Little Goffy

Little surprised there's no KPP in there, especially with Rance having been available at 14 at Pears available at 21. Still, I guess that means they got the players they wanted rather than the leftovers, if the choices were rated higher than those options. Excited about Maric now that I've heard he has an 80% goal kicking accuracy - sheesh!

Well, I've gone with Rance over Rioli for 14, so I'll take Vesprezidente at 21. Potato Pears if it's Rioli at 14.

Arrrggghhh... It's Rance or Rioli, surely our luck will be good enough for one to slip? I'll say... Rance

Morton Morton Morton, everybody loves Morton.... I'll just throw my name on the pile.

Pcs have virus problems because billions of people are using them every day, constantly transferring information. Macs are, admittedly, much better insulated from such issues.

If the Kangas refuse to make the move North, will the AFL veto any further deals where they sell games up there, and move the deal to another club? An interesting and potentially ugly scene there. Even with the 'soft-loan' arrangement North would still be in deep trouble without the income from the sold games. The AFL would rightly much prefer games which were a possible prelude to relocation than mere 'exhibition matches' from clubs that have no deeper connection with the target market and fans.

111645 Rhys Palmer, WA, 13 February 1989, Small Midfielder, 181.4cm, 79.8kg. He was the leading possession winner at the 2007 NAB AFL U18 Championships averaging 32 per match and was named the undefeated Western Australian teams Most Valuable Player and also earned All Australian Honours. Demonstrated elite endurance at the 2007 NAB AFL Draft Camp at the AIS in Canberra where he ranked fifth overall in the beep test (14.8) and second in the 3km time trial (10min 25sec). 111942 Tayte Pears, WA, 24 March 1990, Tall Defender, 190.1cm, 91.8kg. Composed and disciplined tall defender who is renowned for his good decision making and excellent use of the ball. Recorded an outstanding 2.92 seconds for the 20m sprint – placing him in the top 10% of players at the 2007 NAB AFL Draft Camp. 113904 Alex Rance, WA, 9 October 1989, Tall Defender, 192.3cm, 87.6kg. Strong, hard running tall defender noted for his dash off the backline. His father Murray played 97 matches with the Western Bulldogs and West Coast between 1986-1990. Alex was a leading player for rebound 50’s with Western Australia and averaged 17 possessions throughout the 2007 NAB AFL U18 Championships earning All Australian Honours. There they are. One after the other on the offical list. I see Palmer 4, Rance 14, Pears 21. I'm sorry guys, but we have an omen here. Time to pack up the discussion and start picking out their jumper numbers and nicknames. And maybe learn to say nice things about Western Australia. But not too nice.

Played at East Fremantle, yes? Isn't that where Woey played out his days before helping out as some kind of assistant coach? Mmmm.... Woey with skills. Well, that settles it, it's Palmer, Morton or Masten Unless Cotchin slips to 4... Or we decide to make sure of Henderson or Rance Or CAC banks on Cyril Rioli Or puts his money on McEvoy delivering in the dual-role Oh Jeebus Christos, and this is just the first pick. Now... the first four named, I think we're all ok with having them on board at pick 4. Preferences, each to their own and all that, but we wont be complaining and will love them dearly (even if they turn out like Trapper) The rest we'd love to pick up but I think we all want to go for the finesse and hope to land one of them at 14, right? Ok, can I make a request? Could someone start a new thread with some kind of a 'map' of our draft - Pick 4 and the likely players. Outsiders for pick 4 that might slide to 14, plus other good options at 14. And possible sliders who we'd love to see at 21. Give Height/Weight and usual role/type. And give each one something like the three word analysis people do here after games? Would earn whoever did it massive Brownie points. Maybe CAC would like to come on, you know, in all that spare time he's got.

That's a golden post right there. If there's one thing I'm sick of in football, it's people who say 'yes, I follow AFL, I'm a Collingwood supporter' but have never been to a frickin game. That, and the absurdly imbalanced broadcast arrangements for Victorian Clubs. Here's a table I threw together based on the fixture, this should be enough to silence anything but pathetic excuses from Collingwood fans. Club Free 2 Air Fri Ngt Sat Ngt Sunday Collingwood 19 7 4 (11) 3 Geelong 18 6 4 (10) 4 St Kilda 16 5 8 (13) 7 Essendon 15 5 4 (9) 7 Carlton 14 2 6 (8) 8 Hawthorn 12 3 6 (9) 7 Kangaroos 10 2 7 (9) 7 Bulldogs 10 3 3 (6) 11 Richmond 11 0 4 (4) 11 Melbourne 10 1 0 (1) 15 Average 13.5 3.4 4.6 (8) 8 * Note: all interstate clubs have ALL games broadcast free to air in their home state. If Collingwood only had double our exposure, I'd accept it's a matter of business. But the limits placed on some clubs so that others can load up on media are worthy of Dick Pratt. It's anti-competitive practices santioned by the AFL in order to create revenue for themsleves. If this is a matter of business, then it should be taken to the ACCC. In internatinoal development, there is a perpetual debate about the merits of 'picking winners' when trying to promote industry in developing countries. Those in favour argue that by choosing an existing company in the, say, electrical supply industry, and then pumping capital assitance and technology into that company, you quickly get a massive, cost-efficient boost to infrastructure and capacity. Those against this policy tend to be able to envisage the future, beyond a five-year plan, and argue that doing this will result in a monopolistic environment where a single company controls all energy supply and sets prices to suit themselves, resulting in gross price exploitation and a total failure to delvier services to much of the population and economy, who then need to be perpetually subsidized. Guess which one the AFL is pursuing. Envisage, beyond a few years, what it would do to the AFL competition in Melbourne. I think, over the next few years, a campaign will be needed to replace the 'competitive balance fund' with a 'competitive balance policy', as the existing way of doing business will ultimately result in the less promoted clubs requiring more and more assitance to compete with the 'picked winners'. Anyway, does the AFL really have the right to choose which clubs are commercially advantaged, based on how best it can line it's own pockets?

