Jaded No More

Nah you got it all wrong, he was clearly too devestated to play well Now as I understand it, at the time of the Woewodin decision, it came down to him, or keep all of Leoncelli, Junior and Robbo. We had massive salary cap issues and something had to give. Given that Junior and Robbo both went on to win AA spots and B&Fs, and we also got Daniel Bell, I think we came out as clear winners in this one. And as many people already said, the Farmer decision came down to him. We did everything we could to keep him, but he wanted to go home.

Nobody cares what they think, they are offering an opinion which means squat in the big scheme of things. They won't be there to pick up the pieces after yet another bad year, and a loss of more members. And I promise you that eventually they will stop pitying us and start asking the hard questions. I assure you our board won't read what Mike Sheahan has to say before they decide Daniher's fate.

The media talks rubbish. If we lose another 3 or 4 in a row, you watch the vultures pounce. They are hardly a measure to live by. And we have been unsuccessful. After 10 years, you expect a coach to win you a premiership, not get you to finals every second year only for the side to capitulate in the first week. Daniher is one of the longest serving coaches without a premiership in the history of the game. That is 100 odd years. We can't isolate this season and say he should go based on where we currently are. We need to look at the big picture and realise that apart from 2000 we have never come close to winning a premiership, and the 2000 grand final was an embarrassment in itself.

No worries.

Boo hoo. This is football, not playtime at kinder. I doubt our players would be too devestated to get Chris Judd. I'm sure they are all smart enough to realise that this is the reality of football, players get traded and delisted. Should we not delist Bizzell or Ward or Brown because it would have a bad affect on our players? If they are really that precious, we are going nowhere fast and we might as well not bother with Judd. Besides, we were 100% correct in our decision to let both Woewodin and Farmer go. One is playing WAFL, the other has gone off the rails.

When did I put Judd and Bruce in the same class? I was simply saying that Bruce could fill a need for West Coast, and as others have said, if Judd says he wants out, West Coast can't be too fussy. They can't lose him via the PSD. And there was also no comparison between Judd and McLean, so don't twist my words. Go read what I said about losing one gun midfield for another, which defeats the purpose all together. We need another ball winner who can use the footy, like McLean and Jones. Get rid of either of those for Judd, and you are still left with the same problem, we are one ball winner down. Judd is Judd, he is the best, and he would finish off what is becoming a good on-ball division, as well as bring in sponsorship money, supporters and media attention. He could transform our football club off the field, as well as on it. But that doesn't mean we should trade our best 21 year old for him. Those two need to play together, not apart.

Right, so after 10 years in office, having had control of the entire list, he isn't a big factor in our lack of success? He is the only constant over the past 10 years. Our list has changed completely since he took over, we are now getting ourselves sorted off the field and are turmoil free, and still no success. Injuries haven't helped, but gees, he can't find 22 players who can play for 4 quarters or hit targets from a list of 40 players that HE put together? What does that tell us? I am not a Daniher basher, but you have to open your eyes and see his flaws and realise that after 10 years of minimal success (playing finals and bowing our first week is not considered success in my eyes... not anymore), his time is up. He is a great bloke, and has done well to promote our club, but either he did the wrong thing with our list, or his message is no longer getting through. Injuries are helping delay the inevitable...

Exactly. I imagine that if we, as spectators are frustrated by the crap that is being served up, the players must be just as, if not more frustrated. Especially our key forwards, who get disgusting delivery. Old, it's fine if he didn't think he could kick it. He should have gone back and kicked it to a leading forward or just bombed it long and someone could have maybe marked it on the line. Handballing to Petterd who had not one, but two opponents on his tail was a terrible decision and not one that is typical of our skipper.

No I wouldn't, because then we'd end up losing one gun midfielder for another, and we'll need to cover McLean's loss by getting another great on-baller. The idea is to add Judd to the midfield we already have. Green and Bruce are not really midfielders, they play there, but they also play in a lot of other positions. Bruce is turning 28 next year, so getting better he won't be. Green is one of my favourite players, but he is neither here nor there. A good player with excellent disposal, but one we can cover. Losing McLean would hurt us so much more than losing Green and Bruce, and the last 7 weeks are a testament of that. Besides, I guarantee you that there is not a club on this planet who could offer us an attractive enough deal to trade McLean. He is untouchable, pure and simple.

Which means we will never see Judd in a Melbourne jumper. Bruce + Green + a first round pick could do, especially if it's an early first round pick. With Bruce and Green, West Coast would finally have a forward line! Green would kick 100 a season at Subiaco. And with Judd, our midfield of dreams would be complete. Who wouldn't salivate over the thought of Brock, Jones and Judd in the same centre bounce!

