Jarka

Add 'ml' to the end of the link to make it work.

Hypothetical question. It's round 22, Melbourne have won a total of four games so far this season and currently in 14th spot. We're on the same points as Carlton but ahead of them by percentage. We play Carlton in our final game and if we beat them we lose our priority pick but we won't move into 13th because Fremantle has seven wins, however Carlton will receive a priority pick before anyone else (they only have 4 wins), leaving us with picks 4 and 20 (Carlton picks 1, 3 & 19, Richmond picks 2 & 18). But, if we lose we end up in 15th spot, we get a priority pick so we'll get picks 2, 18 and 20 (Richmond 1, 17 & 19, Carlton 3 and 21). What do we do?

Collier is a real gem, is Bellchambers playing as well?

Not a bad offer :D

Palmer won't go at 3.

Haydo, is this just opinion or do you have any inside info? (No need to name source if you do)

I'm with you on this Finks

It's irrelevant who the players endorse, they are the last group of people who should have a say.

Good to see you on the forum again.

Good thread Sylvinator, who do you see as being the next group of leaders coming through?

Why is Ratten the man?

Now is the time to investigate all areas of the club and with a new coach coming in we've got a chance to start afresh in all areas if we want to. One area I think needs to be discussed is our relationship with Sandringham. Sandy has been very successfull over the last 5 years and it's clear that they've benfited from the deal, which is great to see, but has it been the best way for us to develop our youngsters? The positives for the relationship -Obviously the main positive is our young developing players are in a winning environment, they also have to play very well just to get into Sandy's firsts. -Finances, currently it's cheaper to have this setup instead of the Geelong way (Although the AFL have guaranteed that this will change next year) -We're contributing to the VFL and to Sandringham who has alot of history and is an important part of Victorian football. The negatives -Only 12 players can play each week. Which means that if we have no injuries someone will miss out on playing firsts footy regardless of their ability or level of development. -We don't have absolute control of how they're played. Sandringham use our players to win games for Sandy, not to get the best development out of them In my opinion this is the most important issue and I'll grab a quote from demonland's latest Sandringham report to illustrate my point. Up untill now Bode just hasn't had this opportunity, some could argue that he didn't deserve it, I'd argue that given we've drafted a young person then we should do all that's possible to help them succeed because we have a responsibility to that kid and it costs a heap of cash just to get a player onto our list. Other examples that I can think of right now are playing Neaves as second to Jamar and Newton starting games on the bench or playing him on the wing. Jamar will be delisted at the end of the year (or traded if we can find a wood duck), Neaves has far more potential but playing him sparingly off the bench is not contributing to his development. The Newton case is a no-brainer, sandy was full of KP forwards so there was no room for him. The AFL is going to make it affordable for clubs like Melbourne to have a stand alone team, let's not completely dismiss the idea.

Garry Lyon has idenitified key position players and ruckman as a big witness [/sarcasm on] gee what a surprise [/sarcasm off]

Ok, there's been some discussion about possible alternatives so I thought I'd kick it off and suggest a couple od replacements. Firstly with Walls, I don't understand why he's on the panel. His reputation right now is probably as low as it's ever been and from memory he hasn't worked with a club for quite awhile. He's articles have also been pretty poor of late, in fact it wasn't that long ago that a piece of his work was 'discussed' on this forum quite strongly. My suggestion to replace him is David Parkin, he's worked with alot of clubs recently and is still highly respected in the footy world. Anthony Ingerson, I've already mentioned it once before but I'll post it again because it appears to have been missed. As far as I'm aware he's been concentrating on his business since retiring, what skills does he bring to the panel? Anyway, i don't see why we can't get any other player who has retired recently who would be more 'in touch' with the modern game. Ingerson last played in 2001, alot has changed since then. Danny Frawley is currently an assisstant coach with another team, anyone find that odd that he's on our panel? I'd prefer to have a past coach who isn't either applying for the role or currently coaching another team. I'd be happy with Grant Thomas, he's demonstrated he knows what he's doing in the business and there wouldn't be a conflict of interest. They are the three main ones I'd question, but the name Stan Alves also came up in the above discussion and from memory someone bagged him and mentioned him being a loser while his time at the Saints. Perhaps my memory is a little hazy in my old age but I seem to remember Alves getting a so-so Saints list into a Grand Final. Alves would be perfect for the job. Anyway enough of my rambling, we as supporters don't know what's going on behind closed doors, perhaps all these guys have been approached and turned down the job, perhaps the guys on the panel are the only ones who wanted to do it? We just don't know, however, this forum is all about discussing the possibilities and expressing our opinions and sometimes I think a couple of people here forget this....

This has been on the cards for about 6 weeks with Davey, he's been getting more and more frustrated and giving away soft free kicks. Hopefully the holiday will calm him down a bit.

Also look out for Levi Greenwood from Port Adelaide, had a reasonable carnival but has also been playing very well for Port's firsts

We lack marking targets up forward which means that the opposition can double team guys like Robo because they know we'll go to them every time.

Absolutely, he ran hard, marked well, tackled strongly and his disposal was pretty good under pressure. He is definitely proving alot of people wrong with his performances since coming back.

His disposal hasn't been great as normal, however he will be 32 next year, I rest my case.

I agree Jaded, Davey's actions were embarrassing for a player of his quality.

Davey has just lost the plot. You just beat me to it

Poor Brad Miller, absolutely no midfield pressure means he doesn't have a chance against Jon Brown.

The problem with that is that the required athletes would need a certain level of skill to be able to learn our sport, nd if they're good enough to do that then there'd be good enough to succeed at their owns sports. So why leave your country to play a different sport when they can earn ten times more at home than we can afford? The irish experiment worked so well because they're still amateur's and in alot of cases coming to Australia gives them more opportunities and the chance to make more money. Sheedy went to the states after Barassi and co's success with the Irish, but it was an absolute failure. I'd prefer us looking at Africa, but now the other sport we're competing against is soccer, which is now reaching every country in the world.

Overall a very good team YM, just a couple of adjustments though if I may. Jeff White is easily a better player than Strawbs O'Dwyer, but I'm very happy that you have Glenn Lovett on the bench, he's sometimes forgotten because of his injuries. Swap Johnson and Grinter around, AJ was always a back pocket player. Sugar Healy is lucky to get a spot. If you saw Healy and Flower play can I then assume that you saw Laurie Fowler and Peter Moore play? Both would definitely make the bench at the very least.

Well let's look at them individually. G.Lyon - Now works in the media. Perhaps a good one, I guess he's as knowledgeable as anyone else. D.Frawley - Isn't he an assistant coach with another team? M.Maclure - No confidence in this guy at all. R.Walls - I never read any of his articles, I'd much prefer David Parkin to this clown. P.Schwab - I know Schwabby personally, he's got alot of knowledge on the game and is still in touch with what's happening A.Ingerson - Was a great player but as far as I'm aware he's been concentrating on his building business since retiring, what knowledge and skills will he bring forward? I have to say Apocalypse that I have to agree with you.