Angelus BTVS

RIP Jimmy. You brought so much to so many people. You will be sorely missed. Heart go's out to your Wife and children. You will always be remembered.

The thing is Jim Stynes set the culture change in motion, now its time everyone involved with the MFC ensures its carried thru. Hard decisions need to be continually made, players need to demand the best of thier teammates, admistration has to ensure the club continually takes steps forward financially and facillities are always top tier, supporters of the club need to become members. To be the best you have to demand the best. I miss the likes of, Stynes, Wight, Viney, Flower, Hughes, Grinter, B & G Lovett. Because they wore thier hearts on thier sleeve gaver thier all and didnt hurt that a few of them struck fear into opponents. I want some of the current crop of players to show more of these characteristics.

1996 -Melbourne members vote in favour of merging with Hawthorn 4,679 to 4,229. Hawthorn members overwhelmingly vote it down led by Don Scott 5,241 to 2,841. Whats the point of this ? That Melbourne members voted thier own club out of existence. What type of club culture does that set...... The culture can change again but takes EVERYBODY to change it, Board, Administration, Coaches, Players and Supporters.

Matty Lloyd's comments just then on footy show in regards to Jack Watts and lack of leadership at the club when he first walked in are spot on. He said it was likes of Thompson, O'donnell & Harvey etc that highlighted what was required of him at essendon. And Lloyd questioned what culture and examples did Melbournes experienced players show back then. And that likes of Davey, Moloney, Sylvia, Rivers etc should be embarrased they arent in the Melbourne leadership group. Watts is a talent and hopefully the club can develop him correctly same go's for all drafted over last 4-5 years.

Agree with Lutz, Jack Martin from WA will be the kid clubs vie for in the mini draft. According to likes of Terry Wallace on Trade week radio from last year clubs are already all over him. http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sport/a/-/afl/9123659/gnfl-throws-up-another-afl-possibility/

IMO there is a deeper lying reason as to why the midfield and rest of the team for that matter has a cloud of doubt over them. The thing that makes an elite professional sportsperson standout from a professional sportsperson is played out above thier shoulders. All professional footballers are fit enough to play the game some may have a freak athletic ability to help seperate them but they're very few. Melbourne for far too long have been inconsistent not only game to game but during games and season to season with predominantly the same playing group over several years think back to late 90's and early 2000's one year in the finals next year down the bottom one minute up by 40 odd points within a qtr losing or struggling to hold on to a 1 point lead. This IMO says for far too long there has been an acceptance of mental mediocrity on field from coaching right thru the playing list. If you go back to the late 80's melbourne did not really have the most talented list on paper but they worked hard for one another under a common goal get Robbie F to a final and Northey squeezed every ounce out of them. The likes of Geelong and Collingwood arent just made up of talented footballers they are made up of a shared common desire to get the best out of themselves and thier teammates. Once a squad of players are all fighting under a common goal for eachother they can achieve great things. The reason why the likes of a Trengove/Grimes stands out so much is how mentally tough they are, how driven, football astute, desire to win the contest whatever it may be, a clearance, a mark, a tackle the want to see a teammate improve but also the ability to make a teammate better, plus they have plenty of talent that they continually desire to improve upon. It is in selecting the players with the right mental makeup that melbourne will improve as a team unfortunately too many of melbournes past leadership group did not appear to have the right mental attributes hence not surprised by this years overhaul of the leadership group. This is where Melbourne will improve Neeld/Craig/Misson have consistently spoken of Elite performance and from the outside and talk from the players they are being shown what elite performance consists of. Melbourne has a lot of talent on its list but how many of these talented players appear to lack mental toughness and the desire to unite as a team when its required on a consistent basis. bringing in the likes of a magner, couch & nicholson to help push the current young and older players shows them that talent can get you drafted but wont grant you a long career unless you have the desire and mental strenghth to continually push yourself and others to get better. If any of Magner, Couch or Nicholson prove to be in melbournes best 22 then great but if they help show up attitude deficiencies in the current more highly touted players and also help to establish a united team work ethic then that is just as important. The penny can still drop for many Melbourne players to realize the mental toughness required to not only be a professional footballer but an Elite professional footballing TEAM. Im not expecting it all to come together after one pre season but i am expecting to see a beginning and eventually when all the players on the ground are working for each other with a desire to shepard, block, tackle, gut run and help thier teammate then all of a sudden the Midfield will look so much better.

