demoniac

Bruce wins according to SEN 11pm news. Can't say he would have got my votes.

Very quick to anger there Mono. I suspect they were putting lifetime memberships up for auction. As in the successful bidders do not have to pay for a membership for the rest of their lives. Not as in bieng made a life member of the Melbourne Football Club.

Hawthorn Premiership Player 2009 Stephen Gilham - 192cm, 90kg One of "the usual skinny boys we take" Jared Rivers - 192cm, 90kg Stephen Gilham first season at Hawthorn - 191cms, 84kg Stephen Gilham first season at Power - 191cms, 76kg Jared Rivers first season at Dees - 191cms, 85kg Hawthorn Premiership Players 2009 Xavier Ellis - 187cm, 80kg, Rick Ladson - 179cm, 85kg Two of the 'usual skinny boys we draft' Brock Maclean, 184cms, 88kg Colin Sylvia, 186cms, 87kg Xavier Ellis in first year on Hawks list - 187cms, 73kgs Rick Ladson in first year on Hawks list - 179cms, 74kgs Brock Maclean in first year on Dees list - 184cms, 85kgs Colin Sylvia in first year on Dees list - 184cms, 84kg

Hypothetically. No. Not a chance. Does not turn 20 till 28 April next year, 192cms, athletic, marks and spoils well, good below his knees, flexibility to play on smalls and talls, played well on Franklin amongst others. Could go into midfield or up forward as he develops. With Warnock, Martin, Frawley and hopefully Rivers gives us the best tall defensive depth in my 38 years. In summary. No.

No. He has pace and skill and is only 25.

Geelong will be after pace if they trade for an experienced player. Can't see them wanting Green.

Green is a good but not great player. Don't have a problem with a 3 year deal because Green has been durable and will only be 30 in the third year. Its all about the money. If we were near 100% of the cap this year then we were paying some players way too much. We must not do that again. Simply cannot afford to make that mistake again. The offer to Green should reflect his standing in the game, what do players of similar ability earn. Winning this years BnF counts for very little really.

Keep. Some supporters have memories like goldfish - Apologies to any goldfish swimming around Demonland. If he can get his body right we will once again again have the services of one of the best footy brains in the AFL. And as others have correctly pointed out with the development of Garland, Martin and Warnock he will be able to play on a flank. Very much worth the gamble.

For the first time in my 38 years we actually have depth in our key defensive stocks and people want to trade it away! If Rivers body does get right he will again be one of our most important players. Keep Frawley and see if he can develop and free up Garland to go to the wing or up forward if required -gives us important flexibility.

Bailey sure had experienced key defenders to call on, lets see Warnock started the season with 4 games to his name, Garland with 2 games to his name, Frawley with 9 and Stefan Martin with zero. Up forward he could at least call on a 91 game Centre Half Forward but then once Neita's body finally gave up Bails could slot in a 10 game full forward in Newton. Do you really expect a team with such inexperience down the spine to do better than we did? As for these senior players there is not one champion amongst them cept for Neita whose body packed it in. Holland, White and Yze were past it, perhaps Robbo too, Do you really expect the likes of Bruce, Green, Mcdonald, Wheatley and Whelan - yep they are our senior talent you were referring too - to have lifted us up the ladder? Look at North, they've played regularly in finals under Laidley but do you see them as a Premiership threat in the next 5 years? They are as far away as we are or maybe further. As for the mooted trade ain't no chance the Blues would say yes.

Tom Williams is not considered a failed pick. Has shown more than enough in the games I have seen to suggest that if he can be injury free he will be a darn good player - will start next season as a 22 year old, measures in at 196cms and 101 kg, athletic, good hands and a good user of the ball. I sincerely hope that you have nowt to do with our list management though given the fact we have not had key defensive depth in my lifetime there is every chance that you have been a back room recruiting power broker at the Dees for the last 38 years.

Durability Green will be 28 at the start of 2008 and has been pretty durable so I can't really see why 3 years is a concern in terms of durability. Money Green is a good but not great player. Does not find his own ball and does not really change games. Is a good mark overhead (does he exploit this enough?) and uses the ball pretty well. We don't want to pay him like he is a champion when he is not. Compromised Drafts Then there is the compromised drafts approaching when GC and Western Sydney will have the lion's share of the early picks. Realistically we are 5 years away from a challenge for a flag. A swap for a pick in a 15 - 25 range if that was available may produce a player starting to play good footy by 2013 and beyond when Green will be 32 and retired or in his twilight. Experience Issue Some say we can't afford to lose Green because we won't have enough experienced players in 09 and beyond. Can see their point but suspect when placed against the compromised draft issue I'd be pragmatically prepared to do the trade if the pick was right.

If I recall correctly Yze has just completed the 4 year deal which he signed after being bid up by the Blues to $1.4 million or so. Quite likely that it would have been backloaded to maximise payment in the year (or 2 years) when he became eligibile for the veteran's list so Yze's share of Dr Evil's one million dollars might have been around $600,000 or $650,000. An important lesson in knowing when to hold em and when to fold em I guess. We should appoint Kenny Rogers as our List Manager.

