whatwhat say what

oh, and bird is 24 this year, guthrie is 21 later this year.

Cameron Guthrie (Geel) - small defender / defensive midfielder
186cm 86kg

Could be recruited to play as a pure mid at the Dees, but it's really as a small defender that he's played most of his senior AFL football.

Hard as nails, pretty quick, doesn't get a heap of it but locks down on a man.

He's been very impressive in patches in the brilliant Cats' side, and would waltz into a midfield role at the Dees.

ROLE: Given our dearth of small defenders he could play that role or - preferably - would command a midfield role at Melbourne, where he kicked goals at TAC Cup level.
VALUE: Second to third round pick

Craig Bird (Syd) - defensive midfielder / defensive high half forward
179cm 85kg

Would be recruited to play as a pure mid at the Dees.

Hard as nails, loves a goal, and is reasonably quick with pretty good skills.

Had a fantastic 2012, but has been in and out in 2013 thus far. Comes from the best footy culture in the AFL

ROLE: Upgrade on current half forwards like Byrnes/Tapscott and a better pure mid option than anyone on our list bar N Jones and Viney.
VALUE: Late first round to second round pick

Can't run like he used to, does a hammy at least once a year, and takes him six weeks to recover these days.

Still a competitive player but a long way past his best.

It's a no for me.

27 possessions and looked lively from a report i had today from a resident ais-afl watcher.

they said he's got a real 'bounce' to his football.

will wear #11, and as stated in previous pages he's now listed as 180cm and 67kg - he's also the youngest member of the sa squad by a good couple of months.

I think it is.

But his onfield attitude has been pretty appalling in the first 5 or so rounds of this year - contrast it with the effort and leadership Garland has displayed.

Really, that duo should be our defensive lynchpins for the next decade or so.

If we lose Chip, we will have no one in the back half of his sheer size and ability. It would be a huge blow.

The Scum article basically intimated we would lose him for nada at the end of 2014 - I thought that if he was made an offer we could match it as he's a RFA, and thus he had to stay?

Sure hope so, as I would imagine we will have a lot of salary cap space.

Huge job ahead convincing him to stay.

In some ways we need him to stay as hes one of few players of real talent and experience yet in other ways his lack of providing leadership of any form, chronic misbehaviour, and generally seemingly carefree attitude to his football would not be missed.

i've torn ankle ligaments four times and that's exactly how i felt the first couple of times. the pain is excruciating. i presumed that's what he'd done.

his kicking was very nice today, but he ducked his head and pulled out of three contests. he wasn't alone though - jetta's one looked worse.

he's clearly nowhere near ready for afl.

i look at vlastuin and think how did a player like that slide so far? quick, strong, and brilliant by foot.

hopefully jimmy can show why he was a top 4 pick in time.

god knows we need him to.

get him on board striker475.

One thing i like about Jackson is that already when talking about the club he talks about 'we' and uses the phrase 'our club'. Contrast that to Neeld who for months after joining did not use phrases such as we or us or our club.

that's not true, neeld also was very inclusive:

- at collingwood, we...

- when i was at collingwood, we...

- the way we did things at collingwood was...

very inclusive. very.

The issue is as much about what can an alternative board offer - so far, no one has stood up other than David Schwarz and said they want to be involved.

Not to mention there's been any mention of WHAT they would do...and god knows we've been promised a few things in the last couple of years...

I hate to say it because I'm not a fan, but if ever Melbourne needed Neil Mitchell it is now.

We desperately need someone with a strong and visible public persona in our corner.

Schwarz would be fine I feel as he brings football knowledge and a strong public presence, but Mitchell brings the arrogance, contacts and cache that you need these days to create a real impression and help deliver results.

There should be, but the question is who?

gets his players playing for him.

more than can be said for neeld.

Craig is already coaching from the boundary line.

Press conference at 4pm tomorrow I'd wager.

Go you Kiwi!

I hold out hope for a priority pick. We won't get one.

After seven consecutive years of pathetic recruiting and development, we need it.

Aish is the one we need. Dunstan, Billings or Crouch alongside him would be perfect.

I would be curious to know if Dunn put his hand ip and asked for the job on Judd.

His effort was outstanding.

Our skills are non-existent. Just woeful. We can't hit targets clear and under little pressure.

if toumpas' waddles his way to a career like collingwood's ugly duckling, i think we'll all be happy campers.

bring on the sleeve!

i certainly wouldn't have had rodan in the best either. where's magner? couch? blease - his third quarter was outstanding with his run and create, and his defensive attitude too - would be ahead of sellar for mine too.

luke tynan might be one worth looking at putting on the rookie list for 2014 to help add some depth to our squad. he was very impressive i thought.

i'm not very impressed by him at all, no.

hope i'm proved wrong!

It was more that he looked betwixt and between and looked completely flummoxed as to what to do.

Port were super disciplined. Great comeback from them.

It truly was Melbourne-esque.

Game over.

Terrible final term.

Port sure do have a good song tho...

Woeful umpiring helps Port get the ball forward, opportunity to rebound now.

98-101, 32 gone.

Casey can't hit a target by hand or foot yet somehow eked out a goal.

98-100, 30 in.