Jaded No More

Sorry to break the news to you, but PJ is not the answer to our problems, not even close.

Another one to add to the list is attitude. At the start of every quarter I watched our players closely, and a lot of them had their head down, hands on hips and they just looked defeated. Hold your head up, and take some pride in the jumper. It may only be a minor issue, but it's part of a bigger problem in regards to mental fragility and loser mentality.

Every game he doesn't play, just adds to my theory that he is our single most important player. Not just because he is a damn good player, but also for his leadership, his hardness and his attitude.

Completely and utterly disagree in regards to Bell. Was our best defender along with Jared, but an absolute mile. Not sure why he is rated so poorly around this place either. He showed Whelan how it's done today! Carroll was ok, nothing out of the ordinary. He is a solid FB, but he is no star. Miller was also good. How anyone can say he failed, is beyond me. Marked nearly everything that came his way, kicked 2 very good goals and led hard all day. He was the only one still presenting in the last quarter. White was awful out the middle. Jamar had more influence in the ruck than White.

Had a very good game despite the broken nose. Should be proud of his efforts. He totally killed Dixon, and did well on Williams too.

Heard nothing about Moloney. The Doc on MMM said Neita was doing the warm-down and looked fine, and we shouldn't rule him out for next week.

He cannot kick, pure and simple. His disposal for an elite player is shameful. He fluffed more kicks than I care to remember. Started like a house on fire, but as soon as we started losing he disappeared. He apperantly had 29 possessions, but his influence was minimal at best. Bate did make a couple of mistakes by foot, as did Jones, but gees at least they were out there running and trying their guts out, and they had VERY limited support from senior players who are meant to be carrying the side. Poor coaching from Daniher to play TJ up forward when he couldn't get near it and Bate at FF when he is clearly not suited to the role. Also, Whelan on Williams for far too long. Bell pretty much nullified him in the last, apart from giving away a silly free kick which resulted in a goal. Speaking of which, Wheatley... what are you thinking?? White was really poor in the middle, which made us look even worse in the middle. Really I thought our most useful, hardest working midfielder was Godfrey (honorable mentions to Jones and Junior as always), which in itself should tell you how badly we played today. But, it's only round 2... we're not allowed to panic yet, right?

- The hardwork that we became known for last year, gone - Cannot compete in the ruck - Too many senior players who cannot dispose of the ball, yes Bruce I'm looking at you! - The same passangers go missing when the heat is on. Typically TJ, Bruce, Green, Davey - Davey. Enough said. - Heavy reliance on two extermely inexperienced players in McLean and Jones to win the clearances. Jones' disposal under pressure is shakey at best, and with McLean out the entire midfield lacks direction. - Injuries to key players.... again. - Godfrey was our best midfielder. Hang your head in shame Melbourne midfielders! - DISPOSAL, DISPOSAL, DISPOSAL - Daniher Feel free to add to the list...

Neither age nor gender defines your knowledge or passion for the game or this club. BTW, I think I was 16 when I first started posting here

They may not post, but I assure you they read. Hopefully that makes people realise that while they can hide behind their screen name, they are still accountable for what they say and how they say it!

I hope you don't think I'm actually advocating Godfrey plays. It's not as if I'm jumping for joy that Bartram got injured. All I'm saying is that he is the most logical replacement because we've lost a tagger, not a defender. BTW, how do you think Brown, Bell, Whelan, Bizzell, Wheatley, Rivers, Carroll and Ward all play in the one backline? Assuming we play 7 defenders at most, at the one time, what happens to the extra player? Godfrey may not be much of a player, but at least he'll run all day and give our midfielders a break. We can't afford to have 2 players on the bench again with no fresh legs. I agree that he is a poor tagger, and an appalling user of the ball, but Ward is not far behind him. At least Ward runs fast when he makes mistakes. :D

Because Bartram would have tagged one of Crawford, Hodge or Mitchell. With Wheatley and Brown already in the side, we're left with too many one-dimensional defenders if we also include Bizzell. You could argue that yes, Bizzell is indeed a better footballer, but he won't be able to cover the role of Bartram. Besides, with McLean out, we're already down a midfielder. *Sigh* It's extremely depressing having to decide which D-grade footballer should be placed in the side to replace your A-grade players.

If we lose on Monday, Daniher. Watch all the previously keen 'drop Yze' supporters turn on their position and blame the loss on Daniher dropping Yze. If we win, probably Miller

Yep that's it, glad I make sense to someone

Really good news in what has been a pretty ordinary couple of weeks injury-wise (and form wise!). It's not really the type of injury you can re-injure if you come back too soon. He will either get the green light from the surgeon, or he won't. If he had a plate inserted in the area (not sure), it should now be stronger than before. Lets just hope nobody feels the need to elbow him in the face again!

Well Neale just confirmed on "Before the Game" that Bartram won't play on Monday, which means Godfrey is in. Luck is really on our side so far

Congrats to Greeny, who is one of the best transformed players in our side. He has really come on since his early days of being a soft-ish forward, and is now a very deserving senior leader. Hopefully the team can mark the occasion with a big win!

Anymore news? Poor kid!

And not a moment too soon!!! Wow, I don't ever remember seeing a Melbourne side without Yze.

Assuming that Daniher won't be our coach next year (and that's a pretty good bet), there really aren't a whole lot of options to replace him. I'm of the belief that it's better the devil you know, however we can't keep holding onto our coach because we're scared of what a change will bring. Being a great player does not automatically makes you a great coach. I would hate to appoint someone with no experience, especially given the current position we are in. If we were in a rebuilding mode, than maybe, but I would hope that we'll still be looking at winning a flag in the next 2 or 3 seasons, and with that in mind, appoint someone who has had success either as a senior coach, or as an assistant.

I really hope Rivers plays and Godfrey doesn't. The rest is just details. Feel sorry for Holland, but I can see why he was dropped. Don't want Neale to be making the excuse that we "ran out of legs" because Holland had no match-up and was therefore warming the bench for 3 quarters. He is just too one dimensional. Having said all that, he is very unlucky to be dropped! Yze will play. I just really hope that his continual inclusion doesn't come at the expense of someone like CJ, or later on Sylvia.

The game last night was the first bit of footy I've watched since last Friday's disgrace. It was great to see the Saints lose, but god it makes you wonder why Brisbane can get it right, and we can't. Btw, Brisbane's kids are looking great. They won't be on the bottom again for a while.

Very worried. Last Friday completely deflated me in every way. Thankfully there is not a whole lot of footy news up here in FNQ. I did manage to catch a bit of the Brisbane v. Saints game and it only highlighted how poorly we play the run and carry style, and how average St.Kilda are. My only hope is that we go back to our style, the one that suits us best and ditch the run and carry game plan, which leaves virtually half our side incapable of playing.

Ahhh.... Y_M, whatever would I do without your optimism?

I knew it was a bad idea to check the injury news while I'm on holidays.... It's a really massive blow for us. In fact, I think the importance of McLean will become clearer now that he's not available for a month and a half. Terrible way to start the season!