Dappa Dan

Stef Martin's a good example of this. When he was picked up I was a bit "huh?" But it makes sense when you're rebuilding not take someone else's 28yr old trash. Am happy with the selection now, or at least the intention... supplement the youth, kids kids and more kids... Carroll is for the big AFL list in the sky at the en of the year unfortunately. I can't see ANY club, even one who needs a big defender, going for him. Even the Swans who regularly turn nuff nuffs into champions wouldn't. I like him, and have enjoyed his presence in the last few years, but enough is enough. He's a 50-100 game player, and that was probably an ok return for a rookie.

One more: GC17 = The Sarlacc Pitt

He played well... but his direct opponent, Corrie, did a fair bit too, and with more polish would have finished us off. I'll wait and see how his opponents go before I make a judgement. Either he'll be a damaging player who gets 30 touches, while his opponent gets 20... OR He'll be more of a shut-down player who gets 15 quality ones, while his opponent gets 10. Either way I'm happy... but in the games where he plays loose, if he DOESN'T get 25+ possessions, the team will pay...

I thought I'd already seen thread of the year... We have a new leader. Collingwood = stormtroopers Alan Didak = The annoying little guy that walks on his hands in the pod-race, that races against Anakin. Matty Bate = The emperor's all-red guards in the third film. David Neitz = Obi-Wan Kenobi. Disappears at the start, but continues to inspire as time passes... Ben Holland = AT AT walker (4 legged transports in the second one) Aaron Sandilands = The Rancor Aaron Davey = Lando Calrissian Russell Robertson = Cantina musician Lynden Dunn = Boba Fett (bounty hunter) Gary Lyon = Chewbacca (for current team, Paul Johnson) Adem Yze = Owen Lars (Old guy, only in it in the first few minutes) The Football Media = Jawas Craig Hutchison = Jabba the Hutt Andrew Demetriu = The Emperor Eddie Maguire = Darth Vader Mick Malthouse = Count Dooku (Yoda's Nemesis) Scott Thompson = Anakin Skywalker (traitor? sort of) Princess Leia = Dale Thomas Brock McLean = Han Solo

Yeah, I think his footy isn't screaming out to keep him in the team. And at this stage if you're in your 30s and you're not playing BRILLIANTLY, even if you're playing WELL, you'll still get dropped. Happened to Jeff White... The only factor that would mean he'd stay is the behind the scenes stuff. Both DB AND the players couldn't speak more highly of his efforts behind the scenes if they tried... There may be a push for him to stay on and lead the young kids. And with another year in their young legs I reckon he may be able to frontrun again, and kick a few goals next year. It depends on DB... Personally I hope the youth policy is persevered with completely. And I hope we see him off in the way he deserves.

I don't mind McKernan... Looks a class above, but would his skill set translate?

Jesus. Give up for christs' sake. Your hatred of Bruce has only really become a big thing this year, and he's been playing well... Stop polluting sensible threads.

Ummmm. Yes it does. Because you think that losing creates premierships. You are WRONG occo. There are so many things that create premierships that it would take weeks to write them all down. Winning culture is one of those things. Teaching the younger kids is working right now. Selecting a team that will mature at the same time is another thing that's important. Geelong didn't come 16th and look at them!!! Hawthorn never went as bad as us... The Cats actually just took over a couple of drafts in a row and let them mature beautifully. The Hawks are reaping the same benefit. How many times can we quote these two examples of teams that DIDN'T completely bottom out for the message to get through? Though I do think you have something with the proposition of pick 1 + Bruce (or whoever) for pick 10 and 4... My only concern with THAT is that I have a feeling that the top 1-3, maybe 1-4 picks are a bit ahead of the rest. If we fall outside them we may be in a bit of trouble. I also think the recruiting department would get in trouble for trading a pick #1 at ANY time from supporters, media etc etc... That said, it's a good point...

