DirtyDees DDC

We lost that match before the game started, for 2 reasons. Jack Watts made a comment in a news report earlier this week stating we need to pick a side that is suited to the smaller ground at Etihad. Instead, we swap a new outside player like Blease for a hard nut like Macdonald, and we pick more outsiders like Bennell and Morton. We looked stuffed. This was our fourth game in eighteen days and we were coming off a very tough encounter with Richmond. A report on the club website this week said the conditioning staff were working overtime to get the players ready for each match. Every club is battling fatigue this year. Even Collingwood, the fittest team in the league, is resting players. We also had a very young side which included our top 7 draft picks from 2008 and 2009. Isn't that what we want to see each week - the club developing the players? The will struggle with consistency but I prefer to see them get game time ahead of Warnock and Dunn atm. I'm still disappointed, but not surprised. The saddest part was another poor performance in front of a big TV audience. We should save those games for Foxtel.

A quick observation regarding GRUBBY Allen and Damien Barrett's performance last night. Tom and his management team have denied any 'official' contact with GWS. So if you were GRUBBY Allen and you wanted to get a message to Tom and his management, why not use a set-up interview with Damien Barrett. He agrees to do an interview with Barrett on the condition that Barrett deliberately leaks the rumour that they have offered Scully $7mil for 6 years. There is absolutely no guarantee that the rumour is true, But GRUBBY is clever. The rumour doesn't come from his lips; it puts the figure of $7mil out in the open, and it waves a flag to players at all AFL clubs - 'if Scully knocks that back, then there's plenty to go around'. He's a [censored] stirrer. He did this during the Buckley saga at Brisbane, and he's the source of the Scully rumours. Message to Tom - beware - if you lie down with dogs you wake up with fleas.

Whatever happened to the theory that Scully had signed with GWS, but had changed his mind and wanted to get out of the deal? We had a long forum on the legal merits of a 'heads of agreement' contract verses a binding agreement. They asked Lynch about this rumour on SEN this morning. He said he hadn't heard the rumour and he firmly denied it. End of story.

13 tackles on the forward line? Looks like his shoulder is OK. He seemed rusty on Saturday and had trouble getting clean possession of the ball. So he changed his game and became a top defensive forward. Smart footballer.

This story broke on the rumour file on Feb 1 2011, but there were whispers late last year about this offer from GWS. Wolfmother.....weren't you the person who first raised this issue on Demonland last December, after a conversation with someone in the family? My only connection to Tom's family and friends came from a brief meeting in late February. At that time they thought he'd stay. In fact the quote was 'what the $#&@ is going on here?' in relation to all the stories in the media. It was the first they'd heard of it.

Does Martin's contract come up for renewal this year (together with Wonna and Maric)?

No. I actually admire Scully for sticking to his guns. He said he would put off a decision till the end of the season, and that is the status quo at the moment despite all the massive media speculation. Destabilising the club? I disagree. My impression is that the club has been very supportive of Scully through his knee injury and with our media statements. It has certainly tested our supporters but we better get used to it. Free agency comes in from 2012. If we make the finals in 2013-14, it could be with a very different side to the team against Freo today.

I've got 3 sources. Two say he might stay. One says he might go. Looks like we wait till the end of the season. There is NO law that says he must make a decision before round 22 and why should we expect it from him and not from Sylvia or Morton or everyone else. That is Tom's right as an AFL player. What is the point of putting him in the Casey team if he hasn't made a decision? What are we going to do? Twist his arm? Maybe chinese burns anyone? It would be nice if we found out now, but if not, then we just have to suck it up and wait. Let's put this thread to rest.

Gee what about Rhys Palmers' fall from Grace. Wasn't he the rising star winner in 2009?

I heard from 3 officials today. One thinks he may go. Two think he may stay. This is how it stands at the moment - no one knows for certain either way. Looks like we will have to wait till after the season ends.

THAT'S ME!!!! Hey I started that thread. Surely I'm due for a prize here. Maybe even a discount on my annual Demonland membership!! As for Schwartz, 'The Age' says his sources are within the MFC. I'm not sure if Schwartz actually revealed his sources.

