Rhino Richards

Never said you were. You're probably intoxicated by Sylvia's draft pick number rather than what he displays on the ground. Sylvia is an honest hardworking player that could be a capable asset to MFC if he continues to develop greater football smarts and discipline in his game. Unfortunately he is unlikely to live up to his draft hype and I dont know why you make an exception of him. There are other equal to Sylvia in contribution, potential and performance. Its great you savour the small morsel of TJ performing. Its a pity that for a player so talented that the gap between his best and worst is alarming and too often we have seen the downside. The issue with him at Brisbane is that he has shunned few of the annoying traits that let him down at MFC. I may not have seen the Port but I saw a couple of games by Brisbane where they folded like a pack of cards and TJ was missing in action. And MFC are crying out for skill and class. We have no A graders, few if any B graders and wealth of C graders who hopefully will rise in the future. Sylvia is a C grader which I hope he can build on. But to date he is C grade. He is a try hard C-/D grader who will struggle unless he can address his disposal issues. But careful there were posters that thought that Bartram was good "trade bait".

Exactly.

Its been 16 sublime games over a 10 year stretch. I'd say 98% not 90% of our list would dream to have TJ's skill and ability. Of that same 98%, 100% would have greater maturity, character and attitude than TJ. His skill and ability means nought if he just does not produce it coinsistently. He didn't. And his output over 10 years has been mediocre at best. I am not sure why you would want him still at MFC. He had a big chance to show everyone at Brisbane how wrong MFC were in trading him. He blew it and got dropped from the Lions team in the last round. Sublime..really. Its telling that when the MFC players were told that TJ was being traded, there was no a hint of protest or disappointment. It seemed that even in the soft MFC culture, TJ's lazy gameboy mentality was seen as a detriment. Maybe you are further away from the action than you have said.

Well thats my point. At no time did he have "value" early in his career because he first came down with the injury in the 12 months prior to drafting. Clubs knew his worth no doubt. Its hard enough to trade fit players. OP cancels trade value. Would you buy an unknown car with a seized engine?

For what???? He has had no trade value having been crippled with OP for years.

A still picture wont validate that a player is moving freely from the restriction of OP that a good video might do. Here's hoping.

The last rare commodity you hyped on about like that was TJ. What a package. Sylvia was not up for trading and even so I doubt given the trade outcomes this year we would have got a worthy interest. Sylvia has copped some rather unfair rough treatment on this Board. He is not going to be the game busting player we expected him to be back in 2003. Its his sixth year this year and hopefully he is fully fit and not modifed fit. I expect him to be a solid footballer for MFC this year and if he can improve his football smarts then he might be something better.

Salary Contracts tend to lag the market by an average two years. Its an easy and miguided slap to say we overpay ordinary players. When many of the current contracts were negotiated at the end of 2006, MFC were sixth and according to some media sources "the most likely Club to challenge for a flag from Victoria in 2007". Did I hear any rumblings from you and others about contracts then? Hindsight is a wonderful skill. Many of the said contracts will be expiring in the coming 12 to 24 months. We are heading to pay 92.5% of the TPP this year and with further retirements will probably pay less than that in 2010 and possibly 2011. However, Geelong has TPP issues and will continue to do as 2007/8 contracts expire and players seek to get full value for their performances in the years since their contracts were sealed. Firstly given the salary cap debacle that happened six to seven years, there is every reason to be suspicious of Carlton and their methods. In addition, there involvement in the charade of the Judd Club selection process shows them to be sharp but maybe too sharp operator. Furthermore, given their recently resigned President (or open cheque book) was party to and guilty of one of the most deceitful swindle of all Australians, I would not be blowing the trumpet of a Club whose lack of ethics is most obvious at the top. As for the AFL, while they may be monitoring its not in their interest to go through salary deals with a fine tooth comb. There reticence to investigate WCE and other Clubs on drugs was noticeable

Just a couple of youthful posters looking for some positives... Given you thought we were in challenging mode at the start of 2008 shows that Robbo would have fooled one person.

Then dont read it and get a life. There is not alot to take out of those articles. I much prefer lightweight positive articles about the Club than the continual barrage of rehashed criticism of the Club. If those upbeat articles were not put up on a regular basis we'd have posters screaming from their personal pulpits that MFC is not doing anything to promote itself.

