PaulRB

I think we are in a phase where Neeld has to keep cycling players with crap form out and the VFL best in until the performance improves. I though all the INs (Bail, Evans, Tappy, Jetta and Padersen) were OK and should hold their spots. With at least another 3 putting their hands up to be dropped.

An achievement would be for the team to win a quarter of footy. Yet to happen this year. From there they would build some confidence that winning another quarter is possible... Like our INs, as they'll thrive if it's wet. Bail, Tapscott, Jetta and Evans, all mature, solid and with some leg. Not beyond us, but we'll need some major performance improvements.

Caro has a go at Cam...! Yawn

Agree, Craig would be good to speak to. There are alot of conflicting lines about Melbourne being thrown around, such as: list is too weak Coach is no good Admin are no good etc... However the relationship between these perceived flaws are overlooked. For example, Can a coach be successful if the list is too weak? Would changing the Admin impact on the quality of the list or output of the Coach? Etc... Seems everyone with an axe to grind re some aspect of the club is using these two crappy performances to justify their opinions... Tedious short term media driven dribble in my book.

This may be a dumb question but does the MCC actually run any successful sporting teams currently?

The Henny Penny's running around saying sack the ... get the AFL in, smell of death... etc, are yet to offer a coherent set of solutions to turn this around. we have set out on a path articulated by the FD and signed onto by the board. Current data (25 goal loss) is telling us that we still have a way to go before this plan bears fruit, or we have the wrong plan. I prefer to believe and have faith in the FD and board to lead us out of the wilderness i.e. option 1. However, if as many here would argue we are looking at Option 2 then we need a new plan as ditching the current plan won't solve anything unless we can come up with a better plan...

I had the latest strain of Flu (type B according to blood test) in the US a couple of months back, night sweats, lost appetite and 5 kg. I too hope this is the reason... PS. Pride left the room a while back RR

Have to bring Gawn in given he was in the best at casey. Jamar was woeful, giving us zip in the middle.

Hilarious, beards are a privilege for winners!! The Cats should be looking like ZZ Top by now.

With no direct exposure to how the MFC were measuring the Pre-season, other than their comments and reports... winning games was not the KPI they were working on. In retrospect it probably should have been. My point is most who watched the pre-season commented on the increased performance, energy and levels of fitness and professionalism... and the shock being felt by the club about these two losses is that this improvement has not flowed into the season on game day.

What a load of media driven shisen this "club in crisis" crud is. Two weeks ago we were enjoying our best pre-season in years with BP and increased levels reached across the board. Two weeks later after two woeful losses, "we are in crisis"? WTF We were never going to beat the Dons and gelling half a dozen new players into a team that only won four games last season will take time. And guess what, it is taking time! I'm glad there are wiser heads running our club than those that buy into and fan the "club in crisis" line.

Agree. And while all the bitching going on by Melbourne fans is understandable, you only have to watch the post game interviews with Grimes and Neeld to realise they (the players and coaches) are hurting more then we are or could be. So we saddle up again.

Every Auction needs a couple of bidders to up the price. We can say to GC and the other Vic clubs we'd take Caddy for Pick 13 (if GC play ball on JV). This would mean for Caddy to go elsewhere that the club would need to offer GC batter than Pick 13. GC get a good deal for a so so player.

I'd pass on Caddy for the sole reason that he wanted to go ONLY to the Dons last year and made too big a fuss about it all for a player with few credits in the AFL player bank... Over valued and we'd be likely to pay too much if we tried to out muscle other clubs ... for a so-so midfielder whose value has diminished since he was drafted, i.e Drafted at pick 7 & now struggling to justify pick 13.

Hold on. Gold Coast get Tippet for pick 13 and a second rounder, and we get Caddy for pick 13 (and some change). I'd prefer GC's deal for Tippet.

To use a PK line, Caddy is "all tip and no iceberg".

Caddy hits me as a young player who has done little more than others of his year, but generated enough headlines that he is known to all and thus assumed to be better than he is. Bit like our Tom.

He may be OOC but not a FA so he goes where GC trade him to.

not active - http://www.afl.com.au/tabid/208/default.aspx?newsid=131093 Yet still tradable.

To do the trade you gotta have the picks and the Cats (pick 15+) and Bombers (pick 30+) don't. So who are they sending to GC in exchange for Caddy?

I think your are objecting to a practice (loose Journalism) that has always gone on. The difference is now we can track their "journalistic" sources via the internet, where previously they'd be getting quotes and ideas over a beer at their local. The internet and time pressure on journos to produce more with less time, make the shift in sources and journalistic practices inevitable. Not sure it equates to s decline (it may), but it is also more transparent...

I think a journo using a club discussion board to get the pulse of what the collective of Melb obsessed fans think is wise and more likely to reflect some truth (if such a thing exists) than alot of the traditional alternative sources, even former players, etc ... There is alot of research that collaborative groups generate superior results to individuals in most circumstances.

I think Cale and Jack are being developed as our rebounding/switch/ kick to boundary line contest/ kick long options and Cale muffed it. The sting of humiliation is a more powerful teacher than a private video correction exercise two days later... Cale will grow or wither, I hope the former.

I was at the game and when Morton turned it over, approx 30,000 MFC fan collectively howled/cried/moaned. Cale knew he'd just humiliated himself. Being pulled and having the coach give him one is about Neeld clearly establishing standards and Cale dealing with failing to live up to these standards. Standards that every successful elite sporting team has. Babying him or having a go at MN for being too tough on him is OK for boys, but not for men, and certainly not for an experienced professional man as Cale is aspiring to be.

Cale was not alone in costly turnovers, Jack Grimes had a patch too. I liked Cale's game up to the clanger. I think he is developing well under Neeld. However, he still has a way to travel to fulfil his potential.