QueenC

Oh Finksy, I am with you......almost But I am certainly wishing and hoping and praying with all fingers crossed that you are completely right!!!

Wanting him dropped is fine, popular even, but that is not what you said in your original post. You said you were grateful that he was injured. And frankly that is sad, no matter what you think of a player.

Nice article, thanks for posting it deesrock...... And he really does sound like a lovely kid and it is an absolute pleasure to see him doing well.

Amen to that Deano..... I have said the same thing on a few occasions now, but I have no doubt that he will play soon. Of course we all want to see a player that could be a great part of our future (especially when Neitz does hang it up) but as has been stated, plenty of times, there must be a reason, that escapes the minds on here, as to why he has not been sighted as yet. And they really should know his capabilities and readiness better than us. So please lets not look on the poor kid as some kind of all encompassing saviour for what is a wretched season

This is neither here nor there as a direct response to this thread. But a speech Brett Kirk made at a Swans function (the jersey presentation, I think) earlier this year was published in The Daily Telegraph in Sydney a little while ago, and to say that it was inspiring is an understatement. We know he has made similar rising speeches at the breaks (particularly at three quarter time) in a game to get his Swans up, and to me he is simply an amazing leader. And I have watched a hell of a lot of Swans games, given it can be all we get up here!!! And trust me, this makes for a very good read, so if you have the time...... Brett Kirk's enterprise By Rebecca Wilson March 31, 2007 12:00 I AM handing over the column this week to a young man who I consider to be one of the finest captains of any sport anywhere in the world. The Sydney Swans co-captain Brett Kirk made this speech at the club's annual guernsey presentation in Sydney last Monday night. He was welcoming the new draft picks and rookies to the Swans family.......

I'm a little late to this particular party, but its great to see you guys really enjoying yourselves !!! And Congratulations to Brock on his first 50 games for the Dees...... Its a great achievement with plenty more to come :D !!!

Demons fire up in MCG access row Martin Boulton | June 1, 2007 MELBOURNE'S continuing anger at its restricted training access to the MCG spilled over yesterday as Fremantle was permitted to train at the stadium ahead of tonight's match with Collingwood....... The Demons' limited access to the playing surface long has been a source of frustration for Daniher, who said the club's regular requests to train there were refused mostly...... MCG tenants Melbourne, Richmond and Collingwood, as well as clubs playing home games at the venue, are allowed to train on the ground during the first six weeks of the season, weather permitting........ So I assume that all tenants are in the same boat regarding the use of the ground. (I am choosing to ignore the fact that Collingwood and Richmond have their own training facilities) But in the end it is hypocritical to let one team on and not another, especially one which is as attached to the MCG as we are. And it only highlights our fairly obvious deficiencies in this particular area.

Jason Cloke worth something? I wouldn't have thought so Besides we have enough of our own on-field problems without drafting any more. Sorry.

Either way there are two ways to look at this..... If it is true and he has a serious (or long term) injury then leave him out for the season, and let him do what he needs to do to be right for 2008. If Channel 10 is wrong (which would be shocking, truly) then he will be back only if and when he is ready and hopefully not before. No point rushing. And we can either cry in our hands or breath a sigh of relief !!!

Urrgh....... Honestly wishing an injury on any of our players and/or cheering when one actually occurs is unbelievably poor form. You should be ashamed of yourself, although by the attitude around here I doubt you will be :angry:

I do agree with you here wayne and I have a genuine soft spot for Bizz..... But the reality is that he is probably past his best and may not be around after his contract expires at the end of this season. But he was very good yesterday and it was great to see, and if he maintains that form then he will play, but he is not the future. However if Ward can hold down a spot in the back line, I would think that on yesterdays form Bizz should be able to !!!

Yeah they did, but at that point in time they were both broadcasting a replay so it doesn't really matter. What should have happened is that one of either Seven or Fox should have broadcast the Demon game live into all markets. Or at least into the markets that the other didn't want to show it in. They need to put their heads together so there are no double ups, but this is the problem, given the poor relations the broadcasters have had in this deal. And given the lateness in the signing of Fox as a broadcaster obviously the kinks have not been ironed out. But if Seven or Ten want to broadcast the games of the home town teams (which is the way it was), then Fox needs to schedule the remaining game(s). Honestly you would think that it can't be that hard not to completely screw over large portions of the population :angry: !!!