True, and watch how teams never man him up, and just let him get the ball as often as he likes... because they know he won't hurt them. I wouldn't mind if he was an accountable defender, who had heart and guts and occassionally turned the ball over. But he cannot play the link man down back, when he can't kick. It's killing our forward thrust and causing turnover after turnover. The same goes for Ward. I loved seeing Bell kick the ball to a leading forward yesterday. His kicks were spot on, and hit the target. He is someone who is capable of playing that sort of role, not Brown. Sadly, because our backline lacks accountability, we can't afford for him to leave his position too often.

Because I have been watching Melbourne play for like 9 years, and I have never EVER seen David Neitz handball to a teammate under pressure when he is 40m out from goal. That is not a natural instinct of a forward, especially a key forward capable of kicking 60m goals. I doubt very much the players came together before the game and said "hey, remember how in Round 1 we over-possessed the footy and lost? Yeah, lets do that again!". Funny how the only two players in the side who refused to follow the 'handball at all costs' instruction were Brock and Jones. Give me 20 possessions from those two, over 50 from the likes of Bruce, Junior, Brown etc etc. I could not believe how many times we handballed UP FORWARD when it was completely unnecessary. Playing on at all costs is fine, if playing on gets the ball moving forward, and not backwards, sideways and into the opposition's hands. The more you over-possess the footy, the more likely you are to stuff up, and given how poor our skills are, the less we muck around with the ball, the better. Besides, even they didn't handball under his instructions, he should have made them stop doing it in the first quarter break, not the third! And never mind, I'm used to being called a 'he' around here

He'll get off because he'll get up and say "Hi, my name is Chris Judd, you might remember me from my on-field heroics at the WEST COAST EAGLES".

And yet for 5 years we have struggled to clear the ball out of defence. When we stuff up that simple action 4 out of 5 times, how can he expect us to maintain possession when the heat is on? We have got to work on that and we have got to get better at it. I don't know how many times a season someone brings this topic up on these boards, and if we can see it, I'm sure the coaching staff can too. Also, as usual, no accountability for the first three quarters in which he instructed his players to handball at all costs. We have stuffed up our most basic game plan at the MCG, a plan which has won us all but one game there last year.

I don't think we can blame Godfrey for this. Yes, he is a pest and he annoys his opponent, which is what tough taggers do! But I have never seen him hit, punch or scrag his opponent in an illegal way, and you can be sure the umpires would be all over it, if he did. Brent Harvey is yet another weak opponent who couldn't handle the heat, but this is not a 5 year olds playground, you don't get to hit someone if they annoy you. Gees, these are grown footballers, they should be able to beat their opponent without having to resort to... well...beating them.

Does poor Simon Godfrey have a target on his stomach that says "punch me, I'm a tagger"? I know his disposal is awful, but you gotta respect a man who gets up every time he is hit behind the play and goes about his business like nothing happened. Lesser men would start a fight and get in trouble. He just gets up and carries on.

Disgrace! Wheels is great, but he is no Brock. I just love the reaction of all the Melbourne supporters to McLean. It is similar to when Davey is running someone down, or streaming towards goal. Even when he is catching his breath on the boundary, people are still yelling at him to get out there. I am yet to meet a Melbourne fan who doesn't think that the sun shines out of McLean's proverbial.

We all die a little inside when we go watch Melbourne play. They suck the life right out of you. For every close loss we have, I lose about 2 years of my life. In all seriousness, PJ is actually coming along better than I expected. His ruckwork makes me laugh, only because he seems to have very little idea how to go about it, but given where we are with our season and with our rucking situation, I wouldn't mind seeing him ruck for 50% of the game. In the past, when Jeff White wasn't rucking, it was very noticeable. These days, I'll see White running on the boundary, and it would only then register that he isn't taking the centre bounces. It makes little difference to our clearance-winning. One of PJ or Jamar will need to get the flick at the end of the year. Jamar has had 2 years to prove himself, now it's PJs turn. So far, we know who is winning the 'influence around the ground' votes. Mind you, PJ doesn't do a whole lot. But I do cheer when he takes a contested over-head mark, and I let everyone around me know about it. Sure, they all think I'm crazy, but it warms my heart :D

Brock actually hurt himself (surprised anyone? ) in the last which slowed him down. But I agree, he wasn't 100% fit, more like 60%, and yet even at 60% fitness he is better than 98% of our team. At least he was out there running his guts out for 4 quarters, taking on multiple opponents and showing his desperation. The look on his face when the siren went was heartbreaking. I have no issue with Jones bombing the ball long from outside 50 if there are no open targets up forward, because then at least he is a shot at kicking it, and if not, we get the ball closer to our goals and we can hope for someone to mark or crumb it down there. Beats the hell out of handballing it backwards and in a circle 7 times then turning it over. God that makes me want to shoot myself when I see us [censored] farting around with the ball like that!!!