On further thought, I think we saw what Colin will be known for in his career on the weekend. It seems to me that the most damaging and effective players in the league these days are defined by their one or two srengths... those that set them SLIGHTLY apart from their competitors... They have weaknesses that are well documented, but their strengths outweigh them, and ultimately make the weaknesses pale into insignificance. - Buddy has his groundwork, left boot, physical characteristics... It was believed he wasn't great through the air, but is anyone complaining now? - Fev has his guns, and his right boot. He's a peanut, and had a reputation of being stuck in the forward 50, not working hard enough. Under Pagan he put aside the drinking and started working, now look at him. - Burton/Robbo have their leaps. Robbo ONLY has a leap and one of the all-time greatest chest marks, and perhaps an accurate kick. He's a feared forward, and really it's ONLY because of his kamikaze footy. In truth he goes to ground too often, goes missing, doesn't tackle... But he's still one of the best going around. - Brown has his physical strength, kick, marking, leading... well everything really. But he has a sus body. Does anyone worry about that? It seems to me that Colin is the kind of player that has those few tricks that can set him apart if he lets them. The leap, the beautiful marking technique through the air, the smart leading, the BOOMING right boot (which could be more accurate IMO), the unbelievable tackling ability... On the weekend I saw guys continually bounce off him. For a 22 year old he's starting to stamp a physical authority on games in the way he was reputed to as a junior. Now he may have a worrying groin, he may play in bursts, his tank may not be too developed, and his handball is one of the worst in the team... and for those reasons his career as a midfielder will be stunted... but as a forward, he could very easily have a few All Australian quality seasons. Ask yourself: Could Colin, with a pre-season, luck and no OP kick 60 goals in a season? Effectively averaging a tick under 3 a match? I think he could. What's more, I think with more inside fifties, one day soon he WILL kick 60 in a season...

Weetra... Wait, no... I reckon Bate. Probably McLean. Can you imagine wo McLeans running around? Well... hobbling anyway...

He'd be on a two year deal now, so at the end of next year, when he's 29 nearly 30 he can come back as our second pick in the PS draft... Honestly though, this is garbage. He's been in the media saying the exact opposite... and if Brisbane make the finals this year and he plays, he'll change his tune anyway. How would you feel if you were Valenti or Buckley, or maybe CJ and you got the club into a stronger position, and in waltzes TJ and just walks onto the back flank at your expense? I'd be [censored]...

On The Couch... They pumped up his tyres a HEAP... That one act on Sunday would have made his trade price jump from about pick 60 or so, up to about 20 something (draft pick). Coaches would have salivated at a ruckman who can play forward that has that kind of pace and work ethic, and can drill them from 55. In his early twenties, he's gonna be attractive come trade time. Not that I'd trade him. The guy has a future, those that backed him, take a bow... but only after Hightower takes one.

See you at the game Before2Long... Having no job has its advantages...

That's unbelievable... I can't believe he came back on. WHat an effort!!! Green the favourite for the Bluey now. And in a sense I'm glad, because these mids that are screaming out for a game will now automatically get one. And everyone wins... Bailey gets his kids in, they get games, the fans are happy particularly since the kids got us there on the weekend. It's not a GOOD thing exactly, but since Brock gets a full pre-season in, it's not like we're losing a shot at the flag...

The closest on form ALONE, maybe... They've already said Grimes will play this year, and he got through his limited game time in the ressies looking a class above apparently. In 4 weeks if he's ripe and playing well, I would have thought 2 games or so would be HUGELY beneficial to the kid. He could see what's required for the next year in terms of pace and work ethic. Kind of like the three games Garland played last year. I reckon Maric, if he got his game together, could easily slot in. It's not like he's 6-6 and a beanpole. He could get 10 touches in a pocket, kick a couple of sausage rolls and the promotion would be vindicated. As for the others I don't know much about them. Would LOVE to see the kids played en masse, especially after last weekend.

I would have thought McLean would play. He does have 2 weeks to recover after all... So who comes in? White, Yze, Petterd, Newton.... Well we would ALL like to see Newton played, but Sylvia, Miller and Bate were sensational, and Wonna was damaging... Not sure there'll be a place. Stef Martin was really good, but he has time. I'm not sure if he'll have a match up. Bode, you would think, might be the clear one to be dropped, along with maybe Valenti. In all honesty though, I reckon DB would be loathe to make any changes. The group worked well and we had almost no losers, so why fix what's not broken? We'll have to wait a week or two more to see the guys we want to see.

