jimcor

I agree. Like Sylvia, he seemed to do very little prior to 3/4 time but did well in that last quarter. Was Sylvia playing in the midfield prior to that? It was only at the beginning of the 4th that I noticed him at the centre bounce and boy, did he have some impact after that.I thought we had some pretty consistent putter-innerers throughout the game including both of the Jones boys. Matt Jones has been a great find.

There was another example of his courage earlier in the game where he set an example that others should follow. He was in 'hot pursuit' of a GWS player with the ball and one of the other GWS players decided to try and bump him out of the way. Instead of changing his angle to reduce the impact, Jetta just dropped his shoulder and went right through him. If only, we could teach that attitude.

Must have been official as he was on the train with the mascot and Dees staff.

It was great to see someone play with some intent. I have waited for a while to see someone play with the commitment of Byron Pickett and it's about time we had someone who could frighten the opposition players. A brief suspension is well worth the price if it causes the opposition to look over their shoulders in the future. The only thing I was disappointed with was the lack of support from the other players.

I like him as we'll but in my opinion the crucial things for a Senior Coach are: 1/- Win games, or 2/- show that you know how to win games and are working towards that result So far, not so good. Ultimately, the Senior coach is paid a fair amount of money to select, develop and lead the coaching group and the playing group. Winning is not everything but, unless it's visible on the horizon, Neeld will be held accountable.

Maybe I am ridiculously naive but I was expecting some signs of improvement by now. I know everyone says that the squad (particularly the midfield) is not up to scratch but bad players just do not get this far without either demonstrating that they have what it takes or have the potential to develop it. I've gone along (and will continue to go along) to the first two games and it makes no sense to me to see players not consistently trying hard enough or not making the 2nd and 3rd efforts that other teams' players are making. I cannot believe that the remaining players are no longer fit enough to put in a concerted effort for less than 10 minutes. I hear (and believe)players like Mitch and Col Garland say that they want to play for Neeld so why is it that so many of our players seem incapable & incompetent. Neeld needs to demonstrate quickly that he can get a team to play to their potential - win or lose. Without that effort, his days have to be numbered. And if he goes, his replacement will need to clear out any players that talk the talk but are unwilling or unable to walk the walk. I sincerely hope that we show something on Saturday and that supporters, players, coaches & officials can start enjoying footy again. Ps would like to understand and be informed about the reasons for the dropping of Blease & Watts. Makes no sense to me.

I agree. None of our defenders covered themselves in glory tonight but Gillies was unbelievably poor. McDonald had a shocker but that was less of a surprise (given his lack of game time)than Gillies' absolute buther's job. Garland did a couple of OK things and may be coming good again....hopefully. All in all, a really bad night. Please don't put us on TV..it's embarrassing at the moment.

Without doubt, everyone is sick of going to the footy and coming away with less hope than we started off with. However, there is simply no alternative that I can see. This is the best game in the world and part of that is the incredible level of mindless support that it engenders. We've made our choice and we have to live with it......regardless of the rubbish that those passing through the MFC consistently dish up to us. We live in hope because sometimes that's all we have...at least as far as the MFC is concerned. Hmmmmmmm, Essendon, eh? Maybe their withdrawal symptoms will kick in.

OK so, he we are again. Prior to yesterday, I was the least optimistic I have been over the last 10 years going in to a new season based primarily on our pre-season performances. At the back of my mind was the though that if, unlike other seasons, I expected the worst, I couldn't possibly be disappointed and that if I expected the worst, maybe I would be pleasantly surprised. Wrong on both counts..... I am terribly disappointed and I wasn't pleasantly surprised!! We have yet to turn the corner and, in fact, plateauing would be greatly welcomed. We're actually playing worse. At least Toumpas looked annoyed with himself at not being able to make a significant contribution. Other, more experienced players didn't seem that bothered. For me, the bottom line is still that the responsibility lies with the coaching panel (not just Neeld) in that they are not able to either describe the strategy in simple enough terms for the players to understand or execute it OR the coaches are unable to vary the approach when the strategy isn't working. They really have just one more year to show that they know what they are doing or they'll need to be moved on. They also must bear some responsibility for the way Garland & Frawley are playing. What's going on there? At least Joel Mc has heart & courage and his disposals are no worse that those two! As an aside, Jack Watts performance was truly poor. I noticed that he wasn't at training on Thursday and wonder if he was ill??

Slightly off topic but does anyone know why JW wasn't at training this morning?

Good point. Jones is a great example of player development and JW has much more natural talent to work with. Whether he's a 'marquee' player or not is irrelevant to me. Like most of our recent first round picks (particularly under Prendergast), they were chosen for their talent, application and their potential for development and JW satisfied all 3 criteria for MFC and most of the commentators. He will be an absolute champion - at MFC or elsewhere if we don't get it right.

I agree. In the first few games, he seemed to offer nothing but by the end of the season, I thought his improved performances and his ability to contribute consistently down back put him in our best 22. While Frawley & Garland (who I think are more naturally gifted players) struggled with consistency, Sellars put in week after week. Who knows, he might just turn out to continue to get better and eventually justify his original drafting by Craig. Regardless, good pick up for the Dees by Craig & Neeld

In or out of competition, mixing with criminals presents some dangers....as you now seem to accept. If players sign a contract that, because of their ability to affect results, requires them not to take illegal drugs, then that's what they have committed to. The argument about whether one drug is less harmful than another is a separate discussion. At the moment, certain drugs are proscribed and that means they are (by definition) only sold by criminals. Players need to stay away from criminals.

