Maldonboy38

I think he played mainly in defence today, but a few times I saw him start inside the centre square after a goal. I know he has done this for Casey this year a few times and maybe they were seeing if he could rise to the task. He did not. I thought he positioned himself really well at times, and ran into the right plce, but his decision making and kicking to advantage were sub-standard. .

OUT : Jurrah (injured), McNamara (not up to it), IN : Bail, Fitzpatrick As much as Watts is close to my favourite player, I reckon he might also needs a rest, or at least start on the bench. The game against Port is going to be a beauty, I reckon. Yeah, I know, 2 poor sides etc... but both want to win. Dees want a record that shows improvement from 2010, and Port want to show something to supporters and critics. .

Green - really strong game Jones - consistent and driven Bartram - tight and effective Watts - fumbly and peripheral Bennell - showed some brilliance Frawley - return of form Trengove - a quiet one Morton - ineffecgtive again McKenzie - fought hard today Garland - wonderfyl backman's game Moloney - strong 2nd half Jurrah - dangerous before injury Rivers - slow and casual Scully - where's the sizzle? Martin - strong at times Tapscott - a poor game Howe - first 18 player Jetta - had a go Jamar - ruck lesson 101 McDonald - safe, sure and creative Blease - run and dare McNamara - not AFL standard .

Gold Coast are improving and have got close to a couple of good teams this year. I thought we were only a 6 goal better side so to win by 5 is OK with me. Blease, McDonald, Jetta, Bennell showed enough to think that 2012 could be a good year for them all. Tom McNamara is not an AFL player - VFL standard only. Delist at season's end. Some of Watts' efforts today were really poor. (Bad play by team mates dragging their players into his contests don't help). He looked fumbly, disinterested and hung back in a way he has not for most of this year. Exhausted? I can see Tom McDonald taking Jared Rivers' place next year. Rivers lookd slow and casual even among the casual Dees players. As much as Nathan Jones can be frustrating, can you imagine what our season would look like without him? He keeps on going, he always has a crack, and plays the same game win or loss. Gotta love him. Tom Scully has not shown any signs this year that he is a number 1 draft pick. Lethal might have said this about Watts but Scully's strengths are rarely, if ever, on display. If he stays, I hope a full pre-season and an injury-free 2012 will show me what I htought we might get this year. .

6 . Blease 5 . Jones 4 . Garland 3 . Green 2 . Frawley 1 . McDonald .

The Good Blease McDonald Garland Frawley Bennell Jamar's tap work Moloney Jones The Bad Poor intensity too often throughout the game Watts. He was really poor today. Dropped chest marks and single-grab marks, hung back when he should have gone in, seemed to be in self-preservation mode. He has been great this year but he looks shagged. Tom McNamara. His time has come - he is only a VFL footballer and today proved it. The Ugly Jurrah injured (again) Our ability to deaden play at stoppages. Swallow etc... murdered us with spread around the packs I couldn't get there and the crowd was terrible. .

Morton and Bate. Yep, gone. Bate will get another club, no doubt about that. Dunn and Bartram rarely play a game in which endeavour, skill, decision making and risk are all at AFL stahdard on the same day, and usually it is only one of the four. They are outstanding VFL footballers who cannot thrive at AFL level. Time to go. Jones. He is essential to our footy. He will always make a bad decision or two in every game, nad every so often will havef s shocker in which he can hardly make a good decision, but he gets it, has attitude, his kicking is generally good and sometimes great, and he is a team footballer with LEADERSHIP ability. If we loose him or delist him it deminstrates narrow mindedness. .

I don't care what happens to: Newton. How has he survived so long, and how did he get a rookie position this year? Morton. Get him as far away from our club as possible. He embarrasses the jumper Trade: Bate. Can kick and mark but can't get to enough contests because of lack of pace. He can't think quickly during play and gets caught a lot. Good trade bait. Dunn. I still reckon he can play but is close the dumbest footballer on our list. Makes errors of judegemnt to often and cannot impact a game when required. No definite role, but can rarely fill a specific role when given to him. Delist Maric. Not up to it. Bartram. I love his toughness, hardness and ability to get the ball but watch other teams - they don't tackle him - they want him to kick it. His kicking ha always been poor and many times atrocious. Trade or delist, I don't care which. Campbell. Poor rookie choice and is injured again. .