I agree with that Gouga...... As for what I think of him. I think he will be good, if not better, in time. But I am not sure we saw enough of him yesterday to make a totally comprehensive decision.

I'll second that !!!

Fair enough Rhino !!!

Thank goodness you and others have said that 45hotgod, I have believed that for quite a long time. When it works it looks pretty good and can be advantageous, but obviously it can be very iffy. But it is definitely in line with the rest of the hand balling craziness that has been going on of late.

Yeah, I'm going to have side with Maurie and Rhino on this...... Sometimes losing something or someone important can have an upside, and this could well be a case in point. I adore Daniel Bell, he is what we need and I truly believe he will be a great, and long-serving, player for us.

Inside knowledge ?!!!

Of course a defender is accountable for an opponent....... But there is a hell of a lot of value, especially in the way the game is played today in a half back flanker or any defender these days who can create drive and run from the back line, and to do this they therefore have to be able to leave their opponent. This of course is in general and is not particularly specific. But that doesn't make them automatically unaccountable, because they have to always watch their man.

And he is totally right. The difference yesterday was amazing. and while heartbreaking in the end that last quarter was great to watch. And I thought that there was also an increase in the team things in the fourth quarter. By that I mean there seemed to be a hell of a lot more work off the ball, shepherding and the like, than what we have seen in the last few games. And that is if the the ball actually gets into our forwards in the first place...... And you would have to be right about the players frustration Jaded. Hards is right, in that Bruce's comments are not the first time we have heard a player say something along similar lines over the past couple of months, and maybe now the powers that be will get back to what this side actually does pretty well and that is what we saw, for the most part, in the final quarter yesterday.

I have worked in and around the media for years and while I realise that the Swans are always going to rate higher than other clubs in Sydney, for the life of me I will never understand the reasoning behind broadcasting the same game on two different networks. And it is happening an awful lot. There is no real benefit except for splitting the audience you already have in two, and while Fox has four live games to broadcast every weekend, Seven (for better or worse) and Ten are the primary broadcasters and therefore should have the first choice of games that they want to play. The other problem we have outside of Victoria is the having to wait for games (on free to air) until after 11pm to be shown, when re-runs or old movies are being broadcast when the game is actually being played. I know that again Sydney audiences will not watch a non-Swans game in their millions and therefore it is seen that the host networks ratings will suffer, but neither Ten nor Seven are going to win the ratings race with what is usually sub-standard or already repeated alternative programing, and the AFL is certainly not going to garner any kind of substantial crowd after midnight. I can't think what the issue is because if you are going to lose the ratings anyway, why not just play the damn footy? I also can't imagine this is quite what the AFL had in mind when they handed the media rights to the Seven/Ten conglomerate, with the understanding that because they were not bound to another football code they could therefore expand the viewership in the northern states.

You could probably add Yze to that list as well for having a reduced trade value at this point in time. And there is the real question, what would we get if we decided to trade all these players and is it worth it? I have never been, and will never be, an advocate for trading for trading sake. So unless you can guarantee me that the deal will absolutely be an obvious improvement to the list (at least on paper) then fine, but otherwise the whole transaction can end up be nothing more than swapping like for like and therefore our current list problems for some whole new and shiny ones. The other thing is, what getting a Judd (just an example) across the line will cost us in return. And while I am well aware of just how good he is, and it would be great to see him the red and blue, there has to be some sense in knowing what we would have to give up and the problems that that could create. In the end is it worth giving up two or three of our best, plus a probable draft pick for a single player, no matter how good he may be?

Sad, but true !!! And it may have started already ...... Brown says Judd did not Eye Gouge

I don't see it as Daniher "blaming" TJ........ But the fact remains that with a one goal lead and 90 seconds left we should have been able to hold onto possession for a hell of a lot longer.

Besides I wouldn't have thought taking a good pack mark (no matter how good it was) is necessarily a sign of leadership.....