The heart beats true

I agree Clint. Neeld is a whipping boy for the ineptitude of the MFC across the board. He deserves a chance but he has to be held accountable for what is happening with what he's got. (I also hate how often he dwells on positives in the presser now. Nobody believes it and it just looks really disingenuous).

Put Clark, Jurrah, Jamar, Watts and Davey in and we'd still be terrible because we have no midfield, but we wouldn't be THAT terrible. Is the club still having those crisis meetings with members? I think they might need to hold a few more if this keeps us. Not a lot to look forward to I'm afraid.

Well I think our game and the Brisbane game pretty much ruined the 'quality' of the round. I reckon we've played in 2-3 of the worst games of footy I've seen this year.

He may have but everyone at the club needs to accept responsibility for where we are.

Yeah, they come in next year and Bendigo go back to being unaffiliated. Geelong, Collingwood, Essendon and Richmond with their own sides in the VFL comp in 2014 with Melbourne, North, Bulldogs, Carlton, Hawks, and Saints being affiliated. Wonder what Carlton and Hawthorn are thinking?

Tigers to field standalone VFL team Thought this was interesting. You'd have to think that by 2014 potentially another club will field their own side. Wondering if the VFL continues with such a fractured season how long will it be before the non affiliated sides begin to play each other in the VFL weeks off so their players get game time. Makes me wonder where the league is heading. I could be wrong but the MFC seems to be really engaging with Casey with the goal of building a much needed suburban fan base while other sides seem to be looking for a way out. Love to get opinions from those of you more involved in the VFL to get your take on where it might be heading.

Here's a novel idea... Bring back the Reserves! From memory I think the AFL is very reluctant to have games played on the surface prior to the AFL games as the turf gets torn up due to rain.

I reckon they are intent on making rookies really earn their spot. A policy I 100% support. Evans is coming off one game in 12 months. He needs a lot more game time yet.

What a side. I reckon we've fielded better teams at Casey. Interesting no Beamer, no Morton but Magner comes right back in. I'd be nervous if I was those 2. Really nervous.

I reckon the club figured that even with a 7:10 start Bater would still get sunburn.

Nope, they are working on their kicking skills and planning for the finals.

Agreed. If Jamar is out for a month plus you'd think that Spencer has his first genuine run of weeks in the senior team coming up. I say we play Spencer through the end of the year now and really see what he's got at AFL level. What have we got to lose?

Oh, he' ll fit right into our defensive 'structure' then. From what i've seen of Harry O this year he looks like opposition clubs have figured him out and he's struggling to adjust. Would still like him as a rebounding type if we don't have to pay over for him. We could really use some spring and run in our back half. Harry O and Jack Watts coming out of defence sounds promising.

I've just looked at our draw again and I'm happy as long as he gets 2 weeks.

And also I find this more time for going to the tribunal concept slightly odd. It implies guilt doesn't it? If you are found guilty at the tribunal you get more time because you went to the tribunal? It has nothing to do with the game. What, is the AFL short on administration funds? Imagine if we had the same concept in the court system. Lindy Chamberlain would have been burnt at the stake 15 years before she was acquitted. (And yes I understand it's a different system. I'm simply make a point about the right to appeal, or in this case even have a trial).

I think I'm seeing this slightly differently than some (and admittedly am disregarding his history and just judging the play as it happened). I think he jumped as he thought he was getting a clearer run at the play than he did. I then think he turned his body when he realized contact was coming with Joseph. I don't think he intended not to hit him. I think he did. My issue is more that I guess I'd give him the benefit of the doubt in that context (being mid air) as it was a strange up and under hand pass that you rarely see for the reasons that Aaron Joseph's head clearly felt. I'd guess you could call it reckless, but 4 weeks seems insane when you look at the incident in isolation. Interestingly the umpire who was 10 feet away clearly says to the players 'he was just going the footy' after the incident. My biggest concern with all this is that the game keeps being viewed out of context and I think it makes it very difficult on the players. I imagine it's quite disconcerting for the umpires as they are over ruled consistently.

Few folks been talking about this over in the Judd thread D2. I think the issue for mind is that the game seems to be played twice now. Once on the field, and then once in the court of public opinion which also has the luxury of slow motion replays. From memory the umpire played no free kick in the incident (might be wrong about this?) but the incident has been scrutinized 1,000 times since and became something that it clearly wasn't when viewed in the context of the game. 4 weeks is a joke.

Good point. With free agency it's hard to ignore that it only costs cash. We're not trading away our future, only spending what we need to spend now. Another way to phrase it would be 'are we willing to cut 3 older players with no potential for growth for the salary of a 27 year old Goddard'. I'd vote yes to that.

Absolutely. I often think that the success of the tribunal should be evaluated on how effectively could you show 2 similar incidents to someone that's never seen the game before and have them understand why one is worse than the other. In the Wellingham vs. Ziebell case it would be impossible to reach the same conclusion as the MRP. One appears deliberate and callous, while the other appears to happen in the play and without another alternative for the offending player.

I think the problem with JT is that he's not capable of a burst run. He's painfully slow and looks to have lost his ability to step up a gear when needed. I hear you on the list of players that don't hit targets though. Grimes is having a really bad year with kicking, but I know he'll get better.

It's a structural thing. I think Chipper takes the kick outs against teams that play deep with a marking target (Pavlich). I also think with Watts out he's the default. The longer Strauss is in the side the more he can take that role.

I know it won't be very popular here but I think 4 weeks is about right. A precedent is now set. BUT I think 4 weeks for Ziebell is very tough. When you watch it in real time you realize he had 1/10th of a second to decide what to do. If he doesn't go he's Josh Hunt from a few rounds back when everyone called him soft. It feels like too much emphasis is put on slow motion footage and not enough common sense is used by people who've played the game. Thats why Judd's was ordinary. It was premeditated. You don't just accidently end up in the situation he did.

Got the same stance on Barassi? How do you feel about Todd Viney leaving to coach The poo? I say we have a little grace and dignity towards a former player that was a good one in his day.

Agreed. I imagine Ratten was on monster.com as you typed this RR.

I've just looked into this thread. I honestly thought it was a joke like the Jack Watts threads from a month or so back. When it got to 4 pages I thought it must be getting pretty funny. Unfortunately it is real, but fortunately it's seriousness is painful funny. Up next - the Trade Mitch Clark thread (he'd have value in the market, and he's done nothing for us the last few weeks)