(shift to evil mastermind voice) NOTHING!!! NOTHING!!! BWAA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAA!!!!!

Agree 100%, the perfect rundown of Davey's role. Sounds like Cyril Rioli is actually the player to take that wider role, with stints up forward, almost a mirror to Davey. Could be fun to watch, but sadly I'm still in the KPP midest for pick 14. If he slips to pick 21 I'd be stoked.

I remember we went with a very young team full of speedy rookies a while ago, to play the Doggies in Darwin. Worked a treat, gave some seniors a rest and got us a win. I think there are enough credible players on our list, plus the eight or nine new players (counting rookies) who will be coming in, to put a serious team in for Preseason Round 1 without damaging season-long fitness. Top of the list of Pre-season inclusions would be Miller, Newton, CJ, Frawley, Holland, Buckley, Bode, Garland, Dunn, Yze, Sylvia and all three of Jamar, Meeson and PJ. All of these players are in a position where they need to demonstrate their performance, and you wouldn't automatically book them in for all 22 home-away games at the moment. We'd probably also want to get some game time into Rivers, Whelan, Bartram, Petterd and fingers crossed Moloney. And We'll be wanting to try out the new guys, so theres a few more. F: PJ Newton Yze HF: Dunn Miller Bode M: Buckley CJ Petterd HB: Whelan Rivers Bartram B: Frawley Holland Garland On: Jamar Moloney Sylvia Int: pick 4, 14, Warnock, Meeson Basically, we're looking at a reserves side plus returns from injury. Interesting that it is very tall. All of Neitz, Robertson, White, Bruce, Green, Carroll, Davey, Bell, Bate, Jones, Mclean, McDonald and Wheatley have missed out. Obviously, based on warm-up matches, training performance and so on you drop a bunch of players from that line up and bring in a few more experienced/obvious performers, with Bruce being a recommendation (needs confidence) and probably Wheatley to replace on of the less mobile talls. It'd be an interesting experiment to see how our rucks go without White, too.

Melbourne has announced a systematic leadership strucutre review, hiring the same firm which reviewed Geelong's on-field leadership structure last year (with some success, I s'pose we can say). I for one thing it's well due, and I don't think I'm alone in holding just a little bit of anger that Neitz has had to carry so much of the leadership burden almost single-handedly, taking the field when he should have been given more time to recover. It particularly bugged me when I was having a look over his player stats today. Putting aside for a moment the two injury blasted years of 05 & 07, he has been an incredibly consistent performer - Year Goals Disposals Brownlow Votes 02 82 228 11 03 65 185 8 04 69 187 10 06 68 204 10 05 and 07 were both characterised by Neitz taking the field despite having injuries (including multiple injurues each of which would have sidelined a mere mortal) in order to provide a leadership presence . With a better leadership team in place, Neitz will be able to take the time necessary to recover from injuries and will be a 50+ goalkicker for some years to come. Anyone at Demonland have ideas on the best plan to deal with the leadership problem?

It's very true that the preseason cup has been soiled a little by Carltons two wins, particularly the second. Still, a little bit of it's credibility has been restored by Geelong's clean sweep this year. I think the Demons have a responsiblity to win the Nab cup and then finish top four, just to help it's reputation. More seriously, a win over the reigning premiers, at their home ground, would be a very positive way to come out for our first competitive hit. It's also a possibility when you consider that Geelong will be exhausted from all their partying and we'll all be fresh as daisies given our exceptionally short injury list. Short injury list? When the hell did that happen? I'm also keen for a first up win because we'd be playing up here in merry Canberra in round two. I get emotional about Demon pre-season games up here because it was the first time Aaron Davey ran out in Melbourne colours; and at such a small stadium where you can practially touch the players from the stands, the evidence was pretty clear that the hype had reality behind it. I'd love to see another first game like that.

Wow, three coaches in one. I'm impressed. Thanks for clearing that up. I like his resume, he might cringe at 'Player Welfare and Development at West Coast' but it would seem to be before the present 'era'. Still a valuable aspect for a Sandy coach.

