Jarka

Who was the last team to win a premiership without a very good ruckman? 2006 - West Coast - Dean Cox/Seaby 2005 - Sydney - Ball/Jolly 2004 - Port - Lade/Brogan 2003 - Lions - Keating/Charman 2002 - Lions - Keating 2001 - Lions - Keating/McDonald 2000 - Essendon - Barnes/Alessio The answer is Essendon, but they were so dominant all across the groudn it didn't matter, but let's face it we are a loooong way from having a team like the bombers in 2000. Make no mistake, rucks are important, more so in real finals footy, where every inch is fought to gain. Our only ruckman has been hamstrung by rule changes and close to retirement, other than that Neaves is our next best prospect. Jamar and PJ and good VFL players - at best. Ruckman and KPP are a major problem for us.

Regardless of injuries Sylvia is starting to concern me, he seems to have large patches of a game where he completely drifts out of the game. Although i did prefer him when he's playing out of the middle to the forward line though, where he gets to play more of an impact player.

Any player over 26 on our list has to have a positive affect on the rest of the list, and a bloke who after he gets dragged takes off his boots and refuses to go back on does not fit into that category. A great FF he could be, a leader he definitely isn't.

Well, I didn't say that exactly but it's all cool

It was on the tv, can't remember which ones though.

WTF?!!!! I've just read this post after responding to RR and read some of the others, and I'm not [mod edit] happy of what you're accusing me of here.

I was referring to some media personalities, for example after he took that great mark a couple of them made the comment that that will be all that he is remembered for. Others too have said that he won't make it, but I don't keep a list. Why do you ask?

On Miller, don't be surprised if at least one club makes an inquiry on him. I'm not saying we'll get something good but I've heard that the doggies may be interested.

He continues to prove alot of people wrong, let's hope this trend continues

That final list doesn't inspire me much, there's only one name on it that I'd want, however having said that I don't know much about Bailey's coaching abilities.

Let's not make any premature judgements without knowing exactly what happened....

I'll add my two cents to the discussion. - Yze has been a wonderful player for Melbourne during his career - Recently his form has slipped, perhaps to due age, perhaps other reasons. - If his contract ended this year it would be likely that he'd retire. - He has little or no trade value On the draft those in the know claim it's not very deep. Very good rucks (quite deep with rucks) and KPP's, with a handful of excellent midfielders. If we end up with 3 picks in the top 25 we should have 3 quality kids.

We need a captian who's in the action, so Junior would be a natural choice because of the way he plays however I'm concerned by two things, first is his age and second his ability to communicate to the media. Other than junior I have no idea who it could be, which is a bit sad. McLean needs to play consistent footy before he's even considered.

Haha, fragile rock, funny comparison

Lack of leaders has been our main problem since Viney and Lyon retired. Todd Viney /sigh, what I'd give to have him playing for us right now.....

Doesn't Yze have another year on his contract? Can't see us paying him out, absolutely pointless because the amount will still count towards our cap. Mind you if this was his last year of his contract then I'd be all for it... Warren, we'll have two promoted from the rookie list in Bode and Neaves and hopefully we'll have 3 picks in the top 22 picks so it won't be too bad.

I'm more interested in the 'hit out to advantage' stat.

I remember when Darren Bennett first started playing, after a kick he ran down the field and tackled someone to the ground, and as he's a pretty big bloke he did some decent damage. Everyone was impressed because kickers don't normally like to get into the physical part of the game

It's not really that surprising, from my understanding Neitz and Daniher have always been close, ditto with Riley and Daniher. Also considering Riley and Daniher continue to have weekly meetings it sort of makes sense in a bizarre type of way.

McDonald and White will be the top 2, not sure on order though.

It looks like we'll now end up with picks 4 and 21, so with both Kreuzer and Cotchin most likely be gone I hope we get one of the bigger guys. I'd be happy with either Henderson or Morton, however the more I see and hear about Gaertner the more I'm interested. 196cm and described as an 'athletic freak' by Weaver, this is the type of player we desperately need in our forward line and imo would definitely be worth the risk. Ideally it would be great to trade for another early pick (would cost us though) and get Gaertner and either Henderson or Morton, it would set up us very nicely for the future.

http://demonland.nozzs.org/forum/index.php...amp;#entry73497 Post #12 You a wannabe footy expert ym? Good to see you're prepared to laugh at yourself though

Yeah, he is awesome as he has been proving all year.

The doggies were very ordinary tonight, right from the very start.

I think it has everything to do with it, for example most Melbourne fans expected a top four finish this year which would mean a very decent team. In reality we hve gaping holes all around the ground that need to be properly addressed before we can go forward, and drafting is the beginning of the process.