jabberwocky

yeah it is similar. From memory just after that they went to shite for several years. And ended up getting Croad back for next to nothing. Did they get a pick for that, and what pick and who was it?

Pretty sure that geelong and hawthorn didn't build up thier list by trading away thier most promising kids, they kept confidence in the guys that showed promise, even when they were inconsistent. Dont throw the baby out with the bath water. Change is needed and it is happening.

I agree with mono 100%. We absolutely need players that have mental and physical toughness and skills. I would also suggest that to say that our current crop have poor skills is too simplistic a view to take. There are number of reasons for skill error. Lack of confidence would be number 1 on the list. When you lose confidence you grub kicks, kick them high, choose the wrong option, etc etc. This is like a cancer which spreads thru the side, especially a young side. Pressure on the ball carrier due to a lack of support, drilling and communication are another reason for poor skills. A lack of forward targets and having no confidence in your forward line are another reason. When confidence grows players support each other, they shepherd, they lead because they believe they can win the footy, they drill thier passes because they believe inthe bloke they are kicking too, they demand the footy because they want to get involved. What we need most is leadership. Players and coaches who can convince our young blokes that they belong in the AFL. I would like to see Miller and Mclean take the reins on the field.

I am not suggesting that i know prismall is coming to melbourne. I can confirm that i have reliable sources who tell me that he wants to change clubs. I know 2 people who know him pretty well. I hope we get him.

on ya nudge keep your ear to the ground on prismall. he is the one i really want to see come to deeland.

I like both teams because they represent what can be achieved by a rebuild and give me hope. How many established players have either team picked up from other clubs, not many. Dew, Guerra, Croad (sort of), Mooney, Ottens. Good recruiting and development, hard work and discipline, toughness. A good blueprint for the dees to follow. Cats for mine.

Yep. It seems some people are in the "trade" camp and others are in the "keep" camp. It is not that simple. Green is a good player but should be retained but not at any cost. That is where we need to allow the powers that be to determine his worth and offer it to Brad. If Brad deems that it is not enough then we need to look at what we can gain from his deparature. I want to see Brad Green in the red and blue next year but I do not want to see him overpaid or see him as a very expensive 2s player in three years time. Especially when some of our young guys are due for a new contract and a pay rise. Flexibility in our salary cap will be of utmost importance in the years to come. I would much rather see the dees negotiate vigorously than pay a bloke above his worth as we have done in the past. Brad may be the victim of a change of direction in our negotiations with senior players. I see this as a positive.

Point of difference being that Prismall will be less expensive and far more likely to play in our next tilt. We need to target the best young players available. Prismall would be one of those. If medical reports, interviews, negotiaions look ok. Makes perfect sense. I too hope we don't need to trade for him. I think we need to try and keep Green too.

No way goose/YM. will be a very good player.

Only a minor improvement on what we fielded this year. 4 wins realistic, 6 wins maybe, 8 wins would be an excellent result. Still a long way to go to be a finals team.

I have been waiting and hoping for this news. I live in Geelong and know some who know him and have heard some rumblings, not about the dees only that he was interested in changing clubs. Whilst Brent Prismall had not quite cemented his place at the best club in the league he was fairly close. I think he would be a very nice acquisition. He can win clearances, hit a target and finds the footy, and was beginning to find the goals. He isnt quick and I am wary that our midfield needs an injection of pace but he is further along in his development than our current midfield, and as mentioned can hit a target. It is a calculated gamble on a player with this injury. One that for the right price is worth taking. Who in our midfield would get a game with Geelong atm. Brock ??

1. Morton - Big motor, found the footy and began to adjust to the pace and pressure of the AFL 2. Martin- Powerful unit, great hands, leap and reads the ball in the air well. Limited skills but made good decisions 3. Maric - Showed glimpses of class, speed and skill 4. Valenti - Has courage and has a go. Limited oportunity, still a question mark over whether he has the body to make it. 5. Wonna - Started well as a goalsneak. Sublime skills. Lost his way mid way through the year becoming fumbly and dropping marks. Has physical limitations in size and pace. 6. Grimes - Showed a little in his debut to suggest that he makes good decsions and has the ability to execute them under pressure. High hopes. 7. Weetra - Couldn't make it. How I believe that they will be rated at the end of thier (hopefully excellent) careers. 1. Grimes 2. Morton 3. Maric 4. Martin 5. Wonna 6. Valenti

Your avatar is evidence of what you are about.

