Jaded No More

<_< :angry:

Full team line-up: Melbourne Team Backs: D.Ward, N.Carroll, R.Petterd Half backs: J.Frawley, C.Bizzell, D.Bell Centreline: T.Johnstone, J.McDonald, A.Davey Half forwards: B.Green, R.Robertson, C.Bruce Forwards: C.Sylvia, D.Neitz, M.Bate Followers: J.White, S.Godfrey, N.Jones I/C: P.Johnson, B.McLean, P.Wheatley, N.Brown Emergencies: C.Johnson, B.Holland, L.Dunn Brock McLean named on the bench... I know it's probably me being paranoid, but why can I foresee a late change with McLean pulling out of the team in the last minute? Also, that forward line should kick us at least 20 goals... if we can win the ball in the middle and move it quickly!

Hayes has been banished from the club for not turning up to training. Weetra has a broken wrist, and is already on the senior list. We haven't got a rookie who could actually come in and help us. Perhaps Neaves, but highly unlikely.

And wouldn't that be stupid! You don't give someone 'a few weeks' to get over OP. If he has it, even in the mildest of forms, he should sit out the rest of the year wrapped in soft cotton wool, and instructed not to run, walk, or indeed stand up. This is too serious to mess around with. These sorts of injuries can stick around for your whole career if they are not properly managed. We don't want another Moloney/Sylvia situation.

Just on Ch. 10, Rivers has had scans for OP and that he is unlikely to play for the rest of the season. According to Neale, the scans weren't 'too bad', but he can't run freely. He'll have more scans next week. Is this the worst season of injuries in the club's 150 year history? *Pass the knife*

Or Rivers! But hey, it's Thursday night and so far, McLean is in the team and uninjured. Victory to us!

Is 'wrist' the new word for 'dropped'? <_< Not happy to see Dunny dropped, he hardly deserves it considering how many poor performers we have been carrying for weeks/months/years. Excellent ins with Sylvia and Bate back. Sylvia to CHF in the absence of Miller? Still no CJ.....

Absolutely nothing to do with it. We are the original and longest serving tenants of the MCG. It is OUR ground and we should be allowed to train on it. If nobody is given permission to train there, like with TD, fine. But there can't ever be a situation where we are refused entry, and yet an unsuccessful interstate team playing an insignificant game is allowed to have a run.

Hence why they, or more to the point, he, should never ever be appointed as captain. If anyone heard Brock McLean's interview while injured (Round 5 I think it was), his honest assessment of where we are at, was the way a captain should speak. The handballing, and OVER handballing is a result of practicing the run and carry game plan. We have always been a kicking side, who kicked long and direct. Now we don't. While we execute it very poorly, the idea behind quick handballing comes from the run and carry style.

I had high hopes for Jamar, and I really believed he could be a good ruckman for us, given his size and the fact that ruckmen are getting increasingly more giant every year. What he didn't have in height, he could make up for in strength. Sadly, his tap work (which is very good, probably equals to that of Jeff White at the moment) is not enough anymore. He is a ruckman who could play only one of two positions, center circle and bench. These days, you can't afford to waste bench spots on someone who doesn't run and can't do anything up forward or down back. It is a real shame though, because his technique is very good, while PJ's is well... amusing (and that's being kind).

It is utterly pathetic that the MCG will allow Fremantle to train on the MCG, and not us... The original tenants of the ground! I hope the club takes this to the AFL, who while they don't have control of the MCG, should still raise the issue with the MCC. Why are we always the ones who get screwed over?

Of course he doesn't, but they still do it, and they never have before. This is a completely different style that we're playing, and it is the run-and-carry style... only a more crap, less skilled, utterly stupid version of it. Why we haven't stopped playing it all together I don't know, why we've started playing it at the MCG to begin with I don't know. We're 0-9, clearly a premiership is not going to be won using this game plan. The point is, the players hate the way we are moving the ball forward, but they still come out every week and do it, and every week they get progressively more pathetic at it. So the question has to be asked, WHY do it?

Something is clearly not right. On one hand we have players saying that Daniher is not to blame, it is all the players' fault. On the other hand, we've had about 5 or so players publicly state that the reason we are losing is because of our game-plan (over-possessing and over-handballing). Now correct me if I'm wrong, but these two are not mutually exclusive. Daniher is in charge of the style of play, and the way we move the ball forward. The players are not happy with the way we are playing. What has gone wrong? Either Daniher has finally conceded defeat on the run-and-carry game plan in the last quarter of Round 9, or the playing group decided that they've had enough and took the game into their own hands.

That is a disgrace!!!