We now actually have depth in key defensive positions for the first time since I started followng the Dees in the early 70s. And some of my fellow supprters are sugesting we trade some of them! Rivers has so much upside. Some have forgotten how good he was - out of mind out of sight I guess - his abilty to read the play to mark opposition kicks into defence, his clever spoiling and general footy smarts. Personally I can't wait to see us run out and have the luxury of not having to use him on the opposition;s best tall forward, give him a licence to use his footy smarts and marking/spoiling to their best effect.

I am most definitely happy that you are not involved in our club's recruiting. Dunn: Turned 21 3 months ago. Came to the club as a forward, first Daniher and now Bailey have worked on his endurance and played him in the midfield. I can see him becoming a player who is hard to match up on as he is quite good overhead - needs to work on drifting forward from a midfield role to capitalise. KEEP Bartram: Turned 20 in February. Has pace (rather important in the modern game), nice atack on the ball and seems to run to the right spots. Needs to improve disposal. KEEP Frawley: Does not turn 20 for another 3 weeks. Is still developing but what else would you expect of a 19 year old key position player. Fair Dinkum! I am quite happy to see more depth - Garland, Warnock, Martin, Rivers - in defensive positions than we've had since, well, since I been following the Dees and I am 37. KEEP Bell: Will be 25 early next season. Has pace and chases/tackles well. Has been down this season but I'd back him to work through it and get back to his best footy. Will be under pressure from the likes of Pettard and Grimes. KEEP Bode: Just turned 21. Neat tidy fotballer but is he AFL or VFL/SANFL standard? The later for mine. DELIST/TRADE Weetra: 20 in February. Haven't seen much of him apart from a nice roving goal from a marking contest but seems in the back of the queue with players like Maric and Wonaemirri going past him. Probable DELIST/TRADE

If he said he wanted to be a one club player it must have been when he was at Freo! For mine White is emblematic of the failings of the Daniher years. No surprise to me that with White and Yze out we played with an intensity not seen since the Swooper era. At least Jamar is physical. Can't see the "unsociable Hawks' picking up a 31 year old White except to use as an example of how Clarkson expects the Hawks not to play.

On Friday night at 6:26 I received a text from a fellow demon fan telling me that Jeff White had been dropped. About time. This decision and the recent one to drop Yze are hopefully drawng a line in the sand in terms of the intensity and consistency expected of all our players. The future starts now. Go Dees.

There should be only one instruction for a player kicking in when his time is up and the umpire is about to call play on and their is no player in the clear to pass it to and that is to kick it long to a contest near the boundary where it can be spoiled over the line and we get a throw in at our defensive 50. Never Ever Never Ever Shall a Melbourne player go short to a contest from the kick in.

He appears to be playing seniors in the Sydney AFL Comp. http://www.sportingpulse.com/team_info.cgi...ews_task=DETAIL http://www.sportingpulse.com/club_info.cgi...sectionID=68141 http://www.sportingpulse.com/club_info.cgi...sectionID=68141

The boonies? IIRC Casey is the fastest growing municipality in Victoria situated in the heart of Melbourne's major growth corridor. http://www.casey.vic.gov.au/demographics/article.asp?Item=30 I see no problems with a summer training base being developed there.

Sylvia easily has the attributes required to be an A Grader. Reads the play well, good disposal, strong mark for his size, strong body, aggressive, pace seems to be returning. His move to half back has seen him become more involved in the game. And essentially thats his (and Bailey's) challenge, to move from all too brief cameos to leading man.

This we can agree on. And therein lies the challenge for Bailey and Prendergast. Their mission is to recruit talent and develop the players into skillful, hardened, consistent footballers.

Don't throw the baby out with the bath water. Dunn has all the attributes required to be a very good league footballer. Given his height, marking ability and ability to run I think that he can develop into a very hard to match up on utility who can also go forward. If you want to turn on the blowtorch then for mine its our experienced players who should be your target. Robbo is an absolute liability when the ball hits the ground, he goes to ground faster than a director of a finance outfit gone bellyup leaving us playing a man short. Then there is Bruce and his fiiddy/fiddy disposal, White and his cheap stats, Wheatley and his clangers etc.

Miller has a role to play - as a leading or high Centre Half Forward, a marking link man between defence and attack leading, doubling back and then leading again so that his team mates always know that he will be there to kick to. Players like Bate and Dunn can play in the hole he creates behind him. He has had a couple of shocking seasons. Daniher effectively neutered his aggression which did have to be channelled but by neutering him one of his strengths was taken from him. Definitely agree his trips to the backline should be limited. I always take it with a grain of salt when someone is labelled as a player who will never be a part of a premiership - plenty of players so labeled have played in a flag.

Grimes has been placed on the Long Term Injury List.