Jaded No More

What do they give you for winning the pre-season comp these days? A tin-foil plate? I think the $1,000,000 is looking much better compared to the insignificant trophy. I'm sure Carlton would give theirs back for a refund

We can win a premiership without Sylvia, and besides with yet another limited pre-season, I can't see him suddenly standing up. The obvious players that we need to perform well in order to go all the way, are Neitz, White (would be wonderful of one of Jamar or PJ really stood up as well), McLean and Carroll. Those players make up the all-important spine. For me, the one player we really missed last year was Brent Moloney and to a certain extent Robbo. Both struggled with injuries, and we need both of those players to stand up and deliver like we know they can. If both of them can capture their 2005 form, we'll be well on our way to securing a top 4 spot at the very least.

I know that this is slightly off topic, but I read in the HS today, that the AFL will give a bonus of $1,000,000 to the club who can win both the pre-season competition and the Grand-Final. This is on top of the $1,000,000 given to the winning club in September. We sure could use $2,000,000 and two extra trophies for the cabinet

I think you mean Gary. And no. We're not going to dump an experienced coach for someone who hasn't coached a day of AFL in his life, just because he used to be our captain. It's as ridicilous as suggesting that we recruit the Ox. I would hope that if the decision was not to renew Daniher's contract, that the board would have some experienced candidates in mind. As they say, it's better the devil you know.

I know I sound like an absolute broken record, but it still irritates me when people dismiss Brad Miller because he had a shocking 2006. Show me one relatively inexperienced player who goes on to have a good season without the base of a good pre-season. Nothing would bring me more pleasure than for Miller to prove all of this doubters wrong. He is far from the perfect footballer, but he is also far more able than many people give him credit for.

I agree too. I should have said that we should aim to win 100% of interstate games, but realistically if we win 50% we should make the top 4 (given we continue our dominance at the G'). This is going to be a very interesting season for many reasons, Daniher's contract being one of them. If we don't make the top 4, I think his time may be up. Making up numbers is no longer good enough. We're seriously running out of time if we want Neita to hold the cup.

This is a first for Daniher. He has always kept a very tight lid on things. Perhaps he knows that it's top 4 or bust, not just for the team but for his coaching position as well. I really hope he's right. The time has most certainly come for us to make the top 4, and I believe we can do it if we aim to win 50% of our interstate games.

Not really because Fox Sport 3 is an add-on channel. This now means that if you want to watch the footy, you need to either pay extra for the sports package, or replace your existing package with a sports package just to watch 3 or so games a week (Unlike before, where you got the footy channel in the basic package). I'm seriously going to let these Foxtel people have it. Of course they are happy to pay Channel 7 & 10 when they get to milk extra money out of us! :angry:

Garland To Wear Number 20 8- Frawley 15- Petterd 20- Garland 28- Weetra 42- Hayes “The number 20 holds an important place at the Melbourne Football Club. It means a lot to me, and I am really pleased that the Melbourne fans will see the number 20 being worn on the MCG again, and it will serve as an ongoing memory of Troy,” Trisha Broadbridge said today. This is a big thing for a first year player, having to wear a number previously worn by a fallen teammate. I wish him all the best and hopefully he does the jumper and Troy's memory proud.

Pretty sure it was canceled due to the heat, or possibly moved to a different time.

Davey Excited To Extend Career Exciting forward Aaron Davey has today committed to a new three year deal with MELBOURNEfc. Great news. Hopefully he can show us some of his unique talent in finals this year.

I'm still waiting for him to stack on the weight or become lightening quick

From memory they always leave it this late to officially announce it, but it's been a while since there was speculation that Neitz might not go again. It's obviously being left up to him, because I'm sure the club wants him to captain for at least another year. Given that Neale has ruled McLean out for 2007, I really truely hope the club is just holding out on us for no big reason. I can't see anyone doing a better job than Neita in the short term. Besides, he deserves every opportunity to captain us to a flag. If a change really is about to happen, then the 2 candidates are pretty obvious.... Bruce and Green. Problem is, one isn't a good enough leader, the other isn't a good enough player.

Thanks for that. I was thinking after I posted that I could just watch Sports Tonight, but I have to be at work early tomorrow morning so I'm thinking I might actually have to catch a train tonight if I want to get there in time

Damn Connex and their train cancellations.... I just missed it! Anybody feel like giving a bit of a recap? I read in the MX that Daniher spoke highly of Brock's future captaincy chances on SEN, but did not commit to Neitz being the captain in 07.

Don't use that, as it's not accurate. We traded Grgic and Pick 14 (plus another third round pick I think), for Bizzell and pick 53. Pick 53 was used to draft Brad Miller. Pick 14 was used to draft Kelly.