It was all ruck duties for him today and working with the midfield group, he ran with Jamar for the 45 minute match practice drill. No doubting his speed and athleticism for a big bloke (200cm) but i think its just a case of waiting for the switch to go on that make's him want the ball more and demand the ball more. It can take awhile to click as it did for Jamar but once it does all of a sudden the big blokes just have a presence about them. I hope Fitzy gets to that point where it clicks for him but so many just dont get there. One thing though is our forward line could potentially be the biggest in the league the way we could lineup with likes of M.Clark, S.Martin, J.Watts, J.Howe looking as if they could all work in the same forward line together Watts and Howe have the footy smarts and motors to not congest to close to the bigger blokes and they are repeatedly beating thier opponents from what i have seen over the duration of pre season so far. in my own opinion this could potentially be Melbournes most damaging forward line i have seen since 94' when we had Jaka, Lyon, Schwarz, Pike and Charles. Its the charles type we are blatantly missing but hopefully someone will bob up be it likes of a Davey, Blease, Jetta etc. 2 types of players we need IMO is an out and out small forward that can kick a goal and tackle, and a quick midfielder that can break the lines and use the ball, as at the moment Blease has neither the tank or body to play midfield all day and he is the only guy on the list with the pace and poise we need running thru the middle. Jack Viney will help with the quality midfield grunt we also need, cannot wait to see him in a demons jumper the kid already puts enormous effort into his training that 1 or 2 of the listed players could well follow. The great thing is the vast majority of players are putting in like i havent seen for quite some time.

Training today at Gosch's Paddock. I got there at about 10.am and saw 1½ hours of training. About 15 -20 other spectators were scattered round ground over duration of training. Things noticed were, Jack Watts' polish with ball in hand and seems to be able to hold position against the bigger bodies a lot better i.e. in competitive drills against likes of Sellar. Jack Grimes looking good to go for start of season; he looks like has built upper body strength fair bit. Jack Viney was doing repeat 300m runs with LJ and, as they continued, Viney left LJ in his wake. Viney looks built to go now one of the most well-built 17yr olds you would see. If he plays u18 this year it would do nothing for him, he would dominate. Tom McDonald up forward in drills looked impressive but of concern to me is his delay in getting boot to ball in timely manner although once he does, he generally hits his target. However in competitive AFL matches he will have less time to spot up his targets. The lads had a short burst of goalkicking practice with Green and Watts consistently accurate. At about 10.30 the boys had some structured match practice led by Neeld which lasted for about 45 minutes with breaks every 10 minutes or so. It was heavily focused on playing the boundary line and stoppage work. Standouts here for me were Trengove (great footy brain) provides teammates with time and puts ball to their advantage. Jamar just goes about his business clearly the only true ruckman we have to operate with right now and so cannot afford him to go down at all. Nicholson gets so much of the ball by positioning himself in the right spots I just hope that his awareness improves once he has the ball as him getting it doesn’t necessarily translate to a clean clearance for his teammates. If only Morton had Nicholson’s attitude and desire but unfortunately I still see Cale as unfulfilled potential due to lack of desire to push himself. Leigh Williams was impressive in the contest clearly has a competitive streak in him and so does Mitch Clark who will be an outstanding presence on the field, Clark definitely has a bit of mongrel in him. The boys then split off again into a repeat lead drill where the 6 forwards would supply blocks for one another and repeat leads while the coaches would honour 1 of the leads this would have been very taxing on the players as it was performed at high intensity and for most part the defenders were very good in particular Jamie Bennell impressed with his ability to beat his forward opponents. While the forwards and back were involved in the repeat lead drill a midfield group was going the some centre setup work. I was surprised at how small this group was it featured Jamar and Fitzy rucking to JT, Bate, Nicho, Gysberts, Beamer and I believe Magner. Looks to be a case of you only enter the centre of the ground if you have the body to play as an inside mid. James Strauss appeared to be moving reasonably freely which was a really positive sign. Over the other side of the ground McKenzie, Spencer, Bartram and believe Tappy were doing running drills together. All in all it was an impressive session I really believe there should be massive improvement this season the coaching to me seems far more structured with the players not having much down time and learning the structures right under the nose of the coaches. Previously under Bailey I noticed him doing a lot of teaching out on the ground while players just stood in a position listening while not really being involved in a hands on degree, which is what I’m noticing is different under Neeld’s teaching all the coaches seem to have the players attention a lot more due to them being more interactive with their guidance to the players. Note I didn’t see likes of Davey, Sylvia or Jones.

