jabberwocky

Keeping a lid on it but I would think the potential for a fairly large improvement in 2015 is exciting. Objectively looking at the list, barring an injury explosion.... if we have a couple of players return to form, a couple of mature recruits perform, and a couple of draftees contribute then that could pave the way for some fairly substantial gains. The only thing we have lost from 2014 is Chip, on the face of it the gains are great. We have the staff in place to get the best out of them, there are some good and concrete reasons to be optimistic.

That's f()%%g brilliant.

Was wondering if O Mac could eventually be used as a second ruck/swingman option. Does anyone know if he has done any ruckwork? Seems that he could develop the tank. http://www.mailtimes.com.au/story/2608227/oscar-mcdonald-impresses-at-afl-draft-combine/

Considering that out of the 11 players leaving only one made a meaningful contribution in 2014, the list will immediately be in a much stronger position barring an injury explosion. The last couple of years I think we have witnessed some very shrewd list management decisions and hopefully some outstanding recruiting. We have been fooled before, but the professionalism is pervading into all areas of the club. Hopefully the club with Plapp can start to settle the Casey situation.

Prendergast dabbling in recruiting again? Carlton seems to be doing some strange things.

If we get Petracca he won't come with the maturity and dare I say it the IQ of some of the other high picks. He is 18 years of age and most of us at that age had a fair bit of growing up to do. Thankfully I think that our club has the system and personnel to be able to guide a kid like this.

I thought your last post was over 0.05. All good...carry on.

Bub how many wines you had?

So a "reach" is when a recruiter makes a pick that isn't in line with the wisdom of the phantom drafters. I hope like hell that they base thier decision and pick the players available that we expect will have the best career. Otherwise we are wasting a hell of a lot of money on recruiting. If we don't pick Petrecca then there will be good reasons for it.

What exactly is a "reach"?

Is there a Sherrin in front of me? If there is is yes the right answer?

http://instagram.com/p/vhAXGap7hI/ Essendon releases some fresh evidence that it just remembered about.

Agree, picking up half cooked players and speculative rejects has never really been thier go. It's a change of tack that isn't going to work in this case. Interesting that Blease is saying that "they don't want me to change, they love me just the way I am". That attitude will have a limited shelf life at Geelong.

Whilst Neeld's plan was doomed from the outset it wasn't his plan that was the issue. David King was right that we didn't have the list to play the type of footy that Neeld wanted played. The type of footy that Neeld wanted played was the type that was winning flags. The fact that we didn't have the list to play it was a remnant of the previous regime who put a lot of emphasis on recruiting athletes with kicking skills (that couldn't operate under pressure) to play a superseded game plan... and just poor recruiting in general. With the opposing game plans it is little wonder that the players were confused and many failed to develop. With respect to Bailey, he erred, and the pain that the club has borne over several years began with his mis-reading of the game itself. Not to mention the massive and sudden loss of experience that occurred during that time. It was a perfect storm that Neeld presided over, and his lack of foresight and average man management and communication skills saw things get worse. And don't give me the Bailey V Neeld win loss crap. The plan that Bailey was coaching was NEVER going to win in September. I expect a footy dept that aims for flags. Roos has a lot of mess to undo. We all expect serious inroads to be made this season.

If someone disagrees with you it doesn't mean the opinion can automatically be dismissed as "groupthink" and doesn't mean they aren't being objective. And just because you disagree with everyone doesn't automatically equate to you being the objective one. If you consider this objectively you will see this.

Yes but it's not always wrong. Grimes has had a terrible couple of years. Reminds me of our old friend Rhino who spent thousands of posts telling all of Demonland how stupid they all are. He had to constantly assert his superiority. Amusing that you are lecturing the poor plebs on the virtues of objectivity.

Absolutely spot on. Other than not being a great coach, Neeld and most other inexperienced coaches lack the credibility that experience and success brings, that makes it harder to get things done. The other thing is Roos and Neeld could give you the exact same message and elicit a completely different reaction. The Jones contract is extremely important, not only because he is a crucial player but he is our leader and captain and it will have a huge bearing on the psyche of the players when negotiating with the MFC. Like all good clubs we will be trying to ask our loyal players to sign on at a discount in the interests of group success. It's a very hard sell at the moment. A lot hinges on this deal, we must keep Jones, but we need to try to find a way to not pay overs. If Jones gets overs we will struggle to keep the better players on our list. If he takes one for the team others will follow. That has nothing to do with whether he deserves it or not.

We can have a go at doing a best 22 now, but there are always bolters and sliders in pre-season. I certainly wouldn't discount this guy playing round 1. Lumumba will play most of his footy at half back, where he has played most of his career and where he is desperately needed at MFC. And consensus opinion isn't automatically wrong.

I have no idea about thim but there is no point having a big guy with the skills of a midfielder unless he possesses the skills and persona of a big guy as well. From what I understand this is the question mark over the bloke. He might develop into a strong big man with other skills, or he might be a mobile tall with little hurt factor.

I think there are a lot of midfielders who are very effective because they do what they do very well. They may become known stars because of consistentcy and longevity, not because what they do is flashy ie Jordan Lewis, Joel Corey etc. A few foot soldiers who can operate under pressure and hit targets would be a nice start.

Yes agree with that. A player doesn't need to be impressive to be effective.

Being a football supporter and having neither the time or energy to put into choosing recruits I will trust Jason Taylor and co to do thier job. I like what Taylor has done so far. If he "reaches" for a player becasue he feels that player is the player avaialable that will have the best career then I will support it. I think we are learning that "safe" drafting according to expert opinion isn't necessarily safe at all. I know that we like Lever a lot, whether we like him enough for ND3 I don't know, and I know that we have spoken to Panos and the idea of picking him up at 53 or a mature rookie appeals to me. Might be pissweak but so be it, I think Taylor and his consults will play a big part in our rise up the ladder.

When is it a "reach"? Is it when you pick the best available and it's contrary to the phantom drafters?

If Jack Frost is 80% of the key defender that Chip is from the outset, then to my mind we are up. And if pick 3 ends up a solid to very good player then we have a significant win. But yes they are all ifs and maybes. We have some stability at the outside the playing list. I agree that it would nice to have some stability amongst the core playing group.

The fact that negotiations are going on are a positive. Jones wants to stay at MFC and I expect a deal to get done.