Little Goffy

I wonder, has Scully ever not been tagged? Not many teenagers are given quite that much attention. Throw that together with the amount of work Scully does in close anyway, and the kicking efficiency is pretty good. And yes, looking at under-18 stats, you'd have to say that there's a general 10% improvement within a year or two at AFL level, though obviously there are plenty of exceptions. Part of this is just the way the game changes. Remember also that we're talking about a kid with a berserk determination to improve, at the Judd/Buckley level, so set him up with a couple of AFL level coaches and he'll just bloom and bloom.

After last week's effort from everyone, the only reasons to drop a player would be suspension (obviously Sylvia) or to rest them. Resting looks like it could only really apply to Morton and Jurrah. Personally I'd like to see Jurrah keep going, he doesn't seem to be slowing at all, to me. Morton I love, but psychologically if he would understand that he is only being rested rather than 'cut', then I think a week or two at Casey might help him refocus. Bell is someone I always want to see come good. Something about him always seem right, even when he's doing things that seem so wrong. Dunn deserves a shot. Half forward, negating. If Jurrah gets rested then I'd have Newton come in to see if he can get a few positives out of the season.

When I said Jack Watts has supported Melbourne since high school... You know he is in high school now, right?

Brock Mclean did not support any club as a kid, so that he wouldn't have any torn loyalties when he was drafted. (Not kidding!) I think that counts, in as much as the Demons are his only ever club. I know Jack Watts has supported Melbourne since he was in High School...

Martin is smart enough and diligent enough to do it. If he started to look like he wasn't developing towards that, then it'd be worth narrowing his role. But if he can do it, well, let's not put any barriers in the way!

I've pointed this out on another thread too. 23,000 is as much as 8,000 more than we would have been likely to get against this opponent, in this weather, after those last few weeks, and in this extraordinary round. So let it go, huh?

I'll be there! I'll actually be there! I'm chipping away at this 'distance' part. It'll be great to actually get along to an event. See you there.

I thought both had fairly mixed games but where pretty good all up. Robbo really did look a lot like the Robbo we love, and did the things we love to see him doing. Rivers, much the same sentiment. The kicking was a big let down a few times, though. But, the Jared Rivers 'game' was back at least. Jack Grimes.

Can't take any pleasure in NikNat having a poor day. And I'd reckon WC wont be unhappy with the pick any time soon. BUT I can and will take a lot of pleasure from seeing a massive FAIL for all the bandwagoners who had been tearing at Watts with comparisons to a couple of good quarters from NikNat.

Yeah, whatever. For what it's worth, that's about 6-8,000 more than the game would likely have attracted normally, maybe more given the weather and the extraordinary set of tight and significant games over this round. Edit: Removed pointless personal comment and also thought to note that the effectively season-ending clash between the 'record-membership Hawks' and the surging Doggies only got 36,000. The whole state has set their football ration to sunday - I know people who won't be watching their team on sunday in order to make sure they see the Saints-Cats. And also, gee that Jack Grimes can play!

If we win, the story will be 'Did it for Jimmy'. If we lose, even in a big way, the story will be 'emotionally exhausted demons'. Come on, who would sink the boot in now, huh? And personally, I despise this 'do it for x' stuff. Does it mean you don't care if you don't win a game of football in the same calendar week?

Bingo! Exactly. Which I think means... midfielders first? I like your observation of the inside 50s / score assists. How about that, a constructive and informed use of statistics to illustrate a point borne out by match-day observations. Kudos.

Now, I know Bryce Gibbs was made a part of the Carlton leadership group before he'd even played a game, but we seem to have taken it to a new level with a player coming out and making statements for the club before he's even drafted... Scully backs Watts to find form I'll get in first - MAKE HIM CAPTAIN!

Just on the Watts comparison... Q1 - What do the following players all have in common? Tredrea, Hall, Brown, Pavlich, Fevola, Lloyd, Roughead, Riewoldt, Franklin? Answer; Stats about the same as Watts has now, in their first year. Only Richardson, of the current big name forwards, had a signifcantly better stats start with a whopping 11.4 possessions and 2.2 goals a game. Q2: How many games and goals did Wayne Carey get in his first season? 4, 1. Bascially, you have to go back to Gary Ablett Snr to find a star forward who really got going in their first season, the freak kicked 3 a game even in his first year.

Well, for a stretch there, I think it was just bum luck that we missed out. Injuries to guys like Schwartz, Tingay, Lyon, and just badly timed runs (like coming up against Essendon in 2000!), and of course the poor facilities and resources. But I watch myself for falling into self-pity and 'couldabeens, they wuz good times, for those who held out through the previous quarter century. I look forward to the old guard finally getting their well-earned reward soon.

