DeeSpencer

Here's a potential cause for all these dramas. The club got rid of all their veterans in the last 5 years plus those who were left for a while got their playing roles and time diminished. It ended with this situation that players didn't have faith that they could play good footy after 30. With a poor medical and fitness record I don't blame them. That with the poor playing culture leads players who have had good seasons like Davey holding out for long deals and big cash. I see Cloke doing the same thing at Collingwood. Mick is gone and he's looking around saying well Swanny might be on the way down and we've lost a few other players and maybe we wont always be at the top so I'll cash in now. The problem is now that Davey's body is shot he's still earning his big cheque and potentially hurting the club. Now I don't blame him at all. But if we had a proper culture in place then Davey signs of for 3, gets good medical attention and fitness work and when his body is shot he pulls the pin. Now it just so happens he was out of contract but I see in Bartram's decision a degree of realism and also an understanding of what is best for the club. At the same time the club tried all options to get him better. With the recruitment of Rodan and Byrnes and even the retention of Joel Macdonald I hope we can show players they can play good footy and be fit after the age of 28 or 30. The benefit then comes when players can back themselves in and sign appropriate contracts. In the same way if we have a good team and players and getting paid appropriately then when you have a guy who wins your B+F by largely dipping round to the HBF and distrubiting the ball all the while not breaking tags, winning inside ball or playing a complete game then you don't over value him. I don't mean to lash out at Davey and he certainly had a great season playing a very suitable role that year but that should be the standard. Neeld trains players to play roles within a team and I hope Davey can get back to fitness so he can play a forward pocket role, but I doubt it. Oh by the way Leigh Williams scorched him in the preseason running last year and that's when I knew he was cooked. But a few geniuses on here tried to tell me he didn't need endurance to play as a speed athlete.

FB: Garland Frawley Strauss HB: Watts McDonald Nicholson C: Toumpas Jones Trengove HF: Sylvia Dawes Howe FF: Byrnes Clark Blease Foll: Jamar McKenzie Grimes INT: Pedersen, Viney, Rodan S: Tapscott Unlucky: Defenders: Sellar and Gillies both could pressure McDonald and Garland. Dunn and Tynan could put heat on Strauss, Watts and Nicholson. Also Grimes could revert back to the midfield. Midfielders: Evans, Magner and Taggert could all play round 1 but I'm going for the 18 year olds with class. Forwards: Jetta and Bail could replace Byrnes and Blease but I prefer the class factor of Blease and think they'll give Byrnes a good run at it. Rucks: I still think Jamar has a big lead over Spencer and Gawn. Same goes for Pedersen but I'd be keen to see how Fitzpatrick can improve. All in all due to not a lot of numbers most of the midfield picks themselves. I see a distinct advantage from last year in having the second tall forward and also a raft of improved smaller options due to the recruits we've brought in and the added number of mids. The backline is very interesting. Frawley is the only cemented player but there are a bunch of young guys with some skill and then we've brought in GIllies and Sellar in the last 2 years who will compete for spots as well. I'm tempted to move Grimes to a HBF and add another mid/forward just to provide some leadership down back. The other option is Toumpas plays HBF whilst learning AFL and can use his skills.

Given Toumpas is Greek wouldn't it have made sense for him to follow in the footsteps of our greatest hairy player in recent time and wear the 3!

If he doesn't have speed or fitness he's in trouble though. I hope he can get his pace up and then play deep forward and if we can actually compete in games he'd be a chance to contribute. If we are losing and he can't run then he's not worth playing.

You'd think he'd compete with Strauss, Dunn, Nicholson, Watts, Joel Macdonald and maybe even Toumpas in his first year or two for a spot on a half back flank/back pocket. Should be an interesting positional battle. There's room for at least 3 of those guys along with 2 talls (like Frawley and McDonald) plus a 3rd tall type which could be Garland or Watts/Dunn/Macdonald/Gillies/Sellar. It will be an interesting battle that defensive mix. There's very few established AFL players but a lot of talent in different combinations.

Maybe the thing I'm most excited about is - solidified best 22 Melbourne players who can really kick a footy - 0! Toumpas has a chance to hold down a spot and show us what he can do on the outside using that run and carry and kicking skills. Half back flank certainly sounds like a good starting point to me for at least some of his football.

To me the thing is it's not so much that he's a bad boy but the fact he's so far from a good boy and he doesn't get it. Even at his worst Ben Cousins would still train the house down and go out there and give it his all (before doing drugs for a week or whatever). Garlett is obviously unfit which means even if he's a gun he wont get a kick in the AFL for most of 2013 season. Plus from that interview it doesn't look like he had any insight into what he was doing wrong. Oh yeah I need to stop drinking and going out and I'll do that now. Sure buddy!

