Deemania since 56

That year we were an exceptional team; every line, teamwork to perfection - and wasn't White's rucking superb? I still remember the Ox shepherds, holding back multiple opponents regularly to create the 'flow' and 'run-on' for our little blokes. Pin-point Yze, the McDonalds, Rigoni stretching himself, the poetry in footy motion of Leoncelli, Robbo poised to lift the team. It was something very special - and these are just the fringes of that team.

How could that thought - held for some time, now - ever become dormant? We have to get Koby. That is all there is to it; at any price. The whole Club still owes Jeff a great deal for what he produced onfield.

Wasn't the quote from Jack Dyer: 'It ain't no good being where the ball ain't!'?

Must agree with this in the longer run ... space is everything going forward ...

I would have posited that : ...Weideman would be a good back-up player for Mitch.'

There never will be another Cam. Hopefully, Mitch can fill a current void and settle into a real career with the MFC. Very handy kicks and grabs that we lack in the forward line - but he had two knee constructions, didn't he?

Mongrel with skills is what we have lacked for so long - AVB and May have an army to train.

The old 'Reserves' game used to get at least half of the big-time game spectators comfortably fed, watered, seated and enthused, so a curtain raiser would be phantastique. Also, someone once said that the catering ' rush and crush ' is deliberate - making food/drink purchases 'urgent' and 'competitive' to create a scenario where the public unwittingly compete for the consumables regardless of focusing on the actual cost spirals and rip-offs.

Had some very good reports on Nietschke prior to his injury that kept him out of the team for the 2018 season. These reports went along the lines of '...very talented young fella ... will be a great contributor...', so it is hoped that he can rebound for the team.

His kicking was definitely elite. Great bloke, team-man, heaps of footy smarts. We must have his influence at the Club as a very high priority. He's the man.

This comment and assessment by McQueen is not sour grapes, at all. It is more a justifiable and mature assessment, requiring the evidence of time that only further footballing experiences and applications to the game can elicit in all three young men. At this point, I'd vote an A grading on potential; note that such a grading could change either rapidly or over time - so I concede that McQueen has made a wise call deferring appropriately to another point in time.

He is very young; this appraisal is backed by facts rarely seen in one who endures a footy lay-off with serious bugs in his system to overcome. With minimal preparation, he returned to footy in just weeks, going for it and getting AA accolades. A rebounder with smarts, muscle, pace and distributive skills. Great pick ... albeit a lucky pick to still be available ... someone saw something worthwhile that others overlooked. WELCOME to the MFC, young man - Jarrod Rivers will be smiling.

Clearly ...

Valid point, hence the queue conversations about the game in the bar, in the pie stalls, out in the spacious smokers' paradise. Entertainment (or better described as constant, mindless noise and drivel) seems to be the unelected freebie of your entrance fees to the footy - because The Pill prefers to personally be so associated.

Thanks for that, AdC. I bought two packs just this afternoon...must have been very old stock at the supermarket?

It seems that one critical thing about half-time is being overlooked: 20 minutes is just enough time to get off your bum in the stands, walk down the stairs to the gate, get a pass-out card from the 'gate-keeper', stroll into the parkland beyond the gate and smoke four or five full-strength Rothmans (so as to last through the 2nd-half of the game without too much trauma) and then, get back to your seat via the bar armed with four beers and two meat pies. Less than 20 minutes is cutting it too fine!

I think, underneath, we all miss him (Jesse) and would all like to see him still in the red 'n blue; however, we also all understand that he had enormous pressures upon him and returning home was his best means of achieving some amelioration of these circumstances.

I would imagine that Jordan Lewis would be a good source of potential player appraisal. Probably the best we have.

He will get the hang of it; kicking is, afterall, one of the easiest of onfield skills after practice and practice and guidance. As an adult, that should be little to worry about, I'd reckon.

Jackson Pickett Anderson (Weightman / Pickett almost interchangeable)

We research, we spread opinions, we listen and observe those employed to comment. At the end of the day, we must concentrate - as a Club - on the good fortunes that we have within the draft processes and analyse the individuals for team performance, team development and at the individual levels, better develop those recruits that we obtain. If we'd recruited, for example, a Wayne Carey, I would still wish that he had continuous development before him in the Dees camp, almost from an individual coach and mentor. Transpose that concept to our current talented ones - the team development and individual excellence has been overlooked, it appears, once a threshold level of competence has been achieved.

Some forward line methodology - it's only taken ten years!

Jones should be considered as a F/Pocket-type, IMO - and be directed to run the deep forward zone in surprise episodes of maximal endeavour. Anywhere else, he will randomly 'bomb' the ball, and now that his set shots have improved for accuracy and distance (there is some self-control developed in this milestone), his ball-winning attributes, his 'getting in there to take the ball', his run-around clearances with short-burst speed in possession of the ball - and his footy nouse, and experience in general - would make him a crumbing, goal-scoring asset, surely?

This does look to be the pathway to forward competence.

In terms of interest and mind stimulation, very little. In terms of player injuries and out-of-regulation-skills-drills, I am totally opposed to 'international' rules for senior AFL players. Let the Reserves play the game if it must be undertaken. Otherwise, scrap the whole concept.