Lyon said wasn't in for the long haul but just to get the club stabilized and to help it move forward. Would look like he's achieved that along with Schwab, Stynes and McLardy. Hopefully, the right pieces are now in place to set up a productive next few years. Interesting that Craig will report directly to the board believe this to be a good move, fewer non football department people getting to involved with the football side of things the better. Much better to have a united football department with a common goal than a fragmented one that appeared to be the case last year.

Without question... 1. Dannie Seow 2. Luke Beveridge 3. John Howat 4. Brent Heaver 5. Fabian Francis 6. Chris Sullivan 7. Wayne Henwood 8. Wayne Lamb 9. Haydn Robins 10. Scott Simister :huh: :wacko:

I'm just rapped the likes of Harrington and Neeld were able to persuade clark to come acroos to the club AND get him for pick 12 - Bargain. The club deserves congratulations on the landing a big fish like this and makes a statement to the league that we are pressing forward in a big way. Was worried at first when the club signalled desire to land one of the 17yr olds and came up short, but adding Clark is a great move for the structure of the team. And we can still be a massive player in next years Trade/Free agency period as still only at 92% of cap!! well done

For Caddy, first we need to accept dogs bid of pick 39 for Bate then -: our Mid First round compo pick + Warnock plus exchange our newly acquired 39 in exchange for Caddy + suns pick 50 Gives us out of this trade period. M.Clark, J. Caddy, Pick 36 & Pick 50. in affect Clark in Bate out - Caddy in Scully out - Pick 36 replaces maric pick 50 replaces warnock. covers off list management of having to move on min 3 players. Next season still get Viney + still have live end of 1st rnd pick bloody good value. with GCS remember You have to give something worthwhile as Caddy under contract and GCS need to appear to have better deal going thier way. As Caddy was a #7 pick. (the boy can play)

Spot on all points make sense and really all there is to it now is some of us would have gone for it and some of us wouldnt. I would have. The benefit of having an O'meara/Crouch down at the club with Viney having 2 pre seasons and 1 year of playing for Casey seniors while learning the ropes of Neelds gameplan to me would seem a huge advantage going into the 2013 season, you would be bringing in kids that were ready to go and pretty much you would know exactly what you were getting with these kids. The further down the pecking order of the draft the more unknown it becomes, yes you may strike a nugget of gold which is hard to strike (hope we do). but more often than not especially of more recent years as recruiting has gotten better the top end picks seem to be getting pretty bloody good. Murphy, Gibbs, Kreuzer, Watts, Natanui, Hill, Trengove, Martin etc some other muppett

oh well for every club to be so caught up in the dealings of this mini draft it would suggest the 17yr olds on the table were very highly regarded as everyone would know next years draft is supposedly a bumper one and O'meara & crouch expected to be heading that list if were available along with J. Viney (thanking you FS pick) also considered a top 5 player. So it would seem there was a great opportunity this year to get access to one of these kids but Adelaide were prepared to go that 1 step further than the demons and looks like we wait and see what demons have planned... hopefully not wasting time with middle of the road mature bodied players at expense of securing elite talent either young or mature. This will all begin again as another WA kid Jack Martin from Claremont (born 29/1/95 mini draft eligible this time next year) will take centre stage amongst couple of other late runners and maybe we are then the ones with the most amount of ammo left to fire the best shot.

if it ends up being a 3rd round pick for him then so be it cant harm too much, but if anything higher ... sake why not get games into Fitzpatrick & Cook and see if they are going to have what it takes at AFL level. Still think Cook if he gets a body will be a good player just needs bit of time as most tall kids do.

I would be extremely dissapointed if Melbourne only offered 1 pick for the calibre of a Crouch or an O'meara, that would just be taking the [censored]. Word around the media covering the trade is that it was a no brainer for demons to utilize mix of pick 12 and compo picks to secure one of these 17yr olds as they have stated both would be a top 5 choices this year as underage players no less. If there is any opportunity left to have another crack i hope they take it and make the most of it!!!

