Jaded No More

I'm excited that I don't have to worry about finding the cash to pay for finals tickets No wonder us Melbourne supporters can afford to drive luxury cars and take frequent vacations in the snow

PJ and Carroll have cemented their place on the list, Bizzell is hanging on by a thin thread and they dropped him... much like CJ. On the Demons Bandwagon, it doesn't surprise me that you don't understand what I'm saying. We have a big chunk of experienced players who make up a core of our best 22 (Neita, White, Robbo, McDonland, Bruce, Green, TJ etc...). What we don't need, is to carry around fringe players on the list with no scope for improvement. We've been doing it for too long, and it hasn't helped us.

Why don't you quote my entire post, instead of neatly editing out what you like? I wrote that he's a fringe player, and the fact that he's 30 puts him high up on the list of 'gonners'. Go back and quote the entire reply next time! CB, don't kid yourself, Bizzell isn't in most people's best 22, including our current coaching staff, who, may I remind you, did not play him until it was the absolutely last resort this season, and dropped him last week. With a fit Rivers, Bartram, Petterd etc ... he just does not fit into our best backline. In fact, he's lucky to have held a gun to our head 3 seasons ago, to get a long contract, or he wouldn't be on our list this year to begin with. Look, he isn't the worst player on our list, not even close. He has skills, but his role is very limited. If we're going to be honest with ourselves, we need to cut down the list and start building a team around the younger players who will help us win a flag in the future (one would hope). Bizzell just doesn't fit into that plan, and nor do a lot of other players.

Well it's about bloody time!!! Well done Jonesy, much deserved recognition for all of your efforts and hard work week in, week out. Aside from possibly Belly, he's been our most consistent player this season. Now I'll have something to listen to on the drive home (tune into SEN at around 5ish, as they always interview the Rising Star nominee on Tuesdays).

Does that mean they both go through? This is why they shouldn't let the public vote, it's a popularity contest!

If Bizzell was anywhere near the vicinity of Harvey in terms of talent, output, leadership and importance to the side, than of course you'd let him carry on. But the comparison is irrelevant. As I said, Bizzell is not in our best 22, and when you get to 30 years of age, and you're not part of the club's best team going forward, you are not a required player. That's just the way it goes. We must be ruthless and start cleaning out the list, which is full of deadwood. Haha, Bizzell being compared to Robert Harvey. That's classic! :D

Absolute madness! We're lucky to have both Gardner and Harris. They are great businessmen who have done a lot of good for this club, including achieving record membership numbers, finding us a home and building new facilities, and getting our finances in order. That is the job of the board, winning games of football is the job of the football department, which is currently being restructured due to the proactive approach of our board.

I know you love Clint Bizzell, but how can you advocate we delist Warnock and CJ, and keep Bizzell? List managment is more than about one season. Bizzell has no future at Melbourne, because to put it simply, he's old. He doesn't fit into our best team, which means he's depth, and for some reason, 30 year old depth players don't really appeal to most clubs. Bizzell would also cost us more than Warnock or CJ would.

Age: 25 Games: 42 Born: September 29, 1981

Wasn't refering to what you said specifically, but the implication in some other posts is that he is weak for not standing up to him. Again, no point in having a whole pack of players come in and start a fight over a simple incident and give away free kicks, or get suspended, or get fined. It achieves nothing, especially when you're getting spanked on the scoreboard. I rather see senior players encouraging their own young teammates, than starting fights. Last week it took nearly half a quarter before anyone approached Frawley and told him to keep his head up. That to me is more concerning and more disappointing. Belly's sheppard was illegal, what exactly would they be fighting about? P.S.- What does 'he look like he's about to [censored] himself' imply?

Please, we hang Davey out to dry when he remonstrates with the opposition and gets suspended, but Belly is weak for not getting sucked in by Brogan? It seemed to me like Brogan wanted to start something, but Bell was too smart to take the bait and give away a 50m penalty. I don't think he was apologizing for what he did, or pleading his innocence, he was probably just letting Brogan have his rant and get over it. It was the mature thing to do, and does not at all reflect badly on him or the team. Better him walking away, than costing us a goal. If he was coming in to help protect his own teammate, it would be a different story.

Had his colours lowered in the first quarter, but stood his ground and improved steadily as the match went on. Took some nice contested marks as well. I love that, like Belly, he has the guts to take the opposition on. He will try to break the line, and because he has pace, he is often quite successful in doing so. Kicking is amusing to watch, and his technique means that he takes a second longer to get boot to ball, but overall it's not a huge issue. Will be a player given experience, and especially time to grow physically.

Great list. For this reason alone, I'd look at keeping Miller. I doubt very much we'll get more than a 4th round pick for him, and considering Holland and Ferguson are both cut, we'll need another tall body as depth. He won't be best 22, or even best 25, but he'll serve his purpose in covering injuries, which he can do both up forward and down back. I rather him as depth, than another year of Ferguson. Holland is better than Miller, but we won't get more than a year out of him, therefore Miller over Holland too. That leaves Miller and Warnock as depth, although I'm still keen to see what we can get out of Warnock at senior level. He hasn't had enough opportunities, and he does have something we badly need, pace.

