The Chazz

I wonder if he would be best served spending the preseason back with the defenders?

An absolute disgrace that Smith has been extended. Is this Mahoney's last [censored]-take before he is rightly moved on?

@Lord Nev any word on a play for Casboult?

Well, firstly your comments about Geelong being clean skins. They aren't, and I doubt there's any club in the comp that are. Geelong are happy to take players with a bit of baggage if they think it will increase their chances of winning. That is Scott's influence. They had no hesitating taking on Steven last year, who was coming with his own battles, just like they had no hesitation taking Mitch Clark a few years back who was also known to have his "issues". Both of these appointments happened on Scott's watch. With regards to the salary cuts, etc. Yes, players did take pay cuts from their officially lodged salaries, but I know for fact that they arranged players to be paid outside of the cap. Again, they wouldn't be the only ones. If they offer Viney a contract, it won't be big dollars, but that won't be all he gets paid. You can bank on that. And based on your comments around the Eagles, their issues weren't just 90s, they were in the 2005-2012 era (remember the names Cousins and Kerr, et al?).

C'mon Bobby, do you honestly think that was his first video? Looking at some of your comments about Geelong, you are very naive.

Didn't stop them picking up Jack Steven...

Very generous assessment.

"Reasonably realistic wish list"? Is that different to an unrealistic wish list? All due respect, what you have listed above looks quite like the latter. But, perhaps your "sources" have told you something? That reminds me, I haven't checked my Facebook feed for a while, best get on to that. All seriousness though, it will be interesting to see what the changes to the soft cap will be, and how clubs structure their FDs moving forward. Chances are a model like the above will be about double what we will be allowed to pay, so it'll mean people will be taking a reasonable pay cut, or clubs will have less staff. One thing for me is that I'm really questioning Ben Mathews' ability. We have some gun midfielders, a gun ruckman, yet we can dominate the clearances.

I couldn't GAF what Bombers fans think. That said, I have no interest in getting Brad Scott, and that's based on what North fans think! We can do better? Really? We want an experienced coach, and ideally one that understands what success is. Who is on this list that meets these requirements? Rutten is coaching Essendon, Worsfold's just the spokesman. Exactly, he's not coaching them (as per my point directly above this one). Geez, that's a bit harsh. There's numerous posters in here saying they want Yze, surely they are all taking the [censored] too?

Amazing to think we are 5 pages in, and this post will be the first time his name is mentioned. There's a bloke that's absolutely gettable, has been a premiership coach and won two as a player, was a ruthless competitor on field, isn't afraid to give a spray where needed. John Worsfold. He rebuilt West Coast's list over 3 years (2008-2010), then saw them win 18 games in 2011 and 16 in 2012. West Coast were generally a bloody hard team to beat when he was in charge (yes, I appreciate the home ground advantage argument) other that those 3 years mentioned above. Then in his last 3 years at Essendon, they too have generally been around the mark. He knows what it takes.

Why can't you just let us blame Essendon. It's much more fun...

I would imagine Harmes' kick:handball ratio is like it is due to our game plan coming out of defence being to get the ball in to the hands of the better kickers (is Salem, May and Hibberd).

I could literally argue against every single one of these points (in terms of you wanting Jones to get to 300). If I do, I will be accused of "Jones bashing", so I have zero interest in adding anything more to this thread. Feel free to PM me if you want my response to each one of your points. In answer to the OP & thread title - "let's keep him going"? No thank you.

There's just no way that I can see us winning this game. We have liabilities in Jones, Wagner. An underdone Gawn. We have hit and miss players in Spargo, AvB, Hannan and Melksham. That's almost a third of the side with serious question marks on them before we even start. Then I look at going in with no genuine small defender, against a team that has a small forward 4th on the league goal kicking ladder. So many factors that point to a heavy loss. Dees by 11 points.

Don't be so cynical Ethan. There's lots of good "facts" that get posted on Facebook and the likes.

Smith "bashing"? Really? Here's something for you, I'm telling you what I think. Don't like it? Ignore me then. It's a forum, princess. I don't believe Smith is a senior level footballer, and currently, it would appear that our coach doesn't either. He gave him a fair run early parts of this season, and the guy, not surprising to some, didn't take his opportunity. It happens.

