old55

It's a no brainer that David Neitz should be captain in 2007. And no-one was an earlier adopter of (Colin who?) or is a bigger fan of Brock McLean than me - well not counting proto-stalkers like Jaded that is. But discussions like this about the 2008 captain leave me wondering how everyone ignores the elephant in the bedroom, the gigantic shadow looming from the west, the deafening sound of the rudest four letter word that no high-tech ambient noise cancelling headphones can deny. It's ... JUDD! JUDD!! JUUUUUUUUUDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!! Make no mistake this is the biggest question of 2007, bigger than can the natural improvement of our youth really make us a contender or will Neale Daniher resign or re-sign. We are talking about the player who is on track to be the greatest ever, who is out of contract at the end of 2007, who is rumoured to want to come home, who has 10 years of footy still in him and who would be as likely to come to MFC as go anywhere. How we posters respond to this will show our true mettle - who is really prepared to go into the ring against this super-heavyweight question and slug it out. There'll be the haymaker throwers who will offer our first rounder plus return of PJ and will think they're still fighting despite having been back in the dressing room after being knocked out in the first 20 seconds. There'll be the messiah-deniers who will hide behind the failed ghosts of Tilbrook, Templeton and the return of Barassi. And there will be the outright cowards who say that he'll never leave West Coast anyway so why bother even thinking about it. I for one am putting my hand up to battle and expect to have my nose broken and both eyes shut by about the 4th round. The reserve will be around 3 first round draft equivalents and the exit of one of our "best" to make big salary cap space. Start your bidding!

Thanks for the data Fan. I do agree he is in the most difficult position. He's not a bread and butter accumulator he's a "match-winner" and we need him to win important matches for us. Same goes for Yze now. I'll truly start raving about them when I see something approaching season high in a final.

Call me when Aaron Davey gets a kick in a final. I hope he can one day.

mojo31 on BigFooty in March this year:

Good post KD. Just one clarification. I think Sandilands is the only one of a new type at 211. AS you say Street is 211 but is not a big threat. Sandilands can play a bit and is super tall. The thing about Cox is that he is a ripping player, not that he is 204 (altho that adds to it). If he was 200 he'd still be extremely damaging. If he was 204 and as good as Sandilands at football he would not be on the radar. I don't think he's a new type, Spida is 203 and has been playing well for years. I don't think clubs should alter their philosophy based on one outlier. No-one 211 and 125kg has played before. he's only had one good season. He could easily breakdown and all the fuss be for nothing. There's too much hysteria about giant rucks.

Is it any surprise that biffo eventuated? Occam's Razor says one cause: Kevin Sheedy. He was head thug in the dirtiest environment in my lifetime at Richmond in the late 60s early 70s. They even turned mild mannered Neil Balme into a temporary thug - that's how bad it was. Then onto Essendon where for many years they had an equally offensive opponent in crime in Hawthorn led by Leigh Matthews. The 1990 GF quarter time brawl where TD went berserk was the biggest in recent history. And then there's Long/Simmonds and Hardwick-Wallis/Green from the 2000 GF. The only exception to the rule was the "Baby Bombers" in 1993. That in between he has put together some "marshmallow" outfits that couldn't deliver on the program is no get out clause. Now the IR last year with Chris Johnson going crazy and then this year. Sheedy can't have it both ways - either he habitually instructs his players to go the bash or he has so little control over his players that he is not fit to be coach. Ash - right of reply of course!

I think those beautiful kickers of yesteryear stood out because there were so many shocking kickers. Agreed the drop kick and stab pass offer nothing over the drop punt except uncertainty. Players need to concentrate effort on the drop punt off both sides. It's a disgrace if they are not proficient on their non-preferred. I agree that the "banana" is an important skill for goal kickers and it's they need to be able to kick it off both sides - set shots from the boundary are common enough. I think the torp is a third skill worth thinking about putting some time into. There is the rare occurrence of the after the siren shot from 60m when it could be useful. But really how often does it happen?

I think Shmekel's girlfriend is a microscopist.

If they're not all in it'll only be because they are injured. Definite best 22 now. Miller is battling for a position with Holland, not Dunn.

Percy Beames has to be in the list - BOG in each of the 39, 40 and 41 GFs, and was first player to play 200+ games for MFC. To put it in perspective imagine if Brock McLean wins 3 Norm Smith Medals in consecutive flag years ... Allan LaFontaine and Jimmy Stynes both won 4 B&Fs.

That's very true and on show in the reel. A couple of times he works space on the boundary line where there just was none. I think he hypnotised the opposition. Robert Harvey is another that has had a similar ability. Another great player he could be favourably compared with is Peter Daicos.

Thanks to Ash30 and Mark, the DVD is fantastic. For all his great attributes one thing that stood out is that Flower was amazingly strong overhead and retained this ability right through his career. When Steven Febey started he was a strong mark (nothing like Robbie) but from about 3-4 years into his career he never took any overhead marks at all. The other thing is that it is hard to tell on the tape which is Robbie's preferred foot - outstanding on both sides.

hi mark, Thx for doing the DVD. where's your shop?

I often agree with you bjgc but not this time ... I think Bucks is a superstar and the fact that he plays in B&W causes other teams supporters to downgrade him. If he played for MFC there would be unrivalled adoration on the pages about his virtues. He is right up there with Voss and Hird IMO. If we could get any one player to MFC it would be J.Brown for me with Tredrea the other possible challenger mainly because he has had less injuries. Judd is a super player but I am old-fashioned and value a great CHF ahead of all other players. Leppitsch was a very good player now crippled by injury. Triple premiership CHB, they don't grow on trees.

I didn't get the impression that they were "coming back" Freak. AT the MIN the message from ND was they were still lingering and had to be managed, I more got the impression that they never completely went away.

Add old55 please Mark!