hardtack

And it looks like a pies bogan supporter has managed to bring the opening of the indigenous round crashing down... don't know what she said, but it sure had a big impact on Goodes and ruined what should have been a great celebration of the master class he gave. To see him wandering through the rooms alone while the rest were celebrating on the ground, was a bit sad.

Considering Watts was recruited as the #1 forward in the draft, I suppose it would be expected he might make a reasonable forward... Rivers on the other hand was recruited as a back and played back. Neitz I believe was recruited as a forward but was played back to fill a need at the time (much like Watts) and by all accounts became a better forward for the experience. It makes perfect sense that if a forward can learn to think like a backman, it can help their game.

Remind me just how well Jack was going up forward before Neeld moved him to the back line. And then please remind me just how poorly Jack played as a back in the second half of last season. As I recall, he has played his best and most consistent football in the back half... and in the long term, learning to play back is going to result in him being a much better forward... a guy named Neitz ring any bells?

Kinky!

And just who are all of these players lining up at the door? I can think of three who are RUMOURED to be doing so (Watts, Frawley and Sylvia) and of those, just as an example, AFL360 believed only Sylvia was a definite leaver.

Great post OD... but unfortunately I feel it will probably fall on deaf ears (blind eyes?) here... there are many here that feel no empathy for their fellow Dees supporters let alone those of other clubs.

No, GNF was insisting his "source/sauce" was claiming Jack was off to Carlton.

Or is that premature ejectulation?

I actually agree. We have a history on these forums of prematurely delisting players (in our own minds) only to see them come good and even reach AA heights... notables being, Frawley (AA), Jamar (AA) and most recently, one Nathan Jones.

It could also be that Davey has bought into Neeld's approach to the players... as I recall, he was showing signs of improvement last year and has kept going on the upward trend this year. I suppose it might boil down to whether a player can handle discipline.

Why? It wouldn't be the first time the media have been guilty of misrepresentation.

It would be interesting to know if this was a PJ get or if CS already had it in the pipeline... anyone know?

So far (and this has probably already been done to death as well), we have picked up Clark, Dawes, Terlich, M Jones, Hogan and a number of others who will be big contributors in years to come. There were only so many players that Neeld could pick up in the time he has been with the MFC and so far I believe he has done well with what we could afford. He took Clark, Hogan and Dawes because because they were available and were needed; if he hadn't taken them when he did, we would not have another chance. This year I am confident he will be going all out to address our midfield (and possibly another back) and I am sure he will manage to get a couple of highly regarded mids. This is a major rebuild, and if it is to be effective, he has to get the best possible available players he can with whatever funds are available... and so far this is exactly what he has done. With what Rodan, Pedersen, Barry etc, cost us, we could not have got any other top line players, but we did get a wealth of experience in Rodan and Byrnes (who I think has not been bad value), so I believe he has not failed in that area. As for Moloney, yes it has been done to death and the two schools of thought will never agree... Rivers I think was going anyway, whatever efforts we made to keep him. He is reaching the twilight of his career and he was desperate to play finals footy... I doubt anyone could seriously say that he could have seen much finals action with the MFC in the time he has left in the game. It would have been nice to keep him, but we didn't and as it turns out, we may have inadvertently dodged a bullet where his knee is concerned; sadly for him.

Nearly the last words he spoke, if I recall correctly.

Well, when Toumpas returns, we could have a forward line of Clark Kent and Jimmy

I was thinking exactly the same thing. I recall a few years ago when we had Wheatley (I think it was), doing just that and we were then able to move the ball quickly into attack. We just have to be sure we have enough spoilers and crumbers around the drop of the ball and a few deep in the forward line; sure beats our generally failed attempts at finessing the ball out of the back line.

Earlier you mention us "jettisoning" Moloney and Rivers... what do you think they would have offered us this year over and above what Byrne et al are offering? Apart from the fact that they jumped rather than being jettisoned as you put it, Rivers would more than likely have been gone with a dud knee and Moloney would have been giving us more of what he gave us in 2012. At least Byrne and Rodan are giving some guidance to the younger players even if they are not prolific in their onfield contributions.

I have nothing against Freo and Port, but unfortunately in both cases, I can't get around the fact that their supporters irritate me so much!

That's a pretty fair assessment, yet everyone still decries the fact that we didn't take Naitanui... for us, four of those first five (Rich has been a bit up and down) would have been far more useful, although I'm still of the opinion that we made the right choice in Watts.

Pointless thread, produced with the sole intent of simply bagging one of our own again!

So far Neeld has brought in Clark and Dawes, we already have a reasonable back line (they look a lot worse than they are because they are literally being continually bombarded)... this is why I believe Neeld should be allowed to complete his work this year by bringing in a couple of solid experienced mids and perhaps one more experienced back. I think then we will start to see a turn around in our fortunes as the ball will finally spend more time forward than back.

Not to mention the fact that he has no tank... on a ground the size of Patersons, he will be totally knackered by half time... maybe consider him as a sub?

According to Neeld in his press conference: "Toumpas rolled his ankle, was up running around in the rooms. Wasn't able to get back out on the field."

I don't know... reading these forums I would think there are many on here that would give them a good run for their money.

And that's just these forums!