Yeah, from all account he's returned to mediocre Wheatley, rather than handy attacking Wheatley. His defensive effort has never really been enough to justify him unless his attack, with that long kick, was up to it. Doesn't look like we'll see much more than some farewell games from him. He may get to play in the glorious round 22 win over St. Kilda. The secret reason I hope St. Kilda beat Geelong this week is that I want them to go undefeated right up until they hit us in round 22. It'd be historic! They'd hate us for a generation!

I was interested in the suggestion of using him as a tagger. I don't know if he has the running power yet though. And there's the warning offered by Dunn's move to midfield tagger after a stint as a forward. But in genral, I like Petterd and certailny wouldn't consider move him on until he's had at least another pre-season and season into him.

Just for persective, here's a sample of what turns up at picks one and two, going a fair way back. Interesting to that only Headland, Ottens, Hodge and Roughead have played in premierships from this list, and that three teams make up 50% of the last decade's top 1 and 2 selections. (Saints, Tigers, Blues) 2007 1- Matthew Kruzer 2 - Trent Cotchin 2006 1- Bryce Gibbs 2- Scott Gumbleton 2005 1- Marc Murphy 2- Dale Thomas 2004 1- Brett Deledio 2- Jarryd Roughead 2003 1- Adam Cooney 2- Andrew Walker 2002 1- Brendon Goddard 2- Daniel Wells 2001 1- Luke Hodge 2- Luke Ball 2000 1- Nick Riewoldt 2- Justin Koschitzke 1999 1- Josh Fraser 2- Paul Haselby 1998 1- Des Headland 2 - Justin Longmuir 1997 1- Travis Johnstone 2- Brad Ottens Since we already have 'our Riewoldt' - My question is, how big a deal do you think such a pair might be, and what would be, for example, you 'BEST CASE' and 'WORST CASE' scenario's out of these 1+2 selections. Best Case - For mine, I'd go with Hodge/Ball or Deledio/Roughead if choosing a set. Worst Case - Oh dear god the 1998 draft sucked all the way. If the 'Gold Coast' draft is like that, they'll never recover! Mix and match, let's see what you think will help us the most.

Viney well ahead of Buckley for my thoughts, if we do make a change for 2011. By then Viney Jr might be playing for us though, would that make it more likely or less likely? But as for Bailey, what standards should we measure him to? 3 wins in first season? (Checker Hughes) Or perhaps, going backwards from nine wins and a draw in his first, to three and a draw in his second? (Norm Smith) Seeing out the three year contract is the absolute bare minimum of time Bailey deserves, no matter how painful in the meantime. We shouldn't really even be speculating about his future until at least half way through next year.

Yeah, I put Buckley and Voss in the same ball park, except Voss captained premierships and Buckley captained Collingwood. But seriously, neither of these guys have ever dealt with crap facilities, shattered lists, total absence of established champion players, continuous financial tension, minimum possible salary caps, and limited coaching support staff. The guys came from the lands of intravenous drips, hypoxicators and high-altitute training junkets. Not to mention bonus salary cap concessions. This time next year we'll have all the facility essentials up to a very good standard, but none of the la-de-da those two have only ever known. Right now our facilities are a lower relative standard than even our current on-field performance. Coaching Melbourne is a tough, tough job. Particularly at the times that both Bailey and Daniher before him came in. Can we refrain from sticking in the boot just a little bit longer? And for what it's worth, it was four weeks ago that all sorts of people were openly talking about the strength of spirit, courage and effort to support teammates that we were displaying. It was the turnovers and inexperience which let us down, and not by big margins. We're slumped at the moment, we're obviously sapped of mental strength. But seriously, why not take a moment to enjoy comparisons with Carlton getting thrashed just as badly despite all their super-picks and star trade-ins being three or more pre-seasons developed than ours?

Paid. Bumped it up to $50, too. Seems to be a pattern that everyone gets so excited when it works that they want to do it some more!

Do you want to be Hawthorn or the Kangaroos? With pick 1 and 2 this draft, we can complete our midfield puzzle for the next ten years. And captains of their respective state sides, for what it's worth. And as for 'buying in' leadership, how did Carlton look in the leadership stakes on friday night? But what do you expect from a guy who, last place he was captain, bailed out as soon as things got tough?

