Opinion Even this black cloud has a silver lining

[Andy_Mac]

My question would be is the list really as bad as people are suggesting? I really don't think it is. I just think that the group is struggling to come to terms with the work load and game style Neeld has adopted. Sure there are player that will go at years end Dunn, Bate and Spencer to name a few, but there are always casualties, even the good lists have blokes who get delisted.

That said I have no doubt we'll see some big names traded come seasons end. Anyone who won’t or can't buy into the game style Neeld wants ie Sylvia, Rivers, Green, Davey, Moloney etc will be put up for auction. Also as a side note I was talking to my lil sisters BF who grew up with Watts, and he was saying that Watts’ been told that he'll be playing VFL footy for the rest of the year unless he drastically alters his attack on the ball.

All in all I’m "happy" with the direction that the club is going. I'd much prefer to be winning, but we needed to get tougher. For as long as I can remember (and I’m in my 30's too...) we have had a soft under belly. We have had the occasional tough nuts in guys like Rodney Grinter and Rory Hilton but they were more thugs than contested ball freaks.

For me I take solace in the fact that had we of landed Malthouse instead of Neeld we wouldn’t be performing any better.

 

[Tulip]

I don't think Rivers deserves to be on that list.

Also, my dad met Watts among a few others last wednesday, and he said he was in contention for a spot for the Hawthorn game.

 

[CTHORANGE]

Neeld is like the terminator, he will never stop. He will keep fully comitted and focused until he has this team exactly how he wants it, then and only then will the players earn his respect. There will be no mollycoddling as under the previous regime. He is the man for this job and yes there will be a cull at seasons end, but I think every player out of contract still has potential to stay or go, its up to them. The question is will they run themselves into the ground for the jumper or will they not?

 

[SuburbanMe]

The Best thing about this? When The team finally gets up to scratch and starts winning games by good margins, and we get into finals footy and actually look a chance, Neeld is going to look like a miracle worker.

Taking on this position, (and knowing how hard it would be), is a stroke of genius for Neeld in regards to his own coaching career.

I don't really disagree with anything that's been said here - but I think we all know what needs to happen.

 

[ExTasDeeMan]

He's the Mr Higgins to our slapperiffic Eliza Doolittle. Watching Man City win this morning should give us all hope (although i'd love their bank roll) - a nod to the Dr for his comparison this morning.

 

[HarveyWallbanger]

The Best thing about this? When The team finally gets up to scratch and starts winning games by good margins, and we get into finals footy and actually look a chance, Neeld is going to look like a miracle worker.

Taking on this position, (and knowing how hard it would be), is a stroke of genius for Neeld in regards to his own coaching career.

I don't really disagree with anything that's been said here - but I think we all know what needs to happen.

Neeld will be six feet under by the time this group shows anything.

Unfortunately, you can't make strawberry jam out of pigsh*t.

I will say again - the AFL salary collar has a lot to do with this problem. As evident Friday night, most couldn't give a rats tossbag about the game - the hand is still out at the end of the night. And unfortunately it has to be because of the collar rule.

If they had any self respect, the players would donate match payments and the percentage of base contract to Reach or another charity.

That was the worst I have personally ever seen in my 40 years of supporting the Dees. Thank god I didn't witness Gellong last year.

My young fella (7 years old) Saturday morning "Dad do we have to barrack for Melbourne"?

Says it all.

 

[Covertackle]

Don't get me wrong guys (and girls... do any girls post here?) - I hate losing. Hate it. I'm just like you all in that a Melbourne loss, and a bad one at that, can seriously ruin our entire weekend.

But there continues to be one positive in amongst all the s**t that has gone on in the last seven weeks and it's that finally... finally... we can start to weed out the crap that we were supposed to get rid of 3-4 years ago. Finally we can start to assemble the list we were supposed to assemble when we bottomed out from 2007 onwards.

There are plenty of things we can blame and get angry at. We can crack the shits with Neeld. Crack the shits with Watts. Start threads about how much we hate them. But the bottom line is that there is a small part of me that is excited that we are seeing what currently is the REAL Melbourne and that Neeld will enjoy culling this list when the season is over. And I'll enjoy watching him cull it like a ruthless bastard.

