Rhino Richards

Right so we drop a small defender who has played really well and takes the best small forward. We then take our Captain who was BOG or close to it out of the centre and into the BP. Ugh! If you are going to play a 2nd ruckman then you really should drop pinch hitter Dunn. Martin on the bench effectively takes out one of our runners. If you are going to pick Martin then why you would not swap Martin and Jamar at FF.

I thought your answer was clear, simple and straightforward ....apparently not for some.

People confuse quantity with quality. Having a number of midfielder options does not equate to th quality we need. Paddo this topic has been done ad mauseam on this site. Just say we had pick 5 in the draft this year and on the best available the best big man is pick 20, would you spend that pick on the ruckman given the inherent risks with talls? And drafting a ruckman now wont pay fruit until 3 or 4 years. And if we trade for a ruck why would we give pick 5 for someone to play 2nd fiddle to Jamar? Makes no sense.

Nothing like leading with ignorance. Unless you have access to the medical/training files of the player you simply dont know enough to make any judgement. And there have been enough footballers who despite deceptive physique suffer chronic injuries that cannot be rectified in order to play AFL.

I think that optimistic. Meesen cant ruck despite being mobile and a high draft pick. The Club recognised this by sending him to the rookie list. His foot injury is the late nail in the coffin for a player whose body cant cope with AFL demands. I rather invest the time in Spencer and GAWN. There's a future there with either of them. Good point. People got rose tipped on their view because he wasn't the disappointment he had been at Casey. He wasn't good either.

No. And if we delist Meesen (certainty) and PJ (likely), we wont be also cutting Spencer who is raw and needs time. Any chance we might recontract Jamar and develop one of our own? Maybe even use our first pick to get the best available youngster?

Aaron Sandilands would be the most dominant ruckman in the league. Jamar would he close to top 3 though.

No doubt you would. The only reason we had Robbo up forward all the time is that he did not chase and was not mobile. Re backs: We have Warnock, Frawley, Garland, McDonald. We have Rivers, Martin and McNamara in the wings. How much depth in defenders can you carry in a list of 40. You need to get over your fixation with height and really look at what we do have. And I worry when posters recommend we recruit for depth. Shudder. Up forward, we will have Watts and Jurrah returning from injury. We have marking forwards in Sylvia and Bate with possibility of Green and Morton pushing forward. We have recruited Spencer, Fitzpatrick and GAWN to develop and if they do you have a contested mark big called Jamar who can go down there. As always in the draft with our first 2 to 3 picks I suggest we take the best available. Our midfield is developing but is not established. We need to focus on quality We will probably have Junior retire, Bell to be delisted and Maric (if out of contract) is looking problematic for the future. So there is 3 potential players in the midfield.

Firstly, the game plan has not changed. The players are now more adept at doing what Bailey has been seeking them to do for the past 2 and a bit years. We have recruited skilled players that can use the ball competently by hand and foot even under pressure. Secondly, I am not sure why we need another tall backman when we have Warnock, Garland, Frawley. I just cant see a settled back six to handle match ups week in week out with another tall. Thirdly, our recruting of Watts, Jurrah, GAWN and Spenser reflects the Clubs understanding of the need to cover those positions but they recognise they take time to come on. Finally, we have been lucky not to have been exposed by oppositions when playing Newton and Dunn in the ruck. Dunn has yet to convince me that he is a long term AFL player and he certainly is not a ruckman. And Darcy got one wrong if thinks Miller will take the centre bounces. He like Newton offers little up forward so its not worth sacrificing a running player for a questionable pinch hitter in the ruck. The biggest improver in this side this year without a doubt is Mark Jamar who has profoundly impactly the last 3 games single handedly. I trust him good health and fitness. By god we need him.

GAWN is midway through recovery from a knee reco. He will be back in good time. Jurrah is 10 weeks away after a shoulder injury. Tapscott had a hip injury and allegedly 6 weeks from training. Why would we delist Tapscott and GAWN after one year? Meesen on the rookie list and injured is finished. The foot injury only confirms his prospects when he went to the rookie list.

Good post. Until he actually does perform on the field of play then he is just a possible as much as Maric or other small options.. If he comes back fit and performs well then great.. but at the moment his fitness and performance are unknowns. At what??? Betts, Porplyzia, Le Cras, Rioli all play the small forward role better and more consistently than Wonna. He is unproven at this point. He had a good first year where he flew under the radar of oppositions whose defences were rarely as accountable as they should have been against such a weak team like MFC. If he breaks down all the time, what club in their right mind would trade for him? Would you buy a car that was a lemon?

Green does not tackle....unbelievable. Oh whats that they dont bleed for the club enough... well then sack them.....shysters! I think Junior will see it out this year and retire a champion of the Club. He knows when age does get you in AFL, it gets you very quickly. I am not sure either he or the Club would be contemplating 2011.....certainly not at this stage. He will have played more games than any other player who have come off the rookie list. A wonderful career

If you want Martin to pinch in the ruck then I think Dunn has to go. Bate hurts an opposition up forward more than Dunn. I would make Drummond accountable on Petterd. Bruce on Brennan. One of the mids on Riccitelli.

