rolly

chip definately has the toe for it. just need sellars to step up so that frawleys not as shackled down back. nichlson will cycle through defence much like jones did last year even from the midfield imo so with a fit grimes there are a few options

the effort you guys put it in is much appreciated by those of us interstate members that can't make it ourselves... exciting times, can't wait for the season to start properly

Nathan Jones, a former first round draft pick showed his massive potential when coming third in the NAB rising star behind Joel Selwood and Scott Pendlebury. Since then he has cemented his spot in the team with his tough as nails attitude and willingness to do the hard yards. Consistently in Melbourne's best on game day, by all reports he is also one of the front runners at training. Both in his personal performances and also with his encouragement and communication with other players he exhibits his many leadership qualities and in my personal opinion seems to tick every box required of an AFL captain. I think he would be a great "lead by example" style of captain, and young Jack Trengove could learn alot from his actions both on and off the field. The other player I think ticks all the boxes is Moloney but unfortunately he got his face on the back page of the paper for all the wrong reasons and in this day and age that kind of incident is going to cost you. Moloney will be in the leadership group, don't get me wrong, but it will be in a lesser role.

vote #1 jones

YES!!!!!! one of the first rude jokes i learnt! annoys me that i have to explain that joke to so many people.

here we go, this should be a good spot to highlight comedic genius. i'll get the ball rolling, look forward to the posts: -That's what she said -Takes one to know one

willing to cop that, i do tend to get worked up talking about mckenzie but thats becuase i really do think he is the kind of player that this club needs. his choice to stay on our ROOKIE list instead of going to the crows senior list shows that in this day and age of "mercenaries" there are still a few players who adhere to the old ways. agree that despite his endeavour there are question marks over his disposal however IMO i'm more than willing to play the guy who is willing to go to the bottom of the pack to fetch the pill. its no good having the best skills in the world if you can't get the ball. i will defend his style of play to the end because of all our players last year, how many actually showed that hunger for the ball and the willingness to do what needed to be done to get it? seems to me that he and mitsubishi play a simliair game its just that magna is built like a brick shithouse due to a few extra years in the gym and working in construction (i think) and when jordie's body gets to a decent size he could be genuinely hurting people when he flies into packs...looking forward to it good call buddy, how many hours did you spend on that gem? if your chasing cheap laughs mate post a video on youtube. at least try to further the discussion rather than making a closed statement which highlights your inability to form discussion points. i'll even start a thread so your brilliant one-liners will have a place to flourish

was very underwhelmed by these reports...no actual news

everyone should be a fan of this kid...he may never have the elite kicking skills of a pendlebry or judd but he has more ticker than both of them combined. i think there needs to be a spot in the team for a 1% player. the nut case who is going to throw his body around, accepting death before dishonour and the bruises associated with such play. jordie mckenzie is one of those few players who seem to become 10foot tall and bulletproof when putting on the jumper. he seems to actually care about the MFC as an institution rather than just a footy team and therefore he should be applauded for the 5chase downs and 10team acts a game (plucked the numbers out of the air) rather than booed for his 4missed handballs. matty whelan and daniel ward made solid careers off playing this style of football

reading the 3rd one down i got a sense of deja vu: "club started in november, earlier than any other league club" "blooded alot of players last year who struggled at times with the increased pace of the game" 2000 was a pretty good year for the dee's, be good to go one better

it's so much more than that now though...the rivalry has to build on itself, and grow otherwise you are quite correct they do fade away. most importantly rivalries are made from close games, the draw a couple of years ago against the pies was one of the most hollow moments i've experienced watching sport. and that made last years showing so much worse, but makes me excited to see how we're going to bounce back this year. when we play down at the cattery this year it should be dubbed as our lazarus game. our 2hours of redemtion, proving hopefully that this is a new era and shake off the ghosts of the past. you could link this to the age of the two clubs and a prodigal son style storyline. this would all lead to a well hyped pressure cooker environment where the most "skilled" team doesn't always win. give our kids a chance to prove they have ticker and can handle the heat well before any potential finals games.

i'd like to see 20+ games into: Tom Mc...a bloke that size who can run like he can would be a massive assett forward or back Grimes...like what i've seen but haven't seen enough of it Tappy...provides the rough stuff. should look to become an enforcer down back Petterd...is a 50 goal capable 3rd or 4th tall Trengove...with a bit of protection will become elite this year

surprised north is that much shorter than us...well worth a sneaky tibble methinks at $81

i would say that the tigers are a recent/modern rival despite the fact that we've both been out of the top 8 for years. i would say collingwood is a massive rival due to the Queens birthday match rather than meetings in september (the 50's was a LONG time ago). the cats, even were they to free-fall would still be better than half the teams in the comp and i'm not sure if the dee's were to play up to expectations could say the same. this is a great rivalry that i personally have with my geelong supporting housemate. living on the gold coast he is always cut that he has to admit to potential league converts that MFC is the oldest team with Geelong 2nd despite the recent form of each side. we always fly down each year to watch it live and its always a pity to see how few red and blue flags are in the crowd. so charter a helicopter to avalon, jump in a town car and slum it for a few hours and hopefully see the dee's get within 200

Would this be affected by introduction of free agents?

