Webber

I sent an email to the sports editor of The Guardian online Australia version yesterday, Tom Lutz. I was suggesting he may not be giving Australian Football it's due as the biggest sport in the country by its lack of presence in sports stories. He replied quickly and with detail, even suggesting that since arriving from the UK, he had chosen to support the Dees! For those who think that history counts for nothing, he chose the MFC because it is the oldest club firstly, and secondly because we have been success free for so long. Good on him I reckon.

Yep. Stupid divisive sniping from David Schwarz. The strongest clubs on and off field have a culture of solidarity and loyalty, and that includes from affiliated media commentators. To further inflame the 'pro-Neeld/anti-Neeld division, and effectively invite supporters to share his unwillingness to support the team on game day, and even HOPE THEY GET SMASHED is beyond juvenile. Mark Neeld's performance as coach will ultimately determine his fate, and the ONLY thing the Ox is doing is fertilising the media ridicule and opinion that this club has no unity and loyalty even from its supporters..... US! Imagine if he did the statesman-like thing and directed his great passion toward unity amongst supporters, like Jimmy did. Imagine instead if he got his sound bites by attacking the mindless ignorant commentators who think they know what's going on at the MFC, and how to fix it. If we need ANYTHING right now it's a positivity toward supporting the club. This is not it, and it does NOTHING to help. Shameful stuff from a club legend.

This post, along with your last post btdemon, are perfect examples of the stream of speculative presumption that spews out from the media these days, and in particular about what's going on at the MFC. You make grand and and absolutist statements about Mark Neeld's personality, his relationship with the players, the players reactions, feelings and attitudes. All of which you have absolutely no direct evidence or justification for. You see on field results, and then invent a scenario that tries to make sense of it. Of course we all do that, because we desperately want to find reasons and solutions. You however, are making judgements as if they are fact, and because you don't actually know, it is in fact the rubbish that other posters have called you on. For the sake of reason and in the spirit of support for your club, reconsider before you post damaging guesswork like this again.

He is universally very highly regarded, inside and outside the club. David Parkin was ropable when CC was scapegoated by the AFL, but entirely unsurprised when he decided to cop it for the club. I'd be surprised if anybody 'within' football ( not the media) had a bad word say about him.

Excellent piece longsuffering. Hopefully the worm will turn against the media, and more people will reject the poisonous personal vitriol that they spew out daily. We need to stay thick with the club at the moment, and let the ignorant doomsday rubbish slide past.

Good stuff Sat. I suspect the idea of keeping Neeld and Craig through this year and next makes a lot more sense when you hear the plan and situation from them directly rather than presuming, judging and second guessing from the outside as we all do on here. A big part of the problem with football commentary now, which has violently escalated over the last 5 years, is the short term desperation for success. The media breed and then feed this frenzy for instant results, and we buy into it. No patience, no tolerance for a plan that might take a few years, no respect for anybody who might try to implement a longer term fix. The media want scandal and blood, and they insidiously convince us that we drive the agenda. [censored]. They set the agenda, and public opinion lines up behind them because we assume that they know what they're talking about. For what good it will do them, I couldn't be more impressed that certain MFC people have been staying away from the media completely, such as quoted by Neeld, and Jordie McKenzie recently. The media is POISON, with fewer and fewer exceptions, and unfortunately it dominates any information more valuable, such as that which comes from the horses mouth.

Great stuff Robbo, some perspective from somebody who knows more about what goes on at the club than ANYBODY on here.

Yep, cos Geelong are brilliant at making the game about unbroken chains of possession. Applying pressure to facilitate the turnover, then using movement and skill to bring the ball forward to score. We've seen briefly from the MFC this year some pressure on the opposition when they have possession, maybe a few quarters, but our ability to move the ball with skill through uncontested possessions from there is the worst in the AFL. When we don't even apply that pressure, it gets to the point where we look like witches hats. Mark Neeld talks about the possession differential we throw up every week as not being that relevant, but it ABSOLUTELY is. The easiest way to win is by having more of the ball, and using it well (disposal efficiency). If you out point the opposition on these 2 stats in combination, you will win.

Hyping and personifying scandal and 'shame' is the Herald Sun's raison d'être, so expecting any degree of sensitivity to the plight of the girl and her 'guilt' is beyond hopeful. Dr. John Dee, your erudite explanations of racism and it's existence within the superficially reasonable arguments for rejecting political correctness and suggesting people be more thick-skinned were enjoyable reading. Sadly, the girl has been too readily identified, and will have a struggle to overcome the consequences of this. What I have thought is terrific in the way this episode has hit the public domain though, is that it seeks a better standard of respect and tolerance firstly at sporting events, and secondly in Australian society generally. Considering the degree to which sport is embedded in Australian culture, any chance to use it as a means to improve racial respect should be held high. Whilst the crowds at Australian football are remarkably harmonious and good-spirited in the context of other sports worldwide, it can ALWAYS be better, and Adam Goodes has just shown us how we can and should aspire to this.

There are rumours that Mark Williams is being spoken to and arranged at this very moment. Be careful what you wish for......

You may be frustrated Gd, but you write a lot of sense, and with calm perspective.

You're assuming that hiring Neeld was a mistake, but it just ISN'T that black and white. Just consider that it may NOT be Mark Neeld that is to blame, because as much as you are so sure it is, you actually don't know.

