FarNorthernD

"Truck!" Perfect, can already hear the crowd yelling it as he bursts through the centre bounce pack.

Interesting that the bloke you call the worlds oldest fanboy won't be reading your posts but I bet you will be reading his training reports

I wasn't. If i conveyed that I apologise. Should we leave it at that?

I am not bagging Neitz, I believe he was a very good player for us. If you want to revisit games how about the first quarter of the 2000 Grand Final? Neitz hits the post with a banana from 5 metres out. Next goal comes from Hird. Neitz then misses from 30m out on a 45 degree angle. Hird ends the day with 29 disposals, 2 goals, 3 tackles and a Norm Smith. He was a great player Neitz kicks two goals (Lloyd kicked 4) after the game was already lost. David had 0 tackles. 0. The great players stand up on the big occasions. Maybe he is a Melbourne great but, if he is, that means the bar is considerably lower at Melbourne than at other clubs I'll stick with Flower being the one great i have seen play for us. Again, Im not bagging him I just think he was a Melbourne very good

Dunstall, Lockett, Brown, and as much as I hate to admit, Lloyd were great forwards. Carey and Ablett senior were the only two footballers I would have paid to see if Melbourne weren't playing. They were greats. I was lucky enough to see the tail end of Hudsons career. To me, he was the greatest forward. Franklin will be known as a great. Neitz is not in this company. As for being a great leader I believe it is difficult to influence a footy team when you are stuck predominately in the forward 50. This is not David's fault but you would often watch a change of momentum in the game with Neitz watching 100m away in the goal square. I also don't believe he was good at slotting those crucial, team lifting Captains goals Flower is the only great player I have seen for Melbourne. The next group down for me is where Stynes and Neitz sit along with Lyon. Our current captain may eventually join that group too

David isn't a club great. He was a very good who played a lot of matches. He was neither a great forward or great captain I appreciate others may not agree

That is a great point. You would imagine that the Bombers would not be in their current predicament if Hird had of done an apprenticeship under someone like Roos

Intriguing "what if" Earl. Brereton was the CHF of his generation. He played in 5 premierships, was a 9 time State of Origin player and was All Australian. He was a great mark and loved kicking pressure goals. He relished contact and performing on the biggest stage. How would he go today? At 186cm he is the same height as Dom Tyson. Petracca and Brayshaw. So where would Dermott play today? No doubt he would reinvent himself but it is difficult to see him being the dominant player he was just 25 years ago

McCartin reminds me a bit of Jack Darling in both looks and attitude. Both are strong, aggressive at the man and ball and have good hands. Neither seem to possess a backward step. Obviously it is difficult to know if Paddy can step straight up into an AFL side. By the sounds of it he will need to work hard on his endurance running but Roos proved last year with JKH that he will promote first year players into the side despite preferring they serve apprenticeships at a lower level. If Paddy can have an uninterrupted pre-season then I think he could surprise and play half a dozen or so games. By the way, Darling played 23 in his first season

If a Sylvia brownlow blunder is the worst you've called then you are doing OK Ron Personally i have a problem with seeing a players best game and assuming that standard will become the norm. Hence i have called future champions in Glenn mcLean, David Cordner and Brent Grgic. I think most thought Morton would be pretty good but I got so excited i took to calling him "Robbie'. Talk about wanting some distance.

Loved the bonus video, Demon Apocalypse. Was a bit sad that it was 'to be continued' but realised that I had seen end before and It's not pretty

Pretty harsh on Dunn i reckon Qwerty. Played 139 games to date and not completely unrealistic to think he may finish up around 200. As has been mentioned in the press Lynden is nigh impossible to beat one on one and is one of the few great kicks in the side. Yesterday Dom Tyson said he was the most underrated players in the side. Finally he has been reported twice (in one game) for hitting Boomer Harvey. The defence rests

I really enjoyed watching that. Thankyou Moonshadow. Obviously much has changed after 100 years of evolution but some things remain eternal; dodgy interpretation of the dropping the ball rule (8.50 minute mark), problems with too many players around the ball and Boomer Harvey playing for a free in the goal square (6.14)

That was a fair question until the last two words

Jeepers Petracca is listed at 95kgs and Brawshaw at 91kgs. Can that be right? If it is they would actually have to lose weight to play. That would be a new experience for a Demon draftee

Thanks. Good read

Whopper V Pubes could go either way

One of the questions Roos apparently asks draftees is if they really want to go on to be the best AFL footballer they can be, if they have a burning desire or if they have always just been very good at playing football. Perhaps Dom wasn't asked this question a couple of years ago

The angst over Evans is way, way over the top. Pickles best is good, not great but certainly better than is what being said here. He had a poor year last year and has been injury prone but it would take little improvement on his behalf to make him a valuable contributor to the team The desire to see what is hidden under pick 40 seems almost irresistible to some

Secondary fallback position - blame Schwab

Good news is that Gerard Healey got done convincingly in the first round despite having a much higher profile than Gary Hardeman. [censored] head Censored word was K nob which I think is more than fair

Jayden's profile and highlight tape are up on the MFC and AFL sites. And it is not too shabby

Thanks HH Love Tom McDonalds attitude. Spent his off season effectively on a 5 week sporting study tour of the US dropping in on College Basketball and NFL teams At the end of his career at least he will be able to say he gave it his all.

I'm guessing the recycling record would be held by the 1987 Brisbane Bears side who was made up of "rejects, misfits, has beens and n'er do wells" grafted from the other clubs.

I think what Jaded means is that other players have improved and become better versions of themselves. Ro Bail will never be a great player but no one will claim he hasn't given himself every chance to succeed at the Melbourne Football Club. Same with both Jones's, Tom McDonald, Jeremy Howe, Terlich, McKenzie and apparently Maia Westrupp. Sam Blease, on the other hand, despite being a running player never put in the effort to run. If during training you are consistently one of the worst distance runners you may think that getting fit is a priority. If during matches your opponent constantly runs off you. If your time trial numbers aren't coming down. If opposition players target you because they know you won't chase. If this happens year after year then it is difficult to see how the club is to blame no matter how poor player development is. The only way that the club is to blame is that they paid him what was probably a small fortune to keep a spot on the list that he didn't deserve If he comes out after a couple of months of training with Geelong and says he never knew how hard you had to train to be an AFL footballer I'll spew