sylvinator

People on this website are completely losing the plot. We SHOULD NOT trade our quality youth for 2nd round picks which will get us a) a different quality youth player 2-3 years behind in development B) a dud which often happens in 2nd round picks and up. just rediculous suggesting to trade davey and sylvia for 2nd rounders. just plain stupid in my eyes. sylvia and davey are young and extrmely talented and still have improvement left. especially sylvia. anyone suggesting sylvia be traded for pick 26ish is gonna have egg on their face when he becomes a gun in the next 2 years. this year he has shown great promise. The ONLY players we should be looking to trade are our 26-27 yrolds who have market value, yet a not integral to our team and havnt turned into the champions we once hoped. The players who fall into that category are bruce, johnstone and green. id be happy to trade any of these 3, but id prefer to keep green because he has skill and has shown leadership when he has been captain, and johnstone because he has star quality and great skills. bruce looks a good trade bait to me because he has high market value, no leadership ability, and average skill. would be great for a top team, but we're developing stage.

silly to trade bruce, green on johnstone for less than a 1st rounder. a 2nd rounder is a complete gamble in this years draft and we could potentially be swapping our most skllful player (whos still only 27yrs old) for some 17 yr old who might come good, might not. REDICULOUS! I've suggested these 2 already but... Cameron Wood for Brad Miller and pick 20 Ryan Murphey for pick 18. That's a 10 yr A-grade ruckmna and a future FF replacement for neitz and Murphey is proper FF key position height (196cm). Other players to look at are Prissmall and Byrnes from Geelong. White cannot be traded. hes too important and at 30 yrs old wont hold much market value. We should 100% look at trading Bruce if we can get a pick around pick 8-12. any lower than a 1st round pick would be silly and would rather keep him

all one needs in the facts: 27 years: 22 finals series. a grand final every 5 years. a premiership every 6.5 years. Melbourne: no premiership since 1964 (43 years ago)... sheedy may not be the answer, but the truth is that most coaches would always prefer to coach other clubs that are better financed, beter run and with stronger membership. it doesnt come along often that a champion coach is available for the taking. an assistent coach of the calibre of Guy Mckenna or Todd Viney will ALWAYS be available every time u go looking for a coach. on the other hand, a coach like sheedy comes across a team like melbourne once in a generation. for that reason i think we should take him. other positives: MFC is quickly becoming the least respected club in the afl. we have poor membership, poor sponsorship and bad finances. we are in desperate need for someone who can change the culture of the club, but also the way people view it. sheedy will bring rediclous marketing and sponsorship and will put MFC back in peoples minds. Also, he is a great coach. Negative: The only negative i see in sheedy, is that recently some of his recruiting has been dubious. wat was he thinking drafting campeale, heffernan and cole? why does bolten still get a game and a few draft stuff ups as well (he can be forgiven for K.Bradley bc he was very highly rated at the time and wasnt a shock decision). However his drafting last season saves him for mine. Essendon was by far the best performed team in the 2006 draft so it proves he hasnt lost it! essendon got: gumbleton (future star CHF), leroy Jetta (a steal pick at 20 a very good pick), Hislop (a big steal again, rated extremeyl highly by all in the know), A.Davey (star pick), Bachar Houli (great pick up low down, looks classy to me) and a speculative pick (Reimers) as well. His drafting from this display looks promising. i reckon we go for him. let's be honest, sheedy will definitely leave MFC in a better place in started if he was given a go. can u say the same for other coaches?

Bode, Dunn, Garland, CJ and PJ shoud all play next week. plus frawley if he's right. purely and simply because they are our future, and they are players wholl be on our list season. the same cannot be said for ward, pickett, bizzel, ferguson and maybe even holland and brown. If they are not our future, and probably not gonna be on our list next year, WHY PLAY THEM?!?!?!?!

whoever went to training...was buckley or jamar up there for the trip? someone already said bode wasnt brought along...

considering our team is already abit top heavy, with 4 talls down back and 3 talls up forward plus newton on the bench, you'd think if robbo went down that buckley would come in, rather than jamar.

play the farkin youngsters in the seniors. if we are losing by 10 goals every game, at least get the youngsters to have some opportunities. maybe just maybe theyll even surprise us and pull out a more ocmpetetive effort than our shithouse old players (ward, brown, holland, pickett...)

if were developing for next year then we would be playing all our youngsters. reality is, the only real unestablished youngsters in the team are newton and Frawley! other young players like bate, moloney, davey, bell, mclean and jones are in our best 18 players anyway so playing them is a given. if riley was serious about developing our list as he claims, then he would be playing buckley, dunn, garland, CJ, PJ and even bode. until these players are in the seniors, then riley is not putting the MFC club first. instead he is putting himself first by giving ward and brown games. HE IS SELFISH!

sheedy or ratten

y the fark dont they play the kidz. even if the arent as big contributers than holland, ward, brown and co., they should not be ahead of buckley, dunn, garland, bode. playing young players in the firsts fast-tracks their development. our season is over and riley wont take advantage. he is shite

from what i've seen, when his body develops he'll turn into an agile, tall defender who reads the play well and can be accountable. he seems clever with a good footy brain and is 192cm so is a good height. at the moment he is as raw a youngster as we'v had at the club.

