3183 Dee

I don't agree - I thought Neeld was realistic, the last thing the MFC needs now is trumpet blowing. It's completely understandable that the coach will look at other things than just the scoreline this year. He has to (a) bring the existing players up to scratch (b) bring new players into the system and © blood the first year players, whilst all the time trying to turn around the stagnation that has been reeking for years. Yes, it will be tough watching at times this year, but these are the hard yards that need to be done for a bigger pay-off further down the line.

I thought it was pretty funny - good on them.

Melbourne 'til I die, I'm Melbourne 'til I die I know I am, I'm sure I am, I'm Melbourne 'til I die.

I think that most supporters are realistic enough to know that we are on a long journey. However, I believe what we want to see, apart from a few more wins, is a lot more appetite from our players, more toughness, more bollocks and a smattering of swashbuckling elegance.

...a little bit sick? I know all the "it's only NAB Cup", "we had x,y & z out" stuff, but I honestly thought we'd have shown a bit more in these pre-season games. We've grouped ourselves with the likes of Port and Brisbane, and slightly above GWS and GC, but on the past few weeks' showing, that opinion seems slightly inflated, bearing in mind how those other teams have gone. 'Course, it could all change come Rd 1, when we have at least one class forward back but for the moment, I'm feeling a little queasy about the next 6 months.

I'll stick my neck out and say that, unless the club is falling apart halfway through next season, the Board should offer him a contract extension ahead of time. It gives him confidence that he has adequate time to build his list and gives the club a stability that it hasn't had for a long time. He's clearly not here to feck about and neither should the club.

Agree 100% - they have torn us a new one each time we've played them over the past few years, with an arrogance and swagger that is frankly admirable.

I think it is a big leadership group, but at the present phase of 'culture change', it's probably necessary to have a presence across the ground. What excites me more are the up and coming leaders of our club like Viney, McDonald, Toumpas and possibly Nicholson, who are going to learn directly from the present group. This is why the likes of Byrnes and Dawes have been included - setting a base for the future.

Welcome To The Jungle - Guns n Roses. Great intro, pumping tune and puts paid to the nice boys image.

He was drafted into a weak culture, now that it's getting stronger and better, so will he.

Totally agree with Flanners. I grew up in the UK following football (soccer) supporting the mighty Plymouth Argyle. The game over there has changed incredibly with the all-seater stadia, super club razzmatazz. Where once it was standing on the terraces amongst the noisy banter, songs and the adrenalin, it's now corporatised plastic seats in a sedated stadium, drip-fed buckets of Coca Cola and the blast of goal celebration music (not that they get many goals at Argyle). When I first came over here and started following the Dees, one of the most appealing things about the footy was the fantastic atmosphere of the game. I mean, if the spectacle of 36 blokes running their guts out at 100mph, whilst bouncing an oval ball, kicking it 60,70 metres, jumping onto someone's SHOULDERS! and hoping not to get clattered at the same time - for 2 hours - is not excitement enough...well...maybe skydiving without a parachute is a better option. With incessant celebration music on the headphones perhaps.

But...hang on...we'd better decide whether he is forward or back, because if he's a defender and we play him at FF, then that's tanking.

Classic.

I don't think there's anything sinister in recruiting big forwards. We have one in Mitch Clark and...well...that's it. We're in desperate need for dedicated big men up front to give us some presence - when Clark got injured last year, the forward line was a disaster. This is not to say that the likes of Jumpin' Jeremy Howe didn't have an impact, but to have two or three elite big fellas with the likes of Byrnes and Howe around them is going to be the way forward.

It's a yes from me - just a short(ish) stumble from home.

If we need to use pick 3 to get Viney, then use pick 3 already! We've fecked about with the drafting system/priority picks for too long now. Our culture is changing and blokes like Viney are part of it. Bring him in!

The difference is that we seemed to think that simply tanking over a three year period to get number one draft picks was all we needed to do, the rest would take care of itself. Therefore, I'd argue that our culture until recently has been built around pipe dreams, laziness and complacency. The Hawks and Pies have at least used their ill-gotten gains correctly.

Agree 100% with the OP - the ramifications of tanking for priority picks are self-evident not just with us, but also Carlton who are now trying another 'get rich quick' solution. There's a long, hard road ahead of this footy club - no easy fix, no saviour, no buying our way out. In the age of the knee-jerk and the quick fix, it's vital that we, as supporters, get behind Neeld for the next two years and trust that he can pull this footy club up by the bootstraps, so that we can play the same hard, exciting, committed footy as Freo, Hawthorn and Sydney.

It's interesting how some of the party boys have reacted - Col Sylvia has pulled his act together, whereas Beamer has not been able to. If there is a fitness issue at the base of this, then it shows how far back the boys are starting from. It will be interesting to see the experienced guys Neeld brings in.

I know. I quite enjoy the Dee TV stuff, but I find myself wondering if Hawthorn or Collingwood players also find the time to arse about as much as ours seem to...

Here it is... An all-round impressive lad. Let's hope that the likes of Clark are a sign of things to come at the MFC.

"But you said I was a great bloke and you had no intention of coaching ag-...oooh...I see what you did there

Agreed that he is not the elite that we are striving for, but for now he is one of a very few that we probably need to keep for another year. We can't just delist the lot, otherwise we're starting from scratch yet again. I'd argue that out of the Old Guard, Rivers, Joel Mac and Dunn are still worth having around.

I think he should be offered a year at this stage. He's not our best, but he's responded to the call, gritted his teeth and got on with it. A year's contract will show whether he's just put the effort in to get another contract or whether he has started to get the best out of himself. By the way, I also think Joel Macdonald should be given another year.

I agree. I think Carlton are a more attractive option (at present!) and he will probably end up there. Especially if the rumour about MM heading up the Blues next year are true.