binman

Interesting and reflects the philosophy of Neeld - ie combining ready to go players and youth. Not rocket science obviously and you only need to looks at clubs that have sustained periods of success to see that it works (eg Swans, Geelong, Collingwood). This approach was evident in his recruitment last year of Magner and Couch and i'm sure we'll see more early to mid 20 players getting drafted in from VFL and other similar leagues, along with whatever ready to go players we can trade in (think Boak, Caddy and some from left field that might be part of complex trade deals with multiple clubs). At the same time we will put the time and effort into developing the young kids, and if need be that will be in the VFL (as it should be). The model of developing craft and experience in the magoos harks back to a time where it was common for players to play 30-50 in the 2's before getting a chance in the seniors. Think of the Hawks and players like Ayres and Tuck. Granted there are smaller list these days but still being patient with players and giving them the time is a terrific approach i reckon With another solid pre season and some new blood (and a half decent run with injury) i am hopeful we will move away from the bottom of the ladder next year

Melbourne must have been involved in both incidents some how. I'm sure Greg Denham or on the couch will make the connection soon enough.

Well played Pitmaster. Nothoing like a sledge that is miles off. The Geelong game they could have so easily won and the Brisbane game they should have won (with the coach saying it was the first time they had lost a game they should have won). I just don't get the negativity about the win. As i have said in a previous post, good first quarter and a half, with some of our best ball movement of the season. And the back half was as solid as it has been for some time (and missing Watts to boot). Whilst they were not as good in the second half it was instructive that Neeld answered a question in his presser about whether he was disappointed in the second half with something along the lines of ....no as the indicators we use (pressure acts etc) to measure performance were where we want them to be.... Neeld is hardly one to gild the lilly and has been blunt all year in assessments of where we are at so i have no reason to doubt his sincerity (he certainly looked genuine). But of course all the keyboard coaches and analysts know the drum a whole lot better - and will probably guffaw at modern speak like KPI and say something like 'the scoreboard is the only KPI I rate!'. One thing i like about Neeld is his consistency. All year he has maintained it is not about the here and now or even the scoreboard, but about the right processes and structures (which when in place will ensure the scoreboard will take care of itself) and learning a game style that will win finals. His comment about the second half is yet another example of his singular focus and his refusal to but into the sort of short term thinking that will never get the club out of the malaise it has been in since Northey left the club.

Interesting idea. Example of his approach (and also a good example of his difference to other regimes) is his refusal to play players such as Cook when they're not ready in his mind for AFL, his preparedness to drop senior players, his preparedness to risk getting on their wrong side (i reckon the first coach since Northey who has taken on the senior cartel in an meaningful way) and his focus on his non negotiables (i'd love to know what they are) he expects of his players. The demons needed a new approach and a shake up from the ground up and from what i've seen thus far Neelds the man for the job.

Yeah, good call i reckon. It shows confidence being prepared to back your judgement as a back the way he does. I also reckon it reflects well on the coaching team in so far as if he thought he'd cop it in the neck when it didn't come off if he wouldn't do it. They obviously encourage him to back himself which is great. Also super important he does so with Rivers up forward and Watts out as we miss their capacity to intercept mark and zone off

Spot on. Arguably 4 of our top 5 players not in the side. Add them and it it is a different look all together. Everyone knows Melbourne don't have great depth so taking 4 of your best players out is going to hurt way more than it would for a top side. Just look at GC. Their 2 best players (not yesterday but full stop)? Ablett and Bennell. Take them out of yesterdays GC side (which was not far off full strength by the way) and we would have by 15 goals. I'll say it again - injuries are by far the biggest factor in football in regard to ladder position and we have had a shocking year in that regard.

Great point. He was consistently bagged and i recall quite a few posters saying he is would never be much better than a b grade plodder. He's not A grade - yet. If he keeps improving he will be and must be an amazing role model for the younger guys. Our younger players all need a couple of years of hard training and development, after which we can better judge where they are at. Three good examples are Gysberts, Strauss and Blease. All have great potential but have suffered from bad injuries and are not yet fit enough. It will be a real test of Neelds development skills to see where they are at in 2 years time. The other one is Spencer. I was impressed with his efforts on the weekend. Big unit who is unlikely to reach his full potential for another 4-5 years as is the case for most ruckman (ie mid to late 20's). Three obvious examples being Jamar, Jolly and Maric. Spencer is a keeper.

Except Howe doesn't need their help to get into the air!

