bing181

Cook has hardly played, and missed most (all?) of the pre-season. Not ready. Same for Taggert. Martin still injured and not doing full training. Petterd didn't do much last time he played, and obviously hasn't done enough since. Couch ... too similar to Magner, Jones, Moloney. Nicholson at least brings a bit of dash. Makes sense to me.

Seems that at training yesterday Davey, Morton and Sylvia weren't in the "firsts" in the match simulations. Dropped? If so, with Jurrah also out, wondering who'll come in. Tapscott would be one, but otherwise ....?? Soon find out.

Some small positives right there.

Ah, music to my ears. This "they won 8 games last year, now look at them" line is just so superficial and lazy. If people took the time to really look at those "wins", there was only really one worth writing home about, Essendon. And even then, we got them in their bad patch. Not saying we're any better, but we were seriously bad last year - which is why the whole FD has been sacked/changed/moved on.

It says that we got the coach we wanted. And that Adelaide got the coach they wanted. Presumably, as a postscript, both Footscray and the Saints got the coaches they wanted. And they all lived happily ever after.

Everyone had Scully and Trengove 1 and 2. Not a problem re Martin, get over it. Pysch profiling for Neeld? We did all that and more with Bailey and look where it got us.

As good an example as you'll ever find of being selective with the "facts". Those wins were not in any way the norm, or representative of our form or of our season(s). Not to mention, quite what beating a team that was rubbish last year but is doing OK this year has to do with anything ... we didn't beat any premiership favourites last year. Though ... Adelaide as a premiership favourite???

The discussion here, and Ox's comments, isn't about what's working or what's not, or what game plan we're supposed to be playing or not. This isn't even about training load. It's simply about professional football players giving a 100% each time they run onto the field. Which has nothing to do with the coaches. Ironically enough, perhaps if the players gave it a decent crack, and at the very least tried to do what they're being told to do, we might then be able to get to understand where the coaches are at. Which would expose them to criticism if it wasn't working.

I wish we'd had a few more who let us down as much as Watts did on the weekend. Having 22 thugs out there, all desperately looking for packs to back into, is not going to win us games.

Interesting article in the Age by Caro Wilson (the real one this time) re all this. Not sure what to make of it - my reading of news from Adelaide at the time was that they really wanted Neeld, but we got in first. Certainly that was the vibe on the Adelaide boards. Not to add, everyone had been calling out for us to get a "hard" coach after Bailey, and Neeld is at the very least all of that. Agree with your post.

Nice scenario. You make this up all by yourself? That report was acted upon - which is why we've had the complete revamp of the FD. And the CEO is answerable to the board.

Don't hold your breath.

.... and they all lived happily ever after.

Don't be a tease, it's hard enough being a Dees supporter as it is.

And pitchforks, every lynch mob has pitchforks.

You speak for all the members?

Why not ask the players?

They already have a plan. Which the players aren't following.

After 186 we'd just suffered one of the most humiliating losses in the history of the AFL. And we were never a hope in hell of getting into the eight. Port, Brisbane, Richmond, North ... they all beat us. Us a finals team? Stop kidding yourself, we were utterly hopeless whenever it counted.

The lack of self belief and confidence surely comes from being told that the way they've been playing isn't working - or even from being there on that fateful 186 day? Change, especially change at a fundamental level, takes time. According to what Misson is saying (and others it seems), the players don't even know how to train properly, they've had such an easy ride. Agree that it's really serious though, and that indeed, perhaps the worse is yet to come.

Potential finalists? When? Not in the last 5 years in any case, not even close. You're another of these delusional supporters, who thought that everything was rosy when we were losing by 186 to the genuine finalists, and picking up cheap wins against the likes of GC. Neeld hasn't turned us into anything - though maybe for the first time, in pealing back the layers of BS and refusing to continue to give the players an easy ride, he's exposing the soft underbelly for all to see. And it's ugly. But necessary. Go read the Kennelly article, then the Misson one on the MFC site. Forget about not knowing how to play - half our team doesn't even know how to train.

No, the duds were duds last year. And the year before that.

There were a LOT of insipid performances last year, and normal service has been continued this year - though with a few additional absentees, that probably aren't helping. Maybe read the Tahdg Kennelly article if you haven't already. Nothing to do with the coach if the players aren't prepared to do the hard work.

We lost to Geelong last year, by 186 points. Half the problem here, we need to be judging the team by their losses, not by the odd win. Those wins were one-offs, not typical of our season. Or the one before.

i don't understand why people keep saying this, none of those wins were against anything but easybeats. We were mostly absolute rubbish last year, and folded like a pack of cards whenever real pressure was applied - including the worst loss in the club's history. I also don't accept the "same team" line. Scully and Gysberts both played important roles in most of the wins you refer to, Green and Davey are obviously on the way out (age catching up with them), Jurrah (also an important contributor in the wins) has been injured etc, Sylvia has been out and/or playing, but with no pre-season has Buckley's of making any real impact, Martin has been injured etc. etc. We're missing a number of the key performers from those wins, such as they were.