Ron Burgundy

Absolutely pathetic thread. Of course he is up to it - in fact, I see him as a very long term coach of this club.

McLean or Moloney for next Captain. They are both leaders and both bleed for the club.

Once again, you don't seem to get it, Don. Simply putting everyone up for trade militates against developing a good club culture. Club culture is very important to sustained success. Thankfully Dean Bailey appears to understand that. Brock is a required player with a good attitude. He is a club leader. You don't flippantly put those blokes up for trades just to test the water ...

No, you don't get it, Don24. You are talking about trading Brock. Why? Presumably because you think the club could get a deal which would be in its favour. Assuming that's what you think (as I can't possibly think of any other reason you would want to trade him), you are wrong. Brock is a proven ball winner, he has leadership quality in spades, he loves the club, he tackles hard and often, he puts his head over the ball every time, he sticks up for his team mates on the field, he is an unselfish player and he's a fantastic clubman - basically he sets a bloody good example, which is important and I like to see week in week out. It's also especially important given the young list we are developing at the moment. For the very reasons you've outlined in your initial post, we would never get a player of his value to the club in return. Never. The best result would be to trade for some unproven kid and, through a sheer fluke of nature, get Brock jnr albeit with a but more pace. Not remotely worth the risk. In short, a stupid, stupid trade.

Joeboy, do you actually watch the game each week? We lost the game by 22 points to last year's premiers - and, having said that, we missed about 8 easy shots on goal; yet, if you read your assessment, it would appear that we got belted by 200 - which, as an objective fact, did not occur. We were outclassed, but not embarrassed. More signs of improvement from a spirited list.

No way. All such trades are virtually always bad, particularly as far as the MFC's been concerned. For instance, Jolly's now touted as the likely All Australian ruckman this year. Where's our pick 15 at re: that trade? Also, was trading Woey worth the similar trade (Daniel Bell at pick 15?!)? Probably not. Woey was an MFC legend at the time and then finished in the Pies' top 3 the very next year (in which they played the Lions in a Grand Final). Brock is a very good player and clubman for us. He is not elite, but (for that very reason) he'll always be better value to us than any trade for him would deliver for us. He wins a lot of ball and is hard in the clinches, but needs a bit more class around him - which will come.

Brent Moloney is the man. Not the best player on the list, but definitely the bloke to lead this club.

Absolutely inspired appointment by the MFC. I couldn't be happier with Dean Bailey and, seemingly, the rest of his coaching team: Wellman, Mahoney etc. I hope he's at the helm for at least the next 10 years. I also hope he leads us to the spoon this year with 4 wins only - and a series of inspirational, less than a goal, losses. Last Sunday's game was perfect - good signs, good contest, narrow loss.

Sylvia has shown a hell of a lot in the last month. He's an extremely important player for us and had another good game today.

Petterd must play his whole career in the red and the blue ...

I'm interested to know what the Dees saw in Blease and Stauss over Zaharakis and Swift. Anyone help? PS. Other than Swift's injuries perhaps ...

I would like to see Bennell play all 22 games this year. He must not be dropped - he's already starting to look so bloody good.

There are some brilliant signs for the future in that clip. Most of our list are young kids and this is their team and their future. I reckon a lot of them love playing for this club (eg, Moloney, Jones etc) because they're all mates and they've been handed massive responsibility and opportunities very early in their careers. I expect we will have a very tight, solid leadership group for a long time and a bloody good culture too, which will be further enhanced by the likes of Stynes, Bailey, Schwab, Connolly, Mahoney, West and Wellman. I haven't had this level of optimism for ages - it seems we needed to bottom out both on and off field - that we've done and I can see great signs for the future. Absolutely stoked about yesterday (except for Green's injury).

Jetta and Bennell look absolutely fantastic. Both are quickly becoming favourite players. Bennell runs like a junior Wirrpunda. And Lynden Dunn looks like Andy Bichel.

Dean Bailey was an inspired appointment by the MFC.

This is really, really bad news. He's our best player and a key person in our leadership group. Hope the surgery goes well and that he make an excellent (and quick) recovery.

I forgotten just how good that winning feeling is. Some very, very good signs today - mainly in the second quarter. Hope Green's okay ...

I'm a big fan of Bailey. I think he'll turn our list into a really solid team in the next few years. I also like Bailey's coaching recruits: Wellman and Mahoney. These guys are hard, professional clubmen - and that's just what this club needed.

Quite simply, I do not agree at all, Rancid. No coach in the world could manufacture a win against Port at AAMI with our severely depleted forward line and plethora of young kids. At the moment, it's like a TAC Cup team taking on an AFL team each week. I think Bailey knows what he's doing - and that is getting experience into the inexperienced. In time, that should hopefully produce results - but it is definitely not the easy option. And he should be rewarded with your support and respect for that.

I reckon Swift will be an absolute gun. Genuinely surprised the club didn't pick him, but they know more than me - I sincerely hope they're right.

The way to shut this guy up is for the club to start performing - on and off field. If we are a serious contender each year, comments such as those made by Dwaaayyynnee are unsustainable.

Yep, I agree - Mahoney sounds like a top bloke. I like our coaching team.

I agree, Hards. It's easy to talk tough about the treatment of a player (who according to the majority of you) was ordinary and a borderline player in terms of our best 22. His treatment does not reflect well on the club - in short, it seems to have been handled unprofessionally. The analysis above also doesn't reflect well on many of you either - but masses rarely think in an objective, measured way. I really like Bailey. I really like Connolly. I love this club. I think it is definitely heading in the right direction ... finally. But it seems to me that the treatment of Johnson has been handled poorly, particularly if he is only a marginal player - and particularly given that he would share solid friendships with many other more important players on the list. Not smart stuff - and not the kind of stuff that builds a good culture, despite the tough talking smuck that some of you are churning out ...

I reckon Cousins would come close to winning the Brownlow next year if recruited by an AFL club. It's likely he'll be very cheap as well ...

I think the club will go with Bruce or Green. I really hope they go with McLean though. He may struggle a bit with the role in 2009, but thereafter he'll be fantastic - and he'll benefit from a year as Captain in 2009. The club keeps talking about building for the future - if that's the case, it has to be Brock.