DeeSpencer

Kidding yourself if you think T Mac has had a better year than Frawley. He's been given some soft opponents whilst Frawley has taken the best forward and often Rivers or Sellar took the second forward. Tom will be a nice player but still has work to do defensively as well as on his ball work.

A bit of a joke that we seemed to be labelled with the tanking stick but everyone has miraculously forgotten Collingwood, Carlton and even West Coast who have all done the same thing. It's funny - the GWS and GC team building methods are both primarily built on the same philosophy as tanking. Lose lots of games, get the best draft picks and bring though a core of kids the same age. So I'm not sure why the AFL have supported them so much. And why is tanking even mentioned in the same breath of us when our new coach has just led a comfortable victory over a team that if we had any desire to tank we would have rolled over and lost to them.

2 things that hurt his disposal 1. He takes the game on and makes aggressive decisions 2. He's often off balance due to point 1 and thats usually when he misses targets I'd love to see him get some tough jobs in the last 4 weeks - Riewoldt, Cameron, Walker and Pavlich. See where he is after those!

Possession totals don't correlate directly with players winning their own ball. I agree with you that we need more who can accumulate the football but the way in which they will do this still has to be within a game plan that isn't possession focused. I don't have the stats but I'd say we get a good jump in possession in games we win or are competitive in and that's mainly because guys who get around a dozen possessions in a losing side move up towards 20+ touches. The four things offensively (leaving out defensive stuff) that lead us to playing successfully are 1. winning the contested football, 2. using the ball well 3. playing within the game structure 4. spreading well to receive the ball and open space for others. Just filling the side with accumulators who can do point 1 and point 4 wont improve us. Oh and outside receivers who get 30 touches a game with 20 handball receives are high possession getters who don't "win their own ball". At the same time I wouldn't say no to 2 of them to play on each wing!

Pretty much what he has been accused of at Freo and at Melbourne is interfering in the football department. The Geelong saga last year got put down to the players giving up in a game as they were sick of the interference from Schwab and the position it put Bailey in. Really though you could easily put this down to a desperately Bailey who meant well but eventually needed a fall guy for his own shortcomings. However the Cameron Schwab when Bailey was coaching was very vocal and talked a lot of footy in his whiteboard wednesday segments amongst other things like his twitter and very football based blueprints. He has now stepped away from doing as much and let the football department represent itself, coming out only when necessary such as the Jurrah issue and Neeld racism issue. He's let McLardy be a spokesman for the administration and I agree McLardy has done a decent job in asserting himself at the right moments. Unless we have been duped the facts are that Schwab and his crew have done a decent job off the field with AAMI park, Casey and the bank balance. However, if there is suggestion of ongoing interference it is so disabling for the club that I'd change my opinion on him. I'm inclined to think Schwab has become wiser and learnt from his mistakes, be they real of perceived and that the likes of Todd Viney, Neil Craig, Healy and Mark Neeld will be strong characters who can enforce boundaries and keep strong relationships. All in all its much easier to commit to Schwab now with a steady (yet abysmal) on field and football department than it is when things are up in the air. But from the outside looking in I'd say he is the best candidate for CEO.

Half back flank is Morton's savior, but with questions over his toughness and disposal you have to wonder if he's earned the chance to play there. Ask yourself if you want Joel Macdonald or Morton playing HBF and for me now its Joel Mac. Morton could play HBF using his opponent as a starting point so he doesn't get lost on the field. You'd play him on the spare mid that most teams have on a half forward flank and let him come up the ground and then use his fitness to beat his opponent back to the backline and then run off his opponent to get the switch. However if you can't trust him to lay the hard tackle, win the contested ball or use the ball accurately under pressure he wont make it. But I dont like him up forward or on the ball one bit because that means he has to keep to structures which I don't think he can do. Signing him for a 2 year deal last year was one of the more baffling list management decisions of late. But other observations: 1. Tapscott was very good today. He worked damn hard to get the ball across half forward and that's exactly what he needs to do to become the player he can be. 2. Dunn might just have saved his career as a half back flanker, the secret will be whether he can prove to the coaches that he can focus on footy for a game not being stupid and also can shut down a half decent opponent. I'm worried about him being in the same vicinity as Milne 3. Ro Bail needs to learn how to settle before he kicks. His set shots are reasonable so he can kick the ball, but not if he runs flat out and tries to kick because it always ends in a point. He needs to steady and hit a target if he's worried about distance. 4. What on earth do we have to do to see Tom Mcdonald play at CHF. Please please make it happen even just for a half. Rivers is battling away, can we just swap him and Tommy Mc for a bit of a game and see what happens.

