beelzebub

22?? Hmm thats a tough one

Well this wouldnt be Demonland I reckon if it wasnt June, mid way through another lamentable and forgetable season and our attention turns to all those 'better' players out there in some often greener field ( or so we imagine ) One of the highlghts and very pleasant surprises has been the on filed exploits of James Magner. Whilst the world focuses on all the kiddy winkies and all their 'potential' here was a bloke almost destined for obscurity having been overlooked some years back but had the temerity ( ne...ambition ) to work hard , develop his game and play good footy. aka a good to go ready made , just neeeding AFL experience and refinement. Hes not the only one. There will be dozens of others with similar stories, somewhere. I have no porblem with the club spending time and effort in order to secure great results with our first round picks ( and beyond ) come draft time but id really like to think they willalso have a good look around for others who just might be able to slot in, whether they be rookied or late picks. Whos out there...??

only whilst this season continues. Then we get influx of New talent, better screened . Cale has only 11 or so games to solidify his case imho

So much rubbish is pased through these boards via the STATS argument with a seeming disregard from what actually transpires.Stats in the main are somewhat useless . The only real stat of worth goes like G P B v G P B

Funny,reminds me of a recent holiday lol

A very correct suggestion.

im not even expecting to see him play at all this year. Just a gut feeling. Kind of his Annus Horribilus.....and ours

yes...everyone will be playing games of their own. Some might just like to see us pay full whack as some sort of kharma. Some twisted folk out there.

consistnecy???lol Trengove 'sling" tackles....gets the MRP attention and penalty Buddy "sling" tackles...... nothing to answer for. Can anyone offer a reason ?? Its just rubbish that Jack was done. You can not use the words Umpiring and Consistency in the same breath

see..we moved ...lol

Any which way you cut it. Nic Nat is mighty impressive. Its actually worth watching an Eagles game to see him play.

If youre in a Jet sitting on the runway waiting to go....An observer will say the plane isnt moving, youre standing still. We're not quite that plane yet...we're still taxiing to position. But we will be ( hopefully ) next season. ... Yes I know...a perennial utterance. lol We are moving, just not quick enough for many folk. Inertia is the hardest point to overcome, thats where we are Inert but a lot of effort is being currently put to it to make things move.

There were a few of us who got a sniff that maybe the club got wind a lot earlier than many suspect. And then were complicit in a little game of subtefuge to lull Vlad and cohorts into coughing up a treat. And the Academy goes to.............. "Were so hard done by"...from the crew ant the MFC.... here to accept the award is Cam I think ol Irish sussed the jig was up for Voldmort and so began a little jig....to the tune of" We wont out you if you shut up and play along!!"...win/win So going back to the tenet of who did better....well............ I think we're going to do oK, eventually and in the meantime Tom/dad are smiling counting their mutual extortions. In simple terms we ought to end up with One good player and one pretty good player by all averages, could even get two Pearlers but the real win is the salary space and opportunity to get people who actually WANT to play for Melbourne............ and can. Im happily looking forward to the two pickups come seasons end. Esp two out of the top 15 , plus Viney. As Charlie would put it........we'll be WINNING !!!

though heres a question ..Buckley DOES get a game at Collingwood...... would Cale ??? probably doubtful

ahuh... i get it now

ahhhhhappreciative of replies people getting less murky

murky isn t it..lol

I get that..but if we had ( HAD ) to use 3 on Viney does that affect where compo pick occurs.if for argument sake we traded , for what ever reason ( some sort of player gain etc ) our pick 3 and say received back pick 7 for eg..would then compo pick one occur still at 4 ? ( where originally was ) ?

Im so wary of stats. They can only give a bit of the picture...form a certain perspective only. Good teams often have space to play in. they have their game 'happening' and so you thenget a lot of uncontested possesions because they are a yard in front of their opposition.. Only really when there IS a bit of a match up that you have a real contest. Then the stats swing the other way. I'm a bit old fashioned I suspect......just prefer to watch and gain an overall impression. So much cant be put down in this column or that and even if you did what colour would you aplly to so much that is just this side of subjective or abitrary. We will have more uncontested possessions when we are playing better , better as a team, and better than the other team

Ok..so what does happen in respect to the Father Son situation if were forced to go high ? Which pick gets used and how does that then effect the compo picks if at all? cheers

you know...in a very strange way I have to admire the cunning of the Weagles. There is always so much more than just this goes with that, theres the subtefuge, the smoke and mirrors etc. Alls fair in love and war as they say....add to that Footy I think. I can only hope we are as capable of the games of 'slight of hand' etc ( I actually suspect we were in relation to ol Tom actually...well the latter part of the fun and games anyway, once we realised what was really upon us ). This to mine only serves to emphasise just how crucial it is to have a footy dept that is filled with savvy, knowledgable and able folk. i think we area lot closer to this NOW then ever before. We have definitely made some errors ( how much avoidable is I suppose the weight of this thread) I fervently hope we minimise this going forward. So much in footy happens way before the ball is bounced.

OK. It almost seems obscene to be talking of this so early in the season, even for us, but as it's raising it's head all over the joint, on here and in the press, I was wondering who or what we might garner come EOS and then it occurred to me I'm not 100% around what our picks actually are. Given a finish of say 16th then I assume we have normal pick 3. I'm assuming that nothing else goes in front of normal picks this year, but I'll fess I find it al la bit of a mine field trying to sort this 'picks' thing out, what with so many side rules. So could some kind souls please inform the rest of us unwashed as to how this ought (emph OUGHT) to play out come seasons end. This of course takes no lead from any trades that might alter what we understand to be the lay of the land as it exists presently. Theres also our F/S situation to consider. ive got a headache already !!! I open the floor to................

As im tempted to grind my teeth does it not bear thinking that with the benfit of hindsight we can all be gurus and slice and dice old choices ad nauseum!! We can sit upon hight and turkey shoot galore ant this "stuff up" or that "miss'. Its all so easy later, afterwards , when the detail appears from amongst the mist. For ever 50 supposedly fugged up selections there probably is really only 1 or 2 real ones. All the others were based upon the going market valuations etc of the various players.. Its not a perfect science though clubs are getting better at it. Some more so than others but people are people and kids are kids. Theyre different. They dont all follow some golden path of development,. Some rocket along and come to screeching halts, and fall off the Footy landscape. Some seem to be camouflaged for years before popping up almost unannounced to stardom. In the end its a calculated roll of the dice. Sometimes you make the Pass Line...sometimes you Crap out !! But give me a break from this mindless retro gnashing of braincells . History is only visible when its behind you.

This ^^^^^^^^^^^^

Whilst in principal id agree wholeheartedly with the sentiments of the article I am always reminded of the notion that nothig is done, til its done. So in that frame of thought we will have tosee not only who we get as a result of the compo picks but how they pan out. So we might not know for some years as to who really got the better of the deal. I do agree however with the notion that ol Voldmort was overhyped and over rated...Now thankfully hes over paid and over there !!