Theo

When I spoke to DB at training just before the National Draft I said that we needed a big bodied forward to help Watts and Jurrah. He said mids win games. Mids, mids and more mids is his plan. In the last few drafts we have Morton, Jones, Grimes, Bail, Scully,Trengove, Blease,Jetta,Gysberts who are all midfield typs. Watts and Frawley are the only KP players selected. Jurrah is not a KP player. At the game today we were seriously lacking in size compared to WC. Warnock is a good average footballer who was carved up by Natanui in the first qtr. Warnock is just not big enough to take on the elite in the competition. He really isn't a key position player. I noticed today that he Does Not look at the ball as it was coming into the WC forward line. On a number of occassions he had his back to the play just looking at his opponent, he had no idea where the ball was coming from. Result, outmaked, outmarked, outmarked every time. We need a general down back like a Nathan Bock. We also desparately need a big bodied, strong contested marking forward and a ruckman who can play like an extra mid who can kick goals and take marks. Spencer was useless today, never takes a contested mark, never kicks the ball. I cannot see how we can win a premiership with what we have at present. Sadly, with the compromised drafts I don't know where these KP players will come from.

All the players should do the right thing by the club and carefully select their partners. Having children to Liz Ellis, Sharelle McMahon, and Lauren Jackson shouldn't be too much to ask. The players can marry blonde bimbos as long as they father a son to an elite athlete as well. Genetic selection should be encouraged by the club. I believe the club should seek out prospective "elite gene" partners and introduce them to the players at social functions. The club could provide "dates" for all players that don't have wives or girlfriends. Matchmaking is the way to go for a dynasty of MFC premierships.

I was there too. It happened last week as well. Sent an email to all and sundry at the club including CC.CS,DB and the communications area Also vented my anger by phone. My email: I have just returned from the long trek out to Casey to watch the team train. For the second week in a row I have gone to Casey on the Monday to watch training and guess what NO training. I checked the website this morning 8-30am and it had training listed today at Casey. This was the same last week. Whilst training can change without notice I know that training times and venues are set well in advance. 3 weeks ago I spoke to a football staff member at training and he mentioned that there would be no training at Casey on 7 December. However, because the website said that there was I assumed that there was a change, so I went down to Casey this morning. Of course there were at least a dozen other poor souls waiting there to see the team train. These are some of the most loyal supporters who go to training most weeks as I do. I am happy to give money through debt demolition and the Red & Blue Foundation. All I ask is that this great football club communicate in a more professional manner with it's own staff and supporters. I did notice that when I returned home the website deleted today's training session. MFC Reply xxxx Thanks for your email regarding the change to training times. We've let you, and the other supporters who attended training at Casey, down here and I'm very sorry for that. It was not good enough by our team. Whilst there are occasionally unforeseeable changes, the issues of the last couple of weeks should have been correct on our website. We are very determined to ensure the training times and locations are accurate in the future. Again please accept my sincerest apologies for these errors and for the inconvenience you experienced today and last week. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you wish to discuss this further. Regards, Jennifer Jennifer Watt çGeneral Manager, Marketing and Communications

I spoke to John at training on Wednesday. I asked him if it was the same injury he had this time last year. He said it was. Stress fracture of the foot. Certainly, don't get your hopes up. When these type of injuries occur it's out for 3 months or more. In his case he has been out a lot longer. He is a high risk player now and will probably miss part of pre-season if not more. His is cycling at the moment and hopes to start running in a couple of weeks. He was running this time last year doing lap upon lap only to break down during the season. Maybe, he (or Newton) should remain as a delisted player with the proviso they play at Casey and we re-rookie him next year if he is over his injury.

He did ball work for 45mins then went on the bike ride. Watts, Maloney,Jurrah, and Jetta did solid boxing session at the end. Training staff guy told me that they ease the guys workload to avoid OP etc. All planned and structured. No problems.

The new boys just did limited work. Scully and Gawn went for a bike ride with Garland, Meeson, Watts, Hughes, Blease, Bruce and a few others who are on limited programs. Jurrah and Maric. Jones and Sylvia were in everything and look VG. To be honest all the boys trained well. Joel Mcdonald has fitted in well and is very approachable. Really nice guy. Congratulated DB on the draft. Asked him about any further changes to the list. He said NO. Done, finished, that's it, no more folks.