Brisbane- Leunberger Essendon - paddy ryder Geelong - joel Selwood Kangaroos - Jess Smith Port Adelaide - daneal pearce Richmond - Kruiser those are the youngsters i'd like

i reckon we should seriously consider organizing a 2-coach partnership ala some spanish soccer teams have. sheedy and a highly rated assistent (Chris bond, Guy McKenna or John Longmire) would form a ripper combo... i honestly think sheeds and Mckenna are the best 2 candidates out of all those going for the job this year. ratten looks certain to stay at carlton, particularly if they are competative for the rest of the year. Mark Harvey looks sure to stay a docker, and while the bombers also want mark harvey, they can't get him, so they look like getting daniher (lol). mckenna and sheedy are great candidates. im def excited

i know that riley has been giving everyone on the list a go so that they atleast get a fair chance to show if they should be on the list next season. i agree with this policy because how can we know if jamar, ferguson, pickett and miller should still be playing for the demons next season if we dont play them in the seniors... HOWEVER... i really think its time the coaching staff made some decisions on certain players and stick with them, because at the end of the day if they are not playing next year, then y the fark play them ahead of Dunn, CJ, PJ, and any other youngster?!?! if i were the coach, from next week i'd drop pickett, ward, brown, ferguson and holland for the rest of the year, and put in PJ, CJ, Dunn, Bode and make sure that buckley and Newton play 70% game time every week. We MUST get games into our youngsters, because it's the only way to fast-track their development for next season!

Voss will not be assistent at melbourne. there are much more high profile successful clubs he'd go to first in order to prepare him for afl coaching unfortunately. the reality is that we wont get voss to be understudy for 3 years. silly

I'd be happy with kev bc he is a good coach (1 grand final every 5 years, 1 premiership every 6.5 yrs and 22/27 finals series) and a good promoter. my only worry is whether he's past it. his recruiting in recent times has been questionable, and essendon have been mediocre ever since 2000. Plus he plays favourites... are these legitimate concerns. this guy loves mark bolten???!!

Why is everyone so obssessed with getting sheedy. He has been coach for 27 years! granted he's been a legend of the game, but the last 2-3 years he has been starting to lose the plot. his drafting last 3 years has been dodgy as. He picked up Camporeale and Chris heffernan ffs! something must be starting to go wrong upstairs if he's picking heffernan after disastrous 3 years at melbourne. Plus, above all, he plays favourites with some players just like daniher used to. How Mark Bolten has a spot on an afl list still is beyond me. if we are looking to the future, then Ratten is the man to take us places. The main good thing i see about sheedy is for marketing and sponsorship. guys! that is not a reason to get a coach!!!! I've been speaking to all my essendon supporter mates, and they ALL say without fail that sheedy is a legend but he's lost the plot about 2 years ago and that for melbourne to take him would be a big step back for them anyways this post wasnt meant to be about sheedy, but rather why ratten is such a capable candidate

reading back i made a mistake. i meant to say that Neitz, Robbo, Mcdonal, White, Holland, Brown and WArd are all 30+yrold players who regularly week in week out make our team. thats too many +30s. Holland, Brown and Ward are the ones i meant shouldnt be playing at afl level, and they shouldnt be playing regularly. Of coach Neitz, Mcdonald, White and robbo are guns. Unfortunately all all 2-3 years away from retiring so we have to start looking to their succesors. Sorry to readers for making myself look silly but that's what i meant. 9 players +30 is way too much on one list, especialy when most of them are average depth players. Geelong have one +30 in Milburn. being 30 years or older is a sign uv been able to make it through as a really succesful afl footballer. how ward, brown and holland have made it this far is beyond me

