Fork 'em

I reject that.

Dane Swan didn't walk into Collingwood as effective as he is.

He, and they, worked hard and improved his skills, and gave him a role that suited him.

I think the lack of professionalism at the MFC over the years has kept some players from their optimum, and in that instance we were stopping a star player from possibly prospering.

Swan would always have been confident in his ability IMO.

Sure they made him fitter so he can plod around the ground 1 paced for the whole game .

The role they gave him which suited is gun midfielder , not "run with" player .

He has the skill to read the play , be where the ball is going and confidence that he can get it and deliver it.

You can't teach that stuff.

Entirely agree with the lack of professionalism tho'.

Also the lack of true leadership and desire to be a truly powerful club.

I think during Danihers era for eg. the list was just downright lazy.

So I can only assume that means you are absolutely infuriated with our recruiting staff of the past from however many years. We have no stars. Are the recruiters entirely to blame?

I have been infuriated with our recruiting for 20 years.

I've watched big bodied aggressive clubs smash us most of my life.

I think the pennys finally dropped with Neeld as coach but our much of our list and top draft picks are comprised of skinny outside players that Bailey/Prendergast selected.

Again we were beaten up by a big bodied aggresive club on the weekend.

All this talk of development gives me the irrits.

You don't develop stars , they walk into your club with that quality.

You can make them fitter and stronger but that is all.

You can develop a player to hold his spot on the field , but you will not turn an average player into a star with development.

Look at Reiwoldt and Kosi for eg.

Both big marking players , both drafted to the same club at the same time .

Both "developed similarly.

1 star and 1 dead set dud.

Being a star is between the ears .

Those waiting for our list to miraculously turn into stars with "Development" are kidding themselves.

I'm positive now a lot of you just want him to fail, just so you can gloat if you happen to be right.

Get behind the kid FFS.

Your kidding right.

As Melbourne supporters starved of success

We want him to tear the competition apart.

He has all the tools .

I bag Bennell , doesn't mean I want him to dudd out.

I'd love him to step up aswell.

I want them all to get their backsides into gear.

Hear the noises they're making at the Toigs .... That should be us .

hawthorn have done a remarkable job in the last decade or so. plus their drafting has, clearly, been superb, and astute.

Hawthorn drafted to a plan.

They drafted left footers for their elite foot disposal aswell as aggressive types that enjoyed playing hard tough football hence the unsociable tag .

Then had the luxury of having players like Burgoyne , Gibson and Hale wanting to play for them.

I still don't know what our drafting plan was or if there even was one.

Exactly , John Northey instilled this in us back in the 80's and every-one thought he was a genius.

Ahem .....

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/neeld-gameplan-returns-melbourne-to-1980s/story-fn7si05c-1226291152173

Ablett.

Judd.

Franklin.

Bartel.

Hodge.

And if the game was in the balance and something had to happen .... Bartel would be the man .

I cant believe anyone would compare the career of an AFL footballer to a 'normal' 9-5, 5 days a week job.

Why not , they do .

They talk KPIs , have a Union , long service leave , hell many made out Scullys decision was purely a business 1.

"If you were offered twice the money for the same job , would you take it ?" etc.

My hope is that Jurrah recieves the proper rehab instead of relying on Grandmas rubbing lotion .

Nah, Carlton won the NAB Cup in 2007, then finished 15th with 4 wins. Rubbish indicator.

That was an abberation .

Most sides that do well in the NAB cup do well during the season IMO.

He was a classic 'hoofer.'

The beauty of Powell was his ability to get the hard footy, but his kicking wasn't great.

I liked Powell cause he was a genuine hard nut sometimes to his detriment.

Saw him biatch slap a young Luke Hodge for being abit too cocky and getting up in his face , copped 2 weeks I think .

Hodge didn't know what to do . Lol .

I'm just watching the Metalica doco where the shrink fleeces the band of 40k per month .What an ELITE pack of tossers .

I'd say Jame Hetfield was an elite [censored] after watching that .

