Maldonboy38

I finally made up my mind about three weeks ago that Neeld was not a senior coach and I see nothing so far to change my point of view. But I am stoked to see the MFC responding like this. McLardy might not be the most passionate, visionary man but I love his stoic, straight bat style. And he replies first to us, the members and supporters, rather than the media. I really rate the respect involved in doing this when it would be easier to feed the ravenous media pack. Peter Jackson to the end of 2014 - tick. Mark Neeld given time and space to respond and improve rather than become the new Richmond, and sack everything is sight every time there is failure- tick. The media pack speculation proven - again - to be "blindfold-dart-at-a-balloon" journalism. tick. Solidarity and Unity conveyed - tick. Promise of more changes to come - tick. Well done MFC

6. Nathan Jones 5. James Frawley 4. Colin Garland 3. Chris Dawes 2. Terlich (when this guy gets some composure he will be a very good player) 1. Watts Rodan played a good game, but the mistakes he made - fumbling, selfish play, missed tackles - hurt us badly so I could not get him a vote.

When Watts gets it forward of centre, you can sense the opposition scrambling to cover all bases because his disposal is so good (note: a couple of howling clangers though against the Hawks). He is a forward, thinks like a forward and runs into the right spaces at the right time like a forward. I have also given up thinking he will ever be a power forward with grunt but I want the ball in his hands looking up to see Hogan, Dawes and Clark. Totally agree about the midfield. Our forward line could look half decent if our midfield knew how to structure up and had knowledge of forward/defensive spread.

Robbo might be a little bit of a "look at me" kind of bloke at times, but he is not a planner and schemer who shapes his words and comments to make people conclude matters in a certain way. He is a laid back, genuine kind of bloke who every so often gets fed up and just speaks it as he sees it. He is right about Sylvia. Both he and Moloney are right about Moloney's departure. Stef Martin was let go because his athletic ability is undermined by a total lack of football brain.

For the life of me I cannot understand the selections week in and week out. Neeld keeps saying no-one will be gifted a game, but then players in horrible form hold their place, some young players trying to get their heads into AFL footy get one week here, two games there, while others are stuck in the VFL. Players brought into the team for their mature bodies are now dropped against one of the biggest bodied teams - the Hawks. Gawn out, Jamar holds his place. Fitzy has had great form for 5 weeks, Spencer hasn't - both available the same week. Straus, Jetta, Nicho are in and out like a honeymoon d..k. Pederson gets another game - on what grounds? Rodan gets another go Blease is on the outer and never mentioned in dispatches. I have had a gutful of a selection roundabout that has no rhyme or reason. 3,4, 7 changes each week Is there no-one at our club who can take hold of this wreck and bring some strength and structure to what is going on? PLease!!!!

... chase my wife around the house until she agrees to some horizontal folk-dancing. I will have to explode the tension somehow!!!

There is no one-dimensional answer to any team's deficiencies, including ours. GWS are a group of younger players with B+ leaders - look at them. They are struggling and will continue to until 2016/2017. Getting rid of B-grade talent and recruiting young guns (potentially, anyway) is part of a solution, but not the entire solution. Please not ANOTHER rebuild!!! Look at Hawks, Pies and Cats. Their one over-riding point of difference is their low rate of turnovers. They can kick. When out on their own at full pace or under pressure near a pack they can kick with 75%+ efficiency. We lament so often "how did Tiges/Blues/Bombers get so many players free". It is usually because our players have begun a forward spread only to turn over the ball and be left in a defenseless position. We need Strauss, Watts, Davey, Clark, to be in the side and kicking. Hopefully Tappy will join this group. Unfortunately his kicking efficiency is poor this season when kicking is his main attribute. Also, these teams grunt players can also kick. Guerra at the Hawks, Hunt and the Cats, and surprisingly Ball at the Pies. Surely we can get players into the team with grunt AND kicking ability! Even in the Daniher era, we would see Leoncelli, Rigoni, Powell, come off half-back and wing and totally butcher the ball. I am sick of players who can't kick. I love the grunt of Nicho and Jordie etc...but they have proven time and time again that their poor kicking outweighs their ability to fight for the ball. Edit: I agree that Taggert should get a game. He might have the odd poor game but he looks the goods to me, and I have seen a few Casey games this year.

"Our biggest issue is that we get killed in uncontested possessions. Reason - we don't play well enough as a team when we've got the ball." Absolutely agree, Macca. We do not link up well enough and so have few passages where we hold onto the ball uncontested. Everyone went on about Ellis, Houli, etc... They get so much of because our set up allows it.

