rpfc

Well, he was at the Sydney game - apparently he had a "I'm off to GWS" frown on his face...

Reading this thread make me feel this incredibly benevolent force, that wanted me to know there was no reason to be afraid, ever. GOD: This thread is a piece of trash!! Do you know how complicated your circulatory system is?!

It was a decent burn and you know it.

Didn't know you sat with the players... Are you a WAG?

Yeah, but I still don't see it.

Yeah. C&B - Try to understand the points here. I know you don't like doing that when having a debate with someone but the points made here are pretty effing good.

What rumblings? Did you read the piece, WYL?

The understand doesn't require a question mark. I didn't put in anyone older than 25 because careers are ending earlier and earlier and our window will not open until 2013 at the earliest. And Flag Core © isn't ALL the players in the team - it is those that are most likely to make up the core of the team, hence the name... Tapscott might make it, but he is a BP at the moment. Jamar is the one I grappled with as he could still be our number one ruck in 2013 but let's see how he travels this year and whether the sub-rule makes him more effective and fresher or out of sorts.

I didn't see what you did. Dunn gets his couple of goals, does his couple of chases, shows a couple instances of false bravado, but I also see the short steps, the skirting contests, the chases that never were, and the bravado he doesn't show. His drop in application from the end of 2010 to the start of 2011 is marked and Petterd will take his spot before too long. Especially now that we will have a ruckman permanently in the square.

It beats being hilarious while trying not to be funny...

This is where the impatience of Melbourne supporters becomes an issue. Gawn will play no.1 ruck in a year or so? Are you kidding? Jamar was picked up in the 2001 Rookie Draft and it took him 8 years to be consistent, and 9 to be an AA, which is the level you think Gawn can reach 'in a year or so' to push Jamar into back-up status. Gawn was drafted in 2009. He hasn't played a game of AFL. Don't worry, Max. See you in 3 or 4 years...

Well, I understand your view as well. But there is time when I hated going into a final (NM in 1998, Ess in 2000, Adel in 2002, Geel in 2005, and Freo in 2006) and knowing that we didn't have a chance. That is why I want to do this rebuild properly, and I couldn't give a f... what happens in 2011, as long as we stay on that track and develop the players that are going to take us to the top 4 and give us a real chance of winning a flag.

And adopting 'a confident, winning mindset' is the difference between Essendon 2010 and 2011? Please...

Yes, the talent is there. But the experience isn't. I'm all for not giving players a 'ceiling' but I am a supporter and I want to be realistic. We are not up there with Coll, Geel, Freo, StK, WB, Carl, and Haw. Some of us asking for something outside of what this team can achieve. Yes, we can improve, but they are going to have their days like the one against Hawthorn - especially with our mid-age players being NQR, and not where our talent is.

So we are going to throw our belief behind what he would 'most likely' do? Sydney in 2005 played the same way in 2010.

Please tell me that this notion never enters your head when you judge the team's performance... We are an ordinary team at the moment, and too many are getting ahead of themselves.

Adelaide were thrashed in a Qualifying Final by a team you know quite well... Old system. New system, new rules. Rules are as follows: If you want to win a flag, finish in the top 4. That is all.

Well, they're all KPIs... Wins and losses are legislatively important, but not to us this year. We aren't going to make the top 4. This will track improvement in key areas.

If we played the way the Swans did I would go to the footy and just watch Jurrah, the rest of the play would be stoppage dominated rubbish. The guy mentored Ross Lyon - who has given us some of the worst football we have ever seen. I just don't see it, sorry. We would well drilled, our structures would be great, but I don't think he has the answer to the question of the modern game.

Well you've started poorly... What have you got wrong?

Bit misleading this week but we were expected to dominate and we had it in our forward half quite a bit.

Really? Dunn? If Watts is taking a long time to come on, Dunn is taking an eternity. The equivalent year for Watts to show something - if we go by Dunn's obviously acceptable development - will be a average year in 2013 and a good end to 2014 as a defensive forward. And not much before that. And here you are laughing at a 20 year old and lauding this NQR who continues to frustrate.

lol Stop it! You're killing me!

I am also very happy with our (young) players and hold out a lot of hope for the future. But now is not the future and we are not a good footy team - we're an also-ran at the minute. I expect better form this year, but I also expected patchy form and poor form, which some said they would expect but can't seem to handle when that form comes around. It's like last year when all and sundry were saying "I expect 7/8 wins", but don't handle the 15/14 losses that that hopeful sentence entails.

Yeah, what he said. lol