The Chazz

In: JKH, Newton, Fitzy Out: Bail, MJones, Spencer I'd play Howe on a wing this week, and have JKH and Jeffrey at the feet of Hogan and Dawes. If Brayshaw doesn't get up, then Riley comes in. Newton plays sub, unless Riley plays.

Hey RPFC, care to explain his stellar effort this week? Gone from "best zero disposal half I've seen" to "f**king hopeless" with his 8 disposal, zero tackle effort tonight.

FMD...

Biff, watching League Teams last night, it's clear that Brad Johnson has a clean record, but the host, well, he didn't exactly deny any involvement in similar activities to what we are discussing.

Regardless if the above is true or not (not saying it isn't JV), the issue is that it is an accepted practice within the AFL. They are encouraging illegal habits under the current policy.

Dee-luded, I've been on Demonland for a fair few years now. I'm certain it wasn't that long ago that you posted mostly semi-normal stuff on here. What the [censored] has happened to you mate? I'm seriously concerned.

I did consider that, mo64. Let's wait to see how the rest of the year pans out.

I have found it interesting that Roos has shifted him back to the forward line. What's his (PR) number 1 mantra? Defence. Where did he play Frawley, a known defender, for most of the year when there were serious questions about him staying? Forward. Why? So he can get his defence settled and learning to play with each other. For the past 12-18 months, Howe has been playing in defence. Over the past few weeks, he has shifted him back forward. Why? So he can again get his back line settled so that they play bulk games with each other, setting them up for a big 2016. Roos wants his backline settled as quickly as possible. We have McDonald, Dunn and Jetta as locks. When fit, he will add Frost to that. We have two vacant spots. His sheer disappointment with the injuries of Garland and Salem is telling me that they are his preferred two. Because of those injuries, he's had to play H there, which is not where he wants him (wants him in the midfield). If Howe was part of Roosy's future, he'd be playing in the backline. For those that don't agree, let's look at the forward line. Lock in Hogan, Dawes, Garlett, Watts and Kent, we have one main position to fill. With Petracca coming in next year, and JKH returning from injury soon, where does Howe fit in? I've said for a long time, Howe has the greatest trade value for us, especially when comparing it to onfield output. We have the potential of bringing in another role player and/or a young midfielder, all from a bloke that hasn't cemented a position, and someone that I would consider "depth". In a few months, it may be proven that I am way off the mark, and will happily admit that I was wrong if this transpires. However, I don't think I'm far off the mark at all.

Maybe Roosy thinks we'll play "that" final this year, so his work is done 12 months earlier than expected? (Edit - this post isn't serious. Or maybe it is. FIIK!).

He's that perfect height of the Roosy and Rossy's modern day midfielder - 190cm, yet hasn't been given an extended run in the guts due to his inconsistencies playing of either end's flanks. I can absolutely see Freo making the call, but would they big nervous about taking another Melbourne HFF on reasonable coin? An interesting note, in his 90 games, he's amassed 3 Brownlow votes.

It might be just me, but I find this "3 strike" policy hard to deal with. The AFL are encouraging players to take illicit drugs, by giving them three warnings before they face punishment. The problem is, especially in the case of the Gold Coast players, it's likely that they won't be punished (ie named and shamed, or suspended), so for the greater community, there's a sense that they have been "let off". This then creates the mentality for some that it's ok to take these drugs as there are no consequences for doing it. It trickles down to state league players, then also through the U18 group. Then there is the big problem, especially in regional Victoria, where the local leagues are quite strong, and clubs have significant amounts of money that they can pay their players. They are treated like rock stars by their local town, so they try and mirror the "AFL rock stars". I know this sounds very judgemental, but I know what I've witnessed in a fairly major regional centre in Victoria. While I'm not suggesting that punishing AFL players is an attempt to change societies drug problems, I'm in no doubt that a percentage of football followers are seeing this as a "if it's good enough for them, and they get away with it, then it's good enough for me". Fact is, taking illicit drugs is breaking the law. We have a policy in place that is allowing this to happen multiple times before consequence. End rant.

And what do you do to get value, Dr? You play them in the seniors. If they have a game where they get 4 possessions, you tell the world how important they were to the team.

