45HG

I think a big problem for them in naming a sporting team, aside from all the rest, is where do you draw the line? Will Geelong then get heritage because of being the first regional team? Essendon the first premiership team? Sydney the first interstate team? WCE the first non-Melbourne affiliated team? Adelaide the first interstate team to go back to back? St. Kilda and the Bulldogs for only winning two combined premiership in over 100 seasons? Tony Lockett's remains for being the top goalscorer? The MCG, because it's in the same shape it was when it began? I don't know. I like the idea, but i would never hope it would be more than a nice touch for our club. Can't see it happening though

A crowd of 10,000, which would be very generous, may not worry them, but my point is that it won't make them want a third game in the capital. Especially if it means two without the Swans

I say we fight for it. Why not, another additional aspect to our great club, and one that is probably deserved. However the AFL, and Vlad, will probably hate it and brand it "irrelevant" as apparently our history has no relevance to our club

Didn't the ACT minister for sport say he wouldn't fund more than 2 AFL matches there? So i don't see us getting three unless we're persuasive, and will we have to fight the dogs to get the 2nd game away from them? Also, if the ACT is already unsure about funding more games, i'm not sure how they'd go listening to hosting a Melbourne v West Coast game at Manuka which only gets 16000 to the game when it's in Melbourne, let alone in another state

I'd say Johnson has shown much more than Jamar in terms of being a good footballer, which means much more than being a good tap ruckman

I've had the same argument with mates. They reckon he can't kick over 40. I vividly remember him against Freo have a set shot for goal with the man on the mark at least 48 out and him popping it through, and i'm pretty sure i've seen him kick at least one more from 50. I think he has a longer kick than he often uses, but that's because he seems a clever player who can move to space well and can take marks closer to goal

Neitz put himself on the LTI list before he retired, so he could just take that spot

Wow, so you have Jamar as a negative?

Now you have to start you runup from inside the bigger circle. You know how there's the center circle and that bigger circle around it? From memory it came in to counteract ruckman taking massive runups and bashing their knees into each other, as quite a few ruckmen went down with ACL's due to ruck collisions. It hurt White because his spring was no longer as important in winning a center bounce as he was unable to generate enough speed to leap over another ruckman. He's been good since, but not as good

White pre-circle restrictions versus an in-form Stynes would have been fascinating

I see what you mean, but so far this year we've played about 10 decent quarters. Won one game, which was only two quarters against a rubbish team. The Eagles were shocking on the weekend, but did smash a quality team in Adelaide and i think are more likely to pull a few upset wins.

But we can always lose against WCE this season, giving us a game up the sleeve so to speak. I hate talking like this, but honestly it's the only course of action our club can take

One week accepted. At first i thought it looked a bit softer than his other charges, but on seeing the last replay it really is a poor hit. Lucky he could plead guilty to cut a week off the suspension

If we have a few wins up our sleeve, i'd rather beat Essendon (once they've past 5 wins) Just hate that team, and their fans. Would also like a loss up our sleeve so we can have a real crack at beating the Tigers in Round 22.

Michael Christian on Saturday "The Hawks look more dangerous when they're playing well" Um....Errr...

Anyone else notice the absurd amount of whinging that comes from "Big-Bad-Barry"? It amazes me. At least Richo comes from passion and frustration, usually stemming from crap delivery and umpiring. Hall just comes off as a spoilt little brat, great service, usually good umpires, but still whinges about everything

Given the vast opportunities presented to people in a society such as this, and that children are not inherently like their parents, it's not surprising many kids probably wouldn't want to play AFL

I'm not great at drafting issues, and don't pretend to know much about it, but could this be because a key forward can be seen as more of a quick fix? Drafting a midfielder always seems to carry the issues of; how quick is he, how well can he break a tag, how much endurance, can he play forward or back as well, can he mark, can he tackle, what's his work rate like etc. Forwards on the other hand always seem to generate talk of, will kick lots of goals, can mark and kick. Perhaps there has been a perception that a young gun forward is more likely to turn into a good AFL forward and as such must be taken early.

If only for a team who played with as much endeavour as Wheels. His kicking seems to have fallen away a bit, perhaps because he's been out of AFL for a while, but numerous times he put his body on the line yesterday to get the ball to a teammate. Not even through a possession on occassion, but just through a tap or a knock on. He also laid a top shepherd to allow us run out of the backline. Not every player has to do it all the time, and go out of the way for it, but every player has to take their turn when their number is called. It's called being a part of a team and looking after your mates, as taking one yourself often can free up a teammate. I think it's what Sydney do very well, many times i saw them take a hit, or at least hold the ball for an extra half second, to allow a mate to run into space. For what it's worth, i also don't think that dropping Dunn for such behaviour will help fix the club's problem. Many players get dropped, play at Sandy, and come back seemingly the same player they were before. It must be a player-led inniative that encompasses each player, new or old, with a set of guidelines necessary to wear the red and blue. Dropping an individual i don't think will achieve this, it must be a club-wide approach. Players shouldn't go hard for fear of being dropped, they should go in hard for fear of letting down their mates

It would start with having a proper leadership group i suppose

Did this really need it's own thread? Why couldn't you have just said this in the other one? Seriously, perhaps a thread should be appoved by a moderator before it goes up.

D3, i'm largely with you. Personally i'm fine with the question of whether he has sons and what they're doing, but i think that's almost where it should finish unless they are rated 16-17 year olds. Commenting on how a 13 year old is going in his school footy is hardly talking about a potential draft opportunity, just because his old man was good. Plenty of good players have kids who want to do other things, just like plenty of parents who do other things raise kids who are great footy players. A LOT can happen between the age of 13-17, and the only point i see in people claiming them as potential draft material is for someone to raise their own ego in an attempt to say "i told you so" Not to mention that you should never question a player before you've seen them, i think a 12 year old should not be judged on AFL prowess when there is so much more to life

or the 86 metre 50 penalty

Agreed. Get something for them while we still can!!

By the way, where did this term squibbed come from? Swear i heard it for the first time about 3 weeks ago. It is an interesting one, because i think it reflects very pointedly on the culture of a team. How do you train a person to become harder at the ball? You create a team culture where it becomes the norm, and the necessity, to do so. How you do that? I'm not sure.