DeeSpencer

Don't want to be negative nelly but the proliferation of VFL teams (new Rich, WB and stand alone equivalents) has almost certainly weakened the comp. It should theoretically make the gap even bigger between AFL and VFL. That said Salem playing well is great to here. Bit sick of hearing about Kelly, Aish, Bontempelli, Billings etc.

Nope. Gold Coast are very good at the clearances (one G.Ablett helps for that, but so does Prestia, O'Meara etc). We could win the tackle count by plenty and get smashed in the game. Contested possession + tackle count and we go a fair way to winning.

Yep it picked up. In fact first quarter I'm looking at the game going we are tackling but why aren't we getting the ball. Then you realise we aren't sticking them. The problem is most teams and Gold Coast are one of them are strong and much better than Carlton at getting the ball back. So whilst our effort to initiate the tackle was consistent last week, this week we have to make them stick as well.

By the time Jetta's suspension was over it wasn't long until Neeld's coaching was too. Craigy didn't seem that keen to play him either although did get him in at the end of the year. I'm hoping Jetta plays well and offers something. Hopefully he's better than cousin Leroy who seems to come in to Essendon's team usually when they start losing as case in point that last two weeks.

I would think Jetta the sub unless they want to give JKH the rest and use him on and off to nurse him through the season. Evans to take Kent's spot and whilst he's has different strengths he's a good runner with a burst of speed and can hopefully provide some good leads and good pressure. He did his role last week which was to come on and mainly put on pressure to stop Carlton getting back in the game. The week before that against GWS he found the ball but either failed to mark it or do anything smart with it. Needs to find his composure this week. Hope Kent is just tightness, his physicality and at times glorious left foot are badly needed going forward. It was his 40m wheel and spear that literally bounced of Frawley's chest last week, probably the best kick to a leading forward all year and besides Davey that we've had in a while.

Worst thing about AFL games on a Sunday it means with most of the VFL on Sunday that someone will miss a game completely due to being emergency. Probably one of Jetta or Toumpas. I'm sure the big clubs with their Friday night fixtures encounter less of this.

I think they get a pay bump. That said Jetta might be on more than the rookie minimum anyway so it might be different in this situation. Considering Trengove and Clark's spots are open for the entire year and Hunt and King are a long way from senior selection there is no harm in upgrading Jetta (and Georgiou already) so that they at least are on level footing with everyone. That said it was a quick elevation so I would imagine Jetta is every chance to play on Sunday. We will find out soon

Our modern recruiting has been so bad I think recruiting via advocate probably wouldn't have been the worst idea. Remember the Lewis Jetta story. Not to mention the cats got Mark Blitcavs by listening to Cam Guthrie's dad. I think it's part of the problem with the Wines deal. Todd Viney was probably concerned enough drafting his son he didn't want to draft his sons good mate and be seen to be favouring. What a farce we were that Todd Viney did the recruiting in a year where his son was up to be drafted just because we couldn't get enough pressure on Collingwood to release Taylor.

So you start a new team. Memberships - you might get 15k Tassie members, maybe enough to support the team, probably lose a few members for Vic clubs, TV viewers - small increase in Tassie but most Tassie people watch footy already, not a huge change Attendance - so you get 15k to each game, again enough to support the team but that's about it, You lose crowds in Vic because Melb v Tassie doesn't attract nearly as many as Melb v Hawthorn would. Each of Tassie 11 away games draw smaller crowds and interest Junior participation - no huge change, Tassie kids play footy already All up it's not really growing the game much at all. Plus all the talent pool is further divided and there's another perennial small club even if it is financial due to a good stadium deal and government backed sponsorship

Brisbane Population - over 2,000,000 Gold Coast Population - 590,000 And both are growing at steady rates Hobart - 217,000 Launceston - 86,000 Neither are growing Even if starting a new team and definitely if moving an existing team Tasmania is diversifying the AFL so you can cover a larger area. It's not expansion. You only need to look at the draft numbers to see kids from Tassie play footy (and get drafted). Queensland provides around the same amount of players and either equal or lesser talent despite probably 10 times the population. It might cost a hell of a lot more but Queensland and NSW are the frontiers for expansion. If you want a quick return on investment by starting a new team then start a third WA team. Look at Freo, no flags, minimal finals and within 20 years they are a powerhouse club.

