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Do the sums. This list is younger than any list we have had for two years. We have honest B/Cgraders in senior roles the rest are kids. We have not done a complete rebuilding like we have just done in that time period.

Agreed, we're a combination of tomorrow's footballers and yesterday's footballers with only a handful of today's footballers.

Jack Watts ticks more boxes than anyone else to play CHF

He is still 2 years from it yet though

This is the crux of it.

No one is wanting his sacking. Hes done a marvellous job to date under very trying conditions... They are different now with a different expectation. I think we'd all just like that addressed.

No offence BB but apparently the club begs to differ. I'll go with the club on this one if they have had a long term focus and plan which Bailey has been squarely a part of since day 1. Stability is being severely under-rated in this thread as being a vital component to our performance, self belief and most of all success. It's not like we've signed Bailey up until the end of 2015.

The most important factor in all of this is the salary cap. I don't know how exactly the AFL calculates it every year (whether it is simple indexation or a more complex formula) however if the AFL has licence to pretty much pluck out any figure then watch this space.

I understand Sheahan's sentiment but it comes down to whether we place our mindset in that of a journo or the club. For mine, an extra contracted year (2011) is a satisfactory and important condition under which Bailey should coach this year. Naturally, 2012 in the bag is a different story though I think Sheahan mentioned that to gain some emotive weight to his over-all article. I have no doubt that Bailey knows exactly our flaws and exactly what 2010 football is all about. Getting us to perform is another story and from that POV Olympic Park can't come quick enough.

I saw a lot of things in the Freo game that were pretty bad and despite it feeling obvious that the coach can easily rectify many of those instances our biggest challenge is still a tip-top squad - I don't mean injury free I mean a group of players who can adequately perform roles given to them at 2010 AFL level for 4 quarters. Even though Freo did the right things and we were ordinary the other night there was still a clear difference IMO in the condition of both sides as a whole. Freo looked fresh, hardly had a strapped player and ran in waves and positioned themselves well all night. Joel MacDonald was probably our best player, he played intensive tempo football under pressure and used his nouse and body and he just happens to be from an AFL club where he would have been considered average at best - this is an eye opener people. Both the coach and the players need time and stability.

The most notable positive for me was the way the team fought back late in the game prior to the final onslaught. Before I get picked up on this I do realise that Freo kicked the last 4 or 5 of the game however there is no question that our lads were very fatigued near the end - Freo mostly kept their tempo. My point is about players not dropping their heads.

IMO our players performed in the following conditions:

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No obvious forward targets.

Travel and playing on a larger ground.

No regular starting ruckmen.

A significant group of players with limited or no senior experience playing together.

Clearly not in the same condition in physique or fitness over 4 quarters as our opposition.

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It is in this context that I appreciated the commitment of many of our younger players and new recruits when things were tough. At times they "looked" like they weren't trying but they were all night. We simply have many areas to work on with manning up, clearances, ball movement, disposal etc...

Joel really did look good tonight though, didn't he? He really added the experience and calm under fire that we needed, as well as plenty of run. I agree that he will be hugely important for us.

He was very good mate and it wasn't just the things he did with the ball or his efforts on opponents or his fantastic effort in general. He also showed the streetwise 1 %ers that we lack. The way he can get the ball out of bounds under pressure without it being called deliberate or back into and bump players subtly enough to take them out of a contest without giving away a free kick. We need more of this basic stuff.

I think a few more players can hold their heads up than just MacDonald but I agree on his value to the team. I said it once and I'll say it again, one of our most important pick-ups in quite some time.

That's the closest anyone has come to a valid reason why we need to win.

If the net desirable effect of better TV exposure as a result of a win is an increase in membership then I beleive that was the point of the OP in the first place.

I imagine most supporters who see this match as critical will either have already signed up or will sign up.

Critical to their own satisfaction of a win or critical as far as getting more impulse supporters on board? There is a distinction here.

The less 'hardcore' supporters probably won't particularly care about round one NAB Cup, let alone watch the game, given it's Sunday 8:40 on Fox.

