Jaded No More

F'ing pathetic as usual in the third. We're trying and the pressure is there, but we don't have a forward target and we keep breaking down across the half forward line. Where the hell was Bate? And just how many times can SENIOR footballers (especially Bruce), turn the damn ball over and make stupid decisions?! Hospital passes or just handballs that miss the target all together is not acceptable from players who have nearly 200 games of experience under their belt. Junior too! The umpires have been disgraceful. How the hell did Warnock not get a free for being smashed into the turf? And why wasn't Bate's free awarded play on?

How was the inconsistency with not rewarding Rivers for a clear push in the back, but then paying one against him for a fairly weak push IN THE SHOULDERS?! <_< :angry: At least the umpires are leaving them alone to contest in the middle and not calling "holding the ball" every five seconds. And I'll say it again, PJ is horrendous. Can't dispose and gives away completely stupid frees. When Jamar is crapping all over you, you know you're in big trouble.

Rivers is winning the contest thus far (comfortably). Absolutely no worries there. Who the hell is on Hayes... and Goddard for that matter. Both are ripping us a new one!

Is there any chance PJ might actually hit a damn target? He is woeful, utterly woeful. Our young guys are just so impressive. Maric is playing one of the best games I have seen from a young kid in a long long time. His class is unbelievable. Grimes is another one who just keeps on shinning. He seriously looks like he has played 100 games. I love that both are getting more of a midfield run today, and getting their hands on the ball. I would like to see Morton on the wing for a bit as well. He is wasted in the back half IMO. Jamar has been very good, his contested marking stronger than I remember. Bate is also having a ripping game, but the forward line is lacking a target without Robbo. The Saints have 10 marks inside 50, we have 2. Pretty terrible. We still turn the ball over far too much, and while we are putting amazing pressure on the Saints (despite them dominating the clearances), when we win the ball we seem panicked and all over the place and become way too obsessed with the handballing. The third quarter will tell us everything we need to know about whether we are any chance of winning this. We have to maintain the intensity but calm down with our ball use and think things through. Maybe Sylvia will come alive again? Best/ most influential players thus far: Maric, Bate, McLean, Jamar

Is that the best first quarter we've played all year? And how unbelievably good is it to have a ruckman who can actually ruck?! Jamar is making a massive difference to our on-ballers. Brilliant goal from Frawley, and quality work from little Addam Maric. Bate brought his sticky hands as well I see. GO DEES! Edit: for those without Foxtel, we're down by 4 points (after kicking 5 behinds )

Happy Birthday Jack! Hope you're having a nice time on the Gold Coast. Melbourne promised me that before your 70th you'll get a flag* *may or may not be true

The dream: smash Carlton, with Brock as captain, and Grimes winning the NSM. The reality: I'd take a one point victory over West Sydney, with Juice as captain, and Jamar winning the NSM. Beggers can't be choosers!

And on a completely opposite note: :D

I loved his comment that money doesn't buy you attitude, and that you can still be hungry and competitive and have the will to improve even if you don't have first rate facilities. When asked about his $10,000 donation last year, he said he doesn't like to talk about it, but basically he felt it wasn't fair that players sit back and expect supporters to pay for better facilities, while the players get to benefit, so he wanted to help the cause. He is a champ!

The only criticism that would hurt a player, is one that is personal. If we highlight that player A is struggling to make an impact, or has poor disposal, chances are player A has been told that a million times by the coach. However, if you comment that player B is a useless hack, heartless, selfish, etc..., than that is simply insulting and would hurt players. Constructive criticism is something I would guess most players thrive on, and none would think they are perfect (you would hope). But to be insulted by nameless individuals on a website would be pretty devastating, particularly for young players. I know we can all play a role in that, but in general Demonland doesn't allow for that sort of thing to take place. I've always maintained that it is not what you say, but how you say it. Sorry to derail this topic, just thought I'd pick you up on that because I'm sure we've discussed this in the past.

According to Brock, he will be an absolute star for the MFC... and I promise me and Brock did not coordinate that conversation in advance

The most interesting thing he said was that he has lost 3-4 kilos in the past few weeks, because he went overboard in the gym over summer (how does the club let this happen??), and got a bit too big. He realises that he needs to lose muscle without losing strength to enable him to run out games better. Also mentioned that he couldn't run until after Christmas because of the ankle reconstruction, so is lagging behind. Quarters asked him if he's the fittest he's ever been, and he said no. Seems to have grown up a lot and recognises that his past indiscretions were the wake up calls that he needed. Should captain this club as of next year IMHO.

