IvanBartul13

I think the problem the club has had is with assessing its own players and the tolerance and keeping of players who are either not good enough or who have had flaws that have retarded the ability of the team to be anything other than a finals make up the numbers type team. I cant fault CAC too much, he has done a solid job, there are good picks and some howlers in there, but given that the footy dept spending was comparitively low throughout his tenure, its hard to bag him too much. My problem with our drafting is that there have been a lot of players picked that have little scope for improvement post draft, a lot of mature bodies have been acquired which goes against the grain of what I would be looking for, I think the club has had a conservative/risk-free approach and not a taken a few flyers on raw players with great upside where it might have been able to - Garland an example of the type of the player I mean, but there aren't many there. In general the recruitment of experienced AFL players from other clubs has been poor too.

Connolly deserved entry would have played 200 if injury hadnt intervened

Well I think Nathan Brown was a better and more heroic player than either McDonald and Hopgood

It seems to me that the 100 game requirement was quite constrictive with a number of players that I would neither call heoric or good making the list. Stephen Icke, the single most courageou footballer the club has seen missed out, despite a best and fairest, with the reason obviously being that he played only 78. I think the inclusions of Hopgood, Rigoni and A. McDonald are biased with 100 games and recent time in my mind.

yep I think Frawey or Garland will get Medhurst with Rivers or Carroll to play.

Yeah his knee his dodgy, but he is plenty quick enough for AFL even still, he needs to play to his limitations, similar to a lot of them - Jones, Bell etc - problem is we have to many of them.

Bartram is not suited by being in a bad team stuffed with one-dimensional midfielders, he was good value in a good team a couple of years ago, where his Defensive Pursuit Skills and tagging were a defined piece in the jigsaw of a comparitevly complete and attacking team. Now, constantly under pressure and in a team where being a good shadow is less important, he is of less value. That said, his kicking skills and decision making are at a very basic level and barely VFL standard, so its probably going to be a case of playing to his strengths and handballing wherever possible like Viney did and to a lesser extent Godfrey did. In reality, though I wonder whether Bartram is just a quicker version of Godders and forever destined to matchup roles. And a note on those complaing that he is coming back of injury, etc, I dont think really that is an issue, the problems he has in his game have been with him since he arrived and I dont think complaints about his play stem from his ability to run.

Yze is a very natural leading forward out of the goalsquare, would fill the role very easily if required, the one thing that hasnt disappated from his game is his one-on-one ability in those situations, he'll bo OK and should come in. Green should not play forward he is too valuable helping the defence at the moment as a loosey or ceovering from the midfield. My side would be B: Bartram Warnock Garland HB: Sylvia Rivers Bell C: Green Moloney Bruce HF: Davey Miller Bate F: Holland Yze Wonaeamirri Foll: White McLean Rov: Jones I/c: P.Johnson Buckley McDonald, Morton Em: C.Johnson, Jamar, Frawley I think Bell lives to play on Schneider, but he is a limited footballer and would be close to the axe. Bartram for Milne. Warnock v Kosckitzke and Rivers or Garland v Riewoldt probly. Wouldnt mind if Garland was given a lesser opponent, wouldnt want him to lose momentum by getting thrashed by a Riewoldt. I think we will be stretched defensively this week.

The thing people don't take into account with Garland is that in a best case scenario he would be learning and developing at Sandringham, rather than be playing as much senior football as he is doing at the moment. He hasn't had the benefit of elite junior systems and was late riser in his draft year. With that in mind, a lot of the things that he has done that make people cringe, such as punching when he should mark, iffy decision making et cetera are part of his learning process. The unfair thing in many ways for Garland is that he is going through this process in the harsh AFL environment, whereas a lot of other youngsters, particulary the raw ones like Garland, get to go through these learning moments in the relative shelter of the VFL and VFL seconds. I dont think there is any doubt he saved about three shots on goal with great defending of Franklin's leading and there were some other nice signs. His speed, athleticism and reach are very good, he can play tall and small and up forward as well. I think people should just accept that this a raw kid they are trying to develop who will be at best in three or four years and that we are all going to go through the learning pains with him.

MAric is probably not playing due to school commitments, his school (PEGS) is in the Herald-Sun Shield at the moment. Failing that, he may be injured.

Kreuzer kicked 32 goals had 223 kicks, 94 handballs, 91 marks and 406 hitouts in 17 games, but yes its not really fair to compare Rich and Naitanui to him statistically.

In the best 10 players at the club

And while youre at it Luke Molan kickerd 6 for Spotswood and is tearing up the WRFL this year.

Well the club obvviously believes that it can reap some financial rewards in the future. EPL clubs have benefited from involvement with China - Everton etc. Perhaps the club willl international list a player from China and hope to parlay that into a sponsorhip or other financial benefit.

Re Longmuir, we had already picked Johnstone and thus couldnt draft another 17yo, which most of the good players that followed were.

