demoniac

Maguire turned 23 in May, 190 and 98kg Rivers is 23 in October, 192cm and 90kg Maguire could hold down Centre Half Back - and play on gorillas - allowing Rivers to use his rare ability to read the play and his overhead marking to be the third man up and be our effective defensive quarterback. If it was a trade would not come cheap.

Problem is a Morton or a Palmer have no chance of holding down a key position. We simply have to start adding to our key position - and ruck - stocks. Rance at 4 then hopefully best mid with a top 10 pick obtained for Trapper.

Trapper does provide run across the lines. He is not express but he doesn't fumble which means he can break away from a contest more easily than alot of players. Is he tradeable? For Judd obviously yes. Eagles do rate hiim but query his application/intensity. Is he tradeable generally? Yes For mine our lack of depth in the ruck and key positions means we are 3 - 5 years off challenging for a flag. Trading Trapper for a Top 10 Pick gives us a chance to draft a spine player to start grooming to be ready when we are in a position to challenge for a flag. To wit key position draftee obtained by trading Trapper is more likely to help us win our next flag than Trapper. He holds more currency than Bruce who is older and Green has not come on as much as we thought he would. The additional pick obtained would allow us to take one of key position prospects Henderson/Rance at 4 followed by best available midfielder at pick obtained for Travis. followed hopefully by a 200cm plus ruck at our 2nd round pick. Robbo is tradeable if he wants 3 years - like Trapper he is unlikely to be a part of our next flag assault. Unsure what the Bullies would offer, certainly not their first rounder methinks - they'd be better off keeping their picks and restocking their rucks and spine like us. More broadly in terms of list balance we need to take note of a team like Port whose quick rebuild is for mine much helped by a willingness to stock up on developing rucks and key position players. Hopefully Bailey will bring this ethos with him.

Maguire would be our Centre Half Back. Was coming back from a broken leg this year. As for getting him while he is cheap - he won't come cheap.

If Judd lodges terms that includes being paid $2mil in 2008 the club that selects him does not have to pay him that but the $2mil has to go against their salary cap.

Chris Judd turns 24 in September. He is the 2004 Brownlow medallist. A 2005 premiership player and that year's Norm Smith Medallist. West Coast Captain 2006 - 2007. West Coast Best and Fairest 2004, 2006, 2nd Best and Fairest 2003, 2005, 3rd Best and Fairest 2002. All Australian 2004, 2006. Please consider the above when offering trade suggestions. No player of his age and his talent has requested to be traded ever. Any offer to the Eagles for Judd from us will start with our first Pick - Overall selection Nm 4. It will then have to add a player the West Coast want. This will be one of our best players. A player we don't want to lose. It may be a Maclean or a Jones. It might be Johnstone. And that might not be enough.

We just finished 14th. Depth players are a luxury we cannot afford. We need to delist enough players to have a few speculative late picks, preferably spine players and ruckman. They might not make it but we know that players like Holland and Ferguson are not going to rise above being good ordinary footballers at best. Look at the Port list and their depth in developing key position players and ruckman compared to us.

A step in the right direction. Congratulations to Godfrey and Ward for making the most of their abilities and for donning the red and the blue. When you are rebuilding depth players are an unaffordable luxury. We need to stock up on young key position and ruck talent now so that our spine and our ruck division becomes a strength rather than the weakness it has been since our return to the finals in 1987. Ideally we need to gain an extra top 10 or top 15 pick to give us more flexibility with our first 3 picks so that we can use 1 on the best spine player available and 1 on the best 200cm plus ruck available. Still gives us 1 for a utility type. I still think we need to open up more spots on the list to give us some speculative picks, again with key position/200cm plus rucks a priority.

White is a Follower not a Ruckman. He is 31 and the centre circle has neutered his main weapon being his leap. Is out of contract I think. Has hard hands so is a poor overhead mark. Also is just not a player of any great physicality. The last Nm 1 Ruckman we had was Strawbs O'Dwyer, like White, Stynes was a Follower. Its been a weakness for 20 years. Simply put White and Stynes did play like extra midfiielders, the problem being that none of our actual midfielders grew 10 cms and started taking pack marks and throwing their weight around like a ruckman. As I said White is 31 in 08 and way past his best. We have to keep Johnson and Jamar in the interim unitl other options appear. Jamar is more of a ruck at this stage. Is 4 or 5 cms taller than White, has a good leap and is physical. Ruckwork needs to improve and needs to take more of the marks he gets his hands on. Johnson is quick and agile and skillfull for his size but needs to improve his overhead marking. May be an interim replacement as FF Gorilla for Neitz rather than a Ruck. Neaves may also be an option. Our rebuild must focus on our ruck division and our spine. Our spine is starting to come together with Newton, Frawley, Rivers, maybe Dunn but more options are required and must be drafted. The same with the Ruck. We are in rebuilding mode, we need to cut players who aren't going to help us to a flag to ensure there are spots on the senior list and rookie list to stock up on genuinely tall rucks and key position prospects.