Zeroing in is definitely how you become premiers

Seriously what has journalism come to. Sure as hell Sylvia has prior misdemeanors and a percentage of bikie gangs involve themselves in criminal activities but from one photo they have: - Sylvia's record - Didak's record - Hudson shooting - Dodgy boxing promotion - Bikie gangs And just to be smart that throw in a line about Melbourne tanking. It really wouldn't be worth the effort or the additional media scrutiny and the papers know it but surely you could even consider a law suit if you were one of these players for the paper suggesting you have criminal links.

I think speed is important in terms of spread away from the contest and in general play. You have to have at least 1 but hopefully more forwards who can use pace to trap the ball in. Blease should be there and hopefully we have guys like Byrnes, Nev Jetta (agilitiy not speed), a resting Viney who can help trap the ball around the big men. In the midfield again we need that ability to cover off opponents both from stoppages and in general play. That was a big problem last year. Knowing the game plan might help. Down back I hope we can get guys like Stauss, Watts, Nicholson even Dunn the ball as outlets from contests because they can run and carry and deliver the ball. None of them are even regulars in that position yet so I hope a few of them can come on quickly to help Frawley, McDonald and co. Of course Frawley and McDonald are very quick for big men and like to run the ball but they should be doing that when its suits not by requirement.

Strauss, Tapscott and McKenzie. With a good preseason and some faith from the coaches I can see Strauss solidifying a best 22 spot. Tapscott played a few good games in fits and spurts but if his fitness comes up to the mark then he'll start to show us how dangerous he can be with his aggression and kicking. Lastly McKenzie with a preseason (touch wood) could take his game from decent tagger to top level shut down player who can also win the ball. Jordie might never be the best kick or a 30 touches guy but he's as tough as anyone in close so I see no reason why he can't add contested ball winning to his game. Don't get carried away about Nicholson he's always been a great runner but if he can't improve his kicking or his decision making then he won't make it as a player. And Fitzpatrick is so far off AFL standard as big forward, sorry guys. His really mobile so in a way he can play a tall forward pocket role and try and get a mismatch and then provide back up in the ruck but he doesn't have the experience or natural body work to be a key forward target. What I hope for Fitzpatrick is that he keeps working on his ruck work so that he has that area up to scratch and that he can play a lot of VFL as a tall forward target and improve his strong marking ability. At the moment any good defender can work him off the ball. He kicks a lot of goals in the VFL because of his mobility rather than his physical presence. With the clean out the Casey VFL forward line at this stage really is Fitzpatrick and Hogan with big Spencer and Gawn sharing ruck so I hope he can prove me wrong and come on a lot quicker.

Likely posting suicide here but what about Kyle Reimers. Sure he's got a rubbish attitude on the field and probably not the best one off it yet but he's good speed which is a commodity we are very short in. Getting the chop from Essendon might be a good wake up call. I'd consider him over Toy, Sherman and Jacobs if he could show you he's a hard worker. No recycled player ever looks like a promising option but you have to deeply evaluate their skills and see what they can bring. I don't think anyone thought Brent Guerra could go from forward pocket who went around tackling and not particularly contributing much on field to a skilled leader of Hawthorns defense.

If your definition of amazing is shameful then I agree.We thought we had talents in Wonaeamirri and Jurrah but the move to Melbourne and a decent dose of bad luck (family tragedy in both cases) put pay to them. We spent pick 1 and pick 12 on Watts and Cook as mobile tall forward options for the future, one's a b grade half back flanker with some potential, the other is out the door. Other stop gaps like Dunn and Bate couldn't ever get anywhere near consistent enough. It's not all negative though, I think Clark and Dawes are both very good value selections and I think what is effectively a straight swap of Pedersen in for Martin is a very good move as well. I also think we'll start to get some production out of Bail, Blease, Tapscott and Jetta over the next year or so as they have enough ability to produce consistently if they get their bodies right. I'm pretty sure we'll have a forward line that could hold its own but the quality of the midfield just lets it down. As for the rest of the team I wish we could leave Grimes on a half back flank because then our young backline has a bit more strength to it. If Viney and pick 4 can actually take on good opponents (even if only playing spurts in the midfield) then Trengove, Jones, McKenzie and Sylvia might actually keep us in games and let Grimes play HBF. The afl.com.au lists Rodan as our sub but now that we've got him I really think if he could play consistently at near his best he could actually be one of our most important players next year. It's kind of sad that a port reject could become one of our top 3 midfielders.

Magner and Howe tweeting about a 3k time trial this am Anyone sneak a look?

