Jaded No More

*shakes head* Sucked in again I see! Belly hasn't been around as long, and hasn't been given nearly as many games to prove himself. Your point doesn't actually make sense. Time for a new one I think.

I'm not a Miller basher, in fact, I've been one of his strongest supporters as I'm a fan of his workrate and attitude. However, you can't compare Bell's development to Miller's. Bell spent the first few years at Melbourne on the injury list, and was struggling with back problems and OP up until the middle of last year. With the exception of last year, Miller has been relatively injury free the entire time he has been on our list. Miller and Rivers were drafted in the same year, one player has excelled, the other hasn't. But at pick 55, Milsy was always going to be a risk, and he has proved that his draft value was just about right. He is an ok footballer, without being spectacular, and unlike in the past, he now has some stiff competition. Bate, Dunn and even Sylvia are all better CHF propositions because they are good contested marks, they are a better kick for goal, and most importantly, they have a better goal sense, and a better football brain. These are just the facts. But I do like Miller, and I like him because he works as hard as anyone out there, and he has the right attitude about him, which is why I'd like to see him succeed at Melbourne. Will he succeed as a CHF? No, plain and simple. He doesn't have the required skill-set to play that position (which is no shame, it is probably the hardest position on the ground). I think that with a full pre-season as a defender, he could successfully take over from Holland. He has reasonable pace, he is aggressive, and as others have already noted, it is easier to defend and be led to the ball, than make the play. IMO, it is the only way he'll survive on our list beyond 2008.

That's two minutes of your life you won't be getting back!

And the explanation....

Ummm... do we want to? I call Petterd, Ricky. The many years of watching Ricky Lake instead of doing homework, have clearly paid off.

I guess CJ's injury wasn't as bad as first suspected, which is great. 426 now playing as a defender? That's an interesting move. Could he have been the next big thing after Dutchy?

No need to panic. Juice is contracted for next year, and the promotion of Garland was probably as much about giving Newton a kick up the bum, as it was about giving Garland some much needed confidence. Garland was always going to debut and get dropped, I think the idea with Juice is to bring him in and have him stay for good. At least that's the hope! One day he will have massive shoes to fill, and if he isn't going full speed at every contest, he won't get so much as a toe in.

You're confusing one bad reality show, with another. Robert 'Milsy' Mills was on Australian Idol, not Big Moron Brother. And there would be a lot of guys known as Paris if all it took to get that nickname, was to spend a night with the Hilton sister

I liked his honesty, he said he isn't always hard enough at the contest, and he needs to learn to eliminate that. Until he does, Daniher is 100% correct in not debuting him. He hardly sounded annoyed about not getting a game, rather settled and comfortable with where he is at. And definitely agree on the need for media training...

Amazing that they didn't think to try and stop the huddle from breaking even once. We kept using the tactic with ease all game long. I think Wheatley huge kick does help with implementing it better, and so does Davey's speed, but it's not a long-lasting tactic. Good teams (or switched on teams I should say), will get onto it quick smart and stop it from happening like they have all year.

It's not what you say, but how you say it, and how many times. Show some respect for a Melbourne listed player, otherwise you know where the door is!

They were both very good. Holland was a little lucky as he did hit Rocca in the head once, and pulled his arm more than a few times... not that there's anything wrong with that But then Didak > Rocca.

Y_M, I will personally ban you if you don't give up the anti-Miller crusade. It is becoming very disrespectful and completely unnecessary. You don't have to love everyone who plays for this club, but you damn well better show a bit of respect. He made it onto an AFL list, and has played some very good senior football.... what the hell have you done? We get your position, and guess what, we still don't care. Move on, or I will make you.

It's in the rules to avoid players wasting time. Brock did NOT waste time. He slammed the ball into the chair, not over the fence. The umpire was stupid to give it a free in a crucial time in the game, and worse still he gave him the 50m penalty when earlier in the game Rocca told the umpire to 'go away you...' and no 50m was paid.

Just watched the replay, and I am convinced that there is something wrong with Cameron Bruce. He must be carrying an injury. There is just no way his kicking could be that bad. He might have a foot injury, and similar to Greeny last year, is having shots to numb the area. Would also explain why he spent a half up forward, and not as Walls suggested 'to keep him fresh' (FFS Walls, Bruce is one of the fittest players in the AFL ) I hope that whatever is going on with that boot, gets solved quickly though, because his disposal was downright awful. No penetration is his kick whatsoever.