His game was unbelievable. He came back on, was hobbling like an old grandma, and I thought "here we go, he's not going to get a touch." But he picked up as much of the ball as ever, in the same ways as ever... He may not have gotte smashed in tackles as much as usual in the last, but you'd forgive him that. He was still clearing the ball out of the guts too... Wow. What more can you ask? Inspiration, courage, determination, skill... I hope Bailey got the message loud and clear. Brock will be a force to be reckoned with if the coach allows him to be. If I was a new coach I'd be searching madly for a James Hird/Michael Voss type that can win games for me and make me look good. Brock may not be up there with those guys, but players will follow him.

Yeah, he did have that one kick that he drilled straight down the throat of a Lion on the wing, and I remember thinking "how many times has he done that today?" And couldn't think of another instance. And even then he had no-one in the clear. Other than that though his precision bordered on elite. He was picking out guys on mid-range kicks (30-40 metres) an not only delivering accurately, but to advantage. He has all the bits and pieces a damaging rebounding defender needs... And what's more he did it under pressure, both in the play-by-play man-on-man sense and also in the sense that the game was tight... What I'd like to see now is consistency week by week (which he's shown in the last 3) and also how he goes against good opposition who will play more accountably, and more damagingly. Who was his opponent? If it was Hooper then that's something to consider, as he got loose and could have been MUCH more damaging. Interestingly Jarka... CJ is a BIG CAC lovechild. He took Daniher to see a game in which he barely got a touch. Daniher was wondering what CAC was on, and he said "trust me." And here we are looking at a guy who's just about nailed a spot in the 22 in just a few weeks. But I digress... I won't mention it to you again... :D

The Kangaroos have cracked 34,000?!!! No WAY! Surely that's a typo?

New coaches always seem to take some weeks for their message to sink in, so I look at the first 6 weeks compared to now in an effort to mark him, and the results are positive for Bailey. - He has a young, and pretty rough list, with no stars. His core of ball-winners and match-winners are good - very good footballers, but there aren't enough of them. Green, Bruce, Wheatley, White... And at various stages guys like Robbo. But these mature heads are not GREAT players (though Green has been playing the best of his career)... - In order to mark him you only need to watch a tape of any of the first 6 games, and compare the skills to any of the last 6 games. The 22s are not HUGELY different, but they play like completely different teams. He said he wanted to build a competitive spirit, and that's exactly what's happened. - He's making good young players into 22 game-a-year AFL players. There are some that are good enough to star in single seasons, like Sylvia, McLean, Morton etc etc... and his work with Warnock and Garland who had both been written off has been absolutely superb. Everyone knows we were never going to win a lot of games this year, and probably not next... We are rebuilding and SOMEHOW are not the worst side in the AFL. I would rather be following us than Essendon or Freo as they are further from a [censored] than us, and West Coast are playing much worse footy too. Given our weaknesses, the way he's held the team together and kept them positive, and gotten some good footy out of them... it's a pass mark for me.

Apparently he's gotten up, had a shower, gone to the bathroom... The doctors are saying that given his fitness and health are at such a high level, he is improving at a rate that has been overwhelmingly positive... Great news for Graham. In my experience, I had an ex that was hit by a car, was knocked out for minutes... went to hospital and stayed for a week... and she is now back to normal. At the time we were told that she might be a bit off for a couple of months due to bleeding on the brain and the bruising, and that turned out to be true. Given the similarities between these cases I'm hopeful for Graham.

Really? Interesting. The only problem with that is the fact that if we're 15th, and Robbie wants to come to us, Whoever is 16th (WC, say) will have first crack at drafting him in the PSD... Unless I've not done my homework correctly.

DOn't know about in the AFL. Would be very inconspicuous in better teams... probably would struggle for a game with Geelong. But yes, he's been playing good footy and during the bad weeks has been one of the few to show some daring. Could be top 5 in the B&F.

I was gonna say that ending up at 15th is likely. WC will tank, and will get less wins than us. Freo will probably win more games, but even if they don't their percentage is WAY higher than ours. - The only thing I'm worried about is the priority. Another free one inside the top 20 is huge. - If this is true, WC will get Naita and have the coaches, money, time and resources to wait and turn him into a superstar. If he came to the demons, he would end up being just ok... - Pick 2 would get us Rich, but there's some doubts over him these days. I hope we go for Hurley or Watts if not Naita... Big CHF/CHB... We're screaming out for KP players. As long as it's a FOOTBALLER that we pick (should we miss out on pick 1).

I got an interview with Dunn on that video... How sharp is he?!!! That's the first time I've seen a demon answer the questions asked of him!