Norm Smith's Curse

Storm in a teacup created by Melbourne haters (a growing section of the media) and Patrick on SEN who'se only currancy is taking controversial opinions and running with them. Brock has about as much credibility as any other player who recently told a random punter on the net that he caught aids off his mother. MFC have done the right thing but have already been investigated with no findings of 'tanking.' But to put in context - In the Kruezer cup we WON against Carlton who allowed Travis Johnstone to gain 40+ possessions and was never tagged - a clear display of coaching to lose. Libba then came out and openly said Carlton were tanking. Nothing happened. Terry Wallace basically said that Richmond tanked to get Cotchin. Nothing happened. Every year teams that know their finals chances are over blood players, move players in odd positions to see how they go and experiement. Any tiny fragment of respect I had for Brock is gone now. Why bring it up? Surely we all swalled Scully being able to leave as an indirect consequence of karma from tanking?? Alternatively all it would take is an ex richmond, west coast or carlton player with a grudge to come out and say the same thing then I wonder how Kev and Patrick will be whinging about the blight on the game and match fixing.

The only poison I hear on here is people like you saying we should sack the coach - knowing full well that would throw the whole team in turmoil and make it impossible to attract other players to the side. I never said Moloney, Davey or Green should be sacked. What I said was Davey's injury is a compounding problem and I doubt he'll get back from it, Moloney doesnt probably suit the style of play Neeld wants to instill (and I did say that he was previously the heart and soul), and I think we should definaetly keep Green personally and he is a club champion. But people who get all high and mighty about people on an internet forum critically analysing their list need to have a good think about what else the forum is for if it isnt for discussing how best to improve the team and get it back up the ladder. Or would you rather we sit here in denial, hold hands and sing psalms? Every player that chooses the footy life knows that there can be very harsh realities and that the average player gets less than 100 games. i wasnt disrepectful about any players on the list and I could have been. Because its frustrating watching years being pumped into blokes making the same mistakes four years on... I think its high time a few people on this forum took a chill pill, took a step back and got honest about where we are at. Remember that some of the older players are earning pretty tidy money for efforts that would not be tolerated anywhere else.

and Mitch Clark

How exactly? Bate should have gone to the Doggies and believe me he wanted to as he was given very few opportunities under Bailey. Neeld talked him into staying to try him in the midfield. he hasnt set the world on fire there and hasnt played well as a centre half forward type in seasons. He might struggle to get picked up by another team now. I personally think we have bigger problems list wise than Bater. What I think will happen at seasons end will be that many might pay for the sins of a few. The history of pumping years and seasons into players on potential and faith that is not ultimately repaid means that Neeld will probably feel compelled to be more ruthless this time. Some might potentially need another season to show they can play under Neeld's gameplan and Misson's hardcore fitness regime, but some wont get it. There are some superb players in the WAFL. It aint the best standard obviously but we could get some cheap pickups there (the WAFL Demons have a cracker of a forward crumber). We might struggle to get a few free agents and quality players at the end of the season because we arent exactly an attractive option at the moment. So really memberships and good strong support-base is an important thing. I assume that a player that was wavering on an offer could at least be comforted by the fact we had as many members as St Kilda this season despite being utter shizen.

His a gun and has had a great year and seems to have been one of the good stories under Neeld. Ive always liked him and he's come on.

[quote name=baysidedave' times tamp='1343538257' post='602043] l've never seen a slower team

I guess we are all used to it. Just another season. But its harder when its painful to watch rather than just frustrating.

Sanity at last...

ould be nice to see some meat on Gysberts. Still as skinny now as years ago.

Ill consider it (although I dont agree) if you stop asking for Neeld to be sacked every five minutes.

Oh I get it, your trying to paint me as a racist? Questioning the work ethic of an indigenous player? Neeld said earlier in the week that he wanted to see Jurrah get back to the club and buckle down. What I meant was is that his mind isnt with playing footy, its distracted with the court case and you can tell he has lost is mojo. But people seem to quite often skirt around the point thathe is facing pretty serious charges and with a number of witness statements against him,

Players that can kick are always a good place to start at.

yeah mate thanks for reminding me what I posted. SInce the assault allegations he has had some injuries but at the end of the day he has lost his drive. His form hasnt been great and he still doesnt play defensively. Proof is in the pudding. Maybe we should just sack the coach eh thai? That will fix everything. It was him the coached the side to an 186 point loss...

From the bloke that firstly posts continually from round 7 that we should sack Neeld, that he is the entire problem with the club and then tries to say today that he has been 'neutral on Neeld'. Mate if you think that the whole Jurrah thing hasnt at least effected his form now and potentially in the future your kidding yourself. if you think there isnt a strong case against him that certainly opens him to the possibility of jail time then your also kidding yourself. You can read between the lines about Jurrah - the fact he asked not to play earlier in the season - the assault allegations are weighing him down bigtime and it could drag out for years.

Its pretty harsh but what is the alternative? Pretend the list is fantastic? Give support to players that haev yet to return years of faith? Sugar coat it? What is the point of a forum where longtime supporters cant vent after another terrible season? Perhaps the list is ok and has just not responded to the Misson exercise regime. I dont claim to have all the answers, but I do know that Ive heard from several sources that 10-12 are going. Im just giving my own assessment which I think was fair. I was not scathing. But I doubt anyone on the coaching panel spends much time giving thoughts to my suggestions so why do you care so much?

