Grandson of a gun

Yeah this bloke was pretty average.......... When you start making sensible posts perhaps the clashes may cease.

But those big blokes would have given us a big bloke in the square. Be it Jamar, Hale or Warnock.

I think you have selective memory. We had a real crack at Hale. We had a real crack at Warnock. We tried to entice Judd although we were always going to lose that one. Hall wanted to go to a team in a premiership window, not rebuilding. Melbourne (quite rightly) put a limit on what it would offer these blokes financially so as not to pay overs and drive a wedge through the club. There is also little point in trading away while re-building. Let the kids develop, push towards the final 8 in 2012 and then identify where our weaknesses are that may be able to be fixed through trading for experienced players. A la geelong, collingwood and hawthorn in their premiership runs.

......you do complain very well Old Dee.

I am almost certain i sat near you on Sunday Old Dee. I had this old bloke behind all day doing nothing but whinging and making ridiculous criticisms even when things were going well in the second. Grimes should be at Casey. Jurrah is a joke. Sylvia a disgrace. Watts worthless. It got to the point where he slammed Watts again because he lead at the ball, his teammate missed him AGAIN, he has to stop and prop under the bouncing ball, three Hawthorn players jump on him and low and behold clear it away. Funnilly enough though, when i turned around and explained to him the facts of the situation, told him that he either has little or no understanding of the game and is being ridiculous there was not another peep for the rest of the game. And then he left early. I am certain that this is you Old Dee. When all goes well you are happy to bask in it but when it doesn't you throw around wild and bulltish criticisms with no concept of the reality of the situation and don't have the gall to sit out a game and wear the pain as well as you would in the glory. Until Watts carries 21 blokes across the boundary, takes 27 contested grabs, kicks 21 goals and brings world peace in one game you will never be satisfied. Get over yourself. ...............and in your reference to Wonna and Maric, so Wonna owes the FD big time for the patience it has shown but Maric doesn't and should be cut some slack. My point exactly.

This has become a rather entertaining thread. Good to see a few ripping each others throats out... Yep. It was very much a mental problem and was a good kicking between the ears for these blokes. Yoda, wise words you speak. I don't think anyone at Melbourne is shying away from this H. I ask whether many on here actually watched the Rohan Bail interview and then the Dean Bailey interview. It was quite clear that he gave it to the players after the game and they got the message. Bailey admitted it was a horrid day. He told it how it was in the press conference. Mark Thompson had an almost identical persona his whole career when it came to media conferences. He was also facing the sack but never waivered. However i would go as far to say H that Bailey is hardly ever praised for any of the teams good performances (by Demonlanders or the press), but is one of the first to be blamed for a bad one. Do ya follow?

100% correct. He had a bloody good work rate but like most of our forwards, was let down by shocking delivery. In the two practice games and first two rounds i have seen this year, Watts is developing well. He is flying up and into packs now. He is leading to the right spots. And he is gaining the confidence to take contested grabs- a la Sunday. Johnathon Brown would have barely touched it on Sunday our delivery into the forward line was so poor. And if you want any more proof just look at the inside 50 count every week. Our forwards are so starved of ball and opportunity it is astonishing. Stick them in the opposition forward 50 and they would all be ripping down half a dozen marks and kicking 3 or 4 goals. That is the biggest indictment on the team (along with a couple of other things).

I understand what you are trying to say Roost it but i have to disagree entirely. There's no point throwing away team structure. Watts and Jurrah lead hard all day but it was their teammates who could not hit the side of a barn that made their job almost impossible. Bennell is too lightly framed for Rioli and Cyril would have carved us up more. Sylvia to Hodge is ok but it would rob us of the only bloke out there who was relatively consistent. Bail was taking care of Sam Mitchell and doing a reasonable job for most of it. Bottom line it was a game we lost between the ears. What it needed was for the senior players to step up and say we are not standing for this and going back to a focus of just laying tackle after tackle after tackle and putting pressure on the opposition again. The amount Hawthorn had the pill we should have won the tackle count. If we teach these kids now that the best way to stop a momentum swing against us is to generate more pressure by increasing our tackling and ferociousness at the contest then that is how we will stop disasters like Sunday unfolding. If Sunday can be the low-point of the season and game everyone remembers the game as what they don't want to play like for the rest of the year than i think we will have at least learnt from it and be a much better team for it.

I assume that was sarcasm old dee... If not, take a look at many AFL photos snapped and you will see that it is a common thing. It is called blinking.

Wow. Get over yourself. I bet you were one of the one's booing him all day too. Bigger things to worry about Rangey, get your head out of your backside. Absolutely ludicrous.

I agree it will take time. Unfortunately when our best midfield group consists of Scully, Trengove, McKenzie, Bail, Gysberts and the like who are all 19 year olds with underdeveloped bodies we will continue to get smashed at clearances for a while yet. What is not acceptable however is our lack of desire to put the opposition under intense pressure with our tackling. If we can't win the stoppages, lets at least make it hard for the opposition by being ferocious with our tackling. It is a skill that even the worst footballer can perform and it is the kind of thing that all the best teams do well.