my best case/ realistic scenario would be this. delist: Pickett, Brown, Bizzel, Warnock, Neville, Ferguson (keep ward because he is good depth and holland as depth in case on key positions being injured and for the gorilla forwards)...that's 6 players. we have pick 2,18,20,36,52,68 At trade period: 1) trade Miller(Qlder)+ pick 20 to Brisbaine for Cameron Wood... a future number 1 ruckman sown up. Brisbane would be willing to let him go because they have charman, leunberger and Mcdonald. 2) Trade pick 18 to Freo for Ryan Murphey...a future fullforward to replace neitz. a key position of genuine height (196cm) and marking ability. a former number 12 draft pik just 3 years ago and freo will be willing to let him go because they have pavlich, tarrand, longmire and Cambell for key forwards. 3) Trade either Bruce or Green (my preference is bruce bc he has higher market value bc for some reason most teams really really rate him) for pick 6-12 and no worse. If we are serious about building a premiership team based around the last 4-5 years of drafting then we must make the big decisions. 4) attempt to trade Jamer for anything, hopefully get a 3rd rounder for him. 5) Maybe look to try to get one of geelongs fringe midfielders by Byrnes, Tenace or Prismall. they have the pace we need. Try to weave that into a Jamar deal maybe with a 3 way swap. On draft day we end up with pick 2, 10, 38,52,68. That's 5 draftees including Cotchin who will be an absolute 100% certain star gun fast midfielder to add to Mclean, Sylvia, Moloney, Jones, Johnstone, Bartram, Green and Mcdonald next season. Pick 10 hopefully get Ryce Palmer who wil also be a star fast midfielder. Pick38 get to best available ruckman (there are a few good ones this draft). Then pick up the best available player in the PSD. Promote Jason Bode and try to extend Neaves as a 3rd year rookie. That means at the end up to day we have 9 dead wood players gawn who im happy to see the back of: Pickett, Brown, Bizzel, Warnock, Neville, Ferguson, Jamer, Miller, Bruce (i love him but gotta make the hard call). We add 9 players: Ryan Murphey, Wood,Prissmal, pick 2(cotchin), 10,36,52,68, PSD2, Bode. That's something to get excited about. Plust with Wood as a ruckman we wont have to waste 3-4 draft picks of ruckman hoping that one comes good. Same goes for Murphey, because one of him and Newton means that fullforward is gonna be fine post neitz and robbo. btw, the 'getting rid of dead wood' process will take 2-3 years to complete. end of 2008 we will get rid of Holland, Ward, Godfrey, Mcdonald (retire), Yze (retire) and 2009 will see Neitz and White retire but by that time we will have replacements for them. RATTEN FOR COACH

while that is a good core, we really need to add another 4 quality youngsters to that list at years end with top 20 picks and another 4 with speculative picks hopeing theyll turn good. we simply have too many old players making our starting 22. Neitz, Robbo, McDonald, White, Holland, Brown, Ward are all regulars who shouldnt be getting a game at afl level. other ones like miller and ferguson also get games regularly. this wouldnt be happening if our recruiting had been better from 2000-2003. theres a huge gap there and we are now paying the price

The word is the Carlton are looking to take Michael Voss as coach this year but I'm not so upset by this for two reasons. Firstly I don't think Voss should be coaching simply because Carlton will give him a job without any experience. I think he needs a couple of years as an assistant first because he has no knowledge of how list management or the working of an AFL club really happen. However the other positive is that Brett Ratten could be available. I am a big fan of his, he has had a long and promising aprentiship including a season as an assistent at the demons. he knows our club and the troubles we face with marketing and finances. He will promote hardness and mental strength that is sadly lacking at our footy club atm. I would be happy with him as coach.

Mclean and Sylvia are the same quality as murphey and gibbs... i maintain that we have 3 potential A-graders of our list, mclean, sylvia and bate. however i shoudlnt speak to soon, because 4 years ago we had 3 potential A-graders in Green, bruce and Johnstone...all 3 are bonafied B-graders

Charman should not be our target. he in bribaine's number 1 ruck and thus will cost too much on the trade market. Plus he has pledged to brisbane he wont want to leave. I think the player we should go for in Cameron Wood. He is now the lion's 3rd ruckman behind Charman and Leungerger. with Charman and Leunberger both young and extremely talented they might be willing to let Wood go. He is a fine young ruckman and will be a gun. i think a good trade would be pick 21 plus Brad Miller for Wood. This is a fair trade imo and a genuine possiblilty. The other trade i would target is Ryan Murphey from freo. pick 19 should be fair enough. he is young, tall, talented genuine full forward who cant quite make it into a freo forward line that boasts key forwards Pavlich, tarrant, longmuire with adam campbell a future propect for them so freo may be willing to let him go...

OK we have to find some positives ... obviously I'm going to have to stretch ... Frawley! remember that he is an 18 yr old future key back. cannot expect him to be dependable being so young, but showed tonight he is definitely a keeper and he has all the attributes (pace, marking prowess, footy smarts and good height) to become a great kpp in years to come. Jones...he is going to be a 10 year player for us, a nuggety quality midfielder who we can depend on to always put in his all. happy with this kid White...the old fella still has run in his legs. while a second ruckman is still a problem, white's form means that the ruck won't really be a significant problem until he reitres in 2 years. Bate and Newton. while they weren't fantastic today, both looked like they can be quality key forwards in years to come. McLean, Bell, Moloney and Sylvia had dog days, but it's obvious to me that they are quality players who will form the nucleus in years to come. Mclean may be struggling, but it's very obvious that he has the ability, perseverence and mental strength to be a great 10 year player for us. supporters should not be worried about these 4 players. Ferguson, Brown, Ward, Holland played so badly, with such ridiculously bad disposal that it will be an easy decision for the next coach to cull them at years end. clearly, anyone over 30 who is not an integral contributer (Ward, Brown, Holland, Bizzel, Pickett) must be delisted.

i saw speaking to a few essendon supporters about getting sheedy... im convinced he would be a step backwards. we should try to get mark harvey, guy mckenna or chris bond