Dappa Dan

Amazing.

I reckon Clark will have up times and down as a KP forward. And when the down times come, people will call for him to go back to the ruck where he made his name for himself. Injuries, as always, will play a big part too. If the guy is playing like crap as a forward, and we're low on good ruckmen, expect him to play portions of seasons in the midfield.

Good post. Colts and Miami. You would think both sides would stampede towards Luck. You might even find that one or the other might be offered a deal they can't refuse, though. Henne actually didn't look awful before he got hurt (though I saw him live last year, and he was deplorable)... And Manning is, well, Manning. Both sides might consider trading it on for a raft of picks and good players. I can. They've been relatively competitive here and there. Yup. There's a reason everyone had them coming back up the standings this year. It's all about that OL, isn't it... and by extension OC. When you first start watching the game it's about the big plays, QBs etc... then after a while you love pulling apart the line of scrimmage, and following the elephants on parade. The Rams will be ok next year, and will have a number of years where they look good. That's what's great about the NFL in any given season, the team is always a maximum of 3 years away from turning things around.

I thought 2008 was that... Then 186 happened. Don' count your chickens.

Blame Bohdan...

Hate this... Do we have the bye the following week?

Check the stats. For some reason Luck had slightly better stats in all the major passing categories (he's continued his great form this season, hasn't dropped momentum at all) but lost the Heisman to Newton, who is an out and out phenom. Fins fans have started the "suck for luck" movement... :D Should send them our way for some advice. I couldn't help but think that, yeah. They're not as bad as they're showing though.

Hey Y_M... I haven't been on here for a long time, so I'm gonna go for WJ, and that goes for the entire time I've been on 'land. But I will say this site, since Y_M's demise, actually got funnier. There's a dozen posters here who regularly make me chuckle.

Bingo... And have I ever talked in the literal?

Out of the 13 (I think, did this very quickly) all posters have these guys in their 22 (I didn't do emergencies, positions etc) : Moloney, Frawley, Trengove, Watts, Garland, Rivers, Grimes, Clark, Jones, Jamar, McKenzie, Green, Tapscott, Sylvia, Martin, Blease. (Tapscott, Blease and Martin the only surprises there, Martin cos of the recent signing of Clark) Jurrah, Petterd, Howe and Bail made 12. Well done demonlanders on showing the faith with Bail. Likewise Howe and Petterd. Gysberts made 11. Davey made 10. A few more than I expected, though it's good to see we're not fickle. Bartram made 5. Thought he'd get more. Morton made 3. That post-draft reputation still holding strong. Put his output on just about any other player, and they'd have made no appearances. Bennel made 1. No Bate, Dunn, McDonald, Jetta, or Wonna... despite the fact all have shown a lot more than some on the above list. Apologies for any mistakes. I did this quickly.

B: Garland, Frawley, Tapscott HB: Blease, Rivers, Grimes C: Morton, McKenzie, Gysberts HF: Watts, Clark, Sylvia F: Davey, Jurrah, Green Foll: Jamar, Trengove, Moloney INt: Petterd, Jones, Martin, Bail Emer: J. McDonald, Howe, Bennell Bartram, Dunn, Jetta and Bate to probably come up for 10+ games as well this year. I think that's mostly a fan-favourite lineup there. In reality I expect the mature bodies of Bartram, Dunn and Bate might do more than that suggests, but it's reflective of their 2011 seasons. Is there any point to these? Maybe someone should write up how many appearances everyone's making. Just to see which ones are in EVERYONE'S team (Moloney, Jamar, Trengove, Watts, Clark, etc) and which ones might drop off a few lists...

Get off the net and put Cale to bed, please...

Surprised to see the investment question not weighted more towards the key ruck question. I'd pay 700k and pick 12 for any of the top ruckmen going round. Sandi, Leuie, Cox, Goldie, Mummy... even some of the better younger ones like Smith could ask that much I reckon as pure ruckmen.

1 ruck, 1 backup ruck/utility, + 1 200cm ruck/forward + 1 195cm KP forward/HBF, plus Jurrah/Petterd/Howe to all fit inside the fifty...? No... I'd say get rid of at least one of the big boys. But if you ask if there's room for Jamar, Martin, Clark and Watts as well as all the mid sized forwards... then yes, I'd say there is room. For two reasons: Firstly because every one of those players have spent the majority of their careers OUTSIDE the cramped forward fifty. They're all very flexible players, as are all the mid sized forwards. Secondly, because... well... all four big men have all proven they can play, to varying degrees. It's worth playing all of them. 4 talls with huge flexibility, intuitively coached, could be the next step.