I agree with most of it, but where's Garland? I also think the team has to plan the furure without Rivers and if he makes it back in any real way it will be a bonus. I agree that our deficiencies in the forward line are matched by our on ball deficiencies but I hope that Jones can make it.

very amusing!

This is potentially one of the greatest Melbourne sides ever assembled. It is also potentially one of the worst. It is all about potential. One proven midfielder in Mclean, a capable forward in Miller, an injury prone backman in Rivers and a classy, speedy yet injury prone matchwinner in Davey. The rest have either shown glimpses of promise and are largely unproven. Some of these will turn out to be good players, maybe one or two will be very good and many will make up the numbers or not make it at all. I agree that this has the potential to be a "nucleus" but there is a huge amount of development to go. That is reliant on coaching and development but mostly on the individual players. IMO opinion, (watts excluded) only Davey (on his day), Buckley and possibly Garland have what it takes to be top liners although everyone will have different ideas. Nevertheless Nugget I admire your optimism and I hope you are right.

Yeah lets trade our leading goalkicker, tackler etc. We were smashed all year.

One thing that the stats dont show is how many times he gets his hands on the footy at a fifty/fifty and a ball up is forced or unfortunately he gets caught. If he can work on forcing the ball free to our advantage he would be credited with a lot more possessions/clearances.

i thought he had surgery on his hip?

I like Jones he wins the hard ball more than any other demon. He does need to be reprogrammed to fire out the quick handball to a team-mate in a better postion. He should practice this skill till he wears callouses on his hands. The other issue is that he needs team-mates in the right position to be able to get it to. Jones and Buckley to a lesser extent have the right mindset in that they are attacking and attempt to take the game on. This needs to be tempered with commonsense and an awareness of thier ability level at senior level. Hopefully they have learnt a lot about this this season. I also don't believe that they have probems with thier skills. The problem is with a lack of suitable targets and decision making. Jones in a good side would feel a less responsibity to take the game on and more inclined to play within his limitations and perfect the extraction of the hard ball.

Dean Bailey has serious issues? Because they selected Weetra, what other issues does he have? Who r the 37 candidates that you would have chosen before Bailey? And what is it that you wonder about him? And you prefer rash decisions? Please explain?

What???? Whatever case you just rested you lost. The game is won and lost out on the ground. Its simple, we are not good enough atm on every level. we lose games because we lose contests around the ground and we do not currently have the skills or confidence in our ability to play with flair and instinct. Regardless, you still want the players to attempt to play a brand of football that will win premierships, not minimise a loss. It is about drilling the players to play to a standard, not compromsing the standard to your players ability. If your players don't perform to the standard the coach asks the players for more. Ie greater fitness, skill level, commitment, teamwork, aggression etc.. So far in the 7 or so months that Bailey has had this team made up mainly of kids, list top ups, last year players and just a few established players they have not surpringly been unable to deliver. It would be very foolish indeed to make a call on Baileys ability to coach at this point. As supporters its time to take our medicine, be patient and wait for improvement. This may not come untill well into next season but it will come. I don't want to see quick fixes, I want a flag. If I have to wait til 12,13 or 14 then so be it.

The side doesn't kick to a contest because they have no confidence in thier skills to kick to advantage and no confidence in their teamate to win the contest, ie we lose most of them.

is this fact or just speculation?

I posted this in the other thread about DB. Our midfield in not currently capable of carrying out a decent game plan. We are unable to sustain decent pressure with attack, not smart enough and have no confidence. We also have a lack of forward targets. But just because we are not capable of carrying out this game plan doesn't mean he should change it. That would would be conceding. Ie we aren't good enough to work to plan A so we will work to plan B. What you want your players to do is IMPROVE enough to follow the game plan not compromise it down to your players' ability level. Just because we aren't capable of executing the game plan atm doesn't mean we never will. DB knows what he is doing. Only time will tell if it will work and if the coaching staff are able to get thier troops to follow the orders and if the troops have the ability and mental strength to carry them out.