Diamond_Jim

The last two weeks of the season sucked the joy (and there is little) out of being a Melbourne Supporter. It wasn't the loss against Geelong but rather two less than insipid performances when the supporter base had every right to expect better. As Jaded pointed out on another thread the last two weeks will probably cost around 3000 members for next year. The article is spot on and moreover it shows how we are perceived.

It might be leadership but definitely the senior players as a group have let us down. The very fact that there are so many of them languishing at casey is evident of their contribution. Let's face it we played the youngsters because the senior players will take us nowhere. Unfortunately a core group of six to ten senior players is hard to come by. Without that core group we will not go far.Even GWS which has by miles the best list as far as youngsters goes have their core group of senior players. I do not like naming players but there are obviously 3-4 senior players at Casey (outside the obvious ones that will be cut such as Terlich and Grimes) who are deadweight on this club. As to the senior players who regularly play at the AFL level how many would get regular games at a top twelve club. I suspect three, maybe four at most.

Let's face it ....the youngsters in the main went forward whereas the bulk of the senior players went backwards. Very happy for Watts and looking forward to a possible A+ grade season next year. (I would rate this season at around B+ to A- for Watts.) Gawn is good(excellent in fact) and we need to leverage his hit outs. TBH I am not convinced that in the modern game a dominant ruckman (as contrasted to a round the grounds taker of contested marks at which Gawn excels) is an essential component. I am looking forward to next season..... I will wear my usual cloke of pessimism that I find is an essential defence if one is to avoid the usual miseries of being an MFC supporter. So a glimmer of hope perhaps but I can only look at GWS' list with envy and think.....(hell I am not sure what to think).

Another season that has ended in a way that underscores the failures of this club. A few weeks ago I enjoyed joining in with others on our fantasy percentage predictions. I suppose I should be grateful for those few wonderful weeks in almost a decade of something less than mediocrity. Failure eventually brings with it irrelevance.....we have one or two more seasons at best to avoid what we have almost achieved

If the two/three year list management window allows it I would be very much in favour of offering Harvey a one year contract. We are calling out for guidance from senior players.Love him or loathe him he is the top 100 players in the league. Hard to see the downside unless it is a list management issue.

If the two/three year list management window allows it I would be very much in favour of offering Harvey a one year contract. We are calling out for guidance from senior players.Love him or loathe him he is the top 100 players in the league. Hard to see the downside unless it is a list management issue.

Howe was not going to take us anywhere special. I wish him well at Collingwood. He has been replaced by young players such as Oscar McDonald and Hunt. Hope Ben Kennedy makes it but even if he doesn't the team probably has better balance without Howe

BBO .... you are prescient All the good teams have a few players over 30. The trick is of course that they are good and deserve their place. It also helps wonderfully well when balancing lists and salary caps We are lucky to have any good players over 25 ......... love them or hate them (and most of us hate them) what any of us would give for a Harvey, a Fletcher, a Montagna etc etc

Weather for next Sunday is cool and fine so no need to worry about wet weather football etc. Very hard to get excited about next week. The Carlton loss will put a dampener on the off season that is for sure. Perhaps time to play Spencer (I know it weaken Casey but there is some upside...though I am not sure what.) Having watched the replays of the last few weeks I appreciate what many have been saying and that is how important Garlett is to our run and carry style of play. We missed him. Definitely need to develop another Harmes type player if our game plan is to succeed. All in all not concerned who we pick for next week save that whoever it is, it should be done for a hard headed reason and not just to say goodbye to "loyal servants." Time for this football club to realise that the next few years will shape the next 10- 20 years one way or the other.

Carlton have lost their last nine games. Needless to say I think we were entitled to expect a better outcome than what has been delivered. Anyway the last week has been fun. Now back to the usual life of a Melbourne supporter.

Interesting what tactics are used by Carlton. We have been very vulnerable to teams that clog up our forward line and deny us use of the corridor (witness the game against Gold Coast)

GWS V Freo Now that is what I call a good percentage boosting game 121 to 37 (23 minutes into final quarter)

Excellent and clear post The 91 to 61 scoreline is not unreasonable on a slightly wet windy day. I suspect the magic figure is around 105 to 60 and we are equal with North on percentage,

A win by a few points is better than a loss but it makes it all the harder for us to make up the percentage on North

Big quarter coming up here Needs to be a 25 point win (75-50) to the Swans

It seems that Oscar is quite a smart young man...... ATAR score of 99.3 (Very strong in Mathematics .... bet you he has our finals chances all mapped out !!) https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/aug/19/inside-50-afl-clubs-are-starting-to-ponder-the-value-of-brains-over-brawn

we will keep going there. They play the big teams (and we are not one of them) at the MCG and the rest at Geelong. You have to love "equalization"

this could bring on a discussion about all the wonderful places we watched the footy from. I can remember being at Princes Park in 1965 watching the game from on top of a small tin shed down at the Carlton end. I also remember a big brawl between some spectators that day. Cannot remember who won but it would of course have been the big grudge match with Barassi playing against his old team.

it's the words in the brackets (it can be done in any later round if approved by the AFL General Counsel) cheers

Tired to google the answer to my own question but no luck. Interestingly I did discover that in the last year or so the NRL changed its rules so that payments to a player for early retirement due to an injury would not be inlcuded in the salary cap. Could the new Collective Bargaining Agreement be relevant to this equation ?

Agree... sounds strange. Just looked at the Collective Bargaining Agreement. After Round 18 you need the approval of the AFL General Counsel to put a player on the LTI list. The pre-condition is that it is reasonably believed that the player is incapable of playing for the next 8 weeks. Could someone please explain the various salary cap permutations of early retirement with a payout. Thanks

Why is our game any different to any other major sport around the world. To my knowledge none of the EPL, NFL, NBA or NRL have byes after the last rounds. Sure the NFL has wildcard play offs in the first round but that is no different to our week off for the winners of the matches between the top four. The week off before the Super Bowl is mainly due to scheduling reasons and rewarding the city who hosts the event with a week of events. Because of the NFL Conference system many teams wrap up top place in their conference weeks before the end of the season but no one complains. In the EPL the management of teams between all the competing trophies (Top of table, FA Cup, Champions League etc) is an art. Also what about the teams that send off their key players for surgery around Round 18 thus weakening their chances of "shaping the 8: I just see it as an over reaction to a one off year. (if in fact it does help the teams at 5-8 it won't be long until the power houses complain that they are not being sufficiently rewarded for top place !!!) It is not a big issue but I see it as "own goal" by the AFL.

As we move towards round 23 it is obvious that almost all if not everyone of the positions for the top 8 will be up for grabs in some way or another. No need to worry about teams not turning up. So we have a bye and lose the momentum of the season. Not a good decision. I am sure there could have been some other solution to the "game playing" of 2015 other than a bye.

You are right there Dr Gonzo........... I will keep dreaming. Just one question.... is it too early to be arranging my tickets for the Grand Final ??

Oh my childhood maths...... my earlier post was slightly wrong... and I am completely sober !! the odds if we are at 50% chance of winning each game are of course 1in 16 (so around 6%) Whatever it is a long shot when you put it that way If you were to say we were a 90% shot to beat Carlton and a 50% shot to beat Geeelong (well it is dream time) Swans and GWS are both an 80 % chance to beat North Then the probability moves up to 30% which still is not mind blowingly great