If Carlton win a flag before we do, I have to give her my entire shoe collection, which she constantly borrows from anyway (and which is worth a small fortune ). If Melbourne win a flag before they do, she has to buy a Melbourne membership for the following 10 years. We each named our price, she chose selfishly, I was thinking about the greater good. Just for that, karma should ensure I win!

Out: Petterd, Whelan In: Bell (to play a tagging role on Ball), Jamar I love Whelan, but he is just not accountable enough, and that hurts us. Cheney could be a good replacement, but I'm content to let Bennell and Grimes play the small attacking defender role for now.

I saw the mark, then the Hawks were off and I didn't understand why. I was sitting on the opposite side of the ground, so it was very hard to see what the hell was going on. I assumed he dropped the ball on the way down, and the umps called play on.

Precisely. He is NOT a bad kick for goal, he isn't. He nailed some very big goals in all of our wins in the past 2 years (all 4 of them ), so he is capable. The problem is, he just does not back himself. It's interesting that Sylvia will rarely nail goals from set shots, so he chooses to run on after a mark for a long goal. That is his comfort zone. Miller needs to find his goal-kicking zone and go for it. His constant handballing makes me think that he is terrified of letting the boys down by missing the goal, which is obviously an ingrained issue and not helped by the fact that somehow he always ends up the scapegoat amongst our supporters.

How did Bell go? And did Bartram play?

Young teams are prone to be inconsistent. As long as our effort... and wait for it, competitiveness, is consistent, that is all we can really hope for right now. Mistakes are costing us games and earning us priority picks. It's all going according to plan.

Rioli has an AMAZING bag of tricks, but so do plenty of other indigenous players. Rioli will only be an elite player if he can sustain his fitness to become a ball winning midfielder, which I think he will. However at the moment everyone is in awe of his tricks and his great goals, but that's polish on top of what is a very good team around him. In a crap team, Rioli would struggle to make the same impact. Morton is dominating in a terrible team, which is a credit to him. Both will be brilliant, but Morton's size and versatility will make him a winner in the long term (hopefully)

I would just like to make three points: 1- McLean had 8 clearances today (that's one more than Moloney & Jones combined, and 4 more than Sam Mitchell). If we were to trade him, where are those 8 clearances going to come from? Our midfield is already struggling when it comes to getting first use of the footy. Take out McLean and we may as well shut up shop 2- McLean is worth more to us, than he is to other clubs. For the pick you'll get for him, you will most likely end up with an ordinary footballer, in what is an ordinary draft. To the MFC, McLean is an incredibly valuable asset, on and off the field 3-

That's the point though, Miller is NOT a key position player. He needs two other strong talls around him, and he needs to be the third target. I'd certainly have him over Bate as a third tall, because at least he is agile enough to pick the ball off the deck and run. In the same manner that Rivers is not a key position player, and is a lot better as a third defensive tall, the same can be said for Miller. Just because someone isn't suited to a KP role, does not mean they are a bad player. Miller handballs deep in attack too much due to a lack of confidence, but we have seen him nail some big goals, and he rarely gets beaten one on one. Had Bate and Robbo both kicked those goals, he would have had 2 extra goal assists next to his name and everyone would be happy.

Can someone tell me what happened with this Robbo incident? It must have happened on the opposite side of the ground, because I don't remember seeing him do anything particularly bad...

I agree in a sense. The first half was the worst I have seen us play in a long long time, certainly this season. We blew our chances in the first with dumb forward movement and easy shots on goal being missed left right and centre. The second quarter was pathetic. However, it has to be said that, in previous years (even back in the days when we were playing finals), a half time margin like the one we saw today, would have meant a complete thrashing. For a young team to come out and actually fight out a game that was essentially lost, and keep on taking chances, was great to see. That was the most pleasing aspect of today... apart from Stef's forwardline brilliance

These crap threads come up at least once a year, because apparently every other Melbourne player is allowed to have poor games, but Miller isn't. For the record, Miller had 8 contested possessions tonight (out of 14), and worked extremely hard. He is not an A grader, he never will be, but show me a team that doesn't have a fair few reliable B graders that do their job each week and contribute. At the end of the day Miller needs quality around him. On his own, he can't be a dominant CHF. His lack of confidence in his kicking is a big issue, and one that he must rectify, but on the whole he has been one of our best this season and people need to stop using him as a scapegoat. Highlight poor performances sure, but to say that he is lucky to be getting a game is rubbish. He absolutely deserves his spot in the team, and with a bit more support in the form of a functioning FF line, he will prove to be very important.

Spot on. Brilliant today, in a display that actually justified his talent and high draft position. Now if only he can back it up...