Slartibartfast

In the ruck I think he's only competing with Martin. He's not a first ruck, he's a forward/ruck.

I don't go with the Harry O'Brien comparison. I don't think he's got the agility. I'd liken him to Eric McKenzie or Antonie Grover. I know that will deflate many but both are absolutely AFL quality backs. That's where I think Davis will fit.

He struggled with chronic fatigue, he injured his ankle badly early in the season and played some very good footy for Casey towards the end of the year. Has extraordinary pace for a big man and is a very good overhead mark. Could play forward, back and ruck. I can see Colin Garland type apologies on this site in a couple of years time.

I suppose the lack of comment on Kelvin is because few have seen him play. I've seen him on 4 or 5 occasions and saw quite a bit of promise. He apparently had trouble settling in Victoria when he moved here and struggled a bit with injury midseason but he came back and played Casey seniors towards the end of the season and impressed with his speed, tackling and at times freakish skills. He's a keeper for mine for 2012 and has the potential to fill a hole in our list. He is a Betts/Garlett type player and will most likely need a bit of time. If he makes it he will generate quite a bit of excitement.

There is so much more to the Bailey argument than "tanking". It's allocation of resources, it's list management and trading and it's the players you develop, it's the disciplines you invoke, the team you pick, the years you put into leadership and more. I'm not arguing Bailey was a "good coach". I think that on balance his game plan let him down but we'll never actually know because he will never have the opportunity to coach a mature playing list. Off the field he did just about everything right (with the usual glitches) and for that I'm thankful. In essence he took a longer term view and made club decisions rather than personal decisions and for that I'll thank him.

Deadwood, The Wire and Weeds are better than both of these but all 5 are terrific viewing.

Yes, first class.

Bailey did the rotten dirty work to get picks. Prendergast seems to have done a good job with the bounty he was given. Jimma has done a great job getting rid of debt. And now to the "new" FD. They've done nothing yet and to say they have had little fanfare is a strange interpretation of events. They have an exceptional opportunity and have inherited fertile ground. If this footy department succeed it will be built on the work of Bailey who probably sacrificed (in part) his senior coaching dreams for our club and some good work and good fortune off field. Thanks Bails.

I reckon the bloke who has won the last two coaches award and the Heart and Soul in '10 deserves to be on it. Dark horse for Captain. Get on board Andy.

You may have missed the fact that Martin played back quite a bit last year to rest the tall backs. He did it pretty well. He started his career there playing on talls and smalls and did well before he lost his way in 2010 and he was squeezed out by our other key backs. It's good for the "Clark issue" because Neeld has the option to play Martin in the team and not have a need to play him forward if that unbalances the forwards or he wants to change things around. I'm surprised you seem so blinkered when it comes to Martin's use, the flexibility he offers and how that can integrate with Clark.

Why? Garland, Frawley and Rivers all need time to rest during a game and Martin is the perfect player to "replace" them. I'm also of the view that Martin could be our best player on the gorilla. If we were playing Collingwood tomorrow Martin would be in my thinking for Cloke. Martin has the speed to match him, the height to spoil him and the agility to negate Cloke when the ball hits the ground.He is also one of the strongest at the club. His endurance is an issue but he has the attributes. With Martin being able to play a number of roles it makes the Clark issue easier to deal with. If Fitzpatrick develops as the FD expect things will get very interesting.....

It was the Gardner Board that instigated AAMI stadium, not Jimmy. Jimmy's board oversaw the fine detail of the contracts but had nothing to do with the vision of moving to AAMI. The same can be said for Casey. Connolly and Gardners Board worked on Casey and Jimmy's Board finalized negotiations and the deal to take the 20 year agreement. It was Gutnick's Board that started the Bentliegh club project. Jimmy's Board was there when the vision was realized after each Board nurtured the project. Jimmy's Board has raised money and put us on a much improved financial footing and if we end up at Dockland's they will be primarily responsible. Credit where it's due, it was Gardner that moved us from the worst to one of the best training facilities in the AFL and achieved what no other Board had been able to do.

A warm inner glow every time I saw this kid play. Fantastic season given he missed most of the preseason. Spots for talls will be very interesting with Davis and McDonald pushing good players for spots. One of the real interests for 2012 for me.

I think it's purely a matter of working out which is the "best" option and then working down. First, target the player(s) you'd want and see if any are prepared to move (Pendlebury). A Victorian source midfielder is extremely unlikely, who was the last one that moved within Victoria? Second, target an interstate mid that might want to come home. Very rare circumstance. Third work out who is in the MD. If that offers a better option than your ND picks, go hard. Forth, use your ND picks. You'd have to think the first two options won't happen because they very rarely do. Elite talent usually loves the current club and the club looks after them really well. For MFC the best result would be to get someone of appropriate age. The MD is the most likely option because we are well placed but pushes the arrival of that player right out. WJ's comments, while accurate, will happen anyway and are independent of the options above. I see midfield class as our most glaring need regardless of any improvement in our current midfield. Our other structural weaknesses (small forward) are one's we can cover without reference to comp picks.

I'm taking the axe to a lot of the comments in this thread, in my view the comments are unworthy. PM me if you have a problem.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/national-draft-looming-small-for-most-clubs-20111018-1lyr3.html I think this article could explain a lot, particularly "Clubs are holding out until next year's draft, with many promoting rookies and making minimal delistings, with the 2012 draft crop already considered highly talented and of great depth." I don't think people are thinking laterally.

This should do the trick. http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/89809/default.aspx

Jeff White

I thought I read that MFC had said it was not interested in Fev.

I'm pretty sure that was changed to assist players in getting to another club.

One of the impacts of getting Clark is the possible return we might get on a trade in a year or two. If Fitzpatrick kicks on you'd think either he, Martin, Spencer or Jamar would be excess to needs. I'm assuming Gawn is our main ruck after the Russian has finished and is non negotiable. I see Clark as a forward but his rucking ability is very valuable.

I'm not sure you'd have to throw in a compo pick to beat Freo, what about a second rounder? I'd rather hope a player was in play but there has been no mention of that. Have you seen that Freo will definitely given both 16 and 20? Anyway I reckon it just comes down to whether Clark wants to come to us for the money or Freo for WA.

I know nothing of Lisle but if the same people that have picked up McDonald, Davis, Howe, Bail, McKenzie, Evans and Nicholson (all successful later picks) think he is worth it then I'll back them. We seem very clear in our objectives and could have outbid Adelaide for Crouch but didn't. If we go for Lisle it will be because we think that the price we paid is fair and he's a change to pay off. Like Old55, if they want him I'm happy.

Well I guess my point is you don't know. Like you, I'm not expecting much but I'm glad he's found a home.

How do you know there weren't more than one club after him?