btdemon

Robert Shaw on SEN was speaking very insightfully about the way our midfield only knows how react now. Other teams have worked this out. They stand off the contest leaving space around the ball up. Our mids are totally focused on standing their opponent and then Mohave to react when the opposing mids race on to the ball in the space. Our mids are not hunting the ball or thinking what they can do with it but merely reacting. Is this Neeld or Royal. Whowever it is it Sucks.

I was there tonight. I actually flew to Sydney with my daughter and joined my nephews and niece (Swan supporters) for a special occasion. I am now in my late 50's and am so f&&&ing fed up! That was as inept a display as I have seen. It was just as humiliating as the 186 to Geelong. In 1987 I was in Europe on holiday and by about mid June we were going really badly. I found myself in Australia House in London reading the Age and learning that the Dees had just had their annual thrashing at Kardinia Park. I thought to myself, "Hrere I am on the other side of the world, having a great time, but I choose to punish myself by attaching my emotions to a stupid f&&&ing football team called the Demons. that's it! I'm giving it up!" I came back in early July and managed to ignore the footy for a few weeks until in round 22 Robbie Flower kicked that goal and got us into the finals. My friend, with whom I always went to the game, dropped in on the way back and said, "we're in the finals! Do you want tickets?" Like Michael Corloeone, "Just when I thought I was out, they suck me back in!" I've been sucked back in ever since. Right now, I've had enough! I want out but I know that my emotions are too entangled with the fortunes of the Melbourne Footy Club. It brings me so little joy but I keep punishing myself. My wife thinks I'm stupid. She is a casual Geelong supporter but doesn't get interested unless they are winning. I don't work like that. I wish I could. The Dees have brought me so much pain over the past few years and I suffer like all of us, in the vain hope that we might one day be a real AFL club rather than a fragmented bunch of losers. I'm sick of friends ridiculing my choice of team, or worse still, offering some sort of ignorant but patronising sympathy. It's like a really sick addiction that promises some sort of ecstasy but never delivers. I'm so over it!

We do have a history of "dud brothers". Does the name Cockatoo-Collins ring a bell? I'm still confident about Jack Grimes though. As long as he can stay healthy and fit.

Yes you can but the team of '98 had much more class than we have at our disposal now. ATM we have about four guys who can actually hit a target consistently.

Contested footy is good to watch when it is not just about stopping the opponent. I don't mind 'winning ugly', but like the swans or Northey's Demons, not that horrible game that the saints played.

I said the same after watching the first NAB cup game this year

I think we play the dumbest footy in the comp.

I'm liking Cale's new physicality. He will never be big and will always have skinny arms but what has impressed me recently is his willingness for the contest. He is listed at 87kg which incidently, is the same weight as Moloney. Yes, I know that he is 4 inches taller than Moloney, but 87kgs is a fair mass to stop when it is running at you, skinny arms or not. I expect that Cale has developed a pretty strong core because, unlike Jack Watts atm, Cale usually maintains his footing. My biggest worry is still his kicking under pressure, and I have stated many times before, he has a flawed kicking action with a very iffy ball-drop (no peurile comments please). It requires him to be very balanced and when in traffic this is difficult. However, I have been very encouraged by his recent form.

The vision of Viney was very encouraging. What I liked the most was his forward momentum. We know that he is a raging bull of a kid but what is impressive is power out of the contest. His first few steps are very strong and generally towards goal. This suggests a very strong core and legs. He may not be that quick over 40 metres but his first few steps should get him clear. It also makes him hard to tackle. We have lacked a real clearance player. Viney explodes out of packs with his head and weight forward. Moloney is ok, but he stands up straight and takes them on. Viney may be just the thing we need. His kicking isn't brilliant but his hands are quick and accurate. I was a little sceptical about the hype around Viney. I doubted his skill level but now I'm excited about this kid (as we all are). Given that he is still only 17yo the future looks pretty good. The other thing that struck me was how much of an "unsociable" footballer he is. You get the feeling that he will never take a backward step and will be someone that opposition players will hate playing on. We saw how important it is to have a fearless player with genuine class when Lenny Hayes finished us off last week.

Is this for real?

