Theo

I spoke to Jordie M at the airport after the Darwin game and asked him whether it is likely to affect the following weeks game. He said physically with an 8 day break there is no issue. He said it is all between the ears. Interestingly at the airport you notice who mixes with whom. Whilst most players were in the bookstore or getting something to eat Sylvia and Scully were sitting alone in deep conversation. Doesen't mean anything of course it just looked odd at the time considering both are having contract negotiations.

A suggestion on SEN was to appoint Dean Laidley and have Mick Malthouse join him in 12 months time.

Another 3K+ down the drain by staying overnight in Geelong. We did the same thing last year and got belted. I rememmber last year one player interviewed on radio said he would rather spend the night at home in his own bed.

Agree. Recruiting Blease, Strauss, Bennell and Jetta in 2008 instead of Shuey, Hannebury, Trengove, Zaharakis, McKernan, Redden, Beams or many others was a bad first year for Prendergast.

It's easy to blame Bailey. The players should take a large chunk of responsibility for this years poor performances. There's a lack of leadership by the senior players and worst of all I seriously believe our recruitment has focussed on too many light bodies cameo type players instead of hard nosed accululaters.

Jack Grimes said yesterday on TAC Future Stars that it was a mental thing. Sometimes we don't turn up to play to the level required. What I think he really means is that SOME players let the team down on a continual basis with their mental application. Given that when we play poorly we usually struggle with clearances and contested footy and have a low tackle count. Who then in this team are the perennial culprits. Who in the team lets us down when the opposition puts their foot on the pedal and turns the screws. When the pressure is applied who are the turnover kings, who goes missing and doesn't take responsibility for the team effort. Who stops doing the one percenters. These [censored] poor efforts have been going on for so long it's endemic in the group. Who then needs to be weeded out of this group to stop the disease. It was happening when Davey,Bail,Tapscott,Spencer, Jetta and Grimes were in the team and it is now happening even with the inclusion of the new kids in Howe and Nicholson. So who are the culprits. It can't be Trengove, Scully or McKenzie in the midfield. Not Frawley down back or Howe up forward. Is it Moloney, Gysberts, Sylvia and Greens lack of 2nd and 3rd efforts. Is it Bennell and Morton who skirt around the outside and don't provide enough pressure. Is Jones a culprit as he continually turns the ball over with errant handpassess or holding the ball. Remember this has been happening for so long no matter what the makeup of the team has been. This says to me that their must be 1 or 2 or 3 players in this side that always let the team down when the blowtorch is applied by the opposition. Do you think I am wrong when I name, Jones, Maloney, Sylvia and Green as possible suspects. The other obvious ones are Bennell, Morton and Jurrah however when these players weren't in the team it was still happening. It has to be players that are always selected in the team. What about Garland and Rivers, they are easily outmuscled. We have to isolate these players,send them to Casey or eradicate them from the team. When we micro analyse this team who is contageuos and affecting the rest of the group and what is the antidote. Your thoughts. Now is the time to rid ourselves of the disease.

Maric's contract is up at the end of the year. Why not try him in Bennells position down back or forward with a run through the midfield. He has been the best at Casey a number of times this year including yesterday. It's time to give him a few weeks in a row in the AFL to see whether he is worth keeping. Bennell is contracted next year so send him back to Casey to work on his ticker and see if he can involve himself more in the game. We need 15-20 possession games out of these guys on a regular basis if they are going to have an influence in the outcome of the game. Bennell is only averaging 10 this year which is less that last year and less than his first year.

Everybody is complaining about Bennell. Why not try Maric in his position whether it be back or forward. Maric is out of contract this year, it's time to persist with him just as we have with Bennell and see what he has to offer.

Regardless of what he media say, I've always felt that Tom will stay. He is very close to his family. GWS would be a souless club in the heart of Rugby League. It's a long way from home for Tom. MFC are more likely to win a premiership before GWS. Teammates at MFC when questioned don't have any hesitation in saying that he is staying. He has good mates at MFC that played alongside him at Vic Metro. Loyalty would definately be a factor weighing on his mind. I wouldn't be surprised if D. Schwarz informants are just "playing with him" because he is Melb. and somewhat gullible. If Tom stays I only hope MFC don't get sucked in and pay over the odds. He is not worth $700K. It would cause us heartache down the track when Watts, Trengove, Frawley and Co. are up for negotiations. I would rather he go and we do what WJ says and go for the best compensation available.

