DirtyDees DDC

In relation to the intraclub - does anybody know which of our indigenous boys will be playing in the All Stars game on the Friday night following the intraclub? I remember reading Jurrah and Wonna's names in an article a few months back but was wondering if the team has been released?

Nick48 in 'Ology reports that Davey and Jurrah will be away at the Indigenous camp during the week in preparation for the All-stars game in Alice Springs. I Just checked the AFL website. The match in Alice Springs will be on Friday night (4/2/11).

Couldn't agree more. I would not expect this of C.Schwab, a rare misfire. We of all clubs need to be gathering as much enthusiasm amongst the supporter base as possible, what's the club do? Get your jumper signed by Tom Scully, but only if your Dad can ditch work for the afternoon. Pft!

According to the MFC website, the club switched the Intraclub match to Gosch's paddock solely because of the condition of the ground at Casey.

Are you saying they should still play at Casey next week, despite the poor playing field?

I was at the last match at Casey in August 2010. From my view on the boundary it looked OK - no big puddles or muddy areas, but a trainer said it was very soft underfoot. Sounds like they still have drainage problems and need to resurface the ground. I think they even moved a match last year.

This could put Casey out of action for some time.

It's the mighty Green Bay Packers verses the Pittsburgh Steelers in this years Superbowl, to be played on Monday Morning feb 7 (our time).

Both sides dominated their respective first halfs in the division championships, yet fell away in the second half.

Pittsburgh will probably start as raging favourites - they won 3 years ago and were the second ranked team, whereas this is the Packers first Superbowl since 1997 and they came in to the playoffs as wildcards. The Steelers have a very good running game; a good defence; and seem to come up with big plays at the right time. The Packers have multiple options in attack and an excellent quarterback in Aaron Rogers.

I think the Packers will be more desperate, but i'm concerned with their poor form in the second half. They looked a bit tired and they also have a poor special team. Now I'm not an expert, but I thought that if 'Team A' kicks off after a score, or punts the ball, then isn't 'Team B' supposed to catch the ball and return it?. Not the Packers. They run away from the ball and hope they get a nice bounce!! Good grief.

I've barracked for the Packers for years. I believe they are the only club that is owned by the supporters (about 120,000 of them)rather than a multi-millionaire, and now they are in their grand final. I hope it's an omen for the Dees.

any sign of Bate? Mark Williams indicated he'd missed out on full pre-seasons in the past, due to one or two injuries each season.

His season in 2010 suffered because of injuries after Christmas.

After the first one, they appear to be getting more and more fluffy.

Well at least we don't have to worry about them giving up too much information.

How good would that be, yeah sorry a par season.

Can we go through even if we lose to Seattle, cos we will be on same wins, i think we have better for and against points, but they use head to head to determine who gets through don't they?

Rams out - Seattle thru to the playoffs with an amazing 7-9 win loss record - the worst in NFL playoff history.

Go Packers!!!

Hmmn, an insightful post I'm guessing.

I think you've stolen my moniker from talking carlton, LOL.

Heres a good demon youtube to start the season proper >>>>>>>>>>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXqETNw4gKU&feature=related <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Ha. Great clip. I love the devilled horns on Angus. Can i also recommned a terrific book just released called 'blood, sweat and beers' - a story of Aussie rock in the '70s and '80s. It's a tribute to bands that played at venues like the Village Green hotel and the Box Hill town hall.

Back to the footy - who are the 'dead certs' for round 1?

I've highlighted the guys who should definitely get a guernsey, barring injuries.

Here’s the line-up. 2010 Games are in brackets ( ).

B: Bartram (21), Frawley (21), Garland (20).

HB: MacDonald (17), Rivers (18), Bennell (19).

C: Scully (21), Jones (22), Davey (20).

HF: Trengove (18), Dunn (18), Sylvia (15).

F: Green (22), Watts (15), Bate (15).

R: Jamar (22), McKenzie (19), Moloney (18).

IC: Grimes (14), Warnock (13), Morton (10).

S: Bail (9).

E: Wonaeamirri (8), Jurrah (8), Petterd (6).

I picked Bartram as a cert because i don't see anyone else fitting his role as the back pocket who marks the small forwards (unless they move Grimes there).

Similar story with Rivers. I think he's ahead of Warnock at this point in time for that key defensive position.

Watts gives us a better mix of height and mobility on the forward line than any other player on our list atm.

I had to go for Petterd and i can't wait to see him working with Jurrah. They did a demolition job on Port Adelaide in 2009.

I excluded MacDonald because he may have some competition from Morton for that running half back flank position.

McKenzie is tricky. He deserves to be there on last years form, but we already have 3-4 inside midfielders in Moloney, Jones, Sylvia, and Trengove. The may go for a quicker outside type player in his place.

