Jaded No More

Thrilling discussion that was!

I just had flashbacks to grade 5 I don't necessarily disagree with anything you said, but two things work against Sylvia, one is his body and the fact that he is injury prone. The second, is that mentally he is still not 100%. It wouldn't surprise me if he lost his [censored] a week out of the finals and got suspended for 3 weeks, or was found doing something silly during the season. I want to believe that he is beyond that stuff, but to be honest there is really not enough evidence to suggest that he is. TJ had a couple of brilliant seasons too... Also it is harsh to judge Davey's ability to play finals, when he hasn't played those in 3 seasons. He is a lot more mature now, plays a completely different game and IMO could be the x-factor that we need during finals. And if we're talking about untouchables in general, trading Davey would be a marketing disaster for the MFC.

The perfect list. I would have exactly those players in exactly that order, with the small exception of I'd take out Sylvia, move everyone up one and chuck in Davey at 10.

Nobody is a bigger hypocrite or player condemner than you, and I doubt you would have a clue about whether Robbo can or can't go on. You may have wished Robbo well, but you've then decided to undermine your well wishes with telling us all that he is practically delusional for thinking he can go on, when in fact you'd have no clue. Branding me melodramatic does nothing to suggest that your opinion is anymore worthy. But hey, let's not waste our time here. You will obviously continue with your underhanded, passive aggressive, narcissistic remarks towards both players and posters since you are a protected specie on this site, and I will have to continue to ignore you.

I thought we were done tanking! :angry:

The killer ruck duo of PJ and Martin strikes again! :D Very harsh on young Spencer, but good to see Robbo back for a final farewell tour. With him and Jurrah in the forwardline we might even kick some goals!

Because Robbo isn't retiring (for now), so there is not much to report. Until he is officially delisted, or announces his retirement, there is nothing that needs to be said. Or perhaps the club is organising a proper press conference and will not bow down to media speculation until they are ready to announce it. There is no doubt we'll try our hardest to get Wheels and Wheatley up for at least one more game (hopefully 2 more for Wheels so he can get to 150). Maybe we're planning a farewell match in Round 22 and we don't want to discuss it until then? (I think we're building up the emotion and planning on using that to beat the unbeaten Saints in Round 22 )

Search the words "Miller" and "Freak" If Newton played more, he could be considered a scapegoat. Since he barely plays, he doesn't count. The guy putting the list together obviously skipped on the research and simply picked his information from the top posts on each forum. Yze was a big scapegoat in the years leading up to his retirement, as were the likes of Ward, Godfrey and Nicho. These days PJ and to a lesser degree Miller stand out, but only until Sylvia royally screws up again It is actually becoming harder to find scapegoats in the team given how young our list is. Very difficult to pick on a kid who has played less than a handful of games... not that some haven't tried <_<

How the hell can you compare Carroll's ugly exist from our club, to the retirement of three great servants who have never done anything other than represent the club in a professional and respectable manner? Nobody here is claiming that they were greater players than they were, but positive reflection at this time seems far more appropriate than misguided criticism that will do nothing to change the course of history.

He's be playing because he'd be contracted, where he would be playing is another matter. The issue here is that at 30, he wants to look after his long term future and you cannot begrudge him that. You realise that your underhanded, subtle digs at him is no better than the rubbish we had to delete about Wheatley. Just because you are not coming right out and telling us he's rubbish, doesn't mean that the disrespect you are showing him by questioning his talent and judgment is any better. Pull your head in. If he wants to keep playing, that should not concern you in the slightest. Wish him well and bloody move on. FFS! P.S.- he has been a great servant of this footy club and gave us many many years of enjoyment. You may no longer be a fan, but how about you afford those who are some time to reflect on his great career instead of cutting it down to shreds. All 3 deserve to be remembered fondly and I find it very sad that grown ups who should know better, are using this opportunity to stick the boot in.

You cannot begrudge a guy who at 30 wants to continue his career. If he is offered another contract with a club, where he gets an extra year of salary, an extra year to play and another chance at finals footy, he should take it. It's his career, and his long term security and his risk to take. He should not in the least bit feel undeserving, or greedy when it is us pushing him out the door. Had he taken the Dogs offer 2 years ago, he'd still be playing next year and he would have played in many more finals. He remained loyal to us, but after we [censored] him off (which is the right thing to do btw) he is free to do as he pleases. While I would hate to see Robbo wearing another jumper, I would be happy to see him succeed elsewhere. If he doesn't, well at least he can say he tried. He is not as horribly past it as some seem to think, and in a better side, would be a decent contributor.