And they beat us by 80 points two weeks ago

Bode has probably been picked to play on Rioli. Frawley has to play for team balance and Moloney and one of the ruckman will likely make up the bench. We've definitely got a midfield edge. McGlynn must be injured as well for the Hawks. Will probably line up something like this Rioli Roughead Williams Bode Miller Frawley Boyle Franklin Dew Wheatley Carroll Bell Young Bateman Ladson Green Jones Moloney Davey Newton Bruce Osbone Murphy Birchall Yze Neitz Robertson Guerra Croad Gilham Campbell Sewell Mitchell White McLean McDonald Taylor Tuck Stokes Ellis P.Johnson Garland Buckley Petterd If we play deep him deep and Yze is in form up forward, Hawks will have plenty of trouble controlling both him and Robbo. If we cant beat Hawthorn on Sunday, we're in a bad way.

there is a bus which goes about 800m-1km away from the ground, but if there are a few of you youre best pitching in for a cab, would only be about about 6-7 buck fare from the station

ABC Newsreader Ian Henderson is a big Demons fan and knows his stuff pretty well as well.

Maric would be the best kick at the club. Jeff White is probably under-estimated in this area technically.

Simon Buckley - 6 - flashes of excitement and quality and is a definite point of difference with his line-breaking. Still lacks polish and I'm not convinced totally that he is an AFL-quality player yet, but it was a positive first step to the season. Nathan Jones - 6 - a lot of the footy, obviously worked hard, but lacks the class to be an elite player at this stage Ben Holland - 0 - a totally loathesome performance Matthew Bate - 4.5 - came on and provided a spark, but there were some inexcusable moments, such as giving up on the mark near the boundary, that were disappointing. Paul Johnson - 2 - his opponent had very little influence but neither did he. Played out of his comfort zone. Colin Sylvia - 4 - looks obviously sore but did some good things up forward. Gets caught too much. Will he ever shake this core injury? Adem Yze - 4.5 - was consistently cool in defence with his decision making and disposal, bar one kick-in howler, without having a signifacnt impact Brad Green - 3.5 - largely anonymous early before lifting his workrate and dispsal count later in he game Addam Maric - 2.5 - didn't do a hell of a lot, but showed in his few touches that he is a sublime user of the ball by foot Colin Garland - 5 - three goals is good output. He displayed excellent athleticism, but needs to improve his disposal execution and attack on the ball. Daniel Bell - 2 - very disappointing that he didnt lift and be a contibutor in such a decimated line-up, and his decision making hasn't improved. Vastly overrated James McDonald - 3 - very quiet, like an 8yo group horse just getting some miles in the legs Russell Robertson - 1 - a chance to be a real leader and example-setter, but disappointed in both this capacity and as a key forward option Kyle Cheney - 0 - unfortunately was a completely invisible debut John Meesen - 3 - didn't do alot of ruckwork, which was disappointing, but moves well and his hands in close, barring a defensive goalsquare howler, were quite neat Isaac Weetra - 2 - started well with a teasing goal, but then all but disappeared. Too light at this stage, but has a touch of the exctiement machine about him Michael Newton - 2.5 - a couple of decent contests and grabs but no real influence Tom McNamara - 3.5 - a good start, showed poise, a willingness to throw himself around and decent ball usage. One for the future! Stefan Martin - 4 - probably the biggest highlight of the game for Dee fans was this bloke who has the makings of a good key defender, quick and athletice, just needs some excellent coaching to be a good one. Jeff White - 3.5 - very disappointing as a ruckman, but helped the defence well by dropping back as the extra man Trent Zomer - 2.5 - another youngster who showed a little bit and looked a natural forward - missed goal from the square blotted a decent first appearance Matthew Warnock - 2.5 - had a dip and did some OK things, but is a notch below AFL level. Austinn Wonaeamirri - 3 - chased and harrassed very well, but didnt display the finishing ability of the quality indigenous players Mark Jamar - 3 - rucked decently and made a difference there, but was mediocre in all other facets Jace Bode - 1 - very poor performance, decision making and usage were below par Shane Valenti - 5 - tried his guts out and won plenty of footy, but it was a performance in which his strengths and weaknesses were on display in equal measure. That said, he has probably enhanced his stock somewhat in the eyes of those, like myself, who are of the belief that he is too small and slow to be an AFL player.

Led to believe that the leadership group is largely formed on the basis of player vote

check this link http://footystats.freeservers.com/Footystats/Mel-goals.html

will get to work on some copies in first week of Jan. It is a DVD dub from recorded video of the ABC replay from that night, so it is not the whole game, but it is a fairly large chunk of it and a fairly large chunk of the Sydney final as well - the quality isnt wonderful as it is from an old videotape, but it is fine to watch. Hold off on request for the moment, I will put a post up once Ive burnt copies.

I have it on DVD and can burn you a copy - it also contains extended highlights of the Swans final that year PM me your address and I will send it, but I cant get it to you until the first week of Jan...