Careful, we may yet see Woey on the fitness team THAT would be a an interesting turn-up. I believe he's got a coaching appointment in the WAFL for a year or two, but it could be fun having him around. I wouldn't know personally, but his reputation is that he was first-class in his commitment and professionalism to training. Now, just clearing something up, is it Anthony Lovell or Andy Lovell? I've found an Anthony Lovell who played just over 100 games for us from 88 to 95, then moved to WC for three years. Jumper number 16 at Melbourne. Is that the guy? (interesting side note, statistically his two best games out of about 40 for WC were both against Melbourne)

A compelling argument. There's no-one in the draft with the surname 'underpants', so Captain Dangerfield will have to do.

Don't go thinking I'm declaring PJ a superhero - I did say he was being groomed to replace Ben Holland, who plays in about 50% of our games. You're also right about people not wanting to let go of Miller. He's not starting 22 right now in my book, and younger players are passing him by. But I do believe most of his problem is mental, a confidence issue and an issue of being unsure exactly what he's supposed to be doing out there. That can turn around with a new coach. He's a possible turn up, or a 2008 delisting. I agree that Sylvia, Bartram and Mclean are all likely to have much improved years in 08, for various reasons. I chose Green because I think he's the one most likely to be greatly affected by the new coach. The coaching change could really help Green shake off the disappointing aspects of his game, the way he so often seems to have less impact than he could have. Similar deal with Bruce, Robertson, and even White. Great players but somehow they just aren't consistently taking control of games the way their ability should allow them.

Why does some part of me suspect there's a reason to hate Eddie Acquire here? I'd lay a small bet that he 'strenuously objected' to the creation of this 'welfare' fund for 'financially underperforming' clubs. Branding the dispersment so negatively was probably a lollipop to make Eddie sit down for a few minutes while they got it done. Based on what I've read, the special assistance payment is in effect a payment to smaller clubs so that the AFL (and the big clubs) can extract maximum possible revenue from the draw. One friday night game. More than a dozen sunday afternoons. It's like selling home games interstate, except it affects our financial ladder position instead of our footy results. But I suppose the AFL couldn't really call it the 'commerce is more important than football' fund, now, could they?

Yep, Bailey has been explicit in saying that Miller is a required player and that he expects a big turnaround from him. Has been spruiking him quite a bit. It's been so full-on it's brought some incredulous laughs around here, where Miller isn't exactly everyone's hero. Apparently, "2008 is Miller Time"! I think Chris Johnson will make a big move up the order in 08. He's already a lot stronger now than he was just half a year ago. Possibly to become a Bruce-style utility with a bit of extra strength and a bit less fitness. Dunn looks a likely step up big time, any minute now. A number of other players I think will continue their improvement on a 'normal' schedule, ie Frawley, Bartram, Buckley, Garland, Newton. Sylvia is doing a full preseason - that'll help his cause. I'll be very interested to see what happens to Paul Johnson - I reckon he'll be groomed as the next Ben Holland! But if I have to name one player who I think will really turn on something we weren't expecting and become a genuine A-Class footballer - Brad Green.

You're right, should've been veteran and depth players, or something. But the sentiment is right - young players competing for newly opened opportunities. Mention of Johnstone has me thinking the round 14 game against Brisbane at the 'G. I'm reckoning Bartram is the obvious match-up for TJ, similar build that's for sure. I'm slightly bitter about TJ letting us down for so many years, but not in a nasty kind of way. I'd love to see him tackled fairly but effectively again and again and again until he cries. That's all. So Maybe Junior on to him.

Hmm.... I'll say 350, no... people will check early in the day to try and get immediate reactions/info, and then come back later (once they've voted) for a more through look. 555.

I'm dreaming that all the right players will slide - There are plenty of theories suggesting Cotchin could drop to 4, slim as the chance is. Many have predicted Rance as a slider... I've seen Pears touted around the early second round a number of times... It might seem a bit much to go with two KP Defenders, but lets face it we're still looking for a True CHB and a true FB. Holland will chugg along but isn't going to be no1 FB on a regular basis, I think Carroll would love to be released to be a rebounding tall (and lets not forget that Carroll isn't actually all that young, 27 now?), and Rivers we all know plays best given as independent a role as possible, rather than directly holding an opponent. Rance seems to be destined for fullback, Rivers, Pears and Frawley are all quite flexible, and all four are noted for reading the play and playing smart football. They could become a stunning set of tall, mobile defenders, with the prospect of being the best Melbourne has ever had.

It's a common theme for Australian tourists in Thailand - Beer Beer Beer Beer Beer Beer Beer Beer Beer Beer Beer Beer STUPID. But 'left arm, right arm' is just gold.

I'm just going over the '08 fixture thinking about which games I'm best off making the effort to travel to get to. Queen's Birthday has been fun for the last few years, mark that in. But which games have the highest interest for people around here? I'll start by adding - Carlton in Round five. We should be a bit more settled under the new coach by then, some of the under-50 gamers will have a grip on their increased role in the absence of the veteran depth players Ward/Brown/Johnstone/Pickett/Bizzell. I'd love this to be the breakout game for a new Melbourne. Not our first win, of course, but the first game we really, really show there's something powerful coming through. I don't quite hate Carlton, it's more like disgust.