Ron Burgundy

I hope he gets elevated to the leadership group next year. Inherent in that will be that he's earnt it, he's focussed, and that he's finally acting as a mature, disciplined, committed MFC leader - on and off the field. If he brings that level of focus and commitment, he could win the Brownlow.

Dead set, are you 8 years old? There's a real world out there.

Carlton's starting to make our club culture look positively first class.

I know it's still early days, but I reckon Clark could very well be the best lateral recruit we've ever landed. I was absolutely stoked when we got him, but I had no idea at the time he'd be as good as he's ended up being. We've had a blinder here.

He'd be crazy to leave the Lions at this point in his career. Won't happen.

Probably boring when compared to the recruiting discussion about Cloke, Boak, Caddy etc - but it'll be interesting to see who we pick with our rookie selections this year. Who are the good VFL, SAFL, WAFL players that we might target? For instance, Zorko looks a ripper for the Lions (I know he wasn't a rookie, but he seems to be the type of player that can be unearthed through the rookie draft). I've heard Mark Hutchings from West Perth is a likely lad (character, ability etc). Others have obviously been mentioned as good rookie prospects too. I used to find the rookie draft to be a bit 'ho hum' - I now think it's bloody important. Will be interesting this year, and should give another good insight into Neeld's thinking/strategy.

NikNat is streets ahead of Watts at the moment. It's actually impossible to credibly contend otherwise. Like Ben Hur, I favoured the recruitment of Watts over NikNat at the time. (I actually would've taken Hurley at number one and was laughed at by a few mates for stating that at the time.) That said, I was very comfortable with our recruitment of Watts. I don't think it was a hugely left field selection at the time, even though NikNat may ultimately prove to be the better selection. I don't think the club can be criticised for this one - many clubs had Watts at number one too. Watts will evolve into a very good long term player for us. I reckon that's still a pass. It's Cook over Darling, and Maric over Selwood, and Morton over Dangerfield/Rioli, and Scully over literally everyone in that draft (given his character/personality issues) that continue to irk me.

Funny that we essentially traded Thompson for Moloney in the first place.

Would be stunned if the Dons agreed to this. Reckon Pears and Hooker may be on the table though.

Clearly can't get our best player off my brain. All I can say is that it was late ...

Bump. The luminaries tonight said we wouldn't win a flag before 2030. Also said if we don't recruit well this off season, we might as well 'shut the doors'. I would like the AFL to investigate what is driving the constant anti-MFC comment that these bozos pump out week in, week out. It's actually just boring.

Probably got lucky that Jordan McMahon kicked that goal after the final siren. Arguably got even luckier that we didn't have to pay overs to keep Scully, and also managed to secure two compo picks for the little [censored]. AND we managed to land Mitch Clark with the dough we had up our sleeve for Scully. Clark is possibly our most important player. Scully was not. I reckon we'll get two bullet proof mids with picks 4 and 13 too. All good IMO.

Clarke, Boak and Caddy seem the obvious ones to target. That said, I reckon Daniel Pearce from Port would be a really good get for us running off half back.

Mark Neeld. He's been instrumental in all of the positive changes that have taken place.

I hope so. He's essentially our utility KPP - plays down back, then forward, then ruck - all reasonably effectively, and within the one game. He seems to have a decent character about him as well. In short, a very good pick up in the 50s. Whilst he needs to hold more marks, he always provides a contest and, at least, brings the ball down for our non existent crumbers.

Top post. Totally agree.

Will be a very interesting draft period. I would like to see Rivers, Dunn and MacDonald all given contract extensions. That said, I reckon a lot hinges on who else we manage to bring into the club at the end of the season - this is especially so for Rivers.

No player could achieve 150 senior games having played only 5 good ones. Surely that's self evident. Or are you saying the AFL is still a bush league competition? Ordinary post.

I don't know whether he's any good. I expect Neeld knows and has formed his own view by now. I'll go with that, as I expect he'll act on it if he doesn't rate him.

Getting pick 11 for a player like Brock McLean was a complete fluke, and one which I doubt will be repeated for a very long time.

And that is exactly why Sylvia should be a required player. He may not be the typical MFC choir boy type - but he has the DNA of an absolutely elite footballer. And I reckon Neeld will now build the required discipline into him, even though Daniher and Bailey could not. Picking Lucas Cook over Jack Darling is the one I just can't live with. Such an idealistic approach from a struggling club in need of an aggressive, power forward at the time.

Without doubt, Sylvia has had a very frustrating MFC career. I would've thought every Demons supporter would agree with that. In fact, it's hard to contend otherwise. BUT Sylvia is without doubt our classiest player. And that's ultra important to any AFL team, but it's even more important to a team with an exceptionally young list that also lacks class in its senior player ranks. And Neeld likes class. But he also likes discipline. Neeld is clearly working with Sylvia on building discipline. Whilst it's clearly still a work in progress, there have been some hugely positive signs in Sylvia's progress over the last two months IMO. Some people take a bit longer to mature than others. I hope Sylvia's in this category. I reckon with good effective mentoring from a strong coach (ie, Neeld) and some luck with injuries, Sylvia could have a break out season next year. In short, I reckon he's a big part of our future. At least, I sincerely hope so.

I will be very disappointed if we don't beat GWS. And I think we will. In fact, we might even hammer them.

Trade Sylvia? No way.

In short, I have a lot more confidence in the direction, structure and approach of the playing list now than I did 12 months ago. To my mind, that says it all really. 2011 was an absolute disaster - and the trend was getting worse, not better. 8.5 wins in 2011 v 3 wins this far in 2012, without proper analysis, is a meaningless comparison. The reality is we were absolutely pathetic last year. We've been absolutely pathetic this year too - but the margins of the losses are smaller and are trending in the right direction - and this is despite an extensive injury list and events off field that have been literally horrendous. I have every confidence in Neeld - and its because of his psychopathic focus on the fundamentals and executing them effectively. The days of the saccharin idealism of the Bailey years are well and truly over. It's an elite competition and, to succeed these days, it's clear clubs need elite discipline and focus - something that wasn't always readily apparent at the MFC previously. I think we'll start to see some of the hardness (to which Neeld referred upon his appointment) start to emerge in round 1 of the NAB Cup next year. BTW, some very good posts on this thread - interesting to read.