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I hate to say this but it looks like the Kangaroos are between Arocca and a hard place.

The gameplan has evolved and there's two possible explanations: Range Rover: Neeld has a plan. Expansion of the gameplan has always been part of his plan but he wants to see certain basics done right first and then build on those. Hardnut: Neeld is a dud. Well maybe he's not a complete dud, because he read my critique and saw the light.

The cynic in me tells me that Beamer's manager's mobile hasn't exactly been running hot since that 'waters testing' article in the HUN from a few weeks back and that he has now seen the light - a two year deal at the Dees is his best shot at this stage.

My concern about Moloney was that he seemed to just have one string to his bow, and with the younger mids coming through to take his place in the midfield, his days as a Dee might be numbered, as there was nowhere else for him to play. Saturday night totally changed all that. He will be very hard to match up against on HFF because of his strength, and will give every other team's small defenders plenty to think about. He could also be really damaging as an attacking HBF. Great credit to Neeld for asking Beamer & Col to play more disciplined roles, rather than allowing them to freewheel. The Garland move got all the attention, but the Moloney move could well pay more dividends in the long term. And great credit to them for grabbing the challenge put to them with both hands and really putting in the effort. Could be a great move for both of them.

Should it? The CEO is a position decided by the board, I hope they make the right one for the club come October. If it's time to go, it's time to go. My position is different to others who believe that Cam is a Rasputin like figure who manipulates all involved at the club, and believes Garry Lyon is a puppet of Cam's. You've calmed down quite a bit since Saturday night - even quite readable. Good to see. But, ADC, you have to let things go. My dastardly act of believeing the word of a simpleton has been done to death. Any zombification of it doesn't reflect on me.

As much as he says he moved on quickly from being removed from the leadership group I doubt that would be the case. Between that, a new coach with a new game plan that severely modifies his on field behaviours it has no doubt been a confronting period of change for Beamer. Couple that with a poorly timed form lapse (cause and effect can be argued) it is undertandable that he has laboured through the first half of the season. That said things can turn around quickly in this game and Saturday night was a step in the right direction. You have to applaud Brent for coming out and saying he wants to remain a Demon immediately after playing his best game for the year. It would have been a good opportunity to advertise himself to other suitors but he has chosen not too.

I would rather Matt Rosa. Victorian boy, 26 in Nov this year. In the form of his career this year, averages 25 disposals per game but doesnt get the accolades he deserves in a strong Eagles midfield. He would be a walk up start into our midfield and probably be our best.

Quarterback or point guard, for all their limitations, are better descriptions than the anachronistic Centre-Half-Back. The reason people use these descriptions is because the traditional AFL positions are woefully inadequate. Listen to Mick Malthouse - he has a whole range of new role descriptions - the sooner these get into the common vernacular and replace quarterback, point-guard and back-pocket the better.

what about finishing top4 in the B+F every season except the three where he played 10 games each year due to injkury is that the career you are referring tio?

My spin on the situation of 186 last year and the supposed rift between CEO and FD is that perhaps it was because CS could see that the standards weren't high enough and that if things kept going along as they were then we would never have any sustained success. The whole situation was about to unravel for him as allegations of interference surfaced when we got smacked by Geelong. The shattering result caused the board to have a good re-think about the situation and realise that CS was right on the money and the Coach and FD needed to be rebuilt from the ground. The direction of the search for a new coach that could re-create our culture and instill a much higher standard of professionalism was driven by the CEO. And we get Neeld, Misson and Craig as a result. As I said thats my own un-informed personal spin on the matter.

Personally, I'm thrilled to see this. Beamer may not be the sharpest tool in the shed. But, he has always been passionate about the MFC, and given his all. No doubt he was devastated at losing the VC and leadership group. But, clearly he has gotten over it. (And, has probably been over it for longer than we realise or give him credit for.) Neeld didn't see him as part of the official leadership group. That's his call. But, he also clearly sees in Beamer an important part of our set-up. If he has also identified a position on the field that better suits Beamer's strengths, then all the better. I have to say I was both surprised and heartened to see Beamer sitting with Neeld at the after match press conference on Sat night after our first win. I took from that a particular message Neeldy was sending to all and sundry. Something akin to "not only have we shown the naysayers that we CAN win a footy match, but we are all (including the senior players) a unified footy club, so pull your heads in, you so-called experts..." I'm looking forward to a BIG performance by all the boys against our arch enemies this coming Monday. Go Dees!

So TS has now become the measuring stick for every other player's honesty? Good lord!

Call me stupid/ignorant/naive but ummm, what's wrong with the CEO we have?

Any strategy for the re-appointment or removal of a CEO that revolves around how on-field results is foolish. He'll be judged on stakeholder engagement, strategic direction, and all the other boring crap you don't care about ADC. His last extension was the judgement of his performance prior to 186, his next one will be based, for better or worse, oh his record since then.

