Adam The God

It was disappointing to end the season like we did, but it's pretty short-sighted to deem the year a "complete failure". The first half of the year was frustrating, but an improvement on the previous two years.

But pick 4 should be enough for a bloke who's 28 and has question marks over his long-term fitness.

Totally. Now offer them something for Mcrae.

Hmm, I figured with Goodwin coming, he'd take the midfield and George would move into development. Look, if we can get him cheaply and we think he's the best candidate, by all means bring him in.

He's seemingly done well with the young players, but we have George Stone. I'd prefer George...

I know. It's easier said than done. But I can't imagine Roos would have said it's Shiel/Treloar or Dangerfield, otherwise we take the picks to the draft. His track record indicates he'll have a number of plans up his sleeve and these plans may surface in unlikely places. It's not answering your question, but if I knew, I'd probably be apart of the MFC recruiting team.

Yeah, agreed, but I hope it doesn't come to that. I'd much prefer to see Shiel or Dangerfield (or both!) in Melbourne colours. I agree. I think we'll see some improvement. That is natural. I also concur with your final line. It's a tricky one, because obviously I'd rather set our list for long term success, rather than short term, mid table success.

Where are you rpfc? : D

Thanks mate.

Jesus, mate. Really? I don't want strong bodied VFA players. I want proven AFL players. Garlett is just that.

Well, they've had a few.

Whilst I generally agree with your post here, mate, I'm concerned that our midfield is still alarmingly weak. If we have to draft two kids, no matter how good they may be, they'll essentially be thrown to the wolves again, given our lack of depth in the middle. We really do need that A grade star to come in and take the pressure off young kids coming through. Hi Patrick. (Yes, seeming very unlikely)

To be fair, we should have sacked Neeld after his first season. Further, I can see the Bulldogs doing a mini-Brisbane-of-sorts here. They sack McCartney hoping their captain will stay and then he nicks off to GWS anyway.

Yeah, probably inappropriate there, Billy.

Barassi had their respect. He was a revered player and coach. Neeld and McCartney were neither.

Whereas, I'd be offering Shiel that cash. Agree we're probably lacking another forward in the wake of Clark's about-face though. If we were going after a forward, I'd go Cameron.

Yeah. I agree. As a few of us have already stated, we couldn't give a toss about Sydney, but the capricious nature of this new AFL mob is bound to eventually impact our club and a decision like this will go against us.

Love your work, mate, but a month and a bit is a long time in football. Have we all forgotten, what, only a month or so ago? A number of Demonlanders were basically saying it'd take at least two more off seasons just to cut the deadwood from the list, let alone recruit/trade in fresh talent. I agree that we look like a more stable destination than quite a few places and our coaching panel is certainly the major drawcard, but there's no way our list is on the verge of really coming together, IMO. Our forwardline is far too reliant on too few (even with the addition of Garlett) and our midfield is still C grade with its staggering lack of depth. A handful of clubs may go backwards next year, due to destabilising off season's, but I'm just not convinced we've anywhere near the amount of talent that we need to take us forward. Having said all that, I really hope you're right though. I'm sick of waiting. I hope Roos and co can pull a rabbit out of the hat this off season and in season 2015.

I was referencing the Dangerfield thread where someone mentioned it was D day one way or the other tomorrow. There were a couple of rumours earlier in the week that hinted that something was going down on Friday. So I'm pining my hopes of innuendo and rumour from Demonland. Not a great indication really.

And the priority pick...

Scary, isn't it? I'm not actually worried about Sydney and their COLA, academy privileges etc. What does worry me is the fact that the AFL seem too easily and readily pushed about by public opinion. This spells danger to me and not the Patrick variety.

I like this idea.

Certainly. Something is brewing and it sounds like it could be announced tomorrow. Let's hope we don't have to wait until next week. I fear we will though.

We're going to need a lot more than that. Those guys won't get us out of the bottom 4. We need some mature B+ mids and hopefully a Shiel, who is ready to take that next step. And of course, if Dangerfield were to come, then we're pushing up the ladder.

Wrong attitude to have, IMO. That's partly the reason we're in such a mess. I hope they play as many games as they can in 2015, but I want them to go about their business in the background. Particularly Toumpas. Our more experienced players need to take the brunt of pressure.