So did I (finally!). And I stand by my rating of Bell's game. Did a great job on Didak (one of his two shots on goal came from a free kick given away by Dutchy), then went onto Lockyer in the last (at least the first part of the last quarter from what I could see), and kept him to just 5 disposals. He is fast becoming our best defender (with apologies to our injured CHB). McLean was awesome as usual and that free kick paid against him was a disgrace. His awareness of where to run, and how to deliver the ball is well beyond his years. Sylvia was just fantastic in the first half. Also loved his 'get the hell out of my way' shove and run. He has got to have one of the best strength-to-size ratio in the AFL. Looked a little uncomfortable before the start of the last quarter while stretching his groin. Hopefully they don't push him too fast too soon, although we'd all love to see him play more in the middle of the ground. Neita inspirational to come back on, and have a really big impact in the last. His work directly resulted in our last two goals to Davey and Robbo. PJ was good, but dear god Chris Bryan is average. I could beat him in the ruck and I'm about as tall as Milne. Just awful! Anyways, great game, lovely shots of Joffa with what could only be described as a dish rag on his head cracking the shits. Joy all around! :D

I read that Daniher knew all along that Yze wouldn't play... I think it was in the Herald Sun or the The Age today, in an article about Benny. How does a veteran who hasn't missed a game in something like 10 years, suddenly get OP? That is incredibly strange. And poor Bartram, you really have to feel for him. First his ankle, which turned out to be a really bad one (I was still seeing him on crutches months later) now the knee. I miss watching that little goer! P.S.- Injuryupdate.com has Bartram returning in Round 12. What the hell is going on then?

Is there some sort of a competition going on to see who can post the dumbest thing tonight... First McLean is not a team player, now Neita is not contributing to the side... have we been attacked by bitter Collingwood supporters, or is there something seriously wrong here? P.S.- watch the language people.

Jared Rivers, our new Nick Smith Please refer to Rivers as 122 from now on. He is gone, won't play again this year would be my guess. And Bartram still 4-6 away? Wasn't he 2 weeks away last week? And what's actually wrong with Yze? So many questions...

That mark had a touch of Leo Barry about it. And I don't think anyone but Melbourne supporters appreciate how rare a Simon Godfrey right-foot goal really is! It was an awesome goal though.

You've been here 5 minutes, so don't you tell me who I do or don't defend. You weren't here last year when people were abusing Brad Miller left, right and centre, and I stuck up for him because the way our fans were talking about him was beyond disrespectful. The point still stands, you said that Brock 'ruled himself out of the captaincy', those were your exact words, and that is just insane stupidity. Don't think many people would disagree, I guess most just won't bother, and I shouldn't have either.

This has nothing to do with me being a moderator, or whether I like Brock McLean. You really haven't been here long enough to judge my comments. If Bruce, Ward, Jones, Godfrey or whoever did what Brock did, I would say the same thing. Showing passion is not a crime, and in fact sometimes we really lack that at Melbourne. I wish we had more players who hated losing as much as this guy does.

Nobody will remember that. They will remember that he won us a final last year, that he came back from injuries and dominated, that he leads the team alongside Neita up the race before each game, that he handles himself beautifully in the media, that he is hard at the ball, the man and the contest, and above all, that he is a very VERY good footballer. For someone who apperantly doesn't hate the guy, you sure do like picking out some stupid faults. One show of frustration does not set back a natural leader. He is still miles and miles ahead in the running for the captaincy. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I usually let most things slide, but gees sometimes I read things and go 'WHAT'?

Get over it! The 'tanty', was in fact a show of frustration because he didn't mark it and the ball bounced out after all of his hard work to present and chase. He got annoyed because he cares, and it kills him when he doesn't win a contest, or a possession. It's called being a winner.

Look, I'm a moderator so I really should restrain myself from abusing you, but that has got to be one of the dumbest comments ever written on Demonland, and I've been posting here for a long long time. He ruled himself out of the captaincy because he SHOWED PASSION? Are you for real? Did you actually see the entire passage of play? McLean ran himself stupid to make a 50m side-ways lead so that Holland can have a target to kick to. Holland's kick missed him, and he got frustrated. You know what, I rather he shows he cares and wear his frustration, than be an emotionless robot. The man played 78% game time, had 10 clearances and 26 disposals, and was one of the main reasons we kept coming at Collingwood in the last quarter. You are a complete joke if you think McLean shows bad team skills. He is the consummate professional, and at the tender age of 21 he is already more of a leader than most of our senior players. He runs alongside Neita for a reason. Brock McLean is our next real leader. Regardless of age, experience, or the fact that he is apperantly injury prone (does anyone else in the side bounce back from injuries better??), he is equal to Neita in terms of on-field leadership. Deal with it!