mo64

Any debate is futile..........

Much depends on what style of game plan Bailey adopts, and the commitment of the players to do the 1 percenters, which was lacking this season. If the players aren't prepared to put their head over the ball and commit to tackling and chasing, how the team lines up is an irrelevancy. Having said that, we need to be more creative on the forward line, rather than relying on players who get their goals by taking marks on the lead. We can't have 2 stay at home forwards like Neitz and Robbo, plus Newton. The other forwards spend all their energy chasing the opposition backmen, rather than being creative. This will shock a few, but i'd only play Robbo against weaker backlines, such as Carlton, Richmond, Bulldogs, and possibly Collingwood. My preferred forward line is: HF - Dunn/Bruce rotating on the ball and bench CHF - Newton leading forward who stays within forward 60 HF - Bate leading forward who can also push back FP - Davey crumbing forward who stays within 70 FF - Neitz leading forward who can crash and bash FP - Green/Sylvia both can mark on the lead and rotate thru the middle and bench

Well I'll challenge you on your 'we could have had' spine. B. Fevola - drafted in what 1999?. Can only play FF, during which time we've had Neitz, or Robbo as back-up. C. Cornes - How many years has he played CHF? Currently an old fashioned utility, not a KPP. M. Egan - So you're rating him ahead of Rivers based on 1 season, in which Rivers was out injured. Prior to this year, Scarlett and Harley were the Cats FB and CHB. B.Rutten - 1st game was as a FF. 3 goals with 1st 3 kicks. Selected as a rookie, hence every club got it wrong with him.

Jarka, the reason why you're constantly 'misunderstood' is due to your flawed analysis of drafting. Unless you were in a position of authority within MFC (and I seriously doubt it), you would not be aware as to whether CAC was briefed by the coaching panel prior to each draft. He may have chosen Molan and Lamb on the basis of best KP backman, upon on a coaching request. Choosing TJ ahead of Ottens was logical given that we traded pick 2 for White. Also the trading of trade picks for existing players is not the jurisdiction of the recruiting manager. Recruiting managers watch little AFL football, hence wouldn't be in a position to appraise the worth of someone like Byron Pickett. If you believe that CAC is a failure, why don't you show us the record of the best recruitment managers in your eyes? I'm sure it would be littered with your definition of 'Fail'!!!!

Richo, you surely don't mean the Matthew Richardson from Richmond? Miller hasn't got the skill or knowhow to be a CHF. I'd rather see Neitz used as the crash and bash forward, whilst Robbo plays out of the goalsquare. Bate and Dunn could be used as the leading CHF. With Carroll being put up for trade, I get the feeling that Miller will be started at full back.

I too have been in that position whilst travelling in Europe, but I wasn't an AFL footballer. Players have to realise that if they want all the benefits that come from being a modern AFL player, they need to make some sacrifices along the way. End-of-season trips are a thing of the past, and players are expected to rock up to preseason in fairly good nick. Sure, take a holiday wherever you like, but destinations such as Ios and the Oktoberfest, suggest that the boys weren't looking at broadening their cultural horizens. A slap on the wrist for Brock, but it shouldn't preclude him from the captaincy down the track.

WD, you have a very simplistic view of drafting and list management. FWIW, CAC didn't have the opportunity to draft Thomas, Pendlebury, Reid, Brown, Marty Clarke, so your comparisons are irrelevant.

That wasn't the game i was referring to. It was after the game against Geelong at KP which we won by a point, and a radio interviewer mentioned how well the backline played. Daniher's response was to slag off Ferguson, and say how good Nicho was. It was disgraceful. Nicholson got towelled up many a time, but in Daniher's eyes, it was always someone elses fault.

Also, his asking price of $1m over 3 years puts pressure on the salary cap, and would be used as a base by player managers when negotiating other players contracts.

TBO, I didn't mind Ferguson. For whatever reason, Daniher had it in for him, and was the only player i've heard Daniher publicly criticize. Whereas Nicholson was given chance after chance, Ferguson was always the 1st one dropped. Wouldn't be surprised if another club picked him up in the PSD.

