DeeSpencer

He wasn't lazy at the start of the year. But his second half has been abysmal in terms of chasing. He hurt himself chasing Tambling last week but if he was on the ball he would've chased him down earlier and not waited til he got a lead on him. It was a Sammy Blease chase. Maybe he's been playing with injury, who knows. He's certainly not suited to playing deep forward. Anyway review his stats from the first half of the year. He'd be top 5 or so B+F despite inconsistency. But since then he's barely touched it. The one player to go backwards under Craig I'd say.

Phil would work wonders in player psychology. The guy is a freak big time performer. All he has to do is start well and he's pretty won. The opposition crumble. Also has the best moobs in pro sport. I'd pay him to speak to the Melbourne guys as a motivational speaker/bit of light hearted fun any day. Is Gareth Bale out of contract and unemployable in his current sport due to onfield knocks and off field media circus? I don't think so.

Crowd violence at AFL games is a taboo subject. We whinge about the soccer crowds but pretend our crowds are perfect, and they are great 99% of the time but certainly not always. That's really disappointing. Nothing will shock me with Etihad staff though, the fish rots at the head and they take their cues from the management of that place I bet. Slow to react and clueless sums up the joint.

Tommy Walsh - StKilda/Syd Nial McKeever - OneDirection/Brisbane Caolan Mooney - Collingwood Marty Clarke - Collingwood I'm not against the idea but the success rate isn't amazing. But then again the two you mention are very decent footballers, as well Kennelly and of course Jim. It seems if they make it big they really do become very good.

Maia Jonah Lomu Westrupp

Not sure what he did at Collingwood but at Melbourne I believe PJ wants the GMFO as he refers to the job title to be a manager first and foremost. As in the guy who reports to the CEO about all aspects of the football department and coordinates with the coach. I think he'd have a focus on doing the administrative work required to see that the fitness guy can conduct the training he wants, to make sure the senior coach can do the same and get the things he wants for game day and also to make sure the recruiters are well staffed. Besides from that I think in the current Melbourne set up planned that list management and in particular contracts would be a priority. As far as I know Collingwood don't have a set list manager so I presume Walsh would've been part of that process along with the recruiters and coaches. They did pretty well in that regard but did stuff things a bit this year with Lynch, Russell and Clinton Young, but then again they didn't cost any draft picks and they have plenty of young talent coming through that they could afford a few pot shots at depth players.

One free kick, 2 lead out marks to the fat side including one beautiful trade mark 2010 Aaron Davey delivery, 1 hard run to the pocket that was very good. But only 3 other possessions. So the answer to that question it was because he hardly did do anything besides the goals. If he missed 2 then it would've been a very average game. His good goal kicking made it a nice game. But I'd argue that big Tom Campbell from the dogs did more and got 1 or 2 goals, but he genuinely halved a bunch of contests that forced McDonald to defend very hard. And he brought the ball to ground beautifully. Watts can't do that and I doubt he ever will. That's why we need him up the ground and only a burst player inside 50 where his leading and accurate goal kicking is handy but not enough. Even Jack Gunston at Hawthorn who is a high class undersized small forward rotates to half forward and the wing because you can't just be a one trick lead-mark in space forward these days.

Excellent idea from Essendon. Shame it got out now every club will be checking him out. May as well nominate for the draft. But am I not the only one who think there isn't nearly enough AFL talent to be divided between 18 clubs. As long as you don't ruin your existing scouting networks every club should have some interest in non traditional recruiting.

Sorry meant on the inside. The inside midfield was what Sydney were defined for. And they used guys like Kirk and Bolton and Benny Mathews to slow the role of every other AFL team and shut down the efficiency of Judd, Cousins, Kerr and co in particular. My point was at the same time after bottling up the opposition they then got it outside to some very good half backs and wingers. They also had a big, fast and skillful guy who played all over the park who went ok. It's a pipe dream to think Watts is every one tenth as good as Goodes but I don't think Roos will see height as a reason Jack can't play up the ground if he has the desire.

And for good reason. He, Jones and Viney are the only 3 legitimate midfielders we have. You can complain about his lack of skills and speed but he'll run all day and tackle.

