stevethemanjordan

The most interesting thing about this is that you're the first to howl down suggestions of players from other clubs who you think are 'rubbish' when really if Watts were playing for any other team, you'd be saying the same bloody thing. We get that you like the guy and want him to succeed. I'm giving Watts one last year to bridge the gap between efforts that are literally mind-bogglingly bad and efforts that should be the norm with him. I think it's fair to say that as far as best 22 go, next year may in fact be the year in which he isn't part of it providing we trade in some talent and our youngsters come on. That is if he continues down the current path. He has undoubtedly got skills that our side desperately needs. But he also possesses habits that our side desperately needs to rid itself of and ultimately, he has to either get rid of those or it's bust for him. Next year is the year. He must be played as a third tall who can be dangerous in open play, on the ground, deliver to players like Hogan with precision, use his footballing smarts. But he must want it really really badly, and I want to see that as a supporter. I want to see how much he wants it. McCartney's value I believe will really shine through this coming pre-season as last year he started with our club in Feb or March if I remember correctly. Now that he's developed relationships with these guys and understands how best to approach them, I think we'll see some significant steps from younger players and I hope that Watts is one of them..

I don't think the back-line is his natural and best position and when I've seen him play forward he is actually fairly dangerous and would be great protection for Hogan. The best I've seen of him is when he plays that CHF position and roams up the field. He is more in the mould of Darling, big tank and big body. I think he'd be a good target and would allow Watts to play that Lynch-like role as a third tall. A lot of this obviously would come down to working well together as a three-pronged forwardline. With added midfield depth and talent, you'd hope our forwards would see more opportunity but going forward I'd love to see something like: F Garlett Hogan Petracca HF Watts Tomlinson Kent Rotations: Bennell, JKH, Harmes, Vanders etc

Three previous number 2 draft picks.... Looks good on paper. I am praying Trengove can recapture some sort of form, and I really hope there are no further complications to the Petracca's injury. If we landed Bennell and the three of them all had huge pre-seasons without interruption, it'd be extremely exciting coming into next year. A midfield mix of Bennell, Viney, Brayshaw, Jones, Vandenberg, Petracca, Trengove and Tyson is pretty sexy. If we don't land a HB flanker this off-season with foot-skills and an ability to break lines, I'd love to see Vince be released from the midfield and start playing there. Salem and Vince off the flanks give us two players we can trust with the ball and who will actually provide attacking and pro-active ball movement. Whack Whitey in a pocket and you have a much more well balanced back-line than what we've been seeing recently.

.....lols.....

I swear someone suggested John Butcher as a pick up... That someone should not be allowed on this forum.. Ever. Again.

Also, I'm sure Goodwin will have a pretty good idea about how much or little upside Melksham has.

Obviously Melksham is not the 'A-grade' midfield target we'd be hoping to land over the off-season, but as far as topping up the depth of our list goes, there are a number of things that appeal to me about him. Firstly, I rate him higher than a host of plodders we currently have, some of whom are about to be off-loaded. Those names include Bail, McKenzie, Matt Jones, Terlich, Riley. He possesses more attributes than all of those guys. He'd be a much better 'depth' replacement which we'll actually need considering injuries hit every list hard during most years and we all witnessed shallow our depth is. Secondly: As a former top 10 draft pick and with one consistent playing season in 2013 with a top 5 BnF finish, there is clearly something to work with. How many times have we as supporters seen players benefit from a new start at a different club? He fits the age bracket of games experience that we sorely miss. He sits at just above 100 games played. Thirdly: We have to remember that the development of our really young guys in Stretch, Neal-Bullen etc is extremely important and players like Melksham can provide good cover for a year or two while our young kids develop the right way at the lower level. MFC have a history of playing their young guys too early and a in a side that doesn't give them enough support. Id be happy to give a fairly experienced and relatively young AFL player in Melksham a chance at showcasing himself for two years as a means of giving further time and development to our younger guys. He's a hard runner, is tougher than some posts suggest and his skills are actually better than all of those names I mentioned in my first point. Of course I wouldn't want to move heaven and earth to land him and I'm also not sure what the wada/asada deal is with him etc but if he were a third or fourth midfielder we landed this year and didn't have to give up much for him, I'd be pretty stoked.

