DeeSpencer

I forgot Daniher and Viney as well as Crouch and O'Meara ahead of of O'Rourke. He's really the 6th best talent from his draft year as of the draft. Explains why Toumpas isn't perfect either I think.

Was there on Sunday. Didn't look like the place that would have a gentlemen of that girth behind the bar. They had a range of beers on tap (for a price) with some craft and international ones. Couldn't get a draft. Some nice upstairs seating areas and an outdoor area. I get the feeling it may have been gentrified recently.

I think Adams got a good deal for Collingwood but mainly cause GWS were so keen for Shaw. Caddy was an absolute bargain but he had Gold Coast over a barrel and demanded where he wanted to go. Not a fan of Josh Caddy in how he did that negotiation, very good footballer though. Those guys were both getting games at their club though. We need to be more careful for more speculative guys.

Probably because late 2012 was his purple patch of form that came off the back of solid match fitness. He was good that day as well but the 5 goals was a bit of right place right time, There wasn't a heap of spectacular crumbing or marking involved. The way I see it is Blease is competing for 3 spots with Bail, Byrnes and JKH in them at the moment (with one being the sub). Unless he proves he can be part of the midfield rotation there will only be those 2-3 spots available. JKH has shown me at training he has much cleaner skills and smarter brain than Blease. Bail has had decent preseason form and has elite endurance and good hands overhead. With Pederson at CHF we need some smalls who can present up and draw the ball as well. That leaves Byrnes v Blease. If JKH is the sub then you want the guy starting to be capable of 4 quarters of effort. Byrnes might just be the safer option. As I said before if JKH plays well and can be a starting 21 quality player then Blease can make a good sub or with some VFL form and match fitness he can push for the starting 21. I want a fit, in form and dangerous Blease in the team. I didn't see that in preseason, I saw much the same slow of mind, unable to find the footy, running in to trouble Blease. If he can get strong VFL form before returning to AFL he might get back in that late 2012 form.

Blease's rare runs are worth the goal (or often point) that results from them. Toumpas in the Rich and Geel game did nice kicks inside 50 to turn bad scoring options in to good set shots. That's worth much the same as a Blease run. It's more the negatives of how many times you look up across half back and see a man on streaming to the flank in Toumpas compared to Blease not in the right spot. That enhancement or disruption of ball movement is the key to us beating the saints without decent tall forwards.

I still think saints should be favourite. We really haven't improved that much over preseason personnel wise with the injuries. Vince is a good inclusion. But Viney is out and effectively replaced by Tyson and Cross and Michie are nice additions but not massive upgrades over Rodan and Sylvia. The saints preseason form has that huge mark on them from the GWS game but GWS have now shown they were in pretty decent early season form. If the saints had Montagna and Steven they'd be run away favourites. They don't which evens the game up but it's still at their home ground and who knows when we last won their in a real game.

Toumpas - top 5 in running all preseason. Blease - usually bottom 5. That's the extent of the reasoning required. Another preseason has come and gone and I think Blease is fitter than he ever has been but he's still probably AFL average at best. In the preseason games Toumpas has occasionally looked really puffed but if you watch him at games you'll notice he'll back at the back flank then next minute he'll be in the forward pocket leading then he'll be chasing defenders. Blease just doesn't move all that much besides his very rare brilliant burst runs. Ideal world I think is Toumpas and JKH both play well and Blease can put the pressure on Byrnes and Bail.

I don't know. Stagnation until slowly fading to delisting has been pretty common for a lot of our players. I think Matt is struggling with the Roos game plan. His best patches of play are when he links up well through the midfield as a runner. Using the ball more by foot across half back may suit Trengove and Vince but I don't think it suits Matt Jones. I'm also hoping to see a bit more power in his game around the contests and strong tackles. Mainly if he cuts out the bad turnovers he'll be a much better player. One reason he probably makes the side is because he's handy as a 7th defender capable of playing half back flank for a percentage of game time whilst each of the back 6 get their rest.

Well said. I don't mind alternative opinions. I don't even mind what I consider backward and even plain stupid opinions. But you got to back them up with some logic and discussion otherwise you are plainly trolling. Add insult to other posters and it's a step too far. And plain insults with no respect to players and It's a shame you have to spend precious time and energy dealing with this crap and you have no place here. I really hope we can get a handful of wins or more this season. This place needs it nearly as much as the club.

If we can repair ACLs in 6 weeks we do need more of these pea hearts. We'd be revolutionising footy and probably have Alex Johnson, Nathan Vardy and Dan Menzel joining the clubs. Thanks mjt you are a genius.

