Jaded No More

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

Great report as always WJ, thanks! Just a question for you, from the pictures I've seen, Rivers appears to be slightly bigger in the upper body. Did you notice that at all? I still worry about his ability to play CHB on some of the bigger bodied forwards, which is a shame because he is clearly the most gifted defender we have. Also, any truth to the rumours that Dutchy has gained a bit of speed?

I really like that McLean is hanging out with the older players. In fact, he could even teach them a thing or two <_<

That's because we've made it an unofficial rule that any negative discussion about our fellow site will be deleted. We support Tim and all of his efforts over at Demonology. It's great that we can have not one, but two sites where Melbourne supporters can go. There is absolutely no way that we're going to let supporters rubbish this site or the other. There is a simple solution for people who don't enjoy reading the posts on either site... don't come and visit anymore. We promise we'll get over it

PM system now working again

As forwards, Richo may be ahead, but as footballers, Neita is miles in front. To have won an AA as a CHB, then change his game and body completely to become a feared FF, is something Richo never could do. In fact, apart from Pavlich, no other current 'great' FF has played anywhere but up forward. Neita is underrated because he has never won a premiership and because he plays for Melbourne. If he was in Collingwood colours, they'd call him the greatest CHB/FF player of the century

Yes, following the upgrade of the forums, the PM function has stopped working. Hopefully it'll get fixed soon.

Can I ask how Nathan Brown trained? No, I'm not a closet Richmond fan... just curious.

I'm pretty sure Matthew Bate is studying Sports Science at ACU. It seems like a good course for professional athletes to undertake.

Not a chance in hell. Their midfield is still slow, and they are relying on Tom Hawkins to kick 200 goals for the year. Besides, as long as Thompson is in charge and the small-town mentality remains, they won't be going anywhere. They'll make the 8, but thats only due to their home ground advantage.

1. West Coast 2. Fremantle 3. Melbourne (my optimism astounds even myself!) 4. St.Kilda 5. Sydney 6. Adelaide 7. Bulldogs 8. Geelong 9. Richmond 10. Port Adelaide 11. Collingwood 12. Essendon 13. Hawthorn 14. Brisbane 15. Kangaroos 16. Carlton

Very happy to hear Bartram is now at full training, and a possibility for Round 1.

Thanks for that. I'm really worried about Sylvia. It's February and he still hasn't started his pre-season. Not a good sign!

Never been snubbed by any Melbourne players. In fact, I've seen most of them out and about and from my encounters, they've behaved really well. This is in stark contrast to quite a few footballers from different teams who I used to see regularly at my old job. I agree with above sentiments regarding Robbo as well. He's a great ambassador for our club, and the nicest footballer you ever hope to meet.

I'd thank you not to speak for me.

Thanks RR. Saved me two minutes of typing exactly what you just said. DN, I'm a Melbourne supporter, and therefore I love and respect everyone who wears our jumper, but I'm also not blind to the players' faults, and Yze has plenty of them.

Yes, at this stage of Sylvia's career, it should be a no brainer, but it isn't. That's the whole point. His stats don't even match those of a guy who most of us never want to see play senior AFL games again. He isn't a lost cause, but he's certainly a worrying one.

Great article, even greater kid. It makes sense that they'd ask him to lose weight, as he really did struggle with his endurance. The fact that he mentions that he hasn't lost any strength, that's the main thing. If he can still hold his ground, but at the same time run up and down it a couple hundred times, that's how he'll become an elite player. Once the real Junior retires, I'm going to call him Junior... Brock Junior. :D