Jaded No More

Belly! If the FD values hard work, and looks at the amount of pressure our backline has been under, Bell will be leading, or at least top 2. Is yet to have a bad game, and is probably the only one who can lay claim to that this year. Bruce and Moloney will be up there too. Come the end of the year though, I hope Rivers is up in the top 3. The kid is an absolute defensive genius.

Newton waited one week too long to start stringing bags of goal together. A week earlier and he would have debuted ahead of Garland IMO. Buckley will play soon, especially if they decide to rest Moloney given his OP situation. He is the only midfielder we have left who hasn't debuted yet. I think Daniher was just trying to emphasis the point that we have pretty much reached the end of our list. We have played everyone who has been up for selection the past 6 weeks apart from Newton and Buckley. That in itself is a pretty frightening thought. It's a shame Hughes is a rookie, as we could definitely use another crumber/ small up forward.

Do you think maybe he is going long all the time because that kicking action is less painful on the groins, and that he can't chase because he can't really run? Just a suggession. I remember his beautiful delivery to Robbo and Neita in 2005 won him a lot of praise. He hasn't lost that, he has just lost the ability to play freely. He is a great player for our club, mainly because he gives his all and he is passionate about the jumper. I have never seen an MFC player sing the song with so much enthusiasm, and that's great. He is obviously out there because he wants to be and he is desperate to represent the club, but IMO he shouldn't be.

Change 'will' to 'is' and you're spot on. "I just wanted to play my role [against Port Adelaide] and I couldn't get really near it in the first few quarters, but I just kept trying to smash in and eventually I found my way in the end. So I played okay, but I can improve and the whole side can improve." Great quote that, and his chase, smother and pick-up yesterday was just as great. What a kid!

I did see it, and I was VERY impressed. But not every player plays in that manner. Rivers, Bell, Petterd, they are natural-born kamikazes, but there are plenty of great players out there who aren't. We can't punish players for not having that natural instinct to put themselves in danger, as long as they go when it is their turn, and Bate does that as far as I'm concerned. Pretty much all of his marks today were contested, so you can't tell me he doesn't put himself in the contest. He's had an average month, I'm sure he knows that, but he is just a kid and I don't see the need for anyone to get stuck into him about his hardness, especially given the fact that last week he was leaving the SCG on crutches.

Was a great crowd today in terms cheering and atmosphere. We did well... all 10 of us

And?? <_< <_<

God that is such rubbish. I remember him dropping his head ONCE in his entire career thus far. He is a kid, and he goes in a lot harder and with a lot more determination than some of our senior players. I love how we can all sit behind our computer screens and take shots at 19 year olds for not going in hard enough. Pathetic.

Poor kid. Hopefully he'll be right to play for the seniors next week. I want him in our team ASAP. He will be able to fill a huge gap down back with any luck. P.S.- my condolences to Chip for having to spend time in Frankston hospital. It's a fairly scary place :D

What? I.... I'm just.... what?? Bell was easily beaten? By whom? Unless easily beaten to you, is letting his opponent kick a goal. Brett Ebert is Port's best, most consistent medium forward. Bell held him to one goal today. FFS, take off the 'anti Bell' glasses will you?

Young players fighting for a spot in the team don't need wake up calls. His endavour and desire to win the ball has never been in question over the last month. It was his disposal and decision making which left him wanting, and he has improved slowly. It is only fair that we give our young inexperienced players time to work through their form slumps and find their feet, in the same way we afford guys like TJ, Davey and so on time to find their touch again. I thought TJ's last quarter was excellent by the way. A real improvement on 2007 thus far.

Fair enough, and I hope you are right about it being a low grade strain. Put it this way, Bate was on crutches at the end of last week's game, and he was BOG today. As for Bruce, I'm sure he'll be fine.

His ruck work is embarrassing, but he took a good overhead contested mark, and he has some pace. Jury still out on whether we can accommodate for a crumber stuck in a giant's body.

They only mentioned Bruce's calf on radio. He may have been a bit sore and so they decided to take him off. Lets not jump to conclusions here.

He completely nullified one of the best midfielders in the competition today. Shutting down Shaun Burgoyne is one of the toughest jobs in football. Not only that, he even managed to pick up more disposals than his direct opponent today! He is in good tagging form at the moment, and he deserves some credit.

He's a true Melbourne defender if he let Kingsley rip him a new one

Spot on! Sometimes, all young players need is some faith from the coaching staff and a bit of confidence that they belong. He was made to battle through his form slump, and it payed off. I hope CJ is offered the same treatment soon enough.

Jones is an absolute gun in the making. Kicked 2 nice goals as well as picking up 18 disposals. I'm still looking for his clearance stats if anyone has them...? Him and Chook will be a great midfield combo for a long time.

That is 100% true. I hope that we make a stand and appeal if it does come to that.

Agreed, very very harsh. He did well today, and I like him at CHF/HFF. It gives him the ability to push into the midfield, as well as kick goals. His shots on goal today let him down, but apart from that, he was strong and aggressive. Give him a break, he's had no pre-season and in an ideal world he would still be gaining fitness in the VFL.

Correct. They were letting everything else go, until the last quarter. Every 50-50 decision went their way, and that is what bugs me. We won more of the contested footy, but we were never rewarded for it. We can't blame the umpires for costing us the game, because we should have kicked straight and we should have manned-up in the last few minutes. But the umpires had too much of an influence on the match, and that is when you know they are doing a bad job.

Good job today Joeboy, except in regards to Moloney. Maybe you didn't catch the look on his face when he was running off the ground. It was one of intense pain. He is clearly playing injured and it is an absolute credit to him that up until today, he has been in our best players every single week. He is a great player, and he has so much passion for the jumper. Hopefully when McLean and Green are back, he gets a week or two off, just to have a bit of a rest. I can't imagine what pain he must be feeling after seeing him on the boundary line today. I felt incredibly sorry for him actually.

Goal kicking is to blame. First quarter disposal by foot was a disgrace, but we finished the game with 14% better kicking accuracy, and we won the clearances. What we didn't do was take our chances in front of goal, and considering there was no wind and it's our home ground, there are no excuses. Having said that, the umpires should be ashamed of themselves for being so incredibly one-sided when making 50-50 decisions.

Knowing our luck, he'll get done for that tackle on Kayne 'I'm a mummy's boy' Cornes. You watch, if there is a way to suspend him, they'll find it.

A few moments of sheer determination and brilliance today... 1) Jones running down the ground, diving on the contest and winning the ball. Pure magic. Just how damn good is he? Our midfield looks 200% better when he's in there. 2) Bell's effort on the last line, where he slipped, got up, tackled his opponent in front of goal and then cleared the ball. Brilliant recovery. 3) Petterd running with his arm in the air and diving onto the contest two or three times. Exactly the sort of thing you want from a player. There were some really good signs today, especially from the younger players. Bate marked everything, just pity about the kicking. He has a real future as a forward. Sylvia was also good. I like him at CHF!