But how does it work? Based in Melb and play 3 home games in each Tassie city and only 5 Melbourne home games? Or based in Hobart and play 4 and 4 in Tassie and 3 in Melb? Or 5,5,1 or 7 and 4. Seems like a debacle waiting to happen. North successfully fended off the AFL moving them to the Gold Coast when they were in a worse spot than they are now. Plus the Gold Coast offer guaranteed them financial security pretty much as long as the AFL were strong.

I liked his work in getting the ball to McKenzie who snapped it round to Frawley to set up Frawley's goal. It was highlighted on one of the footy shows when having a go at Daisy Thomas. Was a clever piece of crumbing.

Nah Adelaide are as up as down as Daniher years Melbourne and Bickley doesn't inspire me. I don't think he even wants to be a senior coach.

Hope Spencer is ok. He came off with about 10 minutes to go looking sore in one of the legs but then came back on after a rest. He doesn't need much training though I would've thought considering he had a huge work out on Saturday. So likely a good rest and a few minutes on the bike might be enough to keep him ticking over and he can train later in the week. On Jetta. I don't like defenders less than 185cm unless they are lightening quick and attacking. It just make it hard for them to beat opponents in the air and to match up on a range of opponents. If lost in traffic you want your small defender to be able to roll on to a mid sized forward and still have a chance to spoil. As Jetta isn't a damaging attacking defender I do worry about him defensively cause he could only play on true small forwards like JKH, you wouldn't want him up against a Lindsay Thomas/Michael Walters. It's a bit of an issue for Clisby as well but Clisby seems to me to have a bit more height and speed. What Jetta has is clean skills, neat evasion, bit of mongrel for the ball and man. I still think he can contribute forward and midfield but it has to be that he's still got a lot of development potential. I don't know how much injuries and coaching have detracted from his true potential. We may be starting to find out.

I'd say more than 50 especially the longer the season goes. It's the medical staffs job to work out what pain is dangerous and what isn't. Unfortunately they got so close to nailing this one - they had repeat scans etc but couldn't quite get there. That's what's led to my frustration. Although I bet our medical/fitness staff are just as frustrated, or I hope they are.

I'm pretty sure all medicine is an imperfect science. Take Mitch Clark for example. Has his foot repaired with a screw and then that screw causes pain and inflammation and has to be removed. Isn't that the definition of imperfect science? Same with Blease and his leg etc. Judging by the doctors, physios and surgeons that we use I do believe our foot team are probably as good as any in the AFL and high quality. That doesn't mean they have missed an opportunity here.

Jess is also a physio. I tell you what I'd give a penny for her thoughts on what's happened to Jack. Jack's attitude in the press conference was fanstatic. And far better than the attitude I would've had if I just found out I'd been nursing a sore spot in my foot for months and now it's cracked. One thing this has shown is as the physios will all admit we know so little about the feet and managing the huge loads that go through them. My problem is not that foot diagnosis and management is an inexact science, the bickering in this thread is testament to that. My problem is that I think they missed an opportunity by not stepping back and looking at the overall picture. I also think that Melbourne should take note of the way Geelong have led the league in seeking overseas answers to their complex problems.

Oh please. Remember the AFL came from the VFL. It's funny you mention Ballarat. It's as large as Launceston and commercially not far from Hobart, both are big country towns. Put it this way if Tasmania wasn't a separate state but was another part of South Australia or Victoria would anyone complain about two country towns each getting their own share of a clubs games? The amount that North and Hawthorn have been paid for their games is excessive but it's also what the Tassie government/business decided to pay for the games. I don't think anyone forced them to. If they wish to pull the money from those clubs and attempt to state sponsor their own team then good luck to them. I'm sure the AFL is always receptive for bids for new teams but you have to able to show how you'd be expanding the game.

