Maldonboy38

I think you will find any player who wins a premiership with a team, has as their first allegiance, the premiership team.

Glad to be corrected if he was pushed, rather than jumped. But it was not "complete rot". Alves chose to go - he said so in his interview on SEN, and that he "will always hold a soft spot for Melbourne". Just because they were champs doesn't mean we have to believe they are red and blue through to the bone. And Barrassi is intersting. Probably the best Dees player ever. He was red and blue, but he is multi-coloured these days. He is more dedicated to footy in general than to the MFC.

Greg Wells was an absolute gun - a little bit in the Michael Voss mode. I wore his number as a kid. But he left. He knicked off to the Blues for a Premiership so calling him "Red and Blue" or whatever is rubbish. Do you reckon he will celebrate 200 games with a poor, lowly MFC, or the premiership with the Blues in 1981? Stan Alves, Gerard Healey are in the same boat. Great players but their heart is NOT red and blue. If we reject Kennet for being Brown and Gold, should we have any more tolerance for people who jumped ship for a flag?

We do not deserve a priority pick and although I am craving success, I hope we don't get one. We got priority picks and early draft choices for a number of years, and tying this into the tanking debacle we totally stuffed up any advantage we might have gained. We lost credibility in every area of football life right across the AFL. We need to follow the lead of Port Adelaide - they recruited first at the very top in that Koch bloke - and they are determined to rise again under their own steam. No more handouts, no more easy hand shakes with mates, no crappy "short term loss for long term gain" that led us into tanking. 1. We need a strong, focused, capable, hard-nosed President who can be a change agent in partnership with PJ, and stay 8 - 10 years in the job. 2. A review of the board members. Not all the current board will be duds, and a few people familiar with the place would be handy. 3. A strategic business plan (please not a Red and Blue print) that will give us long term institutional and financial sustainability. Without these three things, no coach or superstar player will make any difference. 4. Get us a #@*&%$# coach who can coach, and assistant coaches who can assist. PLLLEEEAAASSSEEE!!!!!!

Sylvia, Watts and Gawn are the only 3 other clubs would show any interest in, maybe Jetta as well. KEEP Watts, Davey Gawn Taggert Tynan Fitzpatrick UPGRADE Magner TRADE Sylvia Jetta (maybe - hey, WCE took Morton) DELIST Nicholson, MacDonald, Sellar, Davis, Rodan, Gillies, Couch, Dunn UNSURE Clisby and Stark EDIT: cannot believe I forgot to delist Dunn

Interesting. Watson 'mentoring' Watts and Ling 'mentoring' Trengove. For mine, this actually validates the Neeld/Craig position of elevating Grimes and Trenners to the captaincy. After the ridiculous displacement of Junior McDonald we simply had no AFL standard leader to mentor and guide the up-and-comers. And although Trenners is slow, I have never jumped off him. He has poise and class - on open display with that kick to Watts on Monday and also his goal kicking. He is the right bloke for captain.

I think we need to see some of the young players get multiple matches. As much as I have, at times, admired the work of Byrnes, Rodan, Sellar etc... it would be great to see Taggert and Davis get a go. I am convinced that Davis will not make it but he gets a heap of the ball. Give the kid a run. I haven't seen a CAsey game for about 4 weeks but if Clisby is dpoing well, give him a go. OUT: Rodan, Dawes (inj), Dunn IN: Davis, Taggert, Strauss or Jetta. CONSIDER: Gawn, Clisby

I saw enough of him yesterday to suggest he can play. He is definitely NOT Stef Martin 2.0. For those who say his marking was terrible, take a second look Yes, some of it was horrible, but he also took 2 contested marks with a single clunk. His pace speaks for itself and he has done some serious work on his kicking over the past 2 preseasons. As for his positioning. 50/50 for mine. He will never be a gun but we have to give him another run after the break, especially if Dawes and Clark are missing long term again.

MFC: Flower. Ox deserves a mention. AFL: Ablett snr. Jnr has better defensive skills and a bigger engine, but snr had a wow factor like no other and one main thing jnr lacks - he was a hard, vicious player who would monster you given a chance. Some of his (rare) tackles were vicious, and some of his bumps were bone breakers. If could hurt you he would and there was a hint of fear playing around him. Special mentions: Lethal Leigh Matthews. When other players were still using flat punts he was kicking drop punts off both feet and running rings around everyone. Carey. Every skill, courage, leadership and arrogance. He strutted because he could. These three remain the best ever for mine. I was a couple of years too late for Skilton.

