THE LEAN AND HUNGRY LOOK by The Oracle

"Let me have men about me that are fat,

Sleek-headed men and such as sleep a-nights.

Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look,

He thinks too much; such men are dangerous."

William Sheakespeare -

Julius Caesar: Act 1, scene 2, 190–195

It was a strange game of football at Etihad Stadium. While it ebbed and flowed as all good games do, the ascendency was held, surprisingly, by the team that finished off 2011 like a ship without a rudder. Not the one that came into last year's grand final as the warm favourite.

At half time, when the Magpies had just managed to snatch the lead for the first time with a Nick Maxwell goal after the siren, they decided to make a sporting declaration by removing half a dozen of their A team and replaced them with youngsters and overseas imports.

The Demons responded with some changes of their own and proceeded to apply the same disciplines using the same structures that gave them a moral victory in the first half. The result was not simply a victory on the scoreboard but an early moment of pleasure for the coach and supporters. A breakthrough for Melbourne at the Docklands and the dawn of a new era for the club.

After so long, the lean and hungry look has returned to the Melbourne Football Club and we welcome it back with open arms even if it comes in a NAB Cup game that everybody says noddingly in agreement that it means nothing. Especially when they lose.

We've heard about and discussed Mark Neeld's game plan whereby his team hustles and grinds the opposition, works hard defensively to eke out errors, kicks long to position and performs with discipline. But this is also the result of hard work on the track and in the gym over many months. Strength, endurance, bodies changing and taking shape. We saw some good signs; the rejuvenation of players, some in rebirth and some new faces. Brad Green is back in town. Nathan Jones and Matthew Bate are changed for the better and a couple of hard nuts in James Magner and Tom Couch have been found.

And there's more to come.

Melbourne 0.2.6.18 0.3.9.27 0.7.11.53 0.11.13.79

Collingwood 0.2.3.15 0.4.4.28 1.6.5.50 1.9.7.70

Goals

Melbourne Dunn Jones Martin Petterd 2 Green Howe Sylvia

Collingwood Shaw (supergoal) Rounds Thomas 2 Ball Ceglar Cloke Maxwell Paine

Best

Melbourne Garland Petterd Magner Jones Sellar Green

Injuries

Melbourne Nil.

Collingwood Nil.

Reports

Melbourne Nil.

Collingwood Nil.

Umpires Stevic Armstrong Kronk

Official crowd 12,954 at Etihad Stadium

Feels so good to win against the Pies! And at Eat-your-head Stadium. When was the last time we won there, out of curiousity?

GO DEEEEEEEEEEEES

It looks like an era of contested football ,making proper tackling effort ,guarding the mark properly ,killing the ball in defence and directness in attack .Really good signs . Even with a lot of errors ,we still won .

It looks like an era of contested football ,making proper tackling effort ,guarding the mark properly ,killing the ball in defence and directness in attack .Really good signs . Even with a lot of errors ,we still won .

:wub: :wub:

This was only the second occasion we've played Collingwood in a pre season match and we've beaten them both times. Great effort from the boys even though the Pies will say they were nowhere near full strength.

We look to have found a couple of hard nuts in Couch and Magner. Next week v Hawthorn should be a ripper.

Magner 14 contested possies

He may be what Neeld was thinking of when talking about "grunt"

Is it too early to be talking finals?

Someone highlighted the stats before (perhaps the other thread), we won all the important ones-

Contested Possession, Tackles, Inside 50's

It is only NAB Cup and it is still difficult to read too much into it but if this is the manner in which our boys will play this year then i think we will have a good season. Whether it becomes very good is the next question.......

Good:

Jones

Magner

Petterd

Sylvia

Couch

Garland

Bad:

Bennell

MacDonald

Ugly:

Watts- won't play round 1 unless form picks up

This was only the second occasion we've played Collingwood in a pre season match and we've beaten them both times. Great effort from the boys even though the Pies will say they were nowhere near full strength.

