Pitchy

Great news! His parents must be very proud ...

Cant believe anyone would even mention Casey!! He is the most uniquely talented player ever to wear the red and blue. Stick him inside F50 until he retires don't bench him after every goal! Let his offensive play shine in whatever way he chooses to - no one can teach what he has. And just encourage the defensive side of his game to develop. A combination of Melbourne player mismanagement and community/private turmoil (in that order) combined to see us lose a rare talent. If we have chance to get him back, which I dont think we really do, then for god's sake - let him play 4 quarters of AFL football once a week.

Nice one Dees2014. Without a doubt the core of the rotteness was meddlesome Schwab though. His policies killed the spirit of our playing group; sacking leaders, making them tank, getting in Neeld to smash their confidence and force the vestiges of player resistance out the door. Neeld was like a Frankenstein though, once he was let loose he wreaked havoc in ways his creator couldn't have foresaw. We were a competitive unit before Schwab won the civil war against Bailey. We beat Freo by 94 points only a few weeks before he was sacked.

Better than his dad cos he can kick well.

Who is the Melbourne player who ranks highest in scoring involvements this year? No doubt Aaron Davey would be close. Especially when you factor in % time on ground. He is the most lethal player in our team, 10 touches from him is worth 20 from most other players. One more year, see what a decent coach can get out of him.

I wanted Eade to coach us after Bailey was sacked. For some reason he was seen as old hat, but boy did he do well with the lists he had! He is a coach that loves positive attacking football. Thought players like Liam Jurrah would flourish under a positive coach. Pity we had to waste 2 years on a dud and lose all that talent before appointing him.

Great topic and good luck with the research. Would be good to begin the analysis at the last point the organisation could be considered healthy or at least competitive. I would argue that was our last finals tilt under Daniher. Standard change is evolutionary - young players replace old. Failures started with the end of Danners time.. - Danners didn't blood enough new players. - Bailey had too big a task - a complete rebuild. Luckily he identified a good mature leader in James Macdonald - made him captain. - Sacked James Macdonald! The plan was obviously to fast track evolutionary change with young blood. Somehow they forgot that 'culture' is an important transmission in the cycle. - Deliberately lost games to put the evolutionary change on steroids with high picks. This was another cultural disaster. - Young picks went sour or were duds, some good talent. Big wins and big losses. - 186 - evolutionary change declared unsuccessful and a Revolution was needed. Bailey sacked, leaders Green, Moloney etc. newtered, new hardline coaches and approach. - Without pointing out all of his faults again, Neeld turned out to be a terrible choice to lead the club in a Revolution. Appoints 20-30 game players as captains. Poor coaching and player management all round. Lost more playing talent than we gained. Slid down the ladder well below where we were under Bailey. - Neeld tries to re-engage an evolutionary approach by drafting elder players, these are mostly poor players. This fails too. We go even further backwards. - Club declared unable to look after itself, goes into administration - We now have the worst of both worlds. No leaders, no direction, no development, no coach, no bosses. And we have to try believe in yet another round of structural renewal. LOOKING AHEAD... As a natural optimist!, I believe in a Peter Jackson rebuild. One constant through all the disaster outlined above was Cameron Schwab. He is gone and now we have a clear minded CEO to bring people of substance in and get this grand old dame back on her feet. We have AFL money, we will have a priority pick, we have passionate supporters and fans and we will rise again. I am ready to get back on board and follow the next coach through the turmoil and trials and watch our team grow again. As long as we all get behind a healthy new vision and direction, which is there now, there can be real joy in watching a young team develop. Some of my favorite football memories were of watching a young Shane Wowoedin learn how to play by tagging Hird and Kouta and doing ok! He eventually won a brownlow. The Gold Coast Suns are one of the more compelling teams to watch. We can be compelling and enthusiastic like that as of next year. I for one am really looking forward to it!

