rpfc

You don't like Bell bashers, so you bash Bate?! The facts are this - Bell will find it difficult to get another contract unless he turns around his stagnated career. Good luck to him on Sat night. Oh, and you're right about speed, but certainly not awareness and kicking skills.

This would be the funniest thread I have read on 'Land. Tee hee... Um, let's see if Bell will get another contract, my head says no, but it only matters what he does on Sat night. Jamar would want to stamp his position but Spencer isn't banging down the door just yet. Robbo has to come back from this challenge, his petulance (greasing off teammates who don't kick it to him, looking at the heavens with umpiring decisions etc.) is staggering for someone whose career is hanging by a weak achilles tendon... I think Robbo is going to struggle to get another contract, but again - it is up to him, and the way he comes back from getting dropped. One thing I will bring up with reference to 'DemonDan...' - You think Bailey should step aside because this team should be in the finals... Really? This team? There is some potential there but we are, Richmond included, the worst team in the league, we have won 9 of our last 53 games of AFL! We are less crap than last year but we are coming from a fair way back.

Maybe for Bluey voting age doesn't matter, but why rate anyone if it doesn't affect their place in the side for next week? Age matters, and in our position, it matters more.

Deegirl would probably take offence at that. She is often right about these things, we will see. And I hope they have chosen the team by now... Otherwise, what the hell have they been doing the last few days, thinking about their holiday plans for September?

It's going to come in at some stage, so we may aswell do it with a eye to rewarding clubs that lose players. Restricted after 5 years - salary can be matched by club and player retained. Unrestricted after 7 years - can go anywhere, club has no power to retain. Remember, they also have to be out-of-contract so it won't be Davey/McLean/Morton/Watts possibly leaving every year. In the MLB, those that lose players get compensated with picks determined by a panel similar to the one set-up for the GC17 concessions. The one thing I would say is that if the players want this, the AFL should push for salary transparency and TPP transparency. Aswell as Free Agency, the MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL also have their contracts with players open to the public so that light is shone on where the money goes. I don't think Gale will like it, but if he wants FA he can give us something in return.

I would trust Suzanna and caseyscorp on this, they have been on top of it for ages. Councils can be infuriating but Casey Council seems to get quite a lot done from where I sit. And is turning a 9 letter word into an 8 letter word really worth how awful it looks. 'Something' into 'sumthing'? I mean, why bother? You may as well write the extra letter...

You don't consider a player's age? We are rebuilding, and if Wheatley was playing slightly better football than Grimes/Cheney/McNamara but they were still playing well, would you still choose Wheatley? If you do, I admire your commitment to your ethos, but I wouldn't want you on the selection committee. The underlying problem with Nathan Jones is the lack of time he has to dispose of the footy and the perceived lack of time he has to dispose of the footy. Sometimes the quickness of the game sees him tackled with the ball, sometimes it sees him being rushed to kick it because of actual pressure, and sometimes he kicks it under little pressure or pressure of his own making. They may drop him to work on his kicking skills and to relieve some pressure on a 21 year old, but his deficiency is his in-close decision making and kicking under pressure - neither of which will rectified in the VFL. The standard is lower (of course) and the game slower.

I think the better question is: Is there a 21 yr old playing who doesn't turn it over? We judge him harshly because of his fantastic 2006 (and Bate as well BTW) but he is doing what the older players were doing then and 6 clearances on the weekend is a great return against the Hawks. He will be unstoppable in a few years time when he has more than Davey to give to and run the lines for him. Genuine ball winners are hard to find.

They have different roles, Sylvia relies on someone getting the ball to him. Junior has to get it himself, or stop someone from getting it. Difficult to compare the two. Junior is coming back from a hammy and comes and goes in games but around the stoppages his value rises. We are last, but we don't often get smashed in the clearances or contested possesions, and I dare say that the captain has something to do with that.

Absolutely, the guy has enough tools to be anything and all is forgiven because of one fantastic game as a HFF? His value will rise when we become a better team and have cleaner users of the ball to put it on a platter for him. Bailey mentioned in his after match press conference that Colin relies on his teammates to play well -i.e. he doesn't get his own footy, he is beholden to those up field and should be humbled by that fact. That is why I am far more interested in the job of those upfield...

Some of you better read the OP before posting yourself. And Cards13, you have to be clearer with your title. He isn't advocating trading for Fevola, he is saying we dodged a bullet. BTW, it was pre-Bailey that attempt to get Fevola.

Whoops, this is a thread about Watts. WCE game to bring in the bandwagoners for the second game of the year, the first being QB.

I think you're a bit harsh on Miller. He gets scarce and awful service most of the time, but continues to present. In that way he's had a similar season to Bate; played some good ones, some bad ones, and some adequate ones. A lot like the rest of the team really...

