I find it amazing that after only 2 dratfs by Roos we have won against the Cats at their home.

And there are still three more drafts with Roos to go.

its not just 2 drafts under Roos.

much work was done by Neeld's team, particularly in moving on some of the bad culture, & some softness.

the list cleaning work has been going on for 4 years.... & we're almost there. almost.

Can't wait for the next lose, when all the treads are about how little depth we have and that half the list needs to be delisted.

its not just 2 drafts under Roos.

much work was done by Neeld's team, particularly in moving on some of the bad culture, & some softness.

the list cleaning work has been going on for 4 years.... & we're almost there. almost.

For every good thing Neeld did he did twice as much damage.

Roos has recruited genuine guns, Neeld "cleaned the list" and then replaced who he sacked with players even worse.

He transformed our "culture" from bad to shocking and we became the last place on earrth any player would want to come.

The only genuinely good thing he did was a complete accident. He made us so bad that Roos and Jackson were enlisted.

Anyway I shouldn't keep going with Neeld bashing as we're on a new page now............ but I still feel angry when I think about him and those years.

Ummm nuttin to do with picks, but I hope the Dees dont expect to many from my home town of Myrtleford.

Melbourne players were in town today ( capt jones ,brayshaw,to name a few ) out of roughly 200 kids only one came out when jones called for demon kids to come forward, the one boy was my great grand child and he got a photo with jones ,hey one excited young lad and loves his footy. We are watching ch7 local to see him with jones.

Hopefully there will be a few more after the attendance by the Dee players.

Its not the list so much as the players playing like a team and doing team things. Running, spreading, being smarter how they tackle, closing off and chking down opposition attacks, running to the right spots, defending kick ins and tackling hard etc. Even running to players after a goal has shown great team spirit among this bunch. Taking responsibility for the St Kilda loss and coming out to play the way they did was awesome.

We now have players that are getting better at some of the things that the good teams do.

The bottom 6 players in good teams aren't champions. They do their role and are well drilled. I am hoping that what I am seeing is a well drilled team that has the confidence and energy to compete for 120 minutes every week.

Now for two wins in a row.......

The only genuinely good thing he did was a complete accident. He made us so bad that Roos and Jackson were enlisted.

Anyway I shouldn't keep going with Neeld bashing as we're on a new page now............ but I still feel angry when I think about him and those years.

I don't agree with this, he was able to bring in Hogan and Kent and they were pretty astute decisions and was also directly responsible for bringing in Jason Taylor who has been head of recruiting for our past two drafts, which have been great results.

Neeld knew what he wanted to achieve and knew our list needed a total overhaul, he just lacked the people skills and genuinely did not have the personel to succeed.

That said, I am not here to defend Neeld as I think he definitely had to go and he definitely made a lot of mistkaes, but he has done some things that we will be very happy with for the next 10-13 years.

Until we're down by 6 goals at half time against the Eagles and you blokes have the entire list culled again!

Hey123452000 you haven't got any more spare Kekovichs or Neale Lewis's up there have you

There's a bit of grunt there as I remember...

Gus Rigoni was the last,. but ya never know

M/ford got thrashed by Albury last week so dont hang by ya whoopsies waiting oi

I think if i was in Neeld's position i couldnt have done a better job of destroying a club than he did. Some of the trades in his trade periods were diabolical, he lost the players, he had no people skills and he went about destroying a football club. There is nothing to thank him for.

How many games in a row have we won again?

Just thought I'd draft up a quick positional depth chart, breaking up the list into talls, utilities, inside and outside mids. I’ve included the ages of players just to get an idea of the age profile of the various positional areas of the list. It makes sense that the list management team have looked to increase the age profile of the inside mid group to ease the strain on the young inside mids. Getting Cross, Vince, vandenBerg and Tyson has helped take the load of Viney and allowed Brayshaw to transition into the midfield rotation. Development and increased time in the middle should see this group become quite strong over the next few years.

Garland’s decision on whether to stay or go could be influential in any decision made on Fitzpatrick IMO. If he goes, I think we need to keep Fitzpatrick for key position depth. I’m positive on O Mac, but he will require more time with Casey next year before taking the step up.

I’ve got question marks next to players who I think may be gone at the end of season, but there’s enough time for some of these to change. If things played out this way, I’d see our needs as a quality outside runner (the best of these can win their own ball), a ruckman and a key forward. Whether this is done through the draft or in trade probably doesn’t really matter, but ideally the runner and forward are under 23’s to fit with when we expect the list to be peaking.

Fwd:

Hogan (Age 20)

Dawes (27)

Pedersen (28)

Frost (21)

King ® (19)

Util:

Watts (24)

Howe (25) ?