Can't judge a player under Neeld. Players I think would have continued well with the MFC if Bailey had stayed and Neeld was not such a terrible demotivating coach (and Schwab hadn't been so vindictive); Morton Gysberts Jurrah Wona Rivers Moloney Petterd Green I honestly think this to be the case. This is why we need a priority pick. With the players above we are competing with Nth this week. The perceptions of these players under Neeld can not be taken seriously. I saw enough in all the above to think they had what it took to be on our list. Morton was frustrating as hell but he had talent and with a good coach will move forward. Players who I think would not have made it regardless; Lucas Cook Matthew Bate Jamie Bennell etc.

Perceptions under the Neeld regime didn't necessarily reflect the reality or potential of a player. I am sure he works hard. Repeatedly been in the best in the VFL and has been first emergency a few times. Good midfield Nths. B.N. (Before Neeld) I think he was well and truly on his way. Struggled with a back injury for most of his one season under Neeld. Never got a game.

Anyone think we should try to get Jordie Gysberts back in the fold for cheap? Sure he as struggled to break into the top notch Nth Midfield but is a thin tall mid who will take a bit of time. PROS: - Had 30 touch games in his first year - especially memorable was the debut at skilled v Cats. We simply dont have mids who win the ball that much. - Silky kicking - tall mid 191? We dont have one of them. Takes a little longer to develop. - top draft pick so people know he has talent. - Should be quite cheap! CONS - May have burnt some bridges. But now Neeld has gone we should welcome everyone we can back. - May not be up to it.

Fitzy needs to stay, his upside is potentially enormous. Personally, I would trade the stiff-handed trier C. Dawes ahead of him any day of the week. But would far prefer neither were traded. We have so many list changes that need to be made already, I wouldn't be selling off any of the good players we actually have.

Oh RobbieF sad, and partly true. We do have many players who wont ever be good enough. But we also have a nucleus that will be excellent with 7-8 really solid additions. Unfortunately the 6-8 needed are all midfielders and its hard to come up with gun mids out of nowhere. We do need a priority pick for that reason alone I think. If priority picks still exist then I can't really imagine a situation where a club might need one more than us. It's been drubbing after drubbing this year. Bulldogs probably need one too. GWS are developing young guns and will be fine.

Based on what I saw today, Our defence can be there in winning premiership team. Garland, Frawley, T Mac, Grimes, even Terlich did a bloody stellar job under immense pressure. Our forwardline is jam packed with talent and will definitely be ominous in years to come. Our midfield is far and away the very worst in the competition. Some young talent but wow, so inept at the moment. So really I'll add to the chorus here - draft mids, draft mids, draft mids....

Thanks for a considered response. Yes he does have a number of good qualities and has proven a worthy addition to the team thus far and will be into the future. But as a distinctly average player he should not be immune from trade talk is all I'm saying. Let alone people being attacked for even mentioning it.

Courageous discussion there Curry. And from the safety of the MAJORITY! Anyway, since when did Chris Dawes become some untouchable Demon hero?? The Dawes trade idea is not a shout-down bad idea. The trade would be stymied by the fact that no club in their right mind would want him for the length of time or the amount of money we have paid him.