Robbo can't shepperd the ball through. Yeah, no sh!t but neither can a dozen or so of his teammates. Robbo selfishly flies for speccies. Err, wasn't it only 6 weeks ago we were bemoaning the lack of a forward target to 'crash a pack' and 'bring the ball to ground,' to a 184cm FF that means jumping on top of the pack to 'crash it' and 'bring it to ground.' Robbo's brainfade in the goalsquare was pathetic for a senior player. Sure was, probably gave himself a serve, and received admonishment from his peers and coaches. Does this mean he should be dropped? Nah, his output has been good for a bloke coming from where he was with that Achilles injury. He can do more defensively, but having said that, he's doing more defensively than he has done in the past. If he gets another contract he would have to finish the season with around 40-45 goals for the season, and if he achieves that we will probably be lauding an extraordinary comeback from injury.

The last game to have this much hand-wringing was the PA game with the 28 minutes of hell (PA - 7.7 to Melb - 0.1). The past month has been good, for the worst team in the league, and we are the worst - Richmond won 10 games last year, we are coming off a 3 and 19 season. We are not good, so enjoy the development of the youngsters, and we have plenty playing despite the desire to put the 5 over 25s out to pasture, maintain perspective and reflect on where we were this time last year (when a much older team lost to the Hawks by 100 points). Brock aint Judd, but he had 8 clearances and played well, you will notice his lack of pace less when he has quicker teammates to hand it off to. Robbo is as Robbo does, how can anyone be surprised at his antics (the great to the awful - in a split second)? But mugs don't kick 400 goals. Bailey kept them going after that awful start and they never gave up, used the corridor much more in the second half. Junior was up and down but reflects or perhaps imbues the never-say-die spirit that we seem to have this year (there have been many occassions where I felt we would drop away and get thumped but we haven't). If you look for a disaster you will find it, but if you look at what was (2007-2008), and compare to what has just been (Adel -17, Geel -43, WCE -8 (Subi), WB -7, and Haw -22) your perspective and expectations come back to reality.

It would be the 16th to 22nd players on a list, an exercise, admittedly flawed, that is easiest to do with the 22 that plays that week. It's not biased, if their team is higher than ours, surely they should come out ahead but it is arguable. And I would argue they don't. We can't compete with Judd, Stevens, Murphy, Gibbs, and Fevola. Davey would be in their league but we may have a few more enter their league soon, and that is when our better 16th-22nd players will be valuable. And why should they have depth? Judd is on $800k, Fevola $700k, Stevens $500k, Warnock $400k, etc They should have no money left to spend on the rest of their list...

I'd swap Bate with Grimes but you are pretty much on the money. You must be a fan of Robert Walls as he loves doing this when comparing teams. They were awful Carlton, and Judd has made them competitive in the middle but if Fev is off, and he was, the are going to lose more games than they win. They better win a flag in the next 3 or 4 years, before Fev calls it quits, or they won't win one in Judd's career. They could really use Josh Kennedy...

I wouldn't make recruiting decisions based on the first 30 weeks of the draftee. So why would this comparison have to be about what they have done so far, how they have played, where they have played, etc. It's an unanswerable hypothetical (that may be tautology) to know if we drafted poorly. So it's all about opinion, opinion of the careers of these two. And I, as I pointed out above, see Cale Morton as a more valuable commodity than Cyril Rioli.

I think it was Garry Lyon who compared Rioli to Ablett, and I don't see it...yet. He may develop into an inside/outside midfielder with exceptional vision and kicking skills with a tank to run all day, a low centre of gravity and fine handballing skills. But I see Rioli as a great wingman with immaculate kicking skills and pace, with a keen eye for goal. Very similar to how Davey is playing right now, and since we already have one... The value of Morton, if our development coaches can bring it about, is the opportunity to have a Richo-like wingman that sees the play a kick ahead and stops goals and scores goals, and can also rack up 30 odd disposals. And that is something we would be very fortunate to have.

Cheney might be looking to get JMac to have a meeting with Bailey after this... Very stiff. If our midfield breaks-even we win, simple as that.

Sam got one thing wrong; we lost to the Pies by 53 points. That's two games by over 50 points... Sam is on probation, right? No contract yet? Sam you're fired... Sam the Stats Man indeed.

Batram is named in Casey's 18. I reckon he is out. I want the acid on our mids - no negative players - just get to a contest and beat the Hawks to the ball. The Dogs smashed us in the clearances and it cost us the W.

If form holds true to the selection of Casey as well as MFC then Batram and Jamar being named in the 18 would mean they are both playing for Casey. Out - Dunn, Valenti, Batram?

Poor old Valenti. And BRFE is right, some double-talk from DB there. IN - Green, Rivers, Frawley OUT - Dunn, Valenti, Batram Would give Jamar another run with Casey, and Cheney doesn't deserve to be dropped (he's in my SC team too). So that is a bench of: Petterd, Maric, Cheney, Jones. BTW, really makes you think how quickly Frawley has come on, straight back in after injury. He's a competitor for the Bluey, there's no doubt about it.

I think we can beat these teams next year: NM, Coll, Rich, Freo (G), Adel (G), WCE (G), PA (G), Carl (G), BL (G), Ess (G), Dogs (G), and Syd (MO). Depending on fixturing, and injuries, I think the finals are very possible.