I think his footballing ability and value as a player is far more significant than any of his 'wrong-doings' that have occured off-field. They just need to be curbed. Although PSD's post is of interest. The overwhelming majority of players that have these kinds of 'hiccups' off-field tend to move past them and prove themselves to be valuable contributors on-field for their clubs. Swan, Dustin Martin, Franklin etc. None of these guys are angels but look at how significant their value is and has been for their team. As long as your club is solid and you have the right people in place, you're generally pretty safe. And as Machsy says, we have a solid club environment with some really strong leaders and coaches. The Fevola cases are unbelievably rare. I think there's too much worry.

Did he make a meaningful contribution yesterday? I thought he was 'meh' again. Yesterday's game typified and exemplified exactly the problem that I outlined in the opening post. A group of problematic players. Who set the tone early yesterday? We were 'lead' by Viney, Hogan, Salem, Brayshaw yesterday simply in the way that they wanted to play the game. Jones and Vince were on- board also. These are the guys that are dragging the club out of the mire. Yesterday I again witnessed efforts from Garland and Dunn that just had me baffled. I'll be gob-smacked if Garland stays.

I reckon I'll vomit if I hear that again.... So poor, these long-suffering AFL footballers.... What a tough life Garland must have. Give me a [censored] break.

Take those glasses off. I'd give our second-rounder in a heart beat and I'd even consider our first-rounder if there were an exchange of picks.. I doubt GC would even entertain a second-rounder though. The bloke is an unbelievable talent.

Talking within the context of an AFL player's average time in the game, no it can't be changed much. Spencer for example. Fitzpatrick, McKenzie, Bail, Garland, McDonald etc... What can change is decision making. The Hawthorn side alone should be evidence enough. I also played junior footy with a number of great players who seemed to dominate and win B&F's every year yet none of them played AFL. He is a great runner because he is naturally athletically gifted. He has good genes. Sure he worked at it, but he's a 'naturally' good runner. Are you telling me he's a good runner because he trained so hard at junior level? I'm talking about the age at which he was drafted. 18. And the skill-set he possessed then that thrust him into elite teams being the Charges and then Vic Metro. I still beg to differ about where recruiters had him. West Coast may have had him going there, there were others that had him outside the top 30. I agree about the environment though, I agree it would have made a difference. As for AVB, his skills are actually fine. Kicking is not elite, but he's smart and makes the right decisions. Maybe revisit some of the games he featured in this year. Suggesting they're 'not even close' to AFL standard is complete tripe. My argument is that AVB is a more complete player as far as measuring 'footballing specific' skills go. Whilst he is not considered an elite user of the ball or 'runner', he has a much more well-rounded and even group of football-specific attributes which make for a player who is able to impact regularly. Vandenberg doesn't need to wait for possession on the 'outside' to be able to use his 'skills'. He can impact by contesting, overhead marking, using his smarts and vision if he does receive free ball etc etc. Part of the reason we got so many draft picks wrong over those years was because we picked players who had one or two 'standout' or 'elite' attributes but the rest were less than impressive. Blease Morton Strauss Maric Cook Watts All of these guys possessed one or two 'specialised' attributes and the rest were questionable. Our recruiting under the new guard has seen us draft players with a much greater balance of attributes.

A public nuisance? Wow, really serious. I find the whole thing ridiculous really. He is the unluckiest bloke to have been caught out when somebody provided that picture of him snorting you-know-what because I would say 80 percent of players within the AFL would be doing the same thing during the off-season. They're recreational drugs and the reality is that kids aged 18-26 ish will experiment with these kinds of drugs in a way that is perhaps less 'carefully thought out' than guys in the older age bracket. Of course it doesn't 'look good' when news like that is leaked but it ain't nothing but the truth. The way people paint these kids is as though they're criminals. Harley obviously has some settling down to do. As he gets older he'll learn to party more 'responsibly'. I guess the Hawks should get rid of Luke Hodge after his little incident on the Thursday night. The Captain of their club.... I'd have no issue in bringing Harley to the Dees and I'd back our coaches and development 100% in bringing the best out of him.

Garland continuing his fine season I see. Do supporters honestly think we're a better side with him? Haha. Seriously.

