Ron Burgundy

Dunno about that. Most of these guys have more ticker than I expect you/we think. Lack of fitness produces fatigued decision-making and affects skills badly. My point is in relation to players such as Cook and Bennell. For instance, I don't think the current regime would've picked Cook over Darling had they had the choice, but I suspect Cook is actually a far better chance of becoming a very good AFL player now that Misson has the reigns on the sports science department rather than the previous regime (ironically). Likewise Bennell - I think he has class in spades, but he goes missing all too often. Strikes me as having a decent character about him, so I expect there are other factors at play. Hence, it leads me to suspect that this may have something to do with his conditioning and development under the previous regime. It takes time for this to change, and I'm hoping he will. IMO he has the DNA of a very, very good AFL player.

Yep - thanks for the heads up on that.

The other thing to remember is that this list was a long way off the pace in terms of AFL standard fitness and strength less than a year ago. It will take about three pre-seasons to get it up to an elite level. That doesn't mean the list lacks talent though. Give Misson some proper time with some of these (currently) maligned players, and some of you may take a different view of their relative worth in a couple of years from now.

Anyone know how the pre-season draft order works this year? Is it simply commensurate with where teams finish on the ladder, or do GWS get a priority over and above their (likely) second last placing? For instance, if no deals with Boak get done during trade week and he nominates for the pre-season draft, would we be able to get him with pick 3 (assuming we finished third last on the ladder)? I expect it'd be unlikely that we'd get Boak with pick 3 in that scenario - but we might be able to land an okay mature bodied player in the pre-season draft this year.

Some of the comments on this thread are just fanciful. How does the club delist Davey for instance? I had thought he was contracted until the end of next season. Morton? Some people here may not rate him (I think he has upside still), but on any construction the club would try to trade him if they wished to move him on - why simply delist him? All clubs are now looking at the VFL for some effective, mature bodied depth players. Bate and Dunn, by VFL standards, more than fit that category - and that's why I understand Neeld stopped Bate being traded to the Bulldogs. They have a role IMO. Not everyone will be Buddy Franklin. The lack of evidence based thinking that often occurs here is as troubling as some of the performances of our players at times. It seems that some of you treat list management like a board game (say, a kid's version of Monopoly). I think it's a bit more scientific than playing favourites each week. I trust Neeld (and his crew) will have worked out the gaps in our list by now, will have assessed the relative merits of each of our current players, and will go into this year's draft period with a solid plan as to what and who we need. I expect the wish list would include classy mids (one established), a small forward and another tall marking forward. And, in this regard, I expect the mindset is more about how to get these much needed players onto the list rather than simply to exit 10-12 players who are currently on our list. The latter is merely a by-product of the need to get the new required players, and any trades I expect will be influenced by the deals needed to get that done.

The exact opposite to what Bailey was doing. You're not going to be competitive for 22 rounds fielding a TAC Cup team each week. I think GWS have recruited very well - hats off to them IMO. I had thought they'd be way off the pack this year, but they're not.

Mitch Clark. We actually had a lot of inside 50s yesterday. I reckon he would've kicked 5 or 6 goals. He typically kicks 4 or 5 with absolutely no good service and far fewer inside 50s.

Would've been sensational to have picked him up as a rookie. Timing seemed to be against us though - quite simply, we found out about him far too late in the process. Rockliff seems to be another that we would've snagged with a late ND or rookie pick. Again, a bit of bad luck. I hear we were an inch away from drafting Luke Shuey too, but then elected not to. West Coast picked him up with the next pick. All of these players would be in our best 15 if they were on our list. Got lucky with Jurrah though (but for the unfortunate events earlier this year).

Watts will be.

Viney for a second round pick would be great. I trust the new regime on which kids to recruit, but getting another very established elite player is needed IMO. My "Wish List" is: - (draft period) Cloke, Boak (one of the compo picks), Viney (2nd round pick), a couple of really good future young midfield stars with our other 1st round picks, some Magner types with our rookie picks, and a mature age quick small forward who's coming off a good season in the VFL (or has been delisted by another AFL club) with a lower end national draft pick. - (injury list) everyone fit and raring to go, especially Mitch Clark. - (re-signing) the signing of all of the current players we need to keep asap - see Good Times Grimes post above for those players. - (coaching) Junior McDonald to rejoin the club in the off season as a new assistant coach, and the club to extend Neeld's contract for another year as a further vote of confidence in him.

I was absolutely stoked when I heard we landed Mitch Clark. Thought at the time, this is a simply mammoth get - particularly given the circumstances in which we managed to sign him. Little did I know then just how good he would be. I reckon he's been the best player we've recruited in decades (possible apologies to Jeff White). Quite simply, it is a massive relief that Chris Dawes rejected us beforehand.