Bit of a generalisation in the first part but I definitely don't dispute the 2nd part about watching the game. Sure many supporters may not watch the game but the main factor here is how will they respond to a win or a good performance when they learn of it? If you think that a win tonight won't have some sort of stimulus effect on our membership figure then I disagree - there is always a small component who respond to performance solely and I think many of them won't care if it is pre-season or not given they are that narrow in the first place.

Unfortunately it is a reality that some prospective members will see a win this weekend as important so from that POV I agree with the OP. Obviously the majority of supporters who have a more sensible perspective on this game (and our season) are probably already members or will sign up regardless.

Liam comes across to me as a person with a lot of perspective in life as well as being a true athlete/footballer. The more I hear about him the more he comes across as a people person. Shy to start with but genuine towards the people he knows. Given the efforts by MFC and his links to many of the Industrial Magpies I think this would be a strong part of who he is as a person. From that POV I doubt he would go to GC.

I must say that is a pretty impressive back 6 for us - touch wood on injuries. To me the inclusion of 1 player (Joel Mac) has tipped the complexion of our defence from an up and comer to more like a men's department which all good defences should be. The best thing about it is that none of those players are over 25 yet and we have a fair range of youngsters and depth defenders who can fill in when required. Hopefully some other senior players like McDonald and Bruce won't be relied upon as much down the ground either and can also offer to help out down back when required.

When all the clubs do their membership drives on TFS have there historically been any significant gains there?

Marvellous effort that!

Well done and thanks to all those who do the hard work and behind the scenes stuff to keep Demonland online.

Crawf's article from an outsiders POV was reasnoable is all i am saying.

I had no problem with it either.

Were Strauss and Blease both specifically interested in #17 or just an upgrade in general? I can only imagine a bit of competition if they have their eyes on that number specifically. It's not like there won't be any other numbers freed up at the end of 2010 - you'd think at least couple players will make way.

To Ablett or not to Ablett, that is the question.

Just curious, was it Mahoney or Bailey or someone else who gave Watts the spray?

Apart from the troubleshooting it seems a lot smoother in here.

If Ricky has not cemented a starting 18 place by end of year it would raise doubt whether he will be with us in 2011. To be clear I think Petterd is talented but needs to find his niche and own it. I am not sure if that will occur.

I don't subscribe to that theory myself but I agree that he needs to step up.

Thanks for the reports guys, top stuff!

Is Rohan Bail still recovering on the sidelines?

It's too big, with too much wasted white space.

I wonder why they put the orange tyre tread above the 'hancook' text instead of alongside it as per the normal logo. This way there would have been less white taking up space and the text actually could have been a bit bigger to stand out more. The only thing I can think of is that it would have been a bit too long.

My most vivid memory of Bishop is of when we were playing Port at the MCG and he (playing for us) was absolutely pummelled into the ground by Barnaby French. Mega tackle.

He made it very clear that 2010 was going to be the first year that we could get an insight into how good Dean Bailey really is as a coach. Most of us understood clearly what he meant; that Bailey had spent his first year and a half and would spend the rest of his second year in preparing himself for his real coaching stint.

This is how I have personally viewed our last couple of years and how I have looked at Bailey. In this context, over the years, I've seen Dees supporters argue non-stop about how Bailey should have coached from day 1 with the players we have/had without any understanding of what it takes to create and develop a top team in modern AFL, it isn't like the good old days. Bailey quite simply didn't kid himself and I think in some ways is perhaps partially responsible for the solidarity in direction we see at the club.

IMO Bailey has been meticulous, calculating and so far successful in going about the infancy phase of his tenior. What I actually appreciate is not just a coach who levelled with the club and knew what it would take but a coach who committed to a process where he not only had to wear losses but also is bringing on a mammoth task in developing so much youth. It will be a test for coach and club but at least you know that Bailey will do it (by his standards) properly or not at all. I've been a MFC supporter/member for 22 years and whilst I am not under any illusions that success will be mandatory with our squad, it is fantastic to witness such a process being implemented at the club from the ground up.