Deeoldfart

The key points Mark Neeld made were: Jack will be a 'beauty'; he is 'showing all the signs of being a hard-at-it inside mid-fielder, with skills'; 'Like his old man, he has the tenacity to hunt the footy'; He (Neeld) is 'very much looking forward to being part of Jack's development as a footballer'. watched him play in the TAC GF where he had 34 posessions, etc, etc, and 'probably clashed heads with every opposition player out there' (meaning that he was on the bottom of every pack)

I'm sure we'll have some we won't want to forget before you and I are d&b.

Jack started the year slowly, blossomed mid-season and tapered off a bit towards the end (I suspect, as a heavy workload started to take its toll on his immature body). Apart from his footy smarts and silky skills (which we have known about for a while), the 2011 highlights for me were his gut running, some strong pack marking and early signs that he might be adding a bit of mongrel to his repetoire. Jack is really starting to show why he was selected at #1. If he has the will to do it, I reckon he can become one of the stars of the competition in 2 or 3 years. The next steps are a bigger, stronger body to assist him in marking contests, increased consistency and 40 odd goals a season.

I really like what I've seen of Gys in 2010 /2011, but unfortunately we have only seen glimpses. He has a great deal of upside if he can get his body right and keep it that way. Build his body and endurance, and improve his disposal a tad, and we have a potential gun midfielder who wins a mountain of ball, and is extremely difficult to match up on. We now have some of the best fitness and conditioning staff in the AFL, and I reckon they will be spending a lot of one-on-one time with Gys over the Summer.

At least they would have entertained the five and unders!

And a huge THANKS to you for establishing and overseeing far and away the the best footy site in the AFL. I'm sure I can speak for all of the Demon faithful who read and contribute to Demonland. We owe you big-time.

Agree wyl. A great game to watch, and an excellent 'benchmark' for where our boys need to get to if we are to be seriously competitive in this competition. Clearly we have a very long way to go.

For me, the main question in relation to Barty continues to be ....... do the positives that he brings to the team outweigh the negatives? On the one hand his never-say-die attitude and hardness at the ball and contest are fantastic, but on the other his disposal and decision-making must frustrate the hell out of his team-mates and coaches as much as they do us supporters. I suspect that Mark Neeld will really value the positives, but won't tolerate the negatives, leaving Barty's future at Melbourne on a knife-edge beyond next season. One way or the other, 2012 will be a crunch year for Barty imo. I really hope that he and his new coaches can make serious inroads into his weaknesses, because he has a big heart, something we need more of at Melbourne.

Enjoy the moment old dee, and look forward to season 2012 with renewed optimism. Go Dees.

Thanks jacey. A very impressive interview.

Chunk had a very solid year and seems to be improving his decision making and disposal in tight situations. Was given tagging and defensive roles on a few occasions, and these were probably amongst his poorer games. I just don't think these roles are his forte. IMO he is a grunt and clearance player around the stoppages (a la Moloney) and this is where he plays his best football. He had few 'standout' games, but would have been amongst our best half dozen players on more occasions than he wasnt. This consistency across the season was rewarded with his high (4th) placing in our B&F. Well done Jonsey.

It's unlike you to make rash generalisations like that one AoB

Geelong by 17 Points Norm Smith: Bartel

I agree with all that old dee. I reckon the shoddy way that Junior's departure was handled was probably influential in Bruce leaving, and maybe there is a lingering sour taste in Green's mouth as well. However, the Club has acknowledged that that it didn't handle the Junior 'retirement' well, and I think it's unlikely that we would make the same mistake again, especially with one of our 'elder statesmen'. If the possibility of a repeat of the Junior situation is behind Green's apparent procrastination, he should get over it and sign a one year deal.

I agree with your view rpfc, and putting into financial management terms, 'you gotta spend some money to make some money'. The critical point is that the money spent needs to be wisely spent. My gut feeling is that we are going just that, but only time will tell, of course.

I quite like Goldsack as a player (good size, strong and the right age for us) but I don't know where he would fit in our backline. No doubt Mark Neeld would some views on this. I'm not keen on Byrnes. Too old for us, and I'd prefer to play Aaron Davey as a small forward and develop a youngster (Lawrence?) for that role in the longer term.

They were speculating that Bails was Adelaide bound on 360 (I think) a couple of days ago.

I just hope Hagdorn breaks his duck and guesses right on this one. I quite like the idea Leigh Brown (just a gut feeling, nothing substantive to base it on) and I especially like he concept of our assistant line coaches having direct responsibility for the same lines under the Head Coach at Casey. Logical but innovative in AFL ranks as far as I'm aware.

Ditto.

Geelong. Couldn't bring myself to support the filth if they hadn't won a Flag for 100 years.

Warnock is an honest footballer who gets the most out of himself, but is outside our best three or four tall defenders ......... and IMO he is likely to be overtaken by a couple more in the next 12 months. He seems to get to the right places most of the time, but the next step lets him down far too often at the top level (as distinct from the VFL where he had another great season for Casey). He is apparently seeking a trade, and I hope he gets to a club that will afford him more opportunities than are likely at Melbourne. There are arguments that he should be kept as a 'depth' player, but I don't buy that. If we can't arrange a trade, I'd be cutting him free to take his chances in the PSD.

I love the anticipation of it, but I agree that its almost always a let down from a Dees perspective (eg. Hale, Ball, Judd didn't like us, and our punts on a host of second and third raters have rarely paid off) .... but for some strange reason, I really enjoy it. This year I have a feeling it might be different. Our recent success in getting our act together in our Football Dept., might just flow over into the playing ranks. Maybe a quality mid to fill the gaping holes in that area. Just dreaming, but I guess that's why I like trade week. It prolongs the dream.

Really impressed with what Neil Craig has to say in this SMH article. Craig chooses Demons as his new AFL club

Yourself maybe? ...... but only after a nice single malt, Barossa red or banana smoothie.

Sorry, my bad. Post edited accordingly.