Jaded No More

As someone who has broken her toes a lot (and I mean a lot! ), I can tell you that you can't fix it with plaster. He would have gone to see a doctor who would have told him to 'deal with it'. There is nothing you can do for a broken toe, sometimes it doesn't even look like it's broken, but it hurts like hell. Good news is, it's a pretty quick-healing injury if you don't push yourself.

Excuse me, but my avatar was selected purely for its 'intimidation' factor. BTW, I'm a huge Robbo fan (that's an underestatment!), but I too recognise the fact that he'll need to have a serious form turnaround to stay safe in our 22. 2006 was the first season he's ever been hampered by injuries, and it showed. Hopefully now that he's fit again he can return to his former self, with an added dimension to his game. I think Old is focusing on having the sort of small running forwards that Sydney have, like O'Keefe. He wants our non-KPPs to be as useful without the footy, as they are with it. I'm very critical of Yze's lazy attitude, but Robbo didn't do a lot of chasing either last year. Of course the difference between those two is that one will bleed to see us win, the other won't risk getting injured. Oh, and Robbo has performed in most finals too (including that god-awful day in 2000).

Haven't got time to list everyone, however as far as debuting during an AFL game (most will get a gig in the NAB cup) in 2007, the top 3 are: 1. Buckley- huge improvement from him over the pre-season, and it is a lot easier to slot into an established line-up if you're a winger/flanker, than if you are a KPP. He has speed, good skills and now strength. Basically, he is a low-risk debut. 2. Frawley- as soon as he got drafted we were told he's able to play as a flanker or winger while he develops. Besides, there are a few open spots in the backline, so if he performs well during the NAB cup, anything can happen. 3. Newton- he'd be at number 1 if he wasn't a forward, trying to get a spot in an already crowded forward-line. Someone will need to get injured, or be seriously out of form for Newton to get a gig. No doubt that will happen at least once or twice throughout 2007.

Somehow every thread about Miller turns into Miller-bashing, and then evolves into Yze-bashing. How confusing It's pre-season, so lets give all players the benefit of the doubt. Anyone can transform their attitude, or step up. Hopefully both Miller (skill wise, not attitude) and Yze can show us they are capable.

Thank you for the report. Any idea why Bate or TJ weren't playing?

Brock had a near full pre-season last year. He was struck by injuries throughout the season. Besides, we already know that Brock is a freak. Nobody would dare compare Miller to him.

As long as they turn out better than the Clokes

That is probably the second best article of this pre-season behind McLean's love declaration for the club. Glad that he finally made the change from party boy to professional athlete. He certainly has the skill to make it worth while. And my god he's massive!

Great shape.... if he was a woman about to give birth! Davey on the other hand looked magnificant. His upper arms, or 'guns' if you like, really stood out. When you compare him to the scrawny kid who burst onto the scene two years ago, it's like they are two different people.

I agree it's a disgrace, but then I saw Davey limping off the ground and I cursed the concept to hell. I can't say I blame Hawthorn or Sydney. And I still think it's not right that Davey, who just last week injured an ankle in training, was given the green light to play. At least Byron, who looks like he is expecting twins anyday now, got some much needed exercise. Having said that, if the game was a real contest, it would have been worth the heart-attack Davey gave me. It was an extremely poor spectacle though.

What do they give you for winning the pre-season comp these days? A tin-foil plate? I think the $1,000,000 is looking much better compared to the insignificant trophy. I'm sure Carlton would give theirs back for a refund

We can win a premiership without Sylvia, and besides with yet another limited pre-season, I can't see him suddenly standing up. The obvious players that we need to perform well in order to go all the way, are Neitz, White (would be wonderful of one of Jamar or PJ really stood up as well), McLean and Carroll. Those players make up the all-important spine. For me, the one player we really missed last year was Brent Moloney and to a certain extent Robbo. Both struggled with injuries, and we need both of those players to stand up and deliver like we know they can. If both of them can capture their 2005 form, we'll be well on our way to securing a top 4 spot at the very least.