Hey come on I'm not THAT crazy. I just see an unemployed elite athlete with the drive and right age to be good enough to play at least VFL who would probably make money in promotion and publicity than what it would cost to employ him. If we didn't do it (and I claim his ownership rights because it was my idea) then I think GWS should. Is it really more crazy than Isreal Folau?

Nice to see Green, Miller (Neitz I think) and others in the crowd and out on the field at the end of the game for flash. Need more of this * 1000!

Yep. And him kicking well at Etihad is a bit of a miracle, the tight confines make it hard for a guy whose not a naturally brilliant kick under pressure, but he did well. Oh and throw some votes to McKenzie someone. Started the fight that put a bit of heat in the game and also kept Griffen to 16 whilst getting 15 of his own. That's not easy. He's smashed Griffen and Ablett, possibly the two best accumulate and break away from contest mids in the last month and without help. Yeah he's probably not a top 4 team quality player but you can make the 8 if a guy like McKenzie shuts down the best.

Why on earth are people voting for Dunn. The opposition only scored so many goals and a bunch of them can be directly related to Dunn. No defense on Dickson - Q1. Pissweak tackling attempt on Jones Q2. No defense on Cooney Q4. Even if he tried he's just not mentally smart enough to have any discipline. Surely we can find some players better than him today. Davey Grimes Frawley Kent Watts N. Jones

Our first rounders are rubbish but if we aren't going to start well we may as well not finish like a bunch of blokes desperate for mad monday. Today they at least looked like they cared a little bit. It's a start. The draft decision is completely irrelevant, please stop mentioning it. Toumpas has already shown he'll tackle more than Watts and run harder. As for Morton he was one of our better running players in his first year. We just made him worse season after season. Good development would've made Morton a handy type and good development will make Toumpas one of the better midfielders in the league in a few years time.

Ok it's officially the silly season on demonland and in a sign from above (well Tim will think so when we tell him) it appears Mr Tebow has just been cut and had his NFL most likely ended. It's time to strike now with the AFL to sign him up on a promotional international rookie contract and get him to the Dees. Need I remind you of the positives I laid out in the first post in this thread. Vote 1 Roos-Tebow this September.

Do you reckon? I think AFL compo/priority picks is all but done and knowing the AFL they will announce that either as late as possible or on the Saturday morning of the prelim weekend when everyone is actually talking about the games. As for the board we've got the figure head and we're getting run in conjunction with the AFL by 2 seemingly good operators. The rest of the numbers are more a formality and then it will be for us members to police them correctly this time. The GMFO as PJ likes to call it is an interesting one. I'd say if Roos comes on board then we can go without that position filled. The chain of command will be interesting but I think it's about time we got experienced and quality people working together and with established roles and not getting ourselves tied in a knot.

How did that go for us last time? I say let's finish this season on Thursday, start a new one on Friday. Unless the club can get going on my Range Rover idea, it's awesome.

At the end of a long first year when he's bodies not quite up to AFL standard, he's played in the worst midfield of the modern era, had some very decent games including against Geelong in Geelong and Adelaide in Adelaide (2 venues where Melbourne players rarely get near the ball) and he's been exceptional when sent back to Casey. But yeah to sum it up ....little to inspire.

Hindsight is always 20/20 but I hope we learn from the Grimes thing with the Jones'. Don't overspend but look at the value a brother can have because you know the bloodlines, the character, the work rate etc. After seeing Jack Grimes start his career their wouldn't be a club who didn't know that Dylan was going to be a courageous player with tremendous leadership. I suppose they all just didn't think he was any good! And this is harsh but it's a big call to say he'll play 200 games, because like his big brother injuries are very prevalent in that family it seems. I'm hoping they both have free running into the next few years at least. Oh and Joel Macdonald was an integral part of 2010 and to a lesser extent 2011. It's just typical of us that we stuffed up all our development so badly that if he was fit this year I believe Joel would've got at least 10 games. He's no worse than Dunn and a lot more honest of a trier.

I love the idea of locking away a sponsor and doing both at once. Imagine the free advertising if Roos signs and they hold the press conference at a Range Rover dealer and Paul jumps out of a Range and onto the podium for the presser. Cheap and tacky - of course, but worth an absolute bucket of cash to Range rover right there. In fact get Paul to drive the Range onto stage at Crown (I presume) for the B+F and get it going right there. Do it Thursday night live on the footy show, then it's Range Rover live to air on the footy show all free advertising for Melbourne as well. Oh god someone make me CEO I'm like Cameron Schwab but freaking awesome and without the whiteboard. First hire would be Peter Jackson and Deputy Vice CEO to run the day to day small stuff as he has been doing.

