45HG

But a quality midfielder with silky skills, good awareness etc. who is rated as a match-winner is not easy to come by. And the point i make, beautifully put by Chook, is that a great midfield is more integral to winning a premiership than having good talls. Now obviously if we don't rate him as being that good, and we think Natta or Watts etc. are better then by all means take one of them, but if they're on a par i'd go with the silky midfielder. (Please keep in mind i'm talking generalities as i have no seen any of them play)

Yeah, and they've done well. But please, comparing Brock with G. Lyon or Stynes, even White i don't think so. Junior has been great, but never superstar of the comp and Travis, well, what can i say. Had the ability to set the world alight, but really only had one consistent year

I understand the sarcasm, but don't really feel it's necessary in this situation

Dime a dozen for a midfielder? In the last 15 years we've had Neitz, Schwarz, Lyon, Stynes, Ingerson, Robertson, White and a very promising up and comer in Rivers as KPP players. Possibly the best names to play for the MFC in recent history. Yet how many brilliant midfielders? Woey had one great year. Bruce and Green arguably should not have been put in there, and with a superstar midfied probably wouldn't have been. Viney was great, but generally our midfielder has ticked over due to a great number of workers who can click as a unit. A superstar midfielder could be just what our team needs.

I'd love to see a few other boys give him some help in the middle if he struggles again with the tag.

What a gun!!

I think a lot of what has been said is pretty redundant. If the only thing that attracts kids is winning, then tell the MFC to win.... We should really be coming up with ideas of how to get kids more involved with the club, and how to get them to enjoy the experience of barracking for the club.

That's awesome mate! Congrats! Frame that one for sure

I think it sounds like a great idea and congrats for coming up with it/proposing it to the club! Now i'm certainly no expert at business, but surely the way to go forward is to have as many avenues as possible. This couldn't be too hard to set up could it? If it was part of a membership package or something it could just roll into that? Could anyone here with more experience tell me why the club would chose a very select way of helping the club, rather than present peope with 10-12 options where they can pick the best one(s)

Heard a good quote on the radio a few weeks ago. Basically he was saying how many more supporters of AFL could there be in Sydney? They're already not getting great attendances/memberships/attention, and he said "it's a worry, because it's not like there are footy fans in Sydney that say "i really want to go to the footy this week, but Sydney are playing" Surely if there was enough interest in footy to support the two teams, the Swans would be a lot bigger than they are at present

Don't forget our youth blockbuster! Maybe the Pope can come

I don't agree with putting a possible debutant as an emergency. I say, make him be ready, then when he gets there, start him on

Fair enough then. Out of interest, do you see Wheels as a part of our future? If so, for how long? And what about Newton? It is tough to give ins and outs for our team, they're all 12!!

Why Bell? Already fought his way back into the team. Had 19 touches at 94%, 6 tackles and played pretty well on BJ

I think it has a lot more to do with perceived success that allows children to follow some teams more strongly than others. At the school i work at, very rarely do any kids switch teams, and despite 7 years in the widerness (at least three quarters of their lives) the Carlton brand has always been very strong, as has the Essendon despite their recent history. But beyond all else is the "strength in numbers" aspect to supporting a footy club that kids love, and of course here i speak of Collingwood. Even after a loss, pies fans feel free to talk about footy, and any barb you give them about their team being no good, they basically respond with "but it's collingwood." One Premiership in 50 years, not one during any of their lives, and yet they sincerely feel part of the best and biggest club going around. I feel sorry for the 3-4 dees fans in the school, because not only do they go it alone, but there's a very slim chance they will be able to grow their numbers. Pies fans meanwhile attract kids who otherwise know nothing about footy, and usually continue to, because they will claim to follow the "mighty" black and white. The hows and whys can be debated all day, with little reward. All i care about is how we get more kids to celebrate the dees, and i don't think there's any quick fix. Wins, and characters like Aussie surely help, but our numbers weren't higher in '04-'06. I think our public perception that we are a weak cub who require AFL assistance gets down to the kids' level and hurts their view of our footy club. Sure they don't read the papers, but they watch the footy, hear it on the radio and see it on the tv. Somehow we need to build every achievement we have whilst continually displaying a powerful club image.

Does the game start at 440?

What's all this talk of winning premierships and sustained success attracting kids? Freo and Collingwood have tonnes of young fans

Fixed Seriously though i see it as 50/50 In just 8 weeks our group has learnt a lot (after that horrid start) and with a good run with injuries you never know. Mind you, wouldn't surprise me if we have another bad one, but i would be extremely surprised if it was this bad

Who'd have thought at the start of the year 59 out of 64 dees fans would have Garlan def in their 09 season backline? I do like what Stef has shown, but i also feel he's been Garland, Rivers and Warnock. Beginning to worry about where Frawley fits in. Bell, Bruce and Buckley i see more as midfielders, and if Bell can't fit in there he might be in trouble.

Averaging 18.6 touches a game, season low of 11. Fail to see how that proves the game has gone past him, especially as that is his best return by over 3 possies a game. Disposal efficiency of 81.82, 94.12, 68.75, 90.62 and 82.35 Strengthened our defence, added composure and experience to a young backline.

I just think we expect him to do something around the ground

We have two wins left. I want to beat the Bombers and the Tigers.

I spoke to Wheels at the dinner about how i always felt he played the forwardline pretty well, the 2 times he's been there anyway, in that he constantly led, presented, moved around and kept attacking the footy. He said he reckoned a lot of forwards don't know how to play the position, in that they don't know what's hard to defend and what would make their role easier. I wouldn't mind seeing him there as an experiment, hardness up forward, esp as his drive from the backline seems a little depleted. Perhaps as an experiment he and Davey could switch

Would like to see Whelan in for the next 7 to see if his body can hold up to the rigours.

Had to listen to that moron BT go on about how Melbourne fans don't turn up before the Dogs game. Saying this despite the fact that our average attendance for home games this year is better than the following teams: Port Adelaide, Brisbane, North Melbourne, Geelong, and the team that we were about to play whilst he said it, the Western Bulldogs. Joke. Obviously it's still not where we would all like it to be, but with the smallest supporter base in the game, we go alright IMO