Wiseblood

Just displeased? Absolutely fuming will be more like it.

Ah, Jack. You give me such mixed feelings. On the one hand I'd be stoked to see you make it and cement a spot in our best 22. If anyone deserves that chance then it's most certainly you. But the football you played during the middle of last year didn't fill me with confidence. Yes, you still have the ability to find the footy, use it well and make good decisions. But you seemed two steps off the pace and didn't last long in the seniors. I'm glad you've had a great pre-season, but my expectations are low.

I was talking about your very first post, not the other one. I got the sarcasm and wit in that one, which was brilliant by the way. The Melbourne Comedy Festival beckons. With how well we've been playing you would have expected to cop some retaliation from supporters when you took the view that our current side would get smashed by the Saints in Round 1. Had you backed up that claim with something substantial then fair enough - if you believe that the Saints have us covered in a few weeks time then that's fine, there is nothing wrong with that. But why? What do they have in their side that we don't? Their tall forwards have the potential to cause us some problems, but I believe our midfield is on par with theirs now and our forward line is more than capable of causing them a few problems as well. It should be a very, very even game.

If your first post on the matter was like the above then you wouldn't have had the response you got. Objectivity is fine, acting like a pratt in getting it across isn't.

It's a shame to see him injured again; while his output was down last year I suspect that was more about him being injured than a lack of talent or ability, and I was hoping he would get a clean run at it as he's held in high regard by the FD. I also noticed in the article that Jetta is fit again, hence him missing the JLT series. He will probably get a run with Casey to get his fitness up, but it's clear Goodwin is looking to play the guys who are match fit and ready to go.

Where did I say he wasn't, Einstein? Thanks for your contribution, as always.

You can have your own opinions, but you can't have your own facts. Your entire opinion is based on nothing. And the idea that Goodwin singled out Jack is ludicrous. I can't even believe you typed those words down. Watts should know what the expectations are and it's his fault if he hasn't met them, not Goodwin's. He's been in the AFL landscape long enough to understand this.

Do you know more than we do? If not then you're in no position to claim he has been 'hard done by' as you have no idea what has gone on behind the scenes.

Dean Kent is best 22. The coaches like AVB so you would say he is thereabouts, while Sam Frost was the third tall for most of last year so I think he gets a game as well... if fit. Add Hibberd and Garlett to that mix, plus who knows what's up with Jetta, and you have 6 players missing who you could say are best 22 or very close to it. Who misses from the side we named? Garland, Trengove, ANB, Harmes, Spencer and Bugg are 6 who would probably miss out for the above players.

You can add Sam Frost as well, considering he played the majority of games last year. We are going in with a pretty strong side, although we are still missing 5-6 of what I would consider our best side. I'm very interested, and a little nervous, to see how we go on Thursday night. And is this the final squad, or do two players get left out before the game?

Yep, sometime tomorrow arvo.

From the information given in that article it seems as though it's more a precaution than anything serious. As you say, hopefully he'll be right for Round 1.

It looks like JKH and AVB are certain to miss this week, and you would think that Kent, Tyson, Jetta and Watts will also be available for selection, so I'm assuming there will be some changes. It sounds like Frost and Garlett may also be another week away as well. I'm looking forward to this game, as I feel like the Eagles will be a good test for us. Their forward line is one of the best in the business and their midfield runs pretty deep as well. Being able to beat them over there, which is me being a little optimistic, will set us up superbly for Round 1.

Well said Saty...

After the hard work he put in off the field to keep our club afloat, Jim Stynes will be a huge part of anything we do going forward, whether we acknowledge it or not. His chapter will never close. Great article, too.

Such a shame it puts a smile on your face. It's what they deserve for basically spending the last few off seasons taking on any GWS reject they can get their hands on. Marchbank might turn out okay but the rest have been average at best.

I wonder, in hindsight, how many Carlton fans would not do the Judd trade. They would have held on to a high draft pick while also keeping Josh Kennedy as well. It's easy to look at now, but they might have been better off not doing it, although with Judd still in his prime it would be hard to argue against making the trade at the time.

You're not wrong, SJ. They are missing a few but they have zero depth, their skill level is atrocious and they lack any sort of quality. They're in for a long year.

I want to go through this post and point out how ridiculous it is, but I'll leave it to someone else. I've got paint to watch that's drying on my wall.

Anybody but Slobbo and his incessant Essendon ramblings.

No one will probably get this, but McCartin reminds me of Scott from Degrassi High:

It was $5. Well worth a read, I enjoy it over a cuppa. I edited my opening post to say that the ratings are based on their position and they are up against all players in that position across the league.

Absolutely, but their rating is based on their standing against the rest of the competition. Midfielders would find it harder to break into the above categories with so much competition, while many of our elite and above average players are from the ruck, forward and back line positions.

I picked up the Herald Sun footy magazine and, this year, they've had Champion Data rate each list from Elite through to poor and inconclusive based on that player's performance over the last two years. Here is how they have rated ours, and it makes for some interesting results. As a guide, to rank as Elite you must rank in the top 10% for that position in the AFL (90-100%), and it obviously goes down from there. Here is where we sit: Elite: Tom McDonald and Max Gawn Above Average: Christian Petracca, Jayden Hunt, Neville Jetta, Dean Kent, Jack Watts, Bernie Vince, Michael Hibberd, Jeff Garlett Average: Cam Pedersen, Jack Viney, Nathan Jones, Aaron vandenBerg, Gus Brayshaw, Jordan Lewis, James Harmes, Colin Garland, Oscar McDonald, Jesse Hogan, Dom Tyson, Clayton Oliver, Muhammad Ali Below Average: Christian Salem, Ben Kennedy, Josh Wagner, Jake Melksham, Billy Stretch Poor: Tom Bugg, Sam Frist, Alex Neal-Bullen Inconclusive: All other players not listed above. Interested in everyone's thoughts. For me, I can see so much improvement still to come in our list. We have plenty of players there who can move categories which, coincidentally, will further improve our chances for finals in the coming years. Edit - just want to add that their ratings are against the rest of the players in the AFL that play in their position. I know that seeing Pedersen in the same catergory as someone like Viney, Jones or Lewis seems absurd, it's because he plays forward and the others are midfielders where there are far more players to compete against across the league.

So, hold on a second - where has the rumour of Dusty to Hawthorn come from? Have I missed something?