This article in the Age may help shed some light. http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/dees-could-get-ablettlike-compo-for-scully-20110616-1g61f.html Sources have confirmed that despite an industry perception that Scully would be worth only one first-round pick, the emphasis on the age of the player - younger players are rated higher - and the size of the contract would be key factors in Melbourne's favour if he walked. Clearly, if he did join GWS, it would be on a massive contract, with most speculation suggesting he would receive $800,000-$1million a year for five years. In addition, the expert panel of AFL talent identification manager Kevin Sheehan and game analysis manager Andrew McKay has the power to override the formula and change the outcome if there is what the AFL called ''an anomalous result''. ''They will have the power to recommend a revised compensation outcome to AFL general manager football operations Adrian Anderson if the formula produces an anomalous result,'' the AFL said when announcing the revised compensation last year. If age of the player and his renumeration are the major criteria, the formula and the compensation committee (Sheehan and McKay) can also take into account the player's draft position and any decorations. Scully, as the 2009 No.1 pick, obviously ranks highly on draft value and though he hasn't yet been placed in a best and fairest or been All-Australian, he was runner-up in the Rising Star Award in his first season. He played 21 of 22 games, finished eighth in the best and fairest and was second for loose-ball gets at Melbourne in an outstanding debut season. Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/dees-could-get-ablettlike-compo-for-scully-20110616-1g61f.html#ixzz1QBFO5tIZ

Nothing said about signing anything. He just believes that based on the information told to him Scully will go. Scully may only be trying to increase his price to stay at MFC. No one knows except Tom.

Your right 98% I wish I did not mentioned anything now. Scully will stay. Let's hope he does.

He did mention it during the general panel discussion in front of 200 people. I would would not have been so specific otherwise. He is 97% certain. He can't be 100% certain because he hasn't seen the signed contract. Nothing really has changed since he mention it previously.

Totally agree with you WJ however the AFL could not give a sh-t about us and would not like to set a precendent. Their line would be that the terms were agreed to by all Clubs. The expansion clubs will not be compromised in becoming dominant. It's AFL v Rugby and Soccer.

You can believe what you like, I'm just telling you what he told me. He also mentioned it during the general panel discussion. Scully doesen't have to sign anything yet. He may have just agreed to a HOA which is not legally binding. He could well change his mind when a contract is put in front of him. He could just be weighing up all options. The Ox believes he has been offered 5M for 4 years at GWS and 700K at MFC. The panel suggested that Bate and Morton could be good trade bait.

Only because the Gold Coast players that were contracted didn't commit to their Clubs during the season. Silence, Silence, Silence can mean see ya later.

Didn't say. I believe no contract can be signed until the end of the season. I assume he has agreed to the terms of a HOA. I guess he can change his mind as a HOA is not legally binding. He does show the classic signs of leaving though.

Just got back from the SEN Footy lunch. The whole panel believe that Scully has signed with GWS. Had a good chat with David Schwarz before the show. My wife and I spent a far amount of time with him and Karen in China last year and therefore trust what he says. Although he has not seen the contract he was told by Velocity Sports Scully's Management, one of the coaches at GWS and a Scully family member that he has agreed to a 4 year contract for 5 Million. David said that we should do everything we can to secure one GWS's 17 year-olds.

McDonald was let go because of list management. We had few players coming out of cntract last year and he was sacrificed. List management is becoming an increasing problem because this year we only have Warnock, Maric, Wona, Martin, Morton, Sylvia, Gawn, Fitzpatrick, Scully out of contract. The first 3 are the only ones likely to be axed which may not be ideal. Most clubs have a third of their list out of contract every year. We have put ourselves in a very difficult position yet again.

