grazman

Has Joe ever been a CEO?... whilst I appreciated his support of the club I knew the post was BS when it suggested he'd come back in a 'hands on" role. You may as well suggest that Dick Pratt fills out his own tax returns.

Prior to the draft it was known he was a massive Eagles fan and was being compared to .... yep you guessed it Ben Cousins.

Thanks Fork. As a fellow interstater I can share your enthusiasm. Fortunately the Dees will be up here in Canberra in a couple of weeks and the club's done the right thing and sent out letters inviting members to attend the training sessions. It's all looking encouraging. Good to see Beamer, Col and Riv all up and about.... now just to get Flash, Wheels and Bartman back on track.

I wasn't saying that experience was the only characteristic of a leader - there are many more obviously. To a large degree it's the way someone is raised that fosters leadership. I disagree that leaders are born. To argue that is to suggest that leadership can't be taught. If that's the case, a lot of organisations are in real trouble. As with most things in life, what really matters is a willingness to learn and adapt.

Players often say that a new coach is a good opportunity to wipe the slate clean. I think everyone that is ready to slash their wrists ought to have a long hard look at how Dean Bailey has approached everything so far.... He's a very smart operator. What has he lost if the likes of Yze, Robbo or Miller don't measure up? Most of the people on here have written them off anyway. They either step up to the plate and take on the responsibility or it's situation no change.... the media beat about the age of the leadership group is crap... in virtually every field of endeavour you care to name - leaders are the one's with the experience.

I imagine that the footy department and finance department may have completely different expectations for the coming season. Fiscally speaking its usually best to go for the more conservative estimate in trying to calculate the bottom line. In footy terms Bailey has consistently stated that he isn't setting limits on our on field performances.

I think you're right Nasher, and I think Fan is too, I think back to 2000 and think Neale missed one of the fundamental reasons why this was his most successful year. Rather than try to build on what got us to the grand final he adopted a negative mind set of avoiding being belted again.... anyway I digress, you can achieve very good results by playing younger players, particularly like in 2000 when our hand was forced by the loss of key older players. U23s from that year and the games they played were: Bruce (19), Farmer (22), Green (19), Grgic (21), Johnstone (13), Collins (13), Nicholson (15), Robertson (24), Simmonds (21), Wheatley (12), Whelan (16), White (23), Yze (24) { McDonald (17) and Woewodin (24) were 24 years old} That's a very large chunk of your side.... So to answer your last question... I'd be very disappointed if a number of our U/23s don't go past our over 30s to become the core of our side (only Bruce, Green, Wheatley and Whelan are true mid age players on the current list) ... history alone would dictate theres a good chance that a number of older players are likely to be struck down with injury. I am very excited about the prospects of our juniors. I rate many of them more highly than others I guess...I certainly think there's better quality there than in 2000.

I'm glad you rate Brisbane Vibes (and I know it's not just because you're a banana bender) - I do too. I think they're a real smokey, but I think their weakness maybe one of our strengths and that is their U/23 runners. Experience is invaluable, but old legs are easily tired and easily injured. I think Danners problem was that he became so focused on trying to replicate a winning premiership formula he lost sight of the intrinsic strength of our list. I simply raised the Geelong comparison, not because I think our lists are the same, but to demonstrate the old adage that a week is a long time in footy, a year is even longer. It's still January and I'm getting excited already.

Fortunately for Geelong, their football department had a bit more knowledge than the average punter at the start of 07 when a lot of their supporters were calling for major overhauls of their list that lacked any quality leaders, that were too slow and had only won two finals matches since 2000. I wonder how many during the course of the year admitted to eating humble pie? I'm not necessarily expecting to see us make the finals this year (though it wouldn't necessarily surprise me) simply because a new coach brings new game plans and philosophies that can take a few players a bit of time to adjust to and for it all to gel. As Fan has very nicely pointed out though, injuries do count. Interestingly we weren't the worst club on the injury front, Brisbane lost more games to players injured than we did, but I suspect we lost more players injured during matches than anyone else. In modern footy losing more than one player a match injured is just going to smash you out on the park.

The fact that so many rookie's are still coming through and surprising clubs is testament to just how much of an inexact science recruiting is. I like that we've taken three talls with our last picks, obviously not all will make it, but it's a low cost option for high risk "types". I also like that Valenti was at least given a spot on a list to try to take the next step. I know some don't rate him, but at least he's got an opportunity - who knows he may surprise a few.

All the very best Craig, I think it's an understatement to say the Tigers need someone of your calibre to help them sort out their problems. I sincerely doubt you'll post on here again now you've crossed the road, and we'll all be the poorer for it.

That was Dean Wallis.

Wheels 45 seems to be all over this. I’ve never seen either Grimes or Rance play, but if what Wheels is saying is right then I’m happy we didn’t take Rance or any other NQR KPP. There’s a reason why Rivers is a better backman than Carroll and it’s got nothing to do with size, or courage or speed and everything to do with awareness and balance. Given that, I’m more than comfortable looking at McNamara’s bio and that we picked him and not some of the others. Just another quick point on our KPP forwards. I’m not desperate for a power forward like others are. We now have Morton, Bate, Dunn and maybe Newton who can all run through the midfield or play forward. I think people are still hung up in the 70s when they talk of Forwards. I’m very excited about the flexibility that we’ve built into both our midfield and forward structure.

