PJ_12345

With Thymosin, considering Dank's connection with the Cronulla Sharks who took the banned type its not looking good...

N.Jones? No. Viney? No. Last year Magner averaged more tackles, more effective disposals than Viney has this year Toumpas? Yes. Toumpas has 2 more years till he gets in form. Skills wise and physically. Magner has played more football at VFL and AFL + same hight but has 10kg more on him) Sylvia? No. Last year Magner averaged more tackles and clearances. Trengove? No. Last year Magner averaged more contested possessions and clearances Grimes? Ill let you make youre ming up: last year Magner averaged more tackles, contested possessions, and clearances McKenzie? No. M.Jones? Yes. We'll probably get two first round picks, both will be mids, will Magner be ahead of them? Yes - like Toumpas, it will be 2 years. We'll probably trade/free agent 1-2 gun mids, will Magner be ahead of them? Who are you going to trade or what picks?

Magner was better than most of our best 22 last year and will be in our best 22 next year. The only reason he wasnt elevated was because we could leave him on for one more year, but couldnt with Evans (another rookie). You cant draft an entire top midfield. We dont have anyone to draft for a single top midfield player from another team apart from Watts. Our previous midfield draft picks, like Toumpas and Hogan, are a couple of years away from being up to scratch. If they arent up to your standards then bad luck - you need to be realistic, they are all we have got for next year.

When I said talent coming in clearly I meant coming through our developing rookies which is what you have been talking about. Lol some serious daichotomies here: the club gets criticised for not having a midfield, we get flogged because we dont have a midfield, you say we desperately need some help in the midfield but now we shouldnt want our developing midfielders such as Magner and Couch to be in our 22 because there are too many of them, you want the whole list to get better and want to draft other midfield stars...

I understand you want the list to improve, but I think counterproductive/unrealistic to want it to improve without your rookies and drafts developing and being a part of a future 22. Thats how teams change and become better in the first place... because of new talent coming through. They also bring forward benefits such as possibility of better leadership, harder work rates ect. Hoping the same list improves without new talent comes in is wishfull thinking...

Nope. We just want to see players tackling more because at the moment that would look, feel and be alot more competitive than the spectating that happened against Brisbane...

A pretty negative way at looking at nurtring and developing players - you don't draft players hoping they wont develop and that our standards lift so they dont be in our 22. Why do you want him to fail stuie? FFS last year was his first year and he played better footy than most of our 22. As I said to The Red Fox he: was #15 last year for disposals, #5 for tackles, #7 for contested disposals, #4 for clearances. Please enlighten me as to why you dont want a player who is better than most of our 22, trains harder than most of our 22, as you said who is now obviously needed in our 22, to develop and be in our 22 in the future? Its weird that we consider our list short of talent but you dont want our talent to grow...

Last year Carlton averaged two more tackles than us... however so far this year that has increased to four. Magner was #5 last year in tackles so that would be interesting to see what impact he would have if he came into the side. Jordie McKenzie averaged the most last year with 6 (1 more than Davey, Jones, Trengrove and Magner), but also averaged the most frees against with 2 per game. Trengrove is on fire so far this year with 7 tackles per game, Jetta is second with 5 + Grimes has lifted to #3 (was #6 last year) A few players have dropped off a bit, Jordie, Watts and most of all Tapscott was averaging around 4 last year to 1 this year per game. Nugget has dropped considerably but that fine considering his workload

Apparently 8 weeks

I can say that about every new drafted player in their first year. He was in the draft for 7 years. All he has played is VFL. He needs time like every other draftee to get the extra skills and be developed; of which only and AFL team can provide - he already has the body. You're writing off a player after 1 year in which he only played 17 games. You're one tough customer Red Fox! Ps, might I add he was #15 last year for disposals, #5 for tackles, #7 for contested disposals, #4 for clearances - not bad for a guy who doesnt have the skills or the smarts and in his first year

He is has a great kick. Also the ball tends not to reach our inside 50 much so he shouldnt be so tired Manger or Couch, preferably Magner (would like Couch to develop a bit more) will take a lot of weight off Jones: his work rate isnt sustainable and heaven forbid if something happens to him we will not have a midfeild. Clearly was just a spelling mistake stuie, considering I spelt it right beforein the same post and previous ones, but great to see youve still got a sense of humor! With all those negative nancy posts and I thought you might have turned into WYL. I'm not setting Magner or Couch up to be saviours. Will they improve the mid. Yes. Does it help to take the work load off nugget. Yes. Is it a chance for Magner to get some more AFL experience. Yes They are better than nothing and only would be in because of Clark.

That will hopefully be shorter considering some of the rookies we have and listed young guns coming through: Evans this year. Couch and Magner coming next year. Hogan and Toumpas the year after that (possibly Viney aswell). In between might be a good thought to pick up another Byrnes using free agency. It will be tough to pay for but Watts' contract is up this year, and if he doesnt start to pull his weight (he has 16 more rounds to lift) then I reckon we should trade him. Cant wait to see how Coauch and Manger fair in the AFL next year.

Some more positives: Silvia has really stepped up and playing consistant footy and I was really happy to see Davey get into a bit of a tussle and stand up for a team mate.

In a situation like this... only Nicolas Cage can describe my emotional rollercoaster Reaction to Clark being out for 10 weeks: Reaction to him being put onto the LTL and a rookie being elevated: Thinking of Magner or Couch: Possibility might have a better midfeild and Clark still being able to get a few games at the end of the season/full preseason: Get better soon Mitch!

Thats a shame. I wonder why.

A mate of mine was telling me that when they used to skills sessions, such as kicking and hand balling, if they didn't hit their targets the coach would make them run for half an hour. He would say: "If you dont hit your target during the game, you will end up on the back foot and running all day (like what happened did with Brisbane). SO YOU DIDN'T HIT YOUR TARGETS... SO START RUNNING!" He said there was a big improvement after a week. More urgency, handled pressure a bit better, a little bit fitter and they would hit their targets

Thompson averaged 10 games and 10 disposals per game over his four years with Melbourne. He went on to more than double his average game played and triple his disposals when at Adelaide. The injury they are referring to was in his fourth year in 2004 when he managed to play 11 out of 12 games and his average disposals was 15 - but then broke his foot in round 13 which caused him to miss the rest of the season. At the end of the day:

Struggling to work out if this is in bad taste or not... but equally surprised that there was a GIF on Nancy Kerrigan

Tonya Harding... is that you?

Must have been the poor cameras at the gabba (absolutely horrible) because I only saw 2 contested marks and 0 tackles... we are talking about Watts right?

Felt the complete opposite. Too many times I saw him spectating, not spreading, not shepherding, tackling or providing any pressure when he could have and most of the time called for the ball in worse situations. I know the players were run dead, but in the first half he was too slow - that early on there are no excuses. What annoys me most is that he is supposed to be one of the best sprinters in the club. I'm ususally a big advocate for Watts but felt it was a poor game for him.

Not just fiscal sense but common sense period. To elevate Magner off the rookie list we would have had to drop Evans or Nicholson - their limit on the rookie list was up, Magner can still have another year on it. Evans is better than Magner and the reason we won against GWS. Nicholson is needed to fill the gap from Rivers and help out/rotate Frawley and McDonald. So you could either sacrifice a better midfeild player OR sacrifice strengthening our backline for Magner... There are other ways to fix our mid.

Doesn't need to be there for every decision - just the tough calls that come in once and a while

Anyone know Watt's contract details - as in when he resigned and how long he has to go?

That's what we have the 3rd umpire for. Goal umpires should act the way they have for 10 years, and if there is an issue - go to the video review!