Axis of Bob

This is Colin "I'm contracted to the MFC next year" Garland, is it? I'm less than worried.

I expected to read this and see a story about Jimmy's fight and I didn't open it until now because I hate even thinking about that sort of thing. Eventually I opened it and found a powerful tale a million times more confronting than I could ever have dreamt in my most horrible nightmare. I am 27 and my attitude is always one of accepting the current situation and working out the next best step from there. But that just smacks me in the face and I am utterly speechless. The best I have got is that I wish you as much luck and success in your fight as is humanly possible.

I highly doubt it's serious at all, as he played out the game. But with Dandenong 5 goals up I think Yeats was making sure that his best player wasn't going to miss the Grand Final, so he just kept him in cotton wool so as not to aggravate anything. There's some real melodrama happening on this board with a lot of people making a lot of comments with very, very little information.Maybe we should just get a couple of you a private chat room.

Scully finished the game with his knee heavily strapped and looked to be in some discomfort. He played very little time in the midfield after a dominant first quarter on the wing.

Yes he can. The rules were changed so that contracts expire before the national draft, rather than after the national draft like it used to be.

I'd like to look at how they develop their players so quickly and what they look for when recruiting, because I think that these aspects are linked. I also think that it linked to how Collingwood plays the game and why they have never gone from bridesmaids to brides. Malthouse likes to play avery contested, one on one style of game which requires strong bodies and a lot of discipline from his players. Malthouse is a very good tactician, which is shown by the way that he managed to shut Adelaide's run down after quarter time last weekend. Since 2000, their first and second round draftees have been: 2000 - Didak, J Cloke 2001 - Cole, Davidson 2002 - Nixon, Shackleton, C Cloke 2003 - Morrison, B Shaw 2004 - Egan, Rusling 2005 - Thomas, Pendlebury, Stanley, Cook 2006 - Reid, Brown, Dawes 2007 - McCarthy 2008 - Sidebottom, Beams Of those, there are a helluva lot of spuds. Not even ordinary players, but complete spuds. But if you look at their team on the weekend you'll see a common theme: their lack of player quality but their presence of team ethic. They rely on a very small amount of their players to provide all of their class, with Shaw, Pendlebury, Didak and Davis being the main ones. The reason why Sidebottom and Beams have been successful is because they are hard workers and are team oriented - how else does Alan Toovey get a game? That's why so many of their players have come from lower down in the draft, because they are hard workers first and foremost. But Malthouse's game plan allows for these players to flourish while they would be exposed a great deal at other teams. Can you imagine Toovey at Melbourne, Hawthorn or Geelong? He'd be out of the team quicker than you could say "turnover and goal". But at Collingwood he's got a role because he does the team things all the time and their game plan allows players to turn the ball over but still not be exposed on the counter attack. But they have the classy finishers to be able to beat other teams when they turn it over. I think that this arrangement will allow Collingwood to be consistently good, but will not do enough to win a flag. When they play teams that simply don't turn the ball over, like Hawthorn and the Bulldogs, they can be exposed for lacking class. Most of the top teams are there because they don't turn the ball over, and they don't have Buckley any more in the midfield.

Rich has an elite work ethic? This the same kid that runs a 12 beep test? Rich has elite ball skills and kick, but he is doing it pretty easily at the moment. He only gets the ball 15 times a game and was tagged once, but unable to shake it. That doesn't suggest an elite work ethic. I actually agree that Rich and Hurley could well have been at the top of your list, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they are better players. Collingwood's time for challenging is now and they would have been looking at players that could contribute straight away, more or less. Plus they are both good body players, which Mick likes and suits Collingwood's slow gameplan well. Naitanui and Watts both required time to be able to match it at AFL level, which would have been a large disadvantage to a team in Collingwood's position. However it was not the slightest disadvantage to Melbourne who were able to take the more talented player with the luxury of giving him time to develop. The ceiling for Watts and Naitanui is significantly higher than that of Rich or Hurley.

Alas no (well, technically yes, because I saw him last year but he's changed a lot since then and I wasn't really watching him because he was underage). But you can pick up trends when there is so much footage of Morabito available. There is certainly plenty to get excited about, but with pick 1 and 2 he appears to lack in the areas we can't afford him to. 4th and short is not the time to throw a Hail Mary pass. On the flip side, I'd have no idea at all whether or not Trengove is a good kick/decision maker or whatever, only his style of play because I've only seen him once (and not live!) and according to a poster here (can't remember who) ... "it's hard to have a valued opinion unless you've seen the subjects live. And often". All I can do is go on the reports of people who have watched him several times and have picked up trends. Their reports are generally favourable and, based on their reports, I hope Trengove is at Melbourne next year.

The issue with Morabito doesn't seem to be kicking, but rather his decision making. He seems to be a bit of a slow blinker.

