Dappa Dan

Robbo if he's right for 14+ games. Otherwise Miller will have a solid if unspectacular year as our main focal point kicking 35-45. Goals will be spread around a lot though. Think the array of small forwards and goal-kicking mids.

Convenient. Maybe with the money saved on hair dye he can afford an upgraded membership...

Question for you scorp. Did he dye his hair the scorps colours? In the Sandy days he'd have it the Zeb's colours. A nice touch I thought.

Saw this post too. Awesome. Who says we don't have history?

We all know who I'm talking about. The bloke with the huge red and blue mohawk, and sunnies... Always used to get his mug on the tele EVERY week. I believe his name is Angelo, though I could be wrong... Does he still attend games? I can't remember when I saw him last. I believe he may have been a regular poster here at some point.

It's not a question of one or the other. Just because a forward doesn't kick 100 goals (or 80 these days) doesn't mean he's not good enough to win a premiership. Fev doesn't win flags for the Blues. The point is the midfield still need a target that can offer a contest, bring the ball to ground, or simply clear out and give them space to run into. All these things take a combination of smart/lucky recruiting, time spent training the kids in the modern game... and then importantly a number of years where you can have a forward structure get used to one-another. One of the great things about Ooze, Robbo, Neita, Green etc etc in their heyday was that they knew each others' games inside out. So much so that when you inserted Davey, they all knew how to make room for him so that he could be damaging. During this time Neitz barely scraped into the top 10 KP forwards in the league, and yet we had one of the most damaging and respected forward lines while simultaneously running around with a B-grade midfield (at best). Some credit must also go to one Neale Daniher... In short, I'd lean more towards the need for a class midfield, but you pretty much can't do without any one of the three major sections... you're kidding yourself if you think you're setting yourself up for success with just two of: defence, midfield, attack.

I see. Wasn't aware of that. Ok. Calm down. I was under the impression Grimes was recruited with little or no injury history. Swift on the other hand has 2 knees before he's old enough to drive... The irony is that (I had thought) we recruited one guy as a relatively injury free blue-collar mid one season, and overlooked the injury prone talent in the next, and their fortunes had reversed. Clear as mud? Now that I hear he had a history, that destroys the irony. My mistake. The Swift thing wasn't brought up by me, but if he turns out to be a star I'm going to be pretty [censored], as we could have picked him up. I'm just one of the ones who thought he was worth the risk. As I said above, time will tell.

Ironic, isn't it? That Swift, my pick for our PP, killed it for the Eagles, and a guy that's been on the list for a year is the one getting taken out of sides. Grimes had no extreme problems with his body before he was drafted either, from memory. Wait and see I guess... no reason to throw the baby out with the bathwater... but I am getting sick of this club's injury list.

In this list? Bell is easily in the 22. In the same way Wheatley is... They would struggle to make the 22 of just about any other club, but in a transitional period, SOMEONE has to take the big body blows while Jack, Sam, Cale and others put on enough weight to be able to take the games on themselves. He's unglamorous, this much has always been true, and is the perfect example of why internet posters know practically nothing about football. Show me one team EVER that has had 22 Hirds, Voss', or Flowers. This isn't cricket. Bell is the perfect second stringer. A guy that gives honest service and hard work. He's just not the guy that you rely on to win games off his own boot... My only major concern with the kid is the age group he is part of. When our new recruits are between 20 and 24, where they will be doing SO much learning, Bell (if he's still on the list) will actually by default be one of the club's leaders. By then he'll have probably cracked 100-150 games at least, and in the same way Crawford left his mark on the current crop of Hawks, Bell will be one of the players who leaves a mark on the up and coming crop of dees. Hopefully they look to Brock moreso. One of the reasons it's imperative he's made captain in the new decade.

