Jaded No More

Poor Strauss. Rotten luck.

I didn't. Terlich and Jones were drafted by Viney and Clark and Dawes were good established players. Neeld wasted precious spots on the list on hacks and has beens.

Rubbish. Mahoney said they are looking at offering him a job at the club. He is retiring from footy. He just said he's retiring from MFC because some players actually associate themselves with the club proudly. Take note Watts.

And no should they. If he was fit I'd be all for him playing, because it's great experience and he would signficantly help the cause of winning a premiership. However, his body is young and still developing and we should take absolutely no risk with somebody so important. The significance of him doing a full pre season can't be underestimated. I would think that if his body is up to it, he probably will play 23 games next year and every season after that.

I hope not. He played OK on Sunday and deserves to go again twice more if he so wishes. I don't know why as supporters we are so keen to push our own out the door. Plenty of injuries and players in crap form who can make way for Taggert this week.

I don't understand why this wasn't announced before Sunday so he could get a proper farewell game at the G. Weird. Maybe he only just made the decision. Either way, I truly hope we didn't push him out the door in a disrespectful manner, he deserves better than that. Changed the role of a small forward, brought electric pace and skills, and many enjoyable hours of entertainment on the field. All the very best Aaron!

This is the lowest I've ever felt being a Melbourne supporter, and I doubt I'm alone. So it's really no wonder people don't turn up to games. Even though I have gone to all games this year, it's been a massive struggle to find the motivation to rock up each week and stay for the whole match. In the end our low attendances only hurt us more, but this is honestly the first season where I can't blame people who choose to stay away. It's just one painful experience after another. The G was empty on Sunday. Was so sad.

Quick, put him in a bubble and release him day one of pre-season. See you in 2014 you magnificent beast!

Agreed. He must feel pretty ashamed comparing himself to Jack Viney, a first year player who has already stood up and shown the way. He may not be a leader, and that's OK, but some level of accountability would be lovely.

Damn you, I was just about to quote that. What a kid, one of only a handful in our team who isn't a soft cry baby, and recognises that he is the one who is going to change our fortunes rather than relying on others to do it. Now officially my favourite Jack. Well done on a well deserved nomination you son of a gun!

My favourite part of yesterday, which was yet another horrible day that made my eyes bleed, was watching Viney literally frog jump over a pack of players to try and get the ball. He smashed his nose, got it strapped up, went back on, and did it again. It was amazing. He has a good burst of speed, which is all he really needs, and he just kept running and running and running, even when we were down on rotation and other midfielders came off the ground looking absolutely stuffed. He is enormous, and Jones must bloody love having someone else in there to help him. On a side note, I think McKenzie has been very important for us over the past two weeks. His tagging jobs have made our clearance work a lot better. Shame that once we get the ball out we turn it over.

I'm totally anti Clark playing as a ruck, however, there is merit to it if you have Clark and Fitzy as your ruck/forward combo with Gawn as your first ruck. BUT, this cannot happen unless Clark spends an entire pre season doing proper training as a ruck, and getting actual coaching, to know how to approach the role in a bigger capacity without his body blowing up. Ruck is the most specialist position on the ground and can lead to serious injuries if done by someone with little experience. It's our duty to ensure we don't throw him into the role without preparing him for it properly. Realisticaly though, Mitch Clark at FF is a 50+ goals a season forward, even with an ordinary midfield. He should be playing FF with Dawes at CHF and Hogan as the third tall for at least the next couple of years to ease Jesse into the role. Hogan will probably need no easing or protection, but lets not screw him up like we did Watts and actually give him support and take the pressure off him to play FF in his first year.

What crap. Watch how hard Spencer is running after two opponents, both far far quicker than him, and how Matt Jones chases after Hill despite it being a futile exercise at that point, while Watts stands and watches. I saw Viney quite seriously frog jump into and over a pack to get the ball. I'm not expecting Watts to break his nose every week, but I expect basic effort, especially down the back when his laziness is directly costing us goals! And yes, Hill is a great player and super quick. Guess what, Watts is quick too and could be a great player if it wasn't for his application and attitude. Some of his lazy kicks yesterday screamed "I don't want to be here". It's infurating when guys like Magner, who have 4% of his talent, work their arse off in the VFL, get 51 disposals, and don't get senior games because they don't have the potential of Watts. But realistically, rewarding Watts on potential, and his draft ranking has only hurt him and us. He is cheating himself and his teammates. If I was Tom McDonland or Colin Garland I'd have lost my sh*t at him.

I love him. This generally ends in tears.

I'm sure I had a nightmare that Pederson and Gillies are both contracted for next year *shudder* Thanks as usual Neeld, you [censored].

We were certainly outclassed, outplayed and out coached.

Opposition have learnt to illegally shepherd him out of contests and get away with it. Needs to work on his engine so he can spend longer periods on the wing. It's also no coincidence that in the absence of Clark and Dawes, his form has suffered. He's a third tall who should be playing high half forward / wing. Talent is there. Lets not panic and [censored] him off just yet.

6-Viney 5- Trengove 4- McKenzie 3- Garland 2- Kent 1- Dunn Jack Watts doesn't deserve votes. I'm shocked anyone would think of giving him any. Soft and lazy playing the easiest position on the ground. Shameful display.

I'm really annoyed about this negative game style Craig is employing. Flooding the backline, refusing to play Watts up forward, always with just one or two or no forwards. Who cares if we lose by 88 or 130 points? I'd rather play to be competitive when we finally get the ball. We had some good ball movement today that resulted in nothing because there was nobody to kick to. It saps the confidence from the players and is completely pointless. Craig is doing himself no favors with this rubbish.

Watts- weak as [censored] and finally lost me Viney- a reason to keep going

I like him simply because he admits we are a soft club.

Viney is the new Nathan Jones. I've been waiting so long for another Jones. Hooray! Our forward line stinks, the umps should be taken out the back and shot, and now we are a man down. I'm predicting an ugly loss but as long as the effort is there, that's enough for now. Realistically Freo are thirty times better than us.

Watts has taken his laziness to another level. Clearly doesn't wanna be here anymore. Terrible. Freo is choking us and little Miss Piggy aka umpire Schmidt is killing us.

Are you kidding me? For one I have a job and a life. Plus I'd never be caught dead in horns. So unfashionable.

Done and done. The bonus of course is that I will get a lifetime ban, thereby never having to watch us again.