demoniac

or allowed him to add another string to his bow by playing him forward...

At the moment he is a marking mid forward. Just does not find himself where the ball is often enough to play n the midfield. In modern footy half forwards who can't be part of midfield rotation don't last long.

Davey is in the last year of a lucrative contract in 2013 so unless we frontloaded he will be on big money in 2013. Space in cap will open up with departures of Moloney and Jurrah. Have to guesstimate what they were on but of it was $400,000 for Moloney and $200,000 for Jurrah then thats $600,000 space now available in cap going forward. In terms of the making the minimum 92.5% of the cap the club does not need to pay Garland $800,000 they can simply bring forward part of 2014 contracts to 2013 thus creating more room in the cap in 2014.

We will only have to make a decision about using our first selection on Viney if either of the teams that finished below us - GWS and GC - bid for him with their first pick. General consensus at the moment is that they will not do so. "FOR every nominated father-son player, each club in the competition has the option to bid for the player, in reverse ladder order. If a bid is made, the club that nominated the father-son player must use its next available selection if it wishes to retain its hold on that player."

Cook is a footballer but needs to work hard to get fitter, stronger etc. Have seen him play for Casey. He can take a mark, good decision maker and good kick. All of that counts for little if he does not have the work ethic needed to turn himself into a senior AFL footballer. Neeld has my full support if he is getting rid of players who don't want to work hard to improve.

David King may know about tactics but he knows little about structures and personnel of individual clubs. On SEN this morning he said Melbourne need to spend part of off season looking at latest tactical innovations in overseas sports. He is obviously not aware that the MFC employs a person who is specifically tasked with same. Neil Craig - Director Of Sports Performance Craig is a highly regarded and respected identity in Australian Sport. He comes to Melbourne following seven successful years as senior coach of the Adelaide Crows, the longest serving coach in their history. Prior to that, Craig was an assistant coach with the Crows and also acted as fitness adviser, overseeing their back-to-back premierships in 1997 and 1998. Craig has also worked at the Olympic level, advising the Australian cycling team at the Sydney Olympics. As a player, Craig amassed a total of 319 games in the SANFL as well as 11 State of Origin matches for South Australia. He is a member of the South Australian Hall of Fame. As part of this, a key responsibility for the Director of Sport Performance will be supporting, developing and mentoring the coaching team. The role will strongly focus on the establishment of an elite performance culture, in particular strategy and innovation.

Petterd needs to be more than a marking player at his height. Has to find other ways of winning the ball to improve possession rate. Pretty simple really. Not sure his cirumstances reflect on Neeld's people management skills.

Turns 29 in January. Interesting to see where he ends up and contract amount and duration. He is obviously seeking one last good payday. Can be a solid clearance player. Not very creative with disposal generally preferring to bang it long. Average overhead. Run and spread is average at best for an AFL mid which limits defensive side of game. Wherever he ends up he will have to drop the kgs to try and run out quarters and games better.

According to one of the players - I think it was Howe - all players have been given their fitness programs for the last 6 weeks of their 8 weeks holiday and the Jacks have layed down the law re staying in shape. Can't really imagine Neeld and Misson going easy on anyone who reports back out of shape.we'll know who it is because they'll be running laps until the reach the specified fitness levels to join in the general pre season program. I don't have a problem with players having some fun and relaxation on their time off just as long as they stay out of the back and front pages of the paper and report back in good shape for start of pre season. Maybe every player should be given a copy of the infamous Campbell Brown photo from last years GC Suns Thailand trip as a reminder of what not to do...

Mike Sheehan jumped the shark as a journo the night he accepted without question Maclean's statement that he left the Dees because we had tanked.Did not ask Brock about the more lucrative and longer contract being offered by Carlton or the irony of his destination given his professed distaste for tanking.

NO player at the Melbourne Football Club can be given latitude from requirement to meet elite fitness standards.

Liam Jurrah is dealing with life circumstances that are extremely difficult for most of us to comprehend. His home town is in a state of civil war. His mother's side of the family is exiled in Adelaide because it is not safe for them to remain in Yuendumu. There is no real prospect of a resolution that would see the civil war in Yuendumu end. Liam himself faces serious assualt charges that have their genesis in the cause of the ongoing civil war in Yuendumu. Good luck to Liam in all the challenges that he and his family and the people of Yuendumu confront. GO DEES

One thing is certain and that is that wherever Moloney plays in 2013 he will have to drop 4 or 5 kgs to have the endurance to keep running and spreading for whole quarters and whole games otherwise he simply won't be competitive as an AFL midfielder.