That locks up 17 of the 22 spots.

Who's your Captain?

If your naming the team, you should name your leader.

Does it have to be from one of the guys who played all 22 games in 2010?

That means a choice between Green, Jamar and Jones.

I'll go for Green.

Well, its objective, but obviously not what the team would be...see Jurrah.

The team seems pretty set other than the forward line and it will be very interesting to see where a guy like tapscott is in the coach's estimation.

Imagine if they left Jurrah out of the side for round 1. There'd be a riot. Although i remember Jurrah had an ordinary match against Freo in the NAB cup last year - some fumbles and a possible lack of confidence.

I'd also be surprised if Petterd wasn't selected for round 1 based on his form last year.

I'd Love to see Tapscott showing off his kicking skills in the majors this year but he's done most of his pre-season training with the development group. Check Mark Williams' upcoming reports on the website for details.

I've got a soft spot for Sam Blease. Good to hear he's in a training group with Jones and Scully - perhaps the two fittest runners in the club.

No, the Lions players just went on ridiculously back-ended contracts that have crippled the club since then.

good point, but apart from Des Headland they kept the core of their winning group together for 3 years.

If i had a choice of $400,000 in a guaranteed top 4 side verses $800,000 for a bottom 8 club..i'd go for the chance at the flag.

Happy new years to everyone.

It’s day one 2011, a good time to put together our starting line-up for round one vs the Swans.

Instead of making judgements on who is better than what (or Watts) I thought I’d be totally objective and pick my round one line up using one simple selection criteria – games played in season 2010.

For example: Jones played all 22 games; Bail only played 9. Therefore I would find a place in the starting line-up for Jones before I would select Bail. And so on.

I then placed them in a position that resembles where they played last year.

Here’s the line-up. 2010 Games are in brackets ( ).

B: Bartram (21), Frawley (21), Garland (20).

HB: MacDonald (17), Rivers (18), Bennell (19).

C: Scully (21), Jones (22), Davey (20).

HF: Trengove (18), Dunn (18), Sylvia (15).

F: Green (22), Watts (15), Bate (15).

R: Jamar (22), McKenzie (19), Moloney (18).

IC: Grimes (14), Warnock (13), Morton (10).

S: Bail (9).

E: Wonaeamirri (8), Jurrah (8), Petterd (6).

Note: Jetta played as many games as Petterd but I selected Petterd due to his higher total of career games.

Observations:

1. It’s possibly our best list of 25 at the moment, but they’ve got no reason to feel complacent. At various times in 2010 we had Warnock, Bate, Bennell, Morton, Bail and Wonaeamirri struggled to hold their place in the side.

2. We are a bit short. There is no adequate 2nd ruckman in this line-up and please MFC do not put Sylvia in the ruck in 2011. No wonder they picked up Campbell from Hawthorn.

3. The average number of total games per player is 65 – not bad. But we are desperately short of experienced players outside of this line-up. We only have 3 other guys who have played more than a total of 10 games; Jetta (21), Martin (29) and Maric (12).

4. It’s still a young line-up. With the possible exception of Green, all the players could line in a preliminary final for the Dees in 2013 if their form warrants selection.

We have 8 players on the senior list who’ve never played a game, plus another 4 first-time rookies. Gysberts, Strauss and Spencer are also pushing for spots. They all show promise but it’s going to be very difficult to force their way into the starting line-up.

I hope they can, as long as they are chosen on their performances, not their potential.

The MFC website has the first of 9 excellent articles by our ball movement coach Mark Williams.

The first article looks at Bail, Bartram, Bate, Bennell and Blease and gives a very good objective assessment of the progress of these 5 players over the pre-season. Mark looks at the strengths and areas for improvement for each player and I can't wait for the other 8 articles.

My only query is that the reports are almost too good. Eg; he mentions that Bail needs to work on his decision-making and Bennell needs to build up his strength. Are we giving too much information to opposition clubs?

Here's the link. hope it works.

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/7415/newsid/106430/default.aspx

A friend of mine was severely depressed after splitting with her ex. I told her i would send her a wonderful book on philosophy, that included very good advice on self fulfilment and inner peace.

So i sent her the 'Robbie' book. She laughed her head off. Cured her depression.

What I love most about this article is the comments at the bottom... You can just about hear the fear of opposition supporters in their petty little comments.

So true. Plenty of comments like 'he'll be 40 before he plays in a premiership side' and so on. A lot of supporters do not rate us, and don't like us. Lov 'it!!! They are in for a surprise.

We will also have a much better chance of holding on to Trengove, Scully, Watts and co if we simply win more games.

Brisbane is a good example of a side that chose premierships over money.

Sometimes he doesn't make the right decisions, and he needs more protection from his offensive line. /quote]

I must be new to this game. When does he ever make the wrong decision anymore? He's thrown 2 picks through about 10 games! And given the modest offensive line, they're standing up wonderfully.