On the one hand, we've created a new defination of mid-season slump - going from losing games to losing games badly. On the other hand, we still don't have even one of the top five worst losses from the season, and this round at least two other clubs have copped it just as rough in the same round. We need to move on some loved but declining veteran players, despite the heartache. We will. We need to add some genuine gun midfielders through this draft or thorugh the kids who aren't even playing yet. We will. We need to get some games and pre-seasons into the very young forwards. We will. We need to move into better facilites to do those pre-seasons and for year-round training. We will We need to work and work and work on the kicking, and conditioned response to take the first good option more often. We will. The issues where I'm not yet confident with the 'it'll happen' response are - The way the team is set up is simply too negative and defeatist. - we need to have the courage as a team to leave four guys up field; 2 in the forward 50 and 2 ready to lead and link from half-forward to wing, then either feed to a good running option as the break from half back or spot up a long kick to one of the true forwards in space. This is such an important emergency option if the run-and-carry gets stuck or if there just needs to be a rushed clearance from HB. Even when it's in our defensive 50m, you have to maintain that forward threat. No point getting it out of there if it just comes back in; eventually one gets through and we're down a goal. And in the meantime, our chances of a rebounding goal are minimal, and our chances of turning it over as we try to go forward and much higher if there's aren't good options to look for. Our running at the moment is for athletes running a 10km time trial, rather than footballers bursting and resting over and over again. - as a general rule, our onballers need to get their arses lower to the ground when they run. This means better agility/change of direction, better bursts, and better range of movement plus pushing power slip out of tackels. People talk of it being impossible to tackle Gary Ablett Jr. Take a look at how low he carries his hips when he runs in traffic, and how each stride seems that much shorter than normal. When someone does manage to match his pace and weaving, he can not only push off and shimmy, but also lift his whole body up just a few centimeters, loosening the tackler's grip that tiny bit more, either breaking the tackle or giving that little bit more movement to get a handpass off. - we have too many players running in a middle gear constantly, rather than switching between the Chuck Norris speeds of 'lurk' and 'kill'. Not enough 'kill' in particular. It would be interesting to see one of those charts of distance travelled and time spent standing/walking/jogging/sprinting. I reckon we'd have too much time spent in the 'jogging' frame compared to the current benchmark clubs. Between the things we know are going to happen, and the things I've mentioned here, I think we can make pretty dramatic improvement over the next 18 months. So all up, I'm with the thread message of 'relax'. Try to focus on the things which do need addressing, and let a lot of the futile angst go.

A thread about getting a marquee player suggests trading away Mclean, Jones, Sylvia and Rivers? Dunno what has been wrong with Mclean this year, but his best his 'BOG in finals' stuff. Sylvia has turned it up consdireably this year and if that is his new level then have no doubts that he'll be a marquee player, never mind being part of the 'Derek Zoolander club for ridiculously good-looking people'. Rivers may not be marquee, but if he's out there consistently then gradually people will start noticing the backing into packs again, and start remembering that HE WON THE RISING STAR AWARD. It's not looking like Jones is going to be 'marquee' level, but it is astonishing the way people on here underate his contribution. Required player at the least, and 21 years old. No no, I think we should trade out Davey, Watts, Jurrah, Morton, Wonaeamirri, Blease, and of course Scully and Trengrove! On your way, Mr Macnamee, you approach would be the death of this club.

Bate is a 'keep' for mine - at worst he'll be solid depth and a nice option for the booming long kick goal for at least 100 more games. At best he'll be a goof half-forward/forward. He's better than Miller already. Risk-reward possibilities say 'yes'. Which brings me to your second point... Miller is in the leadership group and has been in the team for some time on the stregth of his 'great work ethic and leadership'. Certailny that's the reason I've put up with second rate actual performance from him over the years. But if he wants to start being selfish and cutting at teamates, Carlton can have him. Though he might last long enough to go to Gold Coast (He's from Mt Gravatt after all)at some foolishly inflated price. After all, he'll still get games next year, probably close to goal, with Robbo to retire (surely?) and the rest of the forwards having hardly more AFL experience than me! I think Petterd deserves a bit more time. At the very least until end of next year (another Queenslander, y'see?). Paul Johnson has been doing so much right but making an abosulte mockery of it with the sheer number of outright screw-ups. He'd be in serious trouble if we had better ruck options, but I think he has to be kept for now, and it may yet work out... Jamar deserves his spot, and I honestly thing he's improving despite the really annoying injuries in what should have been his break-out year as first ruck. I'm seeing a few more contested marks and a bit better running from him in the few games he's played this year. Persevere.