Just have a look at these names that we can, potentially, rid ourselves of at season's end. Jamie Bennell. Lynden Dunn. Matthew Bate. Brad Green. Jake Spencer. Possibly others like Rohan Bail and a big name player like Moloney or Jamar leaves in Free Agency. Now I'm a realist guys and I know we will have differing opinions about who, and who shouldn't, go and why and not everyone will disappear. But these players mentioned above are great at VFL level, suck us in, and then do sweet FA when given the opportunity. Harsh, possibly, but in the cold light of day it's true.

While this season will be hard to get through and we will want to act like Tiger supporters at certain stages this IS the s**t we have to wade through to get to the other side. So what if everyone wants to sink the boots in and write us off forever more. We WILL get better when we can get the players in who can do the job and not run around like chickens with their heads cut off.

It almost sounds unfair, in a way, that we have to wait even longer, but if we can keep with it while the list is re-built after it was shockingly put together over the last 5 years then that eventual success will taste even sweeter. Stick at it lads.

one thing that i'll bet AFL comp winners and NRL comp winners have had in common. a coach who galvanised a side.

in the NRL, teams that continually win or get to GF are coached by great coaches, or have had a great year as a team under a new coach.

when a great coach leaves a club he will find success with the new club instantly. usually without changing the playing roster too much. look at bennett in the NRL. he had great success with the broncos, went to st george and won them a premiership in his 1st year there. he has now moved to newcastle where development is slow. but its a longseason.

des hasler, formerly a multiply GF winning coach at manly, now has turned the bulldogs around.

gus gould won GF's with the bulldogs and penrith, and the NSW blues. (origin)

Tim Sheens has a track-record of reforming under-performing teams to premiership victory. Sheens has coached four premiership winning teams, making him second only to Wayne Bennett among current coaches.

good coaches win GF'S. if you want quality, reform, success, find a great coach. malthouse doing anything?


.

 

[melbournemartin]

He's the Mr Higgins to our slapperiffic Eliza Doolittle. Watching Man City win this morning should give us all hope (although i'd love their bank roll) - a nod to the Dr for his comparison this morning.

I wouldn't have thought so. Man City were always the lowly cousin of Man Utd, like some people may say we are of other Victorian teams, but that only changed because of money, NOTHING ELSE. That can never happen to us.

 

[Dory_77]

one thing that i'll bet AFL comp winners and NRL comp winners have had in common. a coach who galvanised a side.

in the NRL, teams that continually win or get to GF are coached by great coaches, or have had a great year as a team under a new coach.

when a great coach leaves a club he will find success with the new club instantly. usually without changing the playing roster too much. look at bennett in the NRL. he had great success with the broncos, went to st george and won them a premiership in his 1st year there. he has now moved to newcastle where development is slow. but its a longseason.

des hasler, formerly a multiply GF winning coach at manly, now has turned the bulldogs around.

gus gould won GF's with the bulldogs and penrith, and the NSW blues. (origin)

Tim Sheens has a track-record of reforming under-performing teams to premiership victory. Sheens has coached four premiership winning teams, making him second only to Wayne Bennett among current coaches.

good coaches win GF'S. if you want quality, reform, success, find a great coach. malthouse doing anything?


.

Didn't the Dragons win with Bennett in his 2nd year? I thought they choked the first year. Also he's hardly found success instantly at the Knights. They have been mediocre as ever this year.
Hasler and the Dogs have been very hit/miss, then even got beaten convincingly by the Titans, that's not turning things around.
Sheens and the tigers have been pretty mediocre bar 2005. The Tigers were excellent that year, especially their run into the finals; it was arguably the epitome of a 'Bradbury' premiership.
Good coaches win with good teams. How many St George players have been in origin/test teams the past few years, even before Bennett? Plenty, they just were well below par in the NRL, but stood up in rep sides.
While many have touted Melbourne's list as a great young list with loads of talent, I think that is truly overestimating them. There is talent there, definitely, but a severe lack of a good work ethic and a lot of guys who have not progressed at all since coming onto an AFL list and no adequate senior leaders. Neeld will be a good coach I believe, but the cattle he has to work with at the Dees is not as great as many think, and even Micky M would struggle to get them going properly this year.

