binman

Some good photos, ta. A bunch of photos of the toump in anguish (a greek tragedy?) and a couple of gnarly shots of fitz vomiting. My favorites were of Roos actually coaching! Showing players what to do, pointing, instructing - teaching! One shot (the last one i think) had this caption - 'Coach Paul Roos teaches the players during a Melbourne Demons AFL training session at Gosch's Paddock' (note the word teach not coach)

I think i heard Roos say that the players would pick a leadership group and he, PJ, JM and the coaching staff would pick the captain(s) from that group. Which is how it should be. I really disliked how Neeld took no responsibility for picking JT and JG as captains and put it all back on the players. It was doubly poor as he then used the fact that the 2 youngest blokes in the LG were the ones with the highest score against a range of criteria to highlight how poor the senior player were in terms of leadership. In any case it was completely disingenuous as he no doubt crated the list of characteristics that players were scored against. Such a woeful example of man management. He should have had the courage of his convictions and named them as captains himself. Or if he had a clue not name them and make someone like Jones captain. But to justify their selection by saying the players had chosen them (which they didn't as they simply completed a questionnaire) was weak. Roos will show how it should be done.

I generally hate this phrase but I can't think of another that is more apt- whatever

. My bad. I meant attack on the ball/courage not aggression. That said I wouldn't mind watts showing some agro

That's impressive. Actually i can see him playing a point guard role under Roos. Outside receiver who distributes the ball to team mates and sets up scoring plays.

No i wasn't very clear i suppose. What i meant was that perhaps the tackling coach is right that aggression can't be coached. However i believe it is possible for players to develop their aggression themselves. In fact i think Watts himself has improved his aggression and was more prepared to go in hard last year (eg go back with the flight). I reckon he will 'play'for Roos and who knows might be more prepared to get hurt for him. Green is a player that many believe developed more aggression. I'm sure there are others (though most soft players remain soft).

That doesn't mean a player can't develop in this area just that the storm tackling coach doesn't think he can teach them to want to tackle (that's to say perhaps Watts can find a way to develop that aspect of his game). One thing i would say however is that having such a respected coach as Roos might help Watts develop his aggression. He will want to win his respect and if Roos puts him in the middle then he will want to repay that confidence. Neeld showed Watts scant respect and i suspect Watts was no Neeld fan. I know players are professional yada yada but players who are playing for their coach are usually prepared to go that extra 1%

Who knows maybe this was a knock on him as a basketballer as well? By the by does anyone know what position he played in bb?

Hard to argue that Watts is not physical enough so i agree its an exciting thought that perhaps Roos can help improve in this regard. One thing he does have in his favor though, in terms of being a mid, is that he has great hands in close and his handball from congestion are usually effective and often often really creative. This is where you can see his basketball background and with more time in the middle he will only get better with this aspect.

Could not agree more. I hate his race calls, can't stand the way he yells. Race calling is not for amateurs and as a punter there is nothing more frustrating than a poor caller. I don't understand why the ABC just don't take the Greg Miles feed. Perhaps he should call the GF sprint and leave it at that.

His full name is Cogito Ergo Sum. I think. He's a latin player.

We have to select a mid. Will select a mid. I have no idea about which mid they'll pick but you mentioned Salem and Freeman. Did you also say Salem is a left footer? I'm wondering if they are both there at 9 and the club is 50/50 if being a left footer might sway us to Salem. I reckon left footers have a small advantage as when they have the ball opposition players often instinctively cover the right side and they get a bit more space. Along with mids we really need players with a grade kicking skills so i'm sure that will come in to the mix. Is Salem considered a good kick?

I 100% agree with you. Of course it would seem obvious that winning is important but without wanting to open up another debate about Neeld at the heart of his failure as a coach (and it has to be said the board and CEO who ratified the approach) was a seeming disregard for this basic tenet of sport. And if you can't win you have to be competitive. As you say we simply have to win some games. ASAP. As that annoying ad says Simples.

Its interesting actually because on one hand you are right in that from a commercial perspective it is a poor draw. However as others have noted on paper we have some potentially winnable games in the first quarter of the year. Winning games is crucial financially and if we can snag some early, increases in membership and attendance will help negate some of the issues with scheduling. Also it has to be remembered we are selling out games in the NT.

I heard Mahoney say (after what i thought was a meaningful pause) that there will be no NT pre season trip this year. He said something along the lines that with a new coach that they would be staying in Melbourne and getting to know each other. I have wondered since last year if something didn't go down on the NT trip. I only ever heard platitudes about the trip from players (and coaches for that matter) and there was no sense that it helped to bond everyone. I thought Roos would scrap it.

Iron Man not playing footy? He'll be annoyed, but perhaps he can become a major sponsor

Phew, i hope Clisby isn't a DL regular! I was going to say he'd be unlucky to be cut given his form in the handful of games he played

Gold. Best series of posts i have read in ages. Top work Hazy.

A D huh? Leaving aside the hate for Barrett what do people think a realistic assessment might be? Hard of course but because it is hard to assess it without knowing who we get at 9 and even then we won't know for some time how good a player he is/will be. Also i suppose you have to take into account the opportunity cost of not having pick 2, which would be hard to define given it would not be clear who we would have taken with number 2. Its not out of the realms of possibility we will get the same player. Again leaving aside the hate for Barrett it is hard to fathom how he could be so critical of that element of our trading (getting Tyson for our pick 2) given that Tyson was taken number 3 only 2 years ago, and has done ok since and has the benefit of 2 pre season (albeit one being hit by injury). Also we still have a top 10 pick (even though we had to give up pick 20 to get it). We are desperate needs of mids and we need them now so again i don't get the criticism of the deal. Any whooo. Tyson, Pick 9, Vince and the minch - i give us a cautious B.

Not sure, i was joking

Are we a chance to pick up a collingwood player?

Did that used to be one of those affirmations painted on our change room wall?

Well that wasn't the choice (i wasn't arguing that we should not take Kennedy if available) however to answer your question yes.

As much as it would have been great to get Kennedy i have to say i like the idea of getting an untried talent to the club. Hopefully we'll find a future star (which would be a nice change) but even with all the testing and analysis there remains a large element of luck in choosing which 18 year old kid will become a Fyfe or a Dangerfield (and of course development comes into it, which i hope we will better at now than in years past). Its like a gamble and i love a gamble. With skill in selecting and a bit of luck we might get a young gun to develop alongside of Hogan, Toumpas and Viney.