Nicholson, Blease, Evans. It seems once again it's 6 months since we've played a real game and we still can't come up with any better depth ready to play than these 3. Oh well. For the actual team: Backline: FB: Georgiou Frawley Dunn HB: Grimes McDonald Terlich Solid. 6 guys who will attack the footy. Not fully sold on Terlich but the other 5 can at least defend. And I'd love a couple of elite skilled players one of which has break away speed but we just don't have that right now. Hunt, Strauss, Salem, Kent, Clisby there's development to be had. And Garland back would be lovely but I'm hoping Dunn and Georgiou can step up. Of course Tommy Mc probably has the biggest job of the lot. Forwards: FF: Byrnes Fitzy Howe HF: Bail Pedersen + resting mids, +JKH (who I think will be sub unfortunately). The weaknesses here are abundant but the strength is reasonably obvious to me. It's about guys who can get up and down the field and who can run to the spots to get the ball. That's where Byrnes and Bail benefit over Blease, not always but more than Blease and others they have shown the ability to get in space and to the right spots. Same with Fitzy he's a decent lead. Outside mids: Watts, Toumpas, Matt Jones Centre square mids: N. Jones, Tyson, Vince Versatile mids: Cross,Trengove, MIchie I might have considered Mckenzie (if he's fit) just as someone who will tackle and chase but I can understand why Roos has gone for as much attacking run and hopefully skill as possible. We need to run all over the saints and use our slight advantage in midfield experience. Jack Viney and then Aidan Riley not too far away but this is our midfield. Let's see them do a good job and run as much as they can, get the ball and use the ball.

Something I'd add is remember Jaeger O'Meara was on merits probably pick 1 in that year, Whitfield pick 2, Brad Couch I'd argue as pick 3. So for O'Rourke as pick 2 and even our own Toumpas as pick 4 are really much more traditional pick 4 and 6. I say that because there's usually only so many elite talents in each draft and the true elite talents are more in top 5 than after that. It's fair to say O'Rourke was a smokey at pick 2 who in reality was a smokey taken as 4th best player from his year bracket. I can't see him still having a top 10 pick value so far.

You do realise the fitness staff stop guys playing with tightness yet alone actual soft tissue injuries so they don't progress. Even with his massive ability to recuperate and play through pain Jimmy wouldn't have played all those games in a row.Calf and hamstring injuries aren't pain that can be played through. If you're attacking Dawes at least do it correctly

Experience and age will make him still important for GWS. And he'll get paid according to his form with some GWS levy. I doubt anyone will want him much or if he'll be too upset with a standard contract after his mega deal

Not sure what to make of O'Rourke haven't seen enough But he has some speed which we need Our second round pick might be set aside for Stretch. Not sure what we'd give for O'Rourke. I'll keep a mental note if we don't see him in the season for GWS that he might be an option. I think they'll look to trade away surplus talls first

Too slow, too soft. He'd be competing with Pedersen but I doubt he'd be an improvement. We might have cut him early but he wasnt ever going to make it. KPP take a long time to adjust to AFL level but Cook was struggling to justify his spot at VFL level. Troy Davis would also be competing with Pedo this week. He was a decent guy and was hard at it, just limited talent and athleticism. I was glad he got a game and had a bit of a crack. Something to tell the grand kids about.

But the earlier we get the person in place means the earlier we have a long term vision for the players as to the senior coach for 5 years. Isn't that what Frawley wants in order to stay? If we don't get someone this October/Sept we will run in to a situation where it is Roos coaching for the next 12-24 months and who knows after that. I wouldn't talk about it much for the next few months and let Roos settle in to coaching. He may then change his mind and figure he's good for 4 or 5 years and then we can just hire plain assistant coaches and see if someone emerges. If that's Caro's point then fine. But mainly Roos seems pretty set in his ways and I wouldn't be forcing him to change his mind and break the deal that was agreed to when he came on board.

Looking forward to them all. Particularly keen to see how Harmes and Hunt shape up at VFL level. I like Harmes at training he seems to have a crack at everything and could make a nice depth mid pretty adept at most aspects of footy. Hopefully he can put in some decent VFL performances. Hunt as well, some pure speed off half back would be great for this team. Obviously pretty skinny and raw but another who could develop nicely. If Georgiou is a confident and competent 3rd tall defender from deep in the rookie draft he must win the find of the year. JKH was pick 40 but he was also our second pick, we were obviously pretty keen on him and his training efforts were great he was switched on from day 1. But it's still early days for him. If he plays well he'll then draw interest from better defenders and so on. Have to remember it's not where these young guys start but where they end up in a few years time. And that applies to both rusty debut performances and great early career form.