 

[MUYB]

If Neeld manages to get this mob to a finals berth in his first contract period, he will be able to walk into any coaching position he likes for the rest of his life.

 

[Djcjdees]

If Neeld manages to get this mob to a finals berth in his first contract period, he will be able to walk into any coaching position he likes for the rest of his life.

Lol this. Imagine that, Neeld gets us to a finals birth in 2014 then gets poached in 2015

 

[Ageing Demon]

Lol this. Imagine that, Neeld gets us to a finals birth in 2014 then gets poached in 2015

Sounds about right for the MFC.
Fair dinkum if it was raining soup we would be standing around holding a fork

 

[Ageing Demon]

Neeld will be six feet under by the time this group shows anything.

Unfortunately, you can't make strawberry jam out of pigsh*t.

I will say again - the AFL salary collar has a lot to do with this problem. As evident Friday night, most couldn't give a rats tossbag about the game - the hand is still out at the end of the night. And unfortunately it has to be because of the collar rule.

If they had any self respect, the players would donate match payments and the percentage of base contract to Reach or another charity.

That was the worst I have personally ever seen in my 40 years of supporting the Dees. Thank god I didn't witness Gellong last year.

My young fella (7 years old) Saturday morning "Dad do we have to barrack for Melbourne"?

Says it all.

My daughter asked the same question 25 years ago, I could give her no good answer, so she joined the Bombers.
Not a bad decision she has seen premierships and now they are well well and truely back in front of the Dees as she reminded me on the weekend.
Give the kid a break tell him not if he does not want to.
Life is too short to suffer the joys of barracking for the MFC
Seriously though I have no idea how you answer this problem.
If we do not start winning soon the average age of MFC supporters will be 52

 

[maxmustard]

This is a great thread and i can't add much in terms of our list etc as others have done it better than i could. Will say though I went to a mates birthday on Saturday night and couldn't believe the Bombers scarfs hanging proudly off every second person. These people haven't spoken a word about football before, but now were telling me all about Stanton, Watson and their man love for Hird. "When do we play Melbourne? We should go". All of this pissed me off, but then I watched the premier league last night with a Richmond mate. Watching a city fan sitting on the pitch wrapped in a flag crying was amazing. My Bomber mates will never get as much out of sport as what he did last night. My tiger friend and i concluded that we wouldn't want to swap clubs as it's hopefully built character and any future rewards will be epic.

You can't really experience the good without knowing the bad. It will turn, everything does.

 

[Dory_77]

Agree MM. Me and a friend who's a Saints fan were asking ourselves why we keep supporting football, not just because our clubs have been ordinary for a long while, but just in general. Why do we get so worked up each weekend? It seems incredibly irrational that we scream and swear and cry at the telly, but we do. I think that when things turn around, which they (hopefully, eventually) will it'll definitely be worth it, and even if we look like idiots in the meantime, it's something I enjoy.

 

[Demon 16]

Whittard, Stringer, Toumpas and Viney would be a nice little silver lining..

 

[Unleash Hell]

My question would be is the list really as bad as people are suggesting? I really don't think it is. I just think that the group is struggling to come to terms with the work load and game style Neeld has adopted. Sure there are player that will go at years end Dunn, Bate and Spencer to name a few, but there are always casualties, even the good lists have blokes who get delisted.

That said I have no doubt we'll see some big names traded come seasons end. Anyone who won’t or can't buy into the game style Neeld wants ie Sylvia, Rivers, Green, Davey, Moloney etc will be put up for auction. Also as a side note I was talking to my lil sisters BF who grew up with Watts, and he was saying that Watts’ been told that he'll be playing VFL footy for the rest of the year unless he drastically alters his attack on the ball.