We have more chance of winning the flag next year than landing Dangerfield. Why on earth would be come to us when he'd be earning more than enough at either Adelaide or Geelong and be playing in winning teams. I can't for the life of me see how someone like him would want absurd coin. It just makes zero sense. Zero.

I love you. But. I also hate you.

I don't really understand why you say that. In his best performing year, he used to play on the opposition's dangerous smalls. That's when we didn't have a small close checking defender and that may have been the only time we've struggled without him. Since then, he's been pretty underwhelming. In and out of games. Turn-overs galore, stupid decision making, questionable intensity, questionable body language and rarely any offensive run or drive. We have Jetta now who has been super consistent for two years back there.We also won at Geelong without Garland this year. The fact that he hasn't signed as a RFA with us yet and we're coming into the last game of the season points to us wanting to move him on in my view. For what reason would we leave signing one of our senior players until the end of the season? If we wanted to keep him so badly why not have offered a contract this year?

And therein lies the problem that many supporters seem to have which can cloud judgement. I sincerely hope 'progressing well' means 'both parties believe it would be best for player and club to part ways'.

Contests hard and has a lovely left foot. That's all I've ever dreamt of. Sounds like a Hawks player. Good luck young blood.

Wel we all know BP's track record... Anyway, I choose to believe my mate in this particular instance. He's a better footballer in general than Strauss and I'm of the view that plenty of guys miss out on playing at the top level even though they have the required skill set. Sometimes what they're not blessed with is being 'naturally fit' nor do they have the will or desire to get themselves at their fittest at under-age level due to a whole range of reasons. If we're talking about football specific skills, I would rate my mate ahead of Strauss and genuinely he'd have had more of an 'impact' if given the opportunity. But of course if you miss out on Tac Cup and Vic Metro as an 18 year old, it becomes very tough to make it.. One need look no further than our very own AVB. Picked up as a mature-age rookie, displays all the traits of being a 'natural' footballer. Contests and competes hard, has solid fundemental skills, reads the game and ball well. Just 'knows' how to play. He's no athlete though. However now that he's in the system, he has the luxury of being paid to take all the time in the world to work on something every human can work on. Fitness. One thing that must be said is the following. As far as football specific skills go. Like kicking. It's a learned skill. Something you learn how to do as a kid and the better the technique, the better the kick. Once you reach the age of 18, these learned skills, (like kicking) are so ingrained that it becomes extremely difficult to change. Fitness however is not a learned skill. Al humans can get fitter. Some of course are blessed with advantages but as an AFL footballer, you only need 'work ethic' to be able to reach a suitable level. Out of all of the great AFL midfielders out there, nobody ever mentions who is 'fitter' or 'fittest'. They're all extremely fit. Strauss was an athlete first and foremost and displayed one great football specific attribute which was his kicking. However as far as being a 'natural footballer' goes, he was never that. But due to the strong traits that he did display as well as playing in a strong APS school footy program, he was given the opportunity to play Tac Cup and then for Vic Metro. And as a HB flanker with a great kick and a naturally good tank, you're always going to 'look' good at that level. I know it's off topic but it interests me anyway. BP was pretty lucky to be an AFL recruiter I must say. Wouldn't mind a crack at it myself.

That wasn't BP himself was it? Can only imagine it was. He certainly wasn't rated top 25 by the overwhelming majority of the football world. Regardless, not all recruiters turn out to be correct. Just like some 'mates' don't turn out to be correct.

He was clearly too far gone to make amends.And frankly, I always thought Sylvia was the kind of guy who preferred to be known 'socially' amongst the AFL and outside world rather than being known for his ability and work ethic as an AFL player.

Roflcopters.

As for Crossy. Right time, glad the club did it. I have no doubt he's been a pretty inspiring leader to have had over the past two years and I'm sure many of his professional footballing and training habits have rubbed off on some of our younger guys. Played with the intensity and heart that you'd hope every player would display every week. Was always a liability with ball in hand and his pace is now gone. Absolutely the right call. No need to [censored] a half dead-horse. Even if that horse had a heart as big as Phar lap. Congratulations on a monumental career Daniel Cross. You've been huge.

Congratulations, you're the first poster I've ever put on 'ignore' on DL.