jnrmac

What utter bulldust. If you deliberately lose a game it doesn't matter what the 'reward' is. That is plain stupid. There is also betting to consider, The AFL has danced with the devil on this. They accept money from bookies and must take the consequences.

Two points: 1. you are harsh on Beamer. Not my favourite player and form has fallen away dramatically but by most measures has been a good pick up even at that pick. You need to have context in these debates which is where a lot of people fail. We had just lost Scott Thompson - we needed a tough onballer. Moloney fitted the bill but has not reached the heights of Thompson. A lot worse picks than him. 2. The rebuild of 2000 to 2004 is solely the result of the squealing curly headed rat Gutnick. Stuffed us for years with our two years of missing first round picks. Don't get the love for him here. Nearly killed us. Combine that with our GF appearance in 2000 AND the new football deal of $780m when Freo was throwing huge money at Woewodin and the Wiz and we were in a giant hole. We didn't trade well but circumstances were difficult at that time. Context......hmmmm.

Most sensible thing you have ever said. Its so bleeding obvious. How long will it take for recruiters to work this one out. Of recent recruits only Strauss appears to be capable of kicking this way.

Sylvia has a higher trade value than Brock McLean to a contending team.

It is another AFL debacle

Clearly none of us know who would be willing to come to us but I for one would trade him for Travis Boak any day of the week if you want an example. You will get an honest performance week in week out, He is not as talented as Col but he is there every week putting in. Edit: Just had a look at the Swans trading. They have demonstarted there are plenty of ordinary players out there who are prepared to work hard to a team game plan. They are much more valuable than a Sylvia. They have got players that were deemed NQR or slightly unloved at their original clubs and turned them into a solid team unit. PLayers like Everitt, McGlynn, Mattner, Mumford, Seaby, Spangher, Walsh, Shaw, Richards and Kennedy. Two of these are bona fide stars - Mumford and Kennedy. Even an ordinary player like Roberts-Thompson plays a good team role. That is what Neeld is trying to do. Get everyone to play a role. And if you can't do it you won't last long. Col has shown some improvement before the last two weeks but then he does the classic let down with two ordinary performances.

The bit you don't seem to get is that we will NEVER be a contender when we have players who refuse to play as a team or play to a team game plan. Its like Carlton and Fevola. Sylvia is bone lazy. He has talent to burn and every now and then thrills us all but he is incapable of change it would seem. His laziness spreads to everyone else. If you are trying to play a zone for example it relies on everyone doing their bit. One hole and the attacking team will cut through it easily. Pretty soon everyone says stuff it why bother. Its the same as midfielders who refuse to play 'both ways' and run hard when we don't have possession. Watch Dane Beams to see how a good player does it. Sylvia never does it consistently which is why he is rated so poorly by the club and why he has to be traded away. Moloney is pretty similar although is trying hard to change. Not sure he has the capacity to run hard enough though, And BTW when trading you have to give something away to get something. Sylvia is one of our few that could get something at the trade table.

And wasn't one after the siren??

I could not give a flying about the rest of the comp. The season is over as far as I am concerned. Would be happy to see 37 drawn games.

Obviously my opinion about him being gone but I am definitely in the trade Sylvia camp. He has some currency outside the club. As for telling him to do the things you suggest he has been told 1000 times. He is not the sharpest tool in the shed our Col. His B&F finishes tell you exactly what the club think of him. 8 years and not once inside the top 5. A disgrace for someone of his talent.

That is where you are so wrong,. And no amount of your banging on will change the situation. Hell of a lot better at what?? Refusing to run and give second efforts? His attitude affects everyone. If he does't chase, someone else has to. He is gone.

One bad game?? are you for real?? 3 possessions to half time last week. NEVER finished inside the top 5 in our b&f in 8 seasons. Lazy lazy lazy. Must go. He is a cancer. No wonder our culture is shiite when we have lazy senior players who won't chase, and give second efforts. What must younger players think after watching him?? Oh if he doesn't run why should I.... Can't go quick enough for mine.

A coach has essentially two choices. He can either try to coach the group he has at his disposal - that is their strengths and weaknesses. ie: I have a team of tall players therefore I will devise a game plan around that. OR he can try to teach a game plan to a group that doesn't have the skill to carry it out. ie: we need to run and spread and we need hard bodies that won't get pushed off the ball in a contested situation. Neeld has tried to teach a game plan to a group not up to the task of carrying it out. He obviously believes his game plan is the way to go. And if the article is true will try to turn the list over to get the cattle to carry out his game plan.

Who says we are following the "moneyball plan"?? God I am sick of this reference. Most people have no idea what it means and the club has never articulated that is what they are doing. We don't have a shortage of money ATM which is why the Oakland A's couldn't compete with the Yankees. if you believe what you read we are chasing Cloke on big bucks, we are raising funds to have ago at some free agents and we got Clark on big bickies last year. We have plenty of room in our salary cap. That is the opposite of the Moneyball strategy. Neeld simply wants to recruit players that can play to his game plan. Its that simple. He has demonstrated by his actions that he doesn't like Bate, Morton or Gys but likes players like Jetta, Magner and Bail. That's the first part. the next part is getting players who can run and spread, deliver the footy and not turn it over. BTW I havent seen the stats from last week but isn't it amazing how we can hit targets against teams like GC when there is no pressure?? Yet when we are pressured we are hopeless and have massive amounts of turnovers.....

The good teams at the moment have players who are prepared to play roles. Look at the Pies. Anyone coming in to that side knows exactly what role they have. Even Simon Buckley gets a game there! Neeld is trying to build a team where players play roles and can rely on what their teamates will do. Your workplace example might raise bells for you but its not a true team performance and is wrong to compare it with such. If players don't do their roles they get dropped or ultimately de-listed. I have no problem with that. The buck stops with the coach and if you were in charge you would do the same thing. Baileys problem was that he was coaching to instructions and never had complete autonomy over the decisions. At least that's what the aftermath of 186 and the Andrews report says to me. Neeld won't die wondering and I am very happy about that. As for your bolded comment above. FFS what is that about??

Highly unusual at this stage of the season to bring a young talented guy in for one week and drop him. My tea leaves tell me its either a massive rocket or Neeld's seen enough.

Neeld is clearly wanting to get his own list together and it looks like there are no sacred cows. Rivers, Moloney, Gys. Wow. He is not going to get skewered with someone else's list. I hope it doesn't backfire. We could find ourselves with no senior players!! INteresting from a coaching perspective - do you coach the cattle you have (which clearly he hasn't done this year) or do you try to recruit players that will play the way you want them to play.

Weird selection dropping Gys. Didn't do a lot - must have not followed instructions...... Neeld clearly likes Jetta. Tough nut.

There is no rule for dropping the ball. Don't know why the umps still signal it.

Well done Greeny. I HOPE it was his decision because I thought he had one more in him and we need senior players contributing.

WGAF the season from hell will be over soon....

der.... he is contracted..

Frawley seems to have gone backwards... Howe needs to work on his disposal. Rest is pretty good. Jones in a good team could be A grade. Our list is shiite

There's a reason Cook went at pick 12. He was AA CHF. He can play, can kick, can mark,. Doesn't have the body. Can't say about the work ethic but that is the factor that determines whether they make it or not.

Jade Rawlings is as straight as they come. Have seen him answer questions on Morton with answers like "the playing group didn't trust him and he had to re-build that trust" Jade is not a guy who gilds the lily. If that 's what he said I believe him.