Little Goffy

That said, indeed, all the best to Bennell. If he's lucky and works hard he could be the next Steven Armstrong - fill a role, do it adequately, get a premiership medal. Stranger things have happened.

It's just about time to close the thread and come back in three to five years and see how he's going then.

BANG! BANG! BANG! Right on target.

Just a reminder of exactly what it is that AFL players get paid so much for. It's not 'being good at football', it's 'being good at relentlessly pursuing excellence'. Garlett might have to deal with some abuse over the fence, probably with a little edge of racism to it as well (we are talking about the kind of 'heroes' who abuse players over the fence at WAFL games, after all), but he's got a better chance at being happy succeeding in the WAFL without burning out his willpower, and being closer to the other things that are more important to him than top-level glory, glamour and cash.

For what it's worth, I'd charaterise depression as being more like diabetes than cancer. Needs continuous monitoring. Everything you do has to take it into account. Generally, you've got it for life, at least to some extent. There's no established 'cultural practice' for family and friends to provide appropriate sympathy and support. But Managed well and with good information, the harm can be really effectively contained in most cases, and people can continue to live life in full. - - - - - Anyway, whatever the actual trouble for Mitch is, he is a lucky, lucky man in terms of his contract and working conditions. That doesn't mean he is doing even the slightest thing wrong by the club or the supporters. If anyone wants to be upset about it, try to keep perspective as far as recognising that ithis is a general 'AFL/sports elite distorted pay' issue, not a Mitch Clark issue.

Kilda players And that is the colour code selected to -reduce- the visual clash. That's why people get worked up about it - it is completely idiotic and fails even in it's intended purpose. Combine that with the club colours being traditional symbols of group identification and pride, it becomes insulting. For many supporters, every time they see those dopey clash strips it is like a sign hung on the players saying "Your club's symbols and traditions are less important to the AFL than our petty errors in spurious pursuit of a TV compatibility that was never an issue to begin with"

Golly. Monday's heroes are back. We're saved.

Well, pardon me if somebody else beat me to this. But I for one am not surprised that we already have a... a... ah, hell, I can barely bring myself to say it. Salem witch hunt.

Light hearted, but also obviously loaded with disdain and superiority. Gandhi would be on twitter these days. It is all remarkably easy to filter for what actually matters to you, with a few clicks you can never hear about My Kitchen Rules again. Good times.

If I can summarise the emotion currents of this thread - Reaction 1: Mitch is an honest hard-working player, was excellent for us whenever he got onto the field, has had an appalling run of injuries and now seems to be emotionally overwhelmed by the seeming futility of trying to get back on the park after yet another injury cruelled him just as he was getting right. He deserves our respect and support and should be left to get his head right. Reaction 2: We (the fans and members) in this situation are the employers and Mitch is our highest paid employee. His injury run has been frustrating but we understood these things happen. Now he is taking indefinite full-pay leave and we aren't even being given anything like a clear reason for why. We're on a frighteningly tight budget, we need everything to be going right, and Mitch's salary means we lose other players to free agency, or miss out on player's who might have been brilliant fits for our needs, then we have a right to feel dudded and angry, and to feel like Mitch is being just a bit selfish. It's not an either-or split, personally I lean a lot more to Number 1. But there's no denying that Number 2 creeps around in the dark spaces at the back of many of us.

How is not a key tall, he's a very dangerous third tall or creative half-forward, who in theory can run through the midfield a bit as well. But regardless of his position and how out of place he was, he didn't contribute a lot saturday and needs to lift. Probably the biggest individual disappointment of an otherwise 'team-level' disappointing game. That said, Howe has not yet build up any kind of pattern of consistent performance. Can be excellent, has had some truly potent games not only in effect but even in the gross numbers he accumulated. Obviously, it's a 'persevere but monitor' kind of situation.

Wonder how good Viney's links with Hawthorn are, whether he talks much to his former midfield group, whether has a good picture of what they think of Ratten now?

With several Carlton supporting friends and family, I've been well acquainted with their saga. Ratten was dealing with a dangerously over-rated list (including in the list's own eyes, shall we say), an interfering board, and all sorts of expectation/entitlement attitude from the Blue's fans. Despite their string of top draft picks, their best 22 had, and still has, a terrible lack of 'completeness'. Many players were deeply damaged by mis-coaching under Pagan and a horrendous party culture that lasted a very long time. Plus, Ratten knows all about being stymied by having a talented but perpetually injured forward, the potently absent Jarred Waite. I'd be comfortable with Ratten at the Demons, with a good support group. Would want to keep Rawlings on long-term for instance. Operating as a succession plan rather than a wholesale turnover helps the continuity enormously, and may mean we get the best of both Roos' and Ratten's professional networks coming on board. That means connections with the Sydney, Carlton, and Hawthorn coaching panels. I'm talking myself into it here, so I'll ease up and just say 'yes, that would be acceptable', especially if it becomes Roos for the three years with Ratten arriving a little early to be a gun midfield coach. We have the cattle to create something potent with some quality coaching in there.

