Thehardtackler

The final siren was soured by some stupid Bulldogs fans behind the Melbourne Cheer Squad hurling abuse. I had to guide my young son away from several punch ups started by drunk Bulldogs Fans. One Melbourne supporter was flattened right next to me by a hoon who was tanked. Why do they allow these clowns to drink near children? The security at Etihad were slow to react and clueless as to how deal with violence!

Eade may lose the players like Neeld did. He may not be able to mentor them as well as Craig. Williams would be able to mentor them but there are question marks over his coaching ability, especially given the quality of the raw talent that he had at Port Adelaide. Neil Craig did very well at Adelaide and really needs a couple of good assistants to help him get the best out of our players.

How could we overlook Luke Dunstan for Alex Spina?

Roos would be the best choice but I think that Neil Craig and Rodney Eade would have more passion to do the job. Craig's press conference today suggested that he knows what is needed to turn this club round and with a few new coaches and players he would probably make a success of it.

Stop whining! I thought we played much better than any other game this season. What it highlighted to me is that our Ruck has been killing us. Go Spencer!

Have a look back at games that Bailey coached on YouTube and you get the feeling that the team were enjoying their football more under him, regardless of the results. Can Neeld get the players to enjoy their footy, regardless of the result or has the game become too focused on the scoreboard?

That run reminded me off many a rugby players run through a pack. Colin simply forgot about getting hurt and just went for it. We need more of that kind of courage from our players on a regular basis!

No it is time for Neeld to go. He simply cannot get our list to play to an AFL level. Even the Cheer Squad have lost faith in him and I should know because I sit with them!

They dished it on our players last Sunday. I will not do that to Essendon when they are punished but I do believe that any sanction they receive will be deserved.

I am not at all disappointed with the selections, regardless of Blease and Watts being dropped. All players need to be motivated to perform better at times, regardless of their talent. Playing Michael Evans is long overdue and I think that he will prove to be a dangerous midfielder in our near future. Pedersen needs to start proving that he can hold down a spot as a key target up forward and Neville Jetta is one of our best tacklers and he provides energy and run. He is also aggressive and will be in our best 22 for a few years to come. This team looks as likely to win as any 22 that we could name and people need to realise that Watts and Blease are only match winners if they are in form and if they work a lot harder on their mental and physical approach to every game.

1116 was just saying that they think that Sylvia will leave at the end of the year and Watts will asked to be traded.

They forget to add that he is the one remaining destabilising player on our list. He is a sook and a trouble maker through and through and I can't wait for him to rack off at the end of the year.

I think that Sylvia should have gone with Moloney. If there is a player revolt against the administration then he is certainly behind it. He was so disinterested in all things football when I spoke to him at training and he has never wanted to conform or put in. He only suits a superstar team where he can get an easy kick. Get rid off this bloke and then judge Neeld when he has the players full confidence.

Let me name the dead wood for you: Sylvia, Jamar and Watts. There are also players like Tapscott, Gillies, McKenzie, Byrnes and Rodan who will not perform without a complete change of coaching and game plan. I am also convinced that we need to drop those who do not want to put in and play the youth: Taggert, Tynan, Kent, Barry, Evans and Davis. Play these guys and see what they have got. Drop a couple off the main list and upgrade Couch and Magner. Both those guys would kill for a spot in our starting 22.

Neeld and the rest of his coaching team can only be sacked if a lot more People buy memberships so that we can afford their severance package. Please encourage everybody you know to buy a membership so that we can get a better coach!

We will not improve on field until Brian Royal is sacked. We also need a marquee signing in the off season for the midfield, Daisy Thomas is the obvious choice. About 8 players should be delisted or traded at the end of the year. Sylvia has to leave as he is [censored] weak and disinterested. We need someone like Jack Billings in the draft. We also need to sign a player whose job it is to protect our young players and to marshall them during the game, a Campbell Brown type but obviously someone younger (about 25ish). All future players put onto any contract with the MFC need to pass some sort of a mental aptitude test that demonstrates that they are resilient and they should have demonstrated hardness in their junior footy career. Jack Watts and other players who shirk a contest should be given regular tackling lessons from a Storm coach/player and they should also be made to put on the boxing gloves and trade blows with Mitch Clark, Mark Jamar and anyone else at MFC who is potentially enormous and scary (Nathan Jones is not enormous but maybe scary tough enough to frighten a few of the players in a boxing ring). Our junior players also need a run. I have been really impressed with Rory Taggert's attitude when I have spoken to him and Dean Kent is another player who is pretty keen to do well. Other youngsters like Josh Tynan, Troy Davis, Michael Evans etc. may deserve an extended run to help develop their confidence and give them game time experience.

It's not going to get any better soon! Colin Sylvia does not want to be at the club., I spoke to him yesterday at training and he is totally disinterested. Jack Watts appeared far too comfortable and needs some serious tough love. Nathan Jones and Mitch Clark looked completely depressed to me and I can't see us improving any time soon without these players mentally fit and firing, so more boos will come and the players and the coaches may as well prepare themselves for it! These are all observations from Friday training.

Told Jimmy Toumpas at training that he had not let any of us supporters down and he seemed to really appreciate the positive feedback. I think players like Tom Gillies, Cameron Pedersen and David Rodan really need positive feedback from the supporters as they seem to be suffering from a lack of confidence. Maybe if they get this then they will develop into solid contributors for us.

Jack Viney is a real professional but Jesse Hogan is a similar type with plenty of mongrel. I met him at training this morning and he is also a big unit. A player to watch out for is Dean Kent. Rory Taggert told me that he will be a fine player for the MFC and that he is a tough, skilful player.

When I spoke to Colin Sylvia today I asked him about toughening up the players and he told me that they did not do the boxing training anymore. He did not seem that enthusiastic about being at training either. I think Colin will leave if he gets another offer elsewhere. Maybe Neeld is concentrating too much on the game plan and not enough on the mental side of the game.

I spoke to Don McLardy this morning before training and he was disappointed with the senior players like Garland and Frawley on Sunday. He expects a massive improvement against Essendon. Aaron Davey told me that he was really excited to be playing Essendon tomorrow and was determined to put in a good performance. Jack Viney was chomping at the bit in training and his intensity is higher than any other player. Jimmy Toumpas trained well and looks happy. Rory Taggert told me that he believes that Dean Kent is going to become an outstanding player for Melbourne over the next few years. Personally I would like to see Taggert and Tynan get a game, both of whom look fit and ready to go. I also think that Tom Gillies will have a much better game this week. Mitch Clark and David Rodan were very subdued at training and I am hoping that this is not injury related but more of a way of focusing for upcoming games.

James Magner looked dirty at training this morning. I think that he is really upset that he is on the rookie list and not playing for the Demons. Hopefully he will make it an easy decision to upgrade him to the senior list next year.

I sit behind the goals every week and see the defenders up close. I did not think that Gillies was the worst, in fact Colin Garland and Daniel Nicholson looked worse in that game to me.

Jack Trengove is not there to be quick. He is there to tackle and to feed the ball into the forward line. Jack Viney, Jimmy Toumpas, Michael Evans, Rory Taggert and Dom Barry these are the kind of blokes who are our runners. Trengove should be there to compliment players like Jones and McKenzie whose job is to get their head over the ball, to tackle and to feed off the tap from the ruckman.

It was revealed by Dave Mission that Jack Trengove was carrying a calf problem for most of last year which is why he did not perform well in matches. He has just recovered from a hairline fracture in his foot, which he is apparently completely over now!