Goodvibes

I have absolute respect for anyone who watches a replay of any Melbourne game from 2013. Nice work BRFE!

He's my boy. Wouldn't be surprised if he goes top 3. I reckon the talk will get louder and louder after draft camp. Dangerfield comparisons are designed to get footy mouths salivating. And it's worked on me.

Dangerfield and Ablett might disagree. Jordie is an absolute keeper.

Oh and Taylor Adams in the pre-season draft would be handy too! Aish, Freeman, Scharenberg and Adams. Now that would be a revolution.

No I'd take Aish but trade Watts and Jamar and get ourselves a pick that could nab Freeman who I like. He would at least give us the Dangerfield breakaway pace our midfield needs and then I'd release the compromising photos of Andrew Demetriou I own (don't ask!) and ensure we get a priority pick at the pointy end of the draft that could get us Scharenberg. He might have played a lot of footy outside of the midfield but he looks to have all the tools and the size to be Rolls Royce version of Josh Kennedy.

We also need some more size in the engine room. Your list looks very short. We need a Scotty Thompson or a Josh Kennedy or a Jobe Watson or maybe all three.

Where are the other 4 - 6?

Clemency.

I'm still waiting for the first rogue player to come forward with their own personal records. Odds are there are least 2 or 3 Virgos on their list that must be driven by lists and record keeping!

I blame them. When we stop blaming them for running stories with an obvious slant, driven by un-named sources with a clear agenda, they'll actually get worse and then worse. It's grim now but it can get worse. Anyway, back to the drugs. I'm struggling to get my head around the enormity of the report. I can't see a way for Hird to survive and the AFL will lose all credibility if a huge sanction against the club isn't handed down. When the huff and puff dies down, surely Essendon will sack Hird and avoid court and in so doing hang on to the hope of still having a team playing in the AFL in 2014.

A quick comparison of the HUN and AGE websites makes for interesting reading. Another fascinating insight into the deplorable standards of our footy media and an example of how journalists continue to write with a clear agenda having long ago abandoned the simple yet ethical, facts first approach. How can two different papers offer such a different commentary?

They can do whatever they like. I'd like to challenge anyone on Demonland to share a link that outlines the criteria they AFL use to assess the allocation of priority picks. It really is quite absurd.

I'm with you brother. The heart should rule! I hate the daily references to the business of footy or the "industry". And don't get me started on franchises. The Liam Jurrah story was one of the biggest positives of the past seven years but the ending was obviously one of the lowest. Jurrah won't play another game of AFL - certainly not at the MFC but we, the emotional, heart on sleeve supporters are surely allowed to dream of the perfect ending and continue to consider what if . . . .

I haven't felt this attached to a single Melbourne player since Robert Flower. Keeping this in mind, I've decided to lobby the club to begin a "Do it for JV" campaign. We left it way too late with Robbie. Imagine if the campaign lasted a full decade.

Head says no, heart says yes. In a god-awful year, the romance of the whole thing would be more appealing than ever.

Houston, we may have a problem . . . .

Sorry Ron, missed this post. Sorry to hijack your Colin Sylvia claim in the Jack Watts thread. I'm just a little tired (as I've stated before) of the black and white views of posters here. There is never any grey. To quote BH, I like to use my eyes. Sylvia has never worked hard enough, is most often second to the ball and displays a growing propensity to turn it over with indiscriminate kicking. If I was coaching Melbourne I'd put my work into Jones and Viney. I'd attempt to drag Garland away from the corridor. I'd expose Terlich by dragging him close to goal and run our inexperienced ruck (whether it be Gawn, Fitzpatrick or Spencer) into the ground. I'd load my half backline with my best runners and kickers and wait for the inevitable error to come. But most probably I'd just back my 22 to beat the Melbourne 22 because in terms of discipline, talent and experience there would be an obvious gulf. And in the unlikely 1 in 20 game event whereby Melbourne chose my team to be the opponent on the rare day it "comes to play" I might spend 5 seconds thinking about what to do about Colin Sylvia if he gets on the end of a few thanks to the hard work of Jones, Viney and McKenzie. Anyway, Jack Watts. Jack has helped me re-evaluate the way I rank players. I used to rank them based on skill, discipline, courage and passion. Now I rank them in the reverse order. I hate how people misuse the word tragedy but the drafting of Jack Watts at pick one has been the footballing equivalent of exactly that. I've seen enough.

99% of facts presented on Demonland are not in fact, facts. Fact.

Last few pages of this thread really make me proud to be a Demonland Lifemember.

Must be the worst season ever. Mid May and I resorted to this: http://demonland.com/forums/index.php?/topic/33833-how-low-can-you-go/#entry750547 Seriously, what was I thinking?

I was at the game and these were the four who stood out to me as well. We bemoan our inability to develop our players and quite rightly but Garland has genuinely stepped up into elite territory. I had a very enjoyable night highlighting every one of Spencer's positive contributions. Gawn is going to be a star but Spencer right now is twice the ruckman. Giving Ablett a hard time was priceless. Kent makes mistakes but he is made of the right stuff and Viney again lived up to the hype. His endeavour is infectious. Nathan Jones thinks his way through tight situations really well these days and his kicking has become efficient. I'm bemused by those who continue to ride the Watts rollercoaster. The on him one week, off him the next brigade need to get their heads around the type of player we've got on our hands here. Last night was a classic example. When we win enough ball Watts will have the opportunities to show off his undeniable skills but even against Gold Coast there were numerous times where he fails to run to the right places when he doesn't have the ball. He guards space where space doesn't need to be guarded and continues to disappoint in aerial contests when he needs to impact physically. His kicking under pressure and ability to think his way out of difficult situations deep in defence is really impressive and obviously his ability to hit the scoreboard when forward is pleasing but he still has his flaws. As a consequence he's going to remain frustrating to watch, ridiculously inconsistent and an absolute tease for many years to come. Calling him a superstar one week and throwing his name up for trade the next is pointless. He is what he is but he is getting better. I walked away feeling really frustrated last night. We should have won. We blew too many chances. We didn't have the necessary belief when it mattered and the umpires were very average. But then I remembered how long it had been since I'd actively committed to a game emotionally for the entire four quarters driven by a feeling that we could actually win. It's nice to be feeling down about losing and not down about the epic proportions of the loss.

If he is going to play in our back 6 he needs to have elite kicking skills to go with the trademark Jones courage. Does he?

Welcome to Demonland Frosty. You're going to fit right in!

Casey and Hogan - the footballing highlight of every weekend of 2013.

Time for a thread title change?