Slartibartfast

It's a simplistic view that will suit many. It avoids the harder question of trying to evaluate performance of key individuals in the club. Winning football games among other things is the ability to identify and nurture talent. You don't get the pick of the list of draftees each year you only get your hands on a very small sample. You need to make the very most of the talent you lay your hands on. I don't worry about how the discards go for their own sake but I am interested in their performance in as much as it allows an evaluation of Neeld as an identifier and developer of talent. We are an under resourced club, we have to make every post a winner. Our recruiting department is not as well resourced as other clubs and the only way we will win is by having better intellectual property. A coach is judged on many things. His ability to lead and inspire, his gameplan, his tactical nous, his management of players, team selection and other things. One of the most important characteristics is his ability to get the best out of the talent at his disposal. I understand it's Christmas, we've got a whole new bunch of presents under the tree and we hold great hopes for what's in them. It's fantastic there is such support for the club after such a shocking year. But that doesn't mean we should stop looking at ways to evaluate performance. If in three years we finish 4th and Gysberts is a recognized gun mid and Morton and Bennell are good players in a winning GF team Neeld's decisions will be in question. I don't think this will happen but the point I'm trying to make, amongst others, is we are in a rare position to judge seeing so many other clubs see a position for what we have discarded.

The list he is building is as much a product of the players he lets go as the ones he brings in. 5 years is far too long. For me it starts in next year and we need to see very significant improvements.

Yes, I sort of agree, but how do you judge him on list management and player judgement then? I don't know where to find the information but 7 players off our list who we didn't want are rated high enough by other clubs to be given another go or sort after. That must be a record. I think that is interesting. Clubs don't take players on unless they think they can play a role and be AFL players. It will be interesting to see.

And what if she's right? What if it was the AFL opinion then but our threat to take the AFL to court has forced a differing position. What does it matter if it's wrong? You wouldn't read many journo's who said something wrong. If the club being investigated was Carlton and not Melbourne would you have felt the same way? The only thing that I'm interested in is what the AFL now does and she's the only one that will give me an insight.

But she is the one reporting the facts and that is what I read her for. I couldn't give a stuff about the other stuff. If you want to get upset at a journo's view that up to you. If it was Carlton being investigated I bet you'd applaud her calling them "pathetic and disgusting..." Toughen up Dandy.

I see where you are coming from but the FD job is to identify talent and develop it. If other clubs can routinely do this with our rejects I'd think that's a worry. FWIW I can't see that happening but it will be interesting to observe.

Each to their own.

Seems to me you're more worried about what Wilson thinks than the AFL. I'm not and the silence isn't giving me any comfort.

Rubbish. We know about the investigative tactics, we know the meeting that is at the centre of the investigation, we know what Connolly was supposed to have said, we know that the main players have been interviewed multiple times, we know the general nature of the MFC position and if I cared to go back and read her articles again there would be much more. We also know her opinion. I'm not worried about that because I'm not spooked by the journalist. If our club can't survive one negative journalist we really are stuffed. I've found myself wondering what going on since her last series of articles and nobody can provide anything. I'm looking forward to her next article, not because of the slant she'll put on it but because of the information it may contain.

Yes I do and I think you were right. It also didn't help that the players we thought would develop in that era never did - Sylvia, McLean, Dunn, Bate, Bell,,,,,,,,,, It doesn't matter if one or two of those players have good careers at other clubs either, it will just be interesting. If more than 2 do then you'd have to question Neeld's judgement. I don't count Rivers in that.

It's not Wilson's fault we are where we are, it's ours. She is reporting on it and I want to know what's going on. She's the only one who is shedding any light on it. She is also only reporting what she knows, not what the AFL knows which is a point I think many miss and really the only thing that matters. If Wilson doesn't report it doesn't mean it's not being investigated and if Wilson does report it doesn't mean the AFL agree with her position. I'm not spooked by Wilson at all. She's just a journalist. She clearly doesn't like us but so what. I'm much more worried about what the AFL think. It's important to try and separate the wheat from the chaff with Caro and it's why I like her articles.