6. Garland 5. Terlich 4. Davey 3. Magner 2. N Jones 1. Dawes

First time this year I was able to sit through a game thinking we had a chance to win, and watching the players have a genuine hard crack at the footy. If any team gets a free player across half back, something about our structure cannot stop the flow until our over-worked back six stand tall - over and over again. Hat off the Terlich, Frawley, Garland etc... Dawes is worth the money and trade. Can't wait for him and Clark to be on the park together. For those complaining about him having to stop and stand at the end of a lead, look to the kick. Rarely did he have a choice. Welcome back Aaron Davey. Like the idea of subbing him at 3/4 time. His kicking today was a masterclass. A couple of Strauss' kicks showed a similar potential. That laces out pass to Dawes - breathtaking. Magner - you should sue those people who decided to put you on the rookie list. Jones had some help in and under. If only Evans, Bail and Jetta could kick. Nicho and Jordie... I wanted to punch someone late in the game because of you two . Please listen to these two words: PERIPHERAL VISION!!!!! Dunn looked very steady. Loved it when the melee began. Boy, the Tiges are soft. Those two passages down the members wing in the last quarter were our two best passages of running football for the year. I can't believe I feel OK about a 30+ point loss.

Totally unnecessary language. You need to apologise to fellow Demonlanders who have family members struggling with physical disabilities. Come on, we stopped using this gutter lingo 20 years ago.

Both these two made horrible blunders late in the game that killed our confidence, and swung the momentum back to the tiges. McKenzie gets the ball centre side of CHF,His peripheral vision is so poor he does not see the two free Dees players at half-forward until a Tiges players has closed down the space. He kicks the ball as if the Tiges players is not there. Kicks into him - turnover -goal. Nicho - who played some really good footy and actually kicked well a ttimes - runs inside 50. He has a Dees player 10m to his right free. He ignores that option - chooses to take the body tackle without raising his arms out of the tackle, and gets pinged. Turnover. Goal. These two acts stuffed up a really good effort today. I would not go as far to say get out, but I was so angry at both these points. Can we not try Taggert / Tynan / Davis insread of these two?

Since Schwarz got rid of the gambling, he is emerging and growing in every part of his life. He is no longer the gambling, relationship-destroying, I-don't-give-a-stuff nob he was growing up. There is a depth to him, and even in his media role he is maturing. Head of the football dept might be a stretch but he knows and understands footy, and has a "no prisoners" mentality. Just get him to the club in some official role where his knowledge and passion for footy and the MFC can influence the current players.

Please, please, please give him 5-8 games in a row and let him run. Look at Tapscott now he has a few games in a row. We need outside runners - those who can break the lines and we only have him and Evans. Bail too but he s also an in-and-under player. Blease is a gun and should be let loose, not held back at Casey.

A lot of us have mixed feelings about the Beamer situation, but surely people have got to stop bagging him abut being lazy etc... His stoppage work, defensive work and tackling against he Bombers today was sensational. He still kicks long without thinking but I miss his grunt and effort. Him moving on is a big loss for us. As was the Jnr MacDonald moving on. The more I think about all this the more depressed I get.

It's a really hard question to answer - what is the best way to support the club right now? Attending the games is excruciating. I have been to two so far and we got flogged by Bombers and Eagles.I have watched two games on TV and it is gut wrenching to watch. My wife and kids leave the room as I twist and contort on the couch watching lame tackling, country football level skills, and no passion from coach or players. I went along to that training session on Gosch's paddock. I have scarves and newsletters and annual reports. My kids have got guernseys, badges of favourite players, posters on the walls. I can't do any more than this. When Neeld was appointed I said we had to give him until round 11 in the 2013season. Well, I have concluded 4 weeks early. He is as bad a coach as Skilton and Ditterich were in the 70's. He is as bad as Tony Shaw was at Collingwood and Tim Watson was at St. Kilda. He is not a senior coach. I will support this club until I die but I cannot support the coach anymore.

I can tell you they both hit the pack hard - brutal a times. Because of the wind there were a lot of packs and it wasn't easy to see through the tangle of bodies. But Couch did have a good game all around the ground. I didn't include either of them in the report because they are rookies and I didn't want people saying they should be picked for next week.

Go for Nate Fyffe - absolute gun. His awareness makes his skill look even better. And he mark.