You don't show as much class as he has in the VFL since day 1 and also crack 30 touches in your first couple of games to be finished so soon. He can win the ball in close and also win the ball by clever leading around the ground but has plenty of cracks to fill in his game and the big gaping one is fitness. He was stuffed at the end of the game today. The other thing today was he played a lot of half forward which is new for him and just playing in Neeld's game plan for the first time would be difficult.. I hope we stick by him for the end of the year and then we sign him up regardless of whether we think he'll make it or not because we need to get the fitness and strength in him to know for sure. Without it he wont be able to compete in the toughest contests in close.

Positives - Shows a bit of endeavour - Not the slowest big man in history Negative - Can't win hitouts against decent ruckman - Can't kick, not a great handballer - Can't mark - Moves very slowly and without any agility To me he just isn't athletic or skilled enough to make it. If in someone its possible I'd gladly put him back on the rookie list for a bit of depth, but considering Jamar, Clark, Martin and Gawn are ahead of him and the Fitz gets the job done at VFL and should improve I'd be saying we've seen enough of Jake

The thing about Molan, Rogers, Smith, Miller, Bate, Dunn and Newton is that none of them made it as key position players at either end of the ground, so we didn't fill in the voids in the backline either. Rivers was our starting CHB in 2004 and really has been since and it took until Frawley for us to find a consistent full back. So I'd argue there was a need for all those talls considering we went with Sylvia and McLean in 2003 and had a decent group together of smalls for that mid 2000's period - guys like Bruce, Green, Johnston, Yze, Whelan, Brown, Davey etc. At the end of the day if all those guys turned into something we wouldn't have kept taking more. At the same time I feel like Daniher was much more comfortable with older players coming in than blooding youth. I think some of it was club culture - he probably never felt safe enough in his own position to stick with some kids, another issue was the up and down nature of the early 00's and then the run of finals without challenging - it would have been a very difficult period to put together a distinct plan. At the end of the day our poor recruiting and what must surely be poor development left us in big trouble come 2007 on when the likes of Neitz and White went down hill and our depth players dropped off. The problem appears our recruiting is still a way off and Bailey swung too far the other way, leaving kids getting easy games and showing talent without working on flaws stagnating the team. It also appears our experienced players from the Bailey years - Davey, Green, Moloney, Sylvia and more grew much too comfortable with substandard efforts.

Out: Dunn, Macdonald In: Watts, Gysberts FB: Nicholson Frawley McDonald HB: Watts Sellar Strauss C: Gysberts Jones Howe HF: Bail Rivers Blease FF: Trengove Garland Green Foll: Martin McKenzie Grimes Int: Fitzpatrick Moloney Sylvia S: Jetta Emer: Dunn, Macdonald, Couch

He doesn't run and carry the footy but he can get the ball outside of congestion. His offensive spread can be pretty reasonable, it his defensive spread that is the issue. He needs to get an AFL ready body because he can't play other positions as he doesn't have the speed to cover the ground, that said I'd be tempted to trial him as a half back flanker here and there in the AFL if the midfield is stocked. The other thing we need is some patience. Yes we've had flops that we've waited years for them to do something but guys like Suckling and Savage weren't overnight sensations at the hawks, they took years building through the VFL. We are used to a system where 2 good vfl games gets you a spot in the seniors. Neeld isn't like that, he likes to build players up so they are really ready to play. Gysberts is an inside mid who lacks size/strength and lacks fitness. So he can't burrow in and win the ball with overwhelming physicality (which he has to improve) and he doesn't keep up with the top midfielders and therefore can't just run around for a game. But they've been quiet a few of the 190cm midfield types who take a while to build up - I'm thinking Josh Kennedy and Jobe Watson. He has a skill in terms of good hands in close which we don't have a lot of, and he has an upside it terms of being able to get in and dirty whilst also being 190cm and hopefully pushing 90kg and running like a top mid in the not too distant future.

Call me lame but I reckon we'd be that keen for another decent big man besides Clark I'd make a play at Cam Pederson from North.

Imagine all those poor doctors and nurses who get blood on their clothes all day long. How have they ever survived.

In what other national elite competition do the left over players plan in varying leagues with varying levels of other players (besides obviously the loan system in soccer). To be honest I think that at least for the Victorian clubs they should all be stand alone considering the dam has broken and Coll and Geel have their own teams with Essendon coming and Hawthorn and Carlton have quasi stand alone teams anyway. All it means is that Richmond, WB, North, St Kilda and us are disadvantaged. The situation for the NSW and Queensland teams seems to be working pretty well, and I don't really see what the major issue is with the WA and SA clubs fielding teams in the WAFL and SANFL besides the problem of 2 Port Adelaides in the SANFL! The disadvantage of making it 10 reserve teams with however many of the VFL clubs who survive alone (which you'd think would be at least half a dozen) is that the competition as a whole becomes thinner with the increase in teams. But I'm not sure what the alternative is because at the moment by fielding a strong Casey side we are improving the competition for Collingwood and Geelong and therefore subsidising the development of their players.

