old dee

Spot on Dee Man, if Petterd and Bate are fit I think it will look a bit raw if Watts plays at their expense in the first game of the year.

Maurie I am not sure why you think I do not include Scully as a good player. All I am saying is I think Trengove is a better kick and in the long term that may be the difference between them.

And nothing is going to go wrong at Melbourne!

Guys I find it hard to believe you think Moloney will not be there in 2012. The guy will only be 28. He bleeds red and blue He is tough and gets the ball ( which is a hell of a start ) He never takes a backward step and will be great for our young mids as they develop over the next 3 years. Every team needs his type

I have a feeling you are right. I think JT is a better kick than Tom. They both get plenty of the ball and a good kick can be the difference between a good player and a champion.

Your logic maybe good but I think 2013 is too early. Look how long it has taken the saints after they bottomed out and they still have not won it. We are only starting the climb and it is damn hard to win one. just look at the pies. They have had a lot of good teams and have won it once in the last 51 years 2015 is probably more realistic ( even though that seems a long way off to me)

1- Win 12 games and I don't care where or how 2- Jack Watts to have a big year and prove I know nothing 3- Dunn to continue on from where he finished this year 4- LJ to play the whole year 5- Fitzpatrick to play 4 games at AFL level.

I agree with you Rhino I have seen nothing from Mcnamara to suggest he will make an AFL player. Bate stays, all teams have injuries and he is certainly in our best 25-6 players Cheney is a honest goer but just not good enough at AFL level probably stays on next year as again we need back ups to cover injuries.

I have seen it all before it means little now he is playing with the big boys. Thanks the Age will be good, especially the GF addition.

Dunn came to the MFC as a forward but we never seemed to want to play him there. In the second half of the year we have played him for the large part as a permenant forward and surprise surprise he is playing well. Can anyone say why Warnock is never tried as a forward? Does not even get a trial at Casey. He is strong, a good mark and not a bad kick.

I cannot wait,look forward to the day, hope I am still alive. If not lay the copy of the Hun on my grave.

Remember that saying about Stats? they do not always tell the full story. I hope you are not suggesting that yesterday JW was as good LJ!

Hoopla I try hard not to find fault but some days my frustration gets the better of me. Fortunately I do not run the football department, susposedly more skilled peole than me perform that task. My frustration stems from the number of games Jack gets when he is IMO playing poorly. I have no choice but to except that the brains trust knows what they are doing. Hopefully this time next year I will gladly say they were right!

That because he was No. 1 pick it goes with the territory. And we are all looking for the KPF to lead us to the promised land.

I agree no problems with him. Also think he is a better kick than Scully. Yestreday he did some beauties, exactly the right weight for the player down field.

Hoopla why is it Taboo to discuss Jack Watts? Is he the only player that is beyond comment? Why is that?

Correct, he has not earned his spot for the last 4 - 5 weeks. The Hawthorn game he was poor! tell me four things he did well that day? Against port the only person who had less possesions was Bennel! How else do you account for the fact that he is constantly ignored?

You are correct there is definately a large element of the "born to rule" at Essendon. I live in the North, have numerous friends who are supporters and they just don,t understand they are not a power any longer. By the way I still think their list is ordinary. When Fletcher retires they will have no backline to speak of.

I am one of the doubting Thomas's on the subject of our Jack. I have kept my mouth shut for the last 4 weeks, yesterday I went to the game with the main purpose of watching jack. I went with as open a mind as I could manage. I noticed this same thing ( have made comment on a seperate thread ). It did not happen once or twice but on numerous occasions. It is obvious to me that a number of his team mates ignore him. I do not follow the theory that he was in a poor position. A couple of times this may have been the case however there were plenty of other occasions that in my views he was ignored. I have said in the past giving him games when he clearly does not deserve them will cause problems. It may be happening now! Have some of his team mates tired of poor results from Jack? They probably want to win games and think on past performances he will not produce the desired result. He is not getting many possesions and part of that may be that he is being ignored. Yesterday I went wanting him to succeed and prove I am a dill. Not a dill yet!

What is it that Essendon and there board do not understand "YOU DO NOT HAVE THE CATTLE" I have no idea if Knights is a good or poor coach! But Jesus Christ could not do any better with their list!

Jaded you have nailed it for me. We should have at the very least won one of the last three. I am going to dive in at the deep end! Aussie is not good enough! forward presure is one thing but you have to get the ball. He simple does not get his hands on it enough. Forwards cannot score if they do not get the ball. End of story for mine. And now to the big taboo "Watts' No more playing him to get games experience into him. He has had a dream run. His contribution over the last three weeks has been next to nil, each week he has been in the bottom three for possessions. I watched him all day and the majority of his team mates ignore him. On numerous occasions I saw players ignore him and go to a different part of the ground. That suggests to me they do not think much of his ability. I can think of no other player who continually gets a game when they are way below the required level and produce so little. He should not have been played the last two weeks. Next season he should play at Casey until he plays at least two games in the top five players. I have had it with the developing big man theory! when he produces at Casey promote him and not before.

Saw nothing of the game yesterday only going a paper review and statts etc. I Hate to raise the subject but it would appear JW had another poor one! From stats only Bennel had less. Would appear he is going to be played every week no matter how he goes. However interested in comment on his game?

Dees, Newton will not be on the rookie list next year, he will either be gone or given a 1 year contract. I believe they are taking insurance at present. The AFL may bring in a 3 interchange and 1 injury player for the inter change. If that happens a lot of "experts" are saving that teams will probally not have a second ruckman. Instead they will go with a pinch hitter ruckman / forward. I have seen Newton player in this role a number of times this year for Casey. He has done a good job, admittedly at VFL level. They may be trying him in the role this week to see how he does. If this type of role became necessary he may be the only player we have who could do it. We tried a number of players in this type of role earlier in the year without success so why not. It is after all experiment time for us now in the last two games.

I agree with you "Redsoxman" we did and we all know he had a best one more year. He has been a great player for the MFC but he was never going to be around when we next play in a GF. If the Kids revolution is to work they have to take up the slack for better or worse. I seen a lot of guys retire and thought "how are we ever going to replace him" and guess what somone else develops. If our players are good enough they will cover his loss.

Bail, Johnson and Bate are the emergencies. So Bail is the stiff one as he will have to go to Adelaide and will not play in either team! Surprised they put Maloney straight in after 4 weeks out. However perhaps they are foxing with Maloney!