DeeSpencer

1 year deal please unless only the first year is for playing. We look at Pedersen, Byrnes, Jamar all with year(s) to run on their contracts and it looks stupid. Even Rodan got 2 years some how.

Some talk of the Norm Smith curse. Reminds me of the curse of the Bambino which in 2004 down 0-3 and seeminly out the Red Socks rallied to win their first world series in 80 odd years. My understanding of what probably happened barring divine intervention or black magic was that the players were no longer burdened by history and when all was almost lost rallied and won. Right now our players should lose the burden of the recent history from 2007 on wards. They should look to Roos and the coaching team and outsiders not weighed down by the past and not be concerned about premiership droughts. When we make finals again then we can't start to worry about Norm Smith

Regardless of initial contract they can upgrade him (it's a promotion!). But we had 4 rookies this year and you can have up to 6 and take 2 players off the main list and then upgrade 2 at the start of the year. Richmond did it with Petterd I believe. That's where I'd see Clisby at. Leave him as a rookie but don't add your full quota of main list players. Is effectively a bet each way. Especially if the last spots on the list come down to recycled players like a Gillies or Rodan, the rookie list is perfect.

I just see absolutely no harm in multiple captains at a time when we are still in for the long haul. Until one of our players reaches Selwood, Hodge, Watson, Nick Riewold, J Brown, Pav level of consistency why burden any individual

This just shows how stuffed up Essendon is right now. Surely anyone switched on would just let that slide as a cheap shot from Swann and move on. Lawyers see an opportunity to up their billables and go for it. We all know cheating is pretty harsh but they've been found to bring the game into disrepute, I don't see how anyone would side with them. No way does Swann apologise.

Id be surprised if it isn't the recently appointed CFO de Crespny (sp?). Has previously worked at AFL

I'd say he's under the pump. But there are plenty of other prime delisting candidates and only so many good players get picked in drafts each year. Getting rid of Taggert means another late draft or rookie pick who have a very low success rate. In a lot of ways it's better sticking with Taggert who we've invested 2 years into getting fit, getting over his back injuries in year one and who played some reasonable games at Casey. Certainly has nice foot skills which is another positive for him and a good size for a midfielder/half forward. Reminds me a bit of Col Sylvia as well in the fact he's taking a while to get started and seems to have some tricks but can't do the basics ie. gather his 20 touches a week.

Grimes is going to HBF for sure. McDonald won't move from CHB. The interesting one is Watts. I can't see Roos weakening the midfield running power by letting Watts sit in a forward pocket and kick a couple of goals on the lead each week. Not if Clark, Hogan and Dawes are around. Jacky boy is going to have to get running, chasing, tackling into is game in some role. Be it high half forward, wing or half back. Maybe all 3.

Nice theory Chook. But the answer is no. Remember the whole idea of the senior assistant is for someone to be groomed early and for the playing group to become accustom to them and vice versa. It's not a position where we can take 2 guys and let them battle it out. The senior assistant is to be the exact opposite of the Roos saviour role. It's to be someone well qualified and capable and then let them gain experience. It's to guarantee stability within the FD which we've badly missed.

Certainly contempt of court. Players and coaches get warned/fined if they discuss tribunal cases and this isn't much different.

Jetta can pretty much play any position forward, midfield or back.....in the VFL.

Why is everyone's outrageous predictions that Magner will become a part of our 22. How does that make us better? The guys a VFL player. Slow, average skills, why not hope one of our quick and skillful players can find the pill.

Well it is outrageous predictions. But my serious prediction is that he can be a very good player without kicking well.

As trivial as it sounds his hard running and speed could actually be developed into something. He has all the physical attributes of Kieran Jack. And bad skills can be conquered with time and composure. The issue I have with Nicholson is that he's soft. It's the non negotiable.

Grimes off half back is the most obvious one. I'd really hope for Howe and/or Watts on a wing. If I had to predict improved performance from a midfielder I'd go with McKenzie re-affirming himself as a tackling machine and decent player.

