Dappa Dan

When Jimma first unveiled his new board I saw him in the corner and thought "I know that face." He seems to be just about as smart as you'd want an advertising exec to be. Impressed with that.

That's what I was thinking. It's all about just getting one or two games into the kids to show them what needs to be done. The Roos are a hard side, Maric will learn a lot from getting 80 minutes in the forward fifty. If he blows them away, play him the following week, if he doesn't, drop him and let Wonna run riot after a bit of a rest again.

1. Bate 2. Garland 3. Jones 4. Petterd 5. Morton 6. Buckley 7. Bartram 8. Dunn 9. Newton 10. Martin 11. Frawley 12 Wonaeamirri 13. Bode

If one thing's for sure, the [censored]-poor attempt at humour will KEEP him employed. Or at least picking faults at EVERY opportunity will always get a hack journalist a gig... Paul Gardiner was right when we spoke about the media in his farewell speech. THEY are the biggest joke in the modern game. Not the MFC. And the funniest thing is, EVERYONE laughs AT them... And they have no idea.

Yes and no dazzler... I do rate Rich, but I rate Watts and to a lesser extent Naita as well. But I hope we take Watts over him...

Yeah... whatever team picks him up can get used to this... Like the Dicks and Goldsacks...

Nothing particularly profound. From the car stereo he sounded a little bit on the pressured side... He just confirmed everything we already know. He'll be paid for the 3 months, nothing more. He thanked MacNamee for his work particularly with his work on Casey Fields and the strengthening of ties with MCC... On channel ten just now, they had vision of Paul in his car mumbling something about it being "Untenable." Whether he was saying his place at MFC was untenable, or that the situation at the club is disastrous, I don't know...

History? Inaugrual team? The ones who came up with the game? Naah you're right. Nuthin' much there to get excited about...

Jeez. I thought this thread was about James Macdonald...

If sidebottom fell to our 3rd pick, I'd be thrilled.

[censored]. We did too!!!! I always thought '87 was our last silverware... Looked it up and everything. There you go.

Didn't read your post. Didn't need to. That's a corker of a screen name...

Oops. I'm still a long way from being convinced about Jamar, though it looks like he'll retain his spot. CJ has made a fool out of me (and most people I reckon), and Warnock has turned out to be the next Carroll, only better.

That's really interesting. I actually disagree with your assessment of our two weaknesses, but respect your judgement all the same. I reckon in a number of games this year, particularly early in the year when we were at our worst, clearances were the only thing we were getting right. Maybe it was the combined influence of Moloney, Brock and JMac... But statistically we were holding our own in this area, and sometimes even beating higher fancied teams. The second weakness, fair enough, is correct... but I'm one of those people that finds inside fifties a bit of fluffy statistic sometimes. Also, once we get it inside fifty I think that's where we have struggled to put any kind of fear into teams. We don't have one big contested marking player in there, that can be crumbed off. Given how we've gone this year I'm loving how our defence is shaping up. We have rebounding players like Petterd (remember him?!), Wheatley and Whelan in the old brigade, Bell who is a stopper, CJ and Buckley have come on in leaps an bounds in the last month, and of course our big three young KP defenders in Warnock, Garland and Frawley. And that's to say nothing of Rivers who will slot in beautifully into the now-vacant third tall (loose) defender role... in exactly the same way Harley does for the cats. We're now playing rookies in the midfield a lot because 2 of our starting 3 have gone with injury, an the 3rd one is buckling under the pressure what with being only 20. As far as I'm concerned e have a solid, but unspectacular midfield brigade. Our forward line is what gives me grief. And it was always going to given Robbo and Neitz have basically controlled it for the better part of a decade. Miller has been admirable to say the least, but can't do it on his own, Sylvia has only been good in patches, and is now being used all over the place (except the guts), PJ is an everywhere man, Jamar is Jamar, Wonna is a ripper as long as he's not taking set shots from 40+ metres, Newton is growing only very gradually, Bate is roaming way up the ground, Dunn is a tagger, Davey is everywhere BUT attack these days it seems.... It's all bit-part guys, resting ruckmen and temporary solutions. I'm not saying we have to recruit Buddy and Roughy... that would be asking the unreasonable... But to get a really good CHF and FF and build around them with all these temporary guys would be a far better solution I reckon... Ok Chook. After all that, it has occurred to me in the past few weeks what Rich would mean to the club. WC had 2 and a half great midfielders on any given day, and they, coupled with a solid defence, made their horribly mediocre forwards look good. And recruiting for a terrifying forward line won't do anything for us if no-one's there to kick it to them. I wouldn't be displeased with Rich. Put it that way. I like the idea of recruiting HEAVILY in the midfield, OR the forward line... As long as we are dominant in one of those areas. You can't have it all.

I just reckon it gets a bit silly with all the ways statistics are interpreted... and even when you get so called "experts" they can't cover all the different aspects you're supposed to. No-one can... Recruiting gets better every year, and every year I gain more confidence in the experts. If you pay attention to every rumour, then there are ten reasons to take EVERY player and ten reasons NOT TO as well... All we can do is calm down and make as simple an objective assessment as we can... and the best way is to look at the most known quantity you can find, which in this case, is our existing list. We know where the majority of players are at, and the coaches have seen them all for at least a year. Based on that info, you then have a crack at the draft... It's all you can do I reckon. Hence the reason I'm on Watts.

