w00dy

hoping to get down tomorrow before I return to perth, if I make it, I will report back...

Sheedy accuses Demons The senile old man is at it again. The story is on the SEN website and it's surprising it didn't get wider coverage as it's possibly the most outrageous thing he's said yet. So he's accusing us of spreading rumours that Scully has a bung knee. Sheeds really has a chip on his shoulder. Surely the AFL should be concerned that this senile old man is heading up their new team?

I played cricket with guys who could go sub 10, and they weren't full time athletes... From memory some of the elite runners in the AFL get low 9's (Judd could run 9m 20s ?)... To put that in perspective, the world record for the 3000 metres is 7m 20... All our mids / running players should be around the 10 minute mark...

He plays forward. He only kicked 27 goals this year, but that was as the 2nd ruckman also. He could quite easily kick 50+ for us next year. Calculation below: Mitch kicked 27 goals in 17 games. If he played 22 games, at this average he would've kicked 35 goals. Now Mitch played 2nd ruck as well as forward, so lets assume that Mitch spent 70% of his game time forward, and 30% in the ruck. If he'd spent 100% of this time forward, at the average he had based on time forward he then kicks 50 goals. Add another 10-20% from playing in the one position, and playing in a better team, and he kicks 55-60 goals. I think we'd all be happy with a return like that from Mitch, wouldn't we? We're more than capable in the ruck, this sort of return from Clark doesn't seem ridiculous if he stays fit, and plays forward for the entirety of matches... Will make a big difference for us...

Firstly, you'd think the decision on this one would be made by Barry Predergast, not Harrington. He's the one that judges the young talent, would've assessed how good O'Meara and Crouch are, assessed how much our draft picks and compensation picks are worth, and decided what he'd prefer to draft in terms of all these... He obviously thought in this circumstance, that the price we would've had to pay was too much, and Harrington would've acted accordingly... Would've been nice to land one of these players, but I'm glad the club made the decision it did, especially the compensation pick. If we opt not to use it next season, not many of those would exist, and could become worth quite a lot at the trade table...

If a club is offloading a big name, then we have the means to get them with the 2 Scully selections, and the cash to pay them. What needs to happen is a big name, that will add value to our side, needs to be available. Not much we can do about that second half, but make it known that we're paying money and we've got the picks to get the deal done...

Disagree on Rawlings, he was a better defender than he was forward... Required to go forward at Hawthorn as they had nobody apart from the injury prone Thompson before Buddy came along, and did a good job... But was a very good defender prior to this... And he was defensive coach at the Lions I believe...

I'm happy with this appointment. Interesting coaching history, but I think it will be a good one...

If we have to we can always move an in contact player to the rookie list, like we did with juice and meese 2 years ago.

Super, this is great... Will be keeping up with trade week much easier now

I agree, let him play the role Davis played at Collingwood this year. My only concern on this one would be if he is as strong in the contest/overhead as Davis, but his pace and skill will allow him to play this role well...

Ross Lyon was about to re-sign with the Saints too, look what happened there... It's likely he'll sign with the Pies, but you keep chasing him until he does...

Disagree, if they are off the table, they are off the table. Case in point when the blues had picks 1 & 3 and were after Judd, pick 1 was off the table... Eagles accepted this and got the trade done...

Just that little too old for mine at 26. Will be past his peak when we are challenging seriously, and his price would be too high...

Agreed, he was fantastic last night. we should do everything we can to get him... Perfect compliment to cook and Watts...

Sensationalist, he won't come in bagging out the players and making threats... He'd simply say I'm excited to coach this group, there's a lot of talent here, but talent can only take you so far and there's a lot of hard work ahead of everyone here, so I hope you're all ready for that. The past is the past, doesn't count for anything anymore. Everyone here is equal, those of you who work hard and put effort in will be rewarded.

True, doesn't mean the guy can't coach... With leatherface bringing in the likes of Kent Kingsley, and Greg Miller picking the likes of Tambling over Buddy, what hope did he have? I don't think even Norm Smith as an assistant at that club would've been able to do much. His insights in the media this year have been fantastic, head and shoulders above anyone else I've heard exit coaching and enter the media... He's tasted success from his playing days at North, If he's in a coaching department that's well run and heading in the right direction, I think he'd be a fantastic asset to the club.

In an ideal world I would be over the moon if our coaching setup looked like... Forwards: I think we should go hard after Sumich. Well regarded, would help him by getting involved at another club, rather than living in the West Coast bubble. Would love him as the forward line coach. Defenders: David King. Highly impressive on Fox Sports, perfect man to coach the backline, wouldn't be hard to get and would be cheap too. I'd also go for Dean Laidley as Director of Coaching/Opposition Analysis. Achieved a lot with little resources at North, and is known for his strength tactically.

let other clubs pay over the odds for him... get Laidley instead, and use the left over cash to get Sumich as forward coach in the event he misses out on the Saints job... Surely he would realise that coaching at another club, one that is likely to be successful in the future, would only help his chances of getting a senior job...

our backline wasn't as strong this year, but do remember Chip was coming off an injury, and Garland was down on form early, and we lost Grimes for most of the season... I'm not too bothered by Royal getting the midfield, he'll be teaching them what Neeld wants, and will offer some welcome experience... now we just need assistants for the forward and back lines, Peter Sumich and David King please!

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/dawes-a-wanted-man-20110919-1khys.html He is being courted by a number of clubs according to the Age, which not surprisingly that includes us. The Pies are struggling to find the cap room for him. Melbourne and the Bulldogs have made approaches, with the Dogs looking for a Barry replacement. The Blues are also on the look out for a forward, but Judd's legitimate pay packet, along with their other players has them close to the cap. But with Neeld now at Melbourne, who has already spoken of gaps in some of the roles required to be filled in his game plan, one of which has to be a strong key forward, I can see us making a strong play for Dawes. Neeld said himself, he'll tell the recruiting department what he wants, and to go and get it. Only 23 years old, fits in with our long-term plans, as well as filling a short-term need. 1st round pick would get it done if he wants to leave I'd say, either in this years draft, or one of our compensation selections. Thoughts? I can't think of too many other key forwards of his quality that would be available apart from Fev.

you can listen here: http://www.abc.net.au/sport/afl/audio/ having my first listen now.

up to Neeld as to who he wants in, but having said that if I had to do it I agree with you on David King, very impressive his work on Fox Sports this year... however, if I had to select the panel right now, and we could steal whoever we line, it would look something like the following: Senior Coach: Mark Neeld Senior Assistant / Opposition Analysis: Dean Laidley Backs: David King Mids: Brenton Sanderson Forwards: Peter Sumich Development: Todd Viney

haven't been uploaded yet, but hopefully Mark's interview will go up on the Game Day site here: http://au.sports.yahoo.com/afl/gameday/

I can't listen to it myself here in Perth, but seems it will be uploaded here ---> http://www.abc.net.au/sport/afl/audio/