drdrake

Old Dee, I was in the same boat as this, but I'm starting to think our best 25 players aren't that bad. If we can find a midfielder through trade and add a couple more through the draft we can be competitive next year and with a bit of confidence who knows. We won't make the 8 but we will be 9-12 on the ladder. I still believe we are in to Paul Roos and he is strongly considering, I think both parties just won't to keep the media quiet for the time being.

Sorry, we don't need to draw any more attention to ourselves, imagine the sponsers right now, they are sponsering the biggest basket case in the AFL and add to this we have a wannaby president airing is opinion in the news paper. The old boys club is no more, great they support but we need new blood.

The club needs to stop looking in its rear view mirror and start looking forward. Leave the past in the past, Stockdale belongs in the past.

I agree with this, why play this out in the public arena. The last thing we need is a potential board pushing through the media, no more agendas the only agenda we want as a club is how do we pull together to get us out of our current position. We can't stuff up we have had enough chances to get it right this feels like the last chance and the last thing we need is a battle through the media.

Your right, really the only players that could come in and make that a better team is Clark and Jamar, McKenzie would be on the fringe. No issues if we don't perform we have Clisby, Kent, Terlich, Toumpas, Viney, Gawn, Fitzpatrick add in Blease, Watts, McDonald, Howe, Grimes and Trengove with plenty of improvement in them if we can get the right people in our football department.

The Priority draft pick, yes we need one and yes we deserve one. If you work on the old system of 4.5wins, we should have had end of first round last year, and if we don't win 3 more games this year we should receive the number 1 pick. The system has changed and we will receive nothing. Forget about the past and the tanking debate, we sucked then and we suck now. OK our drafting has been bad but other clubs with bad drafting have recieve priority picks. The Bulldogs won 5 games last year and have won 4 games this year, they wouldn't have qualified for any priority picks(assuming they win another game this year). The AFL has a choice, give Melbourne a Priority pick, it won't be pick 1, if anything it will be end of first round, and hope they get it right or just hope we have the talent to move up the ladder. The MFC is a major concern to the AFL, they know that if we get it wrong again we could become the club formally known as Melbourne. They need a stong competitive Melbourne, they don't want 15-20,000 people watching games at the MCG, they don't wan't under 30K at games for two Melbourne Clubs at the MCG. They know that a strong Melbourne can average over 40K per game, unlike North and Bulldogs and even St Kilda. Do we get a priority pick who knows, do we deserve one yes we do our win loss ratio over the past two years proves this.

Jack has been good over the past 3 weeks getting 20+ touches, Trengove can play, he just can't accelerate at the moment. Tappy is built for contested footy but he rarely gets near a contest, and doesn't work hard enough. As a defender you would love to play on Tappy, he doesn't have the speed to chase, we doesn't work hard enough to get front and square and he doesn't have the running capacity to go on long leads. He is the one trick pony short lead with a long kick. If you don't have natural speed you have to be able to run and run and run, Tappy can't do either and until he can he will be a very limited AFL player.

I'm with KB on this, something stinks. Here is my unfounded take, someone at Asada is taking the fall, how can this go from red hot to all of the sudden Asada are in the wrong. It smells of the Chris Connelly Fall guy syndrome, but this time someone at Asada will take the hit, someone in Asada that could get the CC payday.

I don't agree he intentional gets there late, I think he is slow to react and doesn't have any speed which makes him late. The problem is we know where he should be playing he just can't play there, he needs to be a midfielder, he isn't a small forward, he isn't a small defender he needs to be running through the midfield. This is the same issues with Jetta, Dean Kent needs over the next 12 months be able to run through the midfield. You can't be a slow lead up small forward when you are under 6'1.

I have to agree with this, Dunn has no idea. I'm not a fan of Nicho but he seems to run to the right positions and have the ability to carry the football, just a shame he can't kick. Strauss needs to come in, give him 5 games to show if he can play. The other reason is Strauss is more defensive than Clisby, Terlich and Dunn, if Strauss can lock down the most offensive small/Mid Forward, Clisby and Terlich can attack and we know Strauss is effectinve if he gest the footy. Viney shouldn't come in, no reason to rush him back, another game at Casey will benefit him more than playing in Darwin.

Hope, I just watch every week hoping to see something or someone to get excited about. I hope Jack Watts finally kicks his bag of 6-8 goals, I hope that Toumpas has a massive break out game 25 touches and a couple of goals, the Hope that one day Col Sylvia can play he best footy week in week out, still to this day his match against Hawthorn a few years ago IMO was the best game I have seen any MFC player play. The hope Trengove becomes a good AFL midfielder, the hope that comes with Jack Viney and Jesse Hogan, the hope that one day this year we see Clark, Dawes, Watts and Howe in the same forward line. The hope that one year it all clicks.

I would bring in Dom Barry, nothing to lose play him as a sub, drop Kent, he has had a good run at AFL, send him back to VFL get him full of confidence for the finals. It would be great for Dom's development head away with the team back to the top end get a taste. I would also bring in Strauss for Dunn, Dunn is a spud, he is a very dumb footballer. I like Clisby and Terlich but the both a very lose in defense, Strauss has worked hard defensively and can kick. Leave Jordie and Jack in the VFL, we need some fresh players for next week against North.

