jnrmac

Does Blease have a right foot????

Neeld on SEN: talking about Watts's ankle. Was supposed to be ready but its a high grade ankle sprain that is taking longer than expected. Asked about which players are going to be the future - Mentioned 3 - Sam Blease...'he's working hard offensively. Endurance needs improving. Sees a big future. Strauss - sees a big future for him. Sub 3 weeks in a row for a variety of reasons. Jetta - big future. Rushed him straight back in. Re Beemer. "let's show some energy" His defensive efforts were not good. Carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. Go back to the VFL and play with some freedom and enjoyment. Morton - working his way back into form in VFL. Neeld hesitated when answering... He gets asked a lot about Cale a lot. weeks to demonstrate he can get back to form (?) Suggested look beyond his testing and numbers (ie: don't care where he was drafted he needs to do certain things and he clearly isnlt doing them - my interpretation!)

Teams unchanged.

Best news I have heard today. Cloke is not that good a player and he is less good as a bloke. His Dad is worse. And with our midfield he would starve in the fwd line.

good post

I wouldn't describe either of them as project players. Cook was an u18 All Australian CHF- not sure how that makes him a PP?? As for Gysberts he was perhaps drafted a bit higher than those "in the know" predicted but that doesn't make him a PP either. LJ is a PP.

What? This bit? ..... "a game against a team we can't beat at the best of times at a stadium we can never win at."

Howe could be a great player. Has dedication and commitment to the contest. His marking is clearly a feature. BUt his turnovers and goal kicking are real weaknesses that must be corrected. Also another one of Neelds players that consistently is told to play in the wrong position IMO.

Thompson is a scumbag traitor of the highest order. We nursed him through several years of injury for him to crap all over us. Would not be welcome back.

Hmm let's see..... Etihad.........er no. Nth Melbourne......er no. Nth Melb at Etihad..........gardening looks like a good option

What? Sheedy?? I reckon he could be. He carries a grudge against the Dees and has vented often. I agree that most normal ppl wouldn't do such a thing but Sheeds is anything but normal. After all given they could virtually have picked up anyone in the comp why would they choose Tom?? He's not a 'marquee' player like Ablett that you can build a franchise around. Personally I was amazed they choose him.

Plenty of players have continued to play while facing trial for various incidents. There is nothing new in this. The issue is whether he is fit to play, whether he can get some form in the dewies and earn a spot in the ones. His frame of mind will be important but from everything I have read including Martin Flanagan's excellent articles, LJ is well equipped to deal with the off field scrutiny.

Not sure but I think I remember reading somewhere they couldn't.

Far be it for me to support Tom but it shows exactly the predicament Melbourne is in. You can't bring in raw talent without proper senior player leadership. Throwing in Junior and Chad Cornes was never going to cut it. Ablett was a proven performer and could be relied upon. $cully will take years to come good if ever. IN fact it may damage his development to the point that he never makes it as an A grade player. In fairness to him he would have copped a lot of scrutiny in Melbourne at the Dees so he might as well cop it at GWS and comfort himself with the $6mill!!!! He is basically too small with an average kick but a tremendous work ethic. The fact that he has a dodgy knee means he could be a complete dud. I have a sneaking suspicion that Sheedy targetted him because of his hatred for Melbourne. And I hope they both suffer big time for it.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/a-fractured-spirit-20120725-22r2q.html Really good balanced article on the situation. Respectfully recommend people read it before posting speculative comments.

Only one of them is playing in defence.....

Staggering....

Sad but true.

The essence of Moneyball is that the stats were saying one thing (ie" ie this guy gets to 1st base 65% of the time) but the 'traditional' recruiters didn't like his swing or he was slow etc - "we know baseball talent". The facts were though that they got to first base a lot. Hence the players didn't get recruited or were very inexpensive to recruit. In AFL parlance it would be a Shane Tuck type of player. Not pretty or skillful but keeps getting the ball. Would be overlooked by a lot of recruiters. Shane Valenti might be another. There would be some overiding factor in AFL players: getting the ball is one thing but delivering it is another. Rioli doesn't get the ball a lot but what he does with it is outstanding (he wouldn't be considered a moneyball player as he is too skilled). If Rohan Bail could hit targets he would be considered a classic Moneyball player. Sam Mitchell would certainly have been one of the archetypal moneyball players. Even Aaron Davey is up there.

You can never know what may have been. $500k a year for a player that didn't want to be there...and that has now broken down.. He might have been a gun for us. He might have played 2 yrs then [censored] off to the pies. He might have sat back and collected he cash. We will never know.

Mids, mids,Mids, mids,Mids, mids,Mids, mids,Mids, mids,Mids, mids,Mids, mids,Mids, mids,Mids, mids,Mids, mids, That's what we need.

Not sure how someone is 'repeatedly hit in the head with an axe' and barely has a scar on his head??

You are kidding right?? Morton has had 68 shockers

Out: Melbourne In: Casey

This is a pre-trial. I understand this to mean that the judge will decide if there is enough evidence to go to trial. Hopefully more conflicting stories to come as I believe there are around 13 witnesses to be called. A judge in that scenario you would hope rules that it would be difficult to gain a conviction if there are a lot of non-sober witnesses with conflicting evidence. Fingers crossed.....