Cranky Franky

What is happening to Paul Wheatley. He is probably the longest kick in the AFL. His long kicking is a terrific attacking weapon & breaks the flooding & the defensive lines & catches out the opposition defence. In the last month he has stopped kicking it long, he has become hesitant. He kicks backwards & sideways to Carroll, Brown, Godfrey etc who then invariably put in a poor kick or handpass & the pill is turned over. Great for getting his stats up but not much use to the team. Someone please tell him to kick it long & kick it quickly.

Nasher has a point although his facts are a little astray. Bell shouldn't have tried to explain anything to Brogan he should have told him to F#*& Off & some other Melbourne players should have gone in to support him but without Carroll the other defenders are an insipid lot. A smart player would've probably sucked Brogan in & got him to retaliate & scored a free kick.

In our group of supporters Ward is known as The Turnover Merchant. Say no more. No doubt over the next few weeks different supporters will plead to retain Bizzell, Ward, Godfrey, Pickett Holland, Brown etc The best guide to future performance is recent past performance.

If we could salvage just one thing from this miserable year it would be a promise by players and coaching staff to eliminate kicking backwards and sideways for the rest of the season. It is woeful football. The only time we look half decent is when we kick the ball long & do it quickly. Please fellers do this one thing for your long suffering supporters.

Dear Rogue Are you a paid apologist for the club or something ??? On Saturday our on ballers contesting the clearances were Mclean, Jones, McDonald, Godfrey & at times Sylvia & they were being fed by White & Johnson. That is enough strong bodies & talent to break even or be close to break even around bounces & stoppages instead we were smashed as we have been against Carlton, Richmond & most other sides this year. Nothing wrong with the talent the problem is either with attitude or with coaching.

THE BIZ IS BACK - FAN BL@@DYTASTIC A slow 30 yo who finished 2004 at Sandringham wil save us. Meanwhile CJ & Warnock who need game time so we can see whether they measure up play at Sandy.

Ross Lyon recently complained that St Kilda managed injuries poorly and that they had to look at the clubs that had the best record in this area ie Sydney & West Coast. Its about time we did the same. Whelan has NEVER played a full season & is always injured at the business end. Travis is not far behind him & Moloney is in his second wasted season with a groin. I am worried about Brock & Jared & Col Sylvia going the same way. Robbo & Neitz have been played when obviously not fit & I am convinced Bartram was rushed back in after his ankle injury & then did a knee. Now we have Whelan, Brock & Petterd all rushed back in for a big game on a big ground - bet Whelan doesn't last half a game. Lets go out & poach Sydney's medical staff or at least get our lot trained up to their level.

Whoever wrote this is an fool & I don't know why some people get their kicks out of humiliating past players. Also you can't spell. Shanahan was a top notch full back & had a great first year but then played one year too many. Holland has been a very handy footballer. Norrish was a handy player who won a B&F at Freo. Charles was a brilliant talent but was hampered by injuries & a poor attitude. Vardy was outstanding when fit. Prymke held down CHB for 2 years before being injured. Doyle & Irving were both reasonable players & Newton had his career wrecked by injury. Fair dinkum do you actually ever go to a game because you really have no idea.

Well its early days of course but Isaac is having injury after injury after injury while Joe Anderson lines up for his third game tomorrow. Time will tell.

What the hell are our medical staff up to !!!!! The Swans have managed to nurse their list so that they played in 2 grand finals without any injuries. Mclean, Moloney, Sylvia and Wheatley have been carrying soft tissue injuries every friggin year. Whats going on !!!!!

I didn't think Melbourne supporters would be so conservative. No wonder opposition supporters make jokes about Range Rovers, port & cigars & Falls Creek in July

Yes were a bit like the old Public Service. You promote the person who has been there the longest regardless of ability I actually thought merit might be a consideration. We are one of the few clubs with the 10 year rule. Most clubs take into account what someone puts in to a club not just how long they've been there.

The Club usually gives life membership after 10 years. Nicho picked it up this year & I know that in the past some players have got it after doing little more than hanging about for 10 years. I reckon we ought to give it to the following players: Laurie Fowler - he was an absolute champion for us 140 games - played for Victoria & 3 B&F's. Carl Ditterich - one of the toughest & most inspirational players to pull on the guernsey 82 games, Captain Coach & a B&F winner. Max Walker - terrific bloke, honest, gutsy ruckman 85 games & would have played 100 games+ if he had not concentrated on his cricket full time.

A lot of supporters (as well as players) live in Fantasy Land when it comes to the last year(s) of their favourite players. Most careers just limp along & fade out. Age & injuries respect nobody. Look at Carey, Lockett, Modra, Ablett - all should have retired well before they did. Bizzell was a great player now he is only a spare parts man. Anyone who thinks he is going to recapture his form of a few years ago is deluded.

Trouble with Scott is that he got into the habit of not taking the first option. He would get the ball then instead of doing the obvious thing ie quick kick or handball he would try & take on the opposition then if he beat his man he would look around & try & try & take on another man invariabaly he would just get tackled or turn the ball over.

Just goes to show that a lot of people that do this must spend all of 30 seconds on their research. Alves & Hardeman are out for obvious reasons. Laurie Fowler is a walk up start - he was not only a back pocket but a very good on baller & Alan Johnson could play in several positions. Also Glen Lovett is in for mine - one of the most underatted players of the era - never played a bad game & rarely beaten plus could play in many positions. The trouble with Danny Hughes at full back is that he struggled with anyone who had some pace - maybe Shanahan would be a better bet.

Exactly none. But I think that on achievements so far Joe's credentials are a mile ahead of Isack's. Of course I could be completely wrong on this matter. I would love to see both players do well although if Joe does well it will always bug me that he went to a low life team like Carlton.

I was really hoping we would draft Joe Anderson & was very surprised when we got Weetra @ 62. Carlton then got Anderson @ 67. Weetra has potential but has only played at u 19 level in SA. Anderson has been playing in the firsts against men since he was 16. At 17 he won the Darwin B&F, was a very good player in the team's Premiership side & captained the NT under 18 side. He was rated by commentators to be one of the best young players to come out of the NT for a while. His grandfather Jimmy Anderson was an NT legend & one of the best ever players to pull on a pair of boots. I just thought that Joe was a mile ahead of Isack in terms of ability & potential. Just hope this isn't another Joel Campbell or Mark Berts effort.