hardtack

13 to 4 tackles in our favour this quarter

I'm terrible when it comes to recognising celebrities, but that looks like Patrick Swayze... do we want him to unsettle King et al with a bit of dirty dancing or some "french" style potting wheel work?

I disagree... they want this badly and are simply being rattled by the unexpected ferocity of the Dees play.

Ok, can't read your mind... so tell me, what was the point of your topic? Or is the answer in the bible?

You were saying?

Close but no cigar! You are just reprising an old topic re the comparison between Nic Nat and Watts... why not use the search function and add your thoughts to the existing topic? You didn't even mention Jack in your opening post... you were simply insinuating that Nic Nat was the better pick. If you were really supportive of Jack Watts you would not be starting a topic that insinuates we erred by not taking Naitanui... if you were expressing disappointment about Jack Watts, you could have created a post (or added to one of the many already in existence) that discussed that disappointment without that tired old Naitanui/Jack Watts comparison. As rpfc so rightly expressed in the first response to your post: "which well worn point am I?".

We've endured years of bad development because no one seems to be allowed to complete a rebuild. Neeld should be allowed to finish building the list he has in mind and yes, another 3 years is probably quite an accurate assessment of the time it will take to become genuinely competitive with the top teams. If we sack Neeld now and take on another coach, just how long to you give them to get us to a point where we are truly competitive? It is very possible that a new coach will again dismantle everything and begin yet another rebuild, putting us even further behind. Sorry MD, but you are showing about as much mongrel as a Toorak miniature poodle.

So, that begs the question. why did you feel it necessary to start this topic?

Well, in that case he's in very good company: Blight Malthouse Norm Smith Ron Barassi Bomber Thompson etc etc etc I think they all failed as first time coaches.

Will be interesting to see what the likes of Grand New Flag will say if Sylvia decides to sign on for another 2 or 3 years... will certainly torpedo his claims to have had the word from his player agent/manager friend who claims Sylvia (and others) will walk because of Neeld.

The only thing that I'm wonderingt is... who will be the next player on our list to get a character assassination all for being drafted/traded into the MFC? Surely these players should be denying themselves any sort of a shot at an AFL career rather than accepting offers... how dare they!!

Not to mention he was largely the problem... he was upset over his treatment and got a major case of the sulks that impacted the whole side. He doesn't need to sulk at the moment, so he shows what he is capable of... that actually makes me more glad that he has gone; let's see what happens at the Lions the moment Voss calls him out for some indiscretion.

How is promoting womens' football a case of "political point scoring and social equity"?? This is something the club committed to some time ago and as such should be followed through with. Finally it brings womens' AFL into focus with a wider audience, albeit for a brief moment, and will hopefully promote interest in the various womens' leagues around the country. As well as performing well in the AFL, our business should also be about promoting the game and promoting health and fitness... the fact that our mens' team is a basket case at the moment should not detract from that and should not mean that this promotion should take a back seat. And I think that you will find that apart from yourself and a couple of others on this board, most probably do give a "fat rats", or at the very least, don't object to it.

Armstrong has a flag to his name as well with West Coast... can't say it was largely due to his contribution though.

Couldn't agree more... shame he couldn't have shown more leadership quality at the Dees and, despite being dropped from the leadership group and the vice captaincy, made an effort to prove the coach wrong instead of sulking and, to use his own words, dropping his bundle.

At the moment there just seem to be a lot of "ifs" flying around, so I will add one more... I am sure that in the fullness of time Peter Jackson will be made aware of the status of the various relationships between the board, FD and playing group, so IF all of these reports from the likes of Barrett and Wilson etc are true and IF the thoughts of a number of posters on Demonland are proven to be true (re Neeld having lost the playing group), then I have no doubt he will act accordingly. After all, he has no ties or history with any of these people or departments and so he can pretty much act with impunity in much the same way Neeld was able to do when he arrived at the club. In the meantime, let them all do what they are there to do and let's hope that the playing group can at least respond to their darkest hour against the Suns, by putting in a gut busting effort this week.

Tell me... exactly how many quality games against quality sides did Beamer put in over the last 2 or 3 years? I think I've heard the term "downhill skier" used in the past?

Yes, he was dropped from the leadership group... a real leader would have gone on to prove the coach had made a wrong decision and work his arse off to get back into the leadership group. Let's face it, Moloney along with a number of other senior players, had gone missing all to often when it really mattered... and that was under Bailey as much as it was under Neeld. As far as wondering how many current players are feeling that way, I'm sure you would like to think it is most of the team...but in reality, there probably may be one or two, but generally, I think you will find that most feel the same way that Garland, Dawes and others have expressed in the media of late.

He admitted to dropping his bundle last year... not the kind of behaviour you would expect from someone who believed he shouldn't have been dropped from the leadership group.

There's one in every crowd

Well, I hardly think we were predicting the win/loss rate we are currently sitting on, or the $1.5mil shortfall when this initiative was established... and there is no way we could renege on it just because our circumstances have changed in the meantime.

I get the feeling your sense of humour has gone west... it's patently obvious (even to blind freddy and his dog) that jazza was having a laugh.

Would not be averse to that idea... I have always considered Murphy and Kirk to be two of the most articulate, intelligent and grounded individuals I can recall playing the game, and was always jealous of the Swans and Dogs for having them... if we were to get an untried line coach or development coach, and as Kirk has already gone to the dockers, I would jump at Murphy in a heartbeat.

"At last I can lift my arms above my shoulders thanks to Dr Mackenzie's Menthoids. For uric acids accumulating in your muscles and joints. Menthoids exert their cleaning tonic action on kidneys, bladder and bloodstream. Get quick relief from backache, rheumatism, sciatica, lumbago, headaches, dizziness."

Stuie, I was neither quoting nor misquoting you... I would have thought it was quite obvious I meant the senior coach as I then questioned whether that "rule" should carry over to the line coaches as well. And while we are on the subject of semantics, you did suggest Black as midfield coach both in the title and in your opening post, which is the reason I posed my question... no mention of him assisting Royal... and yes, I just searched and found that Kirk is an assistant at Freo (pity).