Mad_Melbourne

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

it looks quite good actually, i think we should change our away strip to the MFC carlton symbol style thing in the middle of the jersey. i mention it because its on the new logo.

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.

Has anyone heard anything about Watts re-signing for next year? Was concerned by article in HS yesterday...

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

Thing is, he hasn't had a pre-season. And he's unique - nearly 2 metres tall yet he's much more of a winger than a pack-marking forward. And he's so classy. Yet people still bag him.

Although I guess I dish out a lot of crap about the teams my friends support

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.

Ohhhhhh if only.... but he's a B.B.B (Bailey Backline Baby), like Rivers and Bartram, and could not get dropped even if he tried.

Could he at least be moved forward? At least then if he's kicking it at goal he can kick it as high as he likes!

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?

Has Bate ever won a 50/50 marking contest?

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

I would prefer to think of Jurrah as a proto-star, He has everything he needs to become a superstar, but there is a lot of work and a couple of hundred games ahead of him before we can really settle the issue of how great he is. From what we have seen so far, I can safely say that he has the brilliance to be rated with some of the best to play the game. The thing he has not yet shown is the workrate that the great players also possess. If you look at the greats of the modern game, they not only have the talent and ability to do freakish things, they have immense workrates, constantly presenting and challenging for the ball. What I want to see from Liam is a massive amount of work on his endurance so he can use the awesome athleticism throughout the game to blow away opponent after opponent. Right now he is a flashy 10-15 possession player. He needs to become a 20-25 possession player who can dominate a position. Then he will deserve to be rated a real star.

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 5 goals

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.

why would we drop bartram, again had a good match

IN

bail and morton

OUT

Cheney and pj

i seem to recall morton has a good subi record, not only that but he is one of our best runners and he has good disposal by foot.

Bail, hard runner, good disposal, perfect for subi.

cheney out, due to lack of disposal and running, he will get ran clean off his feet.

I think Bartram and Dunn have really cemented their spots on the list, having finally found their niches. Bartram as a shut down defender/tagger, Dunn as a defensive half forward who is dangerous enough to still provide a target.

I would delist/ retire:

- Bell (hopeless)

- McNamara (3 years on the list and too many players ahead of him in the same position)

- Cheney (if we're serious about looking forward to a premiership we know he's not our man. a very limited player in a lot of areas)

- J.McDonald (retired... body issues unfortunately seem to be catching up to him. Not many players go to 35 years of age)

+ delist the entire rookie list except upgrade McKenzie permanently. Perhaps re-rookie Spenser.

That would mean we'd have space to draft 3 players, which is perfect for this draft. Most likely the picks will be 12, 30, 47. Also will allow us to rookie 5 players, taking a chance of a couple of speculative ruckman or VFL players

would you think of cheney or mcnamara on our rookie list or definate not?

i agree with your post as picks much past 40 are really really hit and miss

I have been thinking about this a little bit, we would probably need to drop 4 or 5 players i think, and i was just wondering what peoples feel about who needs to go and who should stay on the list.

personally i think there is really only one obvious delisting at the moment on our senior list, and that is Daniel Bell.

Brad Miller is a possibility, but he is also in our leadership group.

Paul Johnson is another possibility, but he is our only other real ruckman on our senior list, besides gawn and fitzpatrick who we are yet to see.

then from there its anyones guess

will Cameron Bruce retire, he played his best game for season 2010 today against essendon but would we be fussed to see him go gold coast, or a coaching role at the club?

Personally Kyle Cheney is one to be dropped for mine, i dont think he will do anything at afl level and is just a list clogger, but im sure there are people who disagree.

Addam Maric is another, personally i see him having talent, but is he good enough to stay, or do we have too many players in his role.

Tom Mcnamarra, is struggling to get a gig, does that mean we look to trade him?

Rookie list we can basically remove them all, although i think meeson is worth persevering and hughes aswell, but none the less this does nothing for our senior list.

would love to hear peoples thoughts.