old55

That team already has 9 talls (altho Bate and Frawley are mobile) and 13 smalls (including Bruce), so it's a pretty tall line-up anyway. On that basis Dunn couldn't come in for Brown and Pickett shouldn't. There's nothing wrong with that selection, it has as much youth as you can go for, the only smalls not playing are Weetra and Neville AFAIK.

One interpretation is that Ratten is saying "I'm ready for the Carlton job" without actually stabbing his boss Denis in the back.

Could well be seeing: 2006: Frawley Petterd 2005: Jones, Buckley 2004: Bate, Dunn, Newton 2003: Sylvia, McLean, C.Johnson That's be good!

It'd be an interesting 2 hours if you lined up on Byron in his last game. I'm sure he'd want to go out on a high note as the perfect gentleman. But it would take a steady mind ...

Which one is the "Didak"? Or is that what both of them are called? I guess he couldn't let Chris Tarrant upstage him.

I think Tim Lane got it pretty well right http://realfooty.com.au/news/news/tenyear-...2624171113.html The right decision has been, at the right time. I understand what Neita feels but he would have been better off not expressing it on the radio.

Well said Bob. Neale has been very good for MFC and I have always supported him for exactly the reasons you articulate. Thanks Neale and all the best for the future!

I think Neale should coach his last MFC match on Friday - perfect job application for Sheedy's job! There's nothing particularly dignified about ND coaching the year out, he needed to make that offer when he resigned but we should come to an agreement and pay him out. He's done the right thing by the club (as always) giving us plenty of time to get our footy department structure and new coach right. Bomber Riley should take over for the rest of the year and someone on staff needs to coach the forwards in his place.

Perhaps you should run for the Board Sickto, speaking of smoke and mirrors - put up or shut up. I'm happy with their perfoirmance.

Unlike most, I think Caro generally makes sense, but she's off the mark here. She obviously doesn't read Demonland or Demonology.

That is correct. For example in 2001 Freo traded PP1 (and pick 20 + 36) to Hawthorn for Trent Croad and Luke McPharlin and Hawthorn selected Luke Hodge (and Sam Mitchell with 36 - ouch!!!).

It's completely understandable that you and Clint are unhappy with our poor execution of our new gameplan. I'm not too happy with our season either. But note that Geelong and West Coast have the lowest kick to handball ratio in the AFL at 1.2 and are placed 1 and 2 on the ladder. Geelong are 2nd in handballs per game and 12th in long kicks per game. Geelong have gone from 1.5 kicks per handball in 2006 to 1.2 in 2007. They've made a change in gameplan. We were never going to progress beyond the 4th-8th ceiling without making a change and I strongly support that. Just because we have been unable to get it right doesn't mean it's a bad idea.

A review is the right place to start the process, we need to benchmark exactly what we've got if we're going to get something better.

That's not the entire list of flag coaches, just a short list of coaches who have coached the most game. Roos, Worsfold, Williams, Joyce, Jewell, Jesaulenko, Nicholls, Coleman, Davis, Sutton, Hughson, Diggins, Bissett, Clymo, Chadwick, Rankin, Barker, Belcher/Elms, Howson, Holden, Clark, Parratt, Angus, Ricketts are all missing.

The real question is not comparing the angles but keeping the angle the same - how much further back do you have to go to clear the taller man on the mark. We're looking for distance not hang-time - 45 degrees would give good hangtime but I'm guessing the launch angle for distance is something more like 30 degrees - someone may have some real knowledge. 1/TAN of 30 degrees is 1.73, so for every cm taller the guy on the mark is, you've got to go back 1.73 cms. So 200cm compared with 185cm, you need to be back 26 cm further (maybe a bit more if the guy on the mark has longer arms and can jump higher). It's not a huge amount, but there are plenty of balls touched on the line or nearly on the line - see us vs Adelaide at Carrara last year and vs North this year. (I knew that trig stuff would be useful some day - hey I once even used simultaneous equations!)

That's complete rubbish - has never happened and I believe it never will. That's been one of Daniher's greatest strengths - always puts the club's interests ahead of his own.

Fair enough Champ - good research. My explanation for why he played "well" in that final at Subi is because the ground suits him, the fact that he didn't play well there before does not necessarily negate that - he may have been playing in the backline on Pavlich or just played poorly at CHF - not unusual for him. I'm happy for you to come up with an alternative explanation - one I don't buy is that it proves he can play CHF generally.

Subi is a very long ground and particularly suits Miller's big workrate and his ability to keep presenting on the lead up the field. Other grounds don't have the same length. Miller did play well in that game, he took 14 marks but many of them were a long way from goal and his indecision and inability to pass possession to an MFC player further up the ground made him relatively ineffective, despite his big numbers. It would be a long search to find a team who lost when their CHF took 14 marks. I think it's no coincidence that we have won the past two games with Miller not at CHF. I'm not saying that's the whole explanation by any means, but it's a factor. Miller is not the answer at CHF, that's unfortunate because he's got the right body shape for the traditional power forward role in that position. I think we need to get over it. If he didn't have the character and work ethic he has then I'd have no problems with a trade or de-list, but he has something we lack and we should try hard to find his niche. BTW, that doesn't include the suggestion made elsewhere of playing him in the midfield - he's has very limited skills when the ball hits the ground.