Absolute rubbish. Watch the game again. "Doesn't run hard at all" is the worst quote of the day. There were some shocking errors and poor footballers, but Pedersen wasn't in either of these groups.

6. C Garland 5. M Jones 4. C Pedersen (real surprise here - he played really well) 3. N Jones 2. C Sylvia 1. J Trengove I love Terlich's effort, but he gets caught too easily trying to spin out backwards from being tackled. Watts did well, but was not in the play enough.

It is good seeing Blease, Kent, M Jones, Evans, Fitzy, Terlich etc... getting a run and showing effort Syvlia and Trenners are getting into it. Some great tackling. Garland deserves a medal - great game on Cloke. Our kicking into forward 50 is the big weakness, alongside turnovers. Is it experience or coaching that will improve this? Watching this part of our game is like eating live spiders. My stomach is in a constant churn. You can see the turnovers coming from 3 possessions before they happen. Can't believe how bad this skill is across the midfield. Dunn - unbelievable game. Absolute shocker. Our players take possession when stationary. Midfield needs to learn to move around a stoppage.

Fitzy actually looked ok in patches. Definitely not our worst. I remain unconvinced but a lot of others need the microscope before him.

Cut out easy turnovers and improve our skills - and we were right in this game. Again right there - M Jones I think - kick smothered, turnover, goal.

That might have been the case, but most - not all - of his defensive efforts today have been pretty good. He is not a favourite of Neeld, that is clear. Other players have shown no defensive effort but continue to get picked.

Is that now 6 of the Pies 8 goals from our turnovers?

Yep, really poor. He gets the ball, looks up and sees an target, settles (all the right things to do) and then.... kicks horribly. I just don't get it. He is even chasing and tackling.

Love his grunt and effort. Love him standing over the Pies playing he tackled over the line on the far side of the ground. But his kicking is poor in general play. He misses targets when they are easy to hit.

I wouldn't pay out on Watt's efforts today. He has used his pace and run through a few packs in straight lines, getting through 3 and four players. Look elsewhere for the reason for our probable loss. Dunn in particular - horrible. Fitzy look way out of his league. Inside 50 kicking by Toumpas, Evans, M Jones and Kent.

One word = turnovers. Our kicking inside 50 is so bad, all the hard through the middle of the ground comes to nothing, as we kick anywhere except to the benefit of our forwards. And then, on the turnover, all our players are in attacking and not defensive position.

Agree - he is a [censored]. But he is a successful [censored]. Yes, it is success in some ways and horrible failures in others. And I don't want success at ANY price. Ian Dicker may have done a great job but the Hawks would not have won a flag without Jeff's leadership. He achieves results. I want some results. I want a flag. I will admit there are probably better candidates than Jeff - but he is the best to present so far.

I just don't understand the vitriol directed at "silvertails" and "private school boys". And before anyone gets on some preconceived hobby-horse, no I am not one of them. Who gives a rat's tossbag what a person's roots are? Can they do the job? Can he/she lead? Do they have business acumen? Can they cast vision and formulate strategy? Can they inspire a club to dream big and go for it? I don't care if they hail from Brighton Grammar or Hampton Park Secondary College - CAN THEY DO THE JOB???

Jeff is an agent of change. Regardless of whether you like his politics or his football presidency, wherever he goes things change.Most of those changes bring improvement. He is brusque, has a passionate, loose tongue and is an autocrat. He steps on toes and honestly couldn't give a stuff for the people he hurts. He causes as many difficulties as he solves, just not in the areas he is responsible for. I have met him on a number of occasions at a professional level, and although he has almost no social conscience he is one of the sharpest, most alert individuals I have spoken with. We need a person exactly like Jeff. Will he bully people? Yes Will he draw in the best personnel? Yes Will he demand success? Yes He will NOT merger Melbourne. If he became president he would be 100% devoted and would do anything to improve the brand. He is selfish in this way. His professional reputation would be at stake and that is one thing he will not compromise. The only question mark is this: he does not barrack for Melbourne. Is it possible to be fully professional when he has a heart for the Hawks? I can't answer this yet.

OUT: Frawley, Bail, IN: Sylvia, Blease Tom McDonald should come back in via VFL. Gawn is a possibility - we may need two ruckmen to combat Jolly. I would love to see Taggert get a run but it won't happen yet. We might need Sellar to help as third man up against Cloke, helping out Pedersen.

I never thought of him but he would be a great get if we can entice him over.