Rhino Richards

Do you think they would change their assessment now? Honestly, nothing like shooting from the hip. FWIW, Martin is indeed a very good player and was assessed as such. But MFC took Trengove and Scully who were both clearly standouts in their year. Trengove is very good. Scully has had injury interrupted year and was also injured tonight. He will be a class player. Easpecially so if he was not in a midfield that has been so 3rd world. If you really want to ask some questions about tonight and the season, I would be asking them about Davey and Green. Its not so much a senior player and leadership vacuum. Its a hole. I feel for the other players when 2 guys play like passengers and millionaires at that. If anything sucks its our leadership. There needs to be a clean out at year end and Green and Davey should be front runners to be out of that group. On tonights efforts they will be fighting for a spot in the team.

Absolutely right. To allude that the risk of a Fevola is same as the risk on a Watts/Scully is naive in the extreme.

I think his payments at Carlton and Lions were a case of paying too much for clown to create a circus. Agree. He is doing what you would expect Fevola to do at this level and more. With Caxey dominating midfield play he should be monstering VFL defenders. Not enough for my liking. And he takes the place an MFC listed player who could play forward.

But hey 45, logic has nothing to do with it.. Well summarised. Its a simple case of the bleedin obvious...for some.

As I have said, its irrelevant what you rated them. St Kilda went into the first GF as rank underdogs. Collingwood were raging flag favourites. The diammetrically opposed outcomes in the 2 GFs should substamtiate that anything can happen on the day if you get to GF. So no matter what you thought of the Bulldogs they werent that far short in the PF and were in with a chance. PS Just for the record, I was surprised the 1st GF was a draw. I thought Collingwood would win easily. But I thought the Saints would be slaughtered in the replay. The replay was more realistic as to the gulf between the 2 sides and the 1st GF just shows strange things happen on the day.

Skinny isnt the issue with Morton, And skinny isnt the issue with Cook. All you've got is random comment from another poster and drawn a harsh conclusion about the player. So you understand that kids get tired towards the end of the season but you expect them to have the level of skill and fitness to compete all year. A bet both ways! Garland, Frawley and Watts were crap in their respectiver first seasons and have blossomed in subsequent years. Now what does that tell us? Hmmmm.

And so was Watts in his first year. FFS he is only 19. And you want to recruit a proven 2 club disaster!!

And applying to yourself? But sometimes it doesn't as we saw in the 1st GF.

2014 would have been optimistic and I dont see how Fevola will last the stretch in the AFL. He is still finding the pace in the VFL. Cook's position could well be a sign of the development impact of Fevola. If Cook was kicking goals in his first year, there would be comment that geez hasnt Fev been good for him. And Fevola is the slimmest he has been....in weeks. Honestly he is as fat as a bear out of winter and cannot run out the pressure of a VFL game. He has not lost the puppy fat he had at the start of the year and still needs to drop 8 to 10 kgs just to revisit his AFL playing weight.

I think that has been the highlight....he has not embarrassed hiomself further. he has hardly been a success. He kicks goals when our midfield dominates in downhill skiing conditions. He is still fat and overweight and struggles with the pace at VFL level. I cant wait till he explodes.....again.

You dont understand the issue. *Cringe*

Pure fantasy. The similarities between Hall and Fevola's disposition may chalk and cheese almost identical.

Its not a matter of what you and I rate the Bulldogs. I didn't rated them to do so. But as St Kilda should last year in 2 GFs. Anything can happen on the day. And for the underdog St K in the first GF it almost did. Well done on repeatedly missing the point.

Agree on both counts. Its not just the nature of the offer, its what it says to other prospective candidates. We are serious

Nothing like shooting without facts. There may well be issues behind Cook's disposition that we are not privy too. And its not an issue that we drafted a skinny kid. Cook is a tall 196cm 18 yo when drafted. Like any player of that age and size they will take time to mature. And writing him off now is foolhardy. On that basis, we should have dumped Watts, Frawley and Garland. FWIW, Morton's lack of progress this year is a concern. But using him as a basis for not recruiting someone as a future KPF is illogical.

Not in successful businesses. The use and role of consultants is not necessarily ceremonial notwithstanding corporate governance requirements

What you think would have happened is irrelevant to the fact the GFs are won by the best team on the day. And the difference between the two GF LY able demonstrates the different outcomes you can have on the day. There are so many variables that you just cant wipe a side as naively as you have done yet make the claims you do about St Kilda. Its completely illogical. If Saints as the underdog in the LY GF could almost pinch one then a team that makes the PF and does not get blown away aint that far away from the trophy no matter what irrelevant floss you want to put in it. Knowing a few doggy supporters and claim their attitude reflected the attiitude of the broader club is not that smart. And you silly effort to try and create a sense of plausibility are laughable. This discussion should go in your greatest hits file WYL together with debt discussions and batting first when you win the toss.

Winning the flag is not just about the cattle but how they perform on the day. I would thought that the results of the two GFs last year would demonstrate that. And in the 2nd GF, the genuine St K superstars went to water. What happens on GF day often defies form to date or perceptions. There is enough past history to tell you that GFs are won by the best team on the day. 2002,2008 and 2010 (almost) While you dont think Rocket had the team to win a flag and thats fine. Buts its not relevant in assessing whether Rocket would have gone close. Collingwood were odds on coming into the GF. The Bulldogs fell short by 26 points from amking the GF and who knows what could have happened. Butits sheer bollocks to claim they were satisfied at just making the finals as some credence that the Bulldogs weren't good enough.

It was. THe Bulldogs aimed like any Club in the finals to win a flag and they failed. Dont imply they were not targeting a flag to make you aspirations seem nobler.

A more persceptive answer would have been to realise that anything can happen in a GF and to simply write off a side like you have is naive. Collingwood were red hot favourites in last year's GF and almost dropped the first one. It was the same in the 2002 when the Pies pushed the great Lions team to the brink in 2002. Its foolish to say that Eade was a mile away when in reality they could have been as close St Kilda

I would have said that about St Kilda in the 1st GF last year and what happened there?? Hmmm

If you actually check the team list from the start of 2008 to the start of 2011, Bailey chopped out nearly 2/3 of the players including senior players Yse, Neitz, Whelan, Wheatley, Robbo, White, Miller along with other players like McLean and TJ that werent going to make. What he had left in the "senior" list was indeed ordinary and sparse. Everyone knows the future is in the younger players and you wont get that development over night. Its particularly hard at MFC when we have had the absent leadership group that has cowered on many occassions. I think of Fasolo and how easy it is to debut in side with experienced hard bodies and good on field leadership. And if you are going to see that development in those young players its going to be slow and inconsistent. Its a great misnomer that by using the analogy of winning more quarters is in deference to winning games. I thought the thing that win you the quarters are things that win you the games. And as this year has shown we have had difficulty string those games together. Its a symptom of a young side who inepxerience has been compounded by the absence of leaders around them.

It will need to be a good come back. The editting of the emaile wos a clasik!

Given he won last years B&F at Port I would have thought the deficiencies are greater around him. While the politics has probably behins his fall, he is surrounded by a number of players who short step and disappear when the heat is on. If Bartram is consistently doing that then the game plan is failing if the ball is not ending in the hands of better kickers like Strauss and Blease.

Thought the same. Absolutely. How does a former premiership, 3 times B & F and LY B & F winner with 220+ games including all gamers this year suddenly become so obsolete that he is no longer required? Its one indicator of a preparedness to make the contest and to apply defensive presssure. If you are not tackling does that mean you are not even making the contest??