whatwhat say what

petterd dropped too, alongside bennell and macdonald.

agree with chook - petterd has the ability to be a game-breaker, but he really does go hot and cold

Billy has been on the horizon for about 3 years now, developing nicely.

Fingers crossed he's the goods.

I don't think in the scenario of finishing 16th we get pick #9 as our mid-round one compensatory pick - it's after all other teams outside the 8 have used their picks, I think.

As the Dogs have elected to use their after their round 1 selection pick for Ward, it'd be pick #13 assuming they finish outside the top 8 as well.

I think GC17 have one too, but theirs is tied to where Adelaide finish, and they should - on balance - be a top 8 side.

163.

yeah, we're in big, big trouble in 2012.

neeld and his (mostly) new-look panel have inherited a basket-case both on- and off-field.

this could be in excess of 150 the diff the way it's going.

This company seemed to me like the new Firepower as soon as I heard them paying overs for the back of the jumper, and is one of the main reasons I have been harping on about the importance of a FOJ sponsor.

this.

well, i'm perhaps more pessimistic than you.

our brand has taken a horrific beating since '186', and i don't know how it can recover.

it is an absolute disaster.

at least the club made the correct decision.

but we are going to be feeling the ramifications of this for YEARS to come.

while we will survive the current media rights deal - which requires 18 teams in the competition - our future as part of the afl will be sorely questioned thereafter.

i will be disgusted if we don't sever ties with energywatch.

he and howe - who flew for everything, spoiling his teammates a lot of the time - looked like the only players capable of clunking a mark. clark's timing was horrible. martin's field-kicking was pretty respectable too, and he's a solid shot for goal.

i wouldn't trade him at all. think he's got the makings of a very, very good player.

i'll go with, from the 2 22's:

the ones:

B: newman - frawley - garland

HB: j grimes - d grimes - deledio

C: watts - d martin - trengove

HF: howe - clark - foley

F: vickery - riewoldt - nahas

Foll: jamar - cotchin - jones

I/C: s martin - magner - mckenzie

Sub: conca

the twos:

B: bartram - rance - post

HB: macdonald - rivers - s morris

C: tynan - jackson - bail

HF: edwards - miller - houli

F: davey - green - a maric

Foll: i maric - moloney - tuck

I/C: grigg - bate - b ellis

Sub: blease

line-ball btw mckenzie and jackson as the final midfielder on the bench, and i reckon conca is ahead of blease at this stage.

of all the asst coaches replaced i couldn't understand why choco was kept

my guess would be 'under contract'.

port adelaide have a class midfield - hartlett, boak, brett ebert, cassisi, mccartney, plus gray (who didn't play) - and an array of tall timber up front - schulz, butcher, westhoff, d stewart - that will cause a lot of sides trouble in 2012.

far better than our options. it's arguable that their backline is comparable to ours, with only frawley a fair bit ahead of his direct line opponent (carlile). rivers and chaplin are about equal, i'd take surjan over bartram in a heartbeat, pearce and grimes is a close call, probably just in favour of pearce as he's a proven entity, and p stewart is miles ahead of joel macdonald.

i had port several positions ahead of us - 12th compared to 14th - before round 1, and after round 1 it could conceivably be far greater.

and tigers are clearly further advanced in their rebuild than us. as are the kangas. and essendon. and west coast (who scored someone who could be the best key forward in the competition in a trade for one of the best mids in the comp, and thus 'won' the trade in my opinion).

did gysberts and tapscott play, does anyone know?

heard it too, thought it was a good call.

davey's chasing and tackling was actually okay yesterday when compared with 2011 - 5 tackles and 2 holding-the-ball decisions in his favour.

it was everything else he was doing - not running to position, not shepherding, not offering an option as a forward, not getting to the fall of the ball as a crumber - that was awful to watch.

we must try and trade for gaff.

our inside mids are solid, and with viney they could become quite good. we clearly lack polish, class and speed - three qualities that gaff possesses in spades.

of the free agents available, the only top line ones who would bring value to our club in the long term are travis cloke, jordan russell, and brendan goddard. everyone else is a two year player at best or a player who has proven time and again that they're not up to making their own side's starting 22 - eg. gilbee, salopek, knights.

i personally think someone such as jacob surjan - one of my fave players in the competition thanks to his ruthless attack on the ball and man - could be of immense benefit to the side. he's the sort of small defender he haven't had since whelan's body finally gave out on him for good.

oh, i'd also expect of our free agents that moloney and jamar as the only ones with genuine value for other sides, but rivers might offer something for someone out there too.

At the Dogs vs Eagles match, and if the rumour is true that Gaff wants to come back to Melbourne at the end of the year, I'd happily trade that mid-first round pick for him.

He's exactly the sort of smooth, fast, skilled outside mid that we sorely lack.

i was at the game, and i thought jones' impact was negligible at best. he didn't do much.

god it was awful. i then backed up last night with the bombers vs north thriller, and i think both the lions and the demons are potential cellar-dwellers this year. we're both absolute rubbish football sides based on yesterday's showing.

i remain ever hopeful that gysberts is going to develop into the classy mover that he promises to be. but it's just a hope - i look at the way fyfe is dominating games for fremantle and the way that bastinac is a red-hot goer for north, and lament yet again our average drafting and continued poor development.

don't forget, he who shall not be named was meant to be our 'star' midfielder. i'd say, at this stage, the only two in our midfield who look capable of achieving that mantle are trengove and watts - a kid who's co-captaining a shockingly poor side, and a tall bloke who played his first ever game in the midfield yesterday. it's an absolute indictment on our playing stocks that it's come to this.

as i've said so many times, you can't have your best players be late draft picks / rookie list selections and hope to compete with the best teams in the competition. hawthorn's stars are their top echelon picks plus mitchell, collingwood's the same with pendlebury, thomas, a father-son in cloke plus swan. the key to being a successful side is to draft well and develop well. sadly, we have done neither for far too long a time.

agree with chook - magner, watts, trengove, martin.

we are a very, very ordinary football side.

Mark Maclure was scathing about his lack of second efforts and poor defensive workrate on the post-game coverage on ABC radio.

dees best and fairest?

Jones

dees best 1st year player?

Tynan

goals clark will kick?

33

games jurrah will play?

0

dees surprise of the year?

several big name players placed on trade table in october - specifically sylvia, watts, davey, and rivers

premiers?

Hawks

first coach to get sacked?

Primus

biggest off field controversy?

vlad's succession plan likened to putin's succession plan

games won by gws?

3

And how did Geelong clear that debt?

That's a murky one.

That said i do admire Costa & cooky. But they hit the jackpot with the bank manager concerning the debt.

not to mention the then premier.

Our top-end drafting has always been ludicrously bad. That's where you get your quality ball users and decision makers, and we've stuffed it up on a regular basis.

before the preseason started, i thought melbourne would be in the mix for positions 10-14 come close of the year.

i now struggle to see how we'll be higher than 14, more likely 16 or so.

but i'm okay with that - the players have to learn a new game plan, and ultimately i think they will be better for another tough year followed by a solid period of quality play in 2 years time (ah, that old chestnut again!).

if we activate the two compo picks - as I expect we will - then we're looking at having access to more high quality players at the end of the year, which is exactly what we require. one thing i've been banging on about for a while now is that our best players all seem to come from the rookie list - you cannot expect to compete with the best teams in the competition if your high draft picks prove to be not up to it, either through their own application or - i think more likely - inadequate development.

bailey was an awful coach - he has taken us backwards over the course of the last four years. the skills of the players are abysmal, and with neeld's gameplan they require excellent execution, which is just not going to happen overnight.