beelzebub

31268!!! am happy enough if it goes beyong my prediction of 31500... who'd da thunk ..pretty impressive...ut we need to back it up again next year...and the next... and..... in fact we need to get to 35000...am informed that makes the purse a much healthier thing and relieves a bit of pressure.

am quite happy to "manage" our injuries with long convalescences all round

well..cant absolutely agree with that. Should we want to have our pick of the litter then finishing last does gaurantee the first two picks.Id be happy with that and come out blazing..( or sparking a it at least ) next year :D

not so sure it was THAT tongue in cheek. Respect Sheeds as a man who picks his words...this comentary doesnt inpres one iota however.. Look where YOU are Sheeds...talk about basket cases !!!

The idea per se is not of the bullies relocating..simply offering a presence. much in the same way the sqaukers do in Tassie. ut as they would settle into one "away" paid location it might in time build into a real following. Its more of a lateral notion in that ONE team can harness two locales. Its far less halfarsed I reckon than the AFL's of actualy having a team there as it simply wont hold water. They are kidding themselves. Here a region can if they choose adopt an exisitn team with some sort of realtionship without th ewhole shebang. You have to keep in mind that Syneysiders follow sport in a vastly different way..just ask Queen..am sure she'll vouch for that ( me hopes..lol ) By all means actually have a team in west sydney.but at VFL level..much more sensisble

I see it as a workable version of getting what the AFL want.. some sort of presence in Sydneys west.. I cant see a stand alone ever getting off the ground for 20 years...if then. In this manner the AFL can truly test the waters and see if all their rhetoric stands scrutiny. If it doesnt.. such is life..You stil have a workable competition

It occurred to me upon hearing of the plight of the pups that there might be a ready made asnswer of sorts that might not only satisfy them, the AFL but other states and concerned teams. The AFL is so keen to inflict a team upon West Sydney ( and all this despite sound locic to the contrary ) and this whilst another team of the West ( Melourne ) is struggling and essentially donning lips and taking to the street , any street in order to sell itslef for a game or two. What if the Western Bulldogs , already with a name not limiting itself to Melbourne only becomes an ambassador of sorts and plays say half a dozen home games out of Homebush or where ever and get paid by the AFL to do so. This would solve the conundrum of an AFL presence in Sydney without really paying top dollar.. It would solve the Doggies financial woes too. This would free up a spot to enable a Tassie team to slide in to assume the 18th licence..and they would have to be happy with that as would be many other teams and fans sympathetic to their cause. A bonus would be far less members for Hawthorn and less dollars too !! I have no problem with that sort of win win win they lose...all good Is this just a tad too simple ??

food for thought.... do we want Brocky to hit his straps this year .... or next ??

quite an interesting thread apart from the easily dispensed verbals.... I confess I have always taken the view that the team is greater than the player and as such any player is dipsensable for the right purpose. What is Brocky's greatest drawback... his speed at present. His leadership, his guile ina contest and normally his disposal arent a question. However at present he does get dacked a few times with his seeming lack of TOTAL fitness. Ironically GC would/will have plenty of top 20 picks NEXT draft and so if you were to trade him it would be then. The problem ( if such ) is that one of a number of things could change this picture. 1) he resurges to former level and becomes invaluable 2) his form drops a bit further and resultant value in market decreases..or 3) Is named captain for next year and all but becomes untouchable He isnt the quintisential midfielder a la Judd Kerr Cousins ( and a dozen more ) but he is a rock out there. If given a suitable protege in say Scully I think his mentoring on field would be more than worth his keeping. Still ..for the right deal and result going forward then he like anyone ought to keep their position at Melbourne purely on that merit

Im not sure if the draft setup is finalised beyond next year as I think it revolves around the reailty ( or otherwise ) of West Syd getting off the ground when teh AFL think it will. You me and the gatepost all know it wont..well not when they think. GC have the bulls roar next year and other concessions and give-me's for a five year period. The makeup isnt set in stone yet, so im informed. As TSJ writes...we timed this right ( phew!! ) But what their ( GC) concessions will really do in all likelyhood is garantee a trade period(s) like none other seen for a few years as others realise the precarious position they find themselves in. . What we as a club need to do is capitalise on this volatility and build a strong 10-year team, take no prisoners in doing so and afford no one a charity ride. Whilst all others about us lose their heads we may just pick up some silverware

9-12 in '10 I think is a reasonable aim I would feel. We'll be knocking though and we'll be on our way for real

I feel for ya mate, my partner is Filthy too in fact nearly that whole family is ( and there's a few) She has said she will come with me to a few games later in year ( Melb games ) as we will miss the QB game being o/s. Its hard to fathom... you will need to resort to bribes... I'll leave that up to you and your imagination

and still at 30804 it climbs quietly upwards. Might even pass my thoughts of 31500...pretty amazing..but we need to back this up next year...and....and

more objective than what ?? Stats without context or qualification are meaningles numbers

nicely done Queen much prettier than post 463 "cough" !!