Strauss, Bennell, Jetta Could have got one of McKernan, Trengove, Hannebury, Ballantyne, Zaharakis, Suban, Shiels instead of Bennell. Rory Sloane or Taylor Hunt or Rockliff for Jetta We stuffed up in 2008. Too many soft lazy players.

That's the problem with this club, thay don't have vision. Rockliff was good enough to be invited to pre-season training (I watched him train)so they obviously knew what he could do. Just because other clubs didn't select him in the ND doesn't mean we shouldn't have. For us to climb up the ladder we need the vision and smarts that other clubs don't have.

Rory Sloane and Rockliff would have been nice.

If Bailey goes so must Dunn, Bate and the recruiting department for selecting Strauss, Bennell and Jetta in 2008. One or two of McKernan, Hannabery, Trengove, Suban, Beams, Sloane, Anthony, Zaharakis, Rockliff would have been better.

I have also followed this club for over 50 years and seen some great players in the red and blue. However, this club has been treading water for years, even the great Ron Barassi couldn't lift this club off the bottom of the ladder. There are probably many reasons for this including poor facilities, poor player development, poor administration and possibly poor coaching. I cannot really comment on how this has affected team performance, all I know is that we have not had enough good footballers to win us a premiership. The last 10 years has been more than frustrating with insipid performances against sides we should beat and usually better performances against good sides when we have our backs to the wall. There have been too many times when the team has not turned up to play. I remember Brad Greem saying after the West Coast and North games last year that the team didn't turn up to play. I hated that comment because this has been going on for years. It doesn't happen at the top clubs, if they lose it's generally a hard fought loss. Not us, we usually capitulate early and fight back (sometimes) when the game is as good as gone. I have no knowledge on whether the players are developed properly, or whether they play for the coach or eat pizza every night, all I know is we have not had enough good players at any one time to be a top team and a consistantly good performing team. To me 90% of our success or failure comes down to recruiting. We had a far better team in the 1990's with Lyon, Viney, Schwartz, Jackovich, the Lovetts than we do now. They at least had a red hot go most of the time but our depth was not quite strong enough. At the moment our team is made of mainly average to good footballers that don't work hard enough or for eachother. Some may well become good footballers, only time will tell. In my view our recruiting strategy and list management are the areas that need looking at the most. We do not have a well balanced team. There are too many light weight undersized players with no x-factor. We have no powerful players, our key position players overall are more flanker types rather than genuine strong bodied KP players. We are a very poor contested marking team, Rivers is a good mark but not in a contested situation. Jurrah is probably the best but is not consistent enough. I spoke to Dean Bailey at pre-season training before Watts was drafted and suggested we need more strong bodied KP types, he said vehemently that midfielders win matches. The focus under Bailey has been midfielders or mid sized players. Not key position players. That is why they selected, Strauss, Bennell and Jetta when they could easily have drafted McKernan or J.Trengove. I think we really stuffed up in 2008 when there were so many class players available after the Blease pick at 17. I know it has been said before but I do think we play it too safe at draft time. It may well be a case of paralysis by analysis instead of just going for bloody good natural footballers. List management is also a problem. The club had few players coming out of contract in 2010 and I think they did this on purpose because of GC raping the draft. It backfired somewhat having to free up spots on the list and ultimately acrimonously delisting the Captain. The same problem is likely to happen this year with only 10 players out of contract the majority of who are the never-ending developing types in Fat-Fitzpartick, Gawn but not gone, Scully, Morton, Maric, Martin, Sylvia, Warnock and Wona. Delisting 3 of these players at least may not go down well with some supporters and the playing group. Wona is an interesting one as he has close ties with Jurrah and the other brodders. His delisting maynot be a good strategy.

I don't care who recruited these players, the fact is they aren't performing. There maybe reasons for this i.e don't like the coach or game plan or they don't get along with teammates. Who knows. I don't really care. Maybe, just maybe they aren't good enough. A Bigfooty thread indicates that there is dishormony in the playing group with players getting games when not in form and cliques within the group and no faith in the gameplan. http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=822161 Something has to be done to get this team performing. I'm sick of excuses. I understand Warnock is also out of contract this year, he will be cut unless he starts performing.