Pates

People say they have faith in the process right before we get the coach that they don't want. Here's a strange notion.....why don't you trust the club. We have gone through an exhuastive process to get the best coach available. The panel was UNANIMOUS in their selection of Bailey, doesn't that tell you something? So are you saying you know more about football than Gary Lyon, Peter Schwab, and Nathan Burke? Because clearly if you think Sheedy should've gotten the job over Bailey, than you must know more then them. Good luck to Bailey, i don't know about anyone else here but i'm going to throw my full support behind him for next year and, hopefully, many years to come.

Are you going? yes Crowd? 23,000 Who will win? Melbourne 78 points (Newton to kick 7) Which camp are you in? Read my name: NO TANK! [Edit]I would be less unhappy if we lost as long as Richmond lose, i cannot accept being wooden spooners this year, even if it does get us Kruezer. It'd just be funny to see Carlton miss out on their PP.

3 years would seem like a bit much to offer him, considering his recent run with knee injuries. I hope he can agree to two years if that's offered to him, and i think he'd take it. He really seems to love the club, it's the only one he knows and i've felt that the few times i've spoken to him. He's given us some great highlights, i'd be really sad if he left.

He was just on then, i think i joined it half way through unfortunately. KB was basically just reiterating all Melbourne supporters feeling about him this year, that he's been a shining beacon in a very dark time. Turns out he was a Saints supporter as a kid and he talked about how strange it was to be not only playing against his boyhood team, but playing against his idol as a kid in Robert Harvey. He said that this year he set himself a task of always being in the 22 and getting a starting midfield slot. He learned a lot from when he played on Judd, Kerr, and Harvey. He was also asked how he dealt with the whole thing of Neale Daniher's departure, he said that he tried to just focus on his job and his role in the side rather than be drawn into it. He said it was obviously hard to see him go as Neale was the coach who gave him his start in AFL Footy. He re-enforced the notion that the players going out on to the field this week will not be tanking, the team has always believed in the team making things better by winning games and they have tried that all year. One final question that was given to him was whether he would grown his hair for next year, he said he might grow it over the summer and if it gets too hot for him, he'll just shave it off again. Personally, i love the chrome dome! And I love this kid, been a good to watch all year.

I completely agree with you, smash em' and smash em' hard. Let's go into next year with a winning attitude.

It'll be especially sad to see Dogga Brown, he's one of those players that you like to see do well, but he's had his moments where you wanna just tear your hair out. But you'd never question his endevour and passion, and it was a nice feeling to see him come second in a B&F because he really deserved it that year (an it was close too!). For Bizzell, that moment he got his face smashed against the roos a few years back he was never the same. His injury was aparently just as bad as Hird's when he feel on to his teammaters leg V Freo. When he came back in this year, i expected him to stay there because he was filling Rivers's role nicely, but nfortunately for him the youth policy moved him on. It'll be sad to see you guys leave the club, and i have a feeling that they'd both be welcomed back in a heartbeat. Good luck for this weekend, and i sincerely hope we get a win for you to take with you.

Personally i love the alliance, but i live 5 minutes from TBO! :D

I believe he's leaving anyway, i can't see the new coach keeping him next year. I agree though, he does deserve people giving him a farewell, he almost won the B&F and he's always been a true clubman. Ward has been serviceable in his time here and always gives his all, just a shame he can't kick!

A nice thought, but most players would be carrying an injury by about round 20 and still be able to play at 70-80%. If we put the likes of Dunn, CJ, Newton (if he qualifies), etc out for the year to get a head start on the surgeries than we could well be crippling a team that's been so dominant this year. I think it should be up to the player, if he really wants to play in the Sandy finals campaign, chances are he's played enough games for them to feel a part of the team and they deserve the choice. Many young players enjoy the chance to be a aprt of a VFL finals campaign and win a premiership for Sandy, it could well be a good experience for a few of them.

It's interesting alright, but i would be disgusted if we finished bottom this year. I'm less unhappy about losing to Carlton stright up, but i still want us to play properly. Maybe i'm in the minority here, but i'd take the short term happiness of winning over the long term gain of the PP. I hate the idea of tanking, and i can't believe any club would deliberately do it. Unfortunately i think Carlton are doing a great job of being a competitive tank engine, so i want to absolutely smash them into oblivion so that we make sure the humiliation of deliberately losing is etched in their minds. If we lose, we lose. But ultimately, we really don't deserve it.

Could reveal a few things about YM, though!

On the plus side, if we do win then it'll eliminate the need to tank.

Neitz seemed to be struggling to kick the ball properly the whole night, reflected by his 3.3 and one not making the distance, he also looked proppy in the way he was running. Mind you it wasn't as bad as Bate and Robbo, i can't believe that Robbo will make it into the final 22 considering how much pain he was in when he injured his knee. I cannot believe the injury run we're having, and can't believe that Bizzle can still miss out. It really doesn't look good for him. I'd like to see Sylvia given a run in the midfield, and maybe play Ward or Brown as our crummer in the forward line. One thing that the hight of our forwards has given us is an almost garauntee that a contest will be made so me need people at ground level. Honestly though, i'm glad i've got to work during the match, i hope these guys can just continue the guts and determination we had in the second half. If they have a dip, i'll be happy.

