Adam The God

It's a good point this. Greeny was a little soft in his early days, but now he's one of our most ferocious tacklers and would have no hesitation backing into a pack.

I agree. Although, not quite the same, the media were talking Daniel Rich up all year and he ended up going at 7 (was it?). A lot can change over the course of 15 or so weeks.

Surely, Jamar is the one that has to go? Meesen has already shown more than Jamar has in his entire career. Jamar's had his time and hasn't been good enough. Pity we don't still have Jolly.

Agreed. Depth is important here. With Wheels coming to the end of his career, Bartram and Dunn are our only two taggers at the moment. We need at least two or three and Dunn, although not a stand out, is versatile.

And that's the problem we're faced with. He is such a high draft pick, you may as well stick with him. Look you're probably right Hannabal and I have thought along similar lines myself, but to me, he should be able to play in any team at any given time. That's what a good player is. Still your point has merit that outweighs my argument. The thing about Sylvia is he'd easily be our most frustrating player. If I've ever improved my outlook towards him it has been more in hope than anything else. He's got a bit of talent somewhere, he just doesn't do the basics well. That said, Bails is slowly turned that mentality around (seemingly). Please, finally show us some consistency, Colin. I barely know anyone who knocks him. Anyone that does, you're right, lacks understanding. He's only a young kid, he's going to make mistakes. He's going to be a ripper.

Might just have been finals.

Pity, the ABC don't do the Sunday games, as I'm sure they once did.

I was just coming back to change that to 2 years.:D That includes this year, seeing as we're only 7 rounds in. I'd say he's still got one more year left in him, even if he doesn't play a lot next year, he's vital to have around the youngsters. I'd certainly want him there in a mentoring type role once he's finished though.

Actually, that might even be the thinking behind Watts' debut in this round. Great point! The thinking behind the Queen's Bday game has always been that it's the biggest money winning for us. Bringing Watts in could just be that extra touch of spice the game needs.

I'd keep Buckley. He showed last year that he could well be useful in the future, playing the role that currently Flash is playing. As for Wheels, keep him. Let him serve out his career, but I wouldn't be against the delisting of Belly. He's a trier, but ultimately not good enough. We have to be ruthless. I'd also agree on the Newton issue. Although, Newton signed a new two year contract during last season, so we'd have to pay him out. In our financial situation, we'd be better off holding onto him for an extra season, letting him serve out his contract, giving him an occasional game and if he doesn't sure anything delist him. If however, on the other hand he shows something, then we could reassess then. I think you'd keep Wheatley, as he'd be in the top two or three kicks in our side. He's also a berometre for us as well, in some ways. Particularly over the past two seasons, whenever he's played, we played reasonably well. Without him, we were always horrible. Due mostly to the fact he kicks over zones and so fourth...does our long term plan involve that though? Bailey's plan seems to involve ball carrying and handpassing, in order to break zonal lines, instead of kicking over the top of them. That said, Paul is quick, tall (probably not strong enough though) and a beautiful long kick. I'd certainly keep him, at least for another 1 or 2 seasons. No, I don't think anyone would be giving away their higher picks in such a crucial draft (unless I misunderstood you, Tata?). Oh, Valenti! That's another one. He's shown that he's too slow and although a fantastic VFL player, not quite good enough at the top level. I think I saw enough of him last year to know that his lack of awareness and lack of leg speed (much like Brock unfortunately, but with less going for him) would retard our midfield. Surely you'd give Meesen another chance? He showed something in the early part of this year, before his injury. The bloke that has continually let himself and the team down is Mark Jamar. That man is massive, if only he had a football brain. We're already a little thin on ruck stocks, so I'd keep PJ, Meesen and Spencer and develop them over the next couple of seasons. Jamar is surely the obvious one to let go....

