The heart beats true

Can not take a trick this year. Jamar down after Spencer showed a bit last week but not on the park. I really think that threw us out a lot in terms of forward structure without Stef forward and it showed in the 2nd quarter. On a big positive note - Strauss! A player with foot skills.

I'm not sure what his reasoning would be to even do that? He has to get at least 2 weeks for that. Given the ridiculous emphasis placed on injury by the MRP I hope North say he has severe joint damage, pulled several ligaments, has post traumatic stress disorder and contracted Hepatitis A from the incident.

It was still too early for Silvagni to know which players the Giants wanted in the draft, but he had been impressed with two father-son picks in Joe Daniher and Jack Viney . They are clearly tampering with the draft if they select Viney at 1-5 based on current opinion. Maybe the AFL introduce a plan whereby all teams have to submit a ranking system for players 1-30 to avoid this kind of thing. I honestly don't think they'll go through with it unless they want to draw some serious heat, but then again I can't really see Andy D coming down on them either.

A 17 year old 'sure thing' thats going to 'fix our culture' ? No, you're right. We're being completely irrational. (and as much as I love Todd Viney as a player did he not 'abandon ship' to coach Phillippousis? How's your revisionist history working out for you?)

Back on topic. Glad to see this is the telecasted game. Will keep an eye on Cale and Beamer. Be able to flick between FOX and the ABC and hopefully watch 2 great games unfold (honestly I think I'd settle for 4 kicks a quarter that hit a target in either game and a Howe specky in the ones).

I'll take the bait. I know it's annoying when we do this but the system does suck. In last weeks Footy Record thought it was interesting to note that of the 18 league coaches all 18 of them said they think that the VFL system doesn't work. Those guys couldn't agree on what day it is yet they know this system isn't working for anyone.

Honestly I want Jack VIney to play for Melbourne and I think he's going to be excellent but I, like others here, can't justify taking him above his worth simply because of the name. If that means he goes to GWS but we get a player that is better then that is actually the kind of cut throat, win at all costs attitude that might help us be at the right end of the ladder in a few years. Or we could draft him above what he's worth to please his daddy, and then give him a shiny blazer. That certainly sounds like something we'd do.

Glad to see folks coming out to defend Beamer. He's been a very vocal supporter of our footy club during a period when nobody would touch us and for that alone I think he deserves more respect than he often gets. My biggest problem with him is that opposition clubs have beaten into their players that if he is facing you he will try and take you on. He gets caught with the ball so often by a front on tackle. If he could just feed off more his confidence would grow and he'd get into the game more. Part of the issue is that he's evolved as a player with very little around him to feed too so he took it upon himself to push his way through. Now with our game plan changing, and with the very informative comment about the speed of umpires at stoppages (thanks for that, was really interesting to know) he's being found out a bit. I think he can still be a great servant of the club and I hope he gets shown some respect by supporters who are keen to bag a guy that has given us a lot over the last 5 years.

Go Ricky! I hope the bloke kicks 20 goals before the year is out. He needs to resurrect his career, and we need him to stand up. James Magner is just resting. Beamer is up against it now. Feel for Jack Watts. He's been great the last month or so. Great to see Tom Couch finally get a go. I hope he makes the best of his opportunity as its been a long road to get here for him. The only thing of interest is to see who stands up in the next 6 weeks. Lot of blokes playing for their futures. Bate, Dunn, Ricky, Bennell. Hope they know it's time to step up.

Gees Jose, even when someone comments on your post without disagreeing with you you still look for a reason to argue. And to imply im not interested in the draft is daft and the opposite of what I said. I just said that your list of extenuating circumstances wasn't creating more interest for me. I was only looking forward to the draft because we aren't competitive. But please spend more of your time trying to turn comments into arguments. You're making a career of it.

Yay. Such a stellar season we are having.

Honestly none of these things really add more interest to me. I'm not having a go at you Jose, in fact I wish this list was the reason I was interested in the draft. I'm interested in the draft for one very sad reason - we are shite and have showed nothing to look forward to. The prospect of a couple of new experienced players and a few kids for the future is a lot better than complaining about how 2/3rds of the team looks to be going backwards and everyone seems to have forgotten how to hit a target. In terms of Neeld's dilemma I don't really feel sympathy for Neeld and the FD. He spoke about making us the hardest team to play against and I really hope he succeeds, but I'm holding the club to a high standard and I expect results. Its an industry built on success, not potential. I don't care if it's a short term solution. I want some freakin' competitiveness.

Did you just argue you my point for me? It sure sounded like it. As are all of yours. We aren't talking about the concept of the draft, we are talking about the MFC's current situation. My point is more about timing and supporting what we already have. Young list, no midfield, a poor recent history of player development and a team that fails to compete. We aren't Sydney who bring in players that fill holes. We need players to build around. We have a few potentials, but we need 3-4 more and as much as everyone loves to salivate over a 17 year old that looks great against other 17 years olds I'd take Boak or Beams as they have made it at the level that the game is actually played at.

