Where are we REALLY at right now ??

[old dee 23,871]

Rest assured, OD.

At some stage in our rebuild we will go west and expect a win, but I am not going to put that level of expectation on the club at this stage.

And that doesn't mean we are not capable...

And it doesn't mean I have 'blind faith' or I am giving a 'free pass.'

It just means that we opted for a slow burn rebuild and we are in the phase where we have the capability to do many great things but, conversely, to be incredibly inconsistent between weeks and during games.

I do not disagree with anything you have said.

I was making the observation that if we cannot beat the Eagles this year I fear it will another non event year

like so many in the past.

[old dee 23,871]

One thing I think is a major difference between this year is Mackenzie, and to a lesser extent Scully, in the middle. Last year, these two players were often the player who straightened us up through the guts. They both played down the centre of the field, either passing it in board or presenting in the coridoor. This year we have played the coridoor far less than in our good patches last year.

I wonder here if the difference is the change in cattle on field or a change in game plan i.e. has bailey told us to play wider this season? (out of interest, last years premiers play wide, not through the centre, have we tried to play more like them?)

Deanox I have a gut feeling we are not going to see much of either Scully or Mackenzie this year.

Even if they do get back I wonder how good they will be with low fitness and no match experience for months.

[MO FINE 171]

That bloke McLean at Carlton - he's playing for the Blue Ants isn't he - maybe we could trade for him?

No good. I watched him play for Preston in the televised vfa game on Saturday. He loped around for most of the first half without doing much but then got a lot of the ball in the second and was named as his team's best. I reckon that his problem is that he has no leg speed and he might be exposed on a big ground. However, he might be picked this week because the games at the SCG.

[Sir Why You Little 37,125]

No good. I watched him play for Preston in the televised vfa game on Saturday. He loped around for most of the first half without doing much but then got a lot of the ball in the second and was named as his team's best. I reckon that his problem is that he has no leg speed and he might be exposed on a big ground. However, he might be picked this week because the games at the SCG.

The players we have let go in the last 3-4 years have all been the right ones so far. This i consider a very good point going forward. Building a team of players who can be counted on when the pressure is on. The Game is so fast now, one mistake in the backline can be a certain goal.

[Radar Detector 1,347]

The players we have let go in the last 3-4 years have all been the right ones so far. This i consider a very good point going forward. Building a team of players who can be counted on when the pressure is on. The Game is so fast now, one mistake in the backline can be a certain goal.

And this is one of the reasons I do no fear the Gold Coast like many on here. We have seen first hand that not all high draft picks will be able to lead you to a flag (Trapper and Brock spring to mind). Sure, the Gold Coast have a huge concentration of high picks in one year but looking back through history, only a handful of the top twenty picks in any given year (at most) will become stars of the game. Some of them will be honest B-graders and some will be abject failures.

We are well in front of GCS at this stage as we have had the ability to sift a lot of the mediocre players off our list over time and have added good talent every year. We have also done extremely well from the pre season and rookie drafts in recent years (way above average IMO) with massive wins like Jurrah, McKenzie and even Stef Martin starting to look the goods. This year Evans and Nicholson look particularly likely from that crop.

GCS will have to do their time like everyone else, there is no siver bullet. Which brings us to the nexus of RPFC's arguments which I (naively to some) agree with whole-heartedly. We have been as bad as any side over the last couple of decades if you think back a mere two years. We have been able to assemble as talented a list as anyone but the group of talent is so young and inexperienced that you cannot realistically expect the results that some on here expect. We are still the second youngest side in the comp and younger than last year! We have come an enormously long way in a short space of time while continuing to add extremely talented youth to the list. We will and do continue to improve.

Whether people can accept it or not, we need to give this group a little more time. It's just the way it is. The flag by [insert year] or bust notion is just a myth.

[binman 43,753]

We are still the second youngest side in the comp and younger than last year! We have come an enormously long way in a short space of time while continuing to add extremely talented youth to the list. We will and do continue to improve.

Whether people can accept it or not, we need to give this group a little more time. It's just the way it is. The flag by [insert year] or bust notion is just a myth.

Yep i agree. As i have said in a previous post our governance has been a shambles since at least 1966. It seems under Jimmy we are starting to get our ducks in a row (though this remains to be fully proven). Of course we all want success sooner rather than later (yes, yes we have all been waiting nearly half a century) but we are building toward 2013-14 and to expect miracles is folly.

Two examples illustrate this point well i believe. The first is Brisbane. They took a massive risk last year with their recruiting strategy in the hope of snagging a quick flag. If successful they would have been lauded - but it didn't and now they have to go through a whole lot more pain whilst they go back to the tried and true methd of building from ground up.

The second example is Colllingwood. When fast Eddie came on board their board (pardon the pun) the Collingwood governance was in a mess and had been for some time. If memory serves they were near bankrupt and internal divisions wracked the club. Sound familiar? Eddie asked the Maggie army to be patient. He promised - and delivered - a slow build towards success, with each piece of the puzzle carefully put in place ad no cut corners. Correct me if i'm wrong but it took at least 10 years for his vision to come to fruition. Forget game plan it is this focused planning and strategising that the dees are (hopefully) looking to emulate.

[plg31ni 2]

This is how I see it, as to where we are at.

2007 > list sort

2008 > List build

2009 > List build

2010 > List build/development

2011 > development/ladder improvement

2012 > development/ladder improvement

2013 > Top 6

Last year we had a list with some players who were as good as they could be. The older of this group finished at the club.

Rollout 2011, and we have a more talented list, but mostly kids now with few games under their collective belts. Compare to GC suns who have as much talent, but little experience. We're ahead of them by about 2 years.

Essendon have not scraped the barrell of their list, have many topline players in Fletcher, Hille, Watson, Ryder, and a young champ in Hurley... All Big Bodied players who can impose on the games.

Our most senior players are in order of most games played > Green, Davey, Moloney, Rivers, Sylvia, Jamar, Macdonald, Jones, then Bartram on 84 games. We are coming off scraping the bottom of our barrell and hitting rock bottom, are now in teaching mode for the basic AFL skills onfield.

I think we'll finish around 9th.

Thats not too bad with so many kids being brought on together in one group. Some are timid types. When they click, it will be quick, as they're learning together with around the same No of games played.

You want to know what I think of all my "Knockers" and sarcastic Smart A...ses on this site that have given me sh..t almost every time I posted.???.. Probably not, as those "knockers" have no leg to stand on... After last night ??? That was worse than most games we played last year or any other year ??? We have no inspiration, no determination and honestly most players looked like they couldn't give a stuff. Where are all the Bailey defenders now ????? He spoke to the media and to me he could not inspire a five year old let alone men (or boys) Morton is a dud !! Jones sidestepped a confrontation... Again !! Gysberts didn't look too good at all did he ?? Too easily pushed aside...Sorry to name those players.. There were a lot more in the same boat !! I am today ashamed to admit I am a Melbourne Supporter and feel like handing in my Long treasured Membership.. I no longer care what crap about how we are going to be a force in the future is being bandied about Still !!!!.. I have been listening to that bs for too many years now and reading similar waffle on this site.. I will now communicate directly with the club and strongly support a campaign to "Get rid of Bailey " and maybe one or 2 other so called members of the football Dept. We are undoing all the good work Jimmy Stynes has done... Sorry Jim..

Edited April 29, 2011 by plg31ni