binman

what he said

yeah I read it the same way. Both his connection to the mfc and the disconnect with the swans (how stupid was that by the swans). 3 years full time senior coach. Establish the roos culture. Get his man in place. Stay on in a part time development role for both coaches and players alike. Do a spot of talent spotting and developing young players. Live part time in Hawaii and part time Melbourne (his home town) and be connected to a 150 year old club. Maintain a culture. Leave a legacy that in decades to come will be compared to norm smith.

chip would also know how to get to training which is probably an important consideration. It would take him 12 months to work out how to get to waverly if he joined the Hawks and you can forget about an interstate side - he'd spend all Hus time lost

The pies makes sense. They need a simple country lad after giving shaw away. But seriously they have a big hole down back with no stand out back to match with the power forwards. Why did they ask Buckley about frawley? Has there been some scuttlebut?

could not agree more re how important these guys have been and will be for us. I said to a mate way back during the tiges nab cup game that Tyson seemed to have the ability to stand in a tackle and still get the ball going forward, something we have lacked for years. Vince is great at it also. They both have the knack of moving the pill forward, something Jones is OK at but not as good

Not sure about that. Disappointment and crushed hopes seems pretty certain to me

What on god's good earth are you talking about?

Interesting. Would fit with the comments Roos has made about the importance of experience and passion for the role. Ratten has had both senior and assistant coach experience and was very, very unlucky to get the bullet from Carlton. Instructive that the best club in Victoria and reigning premier snapped him up. Has not been out the game since finishing as a player has he? Also he knows Melbourne. I get the feeling that unlike Bomber he would be ok with playing second fiddle fro a couple of seasons. I reckon it might work. I still think Dew must be a chance though.

That's ok, Cross that bridge when you come to it and when you do make it 48 or 38

Is it me or does Hird look craaaazzzzy in this photo:

or 18

Are you sure jiminez that the person doing a normal kick out does not receive a stat? If so that is ridiculous. Why wouldn't it be a stat? If its not a kick what is it? Apart from kicking goals it is probably the most important kick and the guy given the responsibility should get the credit. By the by if it is not a stat then presumably a kick that results in a turnover (like Howes howler that cost us a crucial goal) is not counted as a clanger

Que?

all well and good but by the sounds of it may have just recommitted to freo. Perhaps he'll suceeed Lyon and dew longmire

gotta love those numbers from Jones. Respect

Another negative: again easy to bag Grimes (but yes woeful kick) but it didn't cost a goal. As opposed to Howes kick out that did cost us a goal - coming after an unbelievable decision of in the back against Viney to Trenogove who missed a sitter - we dodged a bullet and Howe shot us in the foot!

Positive: great to see garlo back in form Negative: that was an appalling error by Dawes and one that goes completely against the Roos game plan not to mention terrible given the situation in the game. He had to go to the boundary side, just had to. I'm a huge Dawes fan but that was an almost unforgivable error of judgement. At least Grimes had the excuse of the ball being in a play on situation. Poor execution but still. Dawes had all the time in the world to choose the right option and elected to go the corridor. The umpiring was terrible, just terrible. How on earth could have they pinged Jones and Viney. And what about Vince getting his head ripped off?

something about c&b being deliberately obtuse

blimey. Those stats are a real buzz kill

Its not about how many people live in the country it is about how many people play aussie rules. The numbers of boys playing Aussie rules is dropping in direct correlation to the increasing participation rates in other sports. Remember the discussion is about elite level talent. To develop elite athletes you need a pyramid. The ones at the top rise up and come from all the other levels. Its all about numbers. Of course you can pump heaps of money into a small number of players and hop one makes it but without a large ongoing pool it is a one off. The point about professional sporting comps is a very good one. In 1992 (the year c&b chose to illustrate his point) AFL had probably only been a fully professional sport for 5 years and since then the demands have exponentially grown (ie commitment, athletic requirements, levels of fitness etc etc) and the game has become much more about aerobic capacity. In short AFL now demands elite athletes not just very good footy players who could play their position really well. In 1992 teams could and did carry players who would not get a game today. Does anyone think Allen Jackovich would get a a game these days, even with his brilliance? Here is the MFC list from 1992. Many of those players would not get a game today, even with the advanced training (or perhaps because of the huge increase in training demands) as they either would not have the required athleticism or the 24/7 commitment and dedication demanded in modern footy In 1992 there was no local fully professional union or soccer comps, the NBL was faltering and there was not nearly the same amount of money in cricket. In the southern states AFL had the first call on most of the elite players. This is simply not the case now.

a fair bit less actually. But as the a league grows so will the salaries. This is what the afl fears. Once the a league gets to that level it suddenly creates a step between local and international and the a league becomes a lot more attractive and realistic as a pro option. The wanderers are a phenomenon and Melbourne city will be huge with the backing of Manchester city

there is a correlation but only in so far as a game that is watched by a lot of people has a good chance of being a game kids might be inspired to play. Hearts and minds. But not a direct correlation. The afl wish there was. If your hypothesis was correct then the opposite would be true ie sports that no one watches would struggle to get particapants. But there are a number of examples that disprove that. More kids play basketball than Aussie rules despite it not being on free to air and no one going to NBL games. That is why there are Aussies playing NBA. What about golf? The PGA can barely operate a tour here. No one watches it on TV and apart from the masters few go to see it live. Yet Australia have the worlds number 1, 2 in the top 10 and probably 8 in the top 100. Why? Because somamy people play golf in Australia. Of course participation is influenced by free to air coverage but look at soccer. It is thriving in terms of participation despite not having free to air coverage until last year. Another example? Take tennis. Ratings of the oz open is huge. Wimbledon gets great coverage. Hundreds of thousands attend the open. Yet over 20 years participation has been falling away. The result? Were we once ruled tennis we are now also rans.

with all due respect c&b I don't think you get it. Its not about how popular a sport is as measured by television audience and attendance. Its about how many people play the sport.

I reckon he gets a game because he (like Bail) runs his guts out both ways, which as we all know his a pre requisite to be selected in a Roos team. As is doing what he is told and playing his role (see his comments about Watts). Jones does his job.

That's an interesting point. However i think the other issue is these days kids play a broader range of sports and AFL does not have the same monopoly over elite athletes. My young fella is a good example. Took a year off footy to concentrate on basketball, but now wants to play soccer instead of aussie rules. For this reason the academies are crucial and it is why Eddie is dead wrong. The gamble is that we can convert athletes in the northern states that might otherwise play say rugby to aussie rules. If we can't then 18 teams is too many an standards will (and have) fall away.