Was excellent, and particularly it has Watts and Jones who kept popping up in the last quarter as our only players who genuinely looked able to threaten to take the game back from St Kilda. Definitely needed a couple more to contribute like that on the night, but, there's no denying that if this is the 'new Watts', we've got a serious addition to our team.

Pederson as our only fit key forward and Frawley as our only fit key defender for three quarters. But that's not enough of an excuse for letting three of their defenders get 32 marks between them. 6 goals, 15 behinds, mindblowing inaccuracy. But we still should've had it. We had plenty of inside 50s, ten more than St Kilda, and even had more marks inside 50 than St Kilda We won the hitouts, we broke even in tackles and contested possessions. But lost the clearances 30 to 40. I'm pretty gutted. I'm quietly angry. I'm genuinely anxious, because if we can't put it together for a game that was so heavily weighted our way before the bounce, what can we expect in less favourable circumstances?

Hmm... 10 or 15 minute compulsory rests. So... that would mean a cap of approximately... 6 rotations per quarter maximum. Not sure you've thought that one out. Nevermind that the players would be constantly jogging the boundary to keep warm on breaks that long. And that rugby league point... you're kidding right? Or just stating the opposite of reality as a kind of confuse-a-cat ploy? Anyone who thinks that there are no contests in the game, and no long kicking, and no open spaces, well, I have to admit they just seem a bit silly to me. We're not even one round in, if you can't tell that there are serious differences in the way each game is played, and even how the opponents in a single game approach it differently, frankly you're just not watching. Essendon v North, for example, was a textboook case of two teams with radically different set-ups and tactics squaring off, where at different times in the game it broke in favour of each team, resulting in surges of scoring and, shock, an unpredictable game! Awful awful stuff.

But by bit, picking apart St Kilda. Let's start with the St Kilda midfield stats for 2013 Top 5 (Average per game, lazily rounded) Disposals: Montagna 29, Steven 27, Dal Santo 25, Hayes 23, Armitage 21 Clearances: Steven 5, Hayes 5, Armitage 4, Montagna 4, Dal Santo 4 Tackles: Armitage 5, Hayes 5, Steven 4, Montagna 4, Jones 4 Inside 50s: Montagna 4, Hayes 4, Steven 4, Armitage 4 Ray, 4 Goal Assists: Milera 1.1, Schneider 0.8, Hayes 0.7, Steven 0.7, Montagna 0.7 Hitouts: McEvoy 20, Hickey, 12 Sorry, didn't do much formatting, looks like a jumble. So to simplify I highlighted the players who will be on the field on saturday... So... Armitage it is. An extra note on just what has been lost - for their center-clearance figures, only Jones and Armitage are left who averaged more than 1 per game in 2013. Schneider and McEvoy were also in their top 10. Aside from those named above, the entire rest of the Saint's team combined for not quite 3 center clearances a game. The Saint's aren't just missing players, they are missing their entire infrastructure and midfield system. They've gone from a midfield core that has been playing together for ten years to a midfield core that has never, ever, set up together before. Incredibly, Tom Hickey vs Jake Spencer is looking like an even match-up in the ruck, and Hickey will have even less relief options than Spencer will. Even Spencer's extra 7 kilos might tell by the end of the game. This game was tailor-made for our new midfield to enjoy itself and really crunch in hard, denying all initiative to what will be a St Kilda on-ball group that is physically lighter, inexperienced, and which has almost entirely played as a support act to the guns which have dominated the Saint's midfield for most of a decade. Further compounding the problem for the Saints, the Demons have by necessity put together a list with midfielders on almost every line. In defence, Georgio appears to be a more stalwart type than one with flair and run (though his disposal efficiency is excellent), but with Frawley and McDonald both being among the most mobile tall defenders in the game, the scene is set for a lot of running. This is mirrored by the Demon forward line's minimal presence of talls, just the steady grind of Pederson and the classic young tall forward mystery of Fitzpatrick. Howe, who was billed at the start of preseason as playing more time up the ground and in the midfield given our wealth of tall forward options (cry about that later), is named as a forward pocket. Byrnes and Kennedy-Harris provide small forward targets, but again, Byrnes career has been spent with regular rotations through the midfield. He may not be especially inspiring, but he will get a lot of time on ground. Also named up forward for the Demons are the known running machines Bail and Cross. Some my argue that Bail should indeed focus on cross country, but the 'whole-team odometer' just keeps climbing. And it all adds up, especially with the ball expected to be sailing in from the midfield on a regular basis. St Kilda's forward line looks traditionally structured, with Riewoldt the prime CHF, a couple of true talls (Maister and Stanley) and a selection of potentially dangerous young mosquitoes to send in. But keeping the likes of Templeton, Billings and Saunders up forward where they can dangerous means eating into the rotations for the depleted Saints midfield. Or it means running them the length of the ground over and over. All three of them, plus Tom Curren, would be candidates for the sub's vest; basically skinny teenagers with barely a game between them, all four under 80kgs, in a team which must keep as many of it's 'full time' midfielders and especially onballers out there for as much of the game as possible. You'd have to feel for poor Dunstan, who'll be asked to not just contribute but be one of the key figures at most stoppages for the game. And there's the rub. Not only are St Kilda missing their best midfielders and their ruck, through trade, injury and suspension, they simply don't have even the solid contributors to the midfield that they need to sustain the game. W'ere talking about a scenario where, if it were Melbourne, Salem, Jones and Kennedy-Harris would be asked to carry the main on-ball load. Talented or not, it just can't work and will get uglier and uglier. Listing the 'true midfielder' rotation options ends the story. Melbourne Jones, Vince, Michie, Tyson, Cross, Trengove, Toumpas, Grimes, Watts, St Kilda Jones, Armitage, Ray, Dunstan, Newnes, Savage, Geary It is going to be a killing. I'd be surprised if the margin was even respectable. They simply don't have anyone capable of doing damage in there.