Yeah what the hell happened to that guy? I thought that wasn't a bad signing given you have the best RB in the league. McNabb can hustle, when in doubt. Give him a bit more time, he's not nearly as bad as he's shown. My Eagles have been a disgrace though. This Wide 9s malarkey, can't stop the run, Mick the [censored] Vick throwing picks... Can't believe the Lions and Bills... And the Pack are miles ahead of everyone.

Hardly unfulfilled. I would have thought someone like Juice was unfulfilled (as much of a joke as he is, he has talent). [censored] Clarke has played a LOT of good footy. Besides, no-one I've seen has said he's gonna go nuts and threaten for a Coleman. The thing it really does is give us a focal point. That's really it. Takes a big defender. Gives us presence. Takes pressure off Petterd, Watts, howe, Jurrah... THAT'S what has people excited. In those handful of quarters where we had a half decent big boy playing out of the square, we were a threat... With Clarke, he may only kick 30-40 goals, but the forward line will all kick about 5-10 more each. They won't be forced to manufacture goals by going over the back, rebounding maniacally... We can actually keep players inside fifty, and have a target. The signing is huge, huge news for 2012. No matter how you cut it.

I'll give the board three guesses to figure out which number he'll be wearing... But you'll only need... 1.

While he may have been more of a CHF, Neitz didn't to a bad job of playing FF for us a few years ago.

Exactly. Huge get for Dees. Pick 12 this year, that's an absolute bargain too, given what we're getting. IMO, he's going to go forward all year, freeing Watts and Jurrah to roam, along with Ricky Bobby. Steph and Jamar to remain in the ruck. Massive, massive signing... for 2012 in particular, which was looking like a pretty crappy year. Have heard some negatives surrounding past injuries... but I'll wait and see how it ends up. This and Neil Craig. Fantastic aggressive recruitment demons. 186's silver lining.

AAAAH MUCH BETTER. THANKYOU.

???? HAHAH!!! That's the last thing I'd say he is. He's got mongrel, and certainly a mouth. But there's nothing "hard" about him. Can you picture him going up in a pack a la Cloke/Riewoldt/Riewoldt/Hall... any of the 17 team's main targets? No. He's a niggler. Not a completely useless player, and I reckon has a high footy IQ... but hard at it he is not.

We won't get much for him. Happy to see him go though. I really like him as an honest battler, and he can do really good work for a club that's bleeding goals... But his ceiling is pretty much what we see now.

I was wondering when someone would come on and question Paddy. I see him as a more healthy Col Sylvia... That said, at this stage I'm not interested in taking players that haven't proven themselves, especially not for a high price. Now, as much as ANYONE can see the talent he has, he just plain doesn't get enough of the ball to be someone you look at for a high first rounder or equivalent. Let's see him average 5+ more touches... and still punish games in the way he does, then I'll get on board. Love watching him, and I KNOW he's a fan favourite, but I want a player we can get 150+ games out of, of which 120 are good ones. Not someone who plays as many good games as bad, or gets hurt.

I don't buy that. Not one bit. The team would likely have improved at about the same rate. We would have likely found out what elements of the leadership structure, both off the field and on, were doing the damage, only we would have gotten rid of the offending elements behind closed doors. The squad wouldn't have needed an overhaul, there wouldn't have been a teething period with a new coach, we would have been less likely to leak players... That loss was an embarrassment for me as a member. It was damaging to the club, whichever way you cut it. And it was massively destabilising. Neeld could turn out to be the best thing since sliced bread. Or he couldn't. No-one can say for sure... All I want to see is for the list and coach/assistant tree to have come consistency from one year to the next. I don't want it to be a case of musical chairs: ie, the list is going to get better within the next few years, and it's whichever coach is lucky enough to be in charge that'll be branded a genius. WHat does that prove? The reason I applaud the Craig appointment is that there was actally really nothing all that wrong with him as a coach. He brings a heavy sport-science background to the role, and is a serious operator. The sport science part of his role is a weakness the club has had for... well... ever. In the off season they were the two things I wanted to see in a new coach. A tough-nut (I wanted Burns) who can bark instructions at a player, and who is feared as much as he is admired. Put some hard bark on the squad... And also someone who understand the next generation of sport science to take us to the cutting edge. I wasn't naive enough to think it'd all come through in one coach, so when we got Craig, I was pumped.

This is the best news we've had since 186... I have barely posted since then, of at all... I've been so hurt, and unenthused. But this appointment outstrips the Neeld one for excitement, in my opinion. Well done dees.