RalphiusMaximus

Melbourne could seek permission for Jack Viney to play AFL. Could be a real boost to see him in action at Casey next year ahead of being drafted. Especially if he manages to force his way into the senior side.

He had ice on the shoulder and his arm in a sling on the TV. Didn't look in too much pain though.

Best thing about Blease today was seeing him change gears. One run in particular he was cruising through CHB and looked like he was about to be caught by two tacklers coming in from the sides. He just accelerated and suddenly they were both out of touch and he was bouncing it through the middle. Unbelievable burst of speed.

Well, 17 is available. Why not let him have it as a signing bonus when he extends his contract for 5 years?

Agreed. We need at least one top quality small defender and we need to improve our clearance players, whether by making the ones we have better or by trading I know not. A good crumbing forward would be nice too, but we have several options in that area that could improve given time and more work.

We've got one of those. Unfortunately he's out of favour with the powers that be and has spent the season playing fullback at Casey and monstering the poor VFL forwards.

Won't be there. Other plans take precedence. On the bright side, we'll have it up on the big screen where I'm spending Sunday.

I was thrilled to see that on the footy show tonight. Now if we can only sell the front for 1.5 a year...

He was a high pick, so obviously he showed something as a junior. His injury problems make me a little wary though. Maybe give them Dunn or Bate? On the other hand we have a lot of young KPF's in the works, so he could be a bit redundant.

John Butcher went 7 or 8 in the draft and has played 2 games with injury issues. No way in hell is he worth an experienced no. 3 pick and a first round as well. Especially when our team is so desperately lacking in experienced players to lead on the field.

Nah. He's another Dunn. We don't need more mid-sized forwards.

I really want to see Tom MacDonald and Troy Davis get a run. Just one game each will do the job so we can have a look at what they can do. MacDonald in particular has been an emergency several times. Surely he deserves a chance.

I'm thrilled that two of our guys got suspended and another got fined. It's the first sign this season that there's some fight in this team. Davey may have had a terrible game, but at least he cared enough to clobber someone. It's this sort of atitude that needs to become more prevalent in our side if we want to improve.

I'd really prefer not to cop a Rocket. As has been said by others, he's coached for 14 years and never won a GF. That isn't what we want or need. The club has been trying to build the best possible team, making the hard calls, retiring people who won't contribute to a premiership. This is another. We can't go for a pretty good coach who will get us into the top 6 or so. We have to take the hard road and find someone who will take us all the way to a flag. Malthouse or Clarkson for mine. I don't care if they are still contracted. I don't care if they are not on the market right now. We should be taking the initiative and contacting them, letting them know that there are very good options open to them other than staying where they are. If our next coach doesn't have at least one premiership to his name as a coach, the board have failed us.

Interesting thing I get from This Post. The club must have a lot of confidence in keeping him if they put him on the letter along with our other young stars.

I guess I must have completely the wrong idea. I was under the impression that the players were actually paid by the AFL rather than the club. Isn't that why they're all arguing over how much of the AFL's revenue goes to the players?

I'd kill to have Bassett at our club. I don't think they'll be giving him the senior job, but surely he could take the backline.

We've seen improvement in some players. Watts and Martin in particular have taken huge steps in their development. We've blooded some very good young players who have added to the team with their attack on the ball and speed. Howe, Tapscott, Nicholson, Evans and Blease have all shown us something. Sadly, we've also seen a serious drop in others. Morton has had a dismal year. Jurrah has been shown up for his lack of work ethic. Davey and Green have failed in nearly every aspect of the game, both as senior players and as leaders. We've also had injuries to some of our most important players such as Jamar and Frawley that have prevented them from reaching the level they attained last season. Overall, I think with the draw we were given we have underperformed badly and if anything have taken a step back. We are crying out for more onfield leadership and for a few more senior players to balance the youth in the side.

I admit it is a glaring hole in his game, but we need to bear in mind that it's the only area he falls down in. Yes, we need to stop him from kicking, but he is our best stopper, he rarely fails one-on one and he is one of the few players in our team who knows how to compete. I'd prefer to see them hire him a kicking coach and see if they can't fix his kicking that hold a witch hunt and delist him.

Funny thing. Waaaaaaay back when I was in high school, they made me captain of the open soccer team. I was a pretty decent player, a really hard defender who could be counted on in a pinch, and had a fair bit of respect in the team. Unfortunately, we discovered that I reacted very badly to having a formal leadership role. All of a sudden I was paying too much attention to what everyone else in the team was doing and not focusing on my own game. I couldn't get my head around the notion that 99% of the time I could trust my teammates to know their jobs and all I really needed to do during a game was keep the talk going, have the odd chat to the ref and otherwise play exactly as I had every year leading up to this one. The obvious result of this is that my form dropped off, I lost the respect of my teammates, and spent the end of the season in the B's. Not what I'd call a good result. The point I'm making here is that some people are not cut out to be captains, however good they are as leaders. Sometimes the addition of a title makes you forget everything you did to earn it and you suddenly find your game going out the window. I think this is what's happened to Brad. It isn't a reflection on his ability as a player, and I don't think he is even close to finished in the game. He needs to either get his head around the role he's playing or accept that he can be a leader, and even a member of the leadership group, but the captaincy may be a little beyond him.

If you want to take the pressure off, put him in the forward pocket where he belongs. It's where he played his best football and where he built his reputation. Tell him focus on his tackling and defensive pressure once again, rather than floating around the outside of packs looking to be the playmaker. He needs to get back to the game he played as a 22 year old.

This is why we don't take drugs kiddies. We really can't beat them this week. Not only are they a better side, but they are playing for a top 4 spot while we are playing for a shot at 9th. Not going to happen.

So if he wins the B&F, does that put him on par with Little Nicky at this stage of his career? Nick was about the same age when he won it with the saints.

Awesome news, but sadly my week is blown, and even this can't make up for the rest of it. Don't expect much positivity from me for the next few days folks.

Really people, why go for such average talent? We make a play for Dale Thomas, promise to make him the Captain/Coach, thus getting the Malthouse program into our club and a highly talented midfielder to lead the boys on the ground all at the same time. What could be simpler?