saying, when he was a consultant to the board during the search for a coach, that he wished he had have played under a coach like Bailey. Obviously he is not exactly cut from the same cloth as coaches of the past, but I'm happy in the knowledge that those in a position to know think his coaching philosophies are sound.

Yeah, I thought so too. Fair call.

I'd say melb had one that worked quite well in all of their wins last year. A gameplan is rarely evident when a team is losing - once it breaks down for whatever reason, it falls apart into an unrecognisable shambles. The only way you can make much sense of it is if you can break it down with the base knowledge of what they were trying to do. Without understanding their intent, of course it is hard to recognise. That's a bit simplistic. I think MFC's (and most other team's) gameplan is pretty similar to that these days. A much more detailed analysis than that is needed, otherwise it is a waste of time imho.

So... you're frustrated that you can't see what Melb's gameplan is after one NAB Cup match? For argument's sake, what is Collingwood's gameplan? Or the Bulldog's gameplan? Or Essendon's? I contend that a lot of posters lamenting the "lack of a gameplan" wouldn't even recognise one if they did see it. They only know a gameplan that is working and one that isn't, but I put that down to execution mostly in our case.

Did you really doubt they would have? Honestly...

Good. That's exactly the way it should be. I'd expect him to have a thorough long-term plan in place that does not waver at one disappointing loss. If he did start to change his message and deviate then I would be worried, because he would obviously be losing faith in his own plan. I don't ever find it boring to listen to the coach give good answers backed up by solid reasoning. It fills me with pride for our club.