Melbourne GONE in 2012.....

[bali-dog]

A little premature you say?

Well, if you can't get up and win for a guy who gave his heart and soul to the club, in Round 1, at home, against one of the bottom teams from last season.....when are you going to get up and win?

Absolutely pathetic from the Dees....

if only it was as easy as that?

how does playing in honour for someone suddenly translate to a win,especially when youre a lowly ranked team to begin with..does it miraculously invest the team with improved skills and top gun footy nous?and if they could get up for Jim,then why cant they do that every week..obviously it doesnt work like that..

besides the fact that i find it in poor taste to honour Stynes ln that way,for the simple fact of losing..any honour or memory should be above weekly club histrionics..IMO

besides which the Lions on a good day arent to be underrated.

 

[vivien]

sad results, playing brisbane is winnable!

 

[MaddAdam]

Neeld was content with just 4. If there is one positive for Demon fans it's how noticeably disgusted Neeld was.

How many of them would honestly get a game at Geelong?

North are a long way off your lot but even then, I struggle to name more than about three or four Melbourne players who would be automatic picks for us.

 

[00Stinger]

FFS it is round 1

We were terrible after half time yesterday, no doubts about it. But geez everyone relax and wait a little while before casting judgement

 

[MaddAdam]

They need a hawthornesque rebuild

Anyone over 27 must be cleared out

They need a reliable player up front (hawthorn had mark Williams)
They need a no-frills leader, not an elite player leading
They need to build the side around the spine, not a spine around the side

Finally, they need patients from inside and outside the club

They did that. They sacked the older blokes like McDonald and they even managed to rip off Carlton for Brock McLean just like you dudded us with Hay.

Problem is they wasted the picks and they don't have the kind of culture you do. They also stuffed up the coaching.

They thought by getting a dozen blokes with big chequebooks into a room for a night to pay off the debt, everything would fall into place after that. Got the priorities all wrong.

Now we're already hearing about Jack Viney and they two high draft picks they'll get this year. They wasted the last five years.

Now the Demons will indeed start again under Neeld and they will get new picks and they might just come good. In five years time.

It would just be good if the media and their supporters could shut up about it until they actually deliver something approaching heart.

 

[Ed_Gein]

But they ve had years of high draft picks to get that right. I dont think Melbourne supporters will be able to stand another 'rebuilding' process having just gone through the terrble experience of the Bailey years...

not that much really. the last 2 drafts have been compromised, but they did have 4 picks inside the top 5 for the 3 years prior to the last 2. not going to change their list significantly, even when you consider their top end of experienced players aren't all that good it'll make their journey to the top a fair bit harder.

no priority picks prior to 1st round now adays either which clubs like st kilda and hawthorn greatly benefited from

 

[ThePuppetMaster]

I can take another mini-rebuild.

There's no doubt that at the end of this season more than a few players will be looking for a new club.

 

[scomac]

It is a sad indictment on a club when a first gamer is the only player that has a red hot crack and gets best player. Melbourne are in danger of becoming the next Fitzroy with no major sponsor and what sadly looks like a long year.

 

[Tiger_Of_Old]

One Bloke leaves for money and another arrives for money.No wonder they played like crap.

 

[Forward Press]

Tom Scully struggled all last year - his disposal let him him down. Not an elite kick.

Don't worry. Jack Viney will bring some hardness.

Why are you pinning your hopes on a kid that hasn't even been drafted yet, let alone played a game for you?

 

[billyboutsis]

Why are you pinning your hopes on a kid that hasn't even been drafted yet, let alone played a game for you?

Midfield is our biggest weakness, especially at the clearances. From all reports this kid is the contested footy/clearance king. It is pretty sad though that we look forward to future draft picks. Guess it says a lot about our list.

 

[vapours]

One Bloke leaves for money and another arrives for money.No wonder they played like crap.

That doesn't really explain anything at all.

 

[skipper kelly]

Its 1 game after a very emotional and draining week for the players and club.

 

[LeverPuller]

Don't even get me started. I'm still furious.

With the exception of Richmond supporters who right now I understand how painful the Wallace years were for them, no other supporters recently can really understand. We bottomed out. We nearly bloody DIED. And after all that, to have the bloke that made sure that those bastards had a freaking JOB because without the footy club they probably WOULDN'T BE PLAYING, they go and deliver THAT SORT OF TRIPE?! Especially the highly-paid ones, Brad Green and Aaron Davey I'm looking at you, geez.

I asked the question of why I bother yesterday. Still don't have an answer.

 

[AG]

Problem is they wasted the picks

This is a big problem. Majority of their high draft picks over the last 10ish years have never really kicked on.

Pick 4: Cale Morton
Pick 13: Mattew Bate
Pick 15: Lynden Dunn
Pick 5: Brock McLean
Pick 12: Nathan Jones

They don't have that core group of established good 25-26 yrs old players to complement the up and coming youth. All the above names are C graders, Jones has improved but still nothing special at all.