I'm on record of being in total support of just about all list management decisions this year and whilst I disagree with some I'm please that Neeld has made these decisions and is backing his judgement. It's something I think didn't happen enough under Bailey. Next year will be fascinating because we will be able to judge Neeld's judgement as we will have so many of our past players playing for other clubs. To my knowledge the following are in action: Morton WC Bennell WC Gysberts NM Martin Bris Moloney Bris Petterd Rich Rivers Geel It must almost be a record for a club to have so many players playing at other clubs in the following year. My only major regret in that lot is Gysberts and to a lesser degree Rivers, but I'm glad he has a chance to play meaningful footy after 6 years of crud.

Let's hope he doesn't play like a headless chook! (GOT reference)

One of the reasons I think Caro is a must read is at least she has contacts and finds things out. We'd have a much better idea of where this was going if she was reporting it. I still think we are very exposed here and I'm comfortable that the investigation is taking as long as it is. It's allowed us to participate in the drafting and trading this year which was critical and now any draft penalties will not hurt so much. If the trade off for that ability to participate is a long investigation I'll live with it. Also the longer it goes the more it becomes a non issue. That helps. Unlike many here I'm not worried about Caro's reporting and want to here from here so I know what's going on. For the record I loved Grant Thomas too and am sorry he's gone.

I reckon he's an inside mid who will use his hands more than his feet. When I think of McKenzie I think of Daniel Cross. He's got wonderfully clean hands too and I'd like to see him as a ball finding mid rather than a tagger just to see what happened. He'll be promoted to the leadership group this year and will be one of the first picked each week.

Are the people who continually criticise Hadden and Ponting the same ones who wanted Hussey gone at the beginning of last year? It's a shame that people are so quick to turn on players who have performed so wonderfully for our country. Great to see these two blokes play an important role in our success this test. I recognise Ponting is past his best but he still warrants a spot IMO and at his best was as good as there was going around. Very few of his runs came against the no name countries unlike a few other icons. Great player, love him.

Well we are going over well worn ground but the issue is our good mature players aren't that good. Green, Moloney, Sylvia and Davey who should be providing a bit of grunt, particularly through the midfield are just ordinary footballers. Green has wrung the most anybody could have reasonably expected out of his ability. That he is now being vilified by supporters is depressing and shows how little they understand. Davey has never been someone who could lead when things got tough. Moloney is another "Green", but he's younger and given a tag free opportunity can play well. But for all his possessions he rarely hurts the opposition which is why he's a good ordinary footballer and not an top notch A grader. And Sylvia is just too inconsistent to be a top liner but his best is probably our best. Jamar has been injured since Adelaide (he doesn't seem to be able to jump at the moment) and for me Rivers has been our best mature player. People don't give credit to our defense. It goes in there quickly and regularly and it's not surprising that at times it just breaks open.

Your problem is you haven't managed your expectations. Everyone is very happy to buy into a "rebuilding" process but nobody realises how long 4 to 5+ years is, and that is how long this one will take (oh, and I'm not saying I understood either). And we started from as low a base as anyone. Carlton took from end of 2003 to now to go from hopeless to good. In the 2003 draft they took Walker at pick 2 and along the way they've picked up a once in a decade footballer. I have a very simple barometer. It says games and ages will tell you where you should finish on the ladder adjusted for skill. We are in the bottom 3 for games and ages but we will finish well out of the bottom 3 which indicates skill. (and yes, I know other things will impact, this is a blunt tool). So by my reckoning we've had a good season with some dreadful characteristics none worse that the thrashings we've had. They are what have killed the season for me. I'd have been happy with 8 to 10 wins but the size of the thrashings and the inept conduct of the Board over the last month have turned a good development year into a trial. And unless we pick up some mature midfielders next year will be a steady progression, not a quantum leap. Prepare yourself!!

Moloney and Jones are 182 and 180 respectively. Bartel 187, Corey 191, Ling 189 paved the way for Selwood and Ablett. Pendlebury 191 and Judd 189 are about the best in the business. And Jones and Moloney are "good ordinary footballers" and at their height they can't impact against bigger bodies. Neither is quick. And Jones doesn't play midfield really, he plays wing (and yes, there is a difference). We need blokes that "take space" and are strong enough to hold position and block for the likes of S.... sorry. Our blokes aren't. I think McNamara 190 has been successful at Casey because he can do just this and we'll see if he can do it Sunday. Grimes 187, Gysberts 190 and McKenzie 186 are our hopes here but are all are injury prone and are young and inexperienced. This year our midfield have been smashed because we lack size and strength and are very inexperienced. Our success is linked to our midfield. I think if you stuck a decent engine in between our forward and back line and we'd be knocking on the door of the top 5 because a decent midfield would make the forward and back lines so much better. I just don't see why people don't realize that its as simple as the midfield. And unless we "get" something from somewhere for next year we will see gradual improvement not the quantum leap many expect. Just look at the difference Cox, Kerr, Embley and Shoey have made to WC this year. As someone once said "It's the midfield, stupid".