Oucher correct, the AFL have to sign off on ALL trades and this 4-6 club deal to get GWS o'meara is very murky waters. Now all clubs not involved in this trade must hope that the AFL takes the stance of shooting down the proposal so that the mini draft go's back to being about who supplies GWS the single best offer for first crack at 17yr old because as it stands now what is rumored to be on offer to GWS is a long way short of GC's bid of pick 4 in this years draft. The AFL need to make a stand here but unfortunately they appear so focused in bending over to ensure GWS is a success they will likely let them get away with it. Also though the other option for Melbourne would be attempt to take the place of one of these 4 clubs to get involved i.e at present Crows involved with thier pick 10 and compensation pick and in return expecting to secure a 17 yr old (kennedy i beleive) and get GWS pick 14 as well. If your Melbourne and really want Crouch who many beleive to be not far behind O'meara then why not just do pick 12 + 1 comp pick for Crouch and leave GWS with pick 14. This way you get an elite kid that under normal circumstances would be a top 5 pick anyway......and still have a 1 first rnd selection next year + J.viney...

Thats the issue with the ability GWS have to run the mini draft over 2 years, they dont have to do any business now and would likely finish bottom next season allowing them to snap up O'meara for themselves and likely a Crouch go's #2 next year to whoever has next pick barring any young kids pushing up higher. Thats why Demons we are better off paying bit over the odds now to make GWS who hold the cards give one up...

UTAH Your right no guarantee but is it worth a crack? Gooner, GC are in prime position but reason why deal with GC hasnt already been signed off is because another club (Melbourne) has its fingers in the pie and are the only ones that appear to have the trade currency to disrupt the deal, this is why Marcus Ashcroft has said we have to weigh up just what we are prepared to give up for O'Meara.... they went in thinking straight swap pick 4 this year for O'meara well another club is making GWS think twice about that forcing GC to counter. I say fair enough make GC pay up as there going to be direct competition during our flag window so dont give them an easier ride. And if we can secure a crouch with just 1 compensation pick then yes would be a dream outcome. Bate has very little value maybe worth a 3rd round pick to someone and Warnock has already had medical at an interstate club maybe GWS not sure but wouldnt think he would carry too much trade value either. The trade value is in the Picks we have at our disposal not our players that cant get a regular game.

Demon Disciple spot on. This mini draft is the best way for Melbourne to secure elite talent. It opens the door for demons to fully utilize the compensation picks on a player/s that would be taken at the top end of next years draft and even this years. These 17 year olds can come to the club straight away and train with the club like any player taken in the draft. They can also play VFL football with the affiliate club in Melbournes case Casey so imagine how beneficial this would be to have an O'meara/Crouch + J.Viney training together with senior melbourne players for a full year, so when they are eligible to lineup in 2013 they would be a year ahead in development than those taken in next years drat.... Melbourne clearly is interested in securing a 17yr old just have to look at demons website interview with Tim Harrington to confirm that one. And it is Jaeger O'meara they are targeting this deal for the #1 pick at 17yr olds will take up the majority of trade week (has to be done by Thursday) it is not everyday an opportunity like this comes along. In case of Crouch who many expect to be #2 pick he is heavily sought after by the Dog's who WILL part with compensation pick and potentially pick 17 from this years draft although they dont want to but thier hand could be forced, as i would also expect Geelong to make a play for Crouch. It is a matter of opinion who you beleive to be better but either way by all accounts you are securing a future star the reason O'meara is touted so highly is that he has that X factor about his play he has the ability to be consistently very good throughout a game and then blow it apart in space of 5 min burst this mixed with obvious skill and athletic ability places him at the top of the pecking order. Prendergast, Harrington etc need to work on securing the players Neeld believes are required to win a flag but seriously if you had the opportunity to trade for a 17 year old C. Judd what would you give up?? you never get anything for free in AFL although getting a J Viney for any pick outside top 5 is getting a steal, and that is why with him locked away throw caution to the wind and do your best to secure O'meara or Crouch (who is also a gun) use the picks and get it done Demons.

Theres nothing wrong with our song, however there is something seriously wrong with having the trumpet version played before every home game. Makes more people cringe than those that enjoy it. If you want to make the club more appealing to potential new supporters then do a better job of striking a chord with them.