Rebuild is far from over, so I guess more patience is required.

 

[Scotland]

They did that. They sacked the older blokes like McDonald and they even managed to rip off Carlton for Brock McLean just like you dudded us with Hay.

Problem is they wasted the picks and they don't have the kind of culture you do. They also stuffed up the coaching.

They thought by getting a dozen blokes with big chequebooks into a room for a night to pay off the debt, everything would fall into place after that. Got the priorities all wrong.

Now we're already hearing about Jack Viney and they two high draft picks they'll get this year. They wasted the last five years.

Now the Demons will indeed start again under Neeld and they will get new picks and they might just come good. In five years time.

It would just be good if the media and their supporters could shut up about it until they actually deliver something approaching heart.

They need to have a look at Freo 2010 and WC 2011.

Nobody expected anything of either of those sides, but they both played finals footy. Importantly you could see a noticeable change in intensity from Rd 22 of the previous season to Rd 1 for both teams.

Melbourne don't have the personnel to be a top side in 2012, but they certainly have the personnel to have a decent crack and make games tough for the teams they play.

 

[Demonic Ascent]

We have done terrible with our drafting over the last decade which is why we continue to put in diabolical performances. Nevermind the early 2000's where we got guys like Molan and Smith who never raised a yelp. We got a top midfielder in Scott Thompson who left us for the Crows just as he was coming good. We got two top 5 picks in a pretty terrible year and got Sylvia & McLean. Sylvia could be a gun midfielder at the right club but unfortunately we haven't had the culture to get boofheads like him on the right track and he will end up having a wasted career.

We used two top 20 picks on Bate & Dunn who are depth at best and at worst will struggle to be on an AFL list next year. We got Frawley with pick 12 and he is a very good player and is a solid KP defender, something we haven't had since I've been watching the Demons since 1987 maybe with the exception of Danny Hughes. We used another no. 12 pick on Nathan Jones who is an honest player and gets the most out of himself but is one dimensional.

We got screwed in 2007 by "winning" the Kreuzer Cup when Carlton tanked and ended up with Morton (instead of say Cotchin or Kreuzer) who is another who will be lucky to be on an AFL list next year. We screwed the Lions with the Trav Johnstone trade and picked up Grimes who while a good player is injury plagued and hasn't shown any indication he can be a match winner.

Fast forward to 2008 and we picked Watts over Naitanui - although the football world seems to think we shot ourselves in the foot here I still think Watts will be a very good player and have as good a career as NikNat. However he needs to ditch the private schoolboy amatuers mindset and want to impose his will on matches. The Kreuzer Cup screwed us here also as we could have had both had Carlton not tanked that game. We had two more top 20 picks in 2008 and used them on Strauss & Blease who are yet to show they are AFL standard. There were other guys available at these picks like Shuey, Ballantyne, Zaharakis, Suban, Reddin, Beams etc who will go on to have very good careers.

2009 we tanked and ended up with what everyone regarded as the two best kids in the country with Martin a close third. I can't fault the club for this even with Scully having walked out but it is staggering they didn't do their due diligence and at least SPEAK with Martin prior to the draft. We also won another trade here with pick 11 for McLean but instead of using it on Lucas or Talia (I wanted Talia at the time) we picked Gysberts - Gysberts may come on but he is another skinny kid who may never have the frame required for an elite AFL midfielder. I can't fault the Tapscott pick and he is ready made and has a bit of mongrel but he also hasn't cemented a best 22 spot and I don't know where he plays? He has played most of his career at half back but he was recruited as a half forward.

2010 we should have picked Darling, we were crying out for a player of his build, skill and temperament - but we were scared off by his "off-field antics" and chose another schoolboy hero Lucas Cook who is another skinny kid who may never have the frame for AFL and who by all report may not have the temperament either. We chose another nice schoolboy instead of an unsociable prick.

On top of this our senior core is horrid. Moloney is our best player which is saying something as I don't think he would get a game in most top sides. Our midfield is also rubbish and doesn't hurt the opposition. None of our midfielders can go forward and kick 3 or 4 goals - Jones pops up with the odd 1 or 2, Moloney might kick a few a year but we don't have a midfielder that can hurt you on the scoreboard. As good as I think Trengove will be I have doubts he can be this player though he does have the ability to be and does get himself to the right spots to be dangerous.

Looking at the poor quality of the players recruited wih hindsight I also wonder whether the problem is our recruiting or our development. As I said if Sylvia was at a club like Hawthorn, Collingwood or Geelong he may be an elite midfielder but at Melbourne he pops up a few times a year and then disappears for the rest. Would Watts be a better player if he was at another club which demanded excellence? I don't know but I think it is a factor worth considering.

I get the feeling that we won't be seriously pushing for finals until guys like Trengove, Grimes, Frawley, Jones etc are our senior core which means another 5-7 years at least and that fills me with a great amount of frustration and disappointment. I wasn't around in the 70's but I get the feeling this is how it felt to support the club back then (or perhaps Richmond in the late 80's-early 90's).

