Rhino Richards

More like a fantasy and a dream. He was always going to Carlton despite the charade of the interviews. MFC did the right thing and puts its best foot forward for him but it was never a possibility and you overplay he barracked for MFC as a kid routine

If you scroll through you will see posts about whether he will make it and that his kicking will hold him back. I know there may be keenness in seeing how he goes but there is so little evidence to base judgement particularly for a guy who is young tall raw, physically underdeveloped and has missed alot of football. Heaven knows what sort of analysis will go into Gawn's first game in the VFL 2nds!

Yeah lets get him. Light the torches Agree and very much so.

3 of them are already not on our list and the other soon will be off the list.

Unbelievable Fizpatrick is only 19, tall, coming off a limited pre season and patchy 12 months after suffering chronic fatigue syndrome and alrady there are judgements whether he will make it or not. Uninformed and premature at best.

Last week we were 14th on the ladder and we had 3 players in the AA squad. Good grief.

If you take the blinkers off and seen the other games, Swan, Martin and Griffen played blinders. Worthy nominees IMO. Green was good but the other three players were superb.

Hardly new. Good on Chance Bateman. I would be rapt if an MFC player conned that. Byrnes should have looked for direction from the umpire. Any word on the kick ins this week? B)

I actually agree with your friend on Rivers year. I just dont think he is that good relative to other options we have. B)

Sandilands has beaten every other ruck week in and week out this year and last year. It would take an injury for Jamar to get over the top of him. If the AA team were to have a 2nd ruck on the bench, Jamar is well positioned for the nod.

If it was like the past meeting in 2008 at the MCG, Jamar neutralised Sandilands by jumping early and into Sandilands which made the big bloke very sore by the end of the game.

Agree on both but that not the inferences posters make from these stats.

The gulf will remain wide between Johnson and Jamar because PJ has mastered to any competence the key ingredients of being a big man. Ruckwork, physical contests and strength and marking above his shoulders. Jamar always had those skills but never the belief to do it more often. PJ does not have the base of skills. And you can pinpick the good 30 second stanzas here and there if you like. It would hide the rest of the time. He wont get easier ruck opposition and he just struggled. Tells it all With Neagle its on the contrary. Neagle's goals were receiver goals. Neagle is a talented but lazy uncommitted footballer that wins very little of his own contested ball and does not work anywhere hard enough when he does not have it.You saw that yourself as Neagle did not make one effective lead from the forward line. Rivers would not get an easier opponent. A bigger challenge for Rivers would have been Hurley/ Gumbleton or a resting Ryder or Hille. Neagle is a small scalp.

I watched the tape last night and PJ made little or no headway in the ruck. He wont get it easier than a timid Ryder and young, raw and ordinary Bellchambers. The gulf between Jamar and PJ both in the centre and around the ground is as wide as the Grand Canyon. Its incredible that PJ (199cm, 103kg) who is 1kg lighter than Jamar (198cm 104cm) has so little presence at the the contest. PJ cant ruck. He could not hold marks on the lead out in front of him. He has hands as soft as concrete slabs. And his decision making is woeful. Its a testimony to the weakness of the Essendon big men that he was not exposed further. You get as much or more from rucking Lynden Dunn. Absolutely. Garland was very good on Sunday and often caused neutral outcomes even when it was a 2 on 1 in Essendons favour. Rivers first quarter was poor very poor. His disposal skills are flaky and this only evidenced it further. He was better in the later quarters but realistically who was he on...Neagle. An out of condition, soft attitude footballer. Essendon had no forward line without Hurley and Gumbeleton there and Rivers did and should have been taking marks.

Agree. Too many people take the crowd numbers at face value without considering the visiting opposition we are playing this year as opposed to last year.

Long Day....I have reworded the question I guess the question is are they good enough to challenge for best 22 as opposed to being close to best 22? I am asking are they one step short of being close to best 22. If a player is deemed close to best 22 (say 23 to 32) on the list now and in the near future then why would the Club cut the person off the list unless there is a great deal on the table? I would not hold my breathe waiting for that deal.Makes no sense.

Where's the sarcasm key. It was a jibe at some of the syrupy player reports on websites. They pander to a shared interest constituency that general likes their analysis lukewarm at coldest. I think the Rivers resigning was very deliberate and negotiated. If the Club dont believe a player is line ball then a 2yr contract is the only feasible option. A 1 year contract is essentially a slap in the face to a player who will take the advice of their manager and look elsewhere. I dont see it as an act of affirmation or condemnation of a player by a Club. Just common commercial sense given the disposition of the player.

I guess the question is are they good enough to challenge for best 22 as opposed to being close to best 22? I am not sure anyone will trade for a player deemed excess by MFC and OOC that they could confidently say they could get him in the PSD. Cheney, Bail falls into that bucket. I cant see them dumping Bail, Bartram, Dunn or Warnock as they have all have at least reasonable claims for best 22. And I am not sure if we did trade any of these player we would get more than a 3rd rounder which means you chasing a player similar to what you gave away. I dont think MFC will be participating too actively in a draft leeched by GCFC.

Hard decisions will be made on fringe players and rookies this year. The rookie list should not be a wholesale dumping ground for out of contract NQRs and players you are not sure of. Cheney and TMac are out of contract this year. If they go to the rookie list then they will earn less than they could pick up in country football. The Club has to make a firm call on both players. Either another year on the list or move them on. Hughes has had significant time on the rookie and its time to move him on as well. We should be using the rookie list to bring through players who will develop into actual AFL players not potential teasers and tweeners. Rookie PJ?? Footballs death notice in a glove - More commercially sensible to say goodbye. And if a player is close to best 22 how can he be surplus?? He should have been retired early. Sadly we keep him for the full year.

If thats the case then PJ is a great all round ruck with wonderful small man skills. Yze and Robbo were in the leadership in their final years and the players not the coaches select that. The option to not giving him a 2 year contract would be to let him go for nothing in the PSD. His manager would not accept a one year contract and would chase around the market. He has little trade value. So its not conclusive what the football department actually think (but clearly what you want to believe). Clearly a player who will have to sing for his supper with few credits to offset poor performances in a competitive defensive set up.

Pidgeons too. This would not happen at Collingwood home games.....they'd eat them by half time. They'd set up snares in the pre game goal end nets.

We shouldnt wear the all white strip in those conditions.

I have yet to read an MFC/VFL coaching report on a player that is ever critical no matter how that player plays. I dont think this proves anything at all. What is said behind closed doors may well be different to the treacle that is written on club websites.

For Woewodin, we continued to pay part of his contract for the term of his contract when he was traded to Collingwood. Holland got to the end of his final contract and was delisted/retired. He was not paid out early. Got any others that were actual payouts for a terminated contract before contractual expiry date?

Why not? There are plenty of examples of players who have a premiership medal around their necks from being in the right spot and time. Top teams are made up of stars and honest workers who do their job. Its such a naive comment to suggest that a player is no good because he will never play in a top 4 side. Its a misnomer of a metric.