There are four expressions of leadership required of a modern day captain: Onfield through actions and words Off field by support, encouragement, challenge, wisdom, training Public face via media, website, attendance at functions Schmoozing the sponsors, club financial supoporters, coteries etc... We see so little of the captain's role that it is difficult to assess. What we do know that many games have been in the balance during the 2nd or 3rd quarter this year, and good leadership would have inspired some fight and doggedness. Brad Green has been dismall in this regard this year. Also, the cliche of a "Captain's goal" is well worn but very true and this year Brad has been in a position 3 or 4 times to really LEAD, and has fallen short. What is worrying, is that sponsors, backers, power brokers etc.. also seem to be DIScouraged by Brad's leadership. Not a good sign. For mine in 2012: Brent Moloney for 1 year (if he excels, he can keep the job) Trengove, Grimes, Watts, Jones to be in leadership group. One of these four to be captain in 2013 if Moloney does not come up to the task. I would choose Trengove at this point .

Quickly rising in our B&F, won't win it, but plays in our best every week and shines when we play poorly. Love watching him play. Actually, when I can't get to the footy he is one of the reasons I watch, even if er get beaten badly. I agree with you Maco - stop #%@*&%$@ playing Watts down back. The reason he is missing easy goals is he gets so little game time practicing. Enough of the Development phase"!!! Play Watts forward. .

6 . Watts 5 . MacDonald 4 . Trengove 3 . Garland 2 . Howe 1 . Gysberts .

The Good Watts Jones' bump on Robinson (and the arm that copped hinm in the head soon after) The first quarter Howe in patches Dunn in patches Stef Martin's last quarter The Bad Our goal kicking Our crumbing ability in our forward 50 Our thrashed midfield Stationary forward line The Ugly Dunn's mo' Our defensive pressure Our getting only 1 person to Carlton's 3 to every contested play Strauss' leg Tappy's head (that was really silly, Stef. Unnecessary and easily avoided) .

For those with long enough memories, the "best" coach does not always mean the person with a premiership record behind them. Here's a list of "best" coaches who were invited to another club, and for a million different reasons, didn't work out: Barassi and the Dees Joyce at the Bulldogs Jewell at St. Kilda Blight at St. Kilda Walls at Richmond Do you see the theme here? Premiership winning coaches who are offered huge money and incentives to come and take on a developing list at a struggling club. Sound familiar? Malthouse, Roos, Clarkson may simply be a repeat of this age old formula. We must think outside the square a bit and go for someone who can bring to our club what we have rarely had. I would love to get Roos here for two reasons: 1 . He is a culture changer 2 . Under his calm, friendly exterior he has a huge dose of mongrel. He will face-to-face any player, admin person or executive and give then bare cold hard facts wihtout any pause. But Roos is imply not going anywhere. Could Malthouse handle our inner conflicts? I reckon it would end up a Blight / St. Kilda scenario Clarkson knows the Melbourne cuture and will not come. Those great early 90's teams should have been premiership teams but the club was a shocking, dysfunctional mess at the time, and Clarkson was there. Not enough culture change at the top to attract him back. For mine, Laidley is the best option available, but only after discussion about his coaching team. Getting this right is as important as the head coach. His assistants must also be people who can LEAD. I would love to see this scenario: Dean Laidley - head coach Wayne Carey - Forward Coach Scott West - Midfield coach Gary Ayres / Brett Lovett - Defensive Coach Todd Viney - Head of coaching/coaching overseer / mentor. .

Definite top 5 Melbourne player. Great when he is switched on and has been good this year. Injuries and inconsistency have dogged his career. However, he has never been known for leadership qualities (which is our greatest need at the moment)and would consider trading him for a 23 - 25 yo player who has proven leadership qualities. .

Right across the media, from KB and Patrick's ridiculous rubbish on SEN this morning, to Caroline Wilson's declaring things true that are only runmour, to Hutchy salivatinhg over anything that can be spun negatively, and son on... it is great to read this artilce by John Ralph. With the exception of Moloney, he is unfortunatey, spot on. Sylvia is a an absolute gun who fires blanks, or misfires completely too often. Aaron Davey has been worked out - heavy tag = poor game Moloney. His down games this year have been when 2-3 players have rotated a tag on him. Even Judd has struggled with this. Our new coach must have three essential qualities that Dean Bailey seemingly did not: He must be able to inspire. He must be able to produce grunt and mongrel right across the list He must be able to move the mentioned players from potential to ability. I don't reckon that the club is a shambles, internally fractured or any of that other garbage. Are there differences of opinions and conflicts - yes. Does something need to be worked out between Schwab and Connolloy - yes. But in all honesty, the media simply do not like it when a club manages conflict internally. They want "the goss" so they can fill up their pages. Jimmy, McLardy etc... are working through this behind closed doors and I applaud them for doing so. It is the TEAM ATTTIUDE that needs change. Our list is amazing! Any coach would dream of such a list. Bailey had to go but I would have liked him to be offered to say to the end of the season. In effect, the coach is the head of the team. Green's capatincy is highly suspect. Actually, our leadership development model must be faulty. Our best leaders are Vice Captains at best. We cannot fight out a game. Our players need to be coached within an inch of their lives nad make them fight to get a spot in the 22, and fight even harder to keep it. Even Green, Davey, Sylvia etc... .

