P-man

So I've scanned the thread, and from what I can see not one person labelled any player a spud. Just for the record.

Haha..just a tad harsh. Dunstan? Billings? Templeton? The first two have shown plenty, and Templeton is no slouch either.

Haha. Tom Mitchell for a second rounder? "Tell him he's dreaming" Mitchell is going to be a serious player. He just can't break into an experienced, elite midfield, ater coming back from injury.

D’Land Player of the Year Unofficial Tally (sample of 10 voters each week) Name - votes (number of games scoring 10+ votes - number of games played - average time on ground%) N Jones - 479 (11 - 15 - 86.9%) Dunn - 340 (8 - 15 - 96.5%) Tyson - 282 (7 - 15 - 77.1%) Cross - 227 (9 - 13 - 88.3%) Viney - 215 (7 - 13 - 77.9%) Vince - 202 (8 - 15 - 83.2%) Pedersen - 192 (5 - 15 - 88.9%) Jamar - 136 (3 - 10 - 82.1%) Dawes - 132 (3 - 11 - 88.3%) Howe - 118 (4 - 15 - 91.4%) M Jones - 117 (2 - 15 - 80.7%) Watts - 113 (4 - 15 - 85.7%) McDonald - 108 (3 - 14 - 92.4%) Jetta - 103 (5 - 9 - 83.3%) Frawley - 101 (3 - 14 - 90.8%) Grimes - 82 (3 - 15 - 91.0%) Kent - 52 (2 - 6 - 73.3%) Kennedy-Harris - 33 (2 - 11 - 58.2%) Spencer - 23 (1 - 5 - 81.6%) Bail - 21 (1 - 15 - 84.7%) Georgiou - 20 (1 - 7 - 82.9%) Byrnes - 10 (1 - 6 - 69.2%) Terlich - 10 (0 - 13 - 80.5%) Toumpas - 9 (0 - 4 - 66.8%) Gawn - 8 (0 - 5 - 72.2%) Garland - 8 (0 - 8 - 92%) McKenzie - 5 (0 - 5 - 82.5%) Trengove - 3 (0 - 2 - 91.0%) Salem - 3 (0 - 10 - 55%) Barry (2), Evans (3), Fitzpatrick (3), Nicholson (1), Riley (3) - 0 Best 5 per round (in order of votes): Rd 1 (St K): Watts, N Jones, Dunn, Tyson, Vince Rd 2 (WC) N Jones, Dunn, Tyson, Cross, Frawley Rd 3 (GWS): Tyson, Pedersen, Howe, McDonald, Cross Rd 4 (Carl): N Jones, Frawley, Grimes, Spencer, Bail Rd 5 (GC): N Jones, Viney, Dawes, Frawley, Cross Rd 6 (Syd): Dunn, Pedersen, M Jones, N Jones, Vince Rd 7 (Adel): Dawes, Viney, Tyson, JKH, Vince/Jamar/Jetta Rd 8 (WB): Tyson, Jamar, Cross, Howe, Viney Rd 9 (Rich): N Jones, Pedersen, Tyson, Viney, Howe Rd 10 (Bye) Rd 11 (Port): Dunn, Tyson/Pedersen, Jetta, N Jones, Cross Rd 12 (Coll): Dunn/N Jones, Pedersen, Vince, Jetta, Cross Rd 13 (Ess): Dunn, N Jones, Kent, Jetta, Grimes Rd 14 (Nth): Vince, Cross, Dawes, Dunn, Watts Rd 15 (WB): Jamar, Howe, Viney, Grimes, Vince Rd 16 (Fre): McDonald, M Jones, N Jones, Viney, Kent

The problem with the above list is that only Terlich played on the weekend. Bail and Jordie as well if we include your maybe pile (these two are in the definitely pile for mine). Some tough calls will need to be made. 15-20 might be a ballpark figure, but regardless we are looking at another 2-3 years for Roos and co to shape the list. I'd like to say there will be a greater focus on drafting players who can kick, but that approach has landed us in hot water as well (Strauss, Toumpas (for the moment)..). An ability to win their own ball remains crucial. That has been the Port mantra and it has served them well. If we can land two top end midfielders in the draft, this will be an important addition to the core group.

Calling Demonland "a bunch of incredibly dumb people" isn't discussion, it is just insulting, and I'm yet to see you retract it. I won't be holding my breath. I haven't seen any "spud" labels being thrown about in this thread either. If there was, I don't condone it, but with this many people I understand there is always going to be one or two who resort to that. It is against site rules and mods can deal with that as they see fit. WYL mentioned 20 after you'd already deemed the Demonland consensus to be 30. So you corrected yourself after throwing out a false accusation to suit your insults. WYL is one poster, and he's entitled to his opinion. You are entitled to yours also, however generally your fallback position is the same: we're all gutless idiots, and Roos knows best so why bother discussing it. Anyhow, I figured it would be pointless as your first instinct is to bite back, but hopefully you understand the broader point I was making. Enjoy your day, Saty.