The source for the lucrative offer to Goddard is one Dermott Brereton on SEN. Dermie also thinks we still overpay players. Obviously has not caught up with Tim Harrington been brought in as List Manager to 'regularise' players contracts. Only been a few years Dermie...

Good news. Should be even better as he gets another Misson pre season under his belt which should see him enter season 2013 with greater endurance to match his turbo speed. Key player given his ability to break the lines and his ability to kick a goal.

My recollection is that Collingwoods Recruiting 2 IC - Jason Taylor? - will assume role of Recruiting Head after the draft and Viney will return to his GM Player Development Role. Taylor wanted to join Neeld at Melbourne but was made by the Pies to serve out the final year of his contract.

in the end he and his manager came to the conclusion that Freo and Brisbane were unlikely to agree on a trade. His choices were to stay in Brisbane, risk going to GWS in PSD. Dees ability to satisfy Brisbane with a trade gave him certainty.

that was then this is now. As of the 2012 pre season we finally have the facilities and people who can develop players...its been a long long time since we've been competitive in this area and its been a long long time since we've been competitive on the field. Cause and Effect. Misson is an example. An AFL player would look at Misson's record at the Swans and the Saints and be very confident that Misson can develop them physically so they can attain the elite levels required at AFL level and get the best out of their talents.

Bellchambers only from above list. Moloney is inferior to Caddy and Bellchambers. He turns 29 in January and has had a very disappointing season. Of course he is a free agent so trade value a moot point. He has to trim down and build his endurance because its pretty obvious he struggles to keep running, keep spreading at the level required. Pretty simply if you can't keep running and spreading for whole quarters, whole halves and whole games then Neeld will not pick you. And thats the way it should be. If he does stay then he needs to accept the advice of Neeld and Misson and trim off and get fitter. It will be interesting to see if another club wants him given his age and his need to dramatically improve his endurance.

Is this not just a consequence of free agency? If you plan to sign free agents you need space in your cap. Given you can't sign free agents before the end of the season more players will be left out of contract at end of season at all clubs. Simple really.

the funniest thing about watching OTC this year is that Paul Roos does not know if he is Arthur or Martha when he talks about the Dees. He takes inherently contradictory positions from week to week. It'd be great to get a transcript of all the shows.

Mike Sheehan jumped the shark tonight journalistically. Gerard, Paul and Mike really now need a journo to join them on the On The Couch so there is someone who has the smarts to ask Brock about the #Kreuzercup and the irony of his destination and what the difference was in the contract dollars and years offered by the Dees and Blues. Will be interested to see how the 'footy socioligists' examine the cultural impact of tanking on Pies, Hawks and Blues. Footy sociology is generally a lazy substitute for hard analysis. Face it. The introduction of the 10 year rule in the early 70s heralded the end of amateurism and the beginning of the professional era. Since then only 2 clubs who did not have great facilities or a competitive footy department spend have won flags. North in the 90s and Port in 2004. We've been in the mix for 1 in every 13 flags since footy went pro. Long odds. 2012 marks the first year we've been back in the game. We've got elite facilities and a good footy spend. Does not mean we are going to win a flag but it does mean we have a far greater chance than we've had since the early 70s. That is the reality. Yep we tanked like the Pies, Hawks and Blues did but we did not have the facilities or the footy spend to enable us to develop the resulting high picks.

I''l be there. I have the misfortune to work with the largest number of Kangas fans ever congregated in the one firm. Would really really like to finally beat em and overcome our Docklands hoodoo but having see the Dees play live in Darwin... Cook in for mine. We need a key forward and he might as well start learning the trade. Great commitment Chook!

Its important to note that Jurrah is still entitled to a presumption of innocence till the result of the trial is known.

Were the Swans or the Saints ever unfit under Misson? I'll answer for you. No. They were conditioned to play tough hard footy from the first bounce till the final siren, week in week out, season after season Face it. We were miles off the elite fitness levels of Saints, Pies, Cats and bridging that gap is a work in progress. Misson even revealed in an article on melbournefc.com.au that he was making the players do more running at training in season than he did at the Saints because the Saints were maintaining an elite fitness level whereas Melbourne players were still building to an elite fitness level. Misson will turn out to be one of the more important recruits in the history of the MFC. Everything in his record suggests that after another pre season our players will be as fit as the best teams.