demoniac

In the old days older players had to be cajoled in to playing on for another season. Most could earm more momey at a regular job or by playing/coaching at lower levels. Now they are payed so well that most will try and play on for as long as they can even when their form is faltering. I don't blame then for that but it does mean that it is necessary for the club to be proactive in getting players to retire when their time is up or to take 1 year contracts at a lower amount that reflects their declining form as they get older. In short for mine the Bruce decision is a good one. By all accounts he was very professional in the way he trained and prepared so his leadership in that regard will be missed but other players such as Scully can also provide that. On the field I never thught he displayed much leadership so I don't think that we will see an impact there.

In the old days footy players and cricketers had to be cajoled to play on for another season or another tour. Now they are so well payed that they have to be cajoled into retirement or accepting shorter and less lucrative contracts reflective of their lesser performance as they move into their 30s. So no, what has happened will not be a once off but I would prefer the club be proactive in addressing the issue and acting in the best interests of the club rather than letting players play on too long or paying veterans whose best is behind them too much.

Indeed we will reap what we sow... and I am quite looking forward to the resulting feast. Our list management in recent years has been the best in my lifetime (I'm 40). Exiting Johnstone and Maclean for well used high draft picks. Saying see ya later to CJ when he wanted more than the 1 year we were offering. And equally as importantly mastering the art of saying to veteran professional sportsmen that their time is up when they all think they can play another year a la Bizzel, Yze, Robbo, White, Junior etc or not offering them multi year deals a la Bruce. Actually Tim Harrington should really offer his services to Cricket Australia... As for Cam slotting into a Premiership contender.. if you are alluding to the Hawks then didnt we just give them a tough but limited half back flanker who could only manage 3 games for us this year in Cheney? Maybe they have more holes in their list than we do and are not really a premiership contender... Maybe their list managment and recruiting just is not as good as ours has been under Schwab, Connoly, Bailey, Harrington and Prendergast?

McNamara to rookie list? May get an offer elsewhere, pretty sure he signed a 1 year deal only for this is year PJ to mature age rookie spot as ngr tall.er ruck insurance.. or delist..

Cheney and Pick 66 to Hawthorn for Pick 52 says SEN n Twitter if so good luck Kyle!

rumour and speculation via a bigfooty report off SEN...Cheney off to Hawthorn

Setanta turns 28 next year and his best footy has been played as a mobile non marking tall forward which is really a not quite right position. That'd be a no for me. At best a late pick if Footy Department thinks he can pinch hit as the secnd ruck/utility tall. Warnock actually plays a position so I think he is of more value than Setanta. If not to others then to us. Perhaps Ol 55 has been getting to friendly with Talking Carlton types!

22 year olds who finished the year playing Box Hill Reserves as Dowler did are at best a contender for a rookie position. In terms of final day Dee deals... think any Dee involvment may involve possible deals for draft picks.. Cheney - contracted i think...is back in the queue for a half back at Dees so may get offered more regular semior footy elsewhere which I think we should facilitate even if for an unused pick... a club like Essendon could do with an actual half back flanker rather than the not quite right utilities they generally play there... Maric - contracted..has undoubted talent and finally managed an full season albeit at VFL level except for one game after a couple of injury interrupted years.. so may seek greater opportunites elsewhere... would not give him away and would not mind him staying Warnock - contracted... 27 in May next year...played only 13 games so spent some time in the VFL which may lead him to seek a a trade to a team offering a spot in the best 22. Tim Harrington said he is a required player which of course can mean he is a required player or that if another club wants him they'll have to pony up what we want in a trade..would only trade for something of value if Footy department is confident Stef Martin will stand up next year.. interestingly over at TC they are claiming a swap of Warnock for Setanta is on the cards which is most amusing! thats all really.. also interestingly Warnock and Cheney should be currently winging their way to China..presume Maric has gone top..they might have to jump off the plane and fly back!

