Ron Burgundy

Could not disagree more.

There is. His name is Ricky Dyson.

And that's what concerns me. I'd extend his contract now.

IMO a fit Colin Sylvia would walk into any other AFL team. Ironically, he'd have more value to the top 4 teams than to the bottom 4 teams. And, to me, that says it all. If we're genuinely building to a flag, we need Colin Sylvia up and firing. He's the type of player that good teams need in big finals. He has the 'X' factor. And these guys don't grow on trees. Many people here would prefer him to be Jordie McKenzie. But he's just not that type of player, or personality. There's no doubt he needs to grow up and focus more. That said, I think under Neeld he has. We'd be crazy to let him go.

Exactly what I was thinking when reading their detailed analysis of these kids from all over the country that most of us will never watch play any game of football - at all. Glad they do it though - makes an interesting read.

http://www.bomberblitz.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=66274&st=90

Nasher, I hear what you're saying, but believe me - even though my mate is a massive Dons supporter, he is pretty realistic about the Dons' list. For instance, after about 8 wins straight last year, he was still saying they wouldn't finish in the top 6. He, along with the majority of other Dons' supporters, just do not seem to understand why Dyson's been de-listed. For most of his 9 seasons, Dyson apparently couldn't find the ball. Always had elite skills and pace, just wasn't touching it enough. Then, just as he seemed to be developing an ability to find the pill, he gets de-listed. We obviously won't have to pay sheep stations for him. To me, it seems a no-brainer given that we need flankers with pace and good kicking skills, especially as we now have plenty of talls, we have hard at mids (Jones, Viney, Wines?, Magner, Couch) and we've just recruited a couple of small forward options (Byrnes, Rodan, Barry). I hope we get him.

Not according to my mate, who knows a lot about the Dons' list. He reports that Dyson is quick and has elite disposal. Dyson's issue has apparently been his ability to find the ball - that said, this year he has consistently done so. It seems to me he'd pretty well slot straight into our midfield. 80% of supporters on Bomber Blitz are apparently surprised/disappointed that he has been de-listed.

I expect the Bulldogs will be over the moon if it pans out this way.

In short, we should pick this guy up. A few mates of mine who support the Dons simply cannot believe they delisted him. Could be a bargain pick up for us. I then asked them about Prismall - their response, "too many knee injuries - probably not worth the risk". But Dyson, "don't get us started" ... Ricky Dyson

It is outrageous that these "facts" formed the basis of one of her ferocious full frontal assaults on the MFC, and now she conveniently qualifies and contextualises such "facts". Unbelievable. She has no legitimacy to question anyone's integrity IMO. Clearly totally irresponsible, sensationalist journalism. If The Age had any standards, she would be stood down. The problem I see with this whole issue is that the AFL denied the concept of 'tanking' despite the turbulence about the priority pick system at the time. As a result, there is no definition as to what actually constitutes 'tanking'. It's all shades of grey. As such, it has allowed the likes of ordinary journalists like CW to run sensationalist, though ultimately plainly compromised, articles about the issue. It seems to me that short of establishing that there was a clear directive by club officials/coaches to the player group to lose games then there is no way 'tanking' occurred at the MFC in 2009. And next year, can we get Carlton's other Brock McLean, Brendan Fevola, to appear On The Coach and tell those bozos what he witnessed in the lead up to round 22, 2007 (ie, to launch an investigation into that club). It seems that's all one needs these days.

Mitch Clark loves the Dees. Relevantly he has also played at another AFL club, and has otherwise been in the system for a while. He has expressed his strong desire to spend the rest of his career at the club, which I've no doubt he will. Hogan is 17 years old. He is literally still a kid. I expect he would still be quite impressionable. With Clark as a mentor to him at such an early/pivotal age, I don't expect Hogan would ever want to leave the club. He should hopefully be programmed perfectly over the next couple of years - in fact, I expect he would dream of lining up next to Clark in big finals with the club in the years to come. Does not strike me as a Scully situation here. Not even remotely.

I also think Gysberts could very well turn out to be a really good player. It's premature to write him off IMO.

Any clubs interested in Bennell?

In short, my favourite player.

I love that he kept saying "we" when he referred to the MFC and the player group in that article.

Gysberts will be a very good player. I don't think we should be too cocky about letting him go just yet. That said, I'm really happy we landed Pederson.

Interesting if true. Perhaps this explains her (seemingly) completely disproportionate and vitriolic over-reaction to the new evidence of MFC 'tanking', which essentially consisted of nothing more than Chris Connolly cracking a gag in the 'Vault' a few years ago. That 'new' evidence appears to have formed the basis of her week long tirade against the club. Unbelievable.

It's just so lucky we have Mark Neeld. I don't believe we should lose draft picks - I haven't yet seen ANY evidence that would justify such a sanction. That said, because of the way Mark Neeld has restructured/tweeked our list this draft period means we are in a reasonable position to weather any storm arising from losing picks in 2014. But I would be bloody infuriated if we were to lose picks simply because of a scurrilous media hate-campaign against certain people in the club. I would go absolutely feral.

I have no doubt Wines is a lock in at pick 4. But, seriously, will he be available?

On the basis of the evidence I have seen to date, I would like Caroline Wilson stood down by The Age. There's more than a whiff of British tabloid style 'evidence gathering' and reporting to the way in which she has approached/written about this issue in recent weeks. It's been absolutely devoid of sophistication and balance, and the fact that, plainly, she cannot write makes it even more infuriating to deal with. Where are the standards Fairfax?! Your football editor seems to have lost his/her red pen.

We're on to you Caroline.

He's Caroline Wilson.

In my observation, in the modern era defence wins all big football games irrespective of the code: AFL, soccer, rugby, NRL, NFL. So I agree with Neeld's focus on defensive pressure. It will stand up much better to test in finals in due course. And yes - I do believe Neeld will take us to the finals in the coming years.

She's clearly not very clever. It's a long walk from basic to anywhere near quality journalism for her - and it's one that she's not sufficiently knowledgeable or intelligent to attempt to embark upon. Tres ordinarie.