Just watching the replay of the Eagles vs Minnesota game. Michael Vick - hit 4 times in the first 5 plays by the Vikings defence.

He's a fabulous quarterback but please give him some protection Eagles.

Looks like we are income rich and assets poor. Our net assets are only $314,942, but that's much better than last years effort of - $3,210,403.

Other good news is an increase in Merchandise, membership and marketing, and gate receipts.

Gotta say no. Sorry. And i'm a huge fan of the Green Bay Packers - and they wear CHEESE on top of their head. (It's a Wisconsin thing).

It cut into the players time off and he was vocally opposed to it.

Thanks for that.

Let's hope they pick him for round 2.

If I was CC I'd have fallen out with him too, because the bloke continually put himself before the team and team success.

Campaigning against the china trip was just another example, as were his hospital handballs, as was his decision to leave.

Mmmm. Interesting. Any more details on his view of the China trip? I know he didn't make the trip.

We now have 46 guys who can potentially take part in our tilt at the flag in 2013. I couldn't say that if Cam was still on our list.

As i have said previously, i don't think we will make the finals next year, however i think it is fair to expect around 10-11 wins whilst still developing our players...that would then satisfy the need to develop a winning culture, whilst nurturing and developing the youngsters and pushing closer to being a top 8 team.

I see next year as being the final year of 'the initial development' where players are given games to give them experience, rather than earning a position necessarily. If that gets us into the finals then so be it but i don't expect it and don't see the season as a failure if we don't.

However we will need a couple of years 'finals development' where we are playing in the finals and learning how to take our game to another level before we can really make a tilt at it, it won't simply be a case of 2011- 8-10, 2012- 4-6, 2013- Flag... look at the Geelongs, Collingwoods, St Kilda's etc. We need sustained finals experience and a hard nosed team. I envisage ladder position being something more like 2011- 8-10, 2012- 6-8, 2013- 3-6, 2014- 1-4, 2015- 1-2....

So the pass mark for 2011 will be a combination of many people's opinions:

-Achieving higher results in the KPI's that have been mentioned;

-Getting games and experience into our youngsters and blooding the likes of Blease, Tapscott and others;

-Winning 10-12 games.

And i reckon that's how the footy department sees it too.

Yes that's the key.

A coach of any sport has three basic aims:

to manage teams (eg; getting them to be versatile),

develop players,

and win games.

If the MFC is happy to use 2011 as another developing year, then that's ok PROVIDED they make this clear to DB before the start of the year. I'd hate to see a situation where he develops Gysberts, Howe and Blease into key players and just misses out on the finals, and then the club turns around and says 'sorry Dean - near enough isn't good enough!'

Why stop with the development of a flag winning team?

Because we can finish 6th if we try real hard?

I want a flag.

And I know Bailey will do what is necessary.

And by the way, that doesn't mean we won't play finals, it just means that we keep on playing our talent and expose them - even to the detriment of the team's fortunes on the day.

There's a fly in the ointment here. I believe Bailey comes up for contract renewal at the end of 2011. He's won 15 1/2 games out of 66 - not a great record. There are also at least 4 other coaches coming out of contract at the end of next year.

Will he promote Blease,Tapscott Strauss and Gysberts over the likes of Morton, Bate, McDonald and Jones? Will he persist with a potential long term player who is struggling for form, like we did with Bennell last season? Or do we just have a short term focus and pick the best side available for each week?

Injuries and match-ups will play a part too, but if we are on 6 wins after 12 games, I'd be very surprised if Bailey uses the last 10 games to promote youth, or to develop Garland as a full forward.

Play him as a key defender on the backline but rotate him from smalls to talls, the same as Collingwood with their defence.

He'll also need to cover for Chip when Frawley has a spell on the bench.

Bailey has told Jones that his chances of playing in our midfield are slight and that he needs to develop other areas of his game, hence the tagging role. But the leadership group is decided by the players so this isn't taken into consideration.

He was rumoured to be unhappy with his tagging role and was mentioned as a possible trade in October. Good to see him train hard and work his way into the leadership group. I hope this means he has cast off any negative thoughts and is relaxed with his role at the club, because I'd be surprised if Bailey doesn't continue to develop Jones as a tagger next year. He did play 22 games however I think he was dropped for one match, then came in as a last minute replacement.

Be interesting to see when Scully is added the leadership group. He seems as driven to succed as Nathan Buckley, but without the FIGJAM attitude.

Did this happen today?

Earlier training reports indicated that Gysberts was missing in action on 3 December.

Make that 8 December ...according to Bhima. Definitely looks like Gysberts in photos of 3 December.

Gysberts hammy is better than Moribito's ACL.