Gee Burgan gets good mail. He's slotted Morton and Cheney and has listed both Grimes and Maric as two of the handful we were looking at for 14 and 21 respectively.

All the picks look really sound, but they always do at this time of year. Obviously we've targetted skill, endurance and character, but also reading the play as well. I really like the comments by the SA Development manager on our last pick McNamara... " He played reserves for us and I didn't see him lose a contest. He plays half back but will develop into a centre half back. he reads the play well, is cool under pressure, he wins contested footy and is very disciplined in everything he does." Gee I wonder who he'll be compared to? Just by way of interest. Daniel Bell (186)is 2cms taller than Leo Barry(184) and 2cms shorter than O'Keefe (188). Height is one prerequisite for playing KPP, but if you have enough of the other attributes, then the difference between a 192cm and 194 cm defender is irrelevant.

Here's my two cents worth... The AFL draft age is too young. Would Lachie Henderson be a good investment at Pick 4 given his injury riddled year, we know the margin of error on a player like Masten isn't nearly as great. Was the club right in speculating on bottom age players like Dunn, Newton and Bate? Would it have taken Molan at pick 9 if it had seen him play until he was 20? The draft is based on the American NFL, NBA etc, but almost exclusively their players come from the college system, and it'd be interesting to see the success rates for their first and second selections compared to the AFL. The system won't change, which is why clubs will continue to draft 17 Year olds that already have OP because as an elite footballer they play in excess of 35 games a year, and it's why at 18 most KPPs are a gamble - there are too many unknowns for the vast majority of them. It's also why it's blatantly unfair to allow some clubs to have a greater number of rookie's than others. It increases the odds of them being able to identify talent not exposed to the rest of the competition.

I imagine there'd be a couple of people squirming uneasily over their cornflakes this morning. Good to see that at least Trevor Grant isn't afraid to fire some shots across the bow of the AFL. http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/com...5E19742,00.html

I stand to be corrected, but like Sylvinator I was given to believe that Embley is contracted and can't walk. He won't be released - unless Fonz bends them over - which he won't. Wishful thinking on the behalf of many Carlton supporters.

I know it's poor form to be quoting oneself.... but who would have thunk it. Greg Gecko and Fat Pratt. I still remember the eighties...vaguely and without much nostalgia. Like you Jack, I'm hoping for the good of the game someone with some kahuna's steps up to the plate. At least Jason McCartney turned them down... I hope for the right reasons. and for those that believe that all was not necessarily all that it seemed it was with Judd. They've resurrected a thread on BF from the 23rd April where Judd was seen meeting with Pratt and Co...

It's unlikely that the AFL will do anything over Pratt, and the Victorian Gaming Commission (I'm not sure of its official title) will probably spare them the embarrassment. It's highly unlikely Pratt will be seen as having the necessary requisites now to hold a gaming licence which means he becomes ineligible to sit on the Caaarton board - unless they get rid of their pokies. He's served his purpose anyway. The AFL is a laughing stock - but that's what happens when you put success ahead of integrity.

I wonder about Palmer. The interest from him seems to be a lot stronger in Victoria than WA. The general consensus on most of the sites from WA people is that it is Morton, Masten and then Palmer. I have full confidence in whoever CAC and the team go with, but I'd be a little surprised if it were Palmer. Kreuzer, Cotchin and Morton are almost universally acknowledged as the top three outstanding talents in the draft, but the two biggest queries for me are 1. Will Richmond by-pass Cotchin for Morton ( a possibility, but only speculative at this stage based on trading for his brother) 2. If Cotchin is gone would West Coast draft Morton given the problems they've had with his brother and father ( I'd think this is greater possibility) I think there's no chance of Cotchin slipping below pick three and a slim chance Morton might. Masten, Henderson or Palmer? If we take Henderson then he'd have to be special.

I don't buy the West Coast supporter arguments that they've been punished enough by losing Cousins and Judd. Surely both are a direct result of their own poor management of the situation. They've harmed the sport enormously here interstate I can tell you. I'm not confident that the AFL commission will punish them (though I think big Mike might want to). - If they impose draft sanctions at all it would be more appropriate that they lost their original first pick in the draft rather the pick (13) rather than the one they got for trading Judd.

Unfortunately we are as much to blame as anyone. Given that the current format is a compromise then the AFL can wash it's hands of trying to create the perspective of an even draw. Would we rather play West Coast at the MCG in a home game or Essendon? We just can't get enough people through the gates at the MCG against the interstate sides to make a profit. Those games lose us money. Scheduling them for the Dome is no good as we don't want to play there. I agree there should be a more even distribution of Friday, Saturday and Sunday games, but as far as scheduling matrix's go the whole thing is very complicated because there are so many requests that need to be factored in. We got our wishes for all our home games (Manuka excepted) to be at the G, and for more equity in the reduction of six day breaks (and no five day breaks this year) It's the first time for a while, what we need now is people to start turning up to games, because bums on seats is the only thing the AFL and it's broadcast partners listen to.

In the five senior games he's played in four years he averages only 4.1 possessions per game. Injuries aside, he hasn't found the ball when he's been picked. I don't know what his WAFL form is like, but 2003 was a long time ago.

That'd be a real fillip for a bloke that many bagged, but has a heart bigger than the MCG.