Goodvibes

Vossy loved him. Strong over the ball, plenty of courage, clean hands but the doubt was always going to be about his size and speed combination. For someone of his size he really did lack a yard and injuries didn't help. He's the kind of player Roos might quite like. I'd take him over any of the other delisted players mentioned over the past two days but he's not going to make the difference and I'd rather take a chance on an untried draftee.

Yep, I'm really surprised by how much support this trade has received. Surely Roos wouldn't go down this path. An O'Keefe style player, however, would be nice. In completely unrelated news, does anyone know Matt Taberner's contract status? Saw him first hand at the Gabba on Sunday and was super impressed.

If we as a supporter group hadn't gone through what we've gone through, we'd be looking at the information we have about Mitch in a far more positive light. What we know is that he's a chance of playing footy again and he's still living in Melbourne and seems supportive of his most recent team. The obvious conclusion is that if he does play footy again he is most likely to play for the MFC. We're due right?

When I was rummaging through his garbage I found a signed photo of Allen Jackovich, a shredded one way Virgin airline ticket to Sydney and a copy of 'Catcher in the Rye'. Make of that what you will.

You're assuming we haven't.

When people ask you who you support, you pause.

If I was a negative, cynical, aggressive point scorer I'd point out that Roos took a couple of weeks off in the middle of this pre-season. But I won't do that.

That's a particularly strange way to think. Maybe we'd have won if Grimes was fit . . . . .

It's ok Song. I think I've even gone down that path on occasion. And I couldn't put you on ignore and miss a daily dose of a topless Stephen Tingay. I must confess to a very embarrassing story today. Like you, I'm a teacher. I was showing a film today and was quietly happy with my developing technology skills being able to show the film on the projector yet still work on my laptop. Unfortunately, I pressed the wrong button at the wrong time and the film on the projector was replaced with my desktop. I had actually been doing some work but thought I'd just pop on to Demonland (like so many of us do during work!) so of course an image of Demonland replaced the film for all my class to see. I'll give Demonlanders one guess which poster's avatar was on display!

Which is almost as frustrating as the main board being filled with a smorgasbord of gifs and memes . . . . .

I struggle to be as confident when the formula seems so arbitrary.

The only way I can see Roos staying on beyond 2016 as our senior coach is if we make finals next year and then win at least a final and finish top 6 the year after. All senior coaches (and certainly the premiership coaches) are competitive beasts. How could he walk away from a chance at a flag. Is the above scenario realistic? Not if our list is as bad as most here seem to suggest but a Jeremy Cameron/Dylan Shiel mega off-season might just give us the top end talent we need. Jackson confirmed for another 2 - 3 years and big recruit like Cameron would be amazing for the status of the club. As I keep saying, hope is a dangerous thing . . .

I wonder how many would change their tune regarding Frawley if we were to discover the compensation was band 2 and not band 1.

I'm worried about her acceleration.

What is the fault with Geary as a small rebounding defender?

I was actually just having a bit of fun DC. The odds of Longmire leaving Sydney after a premiership are huge. Coming to Melbourne also huge. Put them together and it's the longest of long shots. There's been so many suggestions and so many names thrown out there I just thought I'd introduce possibly the last possible candidate.

Sydney win the 2014 Premiership. Longmire succeeds Roos. Again.

I'll debate what you said. I don't think shooting our players is a good idea.

Great first three quarters. Showed all of his famed aggression and hardness but also showcased some fancy footwork and creative handballing. Struggled in the last when his lack of pre-season caught up with him. Will get better and better. Definitely a ray of sunshine on a pretty dark day.

