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Knowing when you haven't got a clue is a skill. I know I haven't got a clue if he was any good. You know I haven't got a clue if he was any good. I know you haven't got a clue if he was any good. There's only one bit missing... P.S. have a look at my post in the Neeld/Prendergast conspiracy thread if you can't work out what I'm talking about.

Why ? I keep reading your disparaging comments regarding Trengove's manhood and in a subsequent post to the one I'm responding to you refer to Trengove as a "Kid". Not only do I disagree, I find it very tedious. Trengove has shown through his courage and quality play that he's far from a Kid. Do you realise how tough it is to play AFL footy ? Do you not see how hard it is for some young players to adapt ? Do you not see the way Trengove puts his head over the ball and the courage it takes to grab some of the marks that he does ? Do you not see other more senior players gravitate to him at training ? Do you not see the vocal encouragement he offers others ? Did you not see the way he handled himself in interview after interview regarding Scully last year ? Did you not see that he was almost the face of the club during dark times ? The maturity he showed as a 19 year old was extraordinary. You're pretty easy to read, so I expect that you'll trot out his birthdate as the reasons for your remarks, but I couldn't disagree more. You're an anachronism if you think he's suddenly a man on his 21st birthday. I hope someone that posts here doesn't mind me sharing this, but Trengove was advised last year not to sign an extension with Melbourne. He was advised to wait because the was club in turmoil and a new coach had to be found. Trengove said no and was adamant that he had to sign the week he did because the club needed his support and it needed the positive publicity that would follow. He signed less than two weeks after the 186 point debacle at Geelong and in the aftermath of Bailey being sacked. I don't call that the actions of a "Kid" and as I've already stated (it needs repeating) I couldn't disagree with you more.

Read the book!

The only bit that's missing from your Neitz-Barassi comparative analysis is the part where RDB dominates about 5 grand finals!! In what universe does that alone not make him an undisputed Champion with a capital C?

I don't agree with this at all. Darling may be a couple of cm's shy of Watts and Cook's height but he's more than just another mid-sized forward. He's a pack buster with more aggression than Green , Jurrah, Howe and Petterd put together. I'm one of quite a few on here who feel we erred in not taking him at 12 and I suspect, given the new direction we're taking, that if M. Neeld were given the choice between Cook and Darling at the time he wouldn't have hesitated on naming the latter.

Bara$$i.

Ronald Dale Barassi was listed as our best player in the 1957 and 1959 Grand Final wins . He was also listed as our 2nd best player in our 1955 and 1956 Grand Final wins . The possible equivalent of 2 "Norm Smith's" and close to 2 more . He was also All Australian in 1956 , 1958 and 1961 . He captained our Club to the 1960 and 1964 Grand Final wins . He was our leading goalkicker in 1958 and 1959 and he won our best and fairest in 1961 and 1964 .

As you can tell I'm not much of a photographer Plenty more here - http://s1244.photobu.../gg568/tfitz420

You can add Petterd to the mid-heights list but things are starting to get quite competitive for forward spots all of a sudden. I wonder where Petterd will feature in years to come. Depth is good but depth players are seldom content when they could/should be playing regular footy. An interesting one for mine.

If you don't want to burden the kids why not give it to Moloney or Jones? Green has shown he couldn't handle the burden, why not try a different Demon?

You could almost be forgiven for putting it as simply as Neeld had one particualr vision of the makeup of his players. ....and Predergast had a slightly differentn one . Neeld when he got to the club expressed his opinion about the holes in the list. Well list makers as the name suggests make lists. Predergast was a major component in the makeup of our list....a list found wanting. Since Neeld arrived we chased and got a player the type of which wasnt on BP's radar. Weve recruited types which were BP's past types and BP has gone. quack...quack...quack !!

Agree. They have enough pressure already without adding more at this time. One can't even get on the park. Greeny should go one more year.

The other question is this: Did MFC devote the resources to player development that other clubs were able to? In other words, would Morton, Strauss, Gysberts, Bennell, Blease, Watts, etc. be better players now if they were drafted by a Collingwood or Carlton? Due to our financial issues in the past, I think they probably would be. Neeld, I hope, has steered this ship right.

Mitch Clarks dad signed a 6 figure deal to become head recruiter for the dees. No real surprises here........................

Yeah right. Coming from someone who wants Frank Grimes to be captain..."because he's a man.."

I think it's more that everyone's Christmas dinner is well & truly digested, the new year has begun and we've recalled players from summer holidays to begin the New Season. The timing is very good for us IF there is a good time, but they say change is Inevitable, just like climbing a ladder, changing feet one @ a time. Ed it: Oops, unless you unfortunately a Saint supporter, where they try to climb moving only one foot. They don't like to change U see. LoL.

I think we should use both picks this year. Given it takes a couple of years for a mid to become a regular player, and longer for most key position types, Neeld will want to deploy all the playing assets that the MFC has as soon as possible. Extending the window is a bonus you think about once you've snagged your first flag.

I have this mental picture of all recruiting staff at all clubs busily downloading all their files to their home computers....lol

No surprise here. You just had to read between the lines of his interviews during draft time to see he may not have had as much control as previously.Timing on this is probably good for both him and club. I think most of us could have achieved what he did with his top 5 picks but I think over coming years his expertise will get acknlowledged with the development of less conventional picks as Gysberts, Howe and Gawn. All the best Barry.

Or because he wants to advance his career? There's always a million reasons these things could be, I never understand why people always look for the biggest conspiracy theories first when there's usually more simple answers.

Sellar being given a game pretty easily I reckon. I didn't think we were in dire need of an extra tall defender.

I just hope the forward line always has players in it. Too often last year the mids ran the ball and had not one target. Soul destroying for all of us.

Mitch Clark-130

It's never about performances in and of themselves. It's about how you act as a member of a team, but not only that - as the leader of the team. Green sulked, looked at his toes, complained to the umpire, changed completely when we were 10 goals up and when he was kicking goals, and him not performing is way down the list of the things I have an issue with. Junior never did those things - we were up, we were down - he gave the same every week, every minute; with his demeanour and his attitude and his commitment and, oddly enough, with his performances.