monoccular

He did a good job Saturday - looked a lot "freer of spirit" than when I saw him last - Neeld vs Craig factor? And, an inspirational goal.

Sure.....and regardless of title, Dawes IS a great leader. Brings far more to OUR team than just his feats with the ball. Encourages and guides the younger guys. Good pick up, Neeld.

IF Clark gets back, and that is a big IF, he should never ruck again (other than maybe the odd forward pocket boundary throw in). He is far too valuable as a KPP forward. And Fitzy's last two weeks may evoke a bit of a rethink about the future ruck and forward structure.

Too true: being run over but holding on those dying last 90 seconds probably is a better learning experience than had they run away with the last Q. The last 90 seconds was a real team effort....well done. Looking forward to Caro's next article - "Dees tanking efforts not up to standard". I haven't been to many games but this was from my observations his best game. Has the Geish justified it yet? Shocking decisions.

That crystallises my thoughts well - Gawnius maximus with another hopefully uninterrupted preseason and added fitness could do the majority of the ruck work, relieved by Fitzy but with both on ground most of the match. It allows an extra runner on the bench. It may be worth during the experimental end of the season to consider giving him at least some time in defence, as were he able to do this it would add flexibility in the event of an intra-match injury to a defensive tall. Definitely - the designated ruck must contest every ball up or boundary throw in all over the ground except maybe deep in attack, where the opposition have to worry about our ruck work. A part timer doing this in defence is too risky, and also he has to leave his man unattended. It looked as if the more experienced JW was fully confident that JF could bring it to ground. Would he have been as confident had Jamar or Spencer been down there - or indeed would they have had the agility, and nous, to make the contest? I personally haven't seen him in person this season, but certainly last year I was concerned by his attack on the ball, and his decision making. Geez - I hope you are right about Clark getting fit and coming back. It may be pessimism born of decades of following the Demons, but I will believe it when I see it. I am old enough to remember Paul Prymke, Glenn Lovett, Stephen Tingay, TheOx, Sean Charles, Alen Jackovich, even James Cook and to an extent Gary Lyon's careers ruined or curtailed by recurring injuries. JW - it was really great to see him deep up forward again Saturday night, and he looked the part, but playing him off a HFF or a wing could be sensational, given his poise, decision making and delivery. Whilst he can do a good job off HBF I feel he is better used delivering directly to a goal kicker, or kicking them himself. S - there are many here who don't appear to take a lot of joy out of a win, which is, after all, a win. Good call - by all means a top line midfield coach is a necessity, but I just wonder how much improvement will evolve naturally with improved fitness and stamina (Mr Missen's task). I think a lot of the errors and apparent lack of concentration and effort in Q4 was contributed by the fact that most of the players were out on their feet after the superlative efforts of the first 3Q.

I was a Neeld supporter until he repeatedly said that some of our losses this year were OK - there he lost me. Craig is a breath of fresh air. Well balanced stressing the positives, but not hiding from the negatives. And the introduction of Dawes in particular, coming from a winning culture and being a strong minded and strong bodied leader, has helped the team a lot.

FFS - we have Jimmy, please support him guys. We didn't pick Wines on basis of need and best fit, especially as we had Viney. And to all those drooling over Wines remember he is playing in a (for now) far better team and better mids around him. Some posters seriously will never say we got anything right.

His disposal and decision making was first class last night. Looking forward to him having another preseason and getting out there with young Viney.

The only winning lead is being ahead at the final siren!!

Grimes? Would he be ready to immediately come into the seniors? He has been out a while.

Interesting thought - he does "crumb" incredibly well for a big mam, and marked well yesterday. And "that kick" will give him confidence and self belief. It was the first time that I thought he looked like he felt at home. Despite Minson's experience getting the better of our rucks in Q4, I must say given the state of our season I wouldn't be in a hurry to have Jamar back: very one dimensional and for all his hit out stats, very very few result in clearances.

Could not be as comical as Kennedy WCE, surely? Who is getting the hit outs?

The whole rule was a very bad knee-jerk reaction by Vlad to a non-problem. I can only ever recall it being used once before - please enlighten me if there are more. Then in a tight game in appalling conditions the maggot pulls a rabbit out of the hat. Shocker.

Jab Watson -- LOL...

The team looks good - does anyone know if Chris Dawes is 100%? If not is Pedersen or Sellar his likely replacement?

Cant find the team anywhere in thsi post?

I would be concerned that Thompson could be more deeply involved in all this mess than even Hird and Dank. Am I right in thinking that Dank somehow was involved at Geelong during Thompson's tenure? One would need to do a lot more due diligence than we have done with anyone to date.

And if they get away with it it will be an absolute disaster for the AFL too. ie, this is an absolute disaster for the AFL.

Yeah....I would hate to see some guy out for 4-6 weeks with "knee vs pen" injury :-))) IF their presence in the box with the non-players helped their development, then where could they be better placed on game day?

I agree, the AFL see us as an easy target. And as for that serial sniping, serial squealing little prjck, Harvey. He has throughout his career niggled and punched behind the play then pointed (even better than Moloney) to the gullible umpires, often resulting in the retaliatory getting suspended. A truly low life actor

When he has been appointed! Pretty obvious really.......but seriously, it depends surely on whether he has ongoing commitments through the 2013 season and if his club is in finals. Whatever the pros and ons of Neeld's appointment, the timing of the announcement just may have cost Collingwood a flag, so it can't have all been bad.

I agree with your sentiments........just one point of order though; this is not an inquest and hopefully it won't come to that. The AFL have some very deep soul searching to do - sounds maybe melodramatic, but the future of the game, or at least the AFL competition as a serious code is at stake here.

I just hope that he has a future as a player at all. Serious injury with overall a pretty poor prognosis compared with almost any other fracture. Give him all the rest he needs.

Thanks Sounds very constructive. Were any of the coaches present to help guide them?

Sorry - cant get the video to run right now. Can anyone give a briefing on just what they do now?