old55

Good debut by Tapscott - won his share of contested football, that was a great hit on Shaw but it was really great play by Shaw too - got the ball forward to a team-mate and really put them in an attcking psoition.

It's interesting isn't it - Paul Roos is a genius and Ross Lyon is a chump.

Watched those videos - and liked what I saw. He looked like a footballer - yes the soccer goal was fortunate but good footballers put themselves in that position and exceute. He keeps his feet in the contest - that ball at about 4:30 in the 2nd video is a good example. He showed good closing speed in a few tackling situations. Looks like he's got a couple of weapons and no major weaknesses. Looked reasonably clean, hard to see enough examples - if he has got a bit of acceleration - as seemed possible in those tackles - he could be a bit Byron ...

God give me strength ...

Are you sure? There's two separate stats - 1st possessions and clearances - they're correlated but they're not the same thing.

What weaknesses are going to expose him? The main doubt I can think of may be a fatal lack of pace? My understanding is his attack on the contest, endurance and kicking are elite and he has the body size to make an impact - he adds a physical dimension that currently only Moloney provides.

Agree with Rogue, Scoop, Nasher, Dr etc - we need to play a 2nd ruckman in the 21 and not burn Jamar out - he was smashed by the back third of last year. 2nd ruck needs to be versatile tho. The good thing about Jamar is that he's dangerous forward. Spencer is a much better ruckman than Martin and can mark around the ground but is not much use as a link man in the midfield or as a forward - particularly defensively. Martin is not more of a marking threat forward than PJ was but he can probably apply more defensive pressure than Spencer. We could play Martin down back but it's unusual to relieve in the ruck from te backline - we're usually trying to get a settled back 6 who play maximum minutes. One of Spencer or Martin would be in my 21 but it's not clear which one - both have negatives. I'd be more inclined to sub a ruckman off than sub one on. If we went with Spencer we could ruck him heavily and play Jamar forward and relieving. Then providing no injuries sub Spencer off in the 3rd and ruck Jamar solo. I'm pleased to see Tapscott in and I'd like to Strauss play, if he can make it he'll make a big difference to our structure. Warnock is a no-no with Rivers, Bartram and Macdonald already down back. Jetta has earned a place and if Trengove is fit enough he must play. That leaves Petterd out which would be a big call with Bate also out - it would mean one-trick medium forwards are out of favour. Martin/Spencer, Jetta, Trengove, Strauss/Petterd (sub)

The only reason he's on my radar at all is he is a negative impact on the Demons. I'd like us to be NO part of the resolution.

He's been happy to take press attention and $s for many years and continues to do so and yet you suggest they should leave him alone? You see naive honesty - I see an irresponsible jerk. Maybe there's no bar for your sympathy, mine has one and Fev is below it. What next? Well that's up to Fev. I blame myself for being stupid enough to even think twice about him.

He just got paid 5 figures to do an exclusive on TFS that his management advised him against!!!

MFC should sling Frankston $50K via a 3rd party to bolster his offer there. Surely we have a dedicated supporter who has recently moved into the area who is "very keen to see the Dolphins prosper" and could go middleman?

Swans easily. Yes we beat them last year for the first time in years but there's always some aberrations in the H&A they finished in the 8 and won a final. We've got injuries to key players Frawley, Scully and Morton and have to cover the loss of Junior and Bruce.

GHF - Clubs don't usually offer 6x6 to players with a dodgy knee - RC in the stand is worth more than PJ on the field

He's a footballer and not just an athlete. His ceiling is going to depend on whether he can continue to build bulk and strength. He's a strong mark, a decent kick and if he can get bigger will be very versatile and difficult to match up on and vice versa will provide us with a match-up on other similar rare players. He's now listed at 192/87 - his brothers are listed at 186/81 and 191/86, he may struggle to get up into the low 90s with Goddard but if he can he'll be hard to beat in any contest.

I don't envy Dean Bailey - as I posted above injuries and development of Blease, Strauss and Tapscott have put this further out in the backline - who are you gonna play - Bartram and Macdonald or these guys? Hell Grimes has hardly got on the park too and he's a fixture in there. Bailey was on the radio again this morning talking about kicking through the zone. God help us! It hasn't been quite so bad in the middle because Scully and Trengove stepped straight up last year and started building experience - but both are injured now, so is McKenzie and Gysberts has that back injury. It means Moloney and Jones remain the prime-movers in there. I think we did the right thing to move Bruce and Junior on in these respective areas and make it more necessary to bring through youth but there's a short-term cost. More than half the players in our next premiership side have played less than 30 games. I forecast pain.

The only players with 80 games or more that I can ink in are Jamar, Davey and Sylvia. Green is going to get too old before the young players get old enough. There's a lot of games to get into a lot of players ...

I expect Warnock, Jones, Bartram, Bate, Dunn, Petterd, Green, Moloney, Rivers, Macdonald and Newton to play plenty of football this year - we need their experience to be competitive - but only maybe 1/3rd of them will play in an MFC premiership side.

I think the season holds some more pain - particularly for the impatient. Bailey has beeen emphasising the importance of fast ball movement and kicking through the zone. It's hard for us to do this with Bartram, Macdonald and Rivers all in the starting back 6. I love Clint and Joel's contested ball winning but their disposal let's our structure down. Strauss, Blease and Tapscott have all been restricted by injury and are virtually 1st year players - they can't compete at the the level Clint and Joel can, similar for Jamie Bennell with his light body shape - it takes a 80 games to get to that level. We've got some structural problems that are going to stop us really progressing until we get a different mix into the side but we need to do this while mainaining competitiveness.

indeed we'll see who has the last laugh ... as his body matures he'll improve in the contest, he's a smart player and he is a decent kick. He's got elite endurance - super valuable, is tall and a good mark. I'm confident he is going to be at least a very good player, possibly a star.

Scully Frawley Watts Trengove Sylvia Jurrah Grimes Davey Morton Garland

Utter [censored] - Melbourne champion Russell Robertson averaged 1.9 per game. In his first 32 games Robbo kicked 31 goals.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/captains-join-together-to-slam-sub-rule-20110317-1byzk.html The other thing we've recruited hard for is great endurance - I think contested ball winning, elite kicking and elite endurance is a good combo for where the games heading - hopefully where we are leading it. Fans used to reasonably complain that in the Daniher years we seemed to be adopting the previous flag winners model too late - that doesn't seem to be the case now.

A long time ago Yabby Jeans said "they've got it, we've got it, it's in dispute" We kick it more than Thompson's Geelong. Yes it's hard to read too much into NAB Cup intensity - it's a long season - we may be pacing ourselves or we may not be able to exert consistent intensity. We're going to be challenging for the flag in 2014, not 2011. We don't want to be playing 2010 football in 2014 - that would be like playing Swans 2006 football now. We need to be playing football that will defeat 2011 football. We've recently recruited players who can win contests and kick well, preferably both - not all of them are in the team yet. The strengths of which players are you talking about - Bartram, MacDonald, Moloney and Jones or Strauss, Tapscott, Trengove and Blease? I think it's the latter group and that's why 2011 will be another development year.

I can't have Bate, Dunn, Green and Petterd - really 4 medium forwards - all in the side. One of Bate or Petterd has to go for me, possibly both. I'd consider Bennell for a bit more pace and persevere with Strauss's kicking in the backline. Bail, Bate or Petterd would be the potential outs. It's a tough one and I've squibbed a final 22.

Yeah, I've wondered about Aussie in the BP. He is a great kick. He could get isolated in a marking contest but that didn't seem to worry David Wirrpunda.