Swooper

Wow, Mick. Ground breaking stuff there. This 24/7 news cycle sure does lead to a load of **** being trawled around. Lucky we still had a club after Gutnick, Szzzzzondy, Gardner - although cut Paul some slack at least he did get AAMI Park moving.

The GWS model is one that interests me. Cornflakes Thomas commented on it in his recent blog, about the strong link between Power, Brogan, Cornes as playing assistant and the impact it has had on the young group. Not a bad idea to me. Having seem Leigh Brown get in and give it to them at training it is an interesting proposition.

New jumpers are in! Webjet logo looks much better on the final product!

He was doing 1-on-1 rehab with Misso yesterday in plain view for all to see.

For what it is worth, I got along to quite a few pre-season sessions. Post Christmas, Trenners was often with the rehab guys - his program was quite modified. Obviously he missed some of the practice games too. In this day and age we can't underestimate the impact of a half cooked pre-season. He's doing ok, without being spectacular, but I am sure will come good with more miles in the legs.

FYI, a way around the H-S paywall is to click on the article. The abridged version will show up. Copy the URL and paste into Google. The Google search result link will then allow you to view the entire article.

I first started following the Dees in the early 80's when we were horrible. Not one friend at school barracked for the Dees. They were indeed character building days. The sweetest things was '87. It was almost like all the hard yards made me feel like I had some form of ownership when we came good. I hear everything everyone else has said to here and I hate where we are at as a club right now. It really depresses me. As horrible as Sat was, for me there was a silver lining. I went to the 1st half solo and as a young father was enjoying just being back at the G. I promised I'd take my 3yo daughter, so went home at half tie to pick her up post nap. Her mum is a cat and has in no subtle way tried to influence her. Anyway, I put our little girl in the car and she cried cause I'd forgotten her Dees jumper - I hadn't actually, I'd snuck it in her bag! We got to the ground to see the tail end of the 9 goal run, but she still loved it. I told her we were no good, but somehow she just had a thing for the Dees. I almost cried. She sat there so proudly with her Jack Watts badge - and for all the criticsm he cops here, she said he looked happy in his picture, so loves him, so cut the bloke some slack! He might be the one thing keeping some kids in the game! We've got to get someone to right a ripping little kids book about a little Demon so parents like me can read it at night - get the hearts and minds early. That said, i don't discount how hard it is for many little tackers who might have a bit of red and blue blood in the veins. Just keep telling them how sweat it will be when we're good!

Haha - I take it that is not for real?! That said, turn the club back to the supporters - there is something romantic about no sponsorship on the back. Thinking aloud, I wonder what the yield on the sponsorship agreement was anyway, once contra and sponsor support costs were included?

Agree. Have just read the whole article and those comments are a disgrace. Gotta go. The thing is, he IS Energy Watch. Wonder how his business will be know. A real [censored].

Might need Debt Demolition in another guise to cover the $2m shortfall?! $100/head for 20,000 members. Horrible comments. The world goes crazy with political correctness these days, but that is serious. Will be very interested to see what plays out and how the board handles it. High performance and HIGH INTEGRITY put to the test!!

What is the big deal? Soccer players constantly refer to 'The Manager' rather than 'Guus' or 'Holga'. So it shows a bit of distance between Neeldy and the boys. I am sure that is exactly what he is trying to do. He certainly isn't there to make friends and good on him. How's Grant Thomas on FC last night saying in one breath that dictatorial approach could suit a club like Melbourne and our more recent cultural history and then went on to crap on about player 'empowerment'. Which one is it? Also, am getting over Malthouse thinking he is holier than thou and putting his bit in at every opportunity (of course I know he is paid to do so now and wants to stay relevant) - for gods sake, what did he want the club to do with the death of Jimmy - pretend it didn't happen to shield the players? Paying respect to Jimmy and having that as the corner stone of club culture is far more important than 4 points in Rd 1 in my book.

Yes a very emotional experience. It was a beautiful service. So much has been said and written but I loved how elemental it was - Brian talking of his love for his brother and the joy and happiness the boys got from simply playing together and sharing adventure. Garry there to add a light touch and make some fun of his old mate. I was certainly moved by the turn out of Melbourne faithful. It makes me very proud to say we are a real club full of heart, soul and love for our common man. Onya Jimma. We love you.

