Range Rover

I'm sorry but Cyril Rioli is so far away from being "just another mid/forward'. The guy is on a different planet to everyone on our list. He is the best 'frontal pressure' player in the game. He causes defenders to fumble and turnover the footy by his mere presence alone. His freakish vision brings teammates into the game and he often doesn't need to kick goals himself - he creates them through deft tap-ons and perfect body positioning. People read too much into stats. I want a player who breaks games open. Unless you have one already on your list, for that type of player ... you must pay. Premiership quality mid/forward named on the All-Australian Half-Forward Flank for 2012. Set to enter his prime. That'll do me, thanks.

Definite potential but certainly not yet.

What I'm concerned about here is that we start to see an MFC trend where we play it safe and buy the Audi when we could've risked more and plumped for the Merc. Dawes instead of Cloke Betts instead of Rioli It's risk versus reward. And there are occasions when you've got to throw caution to the wind and push all your chips forward. This club has no stars. None.

Gee it's amazing isn't it, I wasn't a fan of it at all, nor my Mum who I took along to see it. No doubt some of the imagery was wonderful but I found the storyline deceptively weak and couldn't get emotionally invested in the lead character or the computer generated animals at all. A total miss for me.

Post your thoughts on Life of Pi if you can. It's one I've been umm-ing and agh-ing about seeing it. Saw it last night. Some excellent performances (nice cameo from Don Johnson!) but I found the movie not on par with his best work. Maybe it's because the standard Tarantino plot devices and dialoque styles are bit shop-worn these days. * I also think the gore and graphic violence doesn't work nearly as well as he thinks it does. Suggested violence can be far more scary.

Just saw a film called 'Arbitrage' on the flight home from Bali. It's sort of 'Wall Street' meets a really good episode of 'CSI: New York'. Have never been a huge fan of Richard Gere but he was excellent in the leading role here. Highly recommend this flick.

Breaking's ... bad?

Same.

That may be, but if you look at the actual trajectory of the two, Caddy is tracking nicely (2nd year) and Trengove (3rd year) has hit a ditch. I'm not sure what point you're trying to make.

My thoughts on Caddy are that if Neeld can't settle on a quality mature mid (or more importantly convince one to come to us), then the next best alternative will be to go for one of these young guns that the Suns have incubated. Caddy's trajectory as a top 10 draft pick seems to be on track and if he comes to us he'd be going in to 2103 with three full pre-seasons under his belt, ready to make an immediate impact. Don't forget that he has played some decent footy in a side that has been smashed even worse than us over the past two years. For mine a player like him would be the direct replacement for Scully, with our second compensation pick (no.4) being reward for the hell we were put through over that whole affair. I hope we see a refreshed Trengove next year, too. I'm putting his 2012 down to learning how to play a defensive style of game that will make him a more multi-dimensional player moving forward.

Yet to re-sign ... http://www.sportsnewsfirst.com.au/articles/2012/07/18/caddy-firms-to-stay-on-gold-coast/

With Boak seemingly off the table, does anyone else think we should make Caddy a priority? I'm a big fan. A hard, tough, skillful mid who can kick goals. Has an apprenticeship working with Bluey McKenna and Gary Jnr under his belt and should be primed as he enters his third season of footy. I reckon we should go hard at him and trump whatever the Bomber and other clubs can offer the Suns (bar our picks 3 and 4 of course). 3,4, Caddy, Viney ... Now THAT would be a game-changing draft result for the MFC.

I have given this a bit of a re-think since this morning. If David King is fit to be deemed a 'leading AFL analyst' then anything goes really. It's all - quite literally - fish and chip wrapping at the end of the day isn't it.

Anonymous forum quibblings are not 'news' Maurie. Get real! What if Hanlon had decided to go with "Magner Is Melbourne's Biggest Liability" as a story idea instead? Purely because 'Gotzy15' got a rush of blood after a big loss to Collingwood. Not having a go at Gotzy as I've been there and done that type of thing myself. It's just that it's the stuff of anonymous supporter footy forums. It 'aint for printed public consumption. At least not by any respectable newspaper. And did Hanlon really present a balanced piece showing the "divided opinion on Morton" by Melbourne supporters? Hardly. Seemed more like a hatchet job to me presenting overwhelmingly the negative and the sensational ('throwing the TV out the window' etc). Where was the counterbalancing quote in favour by Jose Mourinho, or the controlled potting of JnrMac?? lol

What I would've much preferred is if Hanlon chose to wrote an article on the non-performing Colin Sylvia and directly quoted some of the offerings in the thread "Thanks Colin But See you Later". Now that would've been much more entertaining ... and justified.

Finally we have definitive proof that these journos troll 'Land for story ideas. At least Peter Hanlon gives us a mention unlike Mark Stevens and a few over at the Hun who regularly pilfer nuggets of wisdom from among these hallowed threads.

I said he has to not only think he can but also believe he can. There's an important difference. In that sense his odds of surviving this battle and indeed triumphing over it can be likened to Melbourne's premiership drought. The odds get increasingly smaller but you've still got to think and believe you can. I get very uncomfortable seeing the Ben Cousins' of the world get up on TV and (ghost) write newspaper articles declaring "I'm a drug addict and I have to accept I'll always be one even when I'm clean". How about encouraging them to say, "I've got a drug problem and I'm under no illusions about the difficulties I face, but I believe there's a way out of it and one day I won't be". Different mindset. It's like a good ordinary footballer declaring that's what he is and all he is ever going to be. I understand the issue is much more complex than this. Crystal meth is the devil incarnate. But I do think a better approach is needed and one which brings a spiritual dimension to rehabilitation in addition to dry Western psychology.

I've never agreed with this notion of "once a drug addict, always a drug addict". Psychologists and rehab clinic staff (ie. the mental health 'industry') drums this into people with drug problems and it becomes self re-affirming nonsense. What we think, we become. Ben Cousins needs to start thinking and believing that he is capable of not being a drug addict.

Has anyone seen Moneyball? Don't put off seeing this film if you haven't yet (I'm usually not a Brad Pitt fan) ... it's brilliant.

Can also recommend The Ides of March if anyone hasn't seen it. Gosling and Clooney. Four star political drama.

When I think of the No.29 I always think of 'Dazzling' Dean Chiron.

Separated at birth? http://www.optuszoo.com.au/s3/d70348f21f7c2f976bbfd700a42774bd6efcb57c

I knew I'd heard the name somewhere Peter Sellers 'The Party' (1968) ... 23rd cast member/character down http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063415/fullcredits#cast

I wouldn't mind him at Melbourne. Strong body, fit, always has a crack.

The chains are on the car ready to go and hopefully our maid has given our Hotham chalet a clean-up prior to our arrival tomorrow. Our son Ben is bringing up a few of his Xavier College mates. Next week it's Becky and her group from Lauriston. I missed the season here last year as we decided to head over to Banff in Canada. Just couldn't stand to be in town while the Dees were losing.