... and let's not be forgettin' this guy

Still nothing wrong with kick long to a contest or a two on one .The game is still about kicking a pigskin through the goal the most times.Why F!ck around going backwards and sideways when everyone floods back? Dont believe everything you read about stats and plans and all that.The essence of it is hard contested football .

How very profound. Enlighten us on your thoughts- as an armchair critique on the outside looking in- on just how we will be better off if he goes.

What's Brian Waldron doing?

The same will happen with GWS, nothing would give me more pleasure than reaping that club of its talent. I personally dont mind GC maybe because they didnt take anyone from us, anyways lets try and get some GWS players when we can!

Everyone else on the list! Primary list 1. Bail, Rohan 2. Bartram, Clint 3. Bate, Matthew 4. Bennell, Jamie 5. Blease, Sam 6. Cook, Lucas 7. Davey, Aaron 8. Davis, Troy 9. Dunn, Lynden 10. Fitzpatrick, Jack 11. Frawley, James 12. Garland, Colin 13. Gawn, Max 14. Grimes, Jack 15. Gysberts, Jordan 16. Howe, Jeremy 17. Jamar, Mark 18. Jetta, Neville 19. Jones, Nathan 20. Jurrah, Liam 21. Macdonald, Joel 22. Maric, Addam 23. Martin, Stefan 24. McDonald, Tom 25. McKenzie, Jordie 27. Morton, Cale 28. Petterd, Ricky 29. Rivers, Jared 30. Scully, Tom 31. Spencer, Jake 32. Strauss, James 33. Sylvia, Colin 34. Tapscott, Luke 35. Trengove, Jack 36. Warnock, Matthew 37. Watts, Jack 38. Wonaeamirri, Austin Veterans 39. Green, Brad (veteran - outside list) Rookies 40. Campbell, Robert 41. Evans, Michael 42. Johnston, Cameron 43. Lawrence, Kelvin 44. McNamara, Tom 45. Newton, Michael (second-year rookie) 46. Nicholson, Daniel

Tim Harrington will know what the impact of a big long Cloke contract is on future player payments - that will be factored in. We won't have to worry about David Cloke, Travis will be on a contract to the end of his career so there'll be no more contract negotiations and if where and when he's played becomes an issue then David is the least of our worries. I'm open to the idea if TH does the sums and they come up OK - we don't know how much front-loading space we've got but it could be substantial. Free agency is the big game changer here - the fact that we don't have to give 2 1st rounders like Geelong did for Ottens makes an enormous difference - we can have our FA Cloke and eat our midfield draft too.

HAHA nothing but personal attacks and naysayers all year, we win a match and he plays well and out come the kneepads! Comments please, Jaded?

Failed Richmond Assistant Coach David King will be staggered.

As a supporter I want him to stay and see some success at the Dees. Its been a tough year for him but I hope the tide has turned.

No, Brett Maloney ;-)

Brent?

Classy. For all their faults - they brought relevance to Dockerland. Hope they [censored] it all away as Pavlich is nearing the end and Lyon plays a 'lock down, contested game' on a ground the size of an airport...

More than happy for him to stay at the club - I have not been his greatest supporter when it comes to his consistency, but he is a Demon at heart and it is heartwarming to hear that he is buying into the new regime and his new role, which won't be under Jamar's palm all the time - Grimes, Trengove, Jones, and McKenzie look ready to keep him out of there.

A "reverse Scully" clause, DC.

Not my point, the point is that we got no team or club success by recruiting big names no matter how well they played. Big Carl is another example, no finals, no premierships. We don't need to blow our budget on a big star, lets build our club properly this time, it will turn around a lot quicker than most think.

Am I the only one that misses Neitz, Schwarz, Lyon, (even Earl Spalding) standing in the forward line (yes I know they weren't all together at the same time but frequently pairs of them were), knowing that we had a Gorilla for a contested marking forward was something you could take for granted with the Dee's . Cloke's contested marking ability is gold dust. I am happy to leave it to the coach to make the final call, as I think he has the best perspective on what makes Travis tick and whether he would suit us, but that said, grab him. With Templeton and Moore, they had already had injuries so their cards were marked (Moore did get a Brownlow though so I felt we got value with that recruitment) Geelong has always had a few big units in Mooney and Hawkins and Ottens running around I don't think matching Clark and and Cloke would be a mistake. Cook is a project and I hope he comes good but Cloke now would do all the right things, including making us an instant threat. And you can't tell me that it wouldn't annoy the cr@p out of every pies fan in the world. Jurrah crumbing off these two would also be cool.

So who is the quarterback? Which is the better wide receiver? Will either be as good as Jordan? Who's the next Billy Slater?.................. Bottom line. I'm glad MFC have Jack. And slowly the competition and the "expert" commentators are waking up to this realisation too!

I can actually see us developing our own Cloke from within the list, unlike a Pendlebury, Thomas, Swan, Cotchin, Deledio, Martin, Sewell, Watson etc.