From past experience I know this post will likely be in vain, but I will make it anyway in the hope that something lands. You seem to read other's posts discussing individual players as denigrating, but with yourself it is "their best is not good enough at the moment". I haven't seen much denigration occurring, and I haven't seen anyone suggest we should delist 30 players. These are things that you concoct to suit your "incredibly dumb" accusations. If we are discussing the list and the inevitable changes that will occur, then individuals are going to be discussed in that context. The problem is that whenever that topic comes up, indeed whenever anything of a negative flavour comes up, your reaction is to try and shut it down win insults and an insistence that we all just shut up and defer to "fearless leader". First it was Neeld. Now Roos. For the umpteenth time... This is a DISCUSSION FORUM. DISCUSSION. FORUM. Not a fanboy site. Not a cult. Not a forum for ex-AFL players only. No, Roos won't read it. Yes, there is some venting involved. But despite what you seem to think, the thoughts expressed on here don't stem from feelings of inadequacy, or shortcomings in our lives, or god knows what other theory you want to come up with. It is just people who love the club and are desperate to see it improve.

We don't need a 27 year old ruckman entering his prime who accumulates 20 touches around the ground and averages 4 tackles per game? Our first ruck is on his last legs, and Martin is miles better than Spencer at the very least. We definitely could've used him. Spilt milk now though.

Let the record show... He's been terrific for Brisbane of late and would be a walk up start. Wrong call, but good luck to him.

If Grimes wasn't captain, the conversation would be about whether we keep him at all. I think that alone says something about his merit as captain. It worries me that a player of his ability has managed to become a given on the team sheet. He shouldn't be. Bottom line is that the list badly needs another turn over. You can put lipstick on a pig..etc. Numerous players simply are not good enough. In that's sense, the end of the season can't come fast enough.

Quiet, fool.

I think that is an emphatic no.

Also, this congestion at stoppages is ridiculous. The league needs to somehow put a stop to it.

When was the last time Dawes took a contested mark?

I like how physical it's been so far. Having a crack.

Caught napping.

This is HH we're talking about. Never discount the possibility he is serious.

One single passage of play isn't going to convince me of the merits of playing Salem right now ahead of Blease. What I have seen Blease do is kick a bag of 5 goals and provide some of the most exciting passages of play I've seen from any Melbourne player in recent years. For all of Salem's defensive pressure, his last 4 weeks has seen him lay a combined total of 4 tackles. He is a first year player that has visibly dropped off and it's facetious to suggest there isn't a case for Blease to be given an opportunity ahead of him in Round 16 of the season. My concern is that Blease is exactly the type of player who I can envisage going to another club and going to another level. If that happens without us even getting a glimpse of him this year (on the back of many accounts saying he looked like one of the few AFL standard players at Casey), I will be disappointed.

Yeah I'm aware of all that but Blease has shown improvement in his defensive e game which has been noted in several reviews. He is getting more of the pill and whilst his use of it may not always be fantastic, who in the current Melbourne side can lay claim to that? This is about a kid like Salem keeping his spot at the expense of Blease. To me that isn't justified.

The Blease/Tapscott issue is the first time I've really questioned the current regime. I'm not at all comfortable with them not being given a chance after having seemingly earned one, whilst a first year player in Salem continues to be given opportunities on the back of very little in recent weeks. If they go on next season and flourish elsewhere, it will be on Roosy's head, sorry to say.

lol Wake me when this is over.

I guess that's the last we've seen of Sammy Blease then.

I see where you're coming from but I think that would be too emotional a response. Dropping him from the leadership group would appear petty, to say the very least. The aim must be to finish off the season as strong as possible. That means having Frawley in the side. I dare say he will want to end things at the club on a high note. The implication of him informing the club he is moving on will only extend to planning. In terms of the current season, I don't think it should have much impact. I'm actually at peace with this now, given it seems more and more likely that he is gawn. Provided we get the right compo, picks 4 & 5 or thereabouts will do very nicely in further setting up our young midfield. Quite likely we could get the best two midfielders in the draft with the top end being KPP heavy.

It's annoying to say the least, particularly the Bail decision which had deeper ramifications. It defies belief how often the umpires are getting incorrect disposal wrong. Players are just dropping the ball now because they are confident they will get away with it. Meanwhile 4 steps is apparently a rough guide for prior opportunity (news to me), but still players who win the ball and within half a second are piled on top of are then caught with "no genuine attempt" given as the explanation. The whole thing is a mess that seems to get worse each week, and the fans just have to accept it. It's little wonder foreigners have no idea what's going on when watching our game.

I'll be annoyed if neither of Blease or Tapscott are picked. It's Round 16 ffs. They must be given a chance now, surely. They've done enough to get A chance, Blease in particular. If they move elsewhere next season to become decent players, that will really hurt.