Jaded No More

Had Frawley and Rivers played, we would have won.

Also wanted to add that Martin was so good today. Killed his direct opponent and gave us some good drive out of the backline. Kicking is a bit iffy, but god he's got great skills for a giagantasorous!

Best composure in the team. Saw him the other day and he has the body Kate Moss wishes she had. So bloody skinny, and yet nobody can touch him. It's as if time stops when he has the ball.

I'm pretty sure Grimes was on Brad Johnson for a fair chunk of the game, but it's hard to judge from where I sit. Grimes has played just 3 games, and has the composer of a veteran. Love him! Dunn kills me. GO HARD OR [censored] OFF. Did some really good things, and then completely stuffed us up with his unwillingness to dive head first into contests. And if only Whelan was 10 years younger and didn't have the body of a porcelain doll. He is awesome!

As they mentioned on SEN, when Brad Johnson started his career, Grimes was 5. Gun

Morton is unbelievable! Anyone who says he can't kick should get their eyes checked.

Am I the only one who thinks that the Gold Coast experiment should just f' off and die already? 16 clubs are worse off just so that we can add another club to a geographical area where nobody gives two hoots about AFL, and all for the sake of making more money from TV rights. I hate the AFL! <_<

Bulk SMS advertising is not charged at 20c per text. Usually you pay a bulk sum for a certain number of texts, as opposed to paying per text, and in the end it works out to be as cheap as 1c a text, depending on the volume sent. Having said that, we may have only spent 40 cents, because I didn't get one?

So tempted to make the effort and go down to Casey, particularly if Strauss makes it into the senior team. State of hangover on Sunday morning will no doubt be the deciding factor. Hopefully the good people of Demonland will provide updates regardless.

Is this official? Valenti has been promoted? Bennell dropped after his best game ever? Edit: our backline has gone from awesome to [censored] in the space of a week

They just want to get [censored] :D

Robbo's contract will only get extended if he reaches certain benchmarks, set out by the club when he got his 3 year deal. Of course the club may choose to keep him regardless, given that his injury will no doubt impact his ability to match the KPIs outlined in his contract. Assuming that he continues to contribute 2-3 goals a game, I would happily keep him for an extra year, and have him as a year by year propsition. Currently we haven't got anyone who could replace him, and he would complement Watts quite nicely, as he has done for many years with Neita/Ox. So as long as he isn't keeping any young kids out of the team, and is contributing on the scoreboard, there is no reason to let him go. And while he may not have an official leadership role this year, he has been a leader at the club for many many years, and is a great role model for the young boys coming through. Let us also not forget that his presence on the field, allows Miller, Bate and soon Watts, to get the 2nd/3rd/4th best defender, (because Robbo will always get the opposition's premier FB), which helps them perform better. We have had a lot less 3-on-1 situations in our forwardline since Robbo has returned.

Correct. You don't dominate in finals in your first season if you hear footsteps and squib contests. Green never imposed himself on the contest physically, because as a forward, he didn't need to. He has the marking ability to outmark his opponent without the need to be overly physical. Robbo is the same, doesn't need to impose himself physically, but you wouldn't question his bravery. As Green progressed into the midfield (or as a loose man in defence), he found himself in a lot more contested, disputed situations, where he had to put his body on the line more often, which he did. Dunn has played 2 seasons as a midfielder, and is still finding it hard to cope with the physical nature of the game. Clearly this is a mental issue, as physically he is well developed, and would be on the bigger side for a midfielder (in height certainly).

I'd quit while you're WAY behind Cheney is a workhorse. Honest, hard at the ball, basic skill level is good, will give you a contest every time and probably won't improve to become an A grader (you never know, but it seems unlikely). Bennell has intangible qualities (on top of speed, evasive skills and good disposal) that are not only hard to find, but which are rarely seen by players this early in their career. If the choice had to be made between these two, Bennell would win hands down. Of course the whole question is pointless though, because Bennell isn't going anywhere, and Cheney is competing with guys like Bell, Petterd, McNamara and Buckley for a spot on the list going forward. A more realistic question is, which of the following players are best suited to play the small rebounding defender role; Bennell, Grimes, Strauss or Bail? And how would you fit all 4 into the team (assuming Strauss and Bail develop as expected)?

As much as you can't judge a coach unless you're in the inner sanctum, on anything other than win:loss ratios, I think Bailey is doing a brilliant job. 2007 was the worst year I remember as a Melbourne supporter. There was no direction, we were getting smashed with an old team and a list full of rubbish, and success seemed light years away. A mere 18 months on and we have direction, our list has been gutted from top to bottom (to the point where we now have one of the youngest, instead of one of the oldest lists in the competition) and we are showing something that I haven't seen in a long time from the boys in red and blue... passion. To see players bust a gut, week in week out, when in reality they know finishing above 15th on the ladder is not possible, is a credit to our coaching staff. Motivating young players, some of which have never experienced a win (or maybe have only experienced a handful of wins), must be incredibly hard. But the passion shown by the boys this year, the way they fight their way through situations and the amount of respect we've gained in the competition, is remarkable. Credit to Bailey for having the balls to experiment, to back young kids every week without fail, to keep calm in the face of injuries and never waver in his direction or approach (would have been easy to crack under the pressure of winning the spoon and getting smashed regularly last year). He is a man on a mission, and I wouldn't hesitate giving him a contract extension at the end of the year, because he deserves to take us to finals, and I believe that in a couple of years he will.

Agreed, and the only way we'll get around it, is to pay out a couple of contracts... we can't keep all of Dunn, Buckley, Bell, Newton, Meesen, PJ and Jamar. At least one of those will need to go regardless of contract situation (unless we somehow get a trade for them)

<_<

And free alcohol to mask the pain of having to watch a game at Etihad... and a guaranteed win that won't count towards our final season tally, thus not taking picks 1 and 2 off us... and Port needs to let Watts kick 10... Anything else?

Yeah, he kept pushing Le Cras (annoying little [censored] that he is) off balance and wouldn't let him put his shoe back on. One of the highlights of the day A real shame he got injured, because Chip is absolutely flying at the moment. Physically he is beating his opponents, and mentally he seems to have a lot of self belief. In years gone past he looked like a lost kid, someone terrified of making a mistaken. Now he can't wait to take on his opponent each week. If he was playing for a high profile club, the media would be all over him like a rash!

Oh my, I give up!

Jack Watts should not have to possibly make his debut on that pathetic excuse of a football ground. The AFL, St Kilda and Geelong can all go and get stuffed. The MCG is our home ground, we are part of the MCC for goodness sake. As yet another reserved seat member, I don't want to miss out on a home game at the G' and have to sit in that dark, cold, soulless stadium. :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: (If they do make us move, I hope it's on the back of a promise of some more Saturday home games next year, and a nice financial compensation. Bastards!)

Oh no, virtual world is kicking my arse... whatever shall I do?! (perhaps it's karma for procrastinating on Demonland when I should be doing assignments....)

Unless you understand the context of that conversation, I suggest you don't take unnecessary shots at me. And I really had no idea I had the ability to break someone's thumb without even being near them. Good to know

Brock has spoken... I wouldn't dare disobey him It's a Saturday afternoon game, which is a miracle in itself. We showed plenty last week. We have kids bursting at the seams to show us what they can do, and perhaps another debutant this week as well (McNamara/Bail?). It would be a disgrace if we can't get over 30,000 to this game.

I'm firmly on his bandwagon too (45, I'm watching you... Grimes gets injured and it's on your head <_< <_< <_< )