Big deal - sure I like Bartram but his disposal stands out in a side of poor disposal. From what ive heard he likes players that get their role and play it and do what they are told. Accountable types. Dunn has lots of flaws in his game, but he does what he is told, similarly Tappscott has been given games because of the 1% off the ball that have helped in the long run. I still firmly believe that Garland has a future in the forward 50. Our backline is consistently over-rated. Teams constantly just keep the ball in their 50 because our defenders struggle one on one and with contested footy and more tellingly, we have no run out of our back half. We need a Ward or Yarran type that can create some run out of there. I defense is our strength but even it isnt fantastic, it just looks ok when compared to a VFL standard midfield and a forward 50 that consists of one player.

I got a laugh by this post. No mucking around here. But rumours from the club are circulating that its a 10-12 player cull and here's my take on who and why: Gawn: 1. Cale Morton - love him or not, Neeld gave him a chance this season and he's back at Casey. Enough said... has to be traded as signed to end of 2013. 2. Bail - sure he tries but he is a butcher as another said above. I dread every kick. 3. Bartram - a real trier, and seems like a great bloke as a person, but again poor disposal and we have too much of that. 4. Davey - the foot is mangled, he has a permanent limp and has lost the passion. Great player but time to move on 5. Fitzpatrick - I feel for this bloke with his health problem. Probably needs more time but i cringe. 6. Liam Jurrah - its pretty clear that he may be in jail in 2013, but if not I get strong feelings and indications that few under Neeld are happy with his work ethic. 7. Brent Moloney - I used to love this bloke. Heart and soul and all that, but he's just too slow now days and seems to spend more time barking orders than leading by example 8. Matty Bate - an old friend of his is my third-hand club source so I will lose that, but the Bate as a midfielder experiement has failed. 9. Cook - hasnt had a chance but doesnt look likely to break into the side any time soon - a real point given a hack could 10. Joel MacDonald - he's been ok of late, but you can never relax whent he ball is in his hands. Tries, but sometimes that might not be enough. 11. Bennell - too many chances Rumours: 11. Jordan Gysberts - I keep hearing he is on the outta for poor work rate, but i think he has a lot of natural talent so would be a shame. trades: 12. Colin Sylvia - Sydney would love him and at his best he is inspiring, but he's best is just too fickle and perhaps its time to change 13. Rivers - might get cained for this but we have enough defenders now and we need to get one with a bit of run and carry. A ward style runner out of the back half. Keepers: 14. Dunn - some might totally disagree but he is given a role and more often than not he plays it - Neeld likes players that do that. 15. Petterd - has been very poor this year but should get another year given previous years 16. Luke Tappscott - I like this bloke and despite having a small impact on some games, he gets himself in the right places at times. So Im glad no one has voted for him. ?? 17. Stef Martin - all over the shop 18. Couch and Magner - good VFL solid players but are they part of our AFL future? 19. Sellar - a few games he has looked alright, others he has looked below VFL standard.

In terms of bulking up - and dont get me wrong as Im a huge fan of this young bloke - but Gysberts looked as skinny at Casey the other day as he did two years ago.

I think Petterd is safe, Trenners aint going anywhere and if you look at his youtube footage in 2011 you will see why he will be back, otherwise Id probably add Bartram, Cook, and a few others to your list. I have it on the authority that Davey's foot is cooked.

While I think that Neeld hasnt really been given a chance, he must wear the fact that there are at least 12 players on our list that clearly are never going to get there - either lacking drive, lacking the ability to play a role, lacking the ability to develop their weaknesses, and many that just lack the basics. Its rumoured that he now regrets keeping the faith in many on our list but that's all well and good, but he did show the faith. That being said, Im sure he has already learned a lot about our list, our capability and where we need to improve. So ultimately I think Neeld's direction is the right way. He is turning a club that could potentially finish 12-10 and making it a firm finals hope. Its annoying that we have gone so far backwards this season and some would argue this is so we can make bigger strides in the future once Misson's fitness regime kicks in, and time will tell. But it is true that many promising players have been poor this year for what ever reason - whether its the effects of the heavy training load or what ever. Whether Neeld is a good coach and the right man for the job has more to do with what happens in tradeweek, draft, preseason and our first 8 games in 2013. Having Craig on board gives me a lot of confidence.

Ive been supporting since the 70s myself and I must admit that this season has been a lowlight.

Thaipantsman - you have pretty much every month posted comments suggesting we should sack the coach or that Neeld is the problem and isnt inspiring the players. So that doesnt sound overly neutral

Two big key forwards doesnt always work - look at Brisbane with Brown and Fev.

Gysberts has had a bad run with injuries but I must admit I was shocked to see that he is just as skinny now as he was two years ago. Some have said that they have heard from the club that Neeld isnt big on either Gysberts or Cook. I guess at the end of the year we will know if that is true. Ultimately we havent really had a chance to see what Neeld can do because across the board every player on our list other than Nathan Jones and Mitch Clark have had shockers - either because they never had enough talent or drive in the first place, because they have been pushed too hard in the preseason, dont get the game plan or are just woefully out of form - various reasons that have been given. I think Neeld's biggest mistake this season is probably putting faith in a few players that have continually dissappointed. I wont name them and there is no need to. Also perhaps putting faith in players that are past their best to turn it around and perform. I think most people that follow the Demons closely would suggest that anything less than a 10-12 player cull at seasons end (via dropping or trades for contracted players) would be a surprise. One thing I dont get though is that for a side constructed to be a running, speedy, attacking 'bailey' style team - why are we so darn slow!!

Ok, my bad. Sorry - maybe he should play for the dees.