Tall defenders: Frawley, McDonald, Watts and Garland with Sellar +/- Davis for depth. Tall forwards: Clark, Dawes, Hogan Ruck/Forwards: Pedersen, Fitzpatrick Rucks: Jamar, Spencer, Gawn To me we've got a big man department that is now ready to go and compete with most teams. There is still heaps of development left in it as well with Hogan up forward, Gawn in the ruck and Watts and Davis down back. If there was one criticism from the trade period it would be that I would have loved to keep Rivers to give Tom McDonald some cover down back for 1 more year. Instead now I really hope Watts makes the third tall defender spot his own over preseason. He'll never been the strongest but if he can use his speed and skill and get physical enough as a defender he can be the class that we need from half back. Eventually I see Grimes rejoining the backline as well. Maybe with the addition of Rodan we could do that next year. What we've sacrificed to a degree is the midfield. But I think Neeld didn't want to just bring in 3 top line midfielders and then for them to have no structure and no leadership and not reach their potential. It might have been poor recruiting but I think development has also been the difference between us rolling out a midfield with Scully, Trengove, Morton and Gysberts all ready to go. For whatever reason we've lost 3 of them. This time we'll still bring in 2 quality mids with pick 4 and Viney and now they have young leaders in Grimes, Trengove and Jones to show them the way. The addition of Byrnes and Rodan is a simple tactic to say to the likes of Tapscott and Blease as well as pick 4 and Viney that you can have these spots in the team as outside mids/rotating forwards but you have to earn them.

Whoever gave Morton a two year deal last year was a fool, but then again since we've been able to move him on after a bad year I suppose it was a good move. If he had got good in 2012 it would've looked like a good plan.

Couldn't be worse than our last over the hill port pickup. Strange that we get rid of moloney only to bring in another forward running midfielder

Case for; Given we just lost Rivers we don't have a real surplus of defenders and he's a nice size, very fit and a good kick. If he can add weight and learn to defend he's got a future. Case against: Already have Frawley, McDonald, Watts, Sellar and maybe even Davis ahead of him as key defenders, how many do you need. Whilst he can run and kick there have been questions over his courage in the air and physicality defending. I think he's got a lot more potential than Couch who I don't think is AFL grade.

Regardless of whether he's 90kg or mobdily obese at 190kg I think despite the vision he moves more like Jake Spencer than Buddy Franklin and he doesn't look like a super strong mark. I'm not convinced he'd make it at AFL level.

Conspiracy theory....but: Whenever Sydney player gets injured AFL looks to change rules in order to make the game in Sydney stay appealing for the mums who potential move their kids from the nasty dangerous rugby league to the nice friendly no injury AFL. Will happen even more if a GWS player goes down.

Dunn v Joel Macdonald, surely only room for one of them, if we keep Rivers then probably room for neither. Who would you keep. One can kick one can't. One can do something in the air, put his head over the ball and win the ball on the ground. It's 50/50 I'd say but I think Neeld will probably lean towards Macdonald.

I think your gonna need a bigger boat

The knees one is interesting. For mine a trip is a trip, if you slide through someone with your body or if you grab a leg if you take the legs out from someone it's a trip. But if you start paying 'forceful contact' what does that mean. If on a wet day a player gathers the ball then slips over and just happens to bump into someone below the knee is that all of a sudden forceful contact? Number 2 is fine. The bounce is old fashioned rubbish that makes sense as a nice little treat in the middle but around the ground becomes a waste. The only thing I hope for is that they teach the umpires to actually throw the ball up high enough so it becomes a proper ruck duel. Number 3 is interesting. I'll see how it pans out. What I want for the ruck is a fair contest between technique, size, strength and athleticism. All different types of ruckmen should get a chance as long as they are playing the ball and playing fair. So if you are stronger than the other bloke you should get a chance to use it. I hope the umps umpire it a bit like a rugby scrum. They say no contact, separate the rucks then go to throw it up. I don't want the off the ball umpire pulling out tiny free kicks based on the ball not yet leaving the umpires hand when the ump has already started his throwing motion.

Strauss Frawley Garland Nicholson McDonald Watts Viney Jones Grimes Sylvia Dawes Howe Blease Clark Pedersen Jamar McKenzie Trengove Tapscott Byrnes Dunn Sub: Pick 4 Emer: Magner Davey Jetta Bail Sellar Davey Ray* Tynan Taggert I hope we do the deals that we've been planning - Rivers out if we can't keep him, Pedersen and Dawes in and Farren Ray in is an interesting one. I'm sure Neeld will be keen to play Ray and Byrnes if he gets them over because otherwise why would you bother? But it puts pressure on the likes of Bail, Blease and Tapscott to hold their spots. Whilst I'm sure our midfield depth will be much improved this year and the likely Viney/Wines combo hopefully adds 2 stars of the future we will rely on depth much more than talent next year.

Bail was great that day. Our small defenders remain a point of concern. Do you play Garland small where he's got speed and is reasonably accountable but also has a habit of going third man up and not influencing a contest or can we get Strauss fit an in form or can Nicholson improve his accountability. What about the wildcards in Watts, Dunn or Tynan for small defensive regular spots.