Serious question for the draft watchers out there. I'm a little greedy when it comes to midfielders. I actually don't want an inside midfielder. I don't want an outside midfielder either. I want both! The premier midfielders in the comp do both. We don't have one on our list and we desperately need one. So if explosive inside/outside high possession midfielders such as Judd, Dangerfield, Kerr and Ablett were 17 year olds, what would their draft profile read like? Were they the complete article then or did one side of their game catch up to the other? In other words, I'm interested in knowing what their contested to uncontested possession rates might have been like when they were young. I've got a theory that in the case of the four mentioned above (and Kerr might be the exception) they all had speed, skills and athleticism but added or expanded upon their contested/ball winning skills as they grew over time. Any support for this theory? So how does this relate to Stretch? I'm a subscriber to the very simple, 'We need to draft and develop two or three stars of the competition to win a flag' club. Are we going to find a champion midfielder by taking the safer one-paced ball winning mids that are more common or should we be taking more chances on Stretch-like projects that might develop the complete game? I'm going to lose most people here but I don't see Oliver Wines becoming a top 10 player in the comp. I think he'll be very very good but doesn't have the tools to be a champion of the competition. He'll never have the creativity or the kicking skills to do it. I've come over to the Paul Roos approach. I'd keep trading away early first round draft picks on established quality players and roll the dice on downgraded first round picks and in the second, third and fourth rounds on players who have the potential to develop into the complete package. Ablett was obviously father and son but most don't think he was top 10 material and Daniel Kerr was picked at the beginning of the second round. Quality, all-round midfielders who I consider to be elite do exist outside of the top 5 or 6. Let's take the 2007 - 2009 period as an example. In 2007 Dangerfield went at 10 and Callan Ward could be picked up at 19. Beams and Sloane were 29 and 44 respectively in the 2008 draft. Fyfe was pick 20 a year later along with Duncan at 28 who I rate very highly. In contrast many of the top 10 midfielders who were elite juniors but relied on big engines to accumulate or big bodies to win the inside ball have become solid but not sensational midfielders at the top level. I'm talking about Masten (3) and Palmer (7) in 2007, Rich (7) and Ziebell (9) in 2008 and of course in 2009 we had Scully (1), Trengove (2) and Cunnington (6). Arguments could also be mounted to add Martin (3) and Morabito (4) to this list. Interestingly, during this three year sample the really elite mids to emerge from the top 5 or 6 are only really Cotchin, Hill and if I was to be extremely kind, the inconsistent Hartlett. So what to make of all of this? I'd be very comfortable taking a punt on a player rated by many to be somewhere between 10 and 35 particularly when said player has an impressive combination of endurance, pace and skill and happens to love this club. Were Fyfe or Hill any bigger than Stretch at his age? I'm not saying Stretch will turn into a complete player but I'd rather than take a chance on him in the second or third round than taking a Dunstan or a Matt Crouch or a Lewis Taylor. All of those players will be good for their clubs but they won't become champions of the competition. We need a champion.

I'd trade both first round picks assuming Frawley leaves and we gain band 1 compo. I'd send one to GWS for one of Shiel/Treloar and the other to Gold Coast for Dixon. I'd make two very significant contract offers. We've got the salary cap space. Let's use it. I'm like most here and have watched bits and pieces of the U18s on Fox but that's it. No one has really jumped out and made me say, "I want that kid". Having said that, once afl.com gets their highlight packages up I'll be a complete expert and will no doubt have a fresh view on what we should do with our 2014 picks. Oh and once the bigfooty experts complete their phantom drafts, I'll have changed my mind again.

No Cross, no Melbourne.

I think we're playing to win and think Roos has structured us in the best possible way to beat Fremantle. We're three scoring shots behind and have missed two easy shots on goal and they scored late in quarters after we tired (mentally and physically). If anything you could argue Lyon is the coach who has set his team up to minimize damage. He's the one playing one extra behind the ball. Yes, I now why but attacking Roos for our defensive mindset is incredibly simplistic.

I'm trying to find a positive. We played badly and lost. It's when you're clearly outclassed and get blown out of the water that you start to worry. It's actually nice to see a correlation between making mistakes and losing the game rather than feeling like the game is lost before it begins. Oh and Bernie Vince.

I made reference to Jarryn Geary in another thread. Fast, neating kicking skills, goes hard at the contest and fills a need in the back half. Oh and free agent I believe. Thoughts?