Whispering_Jack

No offence taken but the point you're trying to make in the OP wasn't about evaluating the overall performance of key individuals in the club but rather on one discrete aspect of Mark Neeld's action in making a substantial overhaul of the list and his judgement in carrying out the decision to do so and that is what I was commenting upon.

In the last decade? Nobody unless you assess the departure of Scott Thompson to Adelaide as being a case of getting rid of someone. I believe that we didn't want him to leave although it was said by some that Thompson hadn't felt comfortable at Neale Daniher's treatment of him during his stay at the club. I'm not convinced that it would necessarily reflect badly on Mark Neeld and the football department if one or two players who have gone end up having good seasons at their new clubs next year. Some players getting a second chance elsewhere do thrive under different conditions in a new environment having received their wake up call. The main thing from Neeld's perspective is that he wants team members who he believes are able to perform to the standards he imposes on them and that they are capable of doing so. In that regard, the best way to judge our key personnel like coaches, medical and fitness staff etc. is internally and not by what happens outside the club which, whilst it might be a factor to consider, is IMO really only secondary to this issue at best.

Call it simplistic if you like but all I'm doing is expressing my opinion on the fact of the changes in personnel which is that, like you, I support of the majority of the list management decisions made by the club this year. I'm not avoiding or ignoring the question of evaluating the performance of key individuals at the club in respect to the decisions made recently to offload certain players. That happens to be a separate matter that will become more clear in time and it's not something about which I'm going to obsess about at the moment other than to say I believe Neeld & co have been true to their stated objectives as expressed at the start of the current recruiting period.

When a club embarks on a massive clean up of its playing list, it's no surprise that some of those players will inevitably find themselves elsewhere and one or two might become good contributors in their new environments - it's part of today's football landscape. Mark Neeld is putting his stamp on the team and the club has introduced six newcomers who have been at other clubs (counting Dean Terlich who was briefly on the Swans' rookie list). I care about what these blokes can add to the team far more than I do about those who are now involved with other clubs. While I wish them well, they mean nothing more than the several hundred others on the various other AFL club lists and there are no regrets whatsoever about the FD's brave decision to clear the decks of many players who, for one reason or another, did not fit their vision for the future of the club.

Enough.

Hmmm ... that could also be suggestive of their value in the current market.

Demon Twitter

A defender from North Adelaide.

Small midfielder from Glenelg. 18 yo 177cm, 70kg consistent performer who has footy smarts and competitive drive

Taken by Freo at pick 8 in the PSD. Revenge for Mitch?

Juzzo updated his Phantom PSD and Rookie Drafts yesterday:- Pre-Season Draft Round One 1 - GWS Giants Brett Thornton 2 - Western Bulldogs Brent Prismall 3 - Port Adelaide Sam Colquhoun 4 - Brisbane Lions Jason Pongracic 5 - Richmond Pass 6 - Essendon Dayle Garlett 7 - Carlton Pass 8 - Fremantle Matthew Taberner 9 - Collingwood Pass 10 - Adelaide Crows Nick Joyce 11 - Sydney Swans Kurt Tippett Round Two 12 - GWS Giants Dean Brogan 13 - Carlton Pass 14 - Fremantle Alex Howson 15 - Collingwood Pass 16 - Sydney Swans Pass Round Three 17 - Sydney Swans Pass Rookie Draft Round One 1 - GWS Giants Ben Ross 2 - GC Suns Leigh Osborne 3 - Melbourne Jack Hannath 4 - Port Adelaide Jaryd Cachia 5 - Brisbane Lions Tom Langdon 6 - Richmond Orren Stephenson 7 - Essendon Ariel Steinberg 8 - Carlton Jacob Ballard 9 - North Melbourne Anthony Tipungwuti 10 - Fremantle Nick Rodda 11 - WC Eagles Marvin Warrell 12 - Collingwood Kane Mitchell 13 - Adelaide Byron Sumner 14 - Hawthorn Darcy Fort 15 - Sydney Swans Sam Lowrie Round Two 16 - GWS Giants Pass 17 - GC Suns Pass 18 - Melbourne Myke Cook 19 - Port Adelaide Aseri Raikiwasa 20 - Brisbane Lions Callum Bartlett 21 - Richmond Josh Toy 22 - Carlton Andrew Collins 23 - North Melbourne Ben Speight 24 - Fremantle Jesse Crichton 25 - WC Eagles Shane Nelson 26 - Collingwood Kyle Martin 27 - Adelaide Tim Klaosen (Category B ) 28 - Hawthorn Ciaran Kilkenny (Category B ) 29 - Sydney Cameron Banfield Round 3 30 - GWS Pass 31 - GC Suns Pass 32 - Brisbane Lions Jordan Bourke (Category B ) 33 - Richmond Sean Lynch 34 - North Melbourne Cameron Richardson 35 - Fremantle Craig Moller (Category B ) 36 - Collingwood Sam Dwyer 37 - Adelaide Jack Osborn (Category B ) 38 - Sydney Jarrod Lienert Round Four 39 - GWS Giants Pass 40 - GC Suns Pass 41 - Richmond Addam Maric 42 - Collingwood Emmanuel Irra 43 - Sydney Xavier Richards Round 5 44 - GWS Giants Zach Williams (Category B ) 45 - GC Suns Andrew Boston (Category B ) 46 - Richmond Gideon Simon (Category B ) 47 - Collingwood Peter Yagmoor 48 - Sydney Liam Flaherty Round Six 49 - GWS Giants Joseph Redfern (Category B ) 50 - Collingwood Ben Hudson 51 - Sydney Brandon Jack (Category B ) Round Seven 52 - GWS Giants Eric Wallace (Category B ) 53 - Collingwood Ben Richmond Category B ) 54 - Sydney Daniel Robinson (Category B ) 55 - Sydney Alex Starling (Category B )

