Columnist

Michael DiFabrizio

Roar Expert
http://www.michaeldifabrizio.com/

647,309 Article Reads
297 Articles Written
1,785 Comments Written

About

Michael DiFabrizio is a journalism student at the University of Wollongong. As an AFL writer, he has been an expert columnist at The Roar since 2009 and appeared in The Age and on ABC television and radio.

Member Since:: October 2008
Based In:: Wollongong
Favourite Sports:: AFL,

Latest Articles

Showing articles 1 - 6 of 297 | More Articles >

Mark Neeld's Melbourne tenure meets its cruel end

1 day ago

The 2013 storyline that refused to go away – Mark Neeld’s future – finally came to an end today when Melbourne showed their coach the door. The timing of the move, both deservedly and undeservedly, has come under scrutiny. It was awkward due to the fact Melbourne didn’t even play on the weekend. It was [...]

Mark Neeld deserves to stay on with Demons

4 Jun 2013

Leaning against a wall in Mark Neeld’s office is one of those “Keep Calm and Carry On” posters. At least, there usually is. Perhaps he took it to the Melbourne board room yesterday. According to reports, that meeting was supposed to be the end of Neeld. Instead, calm prevailed and he survived, although clearly not [...]

Time to wake up, the Gold Coast Suns have turned a corner

15 May 2013

There was an odd build-up to Sunday’s Melbourne-Gold Coast clash. It seemed like one of those games where the interest levels rose out of sheer voyeurism. “Imagine the pressure the losing coach will be under” – or words to that effect – were repeated ad nausea. We’ve come to expect comments like these, but they [...]

Sacking Mark Neeld would accomplish nothing at the Demons

10 Apr 2013

With CEO Cameron Schwab’s resignation those baying for blood at Melbourne got their wish yesterday, but you still feel coach Mark Neeld isn’t out of the woods. In fact, another big loss this week to West Coast will give the Neeld sacking story further legs. One thing is clear. If proper evidence emerges that he [...]

Get down with the AFL split round

28 Mar 2013

There are few things footy fans like to complain about more than a fixture quirk. So when a split round comes a long, you’d better watch out. There’s no game in my city!! My team doesn’t play for a week!! There’s no footy on a Sunday!! I have to spend time with my family instead!!!!!! [...]

Your code wars are stupid and you should feel stupid

7 Feb 2013

The ‘us against them’ mentality has been strong in Australian sport this week. Pity there’s no point to any of it. As you all know by now, 170 seats were ripped up at the Melbourne Derby between Victory and Heart at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night. When the media began to cover this incident, A-League [...]

Michael's Recent Comments

Michael DiFabrizio has written a total of 1785 comments

Mark Neeld’s Melbourne tenure meets its cruel end

Thanks Cam. Likewise with your piece, the issues at Melbourne are not confined to one, two or even three individuals, although you can't help but be impressed with Peter Jackson. Must have turned off before Darcy's comment, but "happy" isn't a word I'd have used!

1 day ago

Mark Neeld’s Melbourne tenure meets its cruel end

doubledutch, I've done my best to reply point by point. 1. Mark Neeld does not have a game plan. When you listen to the most respected commentators in the land and they also have no idea where this club is heading then something is wrong. It seems like the ultimate 2013 AFL insult, "[Team] does not have a game plan". Heard it about a few clubs. The reality is with a young list, for most players their defensive capabilities are well behind their offensive capabilities. That makes it hard to stick to a comprehensive game plan and you also have to factor in improving their defensive side when designing a game plan, something older sides have the luxury of not worrying about. When I hear that a bottom 2 or 3 side has no game plan, I'm not too bothered. Typically there are reasons why it looks that way. Even if a coach of such an inexperienced team had a very specific game plan, you'd expect with their youth they'd struggle to implement it. 2. He had some pretty good players at hand, but it was his decision to get rid of a lot of that experience. You live and die by your sword and it is Neeld’s list, which in many peoples eyes is actually worse than when Bailey was in charge. Agree it was his decision and that he lives and dies by that. But the decision was a long-term one. It was not about improving in the short-term, in fact the short-term benefits were almost nonexistent. Yet, with only short-term evidence at hand, what right to we have to tell him to die by his sword because of that decision? The list has gone backwards since Bailey left, too. 3. This club has been rebuilding now for 7 years, when is enough enough? Agree. This rebuild has gone on for too long and unfortunately it will go on for a while yet. However, Neeld was only there for 1.5 of the 7 years, and a lot of the issues are separate from the coach (recruiting, development) so pinning all this on Neeld is unhelpful. 4. Neeld has zero charisma and zero confidence in front of a camera. He oozes weakness and just looks out of place as an AFL coach. Public appearance is maybe makes up about 5 per cent of the coaching job. But yes, I doubt Neeld would score top marks in that category. He seems very relaxed in more intimate settings but the all-in press conference after the game is not his domain. 5. HIs record stunk last year and it again sticks even worse this year! Could last year's record have been better? Probably, but the change he was implementing was not light, it was significant. As outlined in the article, it was supposed to get worse this year. 6. He appointed 2 captains that not only look 12 years old, play like 12 year olds. Since they have taken the captaincy their games have stunk also. Good call. Not that they play like 12 year-olds, but that was a lot of pressure to put on those two young men. Nathan Jones would've been a good choice if he wanted it. 7. Forget about the wins and losses. This club is just not competitive. Wins and losses aside, surely you can accept the fixture thus far has allowed only a few opportunities to be truly competitive? They've had two games against the bottom five, the only teams for a side this low we can plausibly expect them to have a chance of winning. It would've been nice to be able to have a wider selection of games against opposition they can actually beat when judging their competitiveness. Still, winning a quarter against the flag favourites (despite yes, being flogged) qualifies as competitive for a side like Melbourne.

1 day ago

Mark Neeld deserves to stay on with Demons

Oh absolutely Radelaide, pushing an assistant from one of the benchmark clubs is a terrible crime.

4 Jun 2013

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