Whispering_Jack

No inside knowledge (and the MD sugggestion was raised by someone else first) but, as I mentioned on another thread, I think it would be a more palatable solution to the AFL and other clubs for the assistance to be given that way rather than by priority pick. The way things are looking with respect to the pool of talent available, the addition of the MD to our first pick could see us get at least two top flight young midfielders from the under 18 system - one hard insider and one outsider - and a quality current day midfielder like Sloane for the next coach to work with in the future (assuming we don't mess up the picks and the player development as we have in our more recent past). If we do it right we can get the right diversity of types and quality into our midfield mix to have us in a position where we can compete with the top sides in a short period of time.

You've got it exactly right and whereas giving MFC a priority pick might not be accepted by other clubs for various reasons, a mini draft deals with some of those concerns and also gives us some necessary and much needed assistance after seven years of consistently poor performance.

I don't know for sure but I suspect PJ is going to follow the tradition set by one of his predecessors who left his post to attend Wimbledon. I believe PJ's break coincides with the US Open Tennis and if that's the case there's every chance that, on his return, there will be an announcement that John Tomic is one of our new assistant coaches.

I'm kicking off GAMEDAY with what, in hindsight, has turned out to be a rather bizarre coincidence in the history of Geelong v Melbourne meetings. This was my opening post to the GAMEDAY thread from last year's encounter between the clubs:- Byrnes and Gillies were the emergencies who came into the Cats' senior side to replace Selwood and Lonergan. Both are now with the MFC.Welcome to the twilight zone.

A fairly honest assessment rather than a Moloneyesque fit of pique and certainly nothing that would bring embarrassment and shame to Cale.

Get real guys. At least he had the good grace not to slag off at the club or any of its personnel on departure. I wish him well and hope he can piece his career together at his new club.

Perfect timing for the Aussies to get 2 wickets during the half time break at the footy including Agar's maiden test wicket.

The irony of the situation now is that we will probably have to call on this 19 year old's talents to get us out of the proverbial once again during he course of the day but with his bowling rather than his batting. In fact, I'm hoping he won't need to bat again but might grab a few wickets to help give us what would have been an improbable victory early yesterday.

But he does come from McKinnon which used to be the heart of Melbourne's recruiting zone so that makes him an honourary Demon (as long as he keeps making runs and taking wickets).

At the start of next year, Adelaide midfielder Scott Thompson who is a restricted free agent in 2013 will be 31 years of age. Is it too romantic a notion to think that we might be able to entice him back to the fold on a 2 year contract after so many years to help in the regeneration of our midfield?

My mail is that GWS despatched their # 1 recruiter to secure Buddy and that he's been giving him some heavy treatment.

There are a few clubs that have struggled when they've tried to get by with three ruckmen in the side. Why would we be any different?

No. Ridiculous is when he opens the batting and the bowling for Australia with Ashton Agar.

Brownlow, Coleman Medal, Norm Smith Medal, Michael Tuck Medal, Bluey, OAM and NAB Rising Star in his first year. Have I missed anything? Yeah, that's right. Trying to keep the lid on.

Fascinating. I didn't want the lunch interval to come because intervals often affect concentration and Hughes and Agar are doing a remarkable job out there. But WOW!!!

One should never say never and for all the bridges that might have been burnt by Bailey and Prendergast, Rory and the family would know that those blokes are history at the club and he would be starting at Melbourne with a clean slate. While we wouldn't be offering pick # 1 for him, Adelaide have already had a good experience with the mini draft system by picking up Brad Crouch so they might be tempted to go to the well again and package a good trade if we happened to get assistance through a mini draft.

True ... but you really don't want to rely on your tail to get a score in a test. Your early and middle order should be doing that and the later batsmen should be providing the cream - not the meat.

The article suggests the Crows would throw up Sloane to get the GWS #1 pick and therefore Boyd but I wonder if they might be tempted to trade him if there was a mini draft in place in our favour?

And I apologise for doubting Siddle.

Perhaps he has to deal with personal issues to do with his state of mind which are more difficult to overcome when you live in the AFL fishbowl? Hopefully, he's given the right time and space and the best help possible and that he gets himself right to enable him to return to the sport. Best of luck to him.

The norm is that big men generally develop at a slower rate than their smaller counterparts and in Jack's case, his development was slowed further by his well documented illnesses. I think he played his best games at Casey late on the season last year and got his well-deserved game in the final round against the Dockers when we had few big men standing. He then went off for surgery and missed Casey's finals. If Mark Neeld thought he wasn't ready at the start of the season when the likes of Jamar, Clark, Gawn and Spencer were ahead of him, I don't think that was such a bad call but I guess there are conspiracies lurking around the corner everywhere when it comes to our former coach. Incidentally, I once attended one of those pre match events hosted by Chris Connolly and he was certainly impressed by Fitzpatrick's athleticism and predicted a long future for him while suggesting it would take some time for him to mature. I don't believe he was joking at the time.

Don't laugh. Mark Neeld would probably still be our coach to this day had he invited us all down to the MCG for a sausage sizzle every once in a while. Is it true that Malthouse filmed that invitation at gunpoint?

I'm not a fan of Michelangelo Rucci and I reckon he's premature in calling on Essendon chairman David Evans to resign immediately rather than wait for the members' verdict at the end of the season - Rucci's 360: Evans and Bomber board should fall on swords. As things stand at the moment with the way the Bombers are playing, Evans won't be tossed out - he'll be restored in a landslide. One thing is clear about AFL politics and that is that when push comes to shove, it's not about good governance but more about the scoreboard. These things are often intertwined but not always. As they say, winners are grinners and whether Rucci is right or not Evans is not going to resign any time soon. (of course, that could change once the outcome of the drugs investigation is known)

This is the website dedicated to Casey Tutungi - http://www.caseytutungi.com/ Please give consideration to helping Casey and his partner who are expecting a child soon. His injury is a tragedy and, though he wasn't involved at the Scorps in the time of our alignment, I hope Demon fans are generous with their hearts for the family.

Well, according to this article in the Age, its still Sheeds - Sheedy taunts Swans as Giants sweat on stars for showdown