Spencer has shown enough for mine to get the 2 year contract and upgrade to senior list. Turns 21 today. 203cm and 100kg so is the right build. Is not afraid of the physical stuff which is essential for a Ruckman. Competitive in the ruck and his overhead marking is improving. Generally runs to good positions. In the context of the 3 interchange and 1 substitute rule he is in essence a Nm 1 Ruck rather than the more versatile second ruck/follower position that the new rules seem certain to result in. Jamar turns 28 next year so hopefully has 4 or 5 years left which would have Spencer ideally situated at 25 or 26 to take over. If he develops at a reasonable rate he may even play first ruck with Jamar spending more time up forward and relieving Spencer in the ruck. Gawn only turns 19 in December and missed most of the year recovering from injury so is a fair way off.Have only seen limited footage but is written up as being capable forward. Fitzpatrick turned 19 in June. Only seen limited footage of his footy but reports indicate he could be the versatile tall utulity who can ruck and go forward or back that the introduction of the substitute results in. All in all I think we have good ruck depth but we are going to have to be patient while they develop. In the meantime we may be forced to perservere with PJ. Hopefully a large part of his pre season will involve drills where he puts his hands up in the air and tries to mark it or at least bring it to ground. Martin could also be an option for this role. Certainly he is a better option fwd than PJ and probably on par in terms of ruckwork.

pros - quick - versatile - can take a mark cons - injury prone: has had repeated shoulder problems - kicking suspect - tackling suspect: possibly due to lack of confidence in shoulders all in all that'd be a no from me...

Cheney may feel his opportunities at Melbourne will limited which they probably are so understand why he may seek a trade to a club offering regular AFL football. Pettard will be going nowt except China. Can see why the Pies would want him though as our fleet of marking medium forwards means that the likes of Maxwell, Shaw and O'Brien have to play on a man rather rather than zone off and spread and set up Maggies attacks.

The imperative for North to trade is in the $425,000 a season they'll be paying a ruckman to pay in the VFL for each of the next 2 seasons. North are strong in the ruck with Goldstein and McIntosh who form one of the better ruck divisions in the AFL with Petrie to return next year as a key forward who can take a turn as a follower. Therein lies Hale's problem in being the third best ruckman at a team with 2 very good ruckman. As a result he has been played as a key forward which he is quite simply not. He is a ruckman who can take a mark when rested forward. We have the All Australian Jamar, the very average Paul Johnson and then the still raw and developing Spencer, Gawn and Fitzpatrick. Quite simply Hale is a better ruckman and a better forward than PJ and thus represents a significant upgrade as a Second Ruck who can take a mark and kick a goal resting forward. If the cost was Pick 12 and 31 for Hale and 17 I'd be a little bit uneasy and want to be assured that we think Hale has the desire to be the best player he can be and not just a guy happy cruising through an AFL career and counting his money. I'd hope that Barry Prendergast is ok with the drop in first round selection in terms of the players he is hoping to get. To a degree we've been spoiled by the Johnstone and Maclean trades. They were exceptional for us and disastrous for the Lions and the Blues. That sort of imbalance is rare in a trade and if we judge all trades by them we'll never do a trade again. In terms of the 2 remaining years at $425,000 on his contract I'd presume that he would sign a 3 year deal with us at $1.1 million incorporating around $200,000 in the third year. Of course there are a few other teams in the market for a ruckman such as the Hawks and the Bombers so it all may come to nowt.

the Lions are a complete rabble at the moment and the Lions fans I know are hurting which I presume they would not be if it was just a soulless corporate franchise..heck we have been a rabble for most of my 40 years on this planet.. so the new clubs are being formed by a different mechanism to how the tradtional clubs came together..doesnt make them soulless corporate franchises

I don't care who we play ina granny as long as we win one..or two.. or three as an aside...why are Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney soulless corporate franchises? Are you happy with the likes of Pettard and Bail and Spencer...bet you had the same words to say about the Bears then Lions when they began....without a team in Queensland would there have been the systems in place to develop them... if the code is not strong then we will not be strong

If Hale can stick his arms up in the air when marking he already has more KPP attributes than PJ.

Pretty hard to judge any St Kilda forward or any particular forward strucure based on today's game for mine given that the Saints were absolutely smashed in the midfield.

Pick 31 for Hale I could possibly live with. He is a Ruck who can rest up forward and go forward to cause a mismatch. Obviously at North he is behind Macintosh and Goldstein in the ruck stakes. This has created an imperative for them to trade him given he has 2 years to go at an estimated $400,000 a year. If no team can afford to have a player on that money playing half season in the VFL as he did this year then with Petrie returning in 2011 and Hale facing a full season in the VFL the imperative to trade is even greater. For us he gives us a legitimate second ruckman to support Jamar while Spencer, Fitzpatrick and Gawn develop. He would be a definite improvement on Paul 'The Armless Man' Johnson for starters. As others have have stated the fact that Hale can hold his own in the ruck also allows Jamar to spend more time at Full Forward where his contested marking and second efforts at ground level should trouble opposition defences. The major query I have over Hale is his intensity and desire. Is he the kind of player who is just happy to be cruising along playing AFL footy and earning enough to set himself up for life or does he want to bust a gut to get better and be the best player he can? Can we get him for Pick 31 given other clubs like Gold Coast, Hawthorn and even St Kilda are also in the market for a ruckman who can rest forward? Time will tell.