I've got no problem with the club throwing the kitchen sink at Cloke. He is quite simply a monster. A Frawley - Watts - Trengove - Clark - Cloke spine has an ominous look about it.

It's more a role rather than an outright position. Similar to the 'defensive forward' or the 'rebounding defender'.

No thanks.

Really?

Just a postscript thought on 'cheap footy'. There is contested, bruising footy, and there is hard running to spread and gain the footy - that's not 'cheap footy', it's gut busting hard work.

the point guard will generally have a pass first mentality, always looking to set a team mate up first, and then scoring himself if he doesnt have another option. good point guards will be like an on-court coach, knowing when to attack, when to slow the play down, what play to run, etc. jack at times can look slow and indecisive, but i think this is because he is a couple of steps ahead of most players, and he has to wait for a teammate to run to where he expects them to be naturally. once players realise that if they work hard jack will find them, you will find play opens up and we start to look like a much better team. i really like him behind the ball, because i think it better suits his strengths. he is smart enough to know when to stay with his man, when to go third man up and help a teammate, and with a bit more confidence, i think we will see him start to take the game on a bit more. when he does, i think we are all going to see a very, very good player.

Denham perpetuates this line of thinking. How long do you think Cloke has left as a key forward and how long do you think we need before we're a possible finals force ? Things can change far quicker than people believe and the basis of our list is sound. Frawley/Watts/McDonald down back, Cloke/Clark up forward, and Viney/Trengove/Gysberts/Grimes/plus two gun mids this draft are the basis for a very solid group. I too remember Templeton and Moore too. So what ? We're not defined by our past successes, so we're certainly not defined by our past failures.

Yes Viney and pick 4 and pick 12 addresses the mids. The Saints got Saad and Milera in one draft as small forwards. How easy is it to get 60+ key position forwards ?

Of the Saints 20 regular season wins in 2009, only 3 of them had them kicking between 8-12 goals. One of those was round 1 in a comfortable win, one of them in a very low scoring game against us and one against Hawthorn in Tassie. You're right about finals. They kicked, 12, 9 and 9 goals. In 2010, of their 16 regular season wins 5 of them they scored 12 or less goals. Tellingly, in all of their losses (except one) over the two years, they kicked less than 12 goals. I suppose that's often the case, if sides are unable to score they are in trouble. St Kilda played a dour game style in general, but you couldn' deny them when they had the footy and they could often score nearly at will. My issue with a purely defensive gamestyle is that often in game you are in control of, you can remain only a few goals ahead with the other team in touching distance. Great, premiership sides are built on defense, but you need to be able to score and have a system in place that allows you to do that. As the players are becoming more confident, attacked the hard ball, speading into space better and moving the ball in uncontested spaces we're seeing that we have more attacking options. This will only continue to grow as, I hope, our defensive work begins to show the reward for effort that the backmen have put in. I truly believe it starts in the middle. Let those guys get the footy or at least breakeven and the tide will turn quicker than many expect IMO.

I didn't realise the CEO would be judged based on on-field performance... Gove up ADC, you don't have a clue.

Cloke had 95 contested marks last year. 38 more than Pods who was next best. He is a great forward who kicked 69 goals last year. It's black and white. And we should attempt to change those colours...

We are not in the right part of the cycle to go for a Cloke, a club like Carlton if they could afford him are an ideal fit. We need to build from within and both Lucas Cook and Jai Sheahan are in the system, Jai is being played down back at the moment but was a KPF at the Falcons. I really believe in the Geelong model of building your own with the odd nudge, Ottens for them Clark for us. I'm also old enough to remember Templeton, Moore, Tilbrook etc waiting for the messiah, all the eggs in the one basket whatever you choose to call it football is a team game. Build a strong list not blow it all on one player.

Just to add one extra name, even though he doesn't call AFL, I think Peter Donegan is one of the best and most versatile sports callers going around. Wouldn't mind having him call AFL rather than VFL (but please don't bring David Rhys-Jones or Phil Cleary with him). For our non-Victorian friends, Peter Donegan calls VFL games on ABC1 each Saturday with David Rhys-Jones and Phil Cleary adding not very special comments.

Watts' future may depend on whether Cook takes on the CHF position. Nevertheless, my gut feel is that he'll now play predominantly back in the same role that Hodge, Goddard and Gibbs have been playing for years. Like them, he'll occasionally go on ball or forward. And what's the common link? All No 1 draft picks - and no-one seems to think that each of them has been a wasted pick.

I see Watts as a bigger James Hird, or a smaller Adam Goodes. Skilled and damaging all over the ground.

Gerard Whately, by a country mile. I believe this guy cut his teeth on horse racing, and it shows. His description of the action is precise and first class. He gets a heap of description into a few, well chosen words. Heard him recently on radio broadcasting the cricket. He actually described what was happening. These days, so many of the comentators are so full of themselves that they just prattle on with whatever's on their mind, and totally ignore the action on the field.