Firstly, we don't have one. Secondly, Bartram will play his 100th this week and who do you suggest we play on Milne? Bennell? My team against Saints: Bartram Frawley Garland Grimes Rivers Morton Bail Moloney Trengove Sylvia Watts Howe Davey Clarke Petterd Foll: Jamar Jones Magner Int: Martin Couch Bate Tapscott (sub) In: Couch Grimes Petterd Martin Sylvia Out: Macdonald Sellar McKenzie McDonald Dunn Ps Even though i would like to see Petterd in I don't think his form will warrant selection with the match commitee

WTF???? x2

Liam is potentially a star. If we manage to keep him om the ground he will the hardest forward for any team to match. Even when it seems like he is having an off day he generally pops up with two goals. Players like this are rare and precious. Look at his goal kicking record. If he can get through his current issues and get fit under Neeld he will be a bona fide star.

I have never known what the acronym stood for. Was it "Melbourne Football Club S##t Sandwich"?

The other thing I have noticed this year is the speed at which players are picking up and handpassing in one action, especially in heavy traffic. WCE were fantastic at it last week. It must require confidence in where your teammates will be and split-second planning prior to picking up the ball. Our players pick it up and then look around. Unfortunately they then give it to a teammate who has an opponent breathing down his neck. Again, hopefully this will improve as the players understand where they are meant to be and confidence in that returns.

Get him back again I reckon.

It's interesting you should say that. Look at WCE. They are Gorillas again. We all thought that footy trends had passed them by a few years back but here they are again with a side full of muscle. They made us look weak. Even Richmond and Brisbane did too. They way Foley, Martin and co brushed us aside was embarrassing. Neeld said as much about our priorities. We need strength in the middle. Maybe with Moloney, Jones, Magner, Couch and Trengove all fit and firing we will get some clearances and make some tackles stick. Our best tacklers atm are Magner, Trenners and Bartram. Howe goes ok too. Once we win some clearances the pressure on the backline will reduce and confidence moving the ball into the fifty will return (I hope). Once confidence returns then skill and creativity can happen.

Is it just another area where confidence is down and nothing is working or do we not not how to do properly?

One of the things that has stood out to me this year is how easily opposition players stand up in our tackles, break them, or just brush us aside. Have we got worse in this skill? It was very evident in the WCE game but again in the Richmond game. is it just about size, weight and experience or do we not have someone at the club who is teaching them the most effective and latest techniques. Other clubs have passed us by in this area (not to mention almost every other football skill). Thoughts?

I just think that many people brand things as "politically correct" when they don't want to observe a particular cultural sensitivity. eg. 'Shock Jocks' use it when they want to say something unacceptably racist. Then say they are not going to constrained by the 'political correctness police'.

The politics of law does enshrine "moral correctness". Political correctness is a "weasel word" that people use when they don't want to be constrained by cultural sensitivities. PS. I'll get of my 'high-horse' now before it bucks me off.

We have "entered politics". This definition is from Wikipedia. "Politics (from Greekπολιτικός, politikos "of, for, or relating to citizens") is the process by which coercive power is legitimately applied. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the corporate, academic, and religious segments of society. It consists of "social relations involving authority or power"[1] and refers to the regulation of public affairs within a political unit,[2] and to the methods and tactics used to formulate and apply policy.[3]" Everything we do in the public domain is about politics, including the running of the AFL and the way it deals with all of these issues. Politics is about how people organise their societies. Football and the people within it have there own politics but that exists within the politics of the broader society It is not being "precious" to follow a proper process and respect the rights and dignity of everyone involved.

How do you know who is "the most likely"?

FWIW I reckon that Jimmy would weep if he read some of the attitudes on this site. He always attempted to look for the value of every individual. This site feels like a lynch mob sometimes.

I, like everyone else on this site, don't know the truth. Many were quick to defend Neeld against the allegations, not condemn him until proven guilty, and accept his denial (as am I). Why is it that half the posters on this site were so quick to condemn Davey? Now Davey has made a statement denying involvement in the story. Do we give him the same benefit? Davey is condemned at the moment because he is perceived as 'soft' and is out of form. People have decide that he is a 'sook'. We don't know Aaron Davey. We don't know his character.We don't know what's in his heart. I hope that the posters who are so quick to condemn him are equally ready to apologise for the slurs and inferences they have made if he proves to be innocent. I suspect they won't! Dee-Luded went as far as to say - "...At the very least the Indigenous boys should front the Full Leadership group One at a Time, to either Fess Up, or explain what or who has said what to Mifsud...said the club should line up the indigenous players and demand an explanation." How would you feel if you were an indigenous person? You were lined up, and asked and asked to "fess up" or explain to the leadership group? .... You were treated as a suspect BECAUSE YOU WERE INDIGENOUS! Do you realise how racist this is? I am so saddened and angered by the attitudes that surface when indigenous issues are raised on this site.