Jeez we must be scraping the bottom of the barrel if we're modelling our gameplan on Richmond. And I can just see opposition backlines creating havoc with our forwardline pressure coming from PJ, Neitz, Robbo, Miller and Yze. God help else!!!!!!!!!

Only if their club delists them. Players contracts are valid till the 31st October, and final nominations for the national draft is prior to that. Otherwise Judd could have gone to Carlton as their 1st pick in the national draft, without the fuss.

Some people have no concept of list management. Firstly, on Jamar's re-signing. Every club needs 4 ruckmen on its list, and as recently proven, ruckmen of any standing are a tradeable commodity. On Miller, I personally don't rate him, but we have a shortfall of KPP, and obviously Bailey believes that he has some talent there to develop. Finally, we didn't get rid of Johnstone. We traded him for a 1st round draft pick, which was deemed as more useful for our talented crop of under 23's, than a 28 yo underperforming highly paid player with a poor work ethic....

Tiges will take Cotchin at 2, and wouldn't be surprised if WCE take Masten at 3. This leaves us with the choice of Palmer or Morton. I'm dubious of 190cm outside mids. Give me Palmer.

Maybe this is another factor as to why we needed to trade him now. 160 games in 10 years isn't great. Personally, I believe the 3 major factors for his trade this year were: 1. His current contract of $400k has been based on potential rather than output, whether it's due to injuries or inconsistent performance. He's out of contract next year, and we could lose him for nothing, or continue to pay over the market rate for his output. 2. He's seen as a bad influence on the culture at the club. People often lump Bruce and Green in with TJ, but at least they are hard workers on the track, and don't make idiots of themselves off the field when representing the club, ie; brownlow night 2006. Why hasn't TJ ever been considered to be part of the leadership group? 3. DB told a few home truths about TJ during the interview process for the coaching job. The wider football community's opinion of him is that he's soft, and doesn't put his head over the ball. Most of the media and other football supporters have agreed that pick 14 for Johnstone was a fair trade. Time will tell, but for me, there are other issues aside from the output of Johnstone at Brissie versus whoever is drafted at pick 14.

Goose, pick 90 will be used for Adam Donahoe as their father/son. Charlie Gardner is a one-dimensional footballer. A half-forward who's not a prolific goalkicker, and is incapable of being a midfielder.

To be honest, we really won't know the answer to this question for another 2-3 years. By that stage we'll know whether pick 14 and Meesen are good players. On paper, getting pick 14 for Johnstone was a good result in comparison to other trades.

That was 5 years ago for christs sake. How often has he repeated it since?

Both Damon White and McKinley are contracted players. As for Brennan, he didn't show up for the Lions B&F, and can't be contacted. Sounds like Sean Charles reincarnated. Don't touch him.........

Well if he's missed a lot of games through OP, what is his true value to us? You can't have it both ways.........

This is the most pertinent point of the trade. Most clubs would have shied away from his current contractual salary, hence our bargaining power was diminished. TJ would be amongst the top 6 paid players at the club, yet has achieved 2 top 10 finishes in the B&F in 10 years. If this equates to being our best player, we have many ill-informed supporters. Glad to trade him now, while he still has some currency.

I can't believe that so many people are actually discussing this. Didn't anyone stop to think that YM made this story up!!!!!

Would not be surprised with this deal. We'll use pick 43, which is the Saints 3rd pick, as a trade for Meesen. I've thought all along that CAC would get involved in a trade for a lower 3rd pick, as he stated that we'd offer Adelaide a 3rd round pick, but sees 37 as too high. Redleg will be spewing.

Reported in today's Age that Sean Wellman may be joining our coaching panel. You'd assume that the make up would look like this: Bailey - Senior coach Wellman - Backline Williams - Midfield Mahoney - Forward Line

It's being reported that TJ arrives back from Thailand today, and has a meeting with Bailey to discuss his future. Geez he'll be a tired boy if he's stopping over in Brisbane to meet the Lions. Personally, i'd be staggered if Matthews is interested in him given his age and style of play, and even more staggered if they gave up pick 11.