NOBODY knows how to fix it, but there will ALWAYS be those who say they do. They don't. They're guessing and postulating. Somebody in charge however will employ general good management and get lucky with timing as the MFC ship begins to right itself, who knows when, and then be attributed as the reason for the improvement. For all of the supporters and the media who imagine everyone at the club is doing everything wrong, they need to grow up and see how ridiculous this vulture like frenzy for sackings and dumpings and change for its own sake is. Exactly how much influence do people think Don McLardy has over our current on field performance? Pretty close to f***-all I'd say. Perspective is needed far more desperately than the blood mania the modern media drive.

Doggies have been consistently more competitive than us this year, I just don't see us winning either barring their entire midfield being out of action. They will control possession just as every other team has and can easily do against us.

James Sellar was good down back last year and has been good there this year. In fact he's looked very much at home there whenever he has been. Tom McDonald on the other hand looks more like a natural forward. At his best last year he was instinctive and sought the ball out. He played there as a junior, and was drafted on what he showed as a forward. I don't understand why he hasn't been tried up front, unless its part of a longer term career plan, a la David Neitz.

It's a given that we will get beaten by more than 10 goals for the next 4 games. In fact I think we will set an AFL/VFL record for average losing margin by year's end. The horrible reality is that we are currently watching the WORST team in the 155 year history of the competition, and as such it's completely uncharted terrain. I really don't think anybody knows what to do. That means the club, the AFL, the supporters, have no clue how to makes things better, because they've never been this bad. There will be change of course, because that's what failure demands, but it will be change based on no knowledge of what else to do.

I wonder what Jack Fitzpatrick has to do get picked even for the extended interchange?

Forgot to say its 1, sometimes 2 metatarsal bones that dislocate, not 'many'.

Clarke didn't fracture. That's important as it is a career killer. The tendons in the area are completely uninjured and unaffected. The ligaments are ruptured, which thus allows the dislocation. These heal and strengthen with the immobilisation. Yes, the foot is a complex structure, but in this case it is a structural requirement that is compromised, not mobility. Effectively the dislocation occurs at the keystone of the arch, hence it's importance. There is a bit of adaptive behaviour in the surrounding muscles/tendons, but not much. Much less than in an ankle reconstruction/stabilisation for example. Ongoing issues will come down to local irritations, which as I have said, should be minor.

This isn't the case. The Lisfranc repair that Clarke had doesn't involve any musculotendinous structures. It's a bone to bone structural repair, specifically via metal fixation. Those metal fixateurs were creating localised irritation, which inhibited his ability to perform around the resultant pain. Thus, they were removed. The time needed now is to allow the hole left by the fixateurs to fill and consolidate (bone), by which time the irritation will have settled. This is standard stuff, sometimes happens, and in no way diminishes the integrity of the structure. He'll be back, and barring irritation related to scarring, which should be manageable anyway, be as good as new.

There will be NO penalties from ASADA if there were no banned substances used, and it is increasingly looking like the drugs/substances that they used were not banned. This includes the anti-obesity drug, which at the time was not on the banned list. Thus it comes down to issues relating to the secrecy and non disclosure to the players of injectable supplements. Not unlawful, just a bit sleazy...

Given that the MFC was described as a 'fledgling club', I would suggest the quality of this article goes beyond a complete absence of editorial scrutiny into the realms of utter excrement.

So stats are useless and worthy of hate? WOW!!! Must indeed be a day for hate, cos I HATE dismissing analysis based on the idea that things are simple just cos you want them to be. That could be called ignorant, impatient and juvenile.

It's really interesting t-u. As the article goes on to mention, unbroken chains of possession from the back half, and ability to force turnovers, defend them and capitalise on them, particularly in the front half, are all important. The game against Carlton was interesting in this respect. I noticed that we were ahead in clearances at halftime, but were getting out possessed and out scored. Of Carlton's first 9 goals, 7 came from our turnovers.....we were gifting them possession. I think our clearance stats reflected well the fact that we were more consistently competitive at the stoppages, and the contested possessions that we were more attentive to pressuring them, but our skills and decision making are sub-par. Taking a positive spin, I think games experience and time spent knowing your teammates game are immeasurable components to this, and we have a paucity of that, so things should improve if we get a consistent playing group, and games into the juniors/inexperienced. Where the stats really tell for us, is the combined effect of low possessions and poor disposal efficiency (as compared to the opposition). We need more of it, and to use it better........SIMPLE!!!

The reality that pretty much all of us would prefer not to accept is that we are getting nothing out of Jack Trengove at the moment. James Magner is languishing on the rookie list when currently he is probably faster, certainly much more of a ball getter, an undoubted physical and defensive presence at stoppages, and would effectively take enormous pressure off Nate Jones. It is hurting the team having Trenners in and Magner unavailable. A LOT. Dean Kent had 3 quarters for 3 touches. That's not enough to be reselected. Yes he's exciting and has great upside, but Sam Blease must be elevated whenever he plays well and does what he's told at Casey, because his upside is even greater and he is a game breaker in the making.....consistency will hopefully develop, but only with game time. Jack Fitzpatrick simply has to be rewarded for his form, or what's the point of him being on the list? I'm completely uncertain about him, but he MUST be given his chance when it's deserved. I'm anxious for Chris Dawes, as he's carrying a huge expectation from supporters, and is an ordinary AFL footballer. He is not and will not be the messiah. In a well structured forward line, he'll be very valuable hopefully, but NOT as the no.1 forward.