Dr. Gonzo

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.

I'd be more than happy to do that.

Anchored to the bottom of the table for years on end while all our best players desert us for greener pastures? This really is the darkest timeline.

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.

And tied in with that is who we pick up at the end of the year.

At a minimum; - The same effort as last week. - Some structure coming out of defense (especially with our kick-ins). - Around 80 tackles for the game. - No quarters with less than 2 goals kicked (by us). - Nathan Jones getting a chop-out. - No kicks into the man on the mark. - No jogging to create options and no following your opponent by 5-10 metres when the opposition controls the ball.

Have a look further upfield next time Frawley has the ball in his hands and you tell me what options he has to go to? His decision-making looks slow and poor because he is waiting for one of our players furtehr afield to present a decent option to him. He is not slow physically either.

Not really, it just shows how poor our KP defenders have been. You tell me who has been better?

You've gotta be joking - none of Garland, McDonald or Sellar (Sellar FFS!!!) can hold a candle to Frawley. He is the best defender we've had in at least the last quarter if a century and probably half a century. He's better than Danny Hughes, Ingerson and Shanahan no-one else even comes close (although we have had such prodigies as big Al Nicholson, Phil Gilbert and Damien Gaspar).

They made several prelims in a row only a couple of years ago we've been in the bottom 4 or so for 7 years.

Clark to the ruck/ruck-rover.

The main priority this year is to get his name on an extended contract to secure him for the next 5 years.

1) They still have to be good players who can develop into consistent AFL players 2) Most of our midfield hasn't been around 6 years except Jones & Grimes. This is Trengove & McKenzies 4th season but guys like Viney, Toumpas, Matt Jones, Magner, Evans etc have only been around 1-2 years. We will clearly need to add more midfielders over the next 2 drafts (and hopefully at least one through FA/drafting) but if these guys are good enough the wheel will turn quickly for us if we can keep our KPP stocks (Clark, Dawes, Hogan, Frawley, McDonald) together. The midfield is by far the biggest problem on our list made more evident when you go through the players one by one - we have a lot of "flankers" but not many guys who you would have confidence in running through the middle (Blease, Nicholson, Strauss etc etc)

This was the same critique on Essendon a couple of years back, had good KPP prospects but not enough good midfielders. The wheel can turn quickly because good midfielders are easier to find than good KPP and they develop quicker.

Play him forward FFS.

Dawes when Clark is fit and then Hogan next year will help plug that gap. Gives our players a big leading target to kick to out if defence while still having a key forward roaming inside 50 who can be the target for the next possession. The main reason I thought picking up Dawes was a good move.

I agree Macca but with one major distinction - he is employed to win a premiership, not just games. Of course one leads to the other but winning 10-12 games a year will get us nowhere. If the supporters can see improvements/signs of hope that the side is working towards that elusive flag I am sure they would be much more forgiving in cutting some slack to Neeld and the club. But when it seems we've gone (and are going) backwards the fans won't tolerate it. Today was some good signs despite the loss but I bet you Londond to a brick that good work will be outdone in the next fortnight when Freo strangle us next week and make us pay for our turnovers which Richmond didn't do so much and then against Hawthorn who will treat is with contempt again like they have the last 10 or so times we've played them.

Not only that but often when we do have the opportunity to link up we turn the ball over through skill errors or poor decision making. Richmond won today because they had a bit more class and composure but I thought we played probably the best I've seen us play under Neeld besides last year vs Essendon. Our players put in effort and repeated efforts today and our structures seemed much better than they have been. Our players still have to learn to stand on their men and not 5-10 metres off but with a bit more polish we would not have continually turned the ball over in the back half (especially from kickouts) and would have taken advantage of more of our opportunities going forward. As othes have said add Clark, Grimes, Viney & Watts into that team today and it may have been a different result. If I was a Richmond supporter I wouldn't be too impressed with that game today they played pretty stupid footy for big chunks of time and got "strangled" to an extent by our players dropping back across half back. They had a 5 man forward line for much of the match playing a 7th man loose in defense - if I was a Tiges supporter if be asking Hardwick why? Anyway there was a lot to be maybe not happy but content with today. If we give that effort week in week out the supporters will be more inclined to allow the time Neeld asks for. It is still frustrating though that we've basically lost two games (Brisbane & Richmond) due to poor skill and decision making rather than being beaten as such by the opposition.

Why would Frawley stick around if the coach is telling him he'll be close to retirement before we're even competitive??? It's a joke.

Despite the fact the players are not exerting enough effort and look clueless on the field, we've had plenty of high draft picks over the recent years too - Trengove, Watts, Tapscott, Blease, Strauss, Grimes, Frawley, Jones, Dunn, Viney, Toumpas not to mention the several others we've wasted. Most of these guys have been around just as long or longer than the Gold Coast kids so this is just another excuse to me that doesn't wash. You can develop a team and actually have players having a crack at the same time. Look at GWS last year - they may have got flogged every other week but you couldn't accuse them of not having a go.

Who have Port beaten? Us, GWS, GC, an undermanned West Coast?? Yeah they're travelling better than us but I wouldn't be pencilling them in for finals just yet.

It really depends on how you define "competitive" and what the time frame is based on. But I for one expect the team to be competitive in every single match they play.

Geelong were completely off the boil in the first half last night (especially Bartel) and still almost pulled off a victory. I never thought they were out of the game though it did seem as though they were playing into Collingwoods hands. In the second half they began winning centre clearances and just pumping it forward which saw an avalanche of goals in the 3rd. Did they change up their game plan at half time? Not sure but either way, regardless of the loss they still proved to me they are a great team and deservedly favourites for the flag. I couldn't think of a more intriguing match-up for this years GF than Hawthorn/Geelong particularly if Geelong win the return match later in the year. Would really put Hawthorn's claim of winning the ones that matter to the test.

The come down is harsh. That was brilliant by the Lions, Essendon turned up as though they just expected to win, Lions would have none of that and hit them hard from the first bounce. Hurley subbed off concussed within 10 minutes, another player copped a big charge from behind, Brown slammed into someone. This is what I want from the Demons tomorrow, you don't have to be the most skilled side but if you hit them harder than they hit you you're always in with a chance.