Def:

T McDonald (22)

Dunn (28)

Garland (27) ?

Fitzpatrick (24)

O McDonald (19)

Flankers/pocket (Def):

Jetta (25)

Lumumba (28)

Grimes (26)

Terlich (25) ?

White ® (19)

Flankers/Pocket (fwd):

Garlett (25)

Kent (21)

Kennedy-Harris (20)

M Jones (27)

R Bail (27) ?

Mids:

Inside/clearance:

N Jones (27)

Vince (29)

Cross (32)

Viney (21)

Tyson (22)

Brayshaw (19)

Petracca (19)

vandenBerg ® (23)

Trengove (23)

Newton (22)

Neal-Bullen (19)

Riley (23)

Michie (23) ?

McKenzie (25) ?

Outside:

Salem (20)

Toumpas (21)

Stretch (18)

Hunt (20) ?

Ruck:

Gawn (23)

Spencer (25)

Jamar (31) ?

Things I see that worry me.

a) No 24 - 25 year old mids to help take that load off Angus, Trac and Viney.. Jones and Vince will have to carry a load into their early 30's.

b) Frost should be a key back. This will strengthen that depth when you have McDonald, Dunn, Frost, Fitz and Oscar. Garlo is more of a flanker

c) Need more mids!!!

d) Besides Hogan our KF depth is weak.. We really need to draft one this year. Would love a Lloyd, Lucas / Lynch, Brown -combo

Things I see that worry me.

a) No 24 - 25 year old mids to help take that load off Angus, Trac and Viney.. Jones and Vince will have to carry a load into their early 30's.

b) Frost should be a key back. This will strengthen that depth when you have McDonald, Dunn, Frost, Fitz and Oscar. Garlo is more of a flanker

c) Need more mids!!!

d) Besides Hogan our KF depth is weak.. We really need to draft one this year. Would love a Lloyd, Lucas / Lynch, Brown -combo

Craig bird would be a good target.

Craig bird would be a good target.

Things I see that worry me.

a) No 24 - 25 year old mids to help take that load off Angus, Trac and Viney.. Jones and Vince will have to carry a load into their early 30's.

b) Frost should be a key back. This will strengthen that depth when you have McDonald, Dunn, Frost, Fitz and Oscar. Garlo is more of a flanker

c) Need more mids!!!

d) Besides Hogan our KF depth is weak.. We really need to draft one this year. Would love a Lloyd, Lucas / Lynch, Brown -combo

Craig bird would be a good target.

Tell us more please.

There was an article regarding previous false dawns and while it did depress me a little at how many times I'd though the bad days were over it also tempered my latest hopes. I still feel the wheel is turning but we still lack depth, particularly in key forwards. If Hogan goes down all we currently have is Dawes and Pederson.

That said the likes of Brayshaw and Viney are culture builders, Jones and co have set the groundwork but these guys are the ones that will take us forward.

Things I see that worry me.

a) No 24 - 25 year old mids to help take that load off Angus, Trac and Viney.. Jones and Vince will have to carry a load into their early 30's.

b) Frost should be a key back. This will strengthen that depth when you have McDonald, Dunn, Frost, Fitz and Oscar. Garlo is more of a flanker

c) Need more mids!!!

d) Besides Hogan our KF depth is weak.. We really need to draft one this year. Would love a Lloyd, Lucas / Lynch, Brown -combo

The lack of mids (or players in general) in that bracket down to our recruiting failures from 07-09. Riley and Trengove will both be 24 by next year, but neither is a sure thing to be regular contributors going forward. Hope Riley can show more as the season goes on, he has shown little flashes of what he might develop into. I think Cross should be given another year. He may not play every game next year, but I still think he could play an invaluable role (and play it well).

I agree that Frost is probably better as a key back, but feel the club views him as a forward option, at least for the time being. Think Plowman (if available) might be a very good fit if Garland goes. Has midfield potential as well.

Parish probably the dream result. Mathieson and Balic aren’t quite the quick runners we need, but more than happy with either in this draft. Clarke could jump up here and Minogue looks decent as a possible second rounder.

Agree. Schache probably won’t be around at our pick, and it gets a bit sketchy after that. McKay possibly the next best, but his value probably sits between where I’d imagine out first and second round picks would be. Smoky could be Charlie Curnow. Hopefully he gets a few games in at the back end of the year, rated pretty highly prior to injuring his kneecap. Can play midfield too.

Don’t expect any decent kpf’s to be available in trade, but hope we’ve at least put the question to Tom Lynch’s manager.

Craig bird would be a good target.