Laidley was the first name to come into my mind and I still reckon he is a good candidate. I reckon they threw him out too early at the Roos. Yes, their preliminary final appearance was too early, but he did get them there with an avergae list. I can only dream of what he might achieve with our list. Regarding Wayne Carey - 2nd best player I have ever seen and yes, another absolute dysfunctioal dill that footy seems to produce in huge numbers. But he has made huge character changes over the past 12 months and there is nothing stronger or better than someone who understands all the rubbish, but is changing. He is not perfect by any stretch but he is a much better person than he was 2 years ago (or seems to be, I don't know him personally). I no longer have the same concerns over the negative influence of his character. But can you imagine his footy smarts, influence and presence among our young list? Can you imagine Watts, Petterd, Cook, Maric ,Wonna under the influence of Carey as a forward coach? IMO, the Laidley/Carey team is sounding very attractive.

Surely none of us expected Dean Bailey to handle himself any differently. His even-temperedness, integrity and honesty have never been in question and should not be now. He has shown again this afternoon that he is a man of character. I hope his next step into football, whatever that step is, might be kinder to him. His development model, willingness to do the hard yards, focus on getting games into young players have all been excellently planned and executed. The main ingredient missing has been his ability to match-day coach and inspire the 22. The Geelong game was the straw that broke the camels back in regards to his coaching. What concerns me is that the Club should have shown a similar integrity and invited him to retain his position until the end of this year. He could have then decided whether to coach for the next 5 weeks, or leave. I really believe in what Jimmy, the Board, Schwab and Connolly have done over the past 3 years but they have shown a lack of courage and integrity by not giving Dean Bailey the right to see this season out. I now wait to see what Jimmy and the Board will say to the leadership group. I hope they show some courage here. .

Dean Laidley or Mark Williams for coach. Midfield coach. Keep Scott West. Ruck Coach. Scott Wynd, Luke Darcy, Spider Everitt? Someone recntly retired who understands ruck work as a craft. Forward coach. Chris Grant, Paul Hudson, (struggling with this one) Defensive coach. Brett Lovett. Get him out of the VFL, he is wasted there. A great backman who understands the modern game. Definitely keep Jimmy and Schwab Replace Connolly. Unsure who the best person is here. Can we lure Neil Balme out from Geelong? .

1 . Give Dean Bailey notice that he will not be coaching in 2012, but encourage him to see out 2011. There is nothing to be gained from sacking him now. If he chooses to leave, that is his right. 2 . Professional mediation between Jimmy, Schwab and Connolly with an independent mediator. Find out the nature of the conflict and let the members know the real situation. I don't want to hear the truth from gits like Caroline Wilson, Hutchy or that Barrett bloke from the footy show. I want the club to tell me the clear truth after mediation. Remove the person who is the distabling force. 3 . Regarding the playing group, take the Malcolm Blight approach. Look at the all the really big losses (10 goals +) over the past 4 years. If there are any players who always play badly when we suffer big losses, de-list them at the end of the season. 4 . Disallow the players to wear our trad strip for the reaminder of 2011. Alternative strip only. They have brought shame on our colours. (Maybe this is a bit harsh?) 5 . Train the whole playing group with ouinishing training. See who stands up. 6 . Demand an answer from Tom Scully. Waiting time is over. Decide now, Tom. .