I'm sure that we will honour our commitment, as we did by re-drafing Hughes however, I would be very surprised if BP is not somewhat [censored] off that we can't have at least one selection in the rookie draft. Afterall if GC17 are going to take mainly re-cycled players, and with pick 6 I bet BP has some young kid in mind that he would love to draft that he thinks will make a greater impact than Meeson and Newton. If he has a player in mind then I would seriously consider paying one of these players out with the proviso that he play at Casey all year and be re-rookie next year (if form is O/K and nobody else picks him up) as we did with Hughes. Let's face it, Meeson may or maynot play much footy next year with stress fractures anyway. Next year CC said that we are likely to upgrade some of our rookies. We could probably afford to carry one of these players as a rookie in 2011 as we are likely to have a few spots available. Think about it. Who would you rather be: 1. Newton- play as a rookie all year and receive his contract amount then be delisted at years end; or 2. Meeson - delist and pay-out. Play at Casey and receive contract amount and then be re-rookied with the chance of being put back on the main list. Option 2 sounds pretty good to me. No loss of money next year and comes back to the club in 2011. Possibly upgraded in 2012 when GWS are raping the draft. It can be done. WIN WIN Let's do it.

Darling, Swallow and Matera will be off to the Gold Coast. What a pity. The West Coasters love Darling.

Totally agree. I get bagged by posters that say our defence is fine and maybe the best in the league. It is fine at the moment, but I bet if Warnock/Rivers get injured everyone will be screaming that we don't have sufficient KP depth to cover these positions. CC said that Garland is likely to be used as forward. I would love a Nathan Bock, Ben Rutten type down back. The problem is that GC17 and GWS will pick the eyes out of KP prospects over the next 2 years. We may have already missed the boat. If the recruiters are switched on we may find someone decent. Bock was a rookie selection afterall.

I hope this kid has lots of upside. Like most posters I know very little about him except what is posted on team boards. Just looked up Quigley's mock draft on BigFooty. For what it's worth he was not a big wrap for Gysperts, Fitzgerald or Gawn. Gysperts: Turns the ball over too much. Not good defensively Fitzpatrick: Kicking hit or miss. Drops easy marks. Inconsistent. Skinny frame that may not fill out. Gawn: Low possessions, poor endurance Some other info on Gysperts and Fitzpatrick below. http://www.afldraftinfo.com/2009/10/jordan...svic-metro.html The football dept would know more than these guys assessments. The FD must know something about Gysperts that is specia.....l to take him at 11 ahead of Tapscott and Talia.

Don't appeciate being called stupid. We should be looking foward to address all contingencies. Our back six as it stands is very good and if settled could be the best in the league. No one is disputing that. However, you can't dismiss the fact that Garland maynot be fully fit next year. Warnock was injured for a time last year and is currently in the rehab group. Sure a good midfied will help back up the defence but in my view our list needs to plan for contingencies such as injuries to KPdefenders. As I said earlier the opportunity to recruit KPP in the next two years is limited with GC17 and GWS. It may or maynot become an issue but I think it does not hurt to look ahead 1-3 years. If another draft was held tomorrow I bet the club would be seriously looking at KPP's. There's probably only going to be mids around as best available in the next 2 years.

Just looking at each clubs picks in the draft. On POTENTIAL and phantom drafts picks some teams appear to have done very well. North Melbourne: Cunnington, Black, Bastinac, McMillan, Ayden Kennedy Essendon: Melksham,Carlisle, Colyer, Long Richmond: Martin, Griffiths, Troy Taylor, Astbury Port Adelaide: Butcher, Andrew Moore, Jasper McMillan-Pittard Geelong: Menzel, Christensen, Duncan, Vardy West Coast: Sheppard, Weedon and Koby Stevens Sydney: Rohan, Jetta Brisbane: Callum Bartlett, Ryan Harwood I know we did well but so did these teams. North seems to have creamed it. On SEN this morning Liam Pickering could not believe we didn't take Talia at 11. He thought he was the next best player outside the top 10.

He reminds me of the Westhoff"s from PA. Needs to bulk-up but doesn't seem to have the body type. Could be another Ryan Ferguson.