I know that this is slightly off topic, but I read in the HS today, that the AFL will give a bonus of $1,000,000 to the club who can win both the pre-season competition and the Grand-Final. This is on top of the $1,000,000 given to the winning club in September. We sure could use $2,000,000 and two extra trophies for the cabinet

I think you mean Gary. And no. We're not going to dump an experienced coach for someone who hasn't coached a day of AFL in his life, just because he used to be our captain. It's as ridicilous as suggesting that we recruit the Ox. I would hope that if the decision was not to renew Daniher's contract, that the board would have some experienced candidates in mind. As they say, it's better the devil you know.

I know I sound like an absolute broken record, but it still irritates me when people dismiss Brad Miller because he had a shocking 2006. Show me one relatively inexperienced player who goes on to have a good season without the base of a good pre-season. Nothing would bring me more pleasure than for Miller to prove all of this doubters wrong. He is far from the perfect footballer, but he is also far more able than many people give him credit for.

I agree too. I should have said that we should aim to win 100% of interstate games, but realistically if we win 50% we should make the top 4 (given we continue our dominance at the G'). This is going to be a very interesting season for many reasons, Daniher's contract being one of them. If we don't make the top 4, I think his time may be up. Making up numbers is no longer good enough. We're seriously running out of time if we want Neita to hold the cup.

This is a first for Daniher. He has always kept a very tight lid on things. Perhaps he knows that it's top 4 or bust, not just for the team but for his coaching position as well. I really hope he's right. The time has most certainly come for us to make the top 4, and I believe we can do it if we aim to win 50% of our interstate games.

Not really because Fox Sport 3 is an add-on channel. This now means that if you want to watch the footy, you need to either pay extra for the sports package, or replace your existing package with a sports package just to watch 3 or so games a week (Unlike before, where you got the footy channel in the basic package). I'm seriously going to let these Foxtel people have it. Of course they are happy to pay Channel 7 & 10 when they get to milk extra money out of us! :angry:

Garland To Wear Number 20 8- Frawley 15- Petterd 20- Garland 28- Weetra 42- Hayes “The number 20 holds an important place at the Melbourne Football Club. It means a lot to me, and I am really pleased that the Melbourne fans will see the number 20 being worn on the MCG again, and it will serve as an ongoing memory of Troy,” Trisha Broadbridge said today. This is a big thing for a first year player, having to wear a number previously worn by a fallen teammate. I wish him all the best and hopefully he does the jumper and Troy's memory proud.

Pretty sure it was canceled due to the heat, or possibly moved to a different time.

Davey Excited To Extend Career Exciting forward Aaron Davey has today committed to a new three year deal with MELBOURNEfc. Great news. Hopefully he can show us some of his unique talent in finals this year.

I'm still waiting for him to stack on the weight or become lightening quick

From memory they always leave it this late to officially announce it, but it's been a while since there was speculation that Neitz might not go again. It's obviously being left up to him, because I'm sure the club wants him to captain for at least another year. Given that Neale has ruled McLean out for 2007, I really truely hope the club is just holding out on us for no big reason. I can't see anyone doing a better job than Neita in the short term. Besides, he deserves every opportunity to captain us to a flag. If a change really is about to happen, then the 2 candidates are pretty obvious.... Bruce and Green. Problem is, one isn't a good enough leader, the other isn't a good enough player.

Thanks for that. I was thinking after I posted that I could just watch Sports Tonight, but I have to be at work early tomorrow morning so I'm thinking I might actually have to catch a train tonight if I want to get there in time

Damn Connex and their train cancellations.... I just missed it! Anybody feel like giving a bit of a recap? I read in the MX that Daniher spoke highly of Brock's future captaincy chances on SEN, but did not commit to Neitz being the captain in 07.