He is a champion. You can't be an AFL champion if you're soft. No mean streak = no stardom. But he is not a dirty player, and man what I wouldn't give to see him being no so squeaky clean at Melbourne!!!

Herald Sun says 9, ProStats say 12. I'm going with ProStats Those two literally made me laugh out loud. Also, DD36, I'm the only one who should be entitled to make outrageous claims such as 'I want to have sex with him'.... not that there's anything wrong with that

Haha, YES! Do I really sound like a man? Edit: Thanks. I knew you'd look after me!

'She'? I think I need to start gushing about how good looking our players are, maybe then people will stop talking to me like I'm a guy! :D

Pffft, get it right... It was 4 clearances and 12 tackles! :D He is incredible.

Ummm yeah, I used to date a Port Adelaide supporter... *hangs head in shame* Maybe because he believes that it's easier to turn athletes into footballer, than footballers into athletes? He does come from a sports science background though, so he probably sees things very differently to most AFL coaches. The funny thing is, his background hasn't helped his list to stay injury-free, but on the other hand, it hasn't stopped it from winning games either.

If I change it to 85% would that make you happier? As for the skills and smarts you talk about, I haven't seen a lot of that from Bruce for quite a while. His disposal is about equal to that of McDonland at the moment, and he makes a lot of iffy decisions. Do we have an overall team stat that shows us where we are on the contested possessions ladder?

I did not say he was just a receiver, but he is one most of the time. Of course when you are in the forward line, you are by nature a receiver. Bruce doesn't find himself in the centre square every round these days, when he does, I agree that he can and often does win his own ball. Besides, the argument is that he is not our most important and best player, and often being on the end of receives is just one of the many reasons why he is not. His disposal and decision making is a far far bigger issue. TJ is also mainly a receiver, but when he is switched on, he can have as much influence as anyone in the AFL, because his kicking and vision is first rate. People are blinded by stats a lot. More often than not Bruce is our leading possession winner and everyone gushes. On Sunday for example, I watched the game live and I did not find that Bruce had more influence on the game than someone like Jones or even Brown. Both he and Brown got loads of possessions, both of them did not do a lot with the ball. In fact, Nathan Carroll who took something like 4 contested marks in a row, had more of an influence on the match and indeed the side not being 80 points down at three quarter time. I doubt he had more than 15 possessions for the entire match though. Again, nobody is suggesting we trade Bruce for some hack. But you need to give quality to get quality, and with all due respect, there is no higher quality than Judd. If anyone can actually make a case as to why we shouldn't offer a 28 year old for the best player in the land who also happens to be a lot younger, I'd be surprised.

Being a receiver is hardly a crime, and that is the point. It doesn't detract from your value as a player, but it does mean that you need to have support around you to be successful. And I agree completely on Green. People who think he is soft are clearly still watching tapes from 2000.

You might remember this team I hear is going around in the West, they call themselves the Eagles? Apperantly they have an ordinary forward line where someone called Lynch is kicking bags of goals, when in fact, if he played for any other club he'd be delisted within 5 rounds. A gun midfield makes a team. Adelaide's forward line is a disgrace, but it doesn't stop them from finishing top 4. St.Kilda's forward line is excellent, and they can't buy success despite spending a lot of time on the bottom of the ladder. I also think you over-estimate the importance of some of our players. Jeff White is no longer the ruckman he used to be. When PJ was on the ground on Sunday, we won just as many clearances. In fact, when Jones and McLean were in there, we were winning the ball, period. Ruckmen are overrated, because if they are surrounded by a great on-ball division, they are made to look better. As long as a ruckman breaks even, and the on-ballers are good enough to win the ball by reading the taps of the opposition ruckman, that's all that matter. Sydney nearly won a premiership last year with Jolly as their number one ruckman, Jolly FFS! As for James McDonald, he is nothing that Bartram isn't, except that he's been doing it for years. He brings a lot of heart and hard work to the club, but he isn't a vital part of a premiership side. Neita is of course going to be a massive loss, not just for his goal kicking but obviously his leadership too, but you forget that Robbo is only 28... he is just a year older than Bruce. He can play for at least another 4 years, and we know that he thrives when he is our number one target, which he will become when Neita retires. Robbo at FF is a headache for most coaches. He is much harder to stop than Neita when he is on fire. Anyways, you are being overly negative... even too negative for me, and that says something :D

Hoorah! I should probably spare all of you my Brock McLean dribble... But I will say this, in his short career, he has managed to transform the way a lot of Melbourne supporters think about leadership and success. Before he came along, we only had our senior players to look at for inspiration and guidance, now we need not look further than #5 to realise what this club needs in order to finally bring us that long awaited premiership. Even if he never improves, he will still be one of our best each and every week. Go Brocky! :D