See your point. And I understand your dilemma. I cant see how Newton could get a gig so its Martin almost by default

Unproven so far. I dont see how you can include any of them. I could have sworn that's exactly why Martin cant get a game at the moment. He has not shown he can play any of those roles. The problem is obvious, the solution is not so but will hopefully evolve.

With all due respect to Beamer, I would have rather kept Thompson. Then with that deal he is off to Carlton. We give them three players who cant get a game in a bottom ranked club (a showbag of nothing) and they give us a top line key midfielder. Adelaide will be dribbling over that deal. Where do they sign? When you trade for quality you have to give some quality to get it.....

Agree. Love his mongrel but I still worry about his decision making and disposal under pressure. he has been very good in the past 2 weeks but I wonder whether he could face less pressure than he did against Adel and the Tigers. Saturday will be a test.

Was it infamous? FFS, its infamous that Sylvia had crippling OP that prevented him from training pre season and during the year. He clearly could not extend himself in those earlier days. He was stricken with that problem for at least his 4 years. Hardly a good example. But we do have to be patient with Jack.

Struggle to get more than a bench role particularly if you have Beamer and Jones in the mix I'd rather enjoy the quality that develops that distinguishes our stars (and potential stars) from other good ordinary footballers. Depth is only good if you have quality at the top end. If depth reflects all players around the same mark then its an illusion. And generally smugness about "depth" usually dissolves after one bad loss or two losses in a row. Its a fair bit of slack you are cutting him. Its four seasons ago when he did that to Riewoldt. The Roo would slice him up today as he is a far better player than 2006 and epitomises how the game has changed. Rivers is struggling to get back to 2006 form. He needs to be better than that. Since 2006, we have developed or recruited Frawley, Warnoch, Garland, JoelMac, Martin, McNamara. We are not as bereft of defenders we once were and the names I given offer more than Rivers in a number of areas. I am not saying he finished like other posters but he needs to be able to perform at a higher level to survive in a competitive environment. The back 6 is looking reasonably settled and many are still young and developing. Now where does Rivers fit in and can he sustain a role within the back 6 that cant be provided by one of the other names. The issue with Newton/Dunn is that neither Collingwood or Richmond made us pay for having non rucks in the ruck. We rolled the dice and got away with it. I cant see how Newton can be best 22 when he has failed so often as a forward and was dropped by the footy dept for Richmond. Cant be that good. And we missed him so much against Richmond didnt we? Picking Dunn in the ruck is like picking Bennell to play on the gorillas. Ridiculous. Martin cant even get a game ahead of Newton so he cant be best 22. Picking a non performer and inferior option gives you little insurance if Jamar goes down. If Jamar goes down we are stuffed until Spencer or GAWN develop. I cant see the sense of weaking another area of the team to allow some nervous nellies to sleep at night. I have Spencer on the emergency bench hoping he improves.

Tippett has been injured and is still carrying an injury Agree. Given the way our midfield is developing, what role do we envisage for Thompson and at what cost? Do we have others who will fulfill Thompson's role. If he was available I am wondering whether he do a "Luke Ball" and choose the Club he wants. It may not be MFC.

Only if you have control of the ball. We need to win more possession of the ball than Brisbane. Its as simple as that. If their midfield gets on top, they will hurt us up forward. Brown and Fev one out are almost impossible to beat. We got left off lightly against Vickery and Fraser. Neither are consequential in the ruck and on Sunday, Vickery made poor use of his height advantage.

Any chance you might be able to provide some evidence to back your rant? Molan.....Oh dear

I can see as the year rolls on that Bruce and Bennell will have to play well to keep him out. Last year I thought Bail at Caaey could not hit a target. I was underwhelmed but I have been really impressed by him. Would have like to have another ruckman. I dont think we have another one good enough. I have Spencer as an emergency. Newton and Dunn are not good enough for best 22. IMO Newton is not good enough for AFL. Newton and Dunn have done cameos in the ruck to rest Jamar. And when that did happen, we lost big time in the centre. We sacrificed another big man to provide extra run. If Jamar does go down, Newton and Dunn aint going to save you. Nor will Martin who cant crack a game anywhere atm so I am not sure what he offers anywhere on the ground. No form whatsoever to earn a recall and not best 22. At this point I think if we are talking most important players Jamar is up there on performance and the key risk of injury to him and the lack of a viable replacement.

Good point. IMO he was stiff. And I reckon he comes in when Junior retires at year end. But I would not cancel him out of pushing his name forward sooner. He has been a find.

Garland is easily best 22. His two games given he has had over a year off have been very encouraging. I am not sure who else can match his flexibility in the back half. With Watts I think anyone in his place is just warming his seat...Jurrah too.