2 minutes ago, deefella said:

Said the pies were chasing him hard nothing on us

Thank God

Collingwood also alledgedly ready to pounce on Wells.

3 minutes ago, BLWNBA said:

Collingwood also alledgedly ready to pounce on Wells.

Greg?

Look at the Giants compared to Gold Coast. You can see what happens when you surround your youth with experienced heads, compared to when you don't. Promise you the recruitment of Dal Santo, Thompson types will help our youngsters development immensely 

9 minutes ago, deefella said:

Said the pies were chasing him hard nothing on us

Pies linked to everyone as per usual.

Just now, AngryAtCasey said:

Pies linked to everyone as per usual.

Throw Richmond and Hawthorn into that mix too. 

10-15 games of NDS v Matt Jones. I'll take the chance on Dal Santo. 

If not, we stick with Matt Jones for one last year.

Judging by the photos, I'd say he's a real whanker

I'm interested in the talk about a progression to assistant coach, Daniel Cross style. In fact, he may even be seen as a direct future replacement for Cross, who could begin looking for the next step in his coaching career by the end of next year.

On his merits, he's was one of the best players in one of the strongest teams for most of his career. The fact that he's played close to every possible game for just about his whole career suggests good professionalism and preparation. If he is able to guide our young players in developing their kicking, vision and reading of the play, he would be priceless.

He also has lived the experience that a lot of our young players will now be going through, coming into what was a crapulent team and now pushing up the ladder as a group.

But here's the real excitement;

Nick dal Santo would become only the second player on our list to have played in a final that Melbourne won!

21 hours ago, AngryAtCasey said:

While i agree the club is more advanced then when Cross came in, we're still criminally young.

Then assuming Grimes & Dawes will be off the list next year and potentially any of Dunn, Garland, Lumumba, Pedersen & Matt Jones we'd only be getting younger.

Dal Santo is still playing good football and is an elite kick still averaging 24.5 possession, 8 contested kicking at 74%. He'll finish top 10, possibly top 5 in a finalists B&F this year.

So if it's only 12 months or 2 years like Cross, i reckon he still has something to offer both on & off the football field.

Absolutely. The Kangaroos would love our YOUNG midfield talent. They need to regenerate their list. We've done that.

We, however, could do with a couple more experienced mids for a period of time.

 

9 hours ago, BLWNBA said:

Throw Richmond and Hawthorn into that mix too. 

Add Saints, Roos and Blues.

I suppose the thing is, can we really allow Grimes, Dawes, Dunn, Garland and Lumumba potentially to all leave at once and not find replacements when we already have leadership issues? can't retain underperforming or injury prone average players.

at least three of the above will leave in my opinion and we are going to need at least 1 experienced player to come in, other than Hibberd 

9 hours ago, DemonLad5 said:

Look at the Giants compared to Gold Coast. You can see what happens when you surround your youth with experienced heads, compared to when you don't. Promise you the recruitment of Dal Santo, Thompson types will help our youngsters development immensely 

Exactly. The difference is shown in their recruitment of James McDonald.

We let a club Captain go so that we could play kids. That proved to be a top strategy.

 

13 minutes ago, Ron Burgundy said:

Exactly. The difference is shown in their recruitment of James McDonald.

We let a club Captain go so that we could play kids. That proved to be a top strategy.

 

Exactly. Pretty sure the FD have a job for a reason.

Personally I'd still prefer Harvey.  His disposal is as good as Dal Santo and he still has that exceptional pace.  Obviously a professional trainer and would set a great example off the field.  Probably doesn't have the coaching aspirations and might not be the on field leader Thompson/Dal Santo could be, but wow he'd fill a need.

Fully agree with Goodwin chasing an older head.  Jones and Vince aren't getting any better, and Petracca, Brayshaw, Salem and Oliver effectively all in just their 2nd season.  It will still be 3-4 seasons before these young guys can produce the goods week in, week out, leaving an awful lot of work to Gawn and Viney.

Hibberd and Melksham, and an extra pre-season does not guarantee finals.  Goodwin knows this.  If a Thompson or Dal Santo can come in at the expense of a fringe player like Bugg, vandenBerg or Matt Jones, and provide the on field leadership we needed in those Essendon and Carlton debacles, I'm all for it.

 

1 hour ago, Abe said:

I suppose the thing is, can we really allow Grimes, Dawes, Dunn, Garland and Lumumba potentially to all leave at once and not find replacements when we already have leadership issues? can't retain underperforming or injury prone average players.

at least three of the above will leave in my opinion and we are going to need at least 1 experienced player to come in, other than Hibberd 

I think Grimes will walk and who could blame him, Dawes, Garland and HL are done at the MFC, IMO. 

I would keep Dunn and Pedo who are versatile and in come Hibberd and Melksham. With Jones, Vince, Watts and maybe a NDS added, we have the experience.

20 hours ago, P-man said:

It depends on what value you place on leadership. I place a great deal upon it. In that sense it is absolutely looking to the long term as it is giving the Brayshaws and Petraccas another senior figure to help guide them in what are still formative years. If the recruitment was looking further towards a coaching appointment that strengthens the argument.

As others have said, it's all very well to say that a leader in the 24-28 age bracket would make a better target, but those players aren't exactly growing on trees.

With all of Grimes, Lumumba, Dawes, Dunn and Garland in the firing line, we are staring down the barrel of going from extremely young to obscenely young, with the danger of a backwards step we can ill afford. Despite what any might think of their value on field, they would all be contributing signficiantly off field. Replacing them all with more kids isn't a feasible option.

I get that players like Thompson and NDS aren't the sexiest of targets, and they may not be the answer, but we should absolutely be considering players in this category for where the list is at. Expecting the younger players to take over the club now isn't realistic. Some of the key names are in their third year of AFL.

...but the question I have is this. Because a player has played 300+ games and is over 30yo, does that mean they are a leader?

 

12 minutes ago, rjay said:

...but the question I have is this. Because a player has played 300+ games and is over 30yo, does that mean they are a leader?

 

He's not in the North Melbourne leadership group either.

 

42 minutes ago, rjay said:

...but the question I have is this. Because a player has played 300+ games and is over 30yo, does that mean they are a leader?

 

Especially when the only time (that I'm aware of) that they've been in the leadership group was in 09.

37 minutes ago, stuie said:

He's not in the North Melbourne leadership group either.

He was in their leadership group for a couple of years before being dumped at the end of 2015. I think he was replaced by Shaun Higgins

1 minute ago, DavidNeitz9 said:

He was in their leadership group for a couple of years before being dumped at the end of 2015. I think he was replaced by Shaun Higgins

Yeah so, as I said, he's not in the leadership group.

 

1 minute ago, stuie said:

Yeah so, as I said, he's not in the leadership group.

I was relaying some information zealot, no need to act like a child

Just now, DavidNeitz9 said:

I was relaying some information zealot, no need to act like a child

I'm not oblivious to the context of your posts champ. I note you quoted my post rather than the actual post by someone else saying he hasn't been in a leadership group since 2009. You're not as sly an operator as you might think.

 

8 minutes ago, stuie said:

I'm not oblivious to the context of your posts champ. I note you quoted my post rather than the actual post by someone else saying he hasn't been in a leadership group since 2009. You're not as sly an operator as you might think.

Yeah, whatevever Stu

2 hours ago, rjay said:

...but the question I have is this. Because a player has played 300+ games and is over 30yo, does that mean they are a leader?

I would be surprised if someone with his playing resume wasn't a very positive influence on the playing group. But no, it's not an automatic assumption they are a leader. Just a strong likelihood