Your points about the ruck are well made. Perhaps Bailey has a little bit of the Grant Thomas' about him. Perhaps Grant Thomas without the over-inflated noggin, in that he doesn't rate ruckmen as matchwinners. Which, let's face it, is probably fair enough as there are precious few banging around at the moment. And as for placing the season in jeapordy, it never ceases to amaze me when I read dees fans on here who think we're going to "have a tilt." This year is not about winning flags, but developing a flag-winning core-list that we can recruit and trade around. The ruck situation is pretty awful, but then so is every other position on the ground. SOME people rate our defence as a great one of the future (I'm not there yet), our midfield is C-grade at best but is heading in the right direction, and the less said about our forward line the better. The point is we're developing kids everywhere. PJ isn't a kid, but Spencer is, and that's two that we can hang our hats on for the future. Personally, I'm glad that we have two really good guys on the 200cm mark who won't be fighting off Jeff White or Darren Jolly to learn their craft. The worst they have to compete with is Jamar and Meesen. I'm happy with the situation, personally.

Did anyone else assume by the title of the thread that his OP had flared up again? Besides, Colin out on a Sunday is hardly big news.

I'm perfectly fine with the "competitive for longer" line. We're not after quick fixes, and meaningless wins. We're after consistent success, which it's proven is a process that takes years... And a large chunk of those years will contain failure. Stay the course I reckon.

And post of the week goes to d3165. I have picked the Lions for the spoon this year, or at least 14-16th, so I take the result with a grain of salt, especially considering with the weather Brisbane were robbed of our customary 4th quarter fadeout. With that in mind, I am far mroe excited about the dees than at any time in the last 3 or so years. I reserve my greatest excitement for one Jared Rivers, who has proven yet again, what he CAN do. Well done demons, and have faith.

Cam Bruce USED to be a good kick. He had the ability to surprise, probably 2-3 years ago... As with SO many demons... it's a big if. IF he can correct the problem, then yes he'd be useful. Actually. given the ineptitude of many of our forwards, having a bad kick would probaly make him fit right in.

You're gonna cop it now!!! But seriously folks, Bruce will be needed elsewhere. ie, he'll play up forward when needed there, in defence when needed, on the wing, in the guts etc etc... I think the pre-season is really where you give your players 4 quarters or so in a poition and let them make some mistakes... ie Sylvia in game one, then let him redeem himself in game two. If Bruce is taken out of the backilne it'll give someone else a chance there, but will add a bit of brittleness to the line. This is true all over the ground. We have a skeleton crew of mature players... takeout our bluey winner and we seriously miss some structure. Cam might not be the most vocal leader, but he's a good player, and a smart footballer. Putting him in the forward line might sneak a game or two, but to what end? In reailty he probably need not play a preseason game... but it'll be next year and the year fter he'll be relied on less as th kids mature and take ownership of the ground.

I must admit, my paranoia kicked in when I read this... That aside, thanks for the report WJ, as always.

I tell you what, that Hayes part is dead on. I knew he reminded me of someone, but I couldn't think who. As for the captain part, I'm not so sure about that. He's played only a few games. He's got the goods, no doubt about it, but there's a looong way to go before he hits that kind of level. Mclean is not an elite kick. I don't mind his delivery by foot, but he's no Dew/Hodge... While his "stats" may make a liar out of me, I reckon the definition of a great kick is someone who delivers it well under pressure as well as they do when comfortable and balanced. Think Hird. McLean is a good kick, but not great. I agree with Jones and Bartram... but Bate and Frawley are underrated by you. Particularly Bate who is a booming kick. Oh, and if you're going to call Morton a worse kick than McLean you need to get your eyes checked. He makes mistakes, but the kid is a superb kick even with that in mind. I reckon it's a simple thing where you place too much emphasis on the attractiveness of kicking action. You're looking for the orthodox drop punt at every turn. I think a coach and player has to look beyond the typical to get the best out of his action. Chris Judd has a very stabbing action, and his ball-drop isn't perfect. And yet it gets the job done time after time. I'm looking for results, not attractive technique.

