bing181

You expected it to turn around in one season?

... with spelling to match.

Much too sensible. Lord forbid that in reality we didn't take Darling because he wasn't what we were after. This site, fair dinkum. I don't now how some of you get through the day.

That sir, is the million dollar question that all clubs ask. Some players develop, other don't, some rise to the challenge, others don't, for some the penny drops, for others not, and some (more than some ...) take time time time. The draft is a kind of rating of the best 18 year olds. It can look very different a year earlier, and certainly a year later (just look at which picks win the Rising Star). As for what happens 5 years down the track ... anything can happen and often does. Not excusing the recruitment guys, but you make informed choices ... and then cross your fingers.

Ah, but if we can ... which is perhaps a big if ... we'll be so much the richer and stronger for it. Worth giving it a crack IMHO.

Exactly. And not only 3-5 years, but 3-5 playing years, not a year out with injury, followed by another year basically in rehab. Amongst Gysberts, Cook, Tapscott, Jurrah, Spencer, Jetta, Evans, Taggert (the forgotten man), some of them have yet to complete even one solid run of pre-season and season, yet alone 3-5.

That's what he got.

Much too sensible ...

... coupled with the odd serious injury or two. Perhaps if Gysberts could actually get a couple of pre-seasons into him, and put together a decent run of games, he might at least have a chance of fulfilling his potential, whatever it is. As for the rest of the thread ... just lucky we didn't draft Dane Swan, what were they thinking!!! Year after year of spudness.

It's not defiant. It's just wrong.

Ah, another "our drafting sucks" thread to add to the umpteen other "our drafting sucks" threads. Do they? Every club has draft success and failures. Ours have been pointed out from time to time, but no more than any other club's.

One really bad quarter (the third) cost us. Once upon a time that would have opened the floodgates, but we worked back into it, which is a positive. Didn't mind some of the younger brigade today, starting to look like they could be players: Blease, McDonald (except for a couple of brain fades), Jetta, Strauss, and not to forget Jake Spencer, who did some nice things around the ground. Decent game from some of the mid-tier players as well, Joel Mac and Dunn didn't disgrace themselves, and it was great seeing Rivers down back again. Odd, I got more out of today's loss than last week's win.

No forward line is completely shafting us, Jetta, Howe and Blease should be the icing on the cake, not the main men. Really hurting with a quarter of the list out.

So you're the solution? Pray tell ...

Not while you keep posting.

Some interesting movements amongst all this ... a few players "out" who I would have expected to be "in" (Sellar, Troy Davis, Rivers ... Gysberts???), plus a couple who I would have seen as possibly "out", but seem to be in (Bail, Spencer, perhaps Evans who hasn't played this year but has just been promoted). The off-season is going to be a lot more exciting than the season that precedes it.

9 disposals?

MELBOURNE Backs Joel Macdonald James Sellar Tom McDonald Half backs Lynden Dunn James Frawley Colin Garland Centreline Jack Trengove Brent Moloney Sam Blease Half forwards Neville Jetta Jared Rivers Rohan Bail Forwards Jeremy Howe Brad Green Colin Sylvia Followers Jake Spencer Jack Grimes Nathan Jones Interchange Jordie McKenzie James Magner James Strauss Luke Tapscott Emergencies Matthew Bate Michael Evans Jordan Gysberts In Neville Jetta Jordie McKenzie Out Jordan Gysberts Cale Morton (shoulder) Still no Watts ... five weeks for a simple ankle?

We live in a world where a 1% drop in form is the difference between winning a gold medal or not, and anything - anything - that might have a negative impact on form is discouraged and/or banned.

And even longer when they have fairly serious injuries. Cook has missed most of both pre-seasons with injuries.

Unfortunately yes. So much self-importance. And irrelevance.

He has no evidence of anything. Yet another barrow-pushing poster. The fundamentalists are making this site unappealing, and I visit less and less. Tedious, just tedious.

Just quoting this in its (admittedly rather brief ...) entirety, as it's a perfect resumé of the situation. One that has occurred since time began, and sport began. Obviously no-one at the AFL sitting up late watching the Tour de France (for example), or revisiting old black and white videos of the Foreman-Ali fight. It is all about winning - but winning the BIG battles, not a couple of irrelevant skirmishes.

You're a few years out of date. If ever there was a "earn your place, no matter who you are", it's Neeld. Bailey never dropped Moloney, Green and Davey. Not even going to start on Daniher. Poor post.

Yes, if it hasn't been done already, someone should look at the stats as to how badly teams perform after playing in the sauna that is Darwin.