In a year such as this any win is a good win. Stats were interesting as they matched us in most of the key stats at half time (and at the end really) but we were up by 8 goals. For instance they had more inside 50's. I thought that in the first quarter and a half we moved the ball into our forward line the best we have for ages and our back-line worked really well together. There were some really well weighted kicks to position and only one on the full (a record for us this year) I liked the game of Spencer and thought Sellar was ok. Moloney was hopeless. I hardly ever bag players but couldn't help giving him a couple of (small) serves. A player can't really help being slow but jeez he's a plodder this year and a couple of his efforts were slow of thinking and half hearted. Blease was good in spurts and could be the small forward we need as he reads the ball well and has the pace. But defensively he still has alot of work to do. A couple of times he just jogged along as GC moved the ball when a full on chase was in order. Nice to see Green marking and kicking well. Howe was a highlight, he has such great hands. Jones keeps getting better in my book. His evasion skills have improved and as i have noted before his kicking has improved out of sight,. he nailed a couple of bullets today. Fantastic both have re-signed. All in all, whilst the last quarter and a bit was pretty poor i thought we played pretty well. I was reflecting that it was heaps better than the woeful game against them near the end of last year. The line was 25 points and we near doubled so well done dees.

I was there but had no idea he hurt himself. Not sure how i missed it if was so obvious but there you go

And to top it off he has re-signed!!!

Donuts! Hot donuts! Ridiculously expensive but at the moment the only reason my 6 year old daughter wants to go to the footy

I have no idea Thaiman, it wasn't my poll. You're right there is no way he's not going to not be at the dees next year and we would have to have a year worse than this one for him not be there in 2014. But if a weeks along time in football a years an epoch.

Great post - balancned, with no hysteria. I hope Cook turns out to be a good pick. He's going to have to work hard to get there it would seem, based on Neelds recent comments about him not being fit enough yet

Then one wonders why he didn't go camping or to dream world. Swanning about in London whilst the games are on (as guests of corporations who no doubt expect him to attend various functions etc) does not seem the best way to spend quality time with the kids. Sort of like me taking my kids to Flemington and telling my wife we are having quality family time.

I only have the one block, though i have to say posts like this certainly make me consider doubling the blocks. I tend to not read your posts in full thaiman but this being unusually short and sharp i got to the end of it before skipping it. How on gods earth can you say with such confidence that no 'other club wanted him including Collingwood'. If you have evidence of this please share. If not and it is just your opinion then give us a spell - i mean 'try to understand this concept'? Pleeeease!

I have been putting on weight now for some time as precautionary measure in the event i ever have a knee problem requiring stem cells

Amazingly i actually thought the Hun's Mark Steven's suggestion in today's paper of averaging ladder position over the season a really good idea http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/more-news/its-high-time-to-roll-the-tanks/story-e6frf9jf-1226440727157

Like, for example Darling. Joking - please all ignore, i was feeling a little trolly!

Good post Oucher. Punishing, or even investigating MFC in isolation would be ridiculous. I also, would like them to draw a line in the sand and basically say there has been a whole range of activities (such as those you note) over the last 10 years by a range of clubs that have the potential to raise suspicions and bring the game into disrepute. Whilst it is very difficult to legislate against such activities (eg resting players) they could advise clubs that from now on they will be investigated when there are suspicious activities (in much the same way betting irregularities are looked into). This would at the least act as a disincentive to play silly buggers. In horse racing not giving your mount the best chance of winning is a grave offence for jockeys, but often extremely difficult to assess. Stewards are required to investigate any cases where this (and other similarly grey area issues) may have occurred. The AFL could clearly define what they regard to be suspicious bevaiours and play a similar role to stewards in racing. No jockey likes to be investigated as it questions their integrity and it would at least give clubs pause for thought (or a con to consider) when deciding on how they might approach the last few games of a season. This would of course only have a limited impact on the behaviors of clubs. More crucially the AFL have to find a way to limit the advantage a club might get for being lower on the ladder, whilst still ensuring the principals of the draft and equalization are maintained. Tough ask but that's why they get the big bucks. The interesting part of the dialogue about tanking for me (and related to the horse racing parallel) is how it is defined. There seem to be distinction that many commentators seem to make between going out to lose (tanking) or not giving your side the best chance of winning a given match (such as last season Geelong resting 5-6 of their best players, or sending players off for non essential surgery before season's end), which seems to be accepted practice. Going out to lose would require a coach to instruct players to miss shots at goal or other specific direction. However no one is suggesting this has occurred (though there is a hint by BM an Bailey they have been put under pressure to minimize the chance of winning). All the examples of so called tanking seem to involve a coach not maximizing the chance of winning a specific match, which as i said many commentators seem to suggest is ok. If this definition is used there will be hundreds of examples, including this year.

The law of the jungle?

Have i missed something? I can't understand why anyone would expect MFC to 'come out swinging'. Against what, against who? We tanked pure and simple, and of course we we not alone in this, so we can hardly take the moral high ground What's McClardy going to rail against? McClean? phoeey - who cares what he says. The AFL? They haven't done anything wrong in this so far. Playing it with a straight bat is the approriate response in my book.

I like Sloonie's idea. Strip us of our 8 points this year and not allow us to play for points for the rest of the year. That way we'll have picks 1 and 2 in this year's draft which has nice symmetry to it

Let the ignore function be your friend.

We've already been punished! We got Scully with that coveted number 1 pick and look where that got us.