this year l have found myself after the games happy with how we are going. l know that we all want wins at the end of the day but we are starting to show something.

we are so young and starting to stand up to the other teams. we just look like the team needs maybe 2 more years to be right back up there.

l just look at Geelong , St kilda , Hawthorn of last year, Bulldogs and the blues as a blue print to wear we are going .

this year l have found myself after the games happy with how we are going. l know that we all want wins at the end of the day but we are starting to show something.

we are so young and starting to stand up to the other teams. we just look like the team needs maybe 2 more years to be right back up there.

l just look at Geelong , St kilda , Hawthorn of last year, Bulldogs and the blues as a blue print to wear we are going .

Dean Bailey is doing well under the circumstances. I wish I could see him with a FULL list to pick from. Until then, we are trying !!!... that's all I want for now....

this year l have found myself after the games happy with how we are going. l know that we all want wins at the end of the day but we are starting to show something.

we are so young and starting to stand up to the other teams. we just look like the team needs maybe 2 more years to be right back up there.

l just look at Geelong , St kilda , Hawthorn of last year, Bulldogs and the blues as a blue print to wear we are going .

i dont want to many wins, i want picks 1 and 2

I think the improvement is there for all to see despite the 1 and 6 start. Also despite the injuries. Then again anyone could say, "well anything is an improvement on last year". I can see the players adapting to the tasks Bailey sets and can also see the improvement in strength and skills.

DB is doing a top job. Better than any coach we have had since Norm Smith. He is starting from scratch & Building his team. Smith did the same. Now whether Bailey gets to the top is still the unknown. But he is going about it the right way. I saw a future great side last sunday night.

When Rivers went Down the Backline stood up & took the pain.

I want Dean Bailey to make us Respected & feared for many years.

Whilst, I will admit there have been a few times (particularly last year), when I have questioned Bailey's ability as a senior coach, overall, I think he's doing a pretty good job. It's too difficult to tell really. We're not really looking to win games this season, rather trying to get games into our youngsters. In two or three years, that's when we can truly judge him as a coach. I'd give him another two year contract at the end of this one. Especially, paradoxically, if we win the wooden spoon (and less than 5 games), because it really is a case of "winning" the wooden spoon this year.

I almost like the fact we have a few injuries.

We have Bailey developing the depth in our list by getting everyone to have a game.

We want our strongest team in next year, and the year after.

I'm very happen with competitive, single figure losses where the players show a lot of fight.

Every game I can see some of those patches of good footy getting longer. Every game I can see a team that is starting to believe in themselves but who also understand their current limitations. I see a bunch of players that like playing footy with each other and that know that if they do the hard work now the rewards will come in a year or two. Most of all I see hope. Bails is doing a great job.

The thing he's doing brilliantly is giving the young players confidence. They are improving every week. If he could get similar results out of the guys who have been at the club a few years i'd be thrilled.

this year l have found myself after the games happy with how we are going. l know that we all want wins at the end of the day but we are starting to show something.

we are so young and starting to stand up to the other teams. we just look like the team needs maybe 2 more years to be right back up there.

l just look at Geelong , St kilda , Hawthorn of last year, Bulldogs and the blues as a blue print to wear we are going .

I agree with you entierly. The way I see us progressing is bottoming out again this year to only win 4 games and finish last with picks 1 & 2. Improving next year to win 6-10 games and finish 10th to 12th. playing finals in 2011 finishing in the bottom half of the top 8 possibly getting as far as the semi finals and be a genuine premiership contender by 2012. Best case scenario of course and I think Bailey has them on track. I think we'd all be happy with that type of blueprint.

I agree with you entierly. The way I see us progressing is bottoming out again thiIs year to only win 4 games and finish last with picks 1 & 2. Improving next year to win 6-10 games and finish 10th to 12th. playing finals in 2011 finishing in the bottom half of the top 8 possibly getting as far as the semi finals and be a genuine premiership contender by 2012. Best case scenario of course and I think Bailry has them on track. I think we'd all be happy with that type of blueprint.

Uninjured we'll go close to finals next year. There's a list of clubs who are struggling at the wrong time. North, Richmond, Collingwood, Brisbane, Adelaide, Port, Freo and the Swans. Then there's the age of the Cats in a year or 2. Carlton, Bulldogs, Essendon, WC all have major deficiencies. That leaves Us, the Saints and Hawthorn as contenders over the next 5 year. Even the Saints may have some holes in a year or 2. I think bailey's the man for the job

outside of "the list" which has been well covered what I have enjoyed the most thus far is our attack on the footy in the last month.

All of a sudden against the WCE it appeard like we were attempting to own the centre square rather then chipping it around the wings. Hopefully this is signs of things to come! I am as happy as you could be watching a loosing side ATM, makes the next few years all that more to look forward to and DB is the man for it at this stage.

He has them trying to move the ball through the centre of the ground and to do so quickly, I think he si doing a good job, you can see the improvement, slowly but surely.

I agree we are more competitive this year and I think DB is doing an OK job at the moment. The jury is still out though given his appalling win/loss record. I understand where we are at the moment as a club but I don't think we can pump his tyres up just yet. What happens if we finish bottom next year? I doubt DB would get his contract extended?