Brad Miller clearly has valuable personal attributes that have been in short supply at MFC and that's why he was (prematurely) elevated to the leadership group. He has limitations as a footballer but has the right attitude. It damages our structure playing with him at CHF. IMO there are two alternatives uses for him: Plan A. Negating key back for the gorillas: He has the size and sufficient pace to go with most gorillas. He seems to have the character and mental toughness a backman requires to keep his head up meet each contest anew. He doesn't need to be the smartest player or read the ball well, all he needs to do is go with and beat his man ala Presti. Rivers can take care of the zoning and ball-reading. It's easier for him when he gets possession at HB than HF because the ground opens up ahead instead of narrowing and it should be easier to make a decision and maintain possession. He has played down back but has he ever done a full pre-season with the backs? It seems to my limited knowledge that he's trained with the forwards all summer and then been thrown down back . It would be worth putting him with the backline group for the entire pre-season. We could retain Ben Holland to mentor him, Ben is a smart guy and smart footballer and must realise he is in the twilight of his career. Working towards hand-over of the Rocca-Richo roles to Miller over the course of next year may be something Ben can work with. We probably don't have the resources for a specialist coach unless someone does it for free. Ben Holland would be useful on the list anyway and appears to have a very good attitude. Plan B. Full-forward: He is good on the lead and can take a mark out in front (see Quentin Lynch). If he plays from the goal square and kicks at goal then his slowish decision making will not matter so much. He would provide good defensive pressure like our current FF does. He would need to work on his kicking which is a problem for someone with a history of OP. David Neitz's knee is giving him trouble and he has a limited time left in the game. I'm not as pessimistic as some about this because Robbo does a very convincing imitation of a power forward - leading, pack-marking threat and goal kicking. But it would be very handy if Miller could come through also. I think Newton might make a better CHF than FF, if he makes it. I reckon we should persist with him in 2008, this year's a bust.

I think that's an excellent selection bringing Matty Whelan back through Sandringham. How long is it since he actually got through an entire game without being injured? Has he ever played an entire finals match for us, let alone a finals series. He's must be very, very unlucky with injuries ...

I reckon Chip Frawley would be pretty high up there. Elevated to the senior team after half a game at Sandy. Retained his spot after an ordinary debut. Good decision btw, he's going to be a real asset.

You need proof to send him to jail, but you don't need proof to know not to recruit him.

Look I think you've cracked football's equivalent of the enigma code there - it's better to kick it long to our guys than their guys. We held our opponents to a season low total - maybe we played a better defensive game?

I can't take the credit, a little collaborative effort there - Belly has many and varied supporters!

Joeboy (10 October 2006): Bell is hugely overrated by many at Demonland . It may have been an injury affected season for him , but he really only played one game this year worthy of having him elevated to such high esteem here . Let him go if the deal is worthwhile . Choko (10 October 2006): Spot on Joe. Potential is not a rating! I like the kid, but if he isn't tradable for the right price, no-one is. Occo (10 October 2006): Happy too see him go. Dont think hes a good player and would be happy with second round pick Occo (18 April 2007) Its time for Bell to go to another one of the 15 clubs .......I dont rate bell. I never have. Although my statement of trading him was a little extream...even for me. I just dont think he is everything everyone says he is. There are people on here calling for players like bate get traded but in the end i think bate is better than Bell and that has lead to some of my dissopointment of bell - the fact that people are prepared to crusify bate but rave on about how good bell is. The fact that bell was drafted at 14 and players like Troy Selwood, Rivers, Staker, Watson, Ebert, L.Fisher are all higher picks than him yet show more than him. Occo (19 April 2007) I seriously dont rate Bell - thats my opinion. I just dont see anything in him because a) he is slow. ok on record he is quick but over time i have witnessed players running him down who are 2/3 less than his speed bb) i dont feel he reads the ball that well c) His kicking skills are ok, but he doesent deal with pressure well and instead makes terrible disposals. Weedster (18 April 2007) I wouldn't get too carried away - it's not that he doesn't try cos he does - always - but he lacks awareness and makes some awful mistakes.. Freak (11 October 2006) please dont put Gibbs and Bell in the same sentence. Gibbs would have been better player than Bell when he was 15. Freak (4 June 2006) Yep, Pedro is right in my opinion. I have a heart attack whenever he has the ball, he indecision and lack of awareness are his major weaknesses thats for sure. I have noticed that when he kicks, his head is over the ball for too long and by the time he actually kicks the ball, the player is no longer open( but he cannot see coz he's looking at the ball) and he turns it over. Demonator (18 April 2007) He can go into the midfield for the Zebras - thats about it! The bloke isnt up to AFL standard, lets face it! Nicho (18 April 2007) what pisses me off with Daniel Bell so much is that he has explosive pace. (I saw him run a close 2nd to Delidio in a GF sprint a couple years back) So why doesn't he run and carry the ball.... Rogue (19 April 2007) Maybe Bell is one of the fastest guy in an athletics race, but that counts for little out in the field. You're right in that he gets run down, but not because he takes on tacklers - generally he gets run down from behind while trying to figure out who to give the ball to. 36ddee (10 May 2006) I know i will most likely get cained for this but I am not sure Bell is going to be the player everyone think's he will be. He just seems to be caught out of position and seem's to lack a bit of pace at times. Also he hasn't got the best foot skills going around and can tend to put his team mates under the hammer a bit. I think of all our young players he is the one that I am unsure about Before2Long (19 August 2006) He's no good.....I just hope he finds some form so we can trade him and get something decent for him. Yze Magic (19 August 2006) All signs say he is the next Daniel Ward. Their games are identical