Also, following up on the Fitzpatrick talk; In 2013 he was our leading goals-per-game player, admittedly with only 1.4 per game. And, perhaps surprisingly, he's got a reasonably accurate record of 18 goals 11 behinds for his career, with most of that being 15.9 from his 11 games in 2013. For a young forward, he goes alright, just saying.

Farout? Interesting idea, but he was more a flanker than a key forward.

Well, 20 is Joel Selwood. Since nobody else bald is in the top 10, obvious number 1 is Gary Ablett. Another giveaway; 7 is obviously Tyrian Lannister.

Bluey: Jack Trengove Goalkicking: Jack Fitzpatrick. Most Improved: Jack Trengove Number 1 ruck at season's end: By seasons end, Max Gawn. but expecting a lot of changes in priority over the course of the season. Best first-year player: Jesse Hogan. Well, this one is just unfair. Kennedy-Harris might surprise but that's the only plausible upset. James Frawley, stay or leave? Stay. Will sign before mid-season. Season win tally: 8 or 9. Yep, I really believe it.

Well, certainly no other forward managed to sustain the status of 'prospect' for seven years on the list. The others were either de-listed or became actual forwards! Meanwhile, I don't understand why we're talking about either of Cook or Newton given that Jack Fitzpatrick perfectly fits the role of the 'young, raw, beginning to show promise' forward. What we're missing is the mature, 'reliable all day' kind of forward, and a decisive power forward with a bit of flair. Both of which, allegedly, we'll have back in a few rounds Best of luck to Fitzpatrick as a big responsibility has fallen onto his shoulders for the very important start of a very important season.

Plus the handling fee.

To hate North Melbourne would require that I am in some way emotionally stimulated by North Melbourne. In principle, I'm glad they rejected being rolled into Gold Coast - would have been unworkable in any case. But beyond that sliver of solidarity, North are kind of a 'who cares' club for me, like West Coast, Adelaide, Brisbane, As for the 'no song for the away team... meh, whatever. I'm getting a bit sick of the sheer amount of contrived noise before, after and in the breaks of games anyway. Personally, I think if Melbourne wanted to make a stronger home atmosphere, the visual path would be the one to go with. More Red and Blue, please. Also, something like a steady roar of approval, disapproval, and involvement corresponding to events favouring or disfavouring the Demons would be good. Like, getting a whole bunch of people to turn up to cheer and boo and clap and yell and wave flags and all that. That'd be a brilliant plan.

I'm really hoping that Toumpas, listed as a forward/half-forward, takes a whole pile of leading marks across half forward in the second half against the Saints, sets up a string of scoring chances and kicks a couple of running goals himself, providing the decisive factor in a game where forward spark will be our great weakness. Just because that'd be great anyway, and it would ease the Wines pain + sook, and because it is gives us all a chance to wheel out the 'Ryan Okeefe type player' cliche.