Wouldn't be bad, and probably wouldn't cost too much at this point in time.

2 in a row pls....

Just thought I'd draft up a quick positional depth chart, breaking up the list into talls, utilities, inside and outside mids. I’ve included the ages of players just to get an idea of the age profile of the various positional areas of the list. It makes sense that the list management team have looked to increase the age profile of the inside mid group to ease the strain on the young inside mids. Getting Cross, Vince, vandenBerg and Tyson has helped take the load of Viney and allowed Brayshaw to transition into the midfield rotation. Development and increased time in the middle should see this group become quite strong over the next few years.

Garland’s decision on whether to stay or go could be influential in any decision made on Fitzpatrick IMO. If he goes, I think we need to keep Fitzpatrick for key position depth. I’m positive on O Mac, but he will require more time with Casey next year before taking the step up.

I’ve got question marks next to players who I think may be gone at the end of season, but there’s enough time for some of these to change. If things played out this way, I’d see our needs as a quality outside runner (the best of these can win their own ball), a ruckman and a key forward. Whether this is done through the draft or in trade probably doesn’t really matter, but ideally the runner and forward are under 23’s to fit with when we expect the list to be peaking.

Fwd:

Hogan (Age 20)

Dawes (27)

Pedersen (28)

Frost (21)

King ® (19)

Util:

Watts (24)

Howe (25) ?

Def:

T McDonald (22)

Dunn (28)

Garland (27) ?

Fitzpatrick (24)

O McDonald (19)

Flankers/pocket (Def):

Jetta (25)

Lumumba (28)

Grimes (26)

Terlich (25) ?

White ® (19)

Flankers/Pocket (fwd):

Garlett (25)

Kent (21)

Kennedy-Harris (20)

M Jones (27)

R Bail (27) ?

Mids:

Inside/clearance:

N Jones (27)

Vince (29)

Cross (32)

Viney (21)

Tyson (22)

Brayshaw (19)

Petracca (19)

vandenBerg ® (23)

Trengove (23)

Newton (22)

Neal-Bullen (19)

Riley (23)

Michie (23) ?

McKenzie (25) ?

Outside:

Salem (20)

Toumpas (21)

Stretch (18)

Hunt (20) ?

Ruck:

Gawn (23)

Spencer (25)

Jamar (31) ?

I'd consider Newton outside at this stage. Otherwise, pretty much agree with the rest.

its not just 2 drafts under Roos.

much work was done by Neeld's team, particularly in moving on.. some of the bad culture, & some softness.

the list cleaning work has been going on for 4 years.... & we're almost there. almost.

Agreed

I'd like to see the club back itself at the draft this year. We keep drafting Michie's and Newton's hoping we are going to find the next Josh Kennedy but it's not happening.

I'd like to see the club back itself at the draft this year. We keep drafting Michie's and Newton's hoping we are going to find the next Josh Kennedy but it's not happening.

vandenberg and ANB weren't too bad and got them for very little. O McD shows great promise like his brother. Likewise Vince was a steal the year before. We are not doing too badly, but you win some and lose some I suppose.

However we will need another clean out at the end of the year. On my list (but I'm not sure of their contractual status) would be Riley, Terlich, Michie, Mckenzie, Hunt. Also tradable for the right price: Howe, Fitz, Toumpas, Trengove, Kent, Pederson. I know many would disagree with this list but that is the nature of trading - you need to give something to get something.

A couple more Brayshaws would do me.

A couple more Brayshaws would do me.

I think ANB and Petracca may fit that bill together with Vanders.

vandenberg and ANB weren't too bad and got them for very little. O McD shows great promise like his brother. Likewise Vince was a steal the year before. We are not doing too badly, but you win some and lose some I suppose.

However we will need another clean out at the end of the year. On my list (but I'm not sure of their contractual status) would be Riley, Terlich, Michie, Mckenzie, Hunt. Also tradable for the right price: Howe, Fitz, Toumpas, Trengove, Kent, Pederson. I know many would disagree with this list but that is the nature of trading - you need to give something to get something.

Fitz could be the next Steph Martin. I think he is a keeper. Can play back & forward and a bit of ruck, could be a new prototype mobile tall.

Also tradable for the right price: Howe, Fitz, Toumpas, Trengove, Kent, Pederson. I know many would disagree with this list but that is the nature of trading - you need to give something to get something.

Kent falls into the same category as Viney, Brayshaw & Hogan for mine.

I see him as untradable (unless it's too good to refuse) due not only to his ability, but his attitude. Kent along with the other three I've mentioned above are team culture changers. Competative, fierce and wont take a backwards step. The offer would have to be out of this world for me to be happy about trading him.