this is how it should be! the coaches are in the best position to know the requirements for the team however pendergast and co. are in the best position to see which draftees are the best to translate potential into ability. just because neeld says we need a tall mature body, doesn't mean we should recruit dolph lundgren. the coaches are there to coach and the recruiters are there to...hire new players. they should each be concentrating on there own spheres of influence even if they do overlap at times. i hope that the coaches merely hand over a very detailed list of requirements and maybe a dozen names for each position and then pendergast and co. make up their own mind about the talent available at the time. neeld does seem to like things his way or the highway, but he isn't a recruiter and it would be bad for the club in my opinion if he is telling the recruiting staff to pick specific "names" rather than specific "types"

he's never going to be a dennis "the voice" cometti or bruce "the jockey" mcavaney, but he isn't trying to be. noone complained when dipper was a boundry rider giving simple yet inciteful comments, and the great ox should be taken at face value and enjoyed for what he does well instead of trying to make him into something he's not

thought we could've used woodward, hawthorn snapped him up immediately after we took tynan...hope it doesn't cost us

Neeld certainly seems the no half measures sort of bloke the MFC could use. If his personality reflects onto the footy field we should have an uncompromising, tough-minded team which is definitely something we've been lacking. I can remember a lot of commentators (possibly one repeating himself on multiple weeks) who said that Melbourne had "forgotten how to win" and I can't help but be optimistic that Neeld and co. can sort out a lot of the players' issues in this regard.

you left off our no.3 draft pick sylvia off your list who i would say is at least on par with walker..watts will be a better forward 2012+ than kreuzer...trengove deffinately isn't more than a season away from gibbs without the luxury of playing accross half back... and to compare morton to murphy is...not easy. even an optimist like myself can't help but think that cyril would look alright in red and blue. i do think carlton is going to push for the top 4, but it will be due to their overall contributers...yarran accross half back, garlett accross half forward and a host of speedy mid-fielders in between. FF and FB are deffinately concerns which is why i compared kreuzer to watts, because i think warnock will do most of the ruck with kreuzer at FF. didn't follow them through the drafts well enough to know if they addressed the lack of back up for jamison at FB. Hawks v Blues will play in either prelim or gf this year

tapscott due to be healthy for round 1?

Great article...don't see much double barrel journalism any more and I love it. I honestly think that MFC was unlucky that our number 1 draft pick came out of contract first ... IMO the money was just too good and he danced like a puppet in order to earn his 2mil next season, while aslo setting his old man up with a cushy overpaid job. I know I wouldn't be able to turn that down and I think most would be the same. Seems to me that the AFL can no longer see the forest for the trees in terms of what is protecting the intrests of the game and what is a cover up of an incident to avoid uncomfortable conversations. Realistically after dean baileys comments regarding MFC tanking there should have been an investigation and we probably should have recieved some kind of sanction ... except that we're already languishing down the bottom of the ladder and if we had of been stripped of draft picks or a decreased salary cap we would have failed harder for longer and our proud club, the oldest in the nation could well have folded. So we, "got away with one" there just like Sydney is trying to get away with one. NSW (any league territory) has massive crosshairs on it and the AFL want in on the largest city in Australia. To do this they build a rival suburban team, however the Swans have only won that one premiership in the last 70 odd years, albeit recently. The AFL needs success in sydney in order to build interest in GWS and so Kieren Jack gets a pass. Because Sydney can't afford to lose one if their solid contributors let alone endure any additional sanctions which would no doubt come with it; the AFL will look the other way. Personally I think it is time for an Independent Commission, I don't like having that opinion but Demetriou's been at the helm for 8 years now and he's been able to carve himself a nice little kingdom. He's done a lot of good things for the game and except for the sub rule the game has never been better but its time to move him on or at least curb some of his power before his claws sink in too deep and he becomes a lifer. Just one mans opinion.

Green was about 12 goals away from being AA in 2010 and when he was named captain there were not too many dissenters... he had a poor year last year, i don't think anyone is going to argue that, but the fact is that prior to 2011 he had one of if not the best left foot set shot in the comp... his courage should never be questioned, one of the few aspects of his game last year that could vouch such credibility... he almost became a defualt KPF last year and he was never going to succeed at that but as a 4/5th forward he becomes a massive assett question marks on his ability to handle the pressure of having the C in an underperforming side... think he has alot to offer the club still in regards to maturity and experience, but perhaps not as captain...deffinately keep him in the leadership group but instead give the big tick to moloney or jamar (maybe trengove/frawley co. capt??)(wish trengove was a 5 year vet so we could give him the captaincy now) EDIT- sorry, unlike everyone else i got sidetracked off topic... Davey can play small forward quite successfully i think, but not in the traditional sense... if he can build his engine which is no guarentee i would like to see him play like a nahas or cyril...as in i would like to see him pretty much as an outside, outside midfielder roaming around the flanks/wings rather than the pockets. i think with our medium marking types there will be a lot of contests around half forward and i can see him kicking alot of running goals from 45

just watched the interview...he is really laid back or really really stoned? either way i can't wait to see him run in off a wing and "byron pickett" someone...then rant and rave when he gets rubbed out for 3weeks lol

look forward to seeing him play in the NAB cup hopefully... god i hope he kicks the ball better than he interviews tho lol