Tenace IS fast. His pace does translate onto the footy field. He has shocking hands and is a shocking kick, but his speed is great. Just because he's crap doesn't mean he's slow.

I'm not sure how short the memories are. After all, how many trades have been done between Port and Collingwood, West Coas and Collingwood, and West Coast and Fremantle recently?

I think it'd be interesting to see if Hawthorn can do a deal - any deal. They are the new Collingwood with trading. Just offering money but with no intention of actually coughing up enough to do an equitable trade. They wouldn't even trade a first round pick for Ryan O'Keefe last year!!! I'm not sure if anyone will want to trade with them in the future.

I thought jacey reacted perfectly. Exactly how I would have done it. :D

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!! Anwyay, what we might be able to........ Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!! Sorry, I'll finish that later. I can't hold a straight face while I'm thinking about that! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!

b59, I'm just going to quote jacey, who was paraphrasing the comments made by Tim Harrington on TAC Future Stars last week: He thinks he's probably the best decision maker in the entire draft. If he's going to struggle at the top level then we may as well give the entire draft away.

A few points about possibly recruiting Lake. Could we do with him? Look at Geelong's defence. Their best defender, Scarlett, doesn't play on the opposition's best forward but rather Harry Taylor does that. Scarlett plays as a defensive playmaker with his strength, run, disposal and marking ability being far more valuable. Tom Harley plays as a mid sized defender that is like a defensive organiser. We can very easily play with Warnock = Taylor, Lake = Scarlett and Frawley = Harley. What is the cost? Considering we are having to front load contracts now simply to get up to the minimum 92.5%, I don't think that money is too much of an issue. This is especially so considering the retirements of 3 senior players from a team that has won 7 games in 2 years. In terms of trading/draft, if we use PSD 1 then we effectively get him for nothing. What if we don't get him? Then the Bulldogs have had to overpay their players when they are close going over the salary cap. This is good for us as it means that it may push another player out the back and weaken an opponent. We should be doing this to several players. Besides, it is sweet payback for screwing us on the Mission deal.

Of course Gale knew that Sheahan would know he was lying - he was about to be announced as CEO. But Gale is entitled to have some control over when he wants the news to come out. Personally, I wouldn't want a CEO that tells the truth every time he's asked a question. If he did then it would cause absolute chaos and the ability to play the politics is all part and parcel of the job. And my assumption of basic human intelligence came from a misguided faith in mankind. It's not a mistake I try to make often on these boards.

I don't know why I'm bothering, but all that vitriol from you (and Sheahan) all because Gale didn't want the media to know about his appointment before it was announced? You were just sucked in when Sheahan chucked a teary after Gale became CEO because he didn't have the scoop. If he was strong enough with his information then he would have done it anyway - it's never stopped the media in the past. I saw the article and thought it was one of the most pathetic pieces of journalism I'd ever seen. Sheahan having a cry in his new column because someone wouldn't give him a story. Selfish rubbish. I just assumed that everyone thought that, so I am surprised that it had such in impact on you.

I don't see how Martin is supposed to be slow. Harrington said he's quick and he looked quick on the video too. Also Rich, Robinson all slid for different reasons. Buddy was/is a fruitcake and has an incredibly disappointing championships campaign, but he didn't really slide - he was drafted at 5! Rich slid because he's a poor endurance runner and Robinson was drafted as a 19 year old and lacks class with the footy.

Jeez Brockstar, the video makes him look like he's got a fair bit of toe for an insider. Harrington also mentioned that he was very quick off the mark.

Why would he drift, TD? I he may be right in the mix for 2.

His manager is Colin Young, and he does all of his negotiation through the media. Brett Peake is 26 years old, was dropped this year by Freo, has pace but is a shocking, shocking kick. There is no way that we would look at a player like him. Ignore the article because it's just Colin Young trying to make it look like his player is 'walking out' on Freo rather than 'being delisted' by Freo.

I remember a young Col Garland. He had wonderful pace, agile like a cat, smooth mover with good skills and made good decisions. In the VFL he really looked like a classy player. He just took a few game to adjust to the pace of AFL footy. Tommy Mac, unfortunately, doesn't have the same athletic attributes as Col. Where Col has the athleticism to play in virtually any spot in defence on any type of opponent, Tommy doesn't have that same speed and agility to play on small forwards nor the size to match up on the bigger forwards. I'd say that we'd happily trade him to a club that wants to give him a home, because it may not be Melbourne next year.

This year he amassed 9 inside 50s.

In order for a trade to happen you must get agreement between 3 parties: - Club A - Club B - Any players being traded If the two clubs agree but the player does not then no trade can occur - regardless of their contractual situation. The draft is different, where a player entering a draft must agree that they can be taken by whichever club picks them.