Karnezis a second rounder and the other 3 were first round picks yet Voss continues to play Martin, Sam Michael, Moloney and a whole other bunch of limited guys like Bewick. Even Zorko doesn't get enough midfield time, Voss has plan A - win like the Lions premiership team and has his best 22 and that's about it. They're all not from Brisbane as well so once you [censored] them off they all want to go home. Once they get a new coach I think they'll be a chance to keep some of those guys. But Karnezis I think will go and Polec. Longer will draw decent interest as well, he won't want to be stuck behind Leueny and every club always needs a ruckman.

Well there is certainly some logic in keeping youngish (even Sellar is only 24) players as depth in the hope they develop and also that they make improvement. You can't just have a best 22 and kids, that wont work. But Sellar was brought across and in 2 years he hasn't and Davis didn't look up to it. Of course than main reason we didn't need to keep them for depth is that behind Frawley, Garland and McDonald as starting tall defenders we have the wonderful if undersized Dunn as well as good old Pedersen. Plenty of depth for mine.

Seems to me that Roos isn't unhappy with Mahoney and Jackson gave him the trial in the position that he didn't really need to do. If we were to find a replacement you'd think we'd do it now rather than in a few weeks in the middle of the trade and Free Agency period. What's everyone's thoughts with Josh? Personally I like him. He's smart. Smart enough to realise he wasn't cut out for coaching, especially under Neeld and went and did extra business courses and headed in to a footy business/administration career. Of course he has the link to Schwab and Neeld as well as lack of experience against him. But we have an experienced head coach in Roos. An experienced recruiter (even if he hasn't been the number 1 guy for long) in Jason Taylor and I believe Viney is heading up list management now (he's never had a very defined role). Not to mention our assistant and development coaching is set for a big overhaul with a senior assistant, an experienced assistant in Allison and hopefully George Stone heading up development. Does it not make sense to stick with Mahoney as the admin guy and back Roos' leadership and the rest of the team to revamp the footy department?

Roos is set to fly to Perth to **meet with and interview Scott Burns** whilst also catching up with Hoges for a beer and a steak. Just as likely.

Possibly. I thought there was some way of having 3rd year rookies, but I'm not sure if Magner would even be interested. He could earn more money working and playing state league footy and get a shot at another club. I expect he'll be delisted or promoted. Roos would be a fan of his game style in some ways and would probably be keen to try him if he can't secure some contested ball mids from other clubs.

7 main list spots (down to 6 once you add Hogan) and 1 rookie spot freed up. You'd think there's still more room to move but it's best to wait on the free agency and trade periods before final cuts. I wouldn't be getting ahead of myself if I was Jetta, Nicholson or Magner just yet. Or even if I was one of the contracted but not overly well performed types - Strauss, Bail, Tapscott, Blease. Tynan and Davis appeared hard workers and were enthusiastic players at Casey. But just seemed a long way off in terms of talent and athleticism. I thank them all for their contribution. Besides maybe Gillies, he was a crock.

It's hard to get a PP because of your right doings. You have to stuff up to get one. Bartlett talks about being ruthless, even when asking for assistance I see no problem. The other 17 clubs aren't going to hand us anything when we are fixed, why not try when we are broken. But mainly we have several PP threads. This shouldn't be another. I really like how North get spacing between Petrie, Tarrant and Black. They often get one of one contests despite being 3 bigs in one forward line. That's something we need to work on. Also to say Allison was poached from North is a bit rich. I think he's making a calculated decision that if he stays at North and they don't improve then Scott (who will be hard to sack because his contract has been extended) will be forced to turn over assistants. Where as by coming to Melbourne he now has either a 2 or 3 year deal I'd suggest and good job security as well as plenty of opportunities to develop players. I wonder as well if Allison signing on has any inside info on the senior assistant. Maybe his old team mate Adam Simpson? Or is that too much conspiracy theory.

Disagree. Our midfield need to become line breaking midfielders. Sure McDonald and Terlich often bit off more than they could chew this year but aggressive ball movement from the backline is vital. Making the right option will be much easier when he actually has some right options to kick to!

I presume he was an assistant with Roos when he was at Sydney? He certainly didn't play under Roos. So a very experienced assistant coach, good move.

Yeah and like Hardwick the thought was not that Burns wasn't going to be a good coach but that he wasn't quite ready when he initially applied. The extra time at West Coast then the 2-3 years under Roos should be more than enough experience if he's got the skills and drive.