He's 23!!! If his best form is behind him then I'd be very surprised. He should play at a high level for the next 5+ years and would make life a hell of a lot easier for Grimes, Trengove, Jones, Sylvia, Viney and McKenzie. Hey if we get Viney through to the second round then use pick 3 on a top line midfielder and trade the Scully picks for Boak all of a sudden we're looking at a proper young midfield. If Port settled for the two compo picks then the big sticking point is cash, which in reality shouldn't be an issue depending on how much we've handed out to our underachievers like Davey. And I've got a great way to save some coin if we get Bock - pay Moloney a true rate for a battler of a midfielder who doesn't run hard enough if he's interested in sticking around.

Adelaide have a few blokes not getting regular games due to the teams improvement this year, might be able to interesting a few with the possibility of a regular gig. - Aidan Riley, Shaun McKernan, Matthew Jaensch, Andy Otten.

I know Spencer was BOG but surely Martin is still a better option as first ruck and therefore we are looking at a second ruck/ forward type and Fitzpatrick has Spencer covered in that role. Therefore I'd rather Fitzy in. Pretty much what I'm saying is Martin (ruck) + Fitzpatrick (Forward/Ruck) is a better combination than Spencer (ruck) + Martin (forward/ruck). Jetta for Bennell seems a straight forward change given we need to give Jetta a few more goes then if Grimes is out you have to decide who has earnt a recall more - Gysberts or Morton.

The main issue I see for Williams is athleticism. He has a good footy brain and is a selfless and smart type with nice skills, but he's only about 193cm and doesn't move or leap all that quickly, so with a full preseason I can certainly see him been a very good VFL player but whether he has it in him to become AFL level I'm not so sure.

More than happy for Fitzy to come in if Jamar isn't right at the expense of Spencer. Certainly don't want to play 3 rucks as it always fails. It seems Fitzpatrick (just like Martin) is actually a better ruck than a forward but I'd like to see how well he can do before the end of the year. I'm really hoping his diagnosis of diabetes can actually help him train and prepare and not hinder him. Whilst he's a frustrating player he certainly has some talent in there somewhere.

In: Jamar/Fizpatrick, Green, Couch, Davey Out; Spencer, Magner, Moloney, Bennell FB: Macdonald Frawley Nicholson HB: Watts Rivers Tapscott C: Bail Jones Howe HF: Blease Garland Sylvia FF: Davey Trengove Green Foll: Martin McKenzie Grimes Int: Dunn Couch Jamar/Fitzpatrick S: Bate

You massively underrate Rivers - who in a good side could easily hold down CHF pretty well, but for long term thinking with no McDonald or Sellar down back it's a reasonable idea to play Cook and send Rivers/Garland to the backline when required. Hell even play Cook down back for a percentage of the game as well

I just hope we aren't getting too holier than thou around these parts, for every Dustin Martin story I've heard I've heard a worse Colin Sylvia one, who knows what is true. But there are reasons why we didn't see him fit for a number 2 draft pick but again I think we rated Scully and Trengove's talent ahead of him. Missing training is pretty much a one match ban these days though so 2 isn't too unreasonable especially as he is prone to misbehave. As for Connors I do feel there must have been something more going on here. If you took PRESCRIBED sleeping tablets and then missed a training session due to excessive sleepiness then isn't that somewhat forgivable regardless of his record - and his public record is only poor, it's hardly a massive wrap sheet. It doesn't get close to what Jurrah has been accused of or even a Jesse Stringer. They've either stepped right on to the front foot knowing they can (with the public support) and would have delisted him at the end of the year or as I believe there is something more to the story. It's a shame to see Richmond having to throw away a decent talent when someone like Maric gets a game every second week.

In know way do I think he'd be the answer to any big problems but there is no reason why we can't use trades as well as picks to bolster our list. I really think we've got room for upwards of 10 delistings when you add the rookies and senior list players so we should be looking at adding talent from state leagues and other teams. Sydney's end of 2009 recruitment period was prime example of what can be done with some smart moves. Mumford, McGlynn, Kennedy, Seaby, Rohan, Jetta and Reid all in one year without giving away 3 top picks.If Banfield can keep working on his game and plays the right style of football that will suit Neeld's game plan then I'd be very interested in him and would easily part way with our 3rd round pick, probably not the second rounder. As for him being a player who bobs up in pieces, I think you'll find besides the very best small forwards in the league that is what all the rest do.

Out: McDonald (inj), Sellar (inj), Spencer, Moloney In: Cook, Couch, Jamar, Jones FB: Nicholson Frawley Tapscott HB: Watts Rivers Macdonald C: Bail Jones Trengove HF: Magner Garland Howe FF: Blease Cook Sylvia Foll: Jamar McKenzie Grimes Int: Martin Dunn Couch S: Bate

Buckley's the kind of happily ensconced that should Collingwood have anywhere near a best 22 available come finals he wont be in the team. Still prone to a terrible turnover very often.