We look to have found a couple of hard nuts in Couch and Magner. Next week v Hawthorn should be a ripper.

The MMM boys read out the missing players from the Pies GF team and there were a few, but then they read out the list of MFC players missing (and i know i will forget a couple)- Trengove, Grimes, Moloney, Rivers, Clarke, Jurrah, McKenzie, Morton, Bartram......we had more than our fair share.

Next week will be a good test as the sides get closer to their round 1 makeup.

i'll add bail to that 'bad' list. he not only burns the ball but he does things that are disadvantageous to the side.

super-impressed by magner and sellar. couch looked good too.

Troy Davis was a revelation, Jame Magner and James Sellar continued their impressive starts, Jones was awesome, Green was also very good, along with Pettard and Martin.

Watts is trying to play a team game , but needs to be a bit more selfish and imposing.

Dont think we will leak too many goals this year, with impressive defense all over the ground.

They had Swan Dawes ,Thomas etc.. we were missing Trengove, Grimes ,Rivers,Moloney, Jurrah,Clarke.

All in all great signs for the year ahead!

Loved the work of Magner.

Also liked the games of Davis and Couch.

Jack Fitz was impressive (note to JF - do not kick the ball)

Magner 14 contested possies

He may be what Neeld was thinking of when talking about "grunt"

Is it too early to be talking finals?

Definitely. Premierships, maybe...!!

What I do like is that we appear to have a potent and difficult to match up on forward line. I like Bate as a midfielder. Let's not go nuts, Collingwood was undermanned and not necessarily going full pelt, but some positive signs nonetheless.

i got very sick of foxtel saying that they were missing so many key players.

yet their midfield for parts of the night was made of pendlebury, swan, thomas, ball, and wellingham. melbourne's midfield - missing moloney and trengove as the only two players in our group who are even approaching 'star' status, plus mckenzie - out-worked them for the most part. great to see.

Great quote from Green on MMM after the game re Neeld: 'Neeldy came in and said "you know how to attack, but we need to teach you how to defend"

SEN absolutely all over us like a cheap suit

The boys put in ALL nite and continually put on the PRESSURE, something that we've not shown for............?, we looked stronger and a lot fitter, I'm liking our change in attitude. Exciting, isn't it?

Perhaps the single aspect I was most impressed with from tonight's game was that we didn't run out of legs towards the end of the game. Our side didn't look tired, and that wasn't from a lack of effort. The players could have easily (we've all seen it before) given up because we were "well enough" out in front, or because of a lack of fitness & drive, but they kept on running, contesting, and, what seems to be quickly becoming Neeld's catchphrase, keeping their heads above the ball.

Feels great to win, feels better that we can expect more performances like this in the season proper.

Well come on people

Some of us lesser mortals have not enjoyed the advantages of paid subscriber television ( no free promotions here ) and because we have been minding our grandchildren we have not a clue

What happened ?

That gentle hum you can hear is the sound of MFC membership cards across the state being sticky-taped back together and scraped off the insides of microwaves. Very early days - SEN were babbling about top 6 after we won the two NAB games at AAMI last year - but if we're associated with toughness, discipline, defence, pressure and accountability, that sits well with me.

Of the newer players:

* Magner is a real find and will play in R1. Instantly forms part of the midfield rotation.

* Davis was very solid. Looks a year away but has skill, poise and gets to the ball

* Couch got better as the other players got tired/slower. Need more convincing

* Tom Mac only got a few minutes - why?

* Seller - bigger and better than Matt Warnock. Not sure yet why Adelaide delisted him. Looks like a fairly ready made gorilla-minder

* I thought Jack Fitz contested really well around the ball and showed a good motor to get away and win possession

Of the known entities:

* Nathan Jones could become elite. Go ahead and laugh. But his rate of improvement, especially using the ball, is amazing

* Jeremy Howe will be a freak.

* Joel MacDonald is likely to spend the majority of this season at Casey

* I am a Jamie Bennell fan, but he needs to play closer to his man

* Watts is a better #2 forward at this stage - I thought he did OK with limited opportunities - he will ebnefit from Clark being in the arc.