Wow, strong response in favour of Dawes! Shows the power of his rhetoric. I think everyone was crying out for a strong voice during our darkest hours and he provided that so there is a lot of love for Dawesy here. I am very surprised at the rubbishing of Fat Tony for this thread. Time to play devils advocate... * Dawes speaks well, leads well... plays average. * Identical stats as Brad Miller across his career. 12 disposals 1 goal forwards. http://stats.rleague.com/afl/stats/players/C/Chris_Dawes.html http://stats.rleague.com/afl/stats/players/B/Brad_Miller.html * Played a handful of games for us so far... 2 or 3 of them were terrible. * Talked up Neeldy with great enthusiasm when Neeld was obviously a dud. * Wasn't required at his former club because they are a top club. Anyone who puts him above Aaron Black, Jack Darling or almost any other key forward at any other club is somewhat deluded. Having said that I do like him and think we should keep him if possible because we need leaders like him and the depth is great. But definitely should look to trade him if a big offer is made, especially as it clear up salary cap to keep real stars in the future. And I should have posted this here instead of the Jack Fitz thread... "I am surprised that so many put Dawes ahead of Fitzy in medium-long term planning. Dawes has reached his potential and has averages out at a little over 1 goal and 13 touches in a game. Fitz has matched and even exceeded that in his first few games and is only just getting started. You heard Brereton and Dunstall talking about Fitzy's upside. I'm sure they never looked at Chris Dawes in the same way. Dawes is a sound footballer nothing more. I would think that Hogan, Watts, Fitz, Clark would all be ahead of Dawes this time next year. Dawes very good for leadership and depth obviously, despite being drastically overpaid for that role."

I am surprised that so many put Dawes ahead of Fitzy in medium-long term planning. Dawes has reached his potential and has averages out at a little over 1 goal and 13 touches in a game. Fitz has matched and even exceeded that in his first few games and is only just getting started. You heard Brereton and Dunstall talking about Fitzy's upside. I'm sure they never looked at Chris Dawes in the same way. Dawes is a sound footballer nothing more. I would think that Hogan, Watts, Fitz, Clark would all be ahead of Dawes this time next year. Dawes very good for leadership and depth obviously, despite being drastically overpaid for that role.

It's the decision to 'take on' the tackler that was my main beef. As soon as the Sydney player chose to enter the tackle, which they often did, it is their responsibility to make a clean disposal. Prior opportunity is forfeited when you choose to take on the tackler. Too many times they would embrace the tackle, faff around for a while, then not dispose properly and it was play on. Really terrible umpiring and cost us a lot on the scoreboard. Was a real pressure valve for them. It was funny that much of Sydney's good play resulted in them kicking points but many of their goals were scored by poor umpiring decisions or simple Dee turnovers.

Love this post. It's like the players have just had a strait jacket removed from them. You can almost see the young blokes exploring again; trying ideas out, learning for next time. This is development not only as an individual but as members of a team. The click could happen surprisingly quickly with such a talented young team.

Loved the way at half time he went to the senior players and told them to calm down and not celebrate a thing! Took control of the groups attitude. He is a tough customer with a lot of intent in his eyes at the moment. Col seems a gentle guy by nature but there is a huge competitive beast in there. He doesn't want his team pushed around anymore. Love it.

I remember reading our team on paper before the match and not knowing one reason why they couldn't not match it with the Swans. Especially considering a similar group dismantled them not long earlier. Mark Neeld was trying incredibly unsuccessfully to employ a gameplan that sucked anyway. A gameplan, that even if done well, would see us wasting the set of individual traits on our list and still losing anyway. From that game on I was waiting for the next Melbourne coach.

Yep I was sus on him too. Funny looking kick, missing marks, tall and fast but thats no good if you can't kick or catch right? How wrong I was!! His growth rate is exponential. 10 games in and he is now a one grab, clean banana kicking mobile giant. How good will he be by his 20th game??? Love it! Go Fitz!

Really agree with that end bit. Neeld should have backed himself to harness what was obviously a talented but physically weak young footballer into a good senior player. Instead, he probably looked at the GPS compared to Sellar and thought, 'we have to keep Sellar, look at his GPS!'.

Garland is fitter, faster, and most importantly, becoming the more mature, 100 game player that Bailey used to dream of. Perhaps we have forgotten what it's like to see a player actually reach their potential but it's great to see in Col. Really fantastic actually. I believe the condition of perpetually waiting for a player to reach full potential is called Sylviitis?

Our initiative is back! Watts especially looked like he would develop out of the game. He was trying things out. Looked a little weak at times, did some good things at times. Will look at the vids and learn for next week. That's how you develop, play with some instinct and see what works. We dominated for periods. We played with some daring. We were almost fun to watch.