Young Dee

Yes my mistake I guess I just wanted them to be dropped so tricked myself into thinking they were.

Yer thats what I thought - maybe drdrake is refering to their consistency in game. As much as I hate losing, it is nice to go into a game with no expectations. I think after the first 5 rounds we can't really do any worse (touch wood!). "When you hit rock bottom, the only way is up!"

Agreed accept for Nicholson and Pederson - Neither have shown enough form to warrent selection and thats why I did not have them in the team. Some good ins with Spencer, Strauss and Kent which reward good VFL form.

I was not sad to see any of those three dropped and think that the ins have more potential. Spencer for Jamar (win - everyone has been caling for Jamar's head and Spencer is dominating VFL) Dunn for Watts (win - effort and desire) Kent for Rodan (win - in every aspect) Hope the interchange is as follows: I/C (from): James Strauss, Michael Evans, Luke Tapscott, SUB: Davey or Blease If thats the final bench I will be very happy. Sad to not have Clark or Dawes but happy Dawes was not rushed. Really want Strauss to have a good game - I do think he will be a good player! I get so sick of hearing that we are a young/inexperienced side but we do look it on paper.

Taggert is a long way from AFL, has only played a handful of VFL games. I would say Kent is well ahead. As for Casey their form should be great for developing they young players. Players like Toumpas (outside mid) can actually play as an outside mid and not be starved of opportunities (also Hogan gets opportunitues up forward). Also provides a good culture for them to grow up in.

He still has a reputation and the fact that he is only there for 6 months limits his ability to make serious changes and possibly limits his authority.

Well if I didn't have a life and listened to 3AW I definatly would have called up and given him a piece of my mind! I would have told this Healy character that he is not even worthy of barracking for Melbounre. I wonder if anyone brought up the fact that Melbourne is the oldest football club and has a proud history? anyone mention that our home ground is the best ground in Australia? What about the fact that Melboourne is one of the greatest cities in the world? Any football player that does not care about any of that is better of not playing for Melbourne!

Hate to be the one to say it but Peter Jackson is not going to be this messiah figure that many are hoping for. I don't beleive any CEO would have the ability to drastically impact our club in the short term and even long term. I think it would be really intresting to know how influential CEO's are. Anyway I hope at the very least he is an improvement on the last CEO. Is it likely that a Temporary CEO is going to make drastic decisions and put his head on the chopping block? - I hope so!

How long is a piece of string? We will never know!

Look I never said he could not win his own ball but I don't think he will ever be classified as an inside mid (not like a Jones or Magner or Viney etc.) The main point was that we selected him because of his potential to be a dangerous outside player - every AFL player needs to have the ability to find their own ball (especially a pick 4........unless your name is Morton)

Look it was a simple decision at the time - we all knew we needed an outside runner and a good kick so we picked Toumpas. It was not a pick which was supposed to yeld short term results - it was a long term investment for our future. We had already picked up Viney which seems to be a similar player to Wines so we did not realy need yet another contest/grunt player. Most of our midfielders seem to be inside mids and we have very few outside mids (maybe Blease who lacks fitness). AFL changes quickly - look at the last 5-10 years. In 5 years time the game may move away from contested footy and be more focused on run and carry. We need to have a balanced list ready for a changing game and even if it doesn't we need a quality outside mid. Anyway shouldn't this be moved to a Toumpas and Wines thread.

This year yes but last year he had a handful of games at Casey

That should put Casey on top of the ladder right? Unbeaten? Great to see the young developing demons can develop with a winning culture. I was originally skeptical of the Casey and Melbourne relationship but I hope that is now stronger than ever.

He probably realised that he will need to start playing like Cox if he is going to be able to pay his food bills! wow

Yes not sure how you did - there was a thread dedicated to it. Thanks for the report.

I think we need to let this new coaching group have a shot before assuming they will suck at developing players like the previous coaching group. Look at Kent, Taggert, Viney, Hogan etc. they are enourmous and have already shown great potential.

Im guessing no news from KC means he either got lost in the dark looking for something to eat or Casey are not playing well. I am sometimes suprised when I hear KC talikng about getting something to eat and I remeber that he/she is human. KC is always so reliable that I almost think he/she is robotic. Good work KC - if there was a best Demonlander award you would probalby get it (maybe RR could start a poll?)

Should have never been thrown into AFL straight away. He should have at least adjusted to VFL first (which I asume is higher standard than WAFL?) Would have only made him doubt his ability.

Yer - maybe I am the one jumping the gun!

I am afraid that was a one way ticket! So pumped with Casey like I never have before (maybe because half the team contains young MFC players and they actually win!) Is it to early to say the ins for next week - Dunn, Dawes, Kent and Strauss?

He kicked 2 goals and one was a down feild free kick straight infront wasn't it? We had quite a few forward entries - if anything Gawn might have not been getting to the right places. I wonder if Neeld will use him more tactacly this week - tell him to stay just outside the goals square and maybe have a crumber (Davey/Blease) and Howe around him so when we bomb it to the hots spot Gawn or Howe will mark and if they don't Davey will crumb. I don't see Gawn as much of a leading forward - he may as well use his height advantage and I don't want him kicking from anyfurther than 20m out! I think Spencer would be one tall to many and he would be at the expence of a midfielder - we need run and carry

Great to see Viney having a rest week after 4 rounds - something we did not do with Trenners or Scully. With rest weeks every month for first year players I think they would develop better. It would ease the pressure on their bodies - preventing injury. I think it would also give them a chance to step back and access their football and where they need to imporve, go into the following week feeling fresh - resulting in better performance = confidence! Good work Neeld! .......... although I do question that extended interchange/selection (Nicho and Rodan? and Rodan in starting 18 ahead of Matt Jones/Davey?)

I think you may be waiting some time for that breakout game! I think 3-4 goals and 20 odd possessions would be considered a breakout game for Tappy. Very few players kick 6 goals in a game during their career - Cloke kicked 7 for the first time last week. Sunday would be a good opportunity for Tappy with Clark out injured.

I think I would rather have a player like Mckenzie - who goes in hard and can win his own ball than a player like Watts that seems to stroll around hoping that the ball might appear in his hands. Our main problem this year has been clearances - we have been absolutely killed and I think we need to concentrate on getting the ball before execution. We will just have to hope he improves his kicking eventually.

I think he is the only player on our list that could ever pull that off (probably not even Nathan Jones). He just has it all - the strength, the speed, the beautiful foot skills - if only he had consistency. I think Sylvia and Nathan Jones could pull this club out of the shi#s single handed - if they were both at the top of their games. All the team needs is a little spark - a couple of the senior players to really stand up (well these two are it!). I really think that if we can win against Brisbane we could be a totally different team - its amazing what a little bit of confidence will do!