DubDee

i wasnt saying we dont need forwards I was just addressing that saying we dont need midfielders is ridiculous. most of the year we had Jones, Vince and Viney as our only strong performing mids and we need a heap more than this. we have high hopes for our good youngsters obviously. Tyson/Vanders in particular might step up next year fwd line depth, we have Hogan, Dawes, Pedo, Kent, Garlett, Pecracca. maybe include Watts id say the depth is comparable between mids and fwds for us. average for both. big upgrade from pathetic which our midfield was 2 years ago pick best available. dont want us to take a risk and end up with a Gumby or Butcher when a quality mid was out there. im not against a fwd at all, we need one. once we dont overlook a better option

this we can certainly agree on!

Are you kidding?? suddenly melksham has been added to our great midfield, hows things have changed. he got dropped twice this year from the dons terrible midfield. I dont want to bag a Dees player and I want him to succeed, but he has been quite poor to date despite some decent games in 2013. and ANB/Stetch show potential but can we say both will be 200+ game midfielders for us? no. and with JT and other injuries we need a lot more midfield depth! just look at port, hawks, sydney etc. our midfield needs a lot of quality added to it. even if our young guys develop as we hope

I see a need for an uncompromised draft - at least as much as possible. If that means a few QLD/NSW guns playing interstate well its not ideal but its worth it for a fairer drafting system. If sydney keep getting guys like Heeney (stand out No 1 picks) that will never be out of finals. even though they would have to give us 2 and 3rd rounders. i know what id prefer. The gun number one draft pick I dont see why the AFL complicates things so much but we clearly have different view points so maybe we'll just leave it at that

I started supporting the dees when I boarded a plane from Dublin in 88. I was reading a magazine, something like 'so you're immigrating to Australia' and there was actually an article on the dees. Talking about Wight and jimmy being Irish. I figured we were moving to Melbourne so who else would you support? And the Irish connection was a bonus. Highlights were the day farmer and yze debuted. We had some good seasons in the 90s Lowest point was when port smashed us in round one a few years back

yeah, agree. didnt mean scrap them completely

I dont see it as a necessity to have academies. Sure it would be great to have local lads playing for your team, but its a national comp. I reckon the QLDer's didnt mind cheering on Jonathon Brown I think the fairest option is to scrap the academies and give each team a crack at the years best talent

Viney and T Mac to be our first AA's for 6 years. If Viney plays 22+ games, watch out AFL. he was our best player in the last month of two of this season smokey: Newton to work on his tank and defensive game and become a regular in the 22.

the best scenario? how about no academies and everyone on a level playing field? im tired of the extra assistance the northern clubs get, especially when they have been dominant, successful in recent times (eg brisbane, sydney). and i get the new system but gun players are rare (~number 1 draft picks) the difference between pick 35 and 55 compared with picking up one of the 2-3 gun players of the year is significant

of course not. I just take her opinion into account

i have to admit it is concerning that EQ think Parish is the 14th best talent (best available) in this draft and we may take him with 3. I have no clue about how good these kids are but the one thing I have noticed is that Parish is not often referred to as hard/tough or massively competitive like a lot of the others in the top 14. also his slight frame has been highlighted. I know we cant have a team of Vineys but these outisde players seem riskier than the Brayshaws of the world. tough choice! it would be fascinating to know if the Dees already knew who we would take at 3 when we traded for it or the plan was just to have 2 top picks

Who's this Hipwood chap at 6? Another nsw academy kid? So 3 and 7 in reality is pick 7 and 11. Going by Emma Q. These academies are getting out of hand! Seems completely unfair that Sydney would keep getting top 5 picks when have won two flags in last 10 years and are generally in the top 4.

Capt Jones. LG = Dunn, Viney, T Mac Not sure I agree with the many that want Vince in the LG. he has never been a natural leader - despite being a very good professional for us and playing very well. guess is says more about our lack of senior leaders Adding T Mac and Viney is a great way to start transitioning to the new generation and for the young group to feel represented. those two are so driven they would not let us know no one else comes to mind. they are either too young or not performing on the pitch. so i would add the next highest rated by the players and leave it at 5.

i wouldnt worry too much about the comparisons. Knightmare lived up to his name when he compared Toumpas to Luke Hodge

Great to hear JKH in the A group and doing well. Had no idea he was that good a runner. Hoping for a big year from him

Towards the end of his first season, I told my mates Cale Morton would win a brownlow one day. Beat that!! needless to say i had to find new mates I also keep believing the many re-builds we have had will work also, im still cut about Scully leaving even though he is an average player man, its good to get all that off my chest!

only 4 and 1/2 months til our first game! guess we should be fit by then

maybe they could play the VFL GF at the G that week? or as the womens league grows they could play a game to get exposure?

a game to celebrate narrowly missing the finals? would mean nothing to me and I would guess the players

guess we wait and see but I reckon Pies are locks for the 8 after their recruiting. and port are due for a big year

if he is cleared I reckon he would be a punt. could be one of those that comes good later in his career word is, north will rookie him so we'd have to offer a spot on the snr list

I used to console myself with the dodgy fixture when at least it gave us a plying advantage. but 2 games against garenteed top 8 sides and GC is not good. we will have to improve a bit to win the same number of games as last year and improve a lot to win more and the fact that not all teams have played each other by round 18 makes the AFL a friggen laughing stock

getting a little ahead of yourself i reckon. both teams absolutely shafted with injuries last year, GC if fit should finish higher than us and push for finals. we should beat the bears though

we should go through the 6-7 possibles to draft and filter them by: manic competitiveness strong mentally willingness to work hard only the ones who tick all the boxes should be looked at further for their skill/talent. I think we can all say Watts/Toumpas/Silvia etc would not make it through this checklist. Talent only gets you so far, it is the driven players like Selwood, Fyfe who become stars. I doubt their draft camp stats were off the charts

im expecting the same as the last few years. very easy draw football wise but poor financially. start off with a lot of saturday games at the G. second half of the season is all sundays another friday night would be nice.