titan_uranus

Agree. I am absolutely furious that Cheney was dropped whilst Robertson and Whelan (and, tbh, Jetta) keep their spots in the team. Whelan has given nothing to the team since he came back, Robertson not much more. Yet we play the two veterans instead of a first-year player who is constantly in and out of the team, and who has shown some good signs. As far as I can see, Whelan and Cheney give basically the same thing to the team. Oh well. At leat we get more Jurrah and Watts.

Gotcha! In all seriousness, though, I think Jurrah and Watts could well become a potent combination. Not sure if they'll end up in the Franklin/Roughead or Kosi/Riewoldt league though, but finally Melbourne might have a couple of decent forwards.

I would have thought that our regular strip would be fine. But we've worn an alternate strip in each interstate game we've played so far this year, so it wouldn't surprise me.

1. Scully 2. Daylight 3. Daylight 4. Daylight 5. Trengove/Morabito/Fitzpatrick/Whoever Is that really how it is? I mean, is there no one that stands out as being top 2 (other than Scully of course)? I don't know enough at the moment, except that Scully is very good and Butcher is not living up to expectations.

Aha! It didn't go unnoticed then. That's somewhat satisfying.

Should be played in defence or in the midfield. Not as a forward. Let him run off half back, or put him in at the centre bounces.

Yes, I agree. I don't think it matters. If we play a third consecutive year of uncompetitive football and win only 3-6 games next year, that says to me that Bailey isn't the long term answer. If, after 3 years, he cannot get something out of the players then I would begin to get worried. As it stands, I have faith that we'll win 7+ games next year, which, provided that we give a good showing in some other games and overall look as though we've improved, should be enough for Bailey to be re-signed. But it's no fait accompli that Bailey will be coaching this club in 2011.

Don't know about 10 years, but I agree that he is the kind of player that just gets the job done, no complaints. It's imperative that we play him for the rest of the year. This AFL experience will greatly boost his development, especially since he seems fit enought to cope with it.

The AFL has won the legal right to demand that Etihad Stadium changes its naming sponsor: http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl...2-19742,00.html This probably means the stadium will have to change name again.

Oh wait, I thought you meant Pick 1 in the ND, not the PSD... In that case, that's not as ridiculous an idea as it sounds. Unless there's another Liam Jurrah-type player who doesn't nominate for the ND.

Firstly, I don't think draft picks from different years are tradable. I think only draft picks from the one draft can be traded. Secondly, why would we want to trade pick 1 away for pick 6? And we lose Petterd in the process? Sounds ridiculous HT.

The midfield is worse. If we had a decent midfield the forwards would at least have a chance to be good. As it stands the delivery is so crap the forwards don't get enough opportunities to do anything. There isn't a midfield in the competition worse than ours.

He's a great mark, loves the contested work, seems to put his body on the line when required, and runs all day. Good qualities. He is let down by his disposal at times, but overall I think he will make a more than adequate replacement for Whelan. Should keep his spot in the team too whilst we continue down the youth road.

Needed a laugh...thanks Hannabal.

Good post. I'm looking forward to mo's response to this.

Exactly. It doesn't work, and I don't want to see it happen again.

Very true. His kicking isn't fantastic. He just has the ability/tendency to kick it long (which is a nice ability to have, but it's not enough to warrant selection on its own).

8-10 wins next year. 10-12 in 2011 (possible finals) 12+ in 2012 (and finals) 2013-2015 is a chance for a premiership.

In your opinion mo, why is Carlton doing as well as it is this year? They might have had 2 good trades (Judd and Stevens), but it's safe to say their climb up the ladder is being led by their youth. Their repeated losses over the 2004-2007 period haven't hampered them, have they? I want us to win as bad as you do, but there just is no benefit in winning 5 games and getting 1 top-10 pick compared to winning 4 games and getting 2 top-10 picks. You make a good point in regards to pinning our hopes on these draft picks. These players aren't the be all and end all of our chances of winning a flag.

Robert Walls on One Week at a Time highlighted that Davey is third in the leage for handball received, and said that we are over-relying on Davey to bring the ball out of defence. I think that's clearly the case, and we have to look at ways to ease the reliance on Davey.

I'm more worried about the potentially abysmal crowd than the result. We must get 20,000+ to this game. And the next week vs Port. And the later match v Fremantle.

Morton is one of the major disappointments of this year for mine. I guess I was expecting him to really develop and no longer be afraid of the contest. Have a look at Mitch Robinson at Carlton. He's a pretty skinny lad, but he never shirks a contest. I don't know what it is with Morton, but it frustrates me that he seems so weak and so unwilling to get the contested ball or take a contested mark.

I doubt you'd hold that view if you'd seen his efforts at Casey so far (of course, I'm assuming that you haven't...). He isn't doing enough to warrant senior selection, and Bailey seems to prefer to play those who are in form.

I guess this is where we disagree rpfc. I don't think the experience of the group should matter: if a group of players has obvious strengths, the team should be playing to them. If a group of players can't do certain things as well as others, then they shouldn't be trying them in matches. Insightful stuff. What do you think teams would prefer: Davey providing precision kicks off half back, or being wasted in a forward line where the ball doesn't come in often enough. To me it is the former. Don't forget that we haven't had Wonaeamirri all year, and he showed last year that he has no problem with finding the goals. You're just proving to everyone here that you haven't seen more than 1 or 2 game this year. Stop basing comments on the past 2 weeks and go and have a watch of the first 10. In particular, look at the West Coast, Western Bulldogs, Richmond and Geelong matches. You will see in whose games the reasons why we should be able to climb up the ladder next year. Jones is somewhat questionable. He's had some good games this year (West Coast for example), but there isn't much consistency. Spot on with the other 4 though. And I reckon you can add Green to that list (in that his football of 2008-2009 is at least as good, if not better, than it was prior to 2008). This is a big reason why we have sucked so much over the past two seasons. To boast a senior list of Bruce, McDonald, Robertson, Whelan, Wheatley, White, Yze and Holland shows just how bad our senior players are/were in comparison to other teams.

As far as I know the demon is back. Alternate strip being one such example. The previous administration made a huge mistake by ditching the demon in favour of that pathetic square logo.