Mad_Melbourne

morton - good learning experience

last week yes and no, three goals that ballantyne kicked where not to do with him, a bail turnover, bruce turnover, aaron davey freekick and 50m penalty, and his other goal was just a ripper, i think bartram really kept him to 1 goal, if you get what i mean? bottom line, i think bartram is nearly the most improved player at the club, his speed helps him to hold up opponents, although he does make a few errors with the kicking so does everyone else, so i dont think its too bigger issue.

for melbourne it is all about hitting our targets, kicking well when necessary, not overusing the handball, and applying pressure to the opposition. when melbourne play this style of footy we are competetive with all teams, we need to dictate play with hard running midfielders being the key to our success. aaron davey is well overdue for a blinder of a game, and sydney have recently hit form so it will be a good test.

for sure dunn would line up on goodes, and try to hurt him on the rebound?

i seem to recall a vote on mfc.com for which jumper with the demon and the mfc logo, and the demon jumper got up and thus we are wearing it.

i think he just wants to have some real good matches before signingso they cant refuse a largish contract? but having said that who knows

melbourne players often get stuck with no targets for kick outs and also for a mark at about 50m out, players do not move around enough!

melbourne to get the chocolates, and jurrah to kick 5

true, but still they have to be able to see the potential, the thing i love the most is that he actually chases people, whether he gets the tackle or not he still puts the pressure on due to his massive footspeed

the watts storm is brewing, he is sooooo clean below his knees, i just want him to have that game where everyone else can see ohhh he is going to be a freak. commentators love to pay out on jack watts even when he does good things, but he does make 1 or 2 mistakes a match which is expected. but none the less i am massive wraps for the kid and i cannot wait until he smashes a team to shreds, and everyone sees why we took him the footballer ahead of the athlete nicnat.

loook if you had watched the last few games rivers has been good, he is also in the leasership group and adds leadership to our young backline, and bartram is by far the best small backman in our team, cheney has nothing on him, bartram has nearly been the best small defender in the league, and would have had another scalp, if it wasnt for two gifted goals to ballantyne. ohh and on the pj issue which is also discussed, i think he had a really good performance, and may well be turning a corner, but that is optimistic, but still deserves another gig for mine INS: Trengove, OUTS: Moloney, (may not get up from the corky) although i would love maric in i think that no one will get dropped. mind you if bailey really is running on form, it would mean bate out and maric in possibly, but thats an opinionated issue.

is that with or without early guilty plea, and also with or without a good record?

agree, he cannot pack mark, and is rarely able to compete with an opponent, when he gets the ball in a bit of space he is able to break away, but never really takes contested marks.

agreed melbourne players often run past opponent players to try be an option, but why not just smash the bloke

i could not agree more but there is not much the afl can do, as soon as there is pressure from behind a player falls forward with the tackler drawing the free kick, i must admit the umpires did okay though seeing as it was occuring so often, it is similar to the selwood head drop to draw high tackles, umpires cant do much about it. the throws really annoyed me, and the inconsistency on the holding the ball rule.

garland- made costly errors bruce-never kick out bate- cant win contests but all in all a good week again, i think watts is showing really really good signs, and i have never ever ever ever seen him miss two relatively simple set shots, so im guessing both were very nervous kicks

agree with everything you say, at the moment he almost comes across as lazy with his leads, as he sits in one spot pointing and really only chases half the time, skill wise he is very good, and athletically too, he just needs to really work on his endurance, i saw him in the preseason when he played against essendon and he was cramping up at just over half time, he has the ability to be a star he just needs workrate.

ballantyne to not get a sniff, absolutely disposed of by clint bartram

i dont see how you dont agree with the switch of play, in modern football when teams zone the only way to get through these zones is the switching and handball play. most of our players disposal is quite good, and the matches we have won is due to our disposal efficiency, hard running, switching and handballing. allowing teams not to sit in a zone ahead of us, in the matches we lost like st kilda last week, they zone well enoguh that players end up having to kick to a one on one, and usually the boundary line. his game plan is modelled off geelong, they are a grandfinal team, and were able to work the game plan, i do not agree that we do not have players able to use the ball well, and against essendon, apart from patches, melbourne used the ball really well. it isnt dean baileys game plan but rather his attitude that irks me sometimes, he doesnt look like he has that fire, which is good with a learning team, but will he develop the fire in his belly when we start to win more matches and press for top four contention? also his theory of winning quarters annoys me, again i understand we are a young team, so taking more quarter wins out of a season is a viable measure for improvement, but it just sounds like he is conceding that we are going to lose. on the whole dean bailey is a good coach imo.

bartrams disposal is perfectly fine, his average disposal efficiency for the season is 78.54%\ that is top notch, even if he is only averaging 12-13 disposals it means he is hitting the target about 9-10 times. also those potting his kicking backwards, it is a good thing to kick backwards and help the switch, and also produce movement forwards if there is no viable option up ahead.

bail will be a champ, will be on our list unless of course he leaves? but i dont think he will leave and i think he will be part of our best 22 in a year or 2

my old man has a theory about umpiring, that if the teams are not one of the "good" teams, then umpires assume they will be making mistakes, hence more free kicks, would explain our dud run, and then such good umpiring for geelong hawks? thoughts?

we had patches of good hard strong tackling and pieces of week tackling. i remember a few seasons ago we did some judo over the pre season and our tackling had never been better, maybe we could get on that again? having said that more often than not we tackle well

most fans often cry for frees that arent there, 50s that arent there and even frees and 50s that are there and not paid, so its just getting in on it. not an idiot

agree with grandson of a gun, we definately are due for our good run, makes up for one of the poorer weeks we have been on the end of.