Hence why he is pumping him up at any given opportunity. I would be very surprised if he is at the club next year. Time will tell.

I'm presuming you're talking to me, so I'll ask you to highlight where I am guilty of this. You say Howe played well in the first half, I would say that he played his role. Clearly we have a difference of expectation.

All part of the great Paul Roos plans to make someone pay a premium price for him. 0 disposals in a half of footy? Apparently the best 0 disposal half the coach has ever seen. Who was the last 0 disposal in a half player he had seen? Put it this way, a think a majority on here have called for Howe to be dropped at some stage this year. What would this do to his trade value? We have a pure genius in charge of the team, and is playing this perfectly. I'm starting to get excited about who we may be able to bring in to the club because of Roos' efforts.

While the Hawthorn and North relationship with Tasmania is quite beneficial for both clubs, I'm quite glad that we're not one of the teams that are "in" down there. If the AFL wants to "create" a new team, which is likely at some stage in the future, the logical place would be Tasmania. The fact the North are one of the "poor" clubs, and that they already have some solid foundations down there, it would make it a lot easier for the AFL to shove them, if that's what they so desired. Imagine if we were the ones playing a handful of home games down at Tassie over the past decade - all corners of the community would be calling for us to relocate. North, in my view, are only three poor consecutive seasons away from this being a strong possibility. In regards to the Northern Territory experiment, I'm all for it. It's a financially rewarding thing for the club, so immediately gets a big tick from me. For many of the remote communities in the state, there is only one sport for them, that's the AFL. For kids to be able to see current players, it brings great joy to them, and I think that's fantastic. Does it see an increase in memberships from these areas? Doubtful, but looking at the crowd when we play at Darwin (or Alice), there would be an increase in merchandise sales. The added bonus is the community work that the club does - you only need to look at the clips of Trengove and Petracca to see how much the players actually enjoy doing it, and gives them a bit of a reality check at the same time. Until we become relevant again, we have to put up with what we are dished out. We are mostly to blame for our current predicament, so we need to do the hard work and get back to relevance, then we can start asking for more. I'm hoping we may have more bargaining powers at the end of 2016.

Excellent, he shouldn't cost us much then. A preseason under Roos, Goodwin and McCartney and he'll be in Brownlow contention!

We've gone from palliative to critical but stable, hardly call it an attractive destination just yet.

I can assure you, the coaching staff have Frost marked as a long-term full back. This is from the mouth of one of said coaches as the end of the preseason games. To top up our list, I'm still hoping we can target Coniglio, using Howe in some sort of deal. Another player that I'd look at would be Bastinac from North. I say this as I noticed him playing reserves last week, so not sure if he's been out injured, or if he's not part of their regular 22. Any intel on this bloke would be appreciated so I can either highlight his name or cross it off my list.

Serial offender of not being able to play on someone taller and heavier than him - amazed we didn't isolate him sooner. That said, we didn't need to so all worked out well.

Averaging over 20 possessions a game at 75% effectiveness. Would be a handy addition. That said, I totally agree with your latter point.

Oh how we would love $cully playing for us now. True outside player, runs all day, starting to accumulate high possessions per game. Getting fed the ball from Jones, Vince, Viney, Brayshaw - $cully would be the perfect addition to our midfield. That said, if it wasn't for his scum bag actions, it is fair to say that we would not have that kid running around with number 1 on his back. Realistically, we have won out of that trade, but GW$ haven't lost either. But I can't help but feel like that little Mexican girl on the TV - "why can't we have both?"

There's about 45 different combinations of ins and outs next week, with a reasonable case for most of them. So I have NFI what changes will be made.. Does Casey play this weekend? If so, that might make it a bit easier, but it will still be guess work! For the sake of this thread; Ins: I think one to all of Hogan, Garland, JKH and Fitzpatrick come in Outs: I think one to all of Bail, Spencer, Riley and Stretch go out As I said, I have NFI!

I posted this in a different thread a few weeks ago... While I won't be broadcasting the games I had us winning (other than having us beating St Kilda and not beating Geelong!), I'm still satisfied with where I think we will finish the year.

Given you will be leaving about mid-way through the third quarter, and that there will only be another 85 Melbourne supporters allowed in to the ground, I don't think you would need to worry about missing the train home...