Yep. Well done Chook. Everyone's entitled to their opinion. I happen to disagree with you, but yeah, well done all the same...

It shouldn't be a question of would we, but why wouldn't we? If the only reason is that he may move on to the Pies within a couple of years, or that he's black and white through and through, then that's nothing. We shouldn't overlook ANY assistant coaches, not if they help our cause.

You see, it seems to me that that's just looking at the glass half full. First of all, I'd love to see who rates Rich as the best since 2001. Sylvia was one of the most dominant players at junior level ever, and look what happened there. And the ONLY great positive NickNat has had over anyone else is his leap and athleticism. People plug it as though he's going to be the greatest player ever. Look at the Hawks. They recruited for type before ratings as players, and as a consequence they got a couple of the only good KP forwards through about 3 years of drafting. Recruiting for type didn't work for us, but it worked for them... and then some.

Yep. 3 pretty salient points... I'm certain that with the remaining half-a-dozen games this year, that should he play, he'll have a blinder in there somewhere. Maybe kick 4. And then he'll retain his spot. We can only lose so many players at the end of the year, and we're not exactly swimming in KP forwards these days. The big one, I think for Juice, is point 3. Looking at yesterday's game up until the last quarter, had he just taken the footy cleanly as we know he can... just a FEW times, then he would be providing the second contested mark inside forward fifty that we have been SCREAMING out for. Miller can justifiably hold his head high, and Sylvia is battling hard for a player who's pace and leap is still limited. If Juice could take a few neat contested ones, and provide a contest for Aussie and others to crumb off, then I wouldn't be as damning. I think 'land is divided 50/50 on this one, between those who cut him a lot of slack, and those who see a load of talent, and as such, mark him harshly. I'm in the latter category. It's time to start putting it together.

After the first quarter I thought this might happen... and there's still a slim chance it could. I would say now that ONLY WC, Demons and Freo will be in line for picks 1-3... its just the order. Even with todays loss we still could possibly end up 14th. That's absolutely worst case scenario, and while it's highly unlikely, it's still worth considering. Obviously the likelihood is our match in a couple of weeks against the Eagles will define 15th and 16th. I'd love us to miss the wooden spoon and still get Watts... I'd love it if: Freo - 18+ points. Demons - 16 points. WC - 8 points. Then we get picks 2, 18 and 20. But I think it'll end up being: Freo - 16 points. Demons - 12 points. WC - 8 points. Which means we get picks 2, 18 and 21. So not a great difference there... And just for good measure, if we lose to the Eagles, worst case scenario: Freo - 16 points. WC - 12 points. Demons - 8 points. In which case we get picks 1, 17 and 20. So to sum up. It's one of these scenarios... 2, 18 and 20. 2, 18 and 21. or 1, 17 and 20. As far as I'm concerned, I'm not too fussed about any of these. The difference just isn't that extreme, and I'd take any of those if it meant we missed out on a wooden spoon.

I think there's a maximum you can take in the draft isn't there? Is it 6? I could be making that up... Otherwise, I admire the general gist... however we will be in a LOT of trouble if we get rid of ALL of our experience. Payers do need to ask their peers and be educated by someone other than the coaches. If Green is our ONLY player over 25 that has a history in the game, then it may stunt the growth of the team. I think behind the scenes, DB and many of the players have said that Ooze has had a lot to do with leading the kids and helping them on... and if a guy is retained only to play bit-parts throughout the year, but is there more to educate then I'm ok with that. Add to that that maturity is a HUGELY important asset. You think this year we were bad? In our better games, Wheatley, Bruce, Green, JMac etc etc were our ballwinners. Take all them away and we'll be EVEN WORSE next year. But yes, the general idea is sound. Give us the youngest list going around and look at what happens. They all mature together, and all grow with one another on field. Short term pain for long term gain. To that end I think all those players will be moved on (traded or delisted), except Bruce, maybe JMac, maybe Carroll... And rightly so. The thing with Bruce is even if he's still at the club in 3 years when we start rising again, will he be playing good footy? He has market value... We did it with Trapper and Woey. I just wonder if by ripping out the leaders it will have a negative impact on the younguns.

Whoa! Jaded lets fly.... I am a rpoud Juice bandwagoner... and even I'm getting to that stage. Going on the whole "tall player" rule where we give them years to develop, I reckon he'll still be at the club for a little while yet. But I just couldn't help but be frustrated with him today. His last match he did what he was supposed to do. Mark inside fifty. This match he didn't even look like it except for a passage of play or two. I'm not going to string him up just yet, but I'm on the way.

This worries me. I'm deeply ensconced in the Watts camp, and looking at the ladder I was kind of glad that we might end up 14th, and still get him anyway... Freo don't need a top ruckman, so they'd take Rich as their midfield needs help. WC, I thought, might need a big backup for Cox who can go forward, and take Naita... Leaving Watts for us. But now that Rich might go to WC, I think Freo might end up taking Watts ahead of Naita... In the end, we get a good player, I just really think we're in more dire need of Watts than anything at the moment.

Very topical bub...

Someone from here should drop in to puntroad end and see if we can find him?