Those 2 'crapola' quarters were probably the most disgraceful quarters of footy we played all year. Every week I go and watch us play, and every week I tell my dad "we can't play worse than this", yet every week they surprise me! What makes it even more painful, is that we prepare ourselves for a loss, then suddenly a completely different side comes out and plays well and we get teased with a win. How can a team play so badly for three quarters, and so well for one? When the final siren went today, I had to try hard to stop myself from crying. Not because I was upset that we lost (I saw it coming from a mile away), but because it was just so incredibly frustrating. The guys behind me just started yelling swear words randomly, they were that frustrated. I swear I love being a Melbourne supporter, the fun just never stop!

True, but you wouldn't see them in the same backline because what Bizzell can do, Rivers can do much better. Bizzell is essentially a loose man in defence. He is the third man up, which is fine, except Rivers can both shut down his direct opponent and help out his teammates. Plus, he has pace to break the lines. In the absence of Rivers, our best defender by an absolute mile it is quite frightening, Bizzell's inclusion is logical. However, there are so many players who could play that loose defensive role. It is probably one of the easiest positions on the ground.... as long as you don't have to be accountable for a man. Bizzell struggles to be accountable, even on an ordinary player like Jones. We just can't afford to play Ward, Bizzell and Brown all in the same back half. If the Kangaroos kicked straight today, the backline wouldn't be getting so much praise. Apart from Carroll and Bell who are solid and accountable, the rest were loose today. I'm still trying to figure out where the Grant vs. Green match-up came from?!

Yes, he won the free and the Kangaroos player wouldn't give him the ball back. He got frustrated, snatched the ball away and gave the opponent a little shove. There was nothing in it, and really only the fool that is McLaren could see that as a reason to reverse a free kick. Honestly, there was just nothing in it. You cannot drag someone for wanting to get on with it. He was right to try and get the ball back quickly, and besides, if Daniher ever dragged McLean the fans would go torch the box (I'll be leading the troops). Did you hear the cheer we gave him when he ran on for the first time in 7 weeks? He is god and nobody messes with god :D

What's the deal with people wanting to drop Dunn? He is learning a brand new position, one which he has never played before. I thought he was excellent in the first quarter when playing on the wing, then Daniher inexplicably sent him to the bench and played him randomly up forward. How is anyone supposed to get into the match this way? He has what it takes to make it, and we need to stick with him and let him learn his craft on the wing, or just stick him up forward for 120 minutes. Dropping him would be pointless, especially when we are yet to win a match and our season is over. Also, can't drop Frawley. He needs at least 3 or 4 games to get settled. I imagine that being a young key defender is probably the hardest thing, especially when your side is getting spanked. When you're a midfielder or even a forward, and you're new, you get thrown out there, the opposition give you no respect and you can get a feel of the footy. But poor Frawley wasn't given a defensive match-up, and when you are a key position defender coming into a team for the first time, there is very little you can do to impress straight away. I hope they give him a job next week and let him play for most of the game.

Agreed. The first 3 quarters today were as bad as I've seen Melbourne play all year. If anyone is fooled by the fact that we lost by a point, they really are kidding themselves. The media will pity us, and the criticism will subside because 'oh, they were so close again and oh, they have so many injuries'. But the truth is, we were woeful, we struggled to hit a target and kick goals for 3 quarters and only bothered to turn it on in the last, then proceeded to stuff it up completely with less than 2 minutes to go. We deserve to be criticised because we have been pathetic all year. Injuries are a valid excuse for losing against top teams, they are not a valid excuse for not hitting targets and for not turning up to play for more than half the match. If we played well in the second and third quarters, even half as well as we played in the last, we would have won.

Bruce is the most overrated player at the MFC. It doesn't mean he is a bad player, far from it, but too many supporters see him as some of star, which he never was and never will be. His disposal is ordinary, he struggles to win his own contested ball, and he goes missing a fair bit. If it wasn't for his ability to play in different positions, he wouldn't be rated so highly. This is not a criticism, just fact. We can't judge anyone in our team on the number of possessions they've won, we need to judge them on efficiency. Bruce kicked quite a few shockers today, and didn't have nearly as much influence as someone like Jones or even Carroll, who didn't get as much of the ball.