monoccular

Right or wrong, and only time i.e. a few years will tell, WE took Cook > Darling: WE, not BP himself. Of course he was following a grand (or maybe not so grand) plan. As you put it, following the template presumably put out by the then FD. And we have a new coach with a wide new broom: presumably wants to set up a whole new FD in his own image, which includes recruiting manager. Did BP jump or was he pushed? We may never know the full story. I suspect a bit of both.

One would have to assume that Craig knows Sellar's strengths and weaknesses extremely well: perhaps there was one if those 'club culture' things or other factors that has been assessed as 'reversible' or 'correctable' by Craig et al. You would have to think that if he were clearly a lost cause, Craig would know that and he wouldn't be here now. But not being able to get much game time at Adelaide is a concern. Wait and see.

Interesting that stat. BTW, who is #1??

Has he demonstrated this under pressure in an AFL match?

I guess the report was always going to be positive, or it would not have been posted by the club, but FWIW Max sounds as if he will use the time as best he can to build up physically and mentally. Looking forward to seeing him preseason 2013. His debut was pretty impressive for a still very young big man. Let us all hope he can recover fully and mak an impact.

..........not necessarily a leadership vacuum, IMO, maybe just fine tuning the timing. If the option is to appoint, say, Moloney for a year then one of the young Jacks, or retain Green for that year, I think in the interests of stability keeping Green would be the best option. Accept that he, like the whole team, had a crap year 2011. To appoint Moloney for one year, then drop him in favour of a Jack would be a hell of a kick in the guts to one of our hardest mids. Sure, appoint the Jacks as joint vice captains, which will state clearly our future intentions of generational change....the likes of Moloney (&Davey etc) will then know without doubt that their time will not come, and they can get on with the game.

It is something that our team really needs to redress, some time within the life of most of the current playing group. WE need to beat someone, anyone, by >186. I don't care if it is GWS or GCS, though I would prefer if it were Essendung, Carlscum or CollingEd. WE also need to inflict a >100 point GF winning margin to purge our last two GF appearances. IT IS TIME TO AIM HIGH!!!

Thanks. What is the injury from which he is recovering?

That is a big call Lutz. Do you mean this year? From the start or by "..will become.." do you mean over the next year or two. In the few games I have seen him play his defence was his weakest aspect. Will need a lot of work there. It wouldn't be a big call, it would be a ginormous one were it from the start of 2012, given his injury.

39 - you say Cook was there....but what did he do, if anything? Thanks to all for their inputs. Much appreciated.

I am sure that sums up the mature strong bodied Sellar, and Clark recruitments ( and Magner for that matter though as rookie listed player he may take longer to get a run and fit into what is becoming a crowded house in the middle). Both must make a real impact this year or they will be out (not sure about their contracts I must say). Clark I would expect to play the majority of games; Sellar almost certainly fewer due to match ups. There are 'development players' such as Cook, Tom McDonld and Davis amongst others, who hopefully will progress over the next couple of years, but the strategy to recruit these two in particular is to get the club to progress in the meantime. IF they all come on well and good; all won't fit in together but a glut could be useful come trade time too.

This and the previous posters have exposed the "errors" of recruiters at many other clubs as well. Maybe we should see a few more sackings too.

A pretty nice synopsis of the debate on this site, I would say.

As is being discussed on the Barry Prendergast thread right now, recruiting ain't an exact science, is it?

I must say that I agree with you on this. Grimes hasn't established himself on the field, through no fault of his own, and needs to put in a season of top footy first. Trenners is looking good but is well behind the head ducker who now leads Geelong, in experience and in delivery. Rethink in 12 months....but now is premature. PS: and I think it is time to make an announcement....this is dragging on far too long.

Thanks for the report, JJH. It is good to hear for the first time in a long time that Neeld is seen to be getting involved, and it sounds as if he has strong ideas and plans. I suspect that he has great trust in his hand picked line coaches and fitness staff, and lets them have a bit of free reign before melding it all together himself. Not too much micromanagement, rather overseeing the big picture, but I would be sure that he will be prepared to shoulder full responsibility for the club's outcomes. He should also (hopefully) shoulder the glory as well!! The stoppage and clearance drills sound exciting and pretty hard, and certainly one would hope will fill a glaring deficiency in our set up. I am really looking forward to seeing all this hard work being put into action.

As they said in the famous "Grim Reaper" Monty Python sketch: "What a strange man"??!! Thanking someone for making an offering or giving, as no less an historical luminary as Ben Hur points out, is just a common courtesy. Now one may argue against some points made in a report, especially were one fortunate enough to have been also able to observe, but at least be grateful that someone has made the effort to report. I will add my many thanks to all who get there and have the time, ability and inclination to share their views. These maybe not always in agreement with our own preconceived thoughts, or even with our observations, but an opinion none the less. Thanks.

Thanks for that. Looking forward to your reports. Wish I could be there.

My understanding is that Belly suffered numerous concussions before he started with us, and that this may have contributed to his lack of awareness and further concussions when at MFC, and the subsequent deterioration later in his career. I find it hard to compare Strauss with Bell in that context.

This page, largely as a rest of Axis' well thought out arguments, is really one of the most intellectually stimulating pages I have seen on this site, or at 'ology. Well considered, well presented, and thought provoking. Great work. And I happen to agree that, unlike so long ago when we last tasted the ultimate success and every defender had a man to shut down in his own way, a good defence is a network of players who know each other's strengths and weaknesses, as well as their own and the opposition attackers, there really being no "fixed positions" anymore, and further complicated by the incessant rotations. It is no surprise that the defences he mentioned, Collingwood, Geelong, Hawthorn, StKilda play in this way and that they have bee up there for the past few years. Whilst I am sure Neeld will innovate but what we need is a fairly stable, but also flexible (if that is not contradictory) team down back. It was one of (few) the things that I thought we were getting right under Bailey in 2010, but 2011 it didn't seem to progress.

Looking forward to your report PF. Can you maybe alter the header from "today" to Friday 20th January. Makes it easier to follow later on. Thanks

Surely one cannot expect to have an "interim" from say Moloney or Jones, only to say in 12 months move over, here comes JT or Grimes? What would that do for the morale of the temp? I really feel that Green for another year would be the best option, not being indecisive or weak, but just pragmatic. And I really don't think, on reflection, that he was maybe not as bad a leader last year as many would say: honestly, the way the team was prepared, drilled and set up on match days in 2011 who could have inspired them? Allow JT and JG to get another full year (or in the case of JG more than a few consecutive games) into them, then decide.

You are far too kind "...mislead Stynes and Lyon..." he actually lied to us all. Publicly pledging lifelong loyalty etc etc.

Firstly, my sincere thanks to all who were able to get there today and who filed those detailed reports for those who can't I haven't been able to get to a training session for a couple of years now, but from reading these reports there appears to be a lot more structure to the group drills, and also far more personal tailoring of fitness and running, the latter I presume being from Missen and Craig. Again, the perennial call at this time of year is "wow, best preseason for decades" but to long time observers, is this really happening? I may have missed it, but did any of you see Neeld during any of these drills or simulations? It sounds as if he is allowing a fair bit of freedom to the line coaches, which I presume is a mark of confidence in a job well done rather than indifference. I would assume that he is somewhere watching it all, taking it all in and formulating a winning game plan, as well as alternative plans, which have been lacking for many years. I am certainly getting excited about the coming season - bring it on!

Surely must be b well ahead of (a). What have you against banana fritters? Did one burn your mouth? Should be eaten with liberal doses of ice cream