Apology accepted.

You make a lot of sense, rjay. Also, I think there was a lot of concern that Bennie & Gardiner (?) at WCE were linked with a high-profile, 'alleged' criminal identity from Perth. I suspect that these 'identities' like to be associated with high-profile sportsmen (see also Morans & Carlton) and it is blindingly obvious to me that these friendships would be problematic.

Thanks Autocol. I bow to your greater knowledge of drug-dealing however I've just googled 'link between illicit drugs & match fixing' and the first item is an article by Roy Masters in The Age on 18 Feb which includes the statement; " But the important thing is to make codes, clubs & players aware criminals want to enter their sports and use drugs as a path to match-fixing" This is from the head of the Australian Crime commission, John Lawler. So that's at least two of us who are concerned!

For me, a significant issue is the link between illicit drugs, organised crime & game-fixing. The fact that criminals are involved both in the supply of illegal drugs and game-fixing, opens drug users up to blackmail. Is it feasible that pressure might be put onto a player buying illegal drugs to influence the result of a game? The answer, I think, is self-evident I.e. 'yes it is'.

Is it disloyal to agree that heads should roll for the incredible record of incompetence that preceded MN's arrival? The more I think about it, the more I think that individuals should be held accountable for the grief they've put supporters through. If Connoly, Schwab and Bailey don't have the sense to keep their mouths shut then they deserve to be pilloried. Further, if they (and others)have been found to have mismanaged the club & the playing group to such an extent that we were where we were, they don't deserve our support. It's not the club's fault, it's the individual's and they are the ones who, if they've done the wrong thing, should carry the can. We might have turned the corner now but the sooner we clear out the deadwood in the administration (as has been done in the playing group) the better. By the way, I'm not saying that MN has proven himself yet, just that he seems to be a man of integrity with sufficient guts to see a tough job through to the end. Good on him for that at least.

I agree. If MFC is unable or unwilling to defend the player, we'd be better off simply saying that individual player performances are not going to be discussed outside the club and if we didn't think a player was delivering what was asked of him, he wouldn't be playing for the Dees. Surely, that's a true statement.

Whether Morton is ever going to be a good footballer or not is almost immaterial. I'm not surprised that a journo would have a look at D'land if they were putting a story together on someone like Morton or Watts. As high draft picks, the story is about them not living up to their potential rather than, in the case of low draft picks, exceeding expectations eg Howe, Magner. Nothing surprising there at all. I suspect everyone knows that there has been a fair bit of deserved criticism from the supporters. My issue was that: Are the best interests of the footy club served by our coach, on match day, being publicly seen to deliver a rocket to a player? I was uncomfortable last year when a premiership-winning coach (Malthouse) did the same thing to a young-ish player (Simon Buckley) and I'm more uncomfortable with a first year senior coach doing the same thing. It's just wrong and (I'm filled with dread to use the term) makes MN just look like a schoolyard bully. Where's the consistency when other players did exactly the same thing in the game but didn't receive the same rocket. I've long been a critic of Morton but, up to the clanger, I thought he was one of or best. He tackled, he chased, he ran both ways. The other question is would the story have been written without the spray and has this improved Morton's chance of minimizing his areas of concern. Only time will tell, I guess

And knowing this, you still try to hurt my feelings! Shame,BH, shame!!

It was public and, from what I saw on TV, in my opinion it was humiliating. As you know, it's often the way that something is said that has far more significance than the actual content. I don't think anything was gained from the display other than to raise some man-management questions.

Given (as I said earlier) that I think that one of Cale's major issues is self-confidence, I don't think that public humiliation by the coach is a productive approach. As much as I can empathise with Neeld's frustration (I've been frustrated by MFC performance for a hell of a lot longer!), I think these sorts of obvious horror moments are better dealt with away from the cameras. Fear is certainly a motivator but it's seldom the best one. Need is paid a big quid to provide leadership and I'm not sure this qualifies as such. In the fullness of time, Neeld will be measured by the performance he manages to extract from all players and in the form of premierships won. His talent isn't demonstrated by the effort he gets from the players that have either or both of the natural skills and the commitment to his plan, it's what he gets from the others i.e. those who lack the natural skills or the ability to understand what he wants them to do. Generally, I like Neeld's approach and much prefer it to Bailey's but he's a first year senior coach and he is obviously learning a bit as he goes along, as well. I suspect he wouldn't be thrilled to be similarly humiliated.

I was also a bit embarrassed by the toxic reception that Morton received. To me, he looks like the polar opposite of Jack Watts in that JW always looks as if he knows exactly what to do (even when it's about to go pear-shaped!) whereas Cale almost always looks as though he's terminally confused about what he should do. This wouldn't be helped by 5 years of criticism from the likes of us - me, very much included. I think he might still turn into a pretty good player if he ever manages to get some self- confidence. Also, I would also probably include him in my Top 6 today in spite of that horrible turnover.