Tom McD is one the genuine highlights of the year thus far. I can see this bloke marshalling the defence in 20 years from now. He looks like an 800 gamer - already.

I've now had a night's sleep. Still very disappointed, but more philosophical now. Feel gutted for Mitch as he was potentially headed for AA. But: 1. We have him for many, many more years. He's a committed Demon, and one would think he'll fully recover (given his age). He can still exercise his obvious leadership influence around the club for the rest of the season. 2. It allows Neeld to test the ability of some other players prior to going into the first draft where he actually knows the list. Given the importance of this draft, that's not a wholly bad thing. We have other forward options who now need to stand up (eg, Petterd, Cook). One would think it will enable him to better inform his view of the ability of some other players now. 3. Injuries are part of the game. All teams experience them. It can lead to other players being unearthed - eg, for us, Stef Martin last year. One would hope another player will stand up, and perhaps it'll be someone who may not otherwise have had the opportunity. 4. Perhaps Mitch can lend 60 seconds of his time each week to form a comedy duo with our resident comedian, Maxy Gawn. Don't know how funny that'd be though.

Neeld understands the importance of having some hard nuts in and around the contest. That's why we brought in Magner and Couch. I don't reckon he'll be desperate to show Brent the door - he has more class than many of the other hard nuts on the list. That said, it doesn't mean Neeld won't be knocking down the door to recruit a few speedy, elite level midfielders at the end of this year. But all good lists require balance and depth, and I think Brent still has something to offer us.

I hope the club has learnt the obvious lessons from not offering Junior another contract. Some players are important to a club in more ways than simply racking up possessions each week. Moloney won the B&F last year. He can play well, even though he's not had a great season thus far. He has also been a committed Demon. He should be re-signed.

I feel sick. And suicidal.

He will. I'm absolutely stoked about that game. So many positives. For all of the Dunn and Bate haters on this site, show some credit where it's due. IMO the continual bashing of these two guys is boring in the extreme - they're both hard at it, and bring much needed experience to this list. In fact, if Dunn was an Aussie Digger POW in WW2, I'm convinced he'd be the most popular guy in the prison camp as he'd constantly be stirring his captors and standing up for his mates. We need this bloke. Davey - good game. Seemed to regain some confidence. He really added to our forward line. Looked to have recovered some pace too. Sylvia. I have watched that raging bull goal about 10 times already. I really love this bloke in the red and the blue. He's as classy as anyone in the game. Clark. He is genuinely in All Australian form. Hope he's okay for this weekend. Neeld. Surely his quality is there for all to see now. In spades. Yesterday, he created so many options where our coaches previously would've made us (in particular our forward line) look flat footed and one dimensional. There's a real spirit in this list that seems to have emerged. That Essendon win was one of the most important wins I have ever seen in my time following this club. Bring on the Lions.

IMO recruiting Sellar provides just another example of Neeld identifying deficiencies in our list, and then seeking to plug holes where needed. Sellar, at pick 54 (or whatever), has been a great pick up.

This list needs class. More class. All of the players you have mentioned here, whilst having deficiencies, have class. We can't have a team full of Magners. If we're ever going to be top 4, we also have to have class. I will also be watching the progress of Michael Evans once he recovers - he has showed some good glimpses previously.

I've heard Sheedy speak a number of times at various functions. I have always been very impressed - he has vision and a passion for people and the game. He is also a provocateur - and I like that. Sheedy sniping us from the sidelines has not be the problem with the MFC over the past few years.

" ... and I'm Melbourne now. I will be with Melbourne for the rest of my career. I'm loving every minute of it." He is family to me.

I think McKenzie will be fine. I get the feeling that Neeld is only now starting to see what we all love about him. Not only that, he plays a very important negating role, and he does this better than anyone else on the list. Totally safe IMO. I'd be disappointed to see Bennell and Morton traded/cut from the list at the end of this year. I think their upside is still good and it would be premature to end their MFC journey now. I continue to be devastated and totally dismayed that we didn't pick Darling over Cook, but I find reassurance in some posts recently that seem to suggest he's developing nicely. Simply cannot cut this project early - that would be ridiculous in the extreme, and it would simply crystallise what still appears to be a massive selection mistake.

And back to Jared. Sign him up. He's clearly part of the future.

I still can't believe Bailey shelved Junior (a genuine leader and one of our very best MFC clubmen in decades), and yet seemingly protected our 'talented' youngsters for so long. More than anything from that period, this annoys me the most.

We need midfield class. Everyone knows that. Probably Cloke though.