No Chance, we will get third round, Col is the great under acheiver, he doesn't get high on our B&F count, the only way we would get second round is if the AFL give us this instead of Priority pick. Considering Buddy will go for pick 19 or 20, the AFL couldn't give us 22 for Sylvia.

My issue with him is he can't play as a small forward, he is not a front and centre small forward, he isn't that quick small forward, we compare him to Paul chapman but he can't run in the middle, I just don't know where he can play

Watch him today extremely disappointing , he is not a small forward, he isn't a mid, he is in trouble. In a club that is crying out for midfielders to have him playing as an ineffective small forward today has confirmed that he needs to be traded or delisted

Just left it was bad not one player put their hand up, Barry would be the best demon and would have been an outstanding game for him if he didn't butcher the ball

All we can take from today is Jimmy Toumpas can play and that is it. Nothing negative we just weren't good enough and the class players of Geelong shone today

Why because we can't get 60K to the same game at the MCG. If we could we would get this as a home game. Until we start playing well and drawing good crowds we will get the Interstate draw which is playing most home games against interstate clubs at the MCG, this helps the AFL. All interstate clubs want more games at the MCG, the AFL doesn't want Collingwood, Hawthorn, Richmond playing home games at the MCG against interstate clubs or even the Bulldogs and North. They want the big clubs playing big games at the MCG and to appease the small vic clubs and interstate clubs they get the play the MFC at the G. This is why there is a two tier competition it is all about maximising match day attendance and the media rights which means the big clubs get the prime games in prime time slots in prime grounds. The bottom half get what is left over, this is why the AFL will always need to prop up clubs, they do it in different ways some financially and others by the fixture.

The reason why Jack Watts is starting to play some good football is because Chris Dawes is in the side. Since returning from Injury Jack has kicked 10 goals in 5 matches, the only game he didn't kick a goal was against Collingwood, Chris Dawes was injured against Collingwood leave Jack as our main forward. Dawes and Clark allow Hogan, Watts, Howe to get the 3rd, 4th, 5th defender, they may be able to shut one or two down but we have 5 players that can kick a bag of goals, add in Fitzy 6.

Do you know what is even better than players stating they want to stay, is players signing contracts to stay.

Small forwards we have Davey, Jetta, Tapscott, Byrnes, Kent, Bail, Blease, before we draft any small forwards we need to get rid of the 8 on our list. You will find once we start contolling the footy more, have more inside 50m our small forwards will be at the feet of our tall forwards. At the moment they are working to far up the ground and are usually the ones delivering into our forward 50m arc. You get a midfield that can transit the ball effectively the small forward can stay where they need to be.

Shall we go and draft Craig Motram then, great runner but no skills, I suppose Geelong did that this year. We have Blease, Davey, Jetta, Byrnes, Tapscott, Kent on our list that all play that small forward role. By far this year Davey has been the stand out, does he have another year why not we have so many other players that need to be delisted that we can afford to keep him next year. Tapscott is a real concern, he is not a small forward to slow, he is more a marking small forward than a front and centre. With Clark, Hogan, Dawes, Watts, Howe, Fitzpatrick, we don't need marking small forwards we need front and centre. The same for Kent, for Kent and Tapscott to stay at Melbourne both need to be able to run through the midfield. Jetta as much as I like him he will be gone at years end, shame they didn't persist with him down back, he isn't a small forward and I don't think he can build his tank to run through the midfield. Strauss, would love to see him replace Dunn for the rest of the year, give him a good run at it to see if he can play. I don't think we have seen the best of him, play him on Motlop this week. We have read this many times our forward and back 6 are solid, our midfield is poor. I would have Fitzpatrick on the trade table and even Watts for the right midfielders.

What a difference a coach makes. Take out Nicholson who just can't kick, our kicking skills have improved significately. We still have the brain fades that result in massive turnovers but our ability to hit targets has gone from complete garbage to acceptable. This was highlighted by our number of marks yesterday. Who would of thought a few weeks back that we could take 120+ marks in a match. The players we have drafted last year can all kick, Toumpas will be good doesn't miss a target, Kent kicks like Daniel Rich low hard long, Terlich/Clisby can kick and will get better with more games, Dawes is a good field kick, Rodan over 25m is good and Byrnes can kick. I would like to see Strauss come in for Dunn give him 4-5 games to see if he can play and hopefully he can, Strauss is an elite kick to add him to our back 6 would be a big bonus. We controlled the footy around the boundary a couple of times with short precise kicks three weeks ago it was kick long down the line to a contest because we could hit a target.

Good effort today, our ball movement and ability to hit targets has improved, still a lot more improvement needed. Watts was ok once our delivery improves so will he. Next year we will have the most dangerous forward line in the afl, get a midfield and we make the 8 next year

Great we have this kid, but keep a lid on it. He doesn't need to be singled out with his own highlight package, we see his goals in the VFL highlight package.