I'm not sure. I don't think Roos is overly keen on special games plans he just more has a style of footy he will want to be implemented. That will start from hard running midfielders who are super strong around the stoppages. I significantly doubt he would move away from that ideal. And then again for his backline he will want dour defenders on the full back line who are very disciplined and then half backs who can use the ball similar to the way he played. And for forwards he will want guys who can run all day in both directions presenting and chasing. He would want Watts because he's at that ready made age when he's right to step it up and he has speed and skills. But how he plans to use Watts (and Howe for that matter) will be interesting. Watts hit the score board today playing at full forward with sharp goal kicking and some good fast leading, but besides that barley touched the ball. I'm thinking we could get just as much success in that role with Fitzpatrick (who also rucks), Clark or Hogan. I'm hoping Roos doesn't overrate his ability to coach and fix Watts' problems when a great trade is staring us in the face. But if we don't get that great trade then I doubt a guy like Roos would be disappointed that he still has Watts and has a versatile skilled player to develop.

Also I significantly doubt we have (or will) ever win a game with Spencer and Gawn in the same team. Now both will get another preseason and it's unlikely we will see Hogan, Dawes, Clark and Fitzpatrick all injured at the same time but we were much better when Gawny (who got stuff all time in the ruck anyway) got subbed. Hopefully next year we have a proper ding dong positional battle for the ruck. That means competing on the training track in terms of time trails, in the gym with weights and on the oval with skills. Fitzpatrick or Clark can work out who will be the reserve guy but the big 3 (or 2 if we work out how to ship off Jamar or Spencer I wouldn't mind) better be up for a contest. I like that Gawn can be dangerous up forward, but that should be for when he's resting up forward, not for a significant part of the game. With the delivery we give and without recognised key forwards to take the good defenders he's on a hiding to nothing. Also good job from Col Garland today who clearly isn't right with his ankle. He's fighting through it the last month or so and that's pretty tough to do.

I'd always thought it wise to not make rash decisions based on the last game of the year. That applies to regular season or teams who get smashed in finals then go for exactly what they lacked in that final only to undo a bunch of good work. Jetta for mine has obvious talent. He's physical, he's not slow, he can really tackle but at the end of the day it's the big boy league the AFL and he doesn't have size, speed or fitness and that will mean wherever he is always limited. I'd be moving him on. Same goes for Sellar who today looked like he actually has the size and strength to be the second ruckman and whilst he can never take a strong pack or leading mark that he'd be more than handy. But too many times he has had chances and done nothing and once again he Anyway our recent seasons have been marred with abysmal last round performances - Adelaide oval when we choked against Port, against the Tiges at the MCG when we completely gave up and so on. At least today we gave a bit of fight in the last half. And I agree there will be some lessons learnt from today. Dean Kent is really starting to find some speed out in space and you'd think any coach would be happy to have a guy with his skill set on the list. Toumpas got a taste for the required work rate for AFL today by Daniel Cross. He also showed he can do what Cross never could with a deliciously weighted ball to Dunn to set up a goal. Tom McDonald got more experience kicking on the tight Etihad confines and that's a good thing. His kicking has gone up a lot but has heaps more to do. He also did reasonably well at full back which is certainly not his strength. Campell for him is a much more dangerous opponent that Jones who he'd run all over at CHB. And either Watts got some confidence or Watts got his trade value up. Either will do me.

If we gave up pick 2 we'd want something significant in return for Selwood. Maybe West Coasts first pick even. I really like him as a player but he's not much more than McKenzie in all reality if he's tagging and then as a disposal winning mid he's ok but not amazing. The question is are we so far down that we need to invest a prime draft pick on one guy so that we turn the culture around as well. And then the question becomes is Selwood capable of that? I'm hoping we hit a tipping point with the guys who are giving their all (Frawley, Garland, Terlich, Grimes, Jones, McKenzie, Dawes, Clark, Viney) that we get their on our own. And if we are investing so much in Paul Roos to fix the culture and instill the correct way to play then why spend big overs on a guy who just isn't worth it.