To Biff and Jaded, I have a custom made shirt business and have at times thought of the idea of having various styles of red & blue themed shirts for those who don't want the full MFC branded apparel at games, but rather something subtle that shows ones allegiance. Name each style after some great of the recent era - like the Duursma et al. All proceeds to go the the Foundation or some similar Footy Dept initiative. Anyway, just a thought and certainly not wanting to peddle my own wares. Interested in what others might think.

Sylvia should step aside and give him #12. Like David Williams did for Jack's old man.

Love the blazers. Scwabby put a pic of an old blazer up on twitter about 18 months ago and I replied saying with the want to assert our heritage it would be good to have the boys in them. Who know, perhaps the sowing a seed. Good on him though.

Got a new baby due in Feb, so might be battling for a pre-season hit out, but I've taken Misso's conditioning regime on board and have been getting miles in my legs mon-wed-fri so I'm hoping for a mid-field role on debut come October.

Yeah I think it is a bit naive to think that Neeld etc have absolutely no consideration of the past and rubber left on the road. We already know that he presented on his footy philosophy, roles and who he saw possibly fitting where and the remaining holes that needed to be filled. I am sure he is well aware of where players were at, but importantly is putting weight on what they have done in his time and where he sees them going.

That 15m penalty was tragic and indeed I cried long and hard (incurring the wrath of my old boy who got into me for bad sportsmanship - he barracks for the handbaggers!), but I think Jimmy has more than made up for that!! To be honest I was just happy that we had a side that had a go, had guts and was a chance.

What great memories. I remember being 9 yo and sitting in my bedroom listening on radio - the feeling when the Hawks got up and we won was like nothing else for a kid who had only known Melbourne as a struggling side. Going to school after those first two finals, when no one else barracked for Melbourne, was amazing. The pride I had wearing my jumper to school was like nothing else. Agree, Swooper got our boys playing with a zest that can not be measured by scientific training principles. It was all pure heart and soul. Hopefully Neeldy instills a deep passion in the boys that manifests in a manic attack on the ball and contest like that 87 team.

The boys were at AAMI. I stopped for 5 mins on the way past but it was only the warm up. Had to keep going to work. Hopefully others got along.

My mail is that is was McLardy who actually kicked some heads and then pulled out the cheque book to get things moving. Don't underestimate him. I think he is doing a wonderful job supporting Jimma with the day-to-day admin tasks of President, leaving Jimma free to concentrate on health, family and the broad brushed elements of club direction that are clearly very important to him. I'd much rather have the Presidential set-up. Spiritual leader (Jimma) + implementer (Don) = Suitable arrangement for MFC

Does anyone know what Todd's role is with Casey? Neelds tweet yesterday - "Thanks @caseyscorpions for the chance to address the players tonight, thoroughly enjoyed it. Todd Viney has the players working hard!"

I am pumped about Howie for 2012 - looks really fit, great skills both sides and hands are amazing.

I stopped by for about 20mins while they were doing the time trials. Nicco was strongest in the lead group that included Bate, Trengove, Jone, Couch. All looked strong. They were doing them in 2.50-3.10. Maloney was off the back with his big body. In the big bodied group Mitch Clark was a stand out. He streeted them. Flash was being covered by Big Maxy Gawn at one stage, but came back. Poor Sam Blease was really battling at the tail of the field. Rivers even did well, finishing mid group. Of the other players, Col Sylvia was doing some faster running, Bail/Petterd/Jurrah we're all doing some more serious interval work. Bail and Petterd both looked good and LJ was doing his best to hang on. Tapscott was just doing some ball work and left early. Not sure what is up with him. That was it and I had to go. Neil Craig had a couple of the GreenEdge cycling guys there and was talking them through it. I heard a guy asking him if sports science had gone too far in dictating the players program. He said he had the luxury of both sports science background and coaching and that while it is different at other clubs, ours is very much a coach (not player/fitness staff) driven program and ours is more about footy than anything else.

He's ready and I reckon he wants it. Everything he says and does has leadership stamped all over it.