Bang Bang Bang

He'd be a pretty good get, IMO he doesn't look an out-and-out star though, more of a very good meat-and-potatoes mid. Sort of like Trengove, but better.

This sounds about right. We rated Salem at 3 (said by JT at function some posters here attended, late last year), and wouldn't have taken Kelly at 2 so that probably reads 1. Boyd, 2. Billings, 3. Salem. So we "sort of" got Tyson for free. Great trading.

Seriously one of the worst football articles that has ever been written. I would place a wager the quotes from the article are completely made up. There's no way any recruiter worth his salt would have watched Tyson in 2011 Championships and seen anything but 'class'. Yep, the quotes and these 'unnamed' recruiters aren't real people. I'm sure of it.

Can't remember the name of the function, but soon after the draft was complete, Jason Taylor apparently told a small group of diehards at said function that they rated Salem at 3. My guess is they had Boyd at 1 and Scharenberg at 2.

His lack of size (173cm, 68kg) would have thrown the recruiters off, I think. What we've learnt from JKH so far is that there's no substitute in this game for class. IMO, it won't be long before these types start getting drafted in the first round again.

At the moment, he reminds me of a poor man's Simon Black, with a touch of Scott Pendlebury. Now I don't expect him to reach the level of either (we are talking about two of the best players this century), but he's playing exactly the way you hope a Top 3 pick would. I'm a big fan.

Just something else I was thinking about before... the aftermath of our win over the Bombers. While it was a good win at the time and DB can be forgiven for showing a bit of emotion afterwards... I don't think we'll be seeing a repeat of those antics under Neeld. As I said, it was a great win but I saw the aftermath of it recently and watching us strut around like we had won a GF was kinda cringe worthy in retrospect. Hopefully under Neeld we should expect to win this games and celebrate the victories appropriately. It's these little things that I want to see change in 2012.

I don't normally buy too much into fluff articles quoting coaches over the off season, but this article is REALLY pleasing to read. No more gifted games and skulking around for cheap kicks in 2012 Aaron, if you don't put in the hard yards you don't play. Names and reputations mean nothing to MN. For too long (Bailey and Daniher eras) name players could do as they pleased. Not anymore! Still, it's the players that have to put the ball through the big sticks. I've been super impressed with the coaching team we've assembled, but it doesn't necessarily mean success is imminent. 2012 will be a very interesting year.

Chris Johnson is a nice guy. Likewise Daniel Bell.