* Sylvia is all class

* Stef has every possible gift but is somehow NQR. Hoping the brain-fade doesn't reappear during the regular season.

* Petterd needs to improve his set shooting

To me, there will be a lot more contests for spots on game day. This is a fantastic development. Top 8 beckons....

Good signs from Greeny 2nite for the season ahead, good on him , lead the way HE can.

i got very sick of foxtel saying that they were missing so many key players.

yet their midfield for parts of the night was made of pendlebury, swan, thomas, ball, and wellingham. melbourne's midfield - missing moloney and trengove as the only two players in our group who are even approaching 'star' status, plus mckenzie - out-worked them for the most part. great to see.

Yeah I got crapped off by that too. The Foxtel guys only really wanted to talk about the Pies. They were almost waiting for us to fold, but then on past performance who can blame them

As Mark Neeld said we are now looking to be a serious football side

On a different note what would have been the odds before tonight that Magner was more of a lock for Rnd 1 than Watts

As Ive said all along it is only the NAB cup so not that particularly interested however a good win by the boys.

I watched the game on silent and didnt want any commentator influence on my judgement, will watch again tomorrow.

A pretty good effort considering the plethora of players we did heave out of the side due to injury tonight, some handy players to come back.

Things I noticed (without hearing it) & will be good to see if anyone agrees: Please note without sound it was hard to know who were subs!!!

James Magner - Clearance machine, looks to be exactly the role model Neeld is after.

Nath Jones - has lifted everything

Tom Couch - Played well around the stoppages but seems to turn slowly.

Bate - Got a bit of it but turned it over, tried his guts out but looks too slow for the midfield.

Sylvia - Excellent game, we saw what hes capable of, Im sure neeld was licking his lips.

Petterd - outstanding, people doubting his position need to think again, one of the best on for me, very courageous.

Dunn - Showed glimpses that he is the Dunn of old, done a lot of hard work off ball also.

Garland - My little brother got a bit of it but turned it over, recovered well in the last half... Lucky mark!

Howe - Excellent before being subbed? Not sure why.

James Sellar - Will definetley be a part of our team, fantastic effort, composed courageous and is the a steal at pick 54.

Fitzpatrick - Actually looked very good in the ruck, didnt lose many battles, good at ground level too.

Frawley - Did his job and rebounded well off half back/wing.

Bail - Looked rusty but did some good things.

Martin - Looked quite good up forward, still looks very raw.

Green - The barometer, seemed to do his job well in pressure situations, dropped a sitter from memory.

Davey - His defensive pressure in the forward line was quite impressive, seems to have picked up his old speed, probably a quiet night stat wise??

Tom McDonald - Very raw but kept battling, looked nervous. Limited gametime??

Troy Davis - 12 months ago I said he will be the next Scarlett. Still a year away.

As I said it is only NAB cup so dont get too excited. We missed alot of easy goals too. Great Pressure and I can see why Neeld has said "we will be the hardest team to play against". So many players out... Grimes, Trengove, Jurrah, Moloney, Tapscott, Clark, Rivers?, McKenzie, etc etc.

The Biggest disappointment for me were:

Joel Macdonald - I have so many crosses next to his name (xxxxxx) does anyone agree?

Big Talking point for me is Jack Watts:

Very poor display, no effort, didnt jump and seemed to be playing more like a rover. Was one of the worst games I have seen from him.

Anyway these are just my thoughts, feel free to add or discuss as I couldnt hear a thing!!

Go Dees!

Was at the game and without the benefit of watching a replay. Jones, Magner, Petterd and Sellar all excellent. Howe and Sylvia both played good cameos. Promising signs from Davis and I thought Couch was much improved on last week. I see the AFL site has named Garland our best but I thought both he and Joel Mc made some appalling errors. If Neeld is serious at this stage Watts will not play round 1. Effort was there but I just dont think he gets what his role is as yet.