RalphiusMaximus

Agreed. I wish I had time to get out to some of these sessions and compare to what I saw under Bailey. It's great to get this sort of news and detailed descriptions of what they guys are up to.

I have to say I'm pretty damn happy to have this guy joining us. Another state captain with senior experience joining the ranks. From everything i've seen and read he is all class.

Sam Colquhoun - Was rated really highly and somehow slipped. Could be a very good player for us (or whoever picks him up). You can never have too many good users. I wouldn't be horribly upset if we used the last spot on Garlett, but you'd call it a speculative pick at best given his obvious issues.

I admit to a degree of concern over this move. The number could be bad luck. Look what happened to the last guy to wear it. He wound up being an absolute [censored] and living in Western Sydney.

I suspect he'll be rookied by West Coast. We won't go near him.

We went Evans because we can keep Magner as a rookie for another season. Evans has already had his two years as a rookie.

Maric had two great problems. First was a lack of work ethic, hence the fitness issues. Second was his ability to cope with pressure. He was a poor set shot because he had time to think about it, but occasionally he showed us some real magic with his field kicking. It just wasn't often enough, again due to a poor work ethic and inability to get the ball.

I want to see a consistent season with 8-12 games like the one against the bombers this year. Those few great games before he was injured this year showed us what he can do. The challenge now is for him to produce that for an entire season.

I prefer to have people to whom such labels do not apply.

I say Toumpas. I know that everyone loves the thought of Wines and Viney working as a double-act in the middle and monstering teams, but Toumpas has a huge reputation as a match-winner with genuine skill and pace. He may not be as hard as Wines, but he isn't soft (like other no. 4s) and I think he has Wines covered in pretty much every other aspect. I should add, I am one of those salivating at the thought of Wines/Viney in the middle in a few years.

We've always known he could run. The problem is his ability to win contests.

Isn't it something like $20,000 each for three players they're talking about?

Stupid attempt to create a story where none exists. They ran into another Aussie in Vegas and got in a photo with him. Big deal.

I would have thought Fitzy is the backup plan at this point.

I saw the same thing in a game at Casey shortly before he had his debut. People seem to take his affable exterior as a lack of desire. I saw him grab a ground ball, run around the outside of the defence in the pocket and hit the turn so fast he lost traction and skidded into the fence. Screamed and pounded the ground in frustration, knowing he had them beaten and just couldn't make that last turn to get a line on the goals. I said then, this kid WANTS it.

Got any job openings?

If boasting about getting draft picks is a criminal offense then Eddie is in real trouble.

Lots of people talking up Bailey here after he appears to be supporting the club. Could it be that he sees a lifetime ban in the future for himself and is trying to cover his own backside?

His original reasons were indeed that he didn't like having to drive 40 minutes to train and thought the facilities and location at Carlton would help with his injury troubles.

I'm pretty sure Tynan had a bit of a late growth spurt this year. He certainly seemed taller in the Casey games I saw towards the end of the season. I also think he has a really good build for AFL in terms of limb length/body and body shape. He looks solid enough to handle the rough stuff and athletic enough to run. I think if his application is good enough we may have a gem on our hands.

Lots of bitter comments on here disguised as congratulations. I don't really think this is the place. Well done on a good start to your coaching career Brad, and I hope you push on to win the flag you deserved as a player. Hopefully with us in a few years time.

The CEOs job is to manage the business of the club, not to take part in football decisions. As such, I have to judge him by his efforts in that arena. In his time at the club we have gone from debt-ridden to profitable. We have found funds to drastically increase size of the football department and have gained access to some of the best facilities in the league. All of these things come under his umbrella. As such, I have to judge him as a huge success. Regarding the "tanking" mess, in theory he should not have anything to do with it. As I said, the CEO shouldn't have anything to do with the football side of the club, but we know that he has always been prone to making his opinions known. I note that he has stopped appearing with the coaches and players at press conferences since the blow-up around 187, which has to be seen as a good thing. Was he part of the decision-making process that led to this investigation? He probably was, but I don't think he can be held responsible for it. Incidentally, am I the only one who thinks that the club is trying to drop the whole mess on Chris Connelly? All the talk of penalising the individuals and not the club, along with "leaks" that CC led the meeting where they talked about not winning more than 4 games, seems to me to be an effort to turn the punishment on him rather than the club. Not the best look for the boar I would think. That being said, I wouldn't mind if they leaked that Brock McLean was at the meetings and was a prime mover behind the effort.

I would have loved to keep Leigh, but the AFL cutting the rookie list has effectively killed his career with us. Rather interesting that the AFL with all their talk of promoting and growing the game have chosen to make it harder to get onto an AFL list. I would have thought it was in the league's best interest to go the other way,

Hogan is signed to the club and will play for Casey next year (probably), but does not take up a spot on our list until the 2014 season. And yes, I am excited by the look of the list right now, and very much looking forward to seeing some of the guys who haven't been regulars push up for selection. Obviously, I'm hoping to see some real talent emerging in the next year or two and the club to hit it's straps and push for a finals spot. Would be nice if that happened.

Could be a little soft. Might have to make it 50.