Jetta out- People are fooled, he doesn't have pace and he doesn't have work ethic. Maric out- Poor last week. Had the opportunity today to come on and put himself right in the thick of it- didn't. He should have at least been tearing into packs and laying tackle after tackle but he didn't. He is too lazy. Gone and never to return. Garland out only if injured. Wona in. Gysberts in. MacDonald if Garland out. Morton will need match practice at Casey first.

Unfortunately the biggest problem at the moment is our inability to clear the ball effectively from kick ins / defence. Through a lack of any real EFFECTIVE plan we end up selecting options that require precision kicks and when they don't come off we cough it up and the opposition make us pay. That has been a glaring problem for 3 years and i yet to see any development of that part of our game. Grimes, Rivers, Frawley, Bartram, Garland and whoever else is down there are too often left with too few options and are forced to kick to contests. Structure and a defniative game plan for clearing the ball from kickins are what is desperately required.

Barty is great and if we could transplant in Strauss kicking then he'd be perfect. But.... All the true top teams have stoppers who also damage you: Shaw for Collingwood Hunt for Geelong Guerra for Hawthorn To become a great team we need that and it will come one of two ways. Either Barty improves his kicking greatly or someone else overtakes him. I believe Bail is the perfect fit because he is fast, strong, has reasonable endurance (and that is one thing that can be improved easily), is a great tackler and has good defensive mindset but can be damaging with the ball. As the team pushes higher up the ladder and competition for spots gets greater I really see Bail taking over that role. I reckon Barty has the job for 1-2 more years and will then struggle to keep Bail out of that role.

Saw it. Perfectly timed. Nothing to worry about. It was great...

Same as last year people's. Let's see who is closest to the mark! I'll take Sylvia for 26 touches, 2 goals and BOG.

I reckon it is great. Publish it the day of the first match to give Col even more reason to get out there and tear Sydney a new one. The article highlights just how desperate our media is becoming to keep pumping out "controversial stories". Go Dees!

From the HUN: Scully Injury Bugger. But, the good news is that Trengove is almost certain. I prefer the conservative approach with Scull as given his work rate the last thing we need him to suffer is an on-going knee problem. Similar to McKenzie in that regard.

It will primarily be made up of players that have good running ability but are flexible. That way if a team sustains an early injury to a midfielder then it can be covered and likewise to a tall player. Then if there are no injuries they can be subbed on late to provide that explosive option (or to fill a position whilst another explosive player who has perhaps been given a bit more rest on the bench can come on to do some damage). I don't like it. But them's the rules and that is the best way i see it unfolding.

Finally after some 5 months since the Filth hoisted the Cup aloft it's back. 17 clubs have had their 'best pre seasons ever' and every list is fitter stronger and faster than last year. Members and supporters alike enter this week with great hope and even greater expectations. And finally all the soap opera stuff from the summer disappears and we focus on the real stuff. So after a haphazard pre season what will Sunday afternoon bring for the Demons? Firstly expect a much closer game than last year. The Swans have long memories and are still smarting from that performance as attested to in a recent Herald Sun article. We can expect to see a fiercer Sydney attacking the contest, and Game plan A will definitely be to block the corridor and put the Melbourne defence under pressure with the now famous press. They have a few players missing in Bradshaw, Kennealy, Bolton & Roberts-Thompson but they still have one A. Goodes. He is the key and the one Melboune must stop. Unfortunately with Melbourne missing Frawley and Morton, the immediate tagging options look thin. With McKenzie also out and Dunn and Trengove only 50 50 chances to play the Demons have concerns of their own and may look to youngsters Jetta, Maric and Tapscott to step up. Martin will probably get his chance also. If Goodes goes forward expectGarland to have first crack. If he goes middle, expect Jones to wear him like a glove. Melbourne's trump card may just be forward of the centre with Green, Jurrah, Petterd, Maric, Sylvia and Watts all very potent and great users of the footy. But I think it will come down to just two things that will determine the outcome of the game.... Ferocity at the contest and Inside 50's. Melbourne have more, they WILL win. If not then they are in strife. I'm backing the Demons to prevail by 14 points.

Thats what I said in my other post...

No. Don't get me wrong, we needs Sylvia to become an A grade star and he was great last year, but THIS YEAR I believe that the 10 I listed are the 10 most important for team structure. Once 3 or 4 of them go down we are in serious strife.

Trengove will miss because of his lack of match practice, if he is fit I reckon he will be at Casey round 1. Dunn will play if the hammy pulls up ok. From yesterday Petterd will play. Wonna and Tappy are chances depending on injuries. Spencer will just depend on how they want to balance the team.

1 Frawley 2 Jamar 3 Jurrah 4 Grimes 5 Garland 6 Green 7 Davey 8 McKenzie 9 Scully 10 Morton Ranked in that order primarily because of the importance of having them fit and the importance of having these particular 10 play well all year...

Perhaps I didn't word it right. Yes Gawn and Spencer dominated the rucks but there wasn't much competition. As someone else said, Gawny moves ok but has a skinny lower half which will take time to develop. I was happy with how he played but he is the long term project and if he can play a full season at Casey them that will be tremendous for his development. Spencer did some good things and will play this year, I just get nervous when he has to kick the ball! Aside from Spencer, I would say the next closest big man to a game is McDonald then Cook.