An important point is being missed. Every AFL club has contractual obligations for the coach and one player to provide media interviews after each and every game - no exceptions. Does anyone seriously think that Bailey or Rivers wanted to stand in front of the media? It takes incredible character to stand there in front of reporters and repsond to prepared questions that you don't get to see before hand, and then have every answer dissected and analysed, then edited for TV. What does need to be addressed is some of the pathetic "company line" answers that our players have been taught to say. Green and co look like deer in headlights. So many Demonlanders have written "words are cheap". Have a brief look at history and you will discover that words are essential and powerful. The problem is, someone from the club has to say something. Jimmy, Schwab and Connolly now realise that the inner conflict that they all thought was being managed behind closed doors now becomes the focus of the media attention. One of these three or even McLardy need to turn their focus from those internal matters and talk about the loss to the media. So far, it has been non-club people like Lyon and Schwartz speaking out. How about one of our club leaders stop trying to hide the inner conflict, show the same courage that Bailey and Rivers showed, fronting the media, and letting us know that they are as humilated, embarrassed, angry and betrayed as the rest of us? The inner conflict needs addressing, but having no-one from the club speaking publicly at this point about our loss is a blight on our club. Can you imagine Eddie or Kennett after a 186 point loss? They have left Bailey and Rivers to speak to the media and have hidden in the background. Not good enough. .

I was also a Bailey defender up until about 6 weeks ago and now I can clearly see that he must take the rap for what the team has produced. It has happened under his watch and he is the leader. However, all discussions about coaches seem to be emotional, not factual, or even based on some facts. So, here is the state of play as I see it: Roos : Will not coach again at AFL level. This may change in the future but that is unlikely. Malthouse : will be at the Pies next year Clarkson : He will be at Hawthorn next year. It is only small details to be worked out and he personally can't wait for Kennett to be gone. However, MFC should approach him with an outrageously good offer BEFORE Kennet goes. Lyon : is unwilling to coach and likes his media work too much. Viney : very good one-on-one coach but is known for disliking stats, computers, over-engineered game plans and the modern emphasis on sports science. He could be a great motivator but would soon grow weary of all the other stuff coaches are expected to (coterie, official functions, media etc...) Our other assistant coaches are not head coaches and should not be considered. Dean Laidley : very widely respcted at Collingwood, got North into the Prelim Final. Should be considered. Rodney Eade : Is he, like Neale Daniher, a coach that can get a team into the Grand Final but will probably never win one? He should also be approached at the very least. Mark Williams (from Port Adelaide, not our current assisitant coach) Has a personality that can cause conflict and can be divisive, but he is a Premiership coach. He should, like Laidely, be seriously considered. At the moment, I can't think of any other person who is a reasonable condsideration, but others might be able to. For mine, with limited knowledge, go for Laidley or Mark Williams, but whatever is the way forward, we must not pursue another newbiew coach. .

I love what Jimmy, Schwab Connolly have done for the CLUB. It's not the club that worries me, it's the continual tragic form of our team. We are up and down like a honeymoon nightie, we fold against good teams, and now this. But these same off-field leaders now need to step up and demonstrate that they can be angry and tough when they need to. Up until about 6 weeks ago I was a Bailey fan and stuck to my guns. I now believe he must not be retained ans should depart this week if possible. And it is Jimmy and the club leaders who need to get in and give the footy department a good burst. .

I also have been watching for more years than I care to remember. Today brought flashbacks of the really poor 1970's when our games were rarely telecast and Channel 7's World of Sport paid scant attention to Melbourne games. It's a sad day my friends when you get beaten by this amount in this era. That photo of the scarf in the bin sums up how I feel. I will always be red and blue and will continue to go to games etc... but the fire in my belly was reduced to a pilot light today. I am sad for myself, angry at the players, furious at the coaching staff and disappointed for my fellow Dees supporters. I really thouight we would improve this year and aim for finals next year. Rethinking time. I am waiting to see what Bailey says at the press conference. It's about time Jimmy, Schwab, and Connolly stopped being so nice, and lead with some fire. Generally speaking I am not a fan of ranting club officials or knee jerk reactions but our club leaders have got to put a rocket through the footy department and players. I want someone in the club to express rage, not disappointment. Brad Green is a great player but a poor captain. .

I have just got home from a 1 hour kick-to-kick with my boys and rushed to get a score. Would you believe I thought we might do OK today??? What is going on? I return to being that sad, shoulder-drooping, unconfident, unsure, Dees man who is the brunt of every joke, and I have no more right to bag the Doggies, Saints and Toiges for lack of success. I have four kids, and my 16 year old said "I don't want to barrack for Melbourne anymore Dad, its too hard". This is a dark day for the MFC (amid many others over the past 40 years or so) and it sits on the head of the coach and the leadership group. Jimmy can't be Mr Nice Guy here. Connolloy can't be the friendly garden gnome. Schwab needs to get away from his whiteboard. A leader needs to stand up, communicate the anger of the supporters and change it up. Unacceptable MFC. .

Thanks for the clarification Deeoldfart