! - Initial Delistings/Retirements Already Retired (3) Brown, Bizzell, Pickett Should retire (2) We've just finished 3rd last, Ward and Holland are both 30. For mine they shouldn't be kept. Holland - Slow,2 grab mark and an average kick. Ward - Quick and runs hard but disposal and decision making let him down. Delist (3) Ferguson - 26, 5 years on the list, courageous but not AFL standard. Godfrey - 26, 8 years on the list, has got the best out of his talents but disposal and decision making not AFL standard. Warnock - 23, 3 years (?) on list, a good VFL player but not AFL standard. Neville - 20 in February 08, has had injuries, maybe a candidate for delisting and rookie listing. List After Initial Retirements/Delistings 25 and under in 2008 Bartram, Bate, Bell, Bode, Buckley, Davey, Dunn, Frawley, Garland, Jamar, C Johnson, P Johnson, Jones, Maclean, Miller, Moloney, Newton, Petterd, Rivers, Sylvia, Weetra, 26 and older in 2008 ( - 2008 Birthday) Bruce - 29 in Sept, Carroll - 28 in October, Green - 27 in March, Johnstone - 28 in July, McDonald - 32 in October, Neitz - 33 in January, Robertson - 30 in November, Wheatley - 27 in April, Whelan - 29 in November, White - 31 in February, Yze - 31 in September. Trade Bait. We've just finished 3rd last. We have some good talent under 25. If we want to get extra picks in the Top 10 or Top 20 to add to that under 25 talent base then the players on our list who may unlock that are Bruce, Green and Johnstone. All have talent but have not displayed it consistently. If we have to wait for a spine consisting of Frawley, Dunn, Newton, maybe Garland to mature before we can have a serious crack at a flag are those 3 going to be part if it. If not then are we not better of seeing if they can unlock a Top 10/20 pick?

Because Darren Jolly was a Nm 2 Ruckman who a club traded the Nm 15 pick overall for. Mark Seaby is a Nm 2 Ruckman who is out of contract. Given the NM 15 Pick traded for Jolly, and the general importance of, and dearth of, talented Ruckman it follows that West Coast would be asking for a similar pick for Seaby. To wit, in draft terms, I don't think he would come cheaply.

Darren Jolly went for Pick 15 did he not? I don't understand why you think Seaby would not command too high a price.

Sheedy last coached a Premiership team in 2000 which is 8 seasons ago. A question for you - How do you think he has coached since the 2000 flag? For mine that is the point. He was a great coach no doubt but that does not mean he is now. Essendon have slipped into mediocrity since 2000 and are years away from being in the flag race.

Exactly. Sheedy was a great Coach. On the evidence of Essendon's performances since the 2000 Flag his best days are past him.

Most relieved. Shhey is not currently a great Coach. He was but looking at Essendon's performances since 2000 Sheedy's best coaching days are clearly behind him. Connolly was too much of a nice guy like Daniher for my liking. Welcome Dean Bailey.

The Essendon list in 2007 is a basket case of Sheedy's creation. There is virtually no talent between Lloyd, Lucas, Fletcher and the kids picked up in the last few years. His list management since 2000 has been nothing other than mediocre and tactically he has been overtaken by other coaches. If we could have got him in 1981 or even 1991 then that would have been fantastic but we are talking about the Sheedy of 2007. The one that was sacked by the Bombers. Remember the criticism the Hawks got when they appointed Clarkson instead of a 'name' coach like Eade or Wallace or Matthews. The only issue the Board has to decide on is which of the applicants is most likely to coach us to our long awaited 13th Premiership. All other considerations are secondary and distant. And for mine Sheedy - for the reasons outlined above - and Connolly - just too darned nice just like Daniher - do not meet that criteria.

He has won 4 premierships with Essendon. In 1984, 1985, 1993 and 2000. This does not mean that he is best coach for the Dees in 2008 - 8 seasons after he last coached a team to a Premiership. He was one of best coaches of the 80s and 90s but is clearly not one of the best coaches of this decade. His coaching and his list management at Essendon at Essendon since 2000 has not been what it was in the previous 20 seasons. Why do you think the Essendon Board got rid of him - beacause they knew he was past his best.

We need to appoint the best coach available. Sheedy is a football icon but for mine coaching has passed him by. Connolly is too similar to Daniher for my liking. For mine it comes down to Bailey or Hardwick. Young and desperate to succeed.

Yze Magic. Some questions. 1 - Why would the Bombers, whose Board have just committed to a rebuild swap a high pick for a 28 year old Cameron Bruce? 2 - Why would we want Kepler Bradley? There have to major question marks about whether there is a position that he can hold down. 3 - Why would Lions give up a talented ruckman who they have put alot of development into for essentially pick 18?

If the story is true then it is his third strike. Time for a club imposed suspension. I don't expect our players to be choirboys but if they drink too much and/or can't handle their alcohol then they have to change.

Give me Maclean over Bruce any day. At least when Brock puts in a bad game he is still running hard to contests and putting his body on the line. Bruce is Trade Bait.

Pickett should only stay if he accepts that he has to get fit, and stay fit. He should be told that he has to turn up at day 1 of pre season training at a certain weight and be able to do a 3 km time trial in a certain time. If he is overweight and/or doesn't meet the time trial target he is out the door. Then he should be given similar weight/time trial times he must meet for the year. Again, the first time he can't meet the criteria he is out the door.

Averaged out over the season? Who has had a goood season? None that I can think of. Davey has the attributes that are required as the game gets quicker - pace and skill. He might have had a disappointing year but so have the almost all of his team mates. We do need to look at trades but I would proffer the likes of Bruce and Green before Davey maybe even Johnstone. Sure as hell would never see any of those 3 applying the defensive pressure Davey does.

The game is getting quicker Pace is an essential requirement. Players with both pace and skill are rare. Of course we should trade Davey. NOT!

Sheedy was without doubt one of the best Coaches of the 80s and 90s. He is not now. We need to get the best coach we can. We can't sacrifice that to appoint Sheedy because he will bring extra corporate support, media attention and memberships if he is not the best coach available. Certainly Essendon's slide since the 2000 Grand Final does not reflect well on his list management or his mastery of the evolving tactics of our ever changing game.