How's the diet going. I have to wait until the end of our season. I'm not looking forward to Monday week. I've skipped a lot of the "woe is me" posting but I'm afraid you're in for more pain. Until our midfield becomes mature and competitive I think we are in for more of the same next year. We desperately need to find a mature good midfielder but I can't see one. Grimes might be the answer if he can stay fit. That is my main hope.

Close, but no cigar!!

No, but they have hippogriff's. I'm getting the feeling you're out of your depth!! A Hippogriff (also spelled Hippogryph and Hippogryphe, Italian: Ippogrifo) is a legendary creature, supposedly the offspring of a griffin and a mare.

I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that I've read all the books and some twice. I think the advice to see the first film before watching the others is good, you'll understand some of the infrastructure behind what your watching, but much better to watch them in sequence. If you watched the 6th film in the series "cold" you'd have no idea of what's going on. Get a copy of the first book, it's short and you'll read it in 3 hours or so. That's the best introduction. If you don't like fantasy you won't like Harry, but having said that you've told me that you think MFC will win a flag in our lifetime so perhaps you do (believe in fantasy). Your PS is actually brilliant and could so easily be built into the characters and things in the book. Harry is a brilliant "seeker " in a sport called quididich and would be sort by many other teams but his loyalty to his friends and headmaster would mean he'd never leave. If you've not read the Hobbit or LOTR's they are both great reads but again, you've got to like fantasy. Quidditch is a fictional Wizarding sport played in the Harry Potter book series. It is described as an extremely rough, but very popular, semi-contact sport, played by wizards and witches around the world. Matches are played between two teams of seven players riding flying broomsticks, using four balls and six elevated ring-shaped goals. In the Harry Potter universe, Quidditch holds a fervent following similar to the position that association football holds as a globally popular sport. The sport is featured in every Harry Potter book except for the seventh, when Harry Potter is preoccupied in fighting Voldemort. Harry plays an important position for his house team at Hogwarts as the seeker. Regional and international competitions are mentioned throughout the series. In Goblet of Fire, Quidditch at Hogwarts is cancelled for the Tri-Wizard Tournament, but Harry and the Weasleys attend the Quidditch World Cup. In addition, Harry uses his Quidditch skills to capture a golden egg from a dragon (in the Tri-Wizard Tournament), to capture a flying key in Philosopher's Stone, and on two key occasions in Deathly Hallows—getting hold of Ravenclaw's Diadem, and during the final fight with Voldemort—the "unerring skill of the Seeker" is vitally useful to him in snatching an object out of the air. The sport has been adapted under the name of "Muggle Quidditch" (or simply "Quidditch") to the real world. Since at least 2003, Harry Potter fans have played ball games resembling the Harry Potter sport. In the United States, teams from more than 200 colleges are affiliated with the International Quidditch Association and play tournaments. Furthermore, high-level Quidditch tournaments are a mainstay of Harry Potter Conventions, such as Nimbus 2003, The Witching Hour, and, most recently, Infinitus 2010.

This is the best I could do for a "complete" match: Dolores Umbridge Dolores Jane Umbridge is the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, of which she is the primary antagonist. Her first name, relatively common in Spain, means "pains" in Spanish, and her last name is a play on the wordumbrage, meaning "a feeling of anger or annoyance". She is a short, squat woman described in the book as resembling a large pale toad, with "short, curly, mouse-brown hair". She speaks with a quiet, childish, high-pitched voice, and she loves kittens and other cute things, decorating her office with related paraphernalia. She has a tendency to speak to people she feels are her lessers in a very condescending tone, as if they are simpletons or very young children.

Full of hot air? Harry will fix it!