Must admit i did not buy a set when i went to see Acca Dacca but it did cross my mind as to why the Dees were not selling our own sets of horns.

Remember when Craig Cameron left and many people round these parts thought the world was going to end. Fast forward a few years and most of us I think are quite happy with the players recruited by Barry Prendergast. People come and go from a club. Yes it does grate that Wellman sought a release just 4 weeks after signing a 1 year extension and we now have to fnd a new assistant asap but I can understand why he is returning to help Hird lift the Bombers out of their current mediocrity. I do hope he enjoys the outdated facilities at Windy Hill and an end or 2 of lawn bowls not to mention coaching a backline where the only All Australian will turn 36 next season. From a Melbourne perspective we are quite attractive to potential assistants. We have our act together on and off the field. Bailey is a good coach. We have great facilties and a talented and emerging list featuring some of the best and smartest young defensive talent in the AFL such as Frawley and Grimes and Garland. I am confident that world will not end and Bailey and Connolly will find a suitably talented replacement for Wellman.

Umpire abuse bores me. Aussie Rules is the toughest of the footy codes to umpire. Yes they make mistakes and sometimes even shocking howlers. But then again so do AFL footballers. If those who abuse umps think that they can do better then for Gods sake get out there and umpire. Congratulations to Scott on a fine umpiring career at the elite level.

Strauss was recruited for a reason and the footy department is not going to change their mind after 2 injury interrupted years. He is an elite kick who can run the lines well and is earmarked in particular for kicking in duties. Yes he has areas of his game he needs to work on but so do most second year players as they progress through his apprenticeship. So in short I think he will stay on the list. TMac is a player I like but he may look elsewhere if he is promised regular senior footy elsewhere. Good medium defender who can pinch hit in a key defensive role. Good judge of when to run off and when to man up, runs the lines well and can drift forward and kick a goal. But does he have too many players in front of him at the Dees?

Bartram is our best option for covering pacy small forwards because he is quick and has good acceleration. Bennell is the other option we need to develop but that gives us only 2 options. Certainly Bartram's dispsosal may cause some nerves but it'd cause me more nerves if we matched up a Gartlett or a Yarran or a Rioli with someone too slow to keep up with them..I'd be on edge every time the ball went near them.

Retire 0 - James Mcdonald (Veterans List) Move from Senior List to Veterans List 1 - Brad Green Delist 2 - Brad Miller 3 - Daniel Bell Trade - Players who may seek greater senior opportunity elsewhere 4 - Cheney: solid half back who may see too many others in front of him at the Dees 5 - McNamara: running medium half back who like Cheney may see too many others in front of him 6 - Warnock: 26 year old solid full back who seems to have fallen out of our best 22 and may seek senior footy elsewhere. I would prefer he stays. National Draft Pick 1 - First selection 2 - Second selection 3 - Third selection Rookie Elevation 4 - McKenzie 5 - Spencer Pre Season Draft 6 - PSD 1..only if Warnock goes in a trade. Queries Paul Johnson - Colin Wisbey got PJ right, a Not Quite Right Tall. But with Fitzpatrick and Gawn very raw and needing time at VFL level to develop he will most probably stay as an insurance policy. Spencer will hopefully have a big pre season and avoid injury and usurp PJ as our Nm 2 Ruckman.

Bate has the attributes to be a good AFL footballer. Reads the play well, good straight line speed, good chest mark, doubles back well and is a thumping kick. He also has some weaknesses in his lateral movement, marking above his head, taking possesion below his knees and his kicking action is quite slow which means under pressure he can't get a kick away before being tackled. It is perhaps a sign of the strength of our list that he is now playing at Casey and presumably working on his deficiencies in much the same way Morton is and Dunn has. Dunn has emerged a far better footballer and I see no reason why Bate and Morton cannot follow his lead. Much like Dunn there is no particular reason why Bate and Morton wil not be a part of MFC PS 13.

Much like their fellow later day converts to a full rebuild the Kangas really..they want to share the love we are getting....