Maldonboy38

With the exception of the first 10 minutes if the first quarter, the first half was a good game of footy. There was effort, physical accountability and some good marking by both sides. But even in the first half melbourne showed poorly in two areas: At stoppages Our senior players - Moloney, Green, Davey and Rivers were horrible. Rivers did some good solo efforts but his fumbling and kicking were way beloe par. I thought Trengove, Magner, Watts Howe and Jones were all OK, and Tynan was OK in the first half.

Just finished watching the game. Especially in the first half there was some good aggression and attack on the ball. 2nd half was very difficukt to watch. I thought many Demonlanders were ranting about the senior players but I am afraid they were right. The most glaring dysfunction about that effort was that Moloney, Davey, and Green were very poor. You know when a lot of first gamers get their run, how they run around the packs out of position and waititg for a ball to come their way? These three senior players played that kind of game. Davey. A favourite of mine whose career is coming to an end. I don't think we will see him in the seniors for the rest of 2012 unless we have a string of injuries. Green. How can a bloke with his experience and skill play that badly? Moloney. Ran around chasing the pack all day. However, he rarely has two poor games in a row. Also, we must keep him because he is still capable of producing his best.

I was listening to ABC 774 at about 12:30 this afternoon and Gerard Whately had a really insightful comment to make. He has an annoying voice when commentating but his pre-game andf post-game insights are the best in the business. He basically said that there was a battle of wills happening at Melbourne. Neeld has a specific model of how football should be taught, trained and played and he has no room for contradictions. Whately reckons that the senior players like Green, Davey, Rivers, Jamar (he did not put Moloney in this group) have not "bought in" to his plan and are playing as if to say "well your method is OK, but this is how we play footy". He intimated that the main issue under Bailey's rule was that the leadership group would not lead his game philiosophy, therefore laying the playing form of the last 4 yeras squarely at the feet of the senior group. If there is a battle of wills at the moment I have three responses: 1. Neeld is very tough and seems very fair. Unlike Bailey, he is tough enough to put to aside those players who will not buy in. 2. The board, CEO's and supporters must get behind him so that his plan can be fully inplemented. 3. I am absolutley furious. If this is true, then Neeld should do what Blight did at Adelaide and move these so-called senior players on. A player should be coachable whether they have played 3 or 300. If they don't buy in then get out of the way and give someone else a go.

A man can have two faiths - Jesus Christ and the MFC. No tension at all here for me.

Biffen - you have it lucky - I have to CONDUCT a wedding at 4:30pm, for my neice who is a Dees supporter! I cannot believe she chose the opening round of the season for the big day and I almost said no. Almost.

Agree with most posters about Maric. If he is given time and space he has good decision making and good skills. But in the normal cut and thrust of a game of AFL standard footy that space is taken away from him and he looks less than ordinary. Is he the classic "wrong option" player who is defined by bad choices?

I am surprised not to see Gysberts - I thought he played as well as Watts at Casey last week. Also fairly surprised that Jordie has made it in. He was in the rehab group for a long time and didn't play a lot during the NAB cup. Really surprised to see Joel Mac picked - some of his basic skill errors during NAB cup were horrible and he seemed low on confidence. However, you can tell that "hard at it" players are favoured by Neeld and Joel Mac definitely fits that bill. Stoked to see Bail in. Can't wait to see him fit and firing. Can't see the team lining up as selected though.

I really like the fact that trying to guess the Round 1 team is harder than it has been for a while. Here goes. Backs: Bartram, Frawley, Rivers, Garland, T MacDonald, Blease, Mids: Trengove, Jones, Gysbert, Moloney, Bate, Bail Ruck: Jamar, Forwards: Green, Watts, Howe, Clark, Petterd, Bench: Davey, Magner, Martin Sub: Dunn In my perfect team: LJ as a forward - Green to the bench Sylvia into the midfield - Magner to Casey Strauss as a backman - Tom MacDonald to Casey Tapscott into the midfield - Bate to Casey Davey as sub - Dunn to Casey