The Rivers thing has been done to death, and while we do love a good footy debate, this one has gone a long way beyond anything resembling new news. It's always the same 5 or 6 posters with the same opinions. For some, Rivers showed enough footy brains in his good years to warrant faith. For others, they say the game has gone beyond him. As far as I'm concerned he was ALWAYS slow and a bad kick, even when he was on fire. It's not his lack of pace and ability that made him a high-ish draft pick or a unanimous Rising star winner in the year of Davey. He hasn't been hit by any trams, so there's no reason to believe his nous is gone. I reckon it's a simple matter of glass half full, glass half empty. In the end, it could go either way. But I DO object when people claim he's done and dusted. There's absolutely nor reason to write him off. He's still young. Welcome JS. One of the better 5-odd possession games I've ever seen. I thought he was in plenty on the day, and was stunned to see him not featured more on the stats sheet. Just goes to show... Agreed. Watching Hall makes me kind of feel sorry for my close mates that followed South Melbourne. Watching Neita slowly fall to bits was heartbreaking for someone who regards him the best demon he's seen live. They must have a similar feeling up north. We all know the one... In our hearts we know he has to be axed, but we just couldn't bring ourselves to put the red line through his name. Sometimes love hurts, and I'm glad it's them going through it, not us. As for the fact we don't have a power forward, I think Miller does a fair job in the meantime and things will only improve in the coming 3 years. In fact, they'll improve drastically.

Have you seen Rivers play? Our best defender in my time watching the demons. Just because he's injured, doesn't mean he got worse. I understand peoples' concern, but with all this hatred of players without ability or footy brains, and the one guy who has both in abundance, and people conveniently forget about him. He'll play again, and he won't need a long time to remind you, or perhaps show you for the first time, what he's worth.

Bell's kicking is stronger than people think. At least in the forward-line he would, at least some of the time, only have to deliver the ball between the big sticks, which eliminates the decision-making element. He may not have his footy-brain updated with the latest software, but make no mistake, the guy kicks straight. It's where he tries to kick it that he has trouble with. That and perhaps he's not Stewie Dew for length.

And that's basically one sentence that sums up Colin as a player. If he doesn't absolutely lock down a position (NOT just a spot in the team, there's a difference) by round 22, then we MUST trade him, even with our lack of maturity on our list. If his comes to pass, then the time has most certanily come. People have been saying this for 2-3 years now, and I've not joined them in the past because I've made excuses for him, but even the blindly positive supporters like me now know he has this season to do something, and something big.

Bate's kicked 3 in a half? Is he playing out of the square? Who's on him?

That's pretty much how I grade Mclean too. I love him, and think he's our best midfielder at the moment... But I reckon at BEST he'll fal into your A category. If we assume for a minute that he has a largely injury-free next five years I think he will scale those heights of being a damaging player, who is beloved by his fans and respected by opposition, a la Crawford, West, Black etc etc... He has strengths that elevate him beyond the B graders, but limits that keep him from the Voss/Hird group. But then that's just crystal-ball gazing. As it stands right now, he has a way to go before he reaches the heights he could. Given his work ethic it's going to take a pretty serious train wreck to derail him.

I'm just about done with him... In my opinion he's rather like Bell. I rate Bell quite highly in a number of facets of the game, but as with most peoples' opinions, I reckon both guys have a fatal flaw that occurs above the shoulders. With Juice it could be more in the heart/stomach region... But basically neither will ever be a really good player. At best they'll frustrate, or become all-too-familiar frontrunners when the cream rises over the next 3-5 years. My hope, as always, is that both get game time and play their best footy. Bell plays 20-odd games in the backline and is regarded as a battling/tough player... something that's within his abilities... Likewise Newton comes out and kicks 30 goals or so. Maybe has a day-out against Freo or something that gets the footy world excited. Then trade both players (ambitious perhaps) to someone like Fremantle who have a history of taking players who look like Tarzan and play like Jane... Robert's your fathers' brother.

Missed this. Like it. As for how this thread has gone... I can't imagine one going more awry. And I certainly can't remember one going awry so pleasantly. Top work demonland.