Jon Ralph reports in today's HUN that the Melbourne tanking probe is to drag on longer, with February linked to possible outcome So the long running saga continues into 2013 as the AFL's intrepid investigators search dustbins and aging computer records to add to their smelly collection of red herrings while the Demons continue to defend their name in the face of a tedious Inquisition that must surely be setting sporting records. In fact, Melbourne now features on both sides of the ledger as far as VFL/AFL records for time wasting are concerned. Back in 1987 it took a nanosecond for umpire Howlett to blow the whistle and penalise the late Jim Stynes for that offence. The current AFL inquisition commenced on July 31 and, based on the information in Ralph's article, will have wasted six months of the AFL's time and substantial resources before it winds down and dies a natural death. During that time, the Melbourne Football Club will have turned over 15 players - a third of its list and former player Brock McLean, who started all this, will probably be President of the Carlton Football Club.

If you look at the number of incidents that have dogged him; in particular those that resulted in him being suspended (or in the Pavlich case where he should have been suspended) he exhibited some traits which are anything but indicative of the quality of a leader. The eye gouging, the chicken winging and the sniping might suggest frustration but his reactions were costly to both him and the club. He can now concentrate on his own game as his otherwise illustrious career runs down. Carlton would do well to consider a Carazzo but who am I to judge the ultimate decision on that club's skipper? Best to leave that task to young Brock.

It was interesting reading the old thread from 2005/6 about Robbie. My own contribution was that when he had the ball it seemed as if time froze and that's still my lasting memory of this incredibly skilled footballer. When he went for a mark it seemed as if he rose from the pack in slow motion coolly and calmly taking grasp of the football - perfectly. All the while, others around him would move frenetically in their attempt to prevent him from getting the football. Then he was away, halfway down the field leaving the mere football mortals in his wake. He was sheer genius.

Nobody can question Bruce's motivation for the book i.e. to tell the narrative of Liam's journey from the desert outback to the big city. It was never intended to be purely a football story but it went belly up because of the shocking circumstances that have enveloped his community and, in any event, nobody ever claimed he was anything but human.As for Curry's post, it's lacking any sensitivity but we do live in a democracy and everybody has a right to say things that make themselves look stupid.

Take 5 ... RIP Dave

Not disrespectful but certainly unrealistic in expectation.By the time Robbie Flower was Jack Watts' age, he was already a champion. In the words of the great James Taylor, if Jack is ever going to be considered in the same stratosphere as Robbie, he has 10 miles behind him, 10,000 more to go. Great work HG!!!

My guess is that Seve didn't use a photo of himself is because he unfortunately passed away about 18 months ago. If anyone can come up with a different or better reason, I wait with bated breath...

Don't want to be a nit picker as far as the Age is concerned and I do enjoy the PSSST column on the back page of Age that incorrectly claims Jason Pongracic of the Stingrays was drafted last month. This would probably come as a surprise to Jason who was, in fact overlooked, but is still hoping to be picked up in the rookie draft.

And in the end Aussie's team, the Tiwi Bombers were beaten and lost top spot to St Marys who came from a few goals down to win by 19 points after kicking six goals to nothing in the final term.

Laycock's out of GWS contention - failed his medical. Bret Thornton now in their sights.

Confirmed that the team is at the game tonight. Matt Burgan's tweet:- The game is for the Wonaeamirri-Gregory Cup (I think part of the name is after Aussie's late dad). ¼ time score: Tiwi 5.3 (33) lead St Marys 2.6 (18).

Aussie set up the first goal and Tiwi are already 4 goals in front. I read somewhere that they were going to catch up with him so it's likely they'll be at the game unless other activities have been planned.

Hope the lads are watching the big NTFL game up there between Tiwi Bombers and St. Marys. The Tiwi side is:- S Mungatopi J Puruntatameri D Munkara B Palipauminni R Tungatalum T Bongetti R Kantilla A Wonaeamirri E Darcy K Height M Dunn E Tipungwuti K Puruntatameri B Barden C Kerinaiua D Barden G Cunningham R Pupangamirri D Mungatopi M Fairweather A Tipungwuti S Tipuamantamirri Anthony Tipungwuti is the classy indigenous player who has been with Gippsland Power for three seasons and tipped as a good chance to go in the rookie draft next Tuesday.

Do my eyes deceive me or is that colour really red?