My concern is whether the club can really survive another "rebuilding" period. I look at the quality of other games like Hawks/Pies, Freo/Cats, Dons/Kangas and just want to be able to go and watch my team and know that most weeks they will have a real crack and are in with a chance to win the game. I want to be able to watch a decent game of footy without tearing my hair out at the rubbish "efforts" of some of the players who seem content to just run around and collect their paychecks.

Having said all that this club is so schizophrenic that it wouldn't suprise me in the least if they come out and beat WCE next week or at least give them a real shake or even get on a roll and make finals. I do not expect this to happen but with the MFC nothing surprises me anymore.

 

[ThePuppetMaster]

Nice essay.

It can be boiled down into essentially one sentence.

Bailey went for players with 'upside' over pure 'footballers'.

Bailey thought he had more time than he did IMO.

 

[ThePuppetMaster]

This is a big problem. Majority of their high draft picks over the last 10ish years have never really kicked on.

Pick 4: Cale Morton
Pick 13: Mattew Bate
Pick 15: Lynden Dunn
Pick 5: Brock McLean
Pick 12: Nathan Jones

They don't have that core group of established good 25-26 yrs old players to complement the up and coming youth. All the above names are C graders, Jones has improved but still nothing special at all.

Rebuild is far from over, so I guess more patience is required.

Jones is a B-Grader IMO.

Morton is a worry; but apparently the penny dropped this pre-season... still, I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[Axle17]

I changed my tip because of Jim stynes passing...moral? sympathy votes dont work in afl..

 

[Black Diamond]

This is a big problem. Majority of their high draft picks over the last 10ish years have never really kicked on.

Pick 4: Cale Morton
Pick 13: Mattew Bate
Pick 15: Lynden Dunn
Pick 5: Brock McLean
Pick 12: Nathan Jones

They don't have that core group of established good 25-26 yrs old players to complement the up and coming youth. All the above names are C graders, Jones has improved but still nothing special at all.

Rebuild is far from over, so I guess more patience is required.

It's not limited to the first rounders either. Top sides bring on their 2nd, 3rd, and rookie selections. Who in the last 4 years does Melbourne have from the rookie list?

And then there's the likes of Strauss, who is now injured but up to that point had only played 8 or so games in 3 years, Blease who should be doing more, and Maric who is very talented and now with another club.

 

[MaddAdam]

They need to have a look at Freo 2010 and WC 2011.

Nobody expected anything of either of those sides, but they both played finals footy. Importantly you could see a noticeable change in intensity from Rd 22 of the previous season to Rd 1 for both teams.

Melbourne don't have the personnel to be a top side in 2012, but they certainly have the personnel to have a decent crack and make games tough for the teams they play.

Mate, I hate Footscray but I'm watching them now and they are playing with real spirit and have unearthed a beauty in Smith.

West Coast will probably do them today and I reckon they'll end up finishing bottom 6. But they are having an absolute crack.

Melbourne just look like they don't give a stuff.

 

[AG]

We haven't had the culture to get boofheads like him on the right track and he will end up having a wasted career.

Great post. Most interesting was the above. A lot of great players are the 'boof head' types of personalities. Something about Melbourne seems to be against this type of character and it's probably hurting them more than helping.

You have a few very good players and a few potential stars but way too many players like Dunn, Bate, Bartram etc. all really 'nothing' type of players. No aura, no presence. Nothing.

Even the older players don't stand up enough on the field. Green and Davey are (or were) talented but they don't have a presence or that on field leadership, which Melbourne seriously lack. Watching them now, you'd think they were 1st years players.


EDIT: WC have what Melbourne lack. That core group of good experienced players to complement the youth. Also have those B graders who have a presence. Look no further than Beau Waters. No superstar but at least he has that GTFO of my way style of play. Magner has some of that quality, and could be very important this season.

 

[Scotland]

They need to have a look at Freo 2010 and WC 2011.

Nobody expected anything of either of those sides, but they both played finals footy. Importantly you could see a noticeable change in intensity from Rd 22 of the previous season to Rd 1 for both teams.

Melbourne don't have the personnel to be a top side in 2012, but they certainly have the personnel to have a decent crack and make games tough for the teams they play.

Alternatively, they could just turn on Fox Footy right now.

Liberatore, Smith, Dahlhaus, Wallis, Roughead, Jones, Dickson, Wood, Markovic... Being young and inexperienced doesn't prevent you from having a dip, and the Dogs are doing just that.

 

[Scotland]

Mate, I hate Footscray but I'm watching them now and they are playing with real spirit and have unearthed a beauty in Smith.

West Coast will probably do them today and I reckon they'll end up finishing bottom 6. But they are having an absolute crack.

Melbourne just look like they don't give a stuff.

Great minds...