Rogue

Just regarding Dees coverage in the media, I thought we got a fair bit of coverage last year actually. I remember pieces on guys like Holland and Carroll as well as our bigger names.

We've gone a little bit smaller than I expected, but I like the fact Jones and Petterd are both getting a run.

Bell was being constantly run down at one stage there, so CJ's not alone. However, Bell seems to have adapted his thinking processes and/or adjusted to the speed of the game and it seems less of an issue now. I thought he 'showed something' last time we played WC and WC.

Isn't part of injury management managing when players will be allowed to progress to certain milestones (like light work, full training, etc)?

Time should display as 5:33 for this post. EDIT: Looks like the server clock is out - 6 mins slow?

Ward was named in the 18 so I doubt he's going to be omitted. No, I very much doubt it. Ward and Brown were both named in the 18 and that means they're playing 99% of the time.

I can only assume that Ferg is listed in the 18 because he'll be playing. From the interchange PJ will play and I'd take Whelan, McLean, and Petterd. Not sure if that unbalances our structure - perhaps Warnock will get the nod ahead of one of those three. Rivers not playing is a blow, but we're getting closer to a full-strength team. PS. I'd be playing any of our best players if they're fit - we don't want to our relatively young team get blown out of the water after playing a couple of decent games.

I agree that ND is not fully responsible. However, ND's been there ~10 years, so the senior players now were 21 or younger when ND came to the Club. Just something to keep in mind.

I don't think it's an issue at all.

His comment specifically stated that 'when it's an even 1v1...' Obviously forwards have an advantage much of the time because their team is attempting to kick to their advantage - this is neither here nor there. Are you saying that Godfrey is as good as Goodes?

No, he was not everybody's favourite last year. It's wrong to paint all those who think there's a better coach out there than ND to be posters who've jumped on the 'get rid of Daniher' bandwagon after an injury-plagued start to '07.

In a word - no.

Ward and Brown aren't going to be around too much longer, and that's going to free up some more opportunities. I imagine that might help CJ get a gig, even if it's not as a direct replacement for those guys in the backline. Thanks - interesting regarding CJ.

CJ needs confidence. For that to happen he needs some faith shown in him - an extended run in the seniors, and extended time on the ground when he plays. He also needs to be able to settle into one or two spots. I don't know where he's played his junior footy but I imagine rotating around the HFF/wing might be a good start. If we show him some faith in the last half of the season then we give him the best chance of showing he's got something at AFL level. I can't imagine he's got much confidence considering he's generally the scapegoat whenever we fail, despite being given limited opportunities. Anyhow I doubt he'll be delisted - he's only 21 in '07. Guys like Brown, Ward, Holland, Pickett, Jamar, and Ferguson are all in front of him atm, and the inevitable departures of Brown (31) and Ward (30) sometime soon might create some more opportunities.

Hence Wheatley listed there - you don't normally have four emergencies Who are you dropping? From that comment I assume Yze. While I really like Jones he still fades out of the game at times and I'd have a fit and firing Moloney just in front of him at the moment. Either way Jones is in the mix, and it's very rare not to have at least one runner sidelined so he'd be likely to get a guernsey. I think Holland's going to be better value than one of Ward/Brown as we have plenty of running players, but either way they're all depth going forward IMHO. I suppose Miller can cover for injuries a la Holland but Holland's still getting the job done when he plays. For sure - same role Bizz played quite successfully for us a few years ago.

Here's my 'best' squad, along with the age they turn in 2007: B: Frawley (19) Carroll (27) Whelan (28) HB: Petterd (19) Rivers (23) Bell (22) C: Dunn (20) Bruce (28) Green (26) HF: Bate (20) Robertson (29) Davey (24) F: Sylvia (22) Neitz (32) Yze (30) R: White (30) McLean (21) Johnstone (27) INT: PJohnson (23) McDonald (31) Bartram (19) Moloney (23) EM: Jones (19) Godfrey (27) Pickett (30)/Wheatley (26) There's a big upside when you look at how many young kids are in, or around, our best team. While we've got some obvious holes there's still plenty to look forward to. PS. I'd really like to see CJ given extended game time this season. EDIT: As for the rest... Bizzell (31) - Delist; wrong side of 30 and not a best-18 player Brown (31) - Delist; wrong side of 30 and not a best-18 player Ward (30) - Delist? wrong side of 30 and not a best-18 player *Pickett (30) - Delist? Holland (30) - Keep; more valuable as depth than Ward/Brown Ferguson (26) - Delist; doesn't have a role to play Jamar (24) - Delist; promote Neaves and rookie + recruit more rucks Miller (24) - Keep; not everyone can be a star but decent depth at least Warnock (23) - Keep; more upside than Ferg + keep our young kids: C Johnson (21), Buckley (20), Newton (20), Garland (19), Neville (19), Weetra (18)

In the last quarter I thought when we only had a 5 man forward line we were struggling to keep the ball in there, but things worked a better when we played a 6-man forward line. Something that hurts us is that players will lead 15 metres and then just stand there, effectively clogging the space and meaning no one else can lead into that area. They need to keep going on their lead even if they don't get the ball, so they draw their man and space clears out behind them for the next player to lead into. It also makes it easier on our other forwards with Neitz taking the #1 defender.

Disappointing that Whelan and Petterd weren't mentioned, but who knows what that means.

I sat on the wing in the third tier today. Surrounded by WB fans, but it seemed like it was the same everywhere except @ our cheersquad area. One thing I hate about TD is that when there are only 25K there you are still sent to the third level.

Yeah, I understood what you were asking I read an article in The Age recently about the stock market, and the question posed was 'what type of investor are you?'. Then two situations were outlined which basically asked whether you were less likely to sell a stock if it was lower than the price you'd paid for it. Fwiw the assertion was that if you said that you would be more likely to hang onto the stock because you would make a 'loss' you were making portfolio decisions for the wrong reasons. Is it fair to be unhappy with Sylvia if he becomes a consistent best-18 player? That's tough considering more than half your list isn't in that position year-to-year and there's a relatively high turn-over each year.

Richmond's Nathan Brown was on MMM recently and said something along the lines of the following - 'If you have an even 1v1 you're going to back the forward to win the contest the majority of the time because they're generally the more creative and talented - that's why they're playing in the forward line.' I think the same could be said about taggers and midfielders. I agree that most awares are too weighted towards the offensive players, but I wouldn't want to go too far in the other extreme.

CJ may as well pack his bags [in this ficitious world where you're choosing the team ]

Not that many guys who are leaving will be irreplaceable. As much props as McDonald has got the last couple of years I don't think his departure will weaken our midfield overall with the majority our mids young and on the improve. There's a big worry over our ruck division, with White 30 this year and Jamar seemingly consigned to history in the minds of many forum-goers. PJ has played a couple of good games but that doesn't make an AFL-ruck. Neitz is definitely going to be the biggest age-enforced loss in the next couple of years but I think the ruck division is more important. However, we're going to be in better shape in 3-5 years with or without him. Excerpt from a thread I posted last year:

I guess you already knew this before you posted, but type-for-type swaps. Newton is a tall forward - Rivers and Petterd aren't.