A list of players we didn't draft to prove the point that we should pluck from the draft again? It's hardly a compelling argument for us is it. The point is not are those players in the draft, it's can we find them and develop them in conjunction with our current list, and is it the best way for us to move forward? My argument is that we have enough to develop from a low base and we need proven experience to help the learning process. I'd argue that the way the clubs playing its hand lately proves our football department believes something similar to my argument.

I believe the industry built around statistic and analysis would disagree. We are certainly more inclined to stuff it up again based on history. Mitch Clark is a great reference point for us. We trade for 2 players of his calibre in the midfield and we get 30 more games into half our team and we'll be a much better side. We need quality midfielders right now for our young blokes to learn from. I genuinely think Howe, Watts and Clark can be stars. If we can't get them the footy they'll just be missed opportunities.

IN: Mt Buller OUT: MFC supporters Based on yesterdays turn out at a home game at the 'G in perfect weather you'd have to think we are looking at 1500 to turn up for us at Etiihad. We play terribly there, and we are up against a Ross Lyon side that is deliberately learning to play ugly footy. Sounds like a recipe for record low numbers.

Surely this is tactical. I'm not suggesting it's right but it happens so often that it has to be part of the game plan. Neeld is aiming for a very controlled, ball in our hands game style. This would be a great plan if only we had players that could execute it.

I think the real question is if the answer is yes what are you going to do about it? I say pitchforks at dawn. Lets have ourselves an old fashion lynching. What is the point of this? Yesterday wasn't his best game but I think over the last month or so he's actually been pretty good.

I agree to an extent. My issue is that I'm not seeing improvement where I'd expect to see it. Sylvia was great yesterday, but he played at the level expected. The improvement that would fill me with more confidence is Trengove, Bail, Blease, Nicholson and Tapscott. A lot of our blokes are going nowhere. And I stopped believing in the draft being anything for us to get too excited about when I looked back at our recent history. The improvement needs to come 90% from what we have. That's what makes me feel like the sky is falling. We should have been thrashed by a team that's 10th and had 7 changes from the previous week. It's hardly awe inspiring.

Not surprised that another post match discussion has centred so heavily around the coaching/football dept. Thought it was very interesting that half the coaches in the league voted Sanderson as the coach of the year thus far in this rounds Record. It does beg the question of when you can ask hard questions of the football department. It's 15 rounds in and people keep assuming that they are coaching for the future. Would we make the same concessions for a player? I think Dan Nicholson has played about 15 games and he sure isn't immune to questions about his output. At some point we are entitled to see a competitive side and I think it's pretty unfair the criticism that's aimed at folks on this site who at least want some accountability. There's a lot of faith placed in the people that put this football department together when I'm not sure what they've done to deserve it. We aren't coming from a strong recent history of success. I think we are at least entitled to ask why we can't compete.

We've got some problems, the least of which is that we got within 10 goals today. That just tells me the Tigers have a long way to go. I've tried hard to defend Neeld but at some point the genuine lack of faith that his playing group inspires is starting to wear me down. If we don't have the cattle then come up with a way to compete. Roos and Lyon did it for years. I'm not asking for pretty, I'm just asking for respect and commitment. I'd hate to be looking for sponsors and members next year. We have shown nothing to inspire confidence and I think we might lose a few blokes over the off season who are sick of not competing. At what point do we stop the BS about building for a 'premiership window' and just aim for respect and to be taken seriously? I'm at that point today. I hate going to the footy and knowing the games over after 10 minutes.

I've watched a lot of footy this year and after seeing that first quarter here at the G that was the least competitive quarter of any team in the league. We may just be that bad.

Of your best Petterd, Davey, Green, Jurrah, Clark, Jones, Jamar and Jetta didn't play on the weekend. Sylvia was badly injured and had an interrupted preseason. So I'm curious what responsibility you want Neeld to take when half your best side is out? We need to relax and not turn on our own. No solutions in your post just more kicking of a bloke that is trying his best and has had very little go his way. Judge him at the end of next year. We owe it to the club and we owe it to ourselves as supporters to support him and have some faith.

It was Neeld's desire to stick to the plan that actually gives me confidence in him. He's not just reacting, he's watching to see how the players respond in unfamiliar circumstances so he can learn more about their strengths. This is tha mark of a good manager in my opinion. He's virtually not acknowledging the scoreboard and is instead focused on development and teaching. If we had him as a coach with that attitude 3 years ago you can bet we would have won yesterday by 10 goals. It's easy to want a win, but I think you have to acknowledge he had 7-8 of his best players out and a lot of our guys are still very new to his more defensive game plan. Hang in there. I think it'll be worth it.

Today we were an easy target. So many good players out before the ball is bounced, and then losing a key position defender in the first 5 minutes really killed us. Put Clark, Jones, Jamar, Green, Davey, Jurrah and a fit Tom Mac in that team and we look a lot better. We'd still need 3 really genuine ball finding midfield players but we'd compete against more than half the competition with just those guys in. I feel for Neeld. He's had a horror run. I think we've seen progress in Watts and Grimes in the last month, and I think we saw good things in Clark, Jones, Tom Mac and a few other blokes so far this year but otherwise it has been a really negative season. It worries me what we'll gain from playing an injury depleted team against average opposition in the next few months. I think it could just further deplete confidence and self belief. I really want this season over.