Lars is too but for different reasons .

P.s No wonder the new bass players was dancing on his bed after getting a Million sign on fee.

Excellent at contested ball , won the clearances , beat their man to the ball , put their body on the line .

Have forwards who play in front all the time and can "keep the ball in" .

Tackle well , pressure well , have numbers at the ball , create space , shepherd , block ,

Have defence's that work as a team and are miserly .

etc , etc , etc

The above could well describe footy of any era .

Exactly , John Northey instilled this in us back in the 80's and every-one thought he was a genius.

As for the standing of the mark and putting pressure on .

The 2nd rd 2010 against collingwood.

Previous week we were made look a circus against the dawks .

Rd2 against the pies we ran to the mark , bounced up and down on it and put serious pressure on the them all day and ended up drawing them.

We played like this for a few more games untill the wheels fell off again and we fell back into bad/lazy habits .

I think we can really put some pressure on the Dawks game plan.

They like to flick it around in close qrs till they find an open man.

if we can do what we did last night there'll be some seroius opposition fumbling going on .

I say just keep doing what were doing , practicing the game plan , play those that need time , rest those with niggles.

Let the cards fall where they may.

Then taper for rd1.

Geez I hate Etihad. Never again.

Yes you will, the new game plan suits the place .

There was a lot to like, and a lot to work on, but it was a great result considering we have our club Family day at Luna Park tomorrow.

And I can hear them Membership cash registers warming up right now .

Go Demons , take out the Dawks next week .

40,000 members , bring it on .

Scarlett , Lake

Deledio.

Griffen

S.Johnson, Roughead, Brown

Goodes, Betts.

Roughead

When we get a serious surge of Wattage the resisters will burst and this joint will go into overload.

What I'm trying to say is that building a better membership is about momentum.

Those that didn't see the game last week wouldn't realise how bad the conditions were , they didn't see we had half a side , didn't see we were practicing the game plan , they just read the bottom line ... we lost to GC .... Bad.

Now if we come out and beat the Pies this week , that'll [censored] a few of those ears up again.

How 'bout we roll the Dawks the week after ... Hello , something might be happening down there .... Interest/Optimisim builds .

In fantasy land , what if we made the NAB final , rolled some good opposition ... and won it . Then come out and trounced the lions Rd1.

How do ya think the supporters are feeling compared to if we get done tommorrow night and spent the last few weeks being banished to the country grounds

getting even less of a write up than if in the NAB cup.

Drop any of those NAB games and at worst badly , they'll just think here we go again , same ol' Melbourne , and won't bother.

Momentum is key.

No doubt, but if you are waiting for the small snippet in the paper the next day that will mention 'how we are travelling' I dare say you are going to wait for the real stuff...

And a small snippet read we got beaten by GC .... Not a good start .

A flogging from Collingwood and they'll lose interest .

Yeah, they decide in season.

Not in this joke of a comp.

They might decide in season , but they're watching the NAB cup , looking for improvement.

If they don't see any , they're gone .

Silly comment - They are ALL worth having irrespective of how you get them.

Correct , Collingwood count their BS 3 game menberships .

As for the NAB cup turning barrackers into members , too right it does.

Bad showing = less members .... Good showing = more members .

2 years ago , there was alot of hype among our supporters during the pre-season of how we'd go .

We rolled up against Freo who we viewed as having an inferior side and put in an insipid performance to get rolled by 47pts.

Membership momentum was killed .

Same thing happened when the Essendon rolled us last year.

Good early form in NAB cup and early season is key to memberships, like it or not ,

Cam should focus on getting the FOJ sponsor on board instead of bringing back old traditions for the sake of nostalgia

This too would bring me more comfort .

Put all our energy into the next flag , not the last 1 .

I too am with Old Dee.

Portrays the MFC as something stuck in the past,

Which in many ways we are .

Reminds me again that we were once great.

Before I was born .

Watts will always be in the spotlight .

The moderating here is good, except where RR is involved.

I think it's a fair enough question.

And I agree.