diesel

The way Fletcher plays is something he has developed over time to know what he can get away with so no surprise there. I think Ryder got a reprimand? The Kelly one was really odd and again horribly inconsistent.

Talk of North being insolvent seems to be a lot of twaddle given the AFL gaurantees funding to maintain an 18 team comp. Rumour I heard was Arocca may have lined up a job elsewhere. Split between managament and the FD seems very likely as well given they don't have the funds at their disposal that most otehrs do. Could be their 186 moment has been averted?

Did you see the tackle Adam Maric laid on Goddard on Friday night? I'm hoping it was an abberation!

Dylan Sheil got the nod this week. Seems with GWS & GC we've gone well away from the tradition of taking rising stars from sides that win on the weekend. Oh well, spose it gives the Franchises a chance to pump out more positive media releases to reaffirm their existence?

And you won't win ANY Grand Finals winning the way Richmond & St Kilda played on Friday night. What we saw Saurday was a meer part of the puzzle. We will remain down on F50 entries until we get more class in our midfield and we do not have the goal kicking ability in our forward line. It was the effort, pressure and adherence to the game plan includng ball and player movement that was important and it was all there.

Mark Fraser has now tried three football related occupations and failed at all of them! He'll probably be made CEO of the AFL next year and announce an expansion into Wollongong!

Ahhhh yes, the sacred jumper which can't be tampered with......unless you're a commercial entity in which case you plaster whatever you like on it for a price!

Garlo's mark in the goal square and goal, thought we had them at that point. Esp. liked the flat kick at the front row of the Essendon cheer squad.....no malice I'm sure, he is a defender after all, usually kicking it the other way!

Great point and I said it to a few people tonight. That's why you go every week!

Herald Sun + Tony Shaw......couldn't even bring myself to follow the link which says something about the standard of commentary we're getting these days. Ross Lyon reckons if you're vanilla nobody listens, but I couldn't be more the opposite. Unless I'm dealing with facts it's just more useless opinon. I would rather hear from our own supporters.

Who said and WHY would this happen? We are'nt broke FCS! The people within the club hace shown great unity of purpose and a consistent line in regard to where we are and where we are going. The only fact or basis for this hysteria is that we aren't winning games of football. That in itself is not a reason to tear the place down. It was evident that we had a stucture that was stuiffed in regard to the fact we had no football director, a sick president and an evolving poisonous relationship between the FD and Admin (who knows how that started, perhaps it goes back to China and claims of unproffessional standards?). I see those issues as largely having been addressed. In making a case to replace Cameron Schwab or Board Members we need the names of credible replacements not just suggestions of "get someone from inside the AFL".

In case they don't (podcast) to summarise he said our style of footy last year would not have got us much further than where we were, i.e. winning 8, 9-10 games a year. That he believed it was neccesary to strip us back to a more defensive/contested way of playing. He said to expect more pain over the next year. His explanation of the work ethic required to play this way is that it is not at all appealing to footballers and therefore takes time. For me they are points well made. It comes from a player just out of the game and not trying to build a media profile through stupid assertions or opinions.

Jack is described as laconic, but I'm gonna call him soft. Twice today he failed to make body conatct when he absolutely should have. Example one was the Mitch Inbred interception where he hung back and the second was in the last quarter where he sat off the back of a pack and let Warnock (I think it was) take an uncontested mark. These sort of efforts need to be eradicated from his game.

The mentality that we do things in systematic way, through the right channels and don't put anyones nose out of joint needs ot be left behind. Ross Lyon's poaching by Freo, Carltons pre-amptive strike on Judd are examples of where other clubs have acted surreptitiously where we've been floundering around the periphery. I'm not saying that either outcome would have been different but we can't let others, or a narrow view of the way things are done dictate our future. Getting Mitch Clarke was a good example of the change of attitude we need.

You forgot the most important positive (for me anyway), the exposure of a soft underbelly and the revelation that a succesful game plan isn't about low drafts picks or a game style (atttactive or otherwise) but finding people with a work ethic and dedication to a shared goal.

That would be unfair. Like everyone else he's entited to his opinion. Unlike 90% of the people here we know who he is.

There's a truck load of evidence that a lot of the players aren't overjoyed but that's life. I have no doubt that Dean Bailey was a great friend to the players, but that's not what they needed to reach their potential. AFL is a tough environment and we can't be half arsed about it anymore. A lot of supporters of the MFC have shown a lot of love for our footy club in the last few years. It needs to pay us back.

Yes I expect I'll pass something in the morning but it won't be a 'digital pass' to read this. Has Tony Abbott had a go at us yet?

I think it's a common misconception that Bailey was sacked because of 186 as well as the incorrect belief that we were going well or improving beaucse we had 8 wins. Some of the wins were just ordinary, that may sound trite but it's a fact and if we go back and look at them we'll see many times the oppostion just didn't turn up. King doesn't rate Clarke's goals, I don't rate last years wins! The fact King doesn't like Neelds game style or coaching for this list is irrelevant to me because this list as it is won't be around much longer. It's been stated ad-nauseum by the club that they want to build a list capable of challenging, not just surviving, King is short sighted and ignorant of what is going on behind the doors.

It's manna though for those who reckon they know why we are losing games and want to blame anyone except, the players and previous FD who led us to the postion that Neeld picked up at. The sad fact is that if we had interviewed Sanderson and missed Neeld and the two were at opposite clubs you could put your house on Adelaide having more wins than the MFC right now. And these same dills would still be crticising the process, Caro would be rehashing it negatively, Walls would be lauding Baileys coaching genius, King would still be Noddy, Thomas woud still be shrugging and those of us who know that our players were the worst prepared and drilled in the competition lead by our 'self destruct' leadership group will wait a bit longer to see how it unfolds.

You have mixed well known facts with a large slice of fiction. Do you know as fact what is in the Andrews report. The last part of your post is a good laugh though. We were going up and down on the spot under Bailey, our fitness, hardness and game plan were exposed as probabaly the worst in the league, face the truth. Don't fall this Robert Walls line that we were making progress.

They all could be dropped on form, not even a need to call them out. If they did I would back it in that we would see a much better on-field effort. The new leadership goup given their heads can take the club forward. We'll only really ever see if any of the old gaurd still want to play for the MFC when they spend a bit of time in the VFL.

Will always be a stain on the MFC's history. Did Mitch Clarke state a desire to stay at Brisbane whilst his dad held a job offer in the top draw to become Melbournes newest recruiter? I can't remember any of that, remind me?

He pretty much nailed it for me. And it is not a case of yet another media commentator giving an opinion, that's silly. It is an opinion from someone who lived the MFC when it was nomadic with 3rd rate facilities and who well knows through injuries and personal mismanagement how opportunites can be wasted or taken away.

No probably about it. Crackers writing is fiction. The thought that MN would be talking to Nick Maxwell about our players is patently absurd.