rpfc

Now hang on a second... It's not true. And that's a fact.

Yes, I remember the coaching argument well. I think conceding that in light of recent events seems a tad trite and pointless at the minute... I just don't like talking to people 'in the know' who dismiss an 18 year old because of minor personality issues and/or mistakes.

I said it after Rd 1 - he should not have played. I would nod with approval if we do not play Pick 2 for a few rounds next year (Hogan is ready to go so is a different story).

lol Do you really care if you disrespect? And no harm done, I must admit I do find your many incarnations in this community you patronise as a source of mirth more than anything. No disrespect. With regard to Jones: My argument was he looked to have plateaued after a very strong first few years. He refined his decision making, especially in close, and he has become the player he is today. Players can sometimes surprise you.

The lengths that you go to to disagree with me are astounding. Thankyou for caring so much.

So you always saw him as being capable of an A-grade year like last year? And the serious conversation right now that is an A-grade player? This site does have a search function you know...

Do you mean - do they know its terrible? We have had this discussion before about how much weight is given to emotional and personality traits when recruiting teenagers. I think it leads to clubs letting a Darling go until Pick 26. But away from that argument - I just feel as though the U/18 competition is further and further away from the rigours of AFL footy that Oliver Wines is the exception that proves the rule. He is a big boy with supreme confidence in his talent and his body. I feel for Toumpas as he is asked to perform in an environment different to a Mayes or a Macrae. We don't have the talented bodies in the midfield that allow a young player to play their role and not much more. There is less easy footy for Toumpas, there is more responsibility. I am not ready to judge his ceiling. Frankly, I gave Nathan Jones a ceiling and he smashed right through it and I am punch-drunk from the plumage and the experience. Toumpas might or might not - but that question won't be answered for some time yet.

That's very polite of him. Especially with him being out of state and playing for a different team.

Poor kid.

This is what I am talking about - Jetta is a mid. Tapscott doesn't get to the right areas, Kent is a baby and a mid, Bail is a mid, Blease is a wing. Only Davey and Byrnes are small forwards and they are both about to retire or a year away from it. Get a good small forward to work at the feet of Dawes, Hogan, and Clark and it will mean we keep the ball down there and are a more dangerous proposition.

196cm small forward... The idea is that Hogan and Dawes don't have to create a contest and then be asked to fight it out for their own crumb. I don't think we should fashion a forward line that sees Watts close enough to their space to crumb from them. Watts will bring his defender into the contest, and you don't want another 190cm+ defender competing with Hogan in the air. You want to isolate him and his man, and get a small into his area at the right time. And you cannot just plug a midfielder into the forward line and call him a small forward. If he doesn't get to the right areas and if he doesn't kick goals - he is going to be easy to defend. You have to have a small forward who is aggressive offensively and can also play a periphery role.

Yes, but I baulked at your assertion that we should 'get midfield types who get their own ball and kick goals'... It's much easier to find a small forward and make them useful up the ground or in a complimentary role. Teaching mids to play small forward is tough. Get a crumber, who reads the play well and has kicked goals and teach them a complimentary role.

rjay - you are being far too simplistic with this 'Small Forwards don't exist anymore' spiel. They do exist, but some have had to bring another skill to bear so as to avoid being one-dimensional as you say. Rioli goes into the middle and is aggressive in his defence work. LeCras goes up the ground linking with the midfield. Stokes runs through the midfield. But these guys, and others, are dynamite around goals. If you ever play in a team with dominant tall forwards (which I do) and you don't have a small forward smart enough to get to the right areas (which we don't), then you really feel the effects of wasted entries forward (which we do). A small forward who can read the play and be useful when he is not kicking his 3 goals are a great resource and definitely a priority once midfielders are found.

If that was the bar for conversation on here there would be tumbleweeds floating across the screen. I don't care about his gait - but it looks terrible. I know that Campbell Brown used to run in a similar fashion and Hawthorn got a running expert to change it. He managed to get more speed as a result. He will be a fine player - will he be the star we need? Only time answers that question.

He has a terrible gait but I am patient. The thing about kids is that you need them to bring something to the table straight away and he has very good skills. We should have groomed him as a HBF for this year and brought him in after a few rounds to get some easier footy.

These are the 'offending' remarks: We probably discussed this at the time but are we not being a tad sensitive? I would argue that while that message about the 'ads' he was in is more an issue for the commercial side of things at the club, allowing Jack to concentrate on his footy was the main point he was making. He didn't throw him under a bus, over a bridge, or anywhere else. Unfortunately, most of Neelds words in public are poorly worded and haphazard and they get misconstrued constantly. The amount of times he has had to say 'what I meant by that is...' would be numerous. How he treats Watts in-house is not for us to know but he is playing this week and potentially in subsequent weeks. And in these weeks we will see whether Neeld can win back his job, whether Jack Watts wants to stay in the role we envision for him, and whether the club sees him as the answer in that role.

You have to be kidding. Tom McDonald has already played more good games than Jack Watts has. Watts is a tlent without a position at the moment. He cannot play back as well as McDonald and Hogan has already moved ahead of him in the forward line - and did so last October when we got him.

When it comes to list management I like to think I am very capable of removing blinkers and seeing things for what they are. Sylvia is to be kept but I think he will leave. As a 'list manager' there is only so much power I have. Frawley is to be told that he can come to the club and ask for better terms if he wishes. Hopefully he is a RFA next year (one of the 10 highest paid players) and we hold the cards. Watts is a tough one as his skills are elite and his physicality near the other end of the spectrum. If a suitable trade was offered then you would listen to it but he is an 'asset' and you don't just give those away. In terms of immediate importance - we need experience and talent but Watts has become 'tradeable' due to our forward line and backline having 6 talls younger than 26 who are all more accomplished than he is (Clark, Dawes, Hogan, Frawley, Garland, and McDonald).

If it makes you feel better I don't think he will play regularly until 2015... Ruckmen are such an investment. Especially ones taken at 18 with bad knees.

I cannot stand the references to Moneyball in the AFL. Neeld has used it aswell. It doesn't transfer over well. Neither the measurements, nor the value aspect. AFL isn't an individualised sport and it doesn't have concrete, transferable contracts that are the underpinnings of this idea/theory/religion/thewaythecubswillfinallywinapennant.

More like a Rd 1, 2014 debut...

I would like to get one of Caddy, Wellingham, or Stevens. Caddy would be 3rd in my line.

That was a rumour. Don't believe it had a good source. I think we are quickly running out of good sources though.

Plenty of time, IRW.

For those that don't get this: Hannabal was BH's best friend until they fell out. They thought along similar lines but there is only so much one can take of 'themselves' before it gets old...