La Dee-vina Comedia

Personally, I think the team was doing a pre-season for 2013 for the whole of 2012. I believe Neeld realised early on that 2012 was going to be a write off due to all sorts of issues (fitness, learning a new gameplan, etc) and used the year accordingly.

So, everyone now thinks Dunn is safe?

But can he kick on his right?

Excellent work Roger. But you did leave out: defence (emphasis on first syllable) - defence (emphasis on last syllable) playing defence (as pronounced above) - defending

Umm, no. And I'm using the name under false pretences as I've never read the book. However, I understand it's intended to be a comedy about finding redemption and eventually leaving hell (the inferno). Not really dissimilar to watching Melbourne.

I'm a fan, but I'm not sure he's being played to the best advantage. Given his running ability I'm surprised he's playing half forward flank. I'd rather see him on ball, playing half back flank or back pocket. And I don't think his kicking is as bad as one would believe from reading the above posts. His tackling, on the other hand, needs refinement. He gives too many clumsy free kicks away by either tackling high or in the back. But at least he tackles. As has been said above, he has all the grunt, desire and fitness. He just needs to work on his skills. Everything I've just written above (except the bit about playing HFF) could have been written about Nathan Jones three years ago. And look where he is now.

Fascinating. In essence, Rules III, VI and X are still basically the same today with Rule IX only modified by the addition of the out on the full rule which I guess was introduced some time in the 1970s. Plus hundreds of additional rules added essentially to stop coaches from exploiting the rules.

"they got us on the spread" = we aren't fit enough "it's important we stick to our structures" = we aren't individually skilled enough, so let's hope if we stand in the right spot the ball will come to us "he's a quality person" = (1) what he makes up for in his lack of skill are his nice manners or (2) he's stuffed up this time but hopefully he'll learn his lesson if we repeat often enough that he's actually an OK guy "wow wee" = BT's vocabulary isn't broad enough to find another phrase

Thanks. And if I recall correctly he retired from football early to concentrate on his medical career.

Conversely, I'm not sure the manager would be doing his job properly if he didn't make at least one call to each of the 17 other clubs to see whether there was any interest in having a more detailed conversation. It's what I would expect my manager to do if I were in Moloney's position.

Anyone know who the last doctor or medical student was who played AFL at the top level? It's interesting that footballers today can study law (Stef Martin, Luke Ball, Chris Dawes and I presume others) but apparently not medicine...unless I'm mistaken and there is one on a list somewhere.

And he'll be at the required level of fitness. And just out of curiosity, being a dual premiership player means he missed out on one. Was he injured or just unable to get into a very good side?

I'm not quite sure of your point here. Perhaps I've misinterpreted what you've written but if you think somehow that Brent Croswell was an ordinary payer, think again. He was an absolute star and won four premierships (two each with Carlton and North Melbourne).

While what you say may be true, I don't think Watts actually played the loose man role. In the Essendon game for example, he played on the small forwards such as Jetta, and ran off them to make a loose man when the opportunity arose. That is, he spread when necessary - something that was generally lacking from most players during the year. That was the game for which the umpires awarded him 3 votes. Many people have mistakenly assumed he was playing a loose man that evening.

Sorry if this has been covered elsewhere, but if no other club makes Moloney an offer has Melbourne FC made any public statements about whether or not it would offer him a new contract? Or will he just be let go and I guess end up in the draft?

Do they? I thought I read somewhere that Essendon now has the worst facilities of all Melbourne-based teams which is why they are proceeding with a new development in Tullamarine.

Did things improve in the second half? If so, maybe it's better than watching the Dees.

I doubt you'd see the footy in HD either (but I agree that the football should be broadcast in HD) because of the ball blending into the background. And it's made worse when the camera and the ball are both moving. Sometimes I only know its a goal because the ad starts. I certainly don't actually see the goal itself being scored.

As well as culture, the swans player have the 'trust' in each other that Mick Malthouse referred to earlier in the year when he said Melbourne players didn't have it. That trust is a bit about culture but a lot about skill. Culture will have you wanting to believe; knowing that your teammate has the necessary skills will give you the confidence to do so. In short, fix both and don't just rely on one to fix the other.

Look at it this way. A player could be forgiven for not trying so hard when his team is 78 points down. So what he did was even more remarkable. [Footnote: I don't actually subscribe to this theory.]

i know this thread is about rumours and therefore not to be taken too seriously. But is this even possible? Can a player be traded after only one year? I thought there was some rule about initial two year contracts for players being drafted for the first time.

Boy, you sure know how to hold a grudge!

So if we reframe the question to be what ONE thing would you like each player to improve upon during this preseason it seems that for Jack Watts the consensus view is lift intensity. And here's a few others (if they stay). For Jeremy Howe - practise set shots for goal; for Aaron Davey and Matthew Bate - learn to kick on the right foot; for Sam Blease and Jordan Gysberts - improve aerobic capacity; for James Frawley - improve awareness

Ian Johnson was on the board of the MFC for many years at the same time as he was General Manager at GTV-9. I can't see any reason why Russel can't do both if he wants to. And hopefully he'll get the Ten Network re-interested in bidding for AFL rights next time they fall due. Competition between free-to-air providers makes for a better product.

Given our luck/recruiting skills, we'd probably end up with Nathan Ablett, Jason Cloke and whichever Selwood twin it is who has retired.