It concerns me that we don't get the ball into our forward line enough and we have avoided a number of real beltings simply because the opposition kicked poorly. Eg. R3 v Port (37 scoring shots to 20), R6 v Geelong (18 scoring shots to 36) and R7 WCE (30 to 17).

It concerns me that we don't get the ball into our forward line enough and we have avoided a number of real beltings simply because the opposition kicked poorly. Eg. R3 v Port (37 scoring shots to 20), R6 v Geelong (18 scoring shots to 36) and R7 WCE (30 to 17).

Considering our lack of forward options i think the side has done pretty well. Miller has at least 2-3 opponents spoiling him each time the ball comes in.

Now that Robbo has returned our scoring should improve as the defenders will need to spread out more (hopefully)!!

Our % is over 70 so I'm happy as long as we stay around that mark by the end of the year and win less than 5 games I will stay happy.

I don't think I have ever watched us lose every week and been as pleased as I currently am. It has nothing to do with the tantalising prospects of draft picks either, it's because our current football department has gutted the team to the core and is rebuilding it from scratch, and the big picture is starting to become clear. Last season for me, however, was utterly demoralising.

I've always said it's pretty hard to judge coaching staff from the outside, but I for one am very excited about the direction we're going in, and I hope DB's contract is extended to give him the opportunity to see out his work, much like Clarkson and Lyon were allowed to.

Dean Bailey is actually DOING what Terry Wallet dreamed of but will never achieve.

Bailey is a 10 year coach.

I'm really enjoying the overall positivity of this thread, and agree with almost everything that has been said up to this point. Thats's a first!! Go Dees!!

this year l have found myself after the games happy with how we are going. l know that we all want wins at the end of the day but we are starting to show something.

we are so young and starting to stand up to the other teams. we just look like the team needs maybe 2 more years to be right back up there.

l just look at Geelong , St kilda , Hawthorn of last year, Bulldogs and the blues as a blue print to wear we are going .

Will be a 10 year coach. Calls himself "a teacher of the game" and is different from all coaches in his approach.. The coaches manual may use him as a blueprint down the track... Will get a lot more kudos next year....

Absolutely inspired appointment by the MFC. I couldn't be happier with Dean Bailey and, seemingly, the rest of his coaching team: Wellman, Mahoney etc. I hope he's at the helm for at least the next 10 years.

I also hope he leads us to the spoon this year with 4 wins only - and a series of inspirational, less than a goal, losses. Last Sunday's game was perfect - good signs, good contest, narrow loss.

Knowing it is in our best interest to lose games this year I think he has done exactly what I would expect of a good coach with an eye on the long term. That is develop a young list from the backline. If we have to lose games then lose them from the forward line.

7 Rounds in and no 100 point losses.

In each and every game we have been competitive.

We have been competitive with an injury ravaged list.

While every club can claim to have young players, we are actually playing ours.

Our first 3 draft picks from last year are yet to show. We haven't thrown the dice yet, and neither do we need to.

There is a strategy going on, and it is focussed on the long-term. Not this year.

We probably won't win any more games than last year, but it will see us build the strength for the future.

Richmond are facing another 5 years in the doldrums. I know who I would prefer running the show.....

DB is doing just fine.

As much as you can't judge a coach unless you're in the inner sanctum, on anything other than win:loss ratios, I think Bailey is doing a brilliant job.

2007 was the worst year I remember as a Melbourne supporter. There was no direction, we were getting smashed with an old team and a list full of rubbish, and success seemed light years away.

A mere 18 months on and we have direction, our list has been gutted from top to bottom (to the point where we now have one of the youngest, instead of one of the oldest lists in the competition) and we are showing something that I haven't seen in a long time from the boys in red and blue... passion.

To see players bust a gut, week in week out, when in reality they know finishing above 15th on the ladder is not possible, is a credit to our coaching staff.

Motivating young players, some of which have never experienced a win (or maybe have only experienced a handful of wins), must be incredibly hard. But the passion shown by the boys this year, the way they fight their way through situations and the amount of respect we've gained in the competition, is remarkable.

Credit to Bailey for having the balls to experiment, to back young kids every week without fail, to keep calm in the face of injuries and never waver in his direction or approach (would have been easy to crack under the pressure of winning the spoon and getting smashed regularly last year).

He is a man on a mission, and I wouldn't hesitate giving him a contract extension at the end of the year, because he deserves to take us to finals, and I believe that in a couple of years he will.

I am happy with most aspects of Bailey's coaching so far. The best thing about Bailey is that he is at the start of hopefully a very long stint with the Dees. At 42, he is primed to grow along with our squad of players as well as with the game itself. The Dean Bailey of 2009 IMO is not the complete package Dean Bailey we will have in say 2011. I think if you look at a fair few coaches in the AFL, there is a fair proportion that you could argue have reached their potential or have shown their hand so to speak. Bailey is still a new boy despite his experience at other clubs and IMO the game is taking a new direction (even this year) so now is an excellent time for him to be in his 2nd year at a developing team. There is a definite response in the playing group to his coaching and I am looking forward to the day that we have an accomplished group of talent across the whole ground who can exhibit the Bailey game plan at the highest level possible.