from what i've heard from Bailey so far he sounds like the coach who will be able to get the most out of his players, and in the process turn around the careers of some of his players...

who do you think Bailey will get the best out of next season?

1. Chris Johnson: had a great pre-season in 2007, was one of our better players in the NAB cup game against Hawthorn, we all thought he was set for a big year, but it just didn't happen. Got dropped pretty quickly from memory. Something tells me Bailey will be able to get this kid to click and be a great contributor for us next season.

2. Brad Miller: if he's still on our list this is another bloke I will be keeping an eye on. Bailey talks about teaching and working with footballers, and I think Brad will benefit from this greatly. They will work on teaching him how to be a more dangerous target capable of kicking goals, try and give him more than the one dimensional game he has at the moment, a game which can fall apart quite easily.

3. Travis Johnstone: the obvious one here. We all know the talent he has, will Bailey be able to unlock it? He played half back flank in round 22 and got a heap of it, but his disposal was still far below what it should be. Could be a massive year for Trav.

THE KID

- I think he may make some use of Miller, but we won't see GRAND improvement from him as I'm not sure he's got an All Australian jumper in him. Also Bate and Dunn are of that age now that they will start really making inroads.

- I agree somewhat that he may find something in CJ only because he's come at the perfect time to see it happen with him in terms of his career. Indeed if we see nothing from CJ next year we should delist or find him another home.

- Juice, as much as we all love him, STILL has a lot of improvement left. If Bails is a good judge of talent I hope he really gives Juice a hard pre-season and as much game time as possible.

- Moloney is in the right age group now to start being the veteran the coach relies on. If his OP stays away, I reckon Bailey may look to him as one of his more experienced midfielders and rely on him moreso as a consequence of this and his maturity and body size.

- Sylvia, and we all know why.

- Rivers, only cos he's been injured.

- Wheatley may be important, but is limited IMO.

But all these are small fry. TJ has the most scope for improvement, and if the coach has a predilection for project players he may consider Trav the key to keeping his job beyond his first contract. He has been for quite some time the best footballer at the club. Most importantly though, out of all the factors we may consider, there are a number of players on the list who have never known life on an AFL list under a coach other than ND. It's when the players get a new message that they may become inspired. Players like JMac, Trav, Wrecker, Green... these guys have never known a different coach. Now you couldn't ask for much more from Wrecker and JMac, and Green's improvement and importance has not wavered in the last 5 years... so I reckon Trav is the one to keep a sharp eye on. I hope Bailey doesn't give him any slack. Work him into the ground. He'll play better with Bailey's foot on the back of his skull, pushing his face into the grindstone... and he'll end up loving him for it.

i think the rookie hughes will improve and get a few games during the season and paul johnson will improve out of sight with a full preseason!

The KID, he will finally get fit and tear the comp apart!

Thinking all will be on the list next year.

He will get definite improvement from:

Miller: Coached Brad back at Mt. Gravatt and im sure they will have a good relationship, finally get Miller his confidence back.

Travis Johnstone: I AM PRAYING. He won't improve really, not skills wise, but im hoping Bailey scares him enough to winning the brownlow we all know he can.

and finally.......................................................................................

SYLVIA:

WILL BE OUR BEST PLAYER FOR THE NEXT TEN YEARS.

WILL BE ONE OF THE TOP 10 PLAYERS IN THE LEAGUE.

i'm not trying to be negative, but I find it VERY unlikely TJ will be at MFC next year. he said at the end of the year that if he was talked about in a trade deal, he would walk out. they are trying to trade him now and the fact that one of the questions to the potential coaches was whether they would keep or trade Trav, i think he would be very keen to get out of the place. im sorry. i hope he stays because he is too bloody skilful and cream can shape him next year but i find it unlikely. sylvia is the best bet.