In games where things are relatively cut and dried such as baseall stats are somewhat more relevent. Ours is a game of almost infitnite variability. Its not cut and dried and so the application of stats is to be done with utmost care. Simple stats..how many kicks..marks..handballs...etc. are easilly tabulated and accounted for.. assigning a quality to these is I think so abitrary as to render it useless. There is no ONE single gauge of effectiveness etc. So it all becomes moot surely

This is essence of it.. The best indication of what or how a player affects a game is visual. Seeing picks up all the nuances of the passage of play. Stats cant. Stas by their nature are exclusive and the passage of a ball is an inclusive event. I dispute that if one cant watch it then you can rely on stats.. You cant

cooko I'll have a stab at summarising the various outlooks regarding Bruce Essentially heres a bloke who played some very good seasons , in fact played one blinder which history suggests was aberant and possibly hitting above his weight as he's never come close really to mirroring it. ( Some would argue he's never been quite the same since Guerra cleaned him up).. possibly thats too simplistic but strangely works with time lines. No one questions his endeavour or ferocity for the ball. He will play in at the ball and is to be commended for it ....HOWEVER...for all this his real effectiveness is somewhat gilded. Anyone who has watched him over the years just knows that more often than not he'll butcher a kick or add to the workcover policy requirements of the club with his 'dubious' handball skills. On this basis many often question his value. Not his endeavour nor indeed dedication to the jumper. Thats legitimate and beyond reproach.

B)

Its seldom everyone plays at their own best week in week out. If youre having a monty of a day surely common sense ( that rarist of commodities ) dictatesyou leave a player out there to be his most dmaging. What sort of inane logic prescribes that you utilise a one size fits all rule to circumstances that are so variant.

Coglin...me thinks he doth protest too much !!! <_<

For mine , most stats are totally useless as they offer nor require contextual qualification to be entered. Only one aspect of the game is really immune from context and thats the scoreboard..everything else is dependent upon something else.

....and at least one opposition player about to wrap up the receiver !! BT only saying what we all want..lol

Always amuses me the negativity on a hypothetical..lol (edit..not yours Rogue..!! lol ) An opportunity to play serious finals action say in 2012 is as much about us as it is the nature of and place in their respective cycles of the opposition we face. We are building in many areas. We are adding to our list and adding experience to those already on it. Confidence is growing as well as the understanding and ability to execute the Bailey plan. Bodies are maturing and gettting stronger; results are improving. Yes we are still currently on the bottom ( and may well we stay there..lol ) but the effort and intensity at the ball is markedly different currently as opposed to a year ago. If we arent damn careful we'll start winning games. This is how far we've come with only one decent preseason in better facilities. Put two more seasons behind us and I think a lot of folk here are seriously undestimating where we can be in 3 years. Some of these kids still have inches and kilos to put on..still have spped to gain to say nothing of the value of experience. I, as many others will have noticed have borne witness to many attemptes at adhoc rebuilding with the varying degrees of success and resultant disappointment. What we are currently seeing is a very different era in its infancy. There jsut out of crawling and learning to walk are many of the MFC.. alittel more time they wil be running hard.. More fool the team that takes us lightly in seasons coming Im no longer thatconfident we will snare the double pick come seasons end . Not unless some serious "management" is introduced But given we wil stll get a couple to top up the list much bodes well. Other than the top 2-3 teams currently there really isnt a lot between a lot of teams on the day. Once the boys click and those 2-3 of posessions currrently given to missed opportunities...when the routines actually work on game day and not just the paddock , when a few more points become goals , when thinking becomes a tad more astute then we WILL be there. 3-4 years ?? I think so..certainly in the mix at the right end of the table !!

It does seem like its a tactic akin to cutting off your nose to spite your pace !! If youre hot...youre hot....stay on til you need a rest.. SO Disappointed for the Toiges !!!!