monoccular

Brilliant stuff, Whisperer. I am confused, though, as to who could the dark, swarthy individual of heavy build possibly be?

You beat me to it. LOL. :-)

Super impressive person : I hope he can transfer his knowledge, passion and experience to the team. I liked the bit about enjoying being out of his comfort zone at 55. Always looking for a new challenge. Good pick up.

Fascinating read. "What a tangled web weave when first we venture to deceive" -- get the stonemasons out now and prepare it for Vlad's headstone, not that I necessarily wish on him the early need for one....just get out of our competition and put it aside for later.

Sounds good Parma. If that is fact and works out as planned I am excited. A 35 goal small forward -- last time I remember a 35 goal small forward, certainly then also a rover as was the case then, was ........John Townsend in the year....................1 9 6 4 !!!

Was that a sheet set shot, because his set shots weren't pretty. Dr Seuss anyone?

Like everyone else last season, Brad had a shocker, but it wasn't due to lack of courage or commitment. Possibly lack of direction, which he will not lack in 2012, and the in$tability cau$ed by you know who that didn't help anyone. That said, I am not sure if captaincy suited him, but would probably leave it with him for another year to see whether Trengove or Grimes are ready and able.

Re the whole tanking issue: not Bailey, nor any MFC player actually passed the ball to McMahon, who then himself had to kick a difficult long after siren goal. We were leading when the siren blew. But for that pretty good difficult kick this discussion would not be happening. But as for the conspiracy theory, I always like one - Lee Harvey Dimitrou taking aim at MFC basking in contentment in the open car, from the book repository: now all we need is Fat Phil Ruby to rid us all of him.

Interesting the quote from Brown that Jack is a KPP especially as there has been speculation here and elsewhere that he may be used as a winger. But as the previous poster has suggested, training the house down in preseason doesn't always translate into season success: that said however a bulked up, fit and fired up JW is still an exciting thought.

In his first season or two he terrorized defenders with his run down closing speed and acceleration, much the same as by the way did Jurrah in his early days. If both could regain that ability / desire / fire as well as being evasive burst attackers, then watch out. Presumably, from training reports, they both are getting some sort of "special treatment" and I hope you are right about the detail and the plan, or as we call it now on Neeld era, "role"! And the addition of Clark to the forward line will add some strength and mongrel which can only help these two to feel less easily intimidated.

Well, whatever -- now we have the top scientists getting our players into the best physical shape, and a coach who at least professes to be intolerant of anything other than 100% efforts -- so surely we can only expect marked improvement over the next couple of years. Fantastic scientific input thanks to Nascent and others too - thanks.

I hope that Mark Neeld, and for that matter all the new staff have read the book. We need a new Norm Smith -- Mark, are you a worthy successor??

I honestly very very rarely wish injury on any player, but the Dive Bomber ripping his hamstring whilst taking a dive was karma. But should a certain lying mercenary whose name starts with $, with a fat dad, have ongoing knee problems I wouldn't shed a tear.

Webber -- a refreshing post from someone who sounds as if they know a bit. Well said....horses for courses, but also do the best to add a bit for the other courses without killing the primary asset.

Well I guess that it is just about as far as one can possibly get from Blactown -- does that say anything?

I read the tipping point reference as there may well be some who decide, or that the coaching group decide at year's end aren't right for us going forward in several ways. He will know certainly by then who is "soft" and who has the heart for the battles ahead. Some who have been retained partly for list management purposes will have a chance to show if they have what it takes or not,mane some of these if they have the heart may surprise. Every year is a "tipping point" for some: I suspect that unless a few 'fringe' players really step up and enjoy the new hardness, there will be more than the usual number of delistings to take advantage of some good picks in what is reputed to be a "strong" draft.

Thanks - I was a bit flabbergasted at the response too. A proven AFL player ain't necessarily a Brownlow winner, nor indeed even a regular best 22 pick: merely proven that he can hold his own when he gets a run. Nicholson, IMMHO, has shown that. Some others on our list of higher repute again IMO are not.

Thanks W_J LOL your moment re their audience being more dead than alive. ;-)

Just a question for those who actually know -- do all / most / any other clubs have a doctor in attendance at ALL training sessions?

There were some summer season NT games on FTA TV ? ABC Melbourne a year or two back. We're those this competition, and are they no longer televised? It was good to get a bit of a footy fix in the off season.

Realistically, I don't think other than Clark and Sellar, many of the new talls will play this year, so the top heaviness, if it happens, won't be immediate.

Bummer - was that confirmed on an official site?

The guy has apparently been worked and pushed very hard on his general fitness and stamina, which should be unaffected by wrist surgery. I guess the question remains unanswered at this stage: just what was his wrist surgery? Some is minor; some such as for a scaphoid fracture can be a real problem. Those who remember the brilliant but mercurial Sean Charles may also remember that this was part of his downfall: that together with a "poor attitude" eg couldn't get him to attend training etc. Liam has been training, and training hard so I hope this won't be a I similar issue. He is someone with "natural touch" so the fact that he has missed some of the ball work will IMO have less effect on him than some. Provided that he is prepared to run and chase and harass, he should be in our best 22. The "presence" of Clark should make a huge difference to how he is matched up from an opposition point of view. Quick? Tall? Strong? Just who would be the best match up against a fit and fired up Liam? Were it vs us, probably Garland but would he keep up with him? Let us all wish him a speedy recovery and an enthusiastic and focused 2012.

As so many have said -- hindsight is just a wonderful thing. I can't be bothered trawling through all the post draft posts when $cully was recruited, but maybe you can, and can find and repost your response stating that is was so obviously wrong to pick up the lying, deceitful, di$loyal, mercenary, de$stabilizing, undermining, $cumbag as number 1 ??

I guess with Gawnius Maximus out for at least a while, he may move up the big man queue a bit.