Samsara

Thanks mate. Bate has been subbed in.

Where is this info from? Maric has been a real positive this pre-season, great stuff!

Just about to post this. Mark Stevens must have a soft spot for Melbourne....

It's not about position specifically, it is more about the size and mobility which does play into it. You can say that this shouldn't be the case, but look at recent history in terms of taller/KPP players developing versus smaller midfielders. In any case, I do agree with you that he does need to show something this year, but I was merely saying that I would at least give him until mid-season before we get too carried away.

The whole club has had an average pre-season. I liked what I saw of Watts in the first round against Port and Adelaide. I do want to see him lift of course, so the suggestions here that he needs to show more are warranted. I would be waiting until the end of the year though before any conclusions are made. If his form at the end of the season has shifted little from current form, then I would be a bit concerned. Midfield players are always quicker so show their worth as well, so I wouldn't be comparing Watts to Scully/Trengrove. Watts is still a better choice ahead of Nick Nat at the momemt simply based on the fact that Nick Nat needs more surgery (again, he is young and a KPP so needs time).

Collingwood offer a three game membership which is affordably and no doubt boosts their membership numbers a lot. I live about 75kms from the G' so am not eligble for country membership yet will probably only go to about 5 games during the year. A 3 or 5 game membership would be great for me. That said, I still might get the 7 game basic membership.

Hawthorn also have a strong squad in, only really missing Hodge. This will be a good test of where we are at. Unfortunately, I reckon they will beat us by about 7-10 goals.

I didn't realise OP was so well managed now, so thanks for the information. Good to hear.

I am getting concerned about McKenzie. A great player and OP is an often career stalling injury.

I reckon Melbourne will finish between 7th and 12th. We have a good draw and there are 13-14 games which you could envisage us to win if we play well. Thing is, we don't always play well so I would expected around 10-14 wins this year for Melbourne.

Bailey has stated that a near full strength squad (missing the obvious injured players) will play against Hawthorn Friday night. This will give a better indication of where we are at against really good opposition.

I'll still wait until end of Round 1 before I pass any sort of judgement. We always lose practise matches, so the last two weeks have come as little surprise. We should account for Sydney at the 'G in Round 1 comfortably. If we lose this game, I would start to be a little worried (but not panicking) about our progress. At the moment, getting some games into younger/more inexperienced players and getting through the game without any injuries is more important then the scoreboard. Maric is going in my SC team based on his efforts so far. Very cheap too.

<iframe src ="http://video.heraldsun.com.au/embed/1828161081/Scully-a-Demon-for-life?player=narrow" width="330" height="330" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no"><p><a href="http://video.heraldsun.com.au/1828161081/Scully-a-Demon-for-life">VIDEO: Scully a Demon for life</a></p></iframe> Sheahan has had a change of heart, despite his so called impeccable source.

I hope Scully never peruses this forum It is difficult to come to terms with decisions that affect you emotionally, but are way out of your control. Until Scully is wearing GWS jumper next to Sheedy smiling for the parasites (media), then we can vent our anger at the great injustice.

Two thumbs up to the above post.

Interesting perspective. Would possibly mean we have this same situation next year!

I guess there is merit here, and it is this sort of thinking that still makes one think he might leave. At the end of the day, Scully has much more bargaining power than Gysberts, and this management group might see signing Gysberts ASAP as a big positive whilst waiting is the best option for Scully, considering his position.

Melbourne is going to be a champion team again soon, with out without Scully. Let's just keep positive and wait for the end of the year when the kid might have a better idea of what he wants to do. For now, he is a Demon, and he needs (and deserves) the club, including the supporters, to fully support him.

I can understand how Scully would be sick of it. There has been too much media attention from supposed journalist who wouldn't know how to string a decent article together. It does make me believe that he hasn't signed with anybody though, as there would be no use in GWS stirring up this much media frenzy if Tom had supposedly given them a heads of agreement. If that was the case, GWS would have just shut up and wait for the season to finish.

I still think having a press conference is a positive thing in terms of him staying. I doubt we'll get anything official and we are likely to still have to wait until end of year, but if he had already had a verbal agreement with GWS, then it would be unlikely for him hold a press conference.

Mark Steven's also twitted that Melbourne will hold press conference before our next practice match. Press Conference + Contract Talks = we should know something very soon. I would say he is staying.

Speculation will intensify leading into the crucial meeting that Scully is leaning strongly toward signing a new deal with Melbourne and turning his back on a massive contract with new AFL outfit Greater Western Sydney. Just made my day.

I reckon we will end on 10-12 this year. A slight improvement over last year, which is what you want. The draw we have is good though, so so 11-11 or 12-10 is probably within reach if we play some good footy. In terms of development, it will be a really good year.

This result is probably actually a good thing, as it will be a wake up call to the players that they have a lot of work to do and that getting sucked into media hype is a dangerous game. If we had of won this game, the hype would have gone through the roof and you could envisage a Carlton like performance where they won the pre-season cup but went on to win the wooden spoon. Our games against Adelaide and Port showed that we can play some great footy, but tonight was a reminder that we can also put in a shocker. Consistency is the key and it will come as players develop and get more experience playing together. A couple of quiet weeks of low key practice matches is a good build up to round 1 IMO.

I am new to this site, so that comment makes little sense. And even before tonight I though we were way of top 4 and not a certainty for finals. We are a young (and exciting) side, but we still have a lot of work to do as a team, especially in terms of development of young players. I am very much looking forward to season, and I only said hibernate as I have no interest in the NAB cup when Melbourne is out.