I reckon the commentary has been good. The interviews before the game and during half time were a bit cringe worthy but the actual game commentary is fine. GWS Curtly Hampson will be a gun. All the silky skills with a bit of grunt Townsend. Really tough and reminds me a bit of Jordie McKenzie in the way he is so dogged. Ward, Junior, Cornes, David, Rhys Palmer all doining really well. Backline is good Forward line is non-existent. Swans Some good signs from some younger players. Lewis Jetta tore GWS apart Goodes is a superstar, even when he plays an average game. However, if this is the best they can do against GWS in the first game, I reckon the Swans could take a big dive this year. Tim Mohr looking strong and composed - did the Dees ever seriously consider him? I have 4 GWS players in my Supercoach team who have all done well

RIP Jimmy Stynes. I give thanks for your sincerity, your warmth, your glowing example of humanity, and your commitment to the welfare of others. I've met a lot of people - leaders and followers - from many walks of human life. But few demonstrate the instrinsic goodness that Jimmy had. Even when his life circumstances were horrible he radiated a goodness that few people ever reach. No, he wasn't "perfect" but he made it possible to believe that people can be good, kind and generous. He didn't teach life, he modelled Life with a capital "L". Our club, city and nation is the lesser for his passing.

This is harder to gauge than it has been for many years. We have not seen anything like our best 22 in any one preseason game so far. I reckon we will be 3-8 or 4-7 for the first half of the season, and then a strong finish with 6 or 7 seven wins. 9th or 10th probably. However, if the gameplan kicks in earlier we could be a lot stronger than this.

Gerard Whately by a mile. He is a professional commentator and it shows. Bruce was great once - too sugary now. That horrible interview with Dane Swan at the Brownlow last year. Shudder!! Dennis Commetti is still the b est of the TV guys but I also miss Sandy Roberts. For pure enterntainment, Rex Hunt. Yeah, I often had no idea who had it or where it ws going but Rex, Huddo and Robert Walls were a great trio. And I also wish Kerry O'Keefe had played footy. His cricket commentary is very good when he sticks to actual commentary.

I really liked the presentation of this video - I reckon I will try and watch all of them as they review each team. It was great to see two sport journos simply talking, without trying to be stupid, without trying to promote their own presonal profile, and without any egocentric predictions. Their insight into where we are was right on the money. Actually, the way they described us was about the same as I described Carlton about 3 years ago. The midfield youngsters with potential will begin to emerge as genuinely capable midfielders and then our win/loss ratio will improve.

Sorry, Macca, but I disagree. I don't reckon we lost it all over the ground. We matched the Hawks in contested ball so we had our chances of winning a hard ball and getting it into our hands. First - in our poise and disposal we shot ourselves in the foot. Second - we could not find a way to stall their accurate kicking and possession game.

I haven't watched the game yet, but it sure has been an interesting read here on Demonland. If many of us reflect on our main frustrations over the past 3 - 4 years, one has been our intensity at the contest and our lack of ability to physically stay in a contest. Against the Hawks last night we matched them in contested possession. In the midst of a big loss I reckon many are missing what a big achievement this is by Neeld adn the coaches. Think about it - we matched a top four side in contested possession! Once we can maintain this new standard of playing the contested ball well, we can then begin to develop the poise and polish as we spread and deliver forward. Our defence is still our strength and I like the way we set up forward. The coaching effort has to now bring some class and poise to our midfield. Grimes, Trengove, Jones (at times and it gets better each week), Watts all have this poise and class, and I reckon by about round 5 - 6, it will begin to emerge. Yes, at this stage, we definitely lack the A-grade midfielder but we are not too far away. One step at a time.

I want to get a good look at Kel Lawrence as a possible small forward and am glad to hear he is training and ready to have a run.

I am not too worried about Jack at the moment but he does need to show more urgency. However, I have just watched the Tony Modra highlights video on the AFL website and I want Jack to attack the ball in the air like Modra did. No, I am not after mark of the year each week but I forgot Modra's manic, confident, aggressive attack on the ball in the air. If Jack can attack the ball in air like this and not hang back, our forward line could be very dangerous.

Good thread and I remember well most of the players. I immediatley think of the Crpws 97/98 teams. They were no full of A-graders they simply had an amazing team ethic. Even the outside players like McLeod (what a rolls royce this bloke was) ran hard off the ball to help the team set up in both defence, attack, and through the middle. The Dees team listed above never seemed to gel. They just turned up to play footy, had a beer and went home until Tuesday when Barrassi would rant and rave at them again. Also, the club beneath the team were totally resistant of the professional era that was upon them. They wanted Barassi to shape a 1950's team, when Barassi huimslef was trying to lead them in a different mindset.