With Stephen Gough the MCC CEO a strong Carlton man and Carlton looking to move from Eithad to the MCG I am a bit nervous. Coll, Haw, Rich, Carl and Melb at the MCG. I wonder who gets squeezed out. 55 home games. Minus 4 for Hawthorn in Tassie, minus 1-2 for Melbourne in NT hopefully short term, add in a few Geelong and Ess home games at the G. Still above the required games at the MCG, or more worryingly below the required games at Etihad. Games like this Sunday against Gold Coast are a big test. On the back of a win we have to get a decent crowd. However being Easter Sunday doesn't help

Max Gawn? Jessie Hogan?

1. With the Tassie economy and population (and split between North and South) I can't see how a stand alone team down there makes sense 2. 18 teams, no way is a 19th team coming in for Tassie. 20 teams looks way too many as well. If a team does go full time down there it will be moved from a Vic team 3. Anyone watch Q+A and see incoming Tassie senator Jacqui Lambie, you really want to give the people who voted for her a footy team 4. What's wrong with Hawthorn 4 games in Launceston, North 4 games in Hobart? We have to be a stronger club so we aren't even thought about in these discussions because otherwise yes people at times will think about either folding us or relocating us to Tasmania. However I don't see Tassie as a threat to us, more that if we continue down a path of self destruction they will pick up our ashes.

Initially got 3 weeks. Changed to 2 weeks due to a change in medical reports. Initial reports from the ground said the player he hit behind the ball was concussed, failed the concussion test and can't remember the game. The doctors report given by Peel (Freo's reserve team and Sylvia's team) said the player Sylvia hit wasn't concussed. It seems the WAFL have a crazy system where they only get 1 doctor for each game provided by the home team and that doctor does the medical reports for both sides. It seems Col got lucky to only get 2 not 3.

What is Roos going to say about Watts? Watts is talented, he has a lot of potential but very little of it has been unlocked so far. He was an important signing for the club. He was victimised by the previous coach. Of course Roos is going to pump him up and then get to work developing him. So far he's 1 good game, 2 just ok ones, 1 shocker. Not many have height, speed and the occasional perfect silky kick but outside mid who doesn't rack up many touches, doesn't win contested ball, doesn't tackle etc, they are a dime a dozen. Here's Nic Nat winning a game. Can you remember it? One man clearances, goals out of the ruck, perfect forward ruck taps, big marks. Right now due to form or injury or both he's a very average player. But he's had runs of form particularly in 2011 and 2012 where even with little on the stats sheets by marks or possessions he's been a very good player. No way is he worth 1mil per year. Yes his AA was pretty soft, I didn't agree with it. No way can you confidently say he's a future star as his development has stalled. But he's still got all that's needed to be an above average ruckman, he's already been that and the highlights package is just a bonus.

Your post prompted me to look up who our current medical and physio staff are. Our head physio according to the club website is Gary Nicholls. He has a great reputation as according to his profile - http://www.opsmc.com.au/physiotherapists/gary-nicholls.html Our listed 'head doctor' also works at Olympic park sports med and has worked at Collingwood for many years - http://www.opsmc.com.au/sports-physicians/dr-paul-blackman.html Our secondary doctor who I often see at trainings and games came on board to replace Dr Bates from Lakeside medical. He seems more interested in the kind of Dank related stuff I'm really not impressed by - The foot surgeon I believe most of the Victorian clubs use is also at Olympic park - Mark Blackney. If the truth is that Clark's foot these days would not be holding him back then I'm a fan of his work. Either way false negatives and getting reassured by a false test is still bad medicine. Hogan was also put through a game with back soreness earlier this year. I'm not going to label them mistakes as mistakes imply someone is at fault but I will say they are at least 2 opportunities lost in which players bodies gave warning signs yet went undetected. I do hope they are learning from them and they are utilising the access they get by training at AAMI to some of the best specialists and using them early.

By the way Matt Jones still stands out above a lot of his team mates for his attacking run in his midfield play. He runs like Port players do when they force a turnover he's always off on his bike looking for the next kick or handball and thus creating space for others. Not sure about his defensive running but as the Mark Neeld game plan showed if you aren't moving in forward then defense wont work much. 2 things we need to be a better side in terms of the running Viscount was talking about is more people running for the ball like Jones and more people running with the ball like Viney did. Of course win the ball at the contest, defend well and use the ball well are still the basics behind any plan but it was just something to note from Matt Jones and Viney that had me noticing their games.