Mentioning Mark Neeld shows me she doesn't understand it. It's about bringing in the number 2 to get to know the plan and work with Roos then carry on that plan with some minimal tweaks as needed. Neeld was a failure when we appointed him in charge of everything based off some power point presentations and then he let the club go off on the direction he chose. Sure they will have to make sure they pick the right person for the job and there is some risk involved but mainly it's about keeping stability for the players. It's less than perfect but it was what we required to get Roos. The idea of hiring the assistant earlier is fundamental to it. Hiring Roos was all about him setting the club up with a culture, getting us competitive on the field, getting all aspects of the footy department up to scratch and then setting up a young coach with a side on the rise and looking at sustainable success. For the assistant 1 year is too brief which is why I hope Roos commits to the third year so we have a guy getting 2 years under him but it's the seamlessness of the transition thats most important. It's not going to be Malthouse to Buckley. It's really not that different than Demetriou handing over the CEO of the AFL to Gil McLachlan. As I said before I see no point trying to force Roos in to something his initial instincts told him he didn't want. If we get what he originally signed up for which is a turned around club in 2-3 all set to have the reigns handed over to an assistant who has the trust of the playing group and has desires to continue Roos' work then it will be a great result.

That's a nice thought. But it's not really her job is it? Roos has committed to giving his all for 2-3, I sincerely hope it's 3 and to have a the next man in place, trained up and ready to deliver. That's his end of the bargain and what we lauded PJ for signing him to. If we trust Roos to coach we kind of have to trust him to pull off his plan as well. What I would like to see is hopefully the correct successor in place at the end of the year and then Roos come out and say he's in for 2016 to give the next coach 2 years under Roos.

Me too. Although I'm pretty sure Damo Barrett's source for his article about Clark was demonland. One day there's mention of Clark excused from the season launch dinner to take personal time, the next day it's on AFL.com.au

Caro's thought. Don't appoint anyone so you hope Roos stays for longer and then you might luck in to a Clarkson or Lyon down the track. MFC point - hire Roos for 2-3 years, have him appoint a capable assistant who's almost ready to be a senior coach himself, have him work with the senior coach and then take over, thus guaranteeing the head coach position at MFC is set up for the next 5 years. Caro seems to just skip over the fact that Roos signed on with the succession plan as part of his thinking. She also forgot to make any mention as to how this handover from Roos to well regarded senior coach works and made no mention of the whole idea behind the succession plan which is it's some genius coach who gets results but steady planning and working to a plan. How or why The Age have agreed to give her opinion pieces is beyond me. Reporters should report. If I want an opinion I'd take it from a well regarded footy administrator like Brian Cook or a footy director like Dunstall.

How do you know that all his troubles wouldn't have occurred if he was in Perth. That he's gone back to Perth now is indication he has more support there but chronic injuries and other problems might have happened there as well. Alternatively he could've played 2 great seasons for us and not have a care in the world. Or played 2 great seasons and still be facing these issues now. So much of the Clark hate seems to be because he's well payed and a high draft pick. Well Lucas Cook and Gysberts were the same draft pick, they didn't do half of what Clark did for us. And add the money that Jamar and Davey have got off late, double it down with Bruce and Green, mix in some Cam Pedersen. Players get paid a lot, get over it. Those discussion might (and it's just a might) have some relevance come September or October but not now.

If Tapscott (who returned to games last week after missing 3 weeks with a medial knee strain and played pretty much injury free last year IIRC) needed time off for whatever reason and was injured anyway then I'd be all for it. Here's Geelong - you know that mob with the 3 premierships since 2007 - sending one of their players to Europe for a large chunk of the season last year: How crazy is that http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/geelongs-lincoln-mccarthy-sets-off-on-another-journey-20140306-34a93.html

By the way Sydney traded Darren Jolly to Collingwood when he was reaching the peak of his career. At the time some questioned it I'm sure even if Sydney got a first round draft pick for him. Last year Jolly revealed that at the time his wife was suffering pretty badly from Post Natal Depression and they had to move the family back to Melbourne. Roos didn't tell Jolly he had to stay he just told Jolly no problems, got the trade done, no leaks in the media etc. Jolly won a flag at Collingwood, Sydney have since won a flag as well. With what I've read here I can't help but think some would attack Jolly's wife if this was the Sydney board of whatever year that was.