I have just watched the DeeTV interview with Max Gawn and I have a problem question that needs answering. I know there can be physical differences between brother and sister, or sibling to sibling - with one being tall the other short, one being fair skinned one being tanned etc.... but is it humanly possible that Ellie McKenzie is really Jordie's sister?

AFL Judd Ablett Franklin Pendlebury Cox MFC Grimes Frawley Jamar Trengove Moloney

None of us like what HWMNBN did in taking the money and running out on the club who gave him his chance. But Jeesh, we need to take some chill-pills here boys. I only listened to the Hawks v GWS game on radio and it sounded like he was in the play a fair bit and doing OK. Let it go! He is gone and he will probably be an OK footballer. Unfortunately for his sake I don't think he will reach a high level until the 5th or 6th year because he will be playing alongside other developing boys. He has basically stuffed up what could have been an elite career but he chose the $.

This is a really good thread and has got me thinking. Most of us would remember that period of weeks when we found out that David Neitz would have to retire due to a potentially serious neck injury. When he stepped down we had Junior McDonald, Green, Davey and Rivers. But when it came down the crunch the only person of experience, with on-field ticker and the ability to represent the club in public was Junior McDonald. What I am getting to is this: it is in the last 2 - 3 years of Neale Daniher's reign that the leadership development stalled. Once Neitz stepped away there was Junior, then a huge gap to anyone else. With all due respect to Rivers, Davey and Green none of them inspire people to follow them - at least not from the point of view od supporters. Further to this, Bailey demonstrated a mindset that he was coaching boys rather than men and so the leadership development in his years was also basically zero. And this is one of the main reasons MFC went after Neil Craig and why Todd Viney was retained - they can develop leaders. From what we see and hear about the club we now have a decent leadership development program in place and the right people to lead it through. I can't tell you my relief when Grimes was appointed Captain. I reckon he is a beauty. With him, Trengove and Jones involved we are at last on the right track after 5 years or so of leadership development stagnation. At least I hope so!

The more I reflect on the last two week's NAB cup matches the more I am convinced that clubs are using them as extended intraclub games. They practice certain things such a positioning, discipline, set-up at specific points of the ground. The Dees hugged the boundary line last weekend and I am beginning to think this was a discipline and structure test. Could they follow this instruction for a whole game? They also bombed it mercileesly into the forward 50 - did the forward players do as instructed? So I hope they practice three things against the Colliwobblers: How to bring the ball out of our defensive 50 if Pies employ the full press How to spread from a contest without leaving us exposed to the one over the back if we turn it over Our skills at full pace. Apart from this - no more injuries, please!!!

If we are talking champion players like Judd, Ablett jnr, Matthews, Hird, Voss etc.. no we do not have one on our list who is showing that kind of potential. But as has been mentioned by billy2803, the last two premiers have no had no players of that quality. However, I believe that Trengove, Gysberts and Bail have the greatest up-side, and I want to see more of Blease and Tapscott. We have ther bread-and-butter players already in Moloney, Jones and Sylvia (who should be an elite midfielder by now) but we need some class coming out of stoppages, or running the lines and breaking forward. Our desperate need is a Burgoyne/Pendlebury type player who is tallish and whose skills in traffic rarely let them down. We do not have this quality on our list currently as far as I can see. Also, Josh Tynan has shown a bit of class and courage in the intra club, then the NAB Cup. It could be 2 years away for him but he might have a touch of class. Anyone know what his disposal is like under pressure?

It looks like bruise-free footy might be a horrible memory now but everyone please take a valium. There is no way that Neeld will fill the midfield with only grunt players. We can't fit all of Couch, Magner, Nicho, Moloney, Jones, Sylvia and Bate, into a side that also needs Trengove, Gysberts, Bail, Blease and maybe even Grimes also as a midfielder. Grunt is important, especially considering 2011 but it can never be everything. We need outside runners like Davey, Morton, Blease, Kel Lawrence. Just sit and watch the next 2 NAB Cup games and the preferred Needl team makeup will begin to emerge.