old55

Malthouse on SEN this morning. Maher asked him how he feels (!) knowing he's down to his last 8 or 12 quarters coaching. Malhouse replied that he was acutely aware that last week was his last home and away game coaching Collingwood. Might not be the exact quote but he quite specifically said "Collingwood". There's no doubt he wants to coach on, the question is whether it can be in 2012.

I'd be very happy to give both - in effect it's Scully for O'Meara - we may even have to throw in something on top of that. Everyone knows 2 mid first rounders is inadequate compo for a #1 pick and that's quite likely to be borne out when it alone doesn't close the deal for O'Meara another #1 pick. But it's a mighty strong starting point since they're good for 5 years - someone would have to offer something very good to trump it - like Sam Mitchell good. Pick upgrade for Bate is the right price and outcome - someone will be interested at that price - worst case he stays on the list and that's OK, we'll be able to find enough gaps. Just as an aside - if we got O'Meara he can't play until 2013 so I assume he doesn't take a list spot. I also saw that the AFL CBA offer includes reducing the list by 1 to 39 including vets - 38 plus nominated rookie - so if that sticks we will have to find an extra delist or trade.

Someone had to say it Very happy with that selection - great to see Fitzy there.

FMD - do people really think that clubs aren't all over every player on an AFL list - especially players who've been on AFL lists for many years, subject to opposition analysis for match-day for a start off. "Gee that Matty Warnock's going well in the VFL, anyone ever seen him play?"

I agree with you tha O'Meara is #1 trade target - midfield star and MUST be traded. First of all that wont get it done for O'Meara. Try both compensation picks (oooh see what I did!) and you may be getting close - remember we wouldn't trade 2 for 8 and 9. Second - how dumb do you think recruiters are? Whether Bate plays for MFC, Casey or Upper-Kumbukta West - they know all about him by now.

Right so your reasoning goes something like this ... - the media says there's 5 players Scully, Carlisle, Ward, Russell, Walker gone to GWS - as it turns out some of them definitely aren't gone to GWS e.g. Carlisle, Walker, in fact they've re-signed with their clubs - therefore the ones that are left on the list are even more certain to be going to GWS yeah right, that's hangonesque!

Hard to describe how dumbfounding this post is ...

Very difficult to get him to MFC. As WJ points out when was the last time a player preferred to come to us over Carlton for example? And right now our rep is at an even lower ebb. Second - what are you going to trade for him? No player wants to go to Port and the traded player has to agree to the trade. The talk of Jamar, Sylvia etc is fanciful - they are not going to Port Adelaide. if we try to trade them out to PA they'll be off to other much greener pastures before you can blink. We won't be able to get him in the draft if he forces Port to put him there because we wont have an early enough pick - someone else will surely swoop. The best we can offer is our 1st round pick somewhere between 12 and 17 and that's just not value for Port. The only way that could get the job done was if he insists that he wants to come to MFC only - go back to point 1. If he INSISTS on going to Carlton they would have to give their 1st rounder and have to trade out another good player to somwhere else to get another early pick. It's not going to happen.

Where's the Jaeger O'Meara option?

Quite a few ifs in there. Over Eddie's dead and charred body would MM go to Carlton in 2012 - Eddie would drive him to MFC headquarters himself rather than have that happen! And Carlton have a shitload of debt - I'm sure they could find the funds for MM but they're not better off than us currently, except for Jeannie Pratt. MM is 3 seasons short of Jock McHale's all time games coaching record - if he coaches on he'll do at least 3 years.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/i-never-wanted-to-leave-crows-walker-20110829-1jhgs.html#ixzz1WTq8Bk8N What's that ticking sound?

Total unsubstantiated [censored]

Yes that's along the lines I'm thinking ... Forwards - We've got an excess of medium forwards but as you say Bate and Dunn aren't going to cut it, maybe Petterd as E25 suggests in the other thread. Backs - Rivers is a good player who has had a good season and we've got McDonald and Davis in the pipeline so that possibly represents excess. Rucks - If we're prepared to punt that Fitzy will cvome through then Martin is a possibility - he's had a good season and has a potential high ceiling - he's versatile because he can go back but we've already discussed that we're covered there. He doesn't really provide a tall forward marking option. You've got to give quality to get quality so Rivers, Martin and Petterd could be in the frame, In terms of targets, yes I think Scott Thompson would be a very good option - it's dreamland to think we're going to trade for a 23-26 mid in their prime. Thompson is 28, playing great footy and has 3-4 years left. I noted in the other thread that Tarrant and Croad returned to their original clubs with a lot of success. Adelaide might be interested directly in Rivers with Bock and Davis going. A 3-way with Richmond and Martin may have appeal - they've got that 5yr end of 1st round Tambling compo pick and they want a ruckman.