Not the only one, Crouch is a great prospect, head over the ball, great awareness, has beautiful kick and puts the ball to advantage of teamates and remains in the contest. This is the thing the class does rise to the top you want to be able to have the chance to participate in the mini draft as in all likelyhood all 4 taken will be guns. Never a guarantee but still likely as recruiters appear to be getting more and more 200+ gamers right with the early picks dont get me wrong there will always be the Nat Fyfes of this world come thru but they are alot harder to pick. Thats why Wellsy from Geelong is so highly regarded makes the absolute most of his clubs picks and they always have a history of being later picks. No coincidence Crouch is high on radar of the cats he is a pure footballer and cats like these type of players and so do I, its one thing to put so much behind all the testing of the combine i.e 3km, Vertical Jump, Agility test etc but if you cannot use these skill sets in an AFL game then they are no good to you. Main priority should always be football ability. Believe both Crouch and O'meara have this in spades but due to the testing most recruiters place O'meara high. In terms of worrying if a player will go home after 2 years we shouldnt let that be a factor as free agency comes in it will become a regular thing. You cannot afford to become gunshy in business and AFL is a business. If O'meara or any other interstate player for that matter came to demons as a #1 pick and played well for 2 years and wanted to go home then the clubs wanting that player would likely be forced to trade plenty to secure them just like Judd getting to Carlton and giving up likes of Kennedy and high draft picks. Either way Demons recruiters should ensure they secure one of these kids as the Melbourne midfield is a worry there's potential there but at moment no real elite midfielder, dont get me wrong I believe Trengove will become a star of the competion like a Bartel/Hodge but he will need other elite midfielders with him. Backline of melbourne is solid especially the talls and couple of promising young tall defenders on list already, the forward line is definitely missing a key tall target but give Cook time he may surprise. Melbourne need a quality small defender that can use the ball and shutdown opposistion small forward. Ideally you want to build a 10 player minimum midfield group, demons have some pieces already there but need a couple of those top tier onballers. Viney looks like will be the goods as he is hard as a cats head and always on the bottom of the pack something clearly lacking from Demons this year barring couple of players and the club would also love to get hands on one of these 17yr olds to fill another piece.

GC are definitely in box seat for 1st pick of mini draft, offering GWS the ability to secure thier 4 most wanted juniors this year instead of 3 plus potentially a compensation pick that is flexible for them to use when they wish down the track. Now currently either way if Demons do want to secure 1st pick of mini draft (and remember this 1st pick is like having the #1 overall pick in next years draft as you get to select the best current under age player in the country as of now, speculative i know but this group of kids is said to be talent packed in strength of depth compared to this years) they will automatically have an offer on table of 2 picks now what these 2 picks are only Melbourne know likely pick 12 from this year and a compensation pick from scully trade or just both compensation picks and not this years pick. However if as consistently spoken of in the football and betting traps GC are so keen on securing O'meara they will up thier offer to this years pick 4 and thier compenastion pick this means that Demons hand will be forced if they do desperately want the 1st mini draft pick to offer up pick 12 & both scully compensation picks to then put themselves in box seat. do not be surprised if the club are prepared to do this as extreme as it sounds. You must realize you do not get anything for free when 17 other clubs would love to have opportunity to have access to the best 17 year old they determine to be in the country. Now what will be weighed up is this, how confident is the club that O'meara is that much better than likes of a Crouch or potentially a Josh Simpson type down the track both of which would come much cheaper. One thing that will also be weighed up is Jaeger O'meara if as good as recruiters beleive, he is top 1% for repeat sprint, acceleration, speed etc he gets to contests with the ability to burst clear reason why comparison to Judd also is tackling machine is that he,would be a clubs Marketing Dream the potential superstar player with a rockstar name has already been put out there by media. So Mark Neeld has already declared holes in his preferred lineup how many holes only the club knows and what it takes to fill those holes could be the scully compensation picks and this years pick 12. Are the demons better to use picks to fill a hole and a deemed to be lesser 17yr old or risk all by going for 1 potential superstar. One things for sure the Demons would have loved to be able to secure both J. Watts & Natanui a few years back maybe this time they will take the opportunity to bring in for 2013 season J.Viney & J'Omeara. And have at thier disposal an elite midfield.....