Mad_Melbourne

I personally think that having the opportunity to kick on the oval beforehand, a sausage sizzle and a message that was posted on their website/twitter/app is perfectly acceptable for the change of time. I believe the general consesus of most people who were to attend the training would be that it was not an issue, it is maybe a slight inconvenience rather than disrespectful. But at the end of the day, the majority of the posters on this site thought the wheels were off for the year due to a poor second quarter in our first NAB cup game of the year, clearly a testament to the vast majority of people who posts temperament and thus yes I think most of the posts come across as rather prescious. Dont get me wrong, probably something that should easily be avoided but at the same time I believe the fuss that is being kicked up is an overreaction but that is just my opinion

Twitter is available on the website and Melbourne app, but the definitely should have let every Melbourne supporter know via carrier pigeon.

Everyone is so bloody precious

Food sucks there, in my opinion. Although i love the rooftop. I am intrigued tonight more so to see the game time that we get into players legs, hopefully we will see less skill errors but seeing as it is the first round of the NAB cup and it has been pretty clear in all the earlier rounds it will be a scrappy affair, which suggests Fremantle could well lock it in their forward half.

Whilst not directed at me I agree with all your statements... That said I also apply a bit of realism towards this aproach and if we are able to push hawthorn, really push them and lose by 1 point it puts us in good stead for games in 2-3 years time. As Paul Roos loves to say "competitive for longer" and that is my expectation and I expect nothing less than a massive increase in competitivity and that will also result in more wins

Brayshaw could well play forward or back this year correct, but the comparison to a completely different player makes it useless. Debate about size is pretty tough as I would suggest his current size would make it hard for him to have an immediate impact in the middle of the ground. Size has a lot to do with the position they play in for example we drafted Max Gawn at 105 kilos which is a pretty solid size for a ruckman but he needed to put on around 10-12 kilos of muscle before he would be AFL ready. Whilst he may weigh 84-86 he is still 6-7 kilos of muscle away from where he needs to be to play consistent AFL football, in my opinion. This is different for small forwards as they are able to play at a lighter weight as long as they are quick enough over 15-20m and have a good step e.g JKH & Neade

Most of the 2012 draft decisions were on the back of Neeld he put a fair bit of effort into the recruiting side of the team and whilst there were some clear misses he also was pivotal in a few key draft selections. I was lucky enough to attend a members event before the draft in which they held the Jesse Hogan press conference and after having a chat to Todd Viney he mentioned how Neeld was having major input into the draft. Was an awesome event to be lucky enough to attend. If I recall correctly that was the year before Jason Taylor was able to contribute to our draft and Todd Viney was our head of recruiting.

Sorry, despite the fact that it is the second div for those teams, the standard in that comp is a far drop from vfl, sanfl and wafl. Some of the extremely well paid sides down in victoria filled with ex afl players would be extremely competitive in that comp

If you got any answer other than "I'm happy at melbourne" or a laugh it would be quite surprising. You: "so I hear west coast are interested in you?" Him: "I have one year left on my contract, but I noticed last year that that meant nothing so I will look to see the likely hood of a longer term and more lucrative contract from my home state of WA"

The fact these players are completely different in positions and roles makes your point seem quite stupid. Small forward vs midfielder, also the depth of players we have in each position also changes how "ready to go" a player is. Brayshaw is in no way a ready built mid weighing in at 84 kilos, will still need to put on 6-7 kilos of lean muscle and strip back a bit of the excess (as will be expected of all draftees)

His problem is he was unable to really play consistently well out of the number one ruck position. He won't be number one ruck if leuenberger is fit and I think he will struggle to do much damage as a fwd/ruck. I think there are much better options out there but there is no doubting his athletic capabilities, with all that said he does thrive with added responsibility but not really one I am that worried isn't on our list

This was one draft pick that was influenced massively by Mark Neeld, one of the few things the fella did that he didn't get recognition for.

Sounds like training is coming along alright hopefully making solid movements towards a relatively small squad for the nab cup, allowing 1-3 year players a bit more game time. Hopefully we are still sticking to the concept of holding onto the football, but moving it quickly on the counter. Hopefully the skill of our mids will have increased enough to not be as likely to turn the ball over and then lock it into the forward half

Hypothetically if you were sitting an exam and you got 50%, you pass. Would you be over the moon, unlikely, but you wouldn't be frustrated beyond belief as usual for melbourne supporters. Pass mark is fairly set at 8 wins, and above and beyond is a better season

Lol Good to see optimism rather than realism but this is delusional. Hoping for major improvement in skill level and ability to run out games better. I wouldn't mind us winning one at etihad, beating st kilda and not being pumped by west coast/ beating them. Hopefully 6-8 wins and another massive percentage increase

I agree, but at the same time I'm sure he is not unhappy with developing a well rounded game. I think that training with the forwards is an attempt to make him a more well rounded player and he will move into the midfield group at a a latter stage. Especially seeing as he had missed the december sessions. He will then be able to fill the role in the fwd line or midfield dependent on what is required for the team

I agree that it's not a great record although his first year is hardly countable and I know he missed like 6 weeks or so in another year, but based on his performances last year and our team continuing to improve I believe this year will be his best finish in the bnf. If he can play 18+ games and his managed pre season doesn't prevent him starting the year, I don't see how logically you could suggest that he won't improve from last years performance especially if our team is able to improve also!

Toumpas will not finish in our top 10. But Watts will definitely finish in the top 10 again

I feel like this contradicts your point completely, due to their loss of star power they struggled. Hawthorn had 14 players play over 20 games in the year and whilst they were able to bring in depth players to play games this shows more the extent of a relatively stable group. Depth is vital, but Agraders are far more important, the more a graders you have in a team the easier it is to find role players who are able to fit into the team and do what is necessary for the team. Depth is not our biggest issue at Melbourne, the fact we have one Elite and very few who would be classified as good footballers is our biggest issue. With players like Mcdonald, Viney, Tyson, hogan and watts we have potential for a large group o very good talent and this will increase our chances of playing finals.

Would they have him tracking the massive amount of ks he is doing a week if there is an overuse/degenerative injury?

Probably trying to find a different role for him, last year they tried for him to be more of an offensive midfielder but his disposal was damaging for the wrong team. Could also have been a bit of a test for Kent in terms of trying to get away from the glove

would have been awesome if people actually noted the match ups, whilst i was unable to make it to the game and loved all the reports, it would have been interesting to see how many of the fwds actually played on Casey players/who played on Jeff Gartlett etc. It wouldnt be surprising if it was Terlich as he has a tendancy to try and pluck the ball off on the intercept, but it does sound like the defense was not focused on as much this game, whilst running up and down the ground as Gartlett does can result in losing your opponent, if it was as easy as this small forwards would be kicking 10-15 goals a game and this is why, in my opinion, his opponent was obviously instructed to not pay very close care to him.

Or the ball carriers decision making needs to improve/skill level to be able to find Watts. I know full well he demands it as I noticed the same thing, he gets to the good spot screams snd waves his arms, when he is found we score. His tackling is sometimes poor, but his use of the corralling is often a preferred method as he has the skill level to intercept the handpass. That said I would like to see him choose the tackle option more frequently and attempt the intercept when having opposition penned into the boundary

sorry late entrance, was still keen just obviously didnt pay enough attention when entering the league

Hopefully he is able to be hugely more accountable for his opponent and much better with the football than magner