All in all I’m "happy" with the direction that the club is going. I'd much prefer to be winning, but we needed to get tougher. For as long as I can remember (and I’m in my 30's too...) we have had a soft under belly. We have had the occasional tough nuts in guys like Rodney Grinter and Rory Hilton but they were more thugs than contested ball freaks.

For me I take solace in the fact that had we of landed Malthouse instead of Neeld we wouldn’t be performing any better.

Best news I've heard all year. Love where Neeld is taking this club.

Also like that part - no point holding on to players who don't want to work for the coach.

In saying that there is room at this club for guys who want to work hard and win games - 14 rounds left to find those blokes otherwise it's off to the draft!!

 

[RedLegs#5]

Neeld is exactly what we've needed for a loooong time. You never know what the future holds, but at least we have a coach who will either have people play for him, or not get the chance to play at all. Those players who stay/get a chance to stay will be better off for it in the long run. Some players, especially senior ones, might be too old and stubborn to change. If that is the case...it seems it's adios. Macca would have been Neelds love child has Bailey not f*cked up and got rid of him.

 

[Donald_McRonald]

On a positive note, for those driving into the city via the Westgate, the Toyota flag ladder has us top!


...just find a different road travelling out.

 

[HarveyWallbanger]

My daughter asked the same question 25 years ago, I could give her no good answer, so she joined the Bombers.
Not a bad decision she has seen premierships and now they are well well and truely back in front of the Dees as she reminded me on the weekend.
Give the kid a break tell him not if he does not want to.
Life is too short to suffer the joys of barracking for the MFC
Seriously though I have no idea how you answer this problem.
If we do not start winning soon the average age of MFC supporters will be 52

But then am I teaching him bad life lessons allowing him to change?

Can I change?

 

[SuburbanMe]

IMO (for what it's worth - and probably not alot) it shows a lack of loyalty.

 

[RedLegs#5]

But then am I teaching him bad life lessons allowing him to change?

Can I change?

Don't teach your kid to be a bandwagon supporter of another club. Stick out the hard times because if/when the good times come, it'll be sweeter than anything. Everything goes in cycles in footy...give it time (and Neeldy time too). Did Jimmy jump off our club? I don't think so. Don't forget all the wonderful things the club does for the community etc too, as well as the great history it has. The giant will arise once more...don't worry.

P.S. Hell no, you can never change. Like it or lump it pal.

 

[640MD]

This is a great thread and i can't add much in terms of our list etc as others have done it better than i could. Will say though I went to a mates birthday on Saturday night and couldn't believe the Bombers scarfs hanging proudly off every second person. These people haven't spoken a word about football before, but now were telling me all about Stanton, Watson and their man love for Hird. "When do we play Melbourne? We should go". All of this pissed me off, but then I watched the premier league last night with a Richmond mate. Watching a city fan sitting on the pitch wrapped in a flag crying was amazing. My Bomber mates will never get as much out of sport as what he did last night. My tiger friend and i concluded that we wouldn't want to swap clubs as it's hopefully built character and any future rewards will be epic.

You can't really experience the good without knowing the bad. It will turn, everything does.

Yes you are correct, experience the depths to really appreciate the Highs

Look at Geelong supporters about 6 years ago they would win difficult games

and lose the easy ones, so the last couple of seasons ...wonderful

On another note How many Carlton players were smiling and laughing with

their opponents after the game last night, did not see one. Quick handshake

about all. Reckon the loss actually hurt, wish it hurt our players !

Go Dees

 

[CowboyFromHell]

Don't teach your kid to be a bandwagon supporter of another club. Stick out the hard times because if/when the good times come, it'll be sweeter than anything. Everything goes in cycles in footy...give it time (and Neeldy time too). Did Jimmy jump off our club? I don't think so. Don't forget all the wonderful things the club does for the community etc too, as well as the great history it has. The giant will arise once more...don't worry.

P.S. Hell no, you can never change. Like it or lump it pal.

Very well said mate. It's hard to swallow sometimes but it's spot on.

 

[PureFooty]

Read this midweek and I completely agree.
Read this 1 hour after a dismall performance and I'll feel like throwing my fist through the computer screen lol.
All in all a well composed piece.