What's with all the patronising? I have a feeling this thread was much more about taking the [censored] out of Joffa, than ganging up on fellow supporters. Besides, being a powerhouse club is not just about how many premierships you've won. It's about money, power, supporter base etc... We barely break the 25,000 members barrier, we don't have a training ground or designated headquarters, we haven't got big sponsorship deals and we also haven't won a flag since 1964. It's very reasonable, even for Melbourne supporters, not to see our club as a powerhouse.

Brock McLean's Fitness Kick Just a nice little article about some new fitness techniques the club is trying, plus further confirmation that Brock is just brilliant in every way!

Makes being successful and winning a premiership even more important. If you're poor, but you've got silverware, they won't kick you to the dogs. As much as I hate Carlton, and I really do, it would be terrible to lose them as a Victorian club. Same goes for the Roos. We need to keep 10 clubs in Victoria, just so that we, as a state, can maintain some sort of hold over AFL football.

'We' couldn't give a stuff about anyone but the Demons. If our very own CEO doesn't look after us, nobody else will. The club has worked very hard to get this off the ground, including years of planning and now fundraising. He has every right to be [censored] about this latest development. His main, his ONLY, concern should be the Melbourne Football Club and finally finding us a home. It's a disgrace that the oldest football club in Australia has been homeless for so long. It really makes my blood boil, to think that we are now depending on 2 other codes to get this happening, and that we have to sit and wait until another club (especially a soccer club ) can be satisfied. Nobody could care less about the Victory 2 years ago, and they may very well be a passing fad. We're nearly 150 years in the making, and please correct me if I'm wrong, but this was our initiative, was it not?

Apart from Essendon, we've played in more finals than any other Victorian team since 2000. Therefore, and quite convincingly so, Daniher > Thompson. Edit: We also don't have the luxury of having the best home ground advantage in the league!

Excellent. You aware of dates and times?

A couple of points if I may... Firstly, playing 4 talls in the one forward line, no matter how 'long' they lead, is not the way to go. The focus now is very much on gut running. 4 talls in the one forward line, plus Robbo (lets face it, he isn't the hardest runner going around), plus Yze (never chases) to me spells easy opposition rebound. Miller has a pretty good engine, but he isn't particularly fast, neither is Dunn. This means that their opponents will easily run off them and rebound, creating plenty of fast movement and entries into our backline. That is a recipe for disaster. I'm a fan of Miller, but I also recognise his deficiencies when measured against Dunn. I have no idea how we'll be able to find space for both in the forward line, and possibly also give Newton a taste of senior footy during the season proper. I can't even believe I'm raising this as an option, as I've always been against this, but we may just have to throw Milsy down back as a third tall. Although he is a pretty hopeless defender. Secondly, Occo, why is Bell's height a disadvantage? He is only slightly smaller than Clement and Bassett, making him a suitable opponent for both small and medium forwards. Now that he is (apperantly) OP-free, I expect his movement and speed (especially lateral movement), to improve dramatically. His combination of speed and stregth is underrated.

Oops. I'm still recovering from the Carlton losses as you can see. I changed it now.

1. Melbourne - contenders or pretenders? Contenders 2. (a) Where will the Demons finish after 22 rounds? Top 4 (b ) Where will the Demons finish after the finals? Top 4 3. What will our season highlight be? Winning the premiership games against Carlton 4. Will the Demons beat the Eagles at Subiaco? Maybe during the season, but not in a final 5. Who is our best Brownlow chance? Brock McLean 6. After a loss do you take (a) a Bex Powder or (b ) a Panadol? C) Vodka 7. Your back page headline prediction. 'McLean cleans em' up' 8. Will the Demons re-sign Neale Daniher? Yes 9. Who will be the first AFL coach to be sacked? Thompson 10. Which Demons will make All Australian? McLean, Rivers 11. Would you be happy if we won the NAB Cup? I'd be happier to bow out uninjured 12. Our biggest victory and against who? Over 100 points against Carlton... it's payback! 13. Will Carlton go the Trifecta? The Roos might give them a run for their money... I mean debts 14. Our win loss ratio? 17-5 15. Will Mark Jamar have a stellar season? Stellar? no. Good enough to become our number one ruckman, yes. 16. Will Sandringham make it a 4peat? Easy! 17. Will Eddie discard the Versace and defect to Peter Jackson? Do I care? 18. Who will be the MFC's first debutant for 2007? Mini Spud or Buckley 19. First MFC player reported and suspended? Ummm... is it too easy to choose Byron? 20. Goal prediction tally - (a) Neita - 65+ (b )Robbo - 45- 50 (c )Flash - 35- 40