Jaded No More

What are you on about? McLean has been our most consistent ball winner all season. He was poor in Round 1 and 2, but has been in the top 3-4 every week since. Like we've said again and again, he is leading the midfield at 22, which is a huge ask. Even better, his performance yesterday was without the assistance of Jones who had just 4 possessions all afternoon. And McLean, unlike many of his teammates, played well ALL match and has played well in all of our previous 4 losses. Of course it's easier to hit targets when your teammates are around to support you, but few work as hard as he does all day. p.s.- played pretty well against the toughest opposition of all in Round 3, didn't he?

Rivals the Dogs game in 05 and the Saints final in 06. The atmosphere was brilliant. You know the game is great when you're high-fiving strangers. Even the trumpeter got in the action. Mind you, when he finished blowing his horn and the siren still didn't go, I was having nervous breakdowns. The longest quarter I think I've ever set through!

I wonder how many people will bring up Junior's horrific decision to punch the ball to a Freo player, instead of taking the mark? Didn't think so. Garland was terrific, and is coming along nicely. Sometimes all a young player needs is some belief from his coach.... <_<

Are you sure you're not confusing Carroll with Rivers? Carroll was terrible, and poorly positioned time and time again. Watching the replay, Bailey apperantly give him a big spray at quarter time and he started on the bench in the second. He got pushed aside far too easily and kept playing from behind. He is a goer, but he just does not have the defensive brain to be a really great key defender. The sooner we find a replacement for him, the better. And as a big non-fan of Jamar, he played the game of his life yesterday and quite possibly won us the match in the second half. He learnt quickly how to play Aaron 'Goalpost' Sandilands, and got physically involved in the clearances. When he was rucking, we won the clearances with relative ease. Fantastic turnaround after playing quite possibly the worst game ever played by a league footballer two weeks ago.

Pavlich is a gun of the highest order being wasted away in a team that has done nothing but humiliate itself since coming into this competition. I would give my left arm to have him in our team. Garland was great yesterday. He had a huge job on Farmer, and apart from one silly defensive punch which sort of gave Farmer a free goal, he played with purpose and dash. Some of his kicking was surprisingly great. As for Miller, how can anyone say he can't kick?? He kicked 3 goals, 2 from set-shots, one from a snap around the body and hit numerous players on the chest, including Aussie in the dying minutes of the match. No he isn't, nor will he ever be Matthew Pavlich, but with some self-belief and confidence he can be a very important part of our side. He just needs to back himself a little more.

Gave us the best years of his career (and what years they were, he was a magician!). Completely lost the plot when he left to play for the Dockers, and is now nothing more than a sad little man trying to impress and failing miserably.

Suffer all those Melbourne supporters who couldn't be bothered turning up. Suffer Jeff "I'm a [censored]" Farmer Suffer Chris Tarrant Suffer all you Miller haters Suffer everyone who dismissed Garland's future GO MELBOURNE!!!

Well done to everyone who signed up last night! Yet another hilarious Jared Rivers production from the night: http://bigpondvideo.com/MelbourneTV/47179 Robbo telling us the players have to buy their own balls... if that's not the most depressing thing you've ever heard, I don't know what is.

West Coast are after Daniel Rich from what I understand. They need a replacement for Judd/Cousins, and they already have a gun ruckman.

Generally, when you quote someone, it is the person you quote who you are replying to. I wrote much the same thing on another thread, because I believe that a lot of supporters were expecting wholesale changes come Round 6 or 7. It is my opinion that the club's review is not necessarily in regards to the immidiate make-up of the team, but rather a long-term look at who should and should not be on the list going forward. Once a decision has been made, contract negotiations can begin with players who are out of contract. This is a particularly important move given the new rule brought in by the AFL which allows uncontracted players to enter the national draft. We need to secure the services of those we want in our team in 2009 and beyond. Any player who is fit, is likely to get their opportunity at senior level this year. Apart from some of our late picks in last year's draft, we've already seen the majority of our list play and this trend is likely to continue. Players will come in and out of the team as their form and fitness dictates, not to appease supporters who are craving wholesale changes (before you bite my head off again, this is not a direct reflection of you).

Errr I wasn't actually replying to you And the reason I used Junior as an example, is to illustrate that just because the club decides that player A or player B are not going to be playing for the club next year (be it due to age, skill level, etc...), does not mean that said player is automatically going to be dropped to the VFL never to be seen again. White and Junior are both not likely to continue next season, but they both will play the next 16 rounds if their form warrants selection. By saying that there is no one left to drop anyway, you are pretty much backing up my point of view that whatever review the club undertakes in the next few weeks, it will not necessarily be reflected in team selection. The review has to do with contracts and the long-term future of the list.