I went along to the game tonight but missed the first 10 minutes. Casey is normally windy but tonight is was ridiculous. At one point I had to move because my eyes were watering into the wind! I was really impressed with the coach - I think it is Rohan Welsh. Clear instructions that were concise and to the point. It was a tough night for good footy. 4-5 goal wind for most of the night. Dunn was outstanding. He played loose across half back, which I know is the easiest position in footy, but his reading of the play followed by his kicking was superb. If Watts does not play well, Dunn comes straight back in. Strauss. Played a very good game. Had a little bit of run-and-carry through the middle and delivered well most times. He appeared quicker than I remembered him. Taggert. I really like this kid. Strong over the ball, showed some gut running and kicked well. Was very smart at times using the ball into the wind. Kicked three (I think) Fitzpatrick.Great game. Proved a handful for Williamstown every time he was near the ball. Ran all night, flew for every mark and his pace was amazing. Seemed to have iron hands a bit - the ball bounced off them when he had a clear chance at marking. An impressive game considering the wind made it a shocking night for tall players. Hogan. Didn't see him get it too much. Toumpas. He got to a lot of contests but didn't seem to impact many of them. However, in the last quarter he was superb. His kicking to position against the wind was really good and he got in an under in defence when needed. Dawes. Not a great game. When he kicked for goal I am sure he did not kick through the ball well, and it seemed he was holding back on a full effort. I doubt he will play for the Dees against Carlton. His positioning and defensive efforts were good at times. Davis. He gets to a lot of contests and plays hard when he needs to. Kent. I was not sure of his number until the game was almost over so I am unsure how he went. Dunn, Strauss and Fitzpatrick played worthily enough to be considered for game against Carlton. Taggert maybe.

Like so many games involving the Dees over the past 3-5 years, it all comes down to the midfield. Our % of converting forward 50 entries into scores is actually OK. The main issue is the amount of times we can enter into the 50m arc. The Lions midfield looks to lack as much polish as ours does, so for mine, I reckon it has to do with 2 things: skill efficiency coming through half-forward defensive spread from our midfield We showed against GWS we can do both these things - but that was under very little pressure from some very tired young footballers. Can we do these two things under pressure from the Lions midfield? At the very least I reckon we can match them in defensive spread, but our kicking into forward 50 over 4 quarters remains suspect. Also, Gawn and Pedersen are pivotal. With Bail, Evans, Byrnes,and possibly Rodan, Davey and Blease if we can get front and centre enough we should be OK.

There is no way that being the CEO position at the Dees is considered "the poisoned chalice". Our onfield performance has been atrocious, but our off-field achievements over the past 3 years are substantial. Once we start winning, all the positives of membership base, Casey link, Darwin link, no debt, new sponsors etc... will click into place. Interim CEO Jackson does not have to reinvent the wheel or look too closely at personnel. His main job is to help detach us from the Red and Blueprint that was all words and no substance, and help us find a new CEO. It also looks likely that some major Board changes will occur during his 6 months and Jackson will be the main hinge around which all these changes move.

The club needs to continually 'evolve' and look at ways of improving at all levels. That goes without saying. But our greatest need is for the team - the actual footballers - to WIN. New sponsors - check. Move to new training facility including Gosch's paddock - check. Debt demolition - check. 30,000+ members in a period of pathetic football - check Press into Casey and Darwin - check. Search for new CEO with outstanding interim CEO - check. Men and women of Demonland, we simply need to start winning, and stop listening to all the spin from journos about being "irrrelevant, embarrassing, etc..." Winning, and winning alone, will grab this club by the scruff of the neck.

Many commentators say the only player to improve under Neeld's coaching is Howe. Utter nonsense. Tapscott is also loving the Neeld regime, and is quickly emerging as a starting 22 player. He can mark and kick and has a serious aggressive streak. His skills are questionable at times, but if can get 10 games in a row without injury we will then see him step into form, fitness and self-belief. And keep him at half-forward. One of his attributes is forward pressure keeping the ball inside 50.

Don't fall for the oldest journalism trick in the book. Journos ask questions, and people answer with as little information as they can. The journos then interpret what they didn't say as confirmation of hiding something. This is the default position of journalists when they haven't got a story, or anything reportable. It is also hack journalism, and if any of you ever listen to Laurie Oakes he hates this trend in modern journalism. It is unprofessional and diminishes the value of journalism across the broader community. Because Neeld and Craig didn't say anything doesn't mean that they did anything. They will have been instructed - from the MFC and probably also the AFL - not to say anything that can be reported as undisclosed fact. I am also a bit concerned about what knowledge the MFC had of Dank, but I am not going to believe the emotional, opinion based journalism of Caroline Wilson. I watch Footy Classified most weeks but 50% of it is cringeworthy grandstanding. Last night Caroline Wilson was an embarrassment to that show and on two occasions Lyon cut her short and went on. Her vitriol about James Brayshaw and the way she put a rumour on the table without any corroboration showed she has no professional integrity.

OUT: Jetta - suspended Clark - injured Viney - needs a break. IN: Strauss. Kent McKenzie We do not need another tall with Pedersen (unfortunately) Jamar and Gawn, so Spencer/Fitzy will not play Dawes remains one more week away I reckon Terlich won't miss. Hard as nails, has a red hot go and the coach loves this kind of player. Once he gets his kicking efficiency under control he will be fine. Watts is a mystery to me. What to do with him and where does he play? His form does not warrant selection but after a win there will be as few changes as necessary, so he stays.