Nasher

Agree with that. This season should now just be for blowing out the cobwebs. I'd set my sights pretty low -- be aiming to be able to run a full game out for Sandy by years end, and put in a full pre-season ready to smash it next year. This is the most exciting news all year for me. I hope he's able to get a run this week.

If DB makes Dunn the new Green I will be over the moon.

Travis Cloke was a F/S. IMO you can't count father-sons at all in this analysis because you've got no idea where they'd have been taken if clubs hadn't had first dibs. Either way, I wouldn't put him or Thompson in the same class as those mentioned by Bob. Burton might have a case, but it's debatable. Bradshaw at 55 was a very good pickup, but that was a long time ago. I doubt he would go that low now.

I think you'd need to play to be able to kick goals. Correct me if I'm wrong but I understand he didn't play.

Who's got pick 96 this year? :D

They did that all by themselves champ.

Indeed, it seems pretty sus. He was sacked half way through his first season. He barely had a chance to fire a shot. It must have been more than that.

Can anyone tell me exactly what happened with Blight that soiled his reputation so badly? Growing up in Tassie and before footy websites were all that common, I was pretty out of touch with the comings and goings in the AFL at the time.

I agree with that. Would be surprised if they settled for a third rounder though, but if the alternative is getting nothing, they might. It's nice to be the club that has the power in negotiations. I don't buy the "he's not playing for Freo therefore he sucks" argument either. Historically we've seen that young rucks are often being held back by the "senior" ruckmen and will jump at the chance of becoming first ruck. With White in decline and none of PJ, Jamar or Meesen stamping their name on the job as yet, our first ruck position is up for grabs. That would be appealing to Warnock.

Me too. The more I think about it, the more I think the coaching staff are trying to teach him Midfield 101. He's a blank canvas as he was not a midfielder as a junior, so they're starting from scratch.

I agree that he needs to hurt the opposition more, but at this point I'm pretty patient. He spent his junior years as a key position player, so I doubt he'd ever set foot in the middle before being drafted. He's very fit, has a good work ethic and as you said can kick goals, so it's just a matter of learning the craft so to speak. It could even be that the coaching staff have told him to concentrate purely on the defensive aspect of his game in a "one step at a time" type process, with a view of adding in the attacking element in later. I'm just guessing now of course. I'm looking forward to seeing how he develops over the next few years. I suspect some will have some humble pie to eat.

Dunn's never going to be a KPP. Firstly because it's a waste of his huge engine, and secondly because he just isn't that type of player. Yes he was recruited as a KPP and not a tagger, but I think it's abundantly clear that he's not going to be a KPP now. I'd say the recruiting team / CAC got his "type" wrong as they did with Sylvia. It happens. If he turned out to be a first rate tagger -- or better yet a tagger that can be damaging when attacking -- then I'd still be very, very happy. It's better than turning out to be a complete lemon like some of our other previous first round picks.

If it takes cash incentives to motivate them then I would seriously question their professionality as football players/staff.

If that's the case then Brock should pay his fine. It's the honourable thing to do when your actions directly get someone else in trouble. Reminds me of when Glenn Archer and Ben Harrison were fined for wrestling a few years ago. Archer said he instigated the fight, and paid both fines.

Or they didn't get it. More likely the latter I reckon.

I'd be disappointed if Morton was dropped personally, regardless of perceived form. I believe there's everything to gain for him to continue to learn his craft in the senior side. I would like to see Valenti get another shot though. I didn't actually see the game, so I don't know who else would be in the gun unfortunately.

Love him. Can't help it.

I listened on SEN (worst ever btw, next time I'll get the ABC) and KB told me at least 5 times that Wheatley had been our best. I'll try to use my imagination to fill in the blanks with Garland, because I barely heard his name during the call. Listening on the radio utterly sucks.

Great post Rflowering. You only have to read Demonland and Demonology to know what a non-event this has been. Compare the political talk this time (hardly any at all beyond a thread here and there) around to the farce in 2003. Thank goodness there were no forums in 1996.

I laughed :D I laughed at this also!

I'm more interested in our midfield. I'd also like to see a comparison of other teams' backlines performance compared to their midfield performance. Good midfields make your defence look very good. Bad midfields make your defence look very bad. FWIW I think our defence have held up pretty well this year under the circumstances.

deanox was taking the piss.

I hope McNamara gets a shot at his senior debut. Nice to see that he's making progress. Another big opportunity for Zomer with Sautner still out.

$20 says Bell doesn't play for Sandy this weekend.

Wellman's done an awful job with Garland and Warnock as well. Sack him now.