Indeed it was. And as others have pointed out, a review is not code for "drop everyone". Player managers have been told to hold off until after Round 7, meaning that after this week long-term decisions about players will be made. That doesn't mean we're going to drop everyone and anyone. Junior is probably in his last season, does that mean he deserves to be dropped? IMO the review is more to do with list management, than team management. Most players will be given their chance to play this season, and clearly those who have question marks hanging over their heads were given a chance at some point in the last 6 rounds (plus this week), to show Dean Bailey and Co whether they have a future at MFC.

I meant post Round 7, I just typed round 6 because I've pretty much lost track of how many games we haven't won this year.

He handled himself well. Just can't [censored] as well as veterans like Bruce who have all the excuses on auto-pilot. Might ring and buy my cousin a kids membership and have a bit of a chat to Brock

The MFC owes you nothing you deluded man. For someone who claims to be the best and greatest supporter of the MFC, you are nothing more than a whingy, gutless bandwagoner.

Firstly, the changes were going to come POST round 7, you know, since we have a week off after this week's match. Secondly, the decisions the club were going to make post round 6 are more to do with players' future, who will remain on the list beyond 2008 and can therefore be signed on (if they are out of contract) etc... It is much more a list management thing as far as I understood it to be. On field changes are going to happen each week regardless, but you achieve nothing by dropping a whole host of players and rattling an already unsettled team. On form, Dunn deserves to be dropped. Yes it's disappointing for him, but he'll go back to the VFL for a couple of games and come back into the senior side when ready. We can't expect them to drop under-performing senior players, but keep playing kids who are struggling. Nobody deserves preferential treatment. Anyways, lets wait and see who else gets dropped. Bench should be: M.Bate, M.Jamar, B.Moloney, M.Warnock With a heavy heart I think Bell needs a week in the VFL just to get some of his touch back, and there is just no way Warnock deserves to be dropped after his game last week.

Except that Bruce averages 5.5 errors a match, and Sylvia's average is 5.8. They both average less than 2 contested possessions a game too. Give it a rest Yze_Magic, or it might fall off.

We absolutely need all the support we can get this week. It is essential that we break even in these matches because I personally don't want to have to sell anymore home games! So if you're free this Sunday and you wake up and think "too cold", "can't be bothered", "we'll probably lose", think how much worse it would be if you didn't have the choice of going to watch our beloved club play at the MCG anymore. Besides, as if you want to miss the lone-trumpeter show!

Sorry, I couldn't resist

I must say that I am no expert on this matter, and I do understand where you are coming from. Rich poses a far less risky choice, and when you have the number one pick, wasting it is an absolute disaster and will prove costly for years to come. My question regarding Natanui is whether he can be an effective marking midfielder (hard to see him outmarked given his leap) or alternatively can he become a forward in the mould of Franklin? At the moment we have players who can either ruck but have no influence around the ground, or players who can impact a game but can't really ruck. If he can do both, and this is where Cox and Ottens etc... become invaluable to their sides,then it will be hard to go past him. I have no doubt that Rich will end up as a very good/elite player, but can he ruck? can he play KP? can Natanui? Rich is the safer bet, Natanui is the unique one. Given that we are lacking in every area (apart from inside mids), you would welcome any good player into the mix. But it is very difficult not to get swayed by the unique proposition of Natanui's skills, his height and his athleticism. If he makes it, he'll not only be a great player, but he'll be the only player of his kind in the AFL and that's truly invaluable.

Ah, so this is where the other 6 supporters who come to games with me are!

No wonder the players made such soft selections when confronted with the task of choosing their leadership group. Can't see Robbo, Yze or Bruce having 'harsh words' to anyone. Loved seeing Frawley get angry and vocal at his teammates when nobody came to help him in a contest against Bradshaw. Good on him, he deserves support and when his lazy teammates are standing around fixing their hair, they should be made to feel guilty about leaving a young kid on his own. Rivers did the same thing a couple of weeks ago if memory serves me right. We need leaders who are hard on themselves and hard on their teammates. None of this "you are just lacking confidence" crap. Accountability on and off the field, it's such a foreign concept to most of our players.

Warnock most definitely deserves another game. Played probably his best match on Sunday. Whelan will obviously come in after serving his suspension, Valenti may get promoted and if Bate is fit we have to make room for him. As for omissions, throw a dart, whoever you hit is out with 'suspected eye injury following tragic dart-throwing incident'.

He is the sort of spineless loser who will go out and target Cale Morton. One less idiot to worry about.

Should beat Essendon, and could beat Carlton. Plus 2 wins against Melbourne. Beat Freo at Subi, so no reason they can't beat them at the G'.