The only thing about this is that neither Sylvia or Bate have shown enough to suggest they'll be good enough. Sylvia was drafted in 2003, that means this is his sixth year of senior footy. By now he should have at least strung a full game together. He hasn't and I don't mean to take a big dig at him, but for a #3 draft pick, he worries me. Probably his best game has been against Brisbane last year (where he still didn't play four quarters of footy and drifted in and out of the play) or even Richmond this year (in which he kicked two goals in 5 mins, laid a few tackles and that was about it). Whilst, I'll admit his attack at times this year, has been the best I've seen from him, that's not saying much. Bails has been good for him, but he's still a struggler, IMO. I hope he proves me wrong though. As for Bate, his best game was probably against Hawthorn in the NAB cup early this year, playing from basically the goal square. Like Sylvia, he still hasn't put consistent football together. As for his efforts on Sunday, they were not full of this passion that some members on here are talking about, but in fact seeming boredom. I'm not sure if he was underdone going into the Eagles match, but he certainly didn't look interested. On more than one occasion, he let his hard working team mates down, by not chasing out of defense and not going hard enough at the contest. I'm sorry to bring a negativity to this thread, as generally, I'd agree with a lot of the positivity being put forward, but I'd still question whether the Sylvia/Bate combination will help win us a flag. And that's digression for you. So to stay on topic...Cale Morton is a gun.

Yeah, I hope he gets a senior game soon. I can't wait to see how he goes.

I think Wheels has still got at least 3 good years left in him. He might be slowly down a little bit with injury, but he's still one of our best players. He's always solid and leads from the front with his tackling and hard at it style of play. His presence in and around the team is important for not only our emerging backs, but all our youngsters.

Jared Rivers did rather well in the competition in '04 though.

The "captain's goal" being a leadership goal, in a big moment of a big match.

This is true. Hence the word, generally.:D One must admit Neita did have the ability to kick the captains goal though, whereas I don't remember Millsy really stepping up and kicking one, when we were in desperate need.

Whilst, I will admit there have been a few times (particularly last year), when I have questioned Bailey's ability as a senior coach, overall, I think he's doing a pretty good job. It's too difficult to tell really. We're not really looking to win games this season, rather trying to get games into our youngsters. In two or three years, that's when we can truly judge him as a coach. I'd give him another two year contract at the end of this one. Especially, paradoxically, if we win the wooden spoon (and less than 5 games), because it really is a case of "winning" the wooden spoon this year.

This kid is a beauty and you could tell from his very first match last year he had something special. I had no idea he'd racked up 30 odd on the weekend though, until I read the figures today. I knew he was prominent, but I thought Jones was more effective the other day. When they interviewed Cale before the game, they touted him as a potential key position player. I'm not sure I'd want him playing there. I think Bails has his position right at the moment. That said, when he beefs up, I certainly wouldn't be against the idea of throwing him up forward. He's a good kick, but probably a better kick to kick, rather than shot on goal. He's probably our most exciting young midfielder. IMO anyway.

I'd agree with you MelbournePassion, then again we are slightly biased.

That's true. I'm with that. Beat our biggest foes. As for Bails taking off our two players, would that have been Flash sitting off for ten mins (I did notice that, but it didn't even occur to me-good man;)). Who was the other one? Brucey?

Yeah, I noticed this as well. I got the feeling he was taking the [censored], because a few moment later he said something along the lines of "Brad Miller got the goal that time". There were a few moments like that in the call. Either he's got no idea what he's taking about or he's taking the [censored]. Either one is plausible.

Unfortunately, it'll be between the late 20,000s and the early 30s. There's still too many Melbourne supporters that don't come to every game. Alright, buy a membership, but we also need them there on the day, otherwise we write out a check to the AFL every time.

Adam Goodes was or is Captain for Sydney isn't he?

Spot on. I'm right with you.

I think it's more a case of handling our list cleverly. I think that's what they're doing. I was told by someone close to Wattsy that he'd play round 4 or 5 and they obviously changed their minds on that one. Now they're saying Round 11 apparently. This is an example of clever list management. I would say give Watts a go even latter than Round 11, but anywho, I suppose we'll have to give him at least 10 games this year. I'd say they'll be careful with one of our best and most promising defenders (although they're all very promising) Colin Garland and won't rush him back either. I think we've certainly tried our guts out, the last 3 or 4 weeks and probably the entire season and our skill errors have ensured that we haven't won some of them (ie certainly Adelaide and probably the Eagles too). I'd expect though, that nearing the end of the season, our skill errors will begin to drop off and we might just be in danger of winning in an upset or two. I just had another look at our fixture and we could easily win at least 7 games this year.