Neither am I Ironic that we're both saying goodbye to our long time sentimental favourites, and we both happen to have fallen in love with Grimesy... I guess we better turn up to games for his sake. That poor kid is a complete dud and obviously has a poor kicking technique, so he really needs all the love he can get

According to Hutchy, Wheatley and Whelan will hang up the boots at season's end, and Robbo has been told he won't be given a new contract but is keeping his options open at this stage. Good luck to all three. This is a very sad end of an era!

Agreed, and I hope Robbo does not receive the same bitter, pathetic sentiments that I've read in this thread, regardless of recent form. Wheatley was never my favourite player, he was never the most talented, the bravest or the best leader, but he has given us 10 years of service, in which he struggled enormously with injury yet continued to represent our club in the most professional of manner. So thanks Paul and best of luck in the future!

Very much looking forward to watching Jurrah again. I know it's only been 2 weeks, but our forwardline over the past fortnight has made me feel physically ill. Bring back some class! I couldn't help myself and had to laugh at that!

If Jurrah and Rivers play, meaning we don't need to have Dunn at FB and Newton/PJ/Spencer at FF, then yes we can beat the Dockers. If we line up with the same team as last week, give or take Bruce/Bail, and play Valenti on Pavlich, than no, no we can't. I'm backing us to go in and win this one knowing full well that it would be virtually impossible for us to win anymore matches after this one (and if in doubt, it would be very easy to tank against Carlton).

Meh. Made a mistake and did the right thing by owning up to it and apologising. He's clearly a good kid and has a very bright future ahead of him.

That goes without saying. As I mentioned before, 6-8 victories next year and some real improvement from our kids and further development of the game plan would be enough for me to see Bailey awarded a new 2/3 year contract. To be fair, we could and should have been on 5 wins already, if we didn't tank against Richmond and played at our fullest possible strength against Sydney. I doubt we would have lost by such a large amount last weekend if weren't tanking as well, so an improvement this season is already pretty clear.

I think everyone took my comments about Bailey as 'unwavering support', which it isn't. I never claimed that he's our next premiership coach, because to be honest I don't know how good he is on matchday or how good he can become with a better team. But as it stands, he has done a great job given what he had at his disposal, and has never once put himself ahead of the team. He has done exactly what I wanted him to do, and has made us a better team, which not many coaches with his win/loss ratio can claim to have done. Maybe other coaches would have done the same, maybe not, but that's irrelevant. What matters is that Bailey has brought us many steps closer to a premiership, and for that I applaud him.

Great post. This is honestly the most positive I have ever been about our club, and in particular our playing list. Finally there is some real quality coming together. We will be great again, it's only a matter of time!

Great news! A real star of the future and now that he is getting a bit more cash, he can afford to go buy himself a steak or 10 :D

Rubbish news about Bail, Grimes and Watts. Jurrah, Jamar and McKenzie should all play if fit. McLean and Rivers I wouldn't risk until next year... particularly if Rivers really does have issues with the groin again.

Don't think so, unless I was in a rush and mixed the two up, because I think Bell's skills and decision making is alright, but his awareness is poor.

I am far from a Sylvia fan, but I have to admit that when he ran his guts out to try and spoil a mark inside the Roos' forward 50, I became a believer. It was the most unSylvia like thing I have ever seen him do, because it was 100% about doing the team thing. In all honestly he was probably never going to get a legal spoil, and get any praise for it, but he did it anyway and it showed me that the penny may have finally dropped. I just hope that his body and more importantly his mind remain healthy and he keeps going. There is still plenty more room for improvement, but he might finally be on the right track!

There is a reason why Bailey scored the job above other more experienced/ well-known candidates, and it wasn't because he looked good in red and blue. I'm not suggesting that anyone in his position would have gone and drafted 30 year olds to top up our list, but many wouldn't have done the hard thing in trading TJ, wouldn't have list managed for two years to ensure we get ourselves the best possible picks, and definitely wouldn't have played kids ahead of some of our senior players. I doubt Bennell and Jetta would have got this much game time under some other coaches who have Robbo and Whelan and Wheatley in reserve, and I doubt Morton would have played nearly two full seasons under many other coaches as well. You also need to give Bailey credit for the remarkable turnaround in one Colin Sylvia, for the great development of our backline and guys like Warnock, Garland and Frawley who at one point or another looked like they were on a journey to nowhere. I think Moloney has changed his game dramatically as well and of course Davey. As I've said twice already, Bailey might not be our next premiership coach, but he is most definitely going to help us on our way there. I'm glad Lyon put all this coaching nonsense to bed and that he is right behind Bailey, as we all should be. If we're still on the bottom of the ladder in 2 years time, then lets talk. But I am willing to bet good money that we'll be playing finals in 2012.