Dr. Gonzo

He was sitting near me at the top of the old Ponsford Stand at the 2000 GF - couldn't believe someone who had sat in the first row for every game since I could remember couldn't get a better seat!

Trengove and Tapscott did

Agree if Saints take Petracca we go Brayshaw and McCartin, if they take McCartin we go Petracca and Brayshaw - in my opinion. I think it's 50/50 as to which way the Saints go.

See if you can pick the difference in this situation...

Don't worry too much I get the feeling we'll have another early pick next year we can use to draft and develop our own star.

I'd also like to know how accurate he is in front of goal. Haven't seen any of the u18's this year and was thinking Petracca/Brayshaw would be the way to go to bolster our midfield but getting another big forward to pair with Hogan and have Dawes next to the lm wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. We'd have to delist/trade two of Fitzpatrick and Spencer/Gawn though you'd think.

Whenever we played Richmond.

Yep but I don't just mean a size thing either. It's also do you get a Hodge/Judd or a Scully?

One of the main issues I have with the "top pick = potential elite" is are these kids that good or are they only that good compared to the other kids they're playing against?

His 1998 r22/finals series was exceptional but nothing will beat that 2000 season he had. He kicked I think 76 goals which for a small forward is unbelievable. His bags of 7 and 8 against Freo and WCE at Docklands were superb including one goal kicked off the ground from about 40 out near the boundary.

Also love the fact he has started to hit the scoreboard, was the only real query I had about him but looks like he's got that covered.

He doesn't look particularly strong but his strength through the core is amazing. Looks almost impossible to tackle, stands up in the tackles and around the stoppages and even when tackled is always able to get a handball off. Love this kid more and more every week.

I thought that after the first few games as well - it's because most of his possessions seem to occur within packs.

Neeld could take some pointers from Lyon about how to speak to journos without actually saying anything.

Support publicly, critique privately it's fairly simple. The coach should be shielding the players from the media's rubbish not adding to it.

So who is the "one" who you have heard stuff that indicates they want out - if it's the one I'm thinking of it's the one of the three we can least afford to lose.

Some of us want to hear what he's got to say and don't read every single thread on here so want him to keep posting. If you don't like it put him on ignore, simple.

You seriously can't see the difference between clubs who lose A player and us who could potentially lose 5 of our top 10 (or at least starting 18) in 2 years plays a number 1 draft pick the year before?

Supporters are for the most part realistic. They're not going to hang a coach for not making finals in his first year or a GF in his second but it's not too much to ask to see some improvement and an indication they are on the right track. That's all we ask is to see we are on the right track but nothing in the past 2 seasons shows that at all.

Well what do you expect? The man is a cokk.....roach.

Agree, I'll freely admit I know nothing about the relationship of those in the club and can only go off what's reported in the media and on here, all of which I take with a grain of salt. On this thread I have one anonymous person telling me he has links to players and player managers and saying there is an issue and another anonymous person telling me knows an employee who works as a fundraiser within the club saying there isn't based on their observations in the rooms on matchday. Taking them at face value I'd have to go with GNF's comments over yours and remembering that it is with a grain of salt. I only say IF the relationships with Neeld are an issue then he has to go but ultimately I'm not in a position to make that call.

The same people were in charge of the club at that time, just had a different coach and now a new (temp) CEO. And, with all due respect, a fundraiser wouldn't have much idea of what's going on with the relationship between coach/club and players regardless of whether they have access to the rooms or not.

OK maybe saying we can't afford to lose Watts is over the top because it would depend what we got for him. If we got a good midfielder in return it wouldn't be a big loss. But we certainly can't afford to lose Frawley and we can't afford to lose Sylvia for nothing. Davey is also on his last legs so if we lose all of them I can't see how the hell we will 1) field a team next year who could beat even Port Melbourne let alone Port Adelaide and 2) meet the minimum cap requirements for next year. The club needs to make retaining these players a priority as we will be in big trouble if they all walk considering the dearth of talent on our list and the plummeting "games experience" stat that will be pointed to as reason to give the club/coach more time to be even competitive. If Neeld has to go to make sure these guys are retained then it has to be that way. You show me our best 22 next year if these guys all up and leave.

I agree it should be on them but the fact is there's no way we can afford to lose one let alone all of them.

IF (thats IF) we lose Frawley, Sylvia, Watts & Davey retires/leaves or signs a much smaller contract how in blue hell are we going to meet the minimum salary cap requirements next year?? And don't say we'll poach players from other clubs (Dale Thomas) because there is no chance in hell he would want to come especially when other clubs (eg GWS) could offer him the same amount of money we could to play in a rubbish team albeit they have a rosy future. Pedersen will think he's hit the jackpot as we'll have to restructure his contract to pay him $600K/year just to meet the 95%. This is my fear about Neeld. Losing the games, losing members etc I can cop to give him a bit more time to see if he can coach but if we are going to leak all our senior/best players because of him and have to field a VFL side next year he's gotta go now. Losing the players is what will hurt the club, members and sponsors will always return when we start winning but losing the players will mean we are just another 3-5 years bckwards from where we are today. The person who mentioned Fitzroy losing Lynch, Roos, Pert, Osborne etc hit the nail on the head.