Like every other staff member at the MFC, the fitness team will also be looked at. They'll have a lot of explaining to do, although not all of our injury woes can be attributed to the new fitness regime. On the other hand, we've run out most games quite well... pity about the first 3 and a half quarters

Expires 2007 David Neitz (v) - 1 year Russell Robertson - 2 years Byron Pickett - GONE Jared Rivers - 15 years... whatever Brock McLean - see Rivers Brad Miller - trade or one year Paul Wheatley - trade or one year Ryan Ferguson- GONE Nathan Brown - Retirement Clint Bizzell - GONE (one year if we have to <_< ) Colin Sylvia - 3 years James McDonald - 2 years Nathan Carroll - 3 years Nathan Jones - 3 years Paul Johnson - 2 years Ben Holland - Retire Mark Jamar - trade or one year Clint Bartram - 3 years Chris Johnson - trade or one year Simon Godfrey - 1 year Daniel Ward - GONE Matthew Warnock - trade or 1 year Micheal Newton - 3 years Simon Buckley - 2 years Heath Neville- GONE ® Jace Bode - Depending on form in the last 5 weeks plus finals, possibly elevate? ® Shane Neaves - Elevate- 2 years ® Daniel Hughes- GONE ® Daniel Hayes- One more year on rookie list P.S.- I'm almost certain Rivers and McLean extended their contracts last year?

Ratten did extremely well to turn a 20 goal defeat into a 10 point defeat in one week (against a good opponent). Suddenly they're gallant in defeat, instead of insipid. It's the demoralising 10+ goal losses that really hurt you in the long run.

Sadly, we've been harping on about the same thing for years. No leadership, poor attitude, terrible body-language, egos that inflate quicker than a hot-air balloon. In fact, we seem to be the biggest bunch of back-slappers in the competition. We win a few games and suddenly we're invincible. We lose a few games and suddenly we have no confidence. Yes, confidence is a legitimate issue in footy, but it's also a load of [censored]. You build up your own confidence, just as you make your own luck. I look at the turn-around of Collingwood, North and especially Geelong, and for some reason, I just can't see us doing the same thing. Not because our list is not good enough to compete with those clubs, it's because I know that after we win 3 or 4 in a row, we'll inevitably fall back into the usual trap of looking too far ahead and fail to perform consistently. We just haven't got the mental toughness required to be a real threat. If we lost the first few games of the season like Geelong and North did, we'd really struggle to pick ourselves up. And if we lost 4 or 5 games mid-season, like West Coast, we'd be gone too. I want to believe that a new coach will come in and change that, but it seems like a huge task.

I didn't listen to what they said, as I had the volume turned down, but I still find it hard to believe that a professional organisation approaches coaching candidates via text messages. In fact, I don't want to believe it.

I wouldn't believe everything the media says. If we're interested in Voss, he'll be interviewed like every other candidate. The list of goners is long and extends beyond old fringe players. A good measure of the new coach, will be which players in our best 22 they are willing to put on the table during trade week.

The Melbourne Football Club- sad shadow of former self Today's Effort- disgusting Jones- forgiven

Yeah, lets get Charman and he can help Sandy win another flag. Why do we need another ruckman when Benny Holland (bless his socks), does such a good job?

Much like most of our players, I simply don't give a [censored] about this season anymore, but for the love of god can they please PLEASE put Robbo and especially Neita on ice? The man is one serious injury away from retirement, so what is the point of playing him? I hate what this club has become. It really really breaks my heart, and I hope above all that whoever coaches us next year, brings with him a change in attitude and perception, because at the moment we are a sad joke.

They dropped Carroll and PJ, and as I suspected, we've loaded our forward line because we have too many immobile talls. Pathetic pre-match selection. Miller and Holland as back-up ruckmen when we have two perfectly fit ruckmen at Sandy. Logic? Carroll in the VFL when our backline is getting murdered. Logic? Dunn and CJ in the VFL when we can't hit a target. Logic? The scoreline flatters us. We deserve to be 10 goals behind the way we're playing. Jones, Newton and the return of Belly the only highlights. Godfrey doing a good job too. P.S.- NEITA IS NOT FIT. DON'T PLAY HIM!!!!

Place your losing margin below.... 12+ goals Dunn might still come in as a late change, if Tredrea doesn't play. At least Belly is back!

Sorry, I must have missed your post. This is my ideal match-ups, if Tredrea doesn't play: HF: Danyle Pearce, Lade/ Brogan?, David Rodan F: Daniel Motlop, Justin Westhoff, Brett Ebert Westhoff- PJ Motlop- Frawley Pearce- Bell (can go with him in the midfield if required) Ebert- Warnock Rodan- Carroll Lade/Brogan- Miller Keep in mind that this is about development more than anything. If we were trying to make the top 4, obviously the side and match-ups would look different. PJ, Frawley and Warnock can and will get better, Ferguson and Holland won't. I don't buy that Carroll doesn't have a match-up. If we were in a winning position, he would play. He plays taller than he is, but he has the pace to go smaller. Just as a side note, can anyone explain the logic behind dropping PJ and not bringing in Jamar? We're going into the match with one struggling ruckman... if that's not a sign we're trying to lose, I don't know what is.