I sport of agree with QC here. I hate Baker and i know he's a sniper, but for the tribunal to hand down a 4 week penalty alone, forgetting about Baker's history, they must be certain about the action. There is so much inconclusive evidence in this case that i just don't see how it can stick. I'll be very interested to see how this plays out, there have been stranger cases thrown out this year (i'm looking at you Des Headland).

Actually made me re-think me assessment of Connolly, he's still not my preferred choice, but it makes me feel a little better if we do pick him. And Hardwick was another interesting read. It's a good article, they don't come up with many of them on the AFL website.

Doesn't mean squat though, cos the Zebs'll kill them anyway! Go Sandy! (It's nice to have at least ONE team consistently good!)

I would like for us to go for a new guy, not a tried and true coach. I said i was happy with the process that the club has gone through, but if we end up with Connolly i won't be. I really don't ant him as our head coach. We need someone who isn't going to try and be the players best friends, but rather wants them to respect him and want to play for him. I think Sheedy already has that going for him, as anyone who's been around football in the last 25 years would know his accomplishments, but this seems like a very safe option and i want to know that this process has provided someone who is from left field and can work his team into respecting him. Apparently everyone in SA really rates Bailey, and his audition, i mean interview was from outside reports, outstanding. Perhaps this match simulation plan will uncover who's got what it takes, to be the Melbourne Football club's next head coach. (God i sound like someone from Australian idol or something!)

I seem to remember that their reasoning for giving Moloney 2 weeks was that although it's probable that he didn't make contact to Bartel, they believed Moloneys actions were the cause of his injuries. A load of crapola that everyone is used to from the tribunal.

It seems pretty fair, it was exactly the sort of hit that the AFL are trying to outlaw and they need to be harsh on it before another person gets there career ended (or worse) by front on bump. I think the big thing that got Johnson was that it wasn't just a bump that hit the shoulder, he actually crunched the head, sever impact was the only possible result. I'm glad he felt sick after what happened, he should, and it shows that he has remorse. I'm still filthy for what he did, but he probably just had the hard-at-it mindset, and i'm sure that the last thing on his mind was to knock Bell unconcious.

Love it! Maybe we'll have so many players out that we won't have a team to field, that'd give us a good excuse. We could also play Chopper as our ruckman/FF and Brown as our fullback. Rielly could just say he was experimenting!

It's a shame but i think this is good because it gives us a new beginning within our footy department.

OK look, i didn't mean for it to get out of hand like this, i probably shouldn't have posted this as i was probably a bit emotional from Neita's 300th. Pies have done well to get into the finals this year, Sam Newman made the point a few weeks back, when you guys were winning that the pies were playing above themselves, i pretty much always expected them to fall down at this time of the year (something a pies mate of mine refused to believe). You've got a good young list, but i can't see you improving much on this year, you may go up another place on the ladder but i think you'll pretty much stay smack bang where you are now. A question to you Old Xaverian, and this is a serious question, not one intended to [censored] you off or antagonise: Does it frustrate you to see your team not really figure on the contenders map come finals? Because i remember when we bowed out of the finals two years in a row in the first week, it [censored] the hell out of me, and going on the recent performances to cellar dwellers do you think it's a good chance it'll happen again? That was the main point of my post, which was more of a bagging of collingwood i know, that although it's been a great effort to make it this far, i foresee a royal arse wooping from a real finals player. And because i'm a Melbourne supporter, and thus hate everything to do with Collingwood, i will take that one smile since my own team won't be able to deliver it to me personally. I'm sorry if i [censored] you off, i'd probably feel the same if i saw a similar comment about Melbourne of another supporter's website.

I did suggest on a an earlier thread like this that we have Neitz and Brock as Co-captains, so that we're sort on weening Chooka into a full captain but i think that sort of depends on how we come out of this year injury wise. Neitz is getting on and i know he said he'd like to have a year without being captain, so it's all dependent on what the new coach is looking for in 2008.

Thought i'd better follow it up with a serious post. At the start of the year, like many of you, i would've said Brock in a heartbeat. To me he still embodies exactly what we need at this club. Hard at it, uncompromising, and no excuses football. The only thing that has changed is that this has been an extremely trying year for him, both injuries and poor form due to getting the first tagger. So i think we'll need to have someone play a interem role of captain over the next 1-2 years to let Brocky get mature and learn how to shake the tag. I'd be looking to either Green and Jmac, Green has shown he steps up when given the captaincy role, and Jmac is a goer who never stops going. I'd be leaning towards Green, pruely because of age. We don't know how much Juniors age will affect him in his twilight years, and i don't want to be stuck with a captain who looks tired. The only downside to Green is that he's not damaging enough for a captain, he plays more of a steady the ship role, not so much leading by example but controlling the way his team is playing at that time. There isn't really anyone else who could step up into the role, Robbo comes to mind but small forwards are electric but unpredictable. He could kick 7 goals one week and get 2 kicks the next, and i think we need to have a captain in the midfield for a while.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! You had to bloody well say it YM!!!! (Put's hands over ears)La la la la la la, i am not li-st-en-ing! Don't give the "future captain" jinx to Chunk! He could be such a great player, don't say it! Ward 4 captain! Ward 4 captain! Ward 4 captain! Ward 4 captain! Ward 4 captain!