It was interesting to compare their preparations, noting that the two clubs are coming off different breaks. Last year we had a longer on-field training session at the Junction oval on the Sunday before the QB clash. Perhaps this year the MFC chose to use the better facilities at AAMI park and move some of the session indoors. As for the extra lines on the Collingwood practice oval, check them out. We use the No. 2 oval near AAMI park and the corner of Punt Rd and Swan St. They use the No. 1 oval next to Punt Rd and Boulton Parade. And a correction - it's Gosch's Paddock, not Gosch's Park. Go Dees.

Yes there are, for the same reason that dozens of other players wait till the end of the year. They believe they can get a better deal.

I checked out the training this foggy cold morning at Gosch's park. The Dees had a short and sweet session. Some one-step kicking drills, some handball, and a few shots at goal. Sylvia trained with this group. Rivers, Frawley, Bartram, McDonald and McKenzie were in a separate group. They walked the boundary and did some handball and kicking drills. Someone told me they were just doing a separate training program - so no cause for alarm. In summary it was a nice friendly session and everyone looked ok. Then i thought i would wander over to the Collingwood training oval. They started their session as we finished ours. I'd love to say how slow they looked and how they lacked skill. Sadly ...not so. They are a seriously big unit with great kicking skills. They went through a longer, harder session with emphasis on match drills and firing shots at goal from contested possessions. They are 2-3 years ahead of us in physical development. The only skinny looking kid in their line-up is Andrew Krakouer. They also have different lines on their practice oval compared to ours. In their forward zone they have straight lines leading out approx 30 degrees each side of the left and right goal posts, and they draw further circles or arcs withing the 50 metre line, creating a couple of rectangular spots just forward of the goal square. An assistant coach told me it was designed to set up various zones near the goals. He was surprised when i told him we did not have similar lines at our practice oval. We have a number of players who look underdone compared to their team (Gysberts, Evans, Scully, Morton, Gawn and Howe). I think it's great we are giving these kids a chance in the big game; just don't expect them to perform miracles tomorrow. However 2013 could be very different. Go Dees.

Cook kicked four and should have had more (and that rotten Fevola stole a mark off him in the second). The stats have him at only 81 kg but it looks like he can play football. I'm happy to have him spend the rest of the year at Casey. He's got good hands, good feet and a good head. He just needs to bulk up and improve the defensive side of his game. Blease did some very good things; maybe he needs to copy Stockdale and increase his work rate. Garland was quiet, yet he will probably play next week.

Looks like Nicholson gets a guernsey to start the match. That's a good move. We need a quick left footer at 183cms with good disposal. He could fill a spot on the backline, or pinch hit in midfield. Go Dees.

Oops. Teach me to type when sober. correction on the way.

Yes. Jordie McKenzie IS a rich Man's Mitch Robinson. I wish I'd said that. I probably will.

We picked Cook as our first draft pick at 12. GC called Toms name out at 11 but they also had picks 9 and 10 which they used for Prestia and Gorringe. They could just as easily picked Lynch at 9 or 10, and the MFC recruiters believed that GC were simply playing games by picking him at 11. I don't think it's a coincidence that an article on Morton appears in the same edition as a story by Gary Lyon about St Kilda trading Brendan Goddard to GWS. It's been rumoured for a while that Goddard may go there. Perhaps Gary is suggesting we use similar tactics with Morton.

Thanks for the response. I asked the same question to a couple of members who are certain he is going, and got no answer. Tom wants be a successful player and a part of a premiership team. Tom has said that nothing has been signed. The Melbourne Football Club have to convince Tom that his best chance of becoming the greatest player he can possibly be will occur if he stays at the MFC. Money will be a factor in the negotiations, but so will location, family, our coaching line-up for 2012, and the teams' performance this season.

RPFC - you've been quite positive throughout all the speculation about Tom that he would be staying at Melbourne. Others have been adamant he is going, and Sheahan, Barrett, and Ralph from the Herald-Sun say he could be heading north to GWS. Do you have any evidence, or is it just a gut feeling? Those wizards at the "Bomberblitz' website also reckon he will go. That sounds like firm evidence he'll stay.

Gawn, but not forgotten.

I watched him against the swans and he was so terrible. Great to see him return to form. He even set up a goal with great disposal. Well done Jarryd.

The guy who should be bagged is ch 10 commentator Luke Darcy. He strongly implied that Davey was pretending he had a leg injury during the St Kilda game.

And Is that Cameron Johnston on the interchange bench too?