I appreciate the effort you went to compiling this list, but I was after just Cat B, which you also provided. And basically confirmed my thoughts. Thank you.

Why does Smith continually get this golden ticket from our supporters? Like that bloke that this thread is about, he's just not up to the elite standard that would see him cement a spot in the seniors. That's not being critical - they have both achieved a bloody lot more than me, but we just need to accept it. Put it this way; if we put both Wagners and Smith up for trade, would we get a bite? No. Would they get picked up as DFA? No. I'd actually be interested to know how many Category B rookies have gone on to having relatively successful careers on any list.

Gee, I started to panic when I saw the name of this topic. Thought it meant he was back for this weekend. I'd rather his and Corey's great uncle, Robert, in the side before either of these two play again. I'm sure all teams have these types of players, but I reckon @WERRIDEE could come up with a "handy" team on paper that have been our our list that would fit in to the category.

The Dogs are quite a fast side. We will know a bit more about Jones' effectiveness going forward after this weekend I think. If we win and he continues to be visibly slow, then he has to go. If we can't beat the Dogs, then we are just making up numbers so they might as well keep playing him.

Yeah, I hear you, HT! I just fast forward to a Prelim against the Eagles at Optus, or Geelong/Brisbane/Richmond on the Gabba, and can't help but thing that we are going to need everything to go right, as well as pulling a couple of things out of our backsides to get up. Smart teams will play through our weakest links, and for the Eagles who like to run, that will be playing through our slowest players. Where HB has it over Jones for mine is that if we can get 5 minutes of brilliance out of him, it could be enough to add a 2 or 3 goals on to our score. This isn't something Jones could do.

Good question, that will take a complex response. As I look at it, I think of the players out of the side at the moment that either should be in, or are competing. Gawn, Jackson, Bennell, Rivers, ANB and Hannan are the most realistic group that form part of a combination of players to come back in (*I'm not suggesting all have to come in); - Gawn is a no-brainer, and will take the place of Preuss. - Jackson's season is likely over, so that saves the argument about Jackson vs TMc (which Goody might've seen room for both, who knows). - I really rate Rivers, and even though he is a kid, I feel that he deserves a spot in the team based on exposed form. If he is going to be played off the HBF, then does that mean we move Harmes out in general, or can he move to a HFF role? - Bennell is the enigma in all of this. I feel that in most games he's been going at around 35-40%. Can we afford to carry that in to a final? When he plays on instinct, you can tell the class is there, but are the mental scars worth the gamble? We know his best is better than most in the team. - ANB, while disliked by many on here especially, is a role player. ANB's best is satisfactory, and Jones' best is way beyond him. - Hannan I rate, but has accepted that some weeks he's poor. So, who do I replace Jones with? I'd be seriously looking at Bennell. A 35-40% Bennell is of much better value than a Jones that is probably at 75% of his best. To be honest, I'd actually prefer Rivers in the side, but don't think Harmes should be dropped because of this. We then hear that Bedford kicked 4 in the scratch match on the weekend, so what could he bring to a half forward line?

Totally disagree with this comment. Look at the good sides, the ones that will be challenging for a flag. They have multiple avenues to score - if it's not through forward half domination (ie get it out of the centre, then lock it in), then they can make the switch to have their best scoring avenue to come from the back half. Given how our backline is going at the moment, I would expect a team like Geelong would need to set their forward entries to start in their backline, chipping around half back then going through the corridor. That's where a slow player like Jones will see us slaughtered in a final against these types of sides. (If you read that last paragraph, it's exactly the way they beat us earlier in this season).

I totally agree, Dr. I think list changes at the end of this year will be quite easy (ie Wagner x 2), and some tough calls will be made a lot easier if there's a reduction in list sizes (Hunt, Jones, ANB, Smith).

Yeah, you're right, I have continued to watch. But it's bordering on embarrassing to contribution Jones is making to the team. His pace is a liability, and smart teams (that are smartly coached) will start their defensive movement forward through him. I think it's quite clear that the FD has decided to try its best to get Jones to 300 games, which should keep some/many happy on here. It'll be a great and worthy achievement for him if that happens, especially to be just the second player in our history to do so, but if it's potentially at the expense of us winning finals, then I'm dead against it. Feast away.