Ablett, Swallow, Rischitelli - they're currently better, fitter or more experienced than anyone in our midfield. Bock, Brennan, Harbrow - it's the nucleus of a good defence. Some mad posting in this thread - either there's something wrong with reality or something wrong with your perception and expectation.

Agree - if we want to trade for a quality experienced mid-fielder we're going to have to trade a good player at the top of their value in an area where we think we have an excess.

Draft history shows the hardest picks to get right are the picks in the late teens and 20s. Top 10s have become straightforward with the increased research and data and there a few mistakes. Later on in the draft I think recruiters are freer to take a chance on players who may have a defect because the stakes aren't so high. In those pick outside the top 10 I think there's a bit of conservatism sometimes and the results often aren't as good as later picks - for BP these picks are Blease, Strauss, Gysberts, Tapscott, Cook - you can look at CC's picks in this range Bate, Dunn, Grimes, Maric etc to see the problems. We're going to have another pick in this range this year and possibly more if Scully goes to GWS.

Top work Rogue!

Unbelievable sentiments in this thread - Fitzy plays for MFC for me. I hope more MFC players play with Casey in the finals this year than the last 2 years but when MFC and Casey are both playing MFC comes 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

That might be going too far ... Let's say I think there ARE others ahead of him in the forward line, he's no crumbing forward as posted regularly we have Jurrah, Green, Sylvia, Howe, Petterd, Bate, Dunn etc as medium sized forwards. Tappy showed nothing overhead yesterday. I agree with the post above where flexibility in the backline is good, we've got Frawley, Rivers, McDonald and hopefully Davis as talls, we've got Garland as tall or small and his recent run out of defence was fantastic. We've got Blease and Bennell as dashers too and Bennell has been excellent defensively. Strauss was doing very well defensively on the ground and overhead and his kicking was a weapon - his injury is really bad fortune and he'll be a long time getting back. That possibly provides an opening for Tapscott.

Yeah Blease was very exciting back there but. So was Bennell. Bail is mid-field run with. Grimes has been suggested for the midfield too. I think Tappy is no sure bet (who killed Bambi?) - someone (Titan?) questioned in the original thread whether he would make it and that could have been prescient. He looked hopeless up forward, is not strong overhead and doesn't have the tricks to be crumber - and we've got a log-jam of medium forwards. He has to find a role down back IMO and it could get tight. Strauss's injury may help him.

You're living in CIA dreamland. A more reasonable assessment is that it was to our advantage having Scully and Trengove coming OOC in alternating years.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/viney-catches-coaching-bug-20110828-1jgmh.html#ixzz1WN53s3Zj Despite this assessment by Todd I thought Tom was very good yesterday. 11 contested possession, 6 tackles and 6 clearances is a pretty good day's work - particularly since he still hardly ever starts in the centre square - baffling.

Well back to the key point that was side-tracked in the Scully v Gysberts comparison. Do we agree that Scully will make his mark in the centre square as a starting midfielder? Is so, he's not playing that role now for some reason and is missing out on 30+ clearance contests per game. It's hard to be critical of his long-term worth until he plays his key role. I've suggested a reason why he's not playing in there now - maybe other posters have other suggestions - maybe he needs to be within 30m of the fence at all times in case Gubby calls him, maybe he's afraid of heights and the MCG camber is too great for him to bear - I'm open to suggestions.

Wouldn't have much faith in that panel assessing assistants but plan A sounds like experienced coach and selecting Malthouse, Clarkson or Lyon is probably straightforward enough - however I think it would be a massive challenge for them to assess whether Rocket is still current enough for example. But the question is who could really assess assistants game knowledge - maybe Roos. Walls, Matthews and Thomas would have no idea and I'm not confident about Wallace. It has to be someone independent from a club and that makes it hard to get someone current. Maybe David King - I see the Dogs have Tom Harley - that looks good. Maybe a retiring senior player like Brady Rawlings. There's Matthew Lloyd but his last coaches were Sheedy and then Knights.

Gumbleton's kicking is a worry. I do generally think RR is on the right track - we're not going to trade in Buddy or Cloke and we're not going to get anyone worthwhile for Bate, Dunn, Maric or Warnock.