Connolly has said on a number of occassions that the Club would be seeking to have 6 to 7 selections in the draft. At present we have picks 1,17,19,35,51,67 and PSD#1. If Carroll is to be removed from the list, I would suggest that the Club would have to get AFL approval to replace him on the list in 2009. If that's the case then for starters we should probably elevate Wona on pick 67. Wonna has a number of challenges ahead of him in 2009. However, I am not sure why Diablo is cutting him down so harshly. On no pre season and limited fitness he put in a credible 2008. I think everyone realises he needs a greater fitness and has challenges ahead. Lets see how he will stand up. I cant see any players being delisted at this point. However, I would suggest that the re signing of a number of players will be on 1 to 2 year terms on modest dollars. Moloney and Dunn are not on thin ice but they do have to perform at a far higher standard this year. Its now Dunn's fifth year of AFL coming up and his progress to date has been lukewarm. He has yet to nail a position as his own and its not the Coaches fault. Moloney needs to show he can commit to the team plan, maintain fitness and become more than a one dimensional player.

Yes if it was Jericho vs Stefan Martin type player then its the Stefan Martin type player. Otherwise it would be a pass. No need to fill the list stocking with more of what we dont need.

Would PJ be on a modified program or is he fit to go?

Great pick up Rusty. Its a pity that when moved from Aimoo we lost the history archive there could be some real flashbacks and some embarrassing recalls. Good salvage nevertheless. Geez Anonymous was active back then.

Guys, It annoying everyone. Nasher advised that they are caused by random spambots that dump rubbish on the site. The techies are working on upgrading the spam filters to prevent them popping up. The Admin and mods are deleting them as soon as we see them. Thanks for your patience and thanks for the PMs from posters who discover when they arise.

I think any such action would be in the 2009 year and with AFL approval.

Well said about culture and its important. I think the Club are making strong steps to addressing that through a more sensible player selection of leaders, trading of TJ and the focussed attempts to exit Carroll. Small steps but the right direction Cousins comes with many positives and negatives. The positives we have seen on the field. He could have been one of WCE greatest players but..... and thats it with him.....he blew it. And as for culture he was front and centre of responsibility for the destruction of the winning culture at WCE. His negative influence has damaged not just himself but also other at the Club. As a leader and one time iconic player his black mark on the Club was everywhere. The critical issues are we is really at and what is he wanting to achieve? And does he want to play at MFC? If he was open to MFC and was still a troubled soul then why would MFC pick up such a player when it just trying to build in the early stages such a winning culture? Its academic because he does not want to come to MFC.

I dont think so. Well said timD. The lack of perspective is amazing.

Roughhead was indeed in the top echelon is his year. They were fortunate that there were good talls early. They took the best available

You dont get much at all. You have comprehensively misread and overestimated our list. We are nothing like Sydney. Sydney have a back bone of real stars like Hall, O'Loughlin, Kirk and Goodes. Roos has been trading to make the most of this group before they retire. Once they retire what do they have coming through to replace them. They have continually traded away there future to maintain the position. It will come home to roost with them as that talented backbone ages and their performance wanes. And given the relatively minor trades that went through this year the ability to reasonably contemplate topping up your list is now gone. And the parallel with 1997/98 is deeply flawed as well. You seem to overlook that after missing much of 1996/97, MFC were able to regain the fully fit services of Lyon, Schwartz and Tingay. Easily in MFC's top 5 at that time when fit. We have no one of that calibre on our list to return nor do any of the current players come close to the iconic status that Lyon and the Ox were. Their return had a huge morale and emotional boost to the Club in 1997/98. We certainly dont have that You keep tripping up on the belief that we are round the bottom through choice. Its so wrong its laughable. We need to improve our list and cover the yawning gaps that exist. You have yet to put forward any plausible or sensible alternative as to how that could be achieved.

Both were common sense trades. We needed more of them. You're off the mark and missing the point. He line up in the VFL. He is finished.

Well spoken Rogue.

No Coach would endorse it. If its the difference between 4 wins and 5 wins then it should make diddlysquat difference to a Coach's future. However, I would be concerned if a Coach nudged a side a fifth win and penalised his list management opportunities. I am not sure what message was given to Riley when he was caretaker coach in mid 2007 but the outcome was not good for MFC.

A wise poster wrote elsewhere that if we are three wins from 5 games we should maximise our opportunities. If we are 3 wins from 15 games then we should really maxmise our opportunities. He's right and we did not do that in 2007 and it will cost us. I just dont accept that MFC will automatically tank next year despite the unfounded cynicism of some. They may not be good enough to win many games and thats possible. But its disappointing to think we would tank a year before it starts. Unnecessarily defeatist. The progression of our list will have a big say in these outcomes.

Has the Club said it was tanking? They weren't.....Period.