Most posters regard our defence as being very good and possibly one of the best in the league. To some extent I agree however, with a query over Garland I think we need to look at our Key Position stocks. I still think we are one KP player short down back to cover injuries/flexibility. To me Warnock is workman-like, Rivers needs to recapture the form he had when he won the rising star award. Frawley I think is going to be a beauty. So where does this leave us. Against 70% of opposition teams our defence stands up well, however I feel we are found wanting against teams with power forwards. Warnock and Rivers can compete but I think they struggle against bigger bodies. Media pundits have been saying for some time that we lack a KP back and KP forward. I think the foward line is now in better shape than the backline. I have been to training a few times recently and the rehab group over the last few weeks has consisted of Garland, Warnock, Rivers, Bruce, Blease, McKenzie, Morton. Although this does not mean anything for this time of the year, it concerns me that we have to look at other options down back in case of injuries. Stef Martin and Dunn could go down back? McNamara is the other player that could be developed in a KP role however he is only 190cm. There just doesn't seem to be many other options. Maybe Paul Johnson at CHB? Next year GC17 will rape the draft and take any decent KPP available. There will always be mids on offer although we don't need any more just yet. I just think we are one or two players short on our list that can cover Key position roles. If you were the backline coach how would you structure the backline to cover contingencies such as injuries, competing against power forwards etc with the team that we have.

I spoke to Lee Newton a couple of pre-seasons ago and he wanted Martin to be a ruckman. Got the distinct impression at that time that the dees were more interested in making him a foward or jack of all traders. He didn't seem particularly pleased about it.

Was at training yesterday. Spoke to top man who kept emphasising to me that you win games of football with the midfield. When I kept mentioning talls such as Black,Talia, Griffiths etc he said that we have plenty of talls and I was putting too much emphasis on them.. He said talls a more risky and take longer to see their worth. I mentioned Callum Bartlett and he knew that he had done his ACL last year. Mentioned Max Gawn and I saw a twinkle in his eye. I would not be surprised if we take a mid at 11 or 18 and Gawn, Vardy, Taylor etc afterwards.

Excellent work. Hope we get Black at 11 and one of Vardy, Griffiths, or Carlisle at 18. I have a strong feeling that one of these 3 will still be around at 34 because of the current injury concerns of Carlisle and Griffiths. Let's also not forget Craig as he has not been in the top 30 in most phantom drafts. It might be worth the gamble to take best available at 18 and hope one of the talls slide to 34.

After reading the Aaron Black thread I hope we grab him at 11. Glad that Callum Bartlett is not listed in the top 30 as he was talked up as a possible top 10 before he did his ACL this year. Big wraps on him on BigFooty and his video highlights are very impressive. Fantastic kick and has XX factor. Would like Griffiths or Vardy at 18, Bartlett at 34 and Grimes or Gawn at 50.

Gerard Healey on 3AW tonight said that his inside source "Whispers" believes the the MFC are prepared to take Luke Ball at pick 11. Is this just Smoke and mirrors or would we be that stupid.

Considering all the times I have contributed to the Debt Demolition campaign I do not want to pay for overpriced players who have 2 or 3 years left in their bodies and DoNot want to play for the club. I would rather take the risk on an unproven player who really embraces the idea of playing for the great MFC.

I hope we pick this kid. He has a great penetrating kick and can break open a game. X factor written all over him. BigFooty posters think that if he hadn't done his ACL this year he would be a top 10 pick. For what it's worth these comments make interesting reading. http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=626344 Do you think we should look at Liam Patrick at 50?. I actually like the look of Myles Pitt from the Stingrays. Saw him in the TAC grandfinal playing at FF and looks like a natural footballer at 190cm and 93kg. Reminds me of Bradshaw, strong mark good kick, composed and does not get pushed off the ball easily. The type of player that could easily bob-up and snare 2 or 3 goals. He would be a good solid pick at 50.

I agree. I'm so over Luke Ball. Please, please, Port Adelaide, Freo or Brisbane pick him up. By the Bye I saw Mitch Thorpe at training yesterday. He move well and it was clear to me that the players were trying to make him feel welcome. Plenty of hand slaps and encouragement. Tatts all down his right arm looks ordinary though.

Saw him play last weekend in the lightening premiership championship at Alice Springs. A class above the rest with beautiful foot skills. Good size and athleticism. Moves a bit like Adam Goodes. Whispering Jack highlighted these championships in a post last week. They were shown on Foxtel NITV. I saw the last 5 games with Troy Taylor the most notable player. WJ was going to record the games and also keep a lookout for Liam Patrick (LJ's cousin). He may add further comment regarding Taylor and Patrick.

Both of the articles mentiond that we have six selections in next months draft. It this correct? I thought that with Whelan, Wheatley, Buckley and McLean gone and Robbo replaced on the veterens list by Bruce only gives us 5 picks. 1,2,11,18 and either 34 or PSD. Can someone enlighten me or is the article incorrect.

I sent this you tube video of Mathew to Barry Prendergast last August. I sent him this one of Joel Houghton yesterday. http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=645818