Rogue

Wrong side of 30 for starters.

Should be. Probably isn't. He's coached Sandringham to the premiership year after year. It's hard to say he's no good.

Neitz playing on always seemed likely. Good to hear it though. Yeah, it's possible. Lynch went on for a fair while, but he'd missed a fair bit of footy with CFS. Nice to see he'll just be on a one-year contract though. Both parties can reassess at the end of '08.

Precisely.

Ofc pace a problem. It's why Davey is constantly played up the ground despite us lacking other small forward options (ie. Brown playing forward), and - while not in the midfield - why Ward gets a gig most weeks. The argument wasn't that our midfield was no good, but simply that they're one-paced. Virtually all the players you've mentioned fit to a tee what drdrake was illustrating. He's been worth his place in the side when fit, and when unfit worth his place at least some of the time. When unfit he can also contribute by taking the opposition's best defender (leaving Robertson et al. to play on weaker opponents) and by creating a contest, rather than simply the 'walk tall' idea that you somewhat fairly deride. Potential replacements are hardly lining up. Just quietly, I reckon some of the guy you've mentioned who play footy that's a 'disgrace to the AFL' are the same guys that 'actually give a [censored] about the jumper'.

Everyone seems to conveniently forget that players were constantly pushing others in the back under the guise of simply 'holding'. Keeping the ability to hold a player off by putting your hands in his back vs dramatically lessening pushing in the back during marking contests etc? I prefer the latter tbh.

Eh? ;o

I don't remember him playing there, but it's interesting. I recall him saying he started off playing in the centre.

Haha. At least he's true to his word re: supporting whoever is coach, but you'd think he would have learned

INT: Dunn Newton Buckley CJ EM: Moloney Holland Garland If fit, Moloney deserves a spot. However I'm not sure he is and I'd like to persevere with CJ and Buckley.

Your hopes were too high originally. This year wasn't our 'window of opportunity' - we're going to be better in a few years (yeah, I did say this at the end of '06 so I'm not just a 20/20 expert).

Great call. He resigned? That's good news! Damn resign/ re-sign meaning the opposite. True. On the flip side, they play ~double the amount of games away from their home state. It's not all peaches, but it's certainly nice. I've heard some rumours. Would you actually want a Coach who was put under the thumb by players? If you think Connoly's no good as a Coach, what about him makes you think he'd be good in another FD role like football manager etc? A few people have said it, and it sounds just a little like they're trying to temper their potting of Connoly by saying he'd be good in another role - but no way to Coach.

Excluding rookies you need to move on 10 players to make the 1/4. Not impossible, but quite unlikely.

Fair enough. You're right in that Davey needs to lean how to cope with being tagged. Playing as a small forward is a different ball game to playing as a mid though.

He's on the list for the rest of the year. If I was him I'd try and get it right for finals - it's a pretty even year and while I don't really rate the Pies, anything could happen.

Agree with both those comments, although I feel Wheatley's progress has been hindered by playing in defence rathan than on a wing.

Indeed.

Those who think he's a forward are Davey 'apologists'? Oh dear. Hyperbolic. Based on this information, my revised team is as follows - B: Frawley, Carroll, Ward HB: Bizzell, Miller, Bell C: Dunn, McDonald, Wheatley HF: Sylvia, Bate, Newton F: C. Johnson, Neitz, Robertson FOLL: White, McLean, Jones I/C: P.Johnson, Godfrey, Buckley, Brown EM: Garland, Moloney, Holland IN - Bell, Neitz OUT - Davey, Garland

While PJ is ahead of Jamar at the moment he hasn't yet cemented himself as an AFL ruckman IMO. Injuries last year don't change that fact. I do agree that his development has been a positive. I actually think that your POV is quite narrow. Lyon conceded that we could have done alright again this, but that our run of finals appearances has masked problems with our list. A shorter injury list would have meant we could have performed okay, but another good average year would have only served to continue to mask issues that can't be rectified by having better luck with injuries. EDIT: Fixed double quote tag.

Didn't Melb's CEO Harris point out that Victorian teams were disadvantaged by the affiliate arrangement. I don't think the Club is dismissing the idea - in fact I imagine they would prefer their own team.

B: Frawley, Carroll, Ward HB: Miller, Bizzell, Brown C: Dunn, McDonald, Wheatley HF: Sylvia, Bate, Newton F: C. Johnson, Robertson, Holland FOLL: White, McLean, Jones I/C: P.Johnson, Godfrey, Buckley, Bruce EM: Garland, Moloney, ??? IN - Bruce, Holland OUT - Davey, Garland It seems we struggled for options up forward, and Holland gives us someone who will at the least create a contest. Having someone like him down there also means Newton & co get a 'lesser' defender. Holland might not be around much longer, but he's been in good form for Sandy (in the best two weeks ago, kicked 3 on the weekend). As others have said, Garland is still learning the game. I think Club and player will benefit if he goes back to Sandringham. Riley's flagged Miller's opportunities in defence, so he'll stay in the team. Guys like CJ, and Buckley, to a lesser extent, are further along and should be persevered with. If Bruce doesn't come up we might need to bring Moloney into the team.

The weaknesses were glaring at the end of last year (and probably before, but hey).

Lyon and I are on the same page - I agree with virtually everything he said. Good reading for someone not that familar with Melbourne's list.

I suggest it doesn't, considering the AFL release said Davey doesn't have a bad record yet does have demerit points

Someone disagrees with your assertion so they're an 'apologist'? Who am I apologising for? The players, or the Coaches? We all know McDonald can play. While I'm really excited by both McLean, he's inexperienced. In the games you mentioned, McLean had pretty poor games (but I heard he was one of our best vs Brisbane). I also like Jones, but he doesn't win a heap of the ball - he's averaged 16 disposals p/game this season, and has a game-high of 24. While he gets hands on the footy around stoppages he often gets wrapped up before he can dish out a handball. Lappin, Power, and Black are all experienced (premiership?) midfielders. Godfrey would probably struggle to get a game on any other list, and averages 14 disposals playing most often as a run-with player. Who comes after those four? Sylvia? Doesn't have the fitness atm. Brown? Dunn? They're not even mids. The second gamer Buckley? CJ? Fair to say it's hardly an embarassment of riches, and the likes of TJ, Green, Bruce, and Moloney would make our midfield group far stronger. Their presence would also release other guys, who generally wouldn't be under as much pressure if the senior players were in the team.