binman

Ok, sorry. I get confused by the drafting option. He could go into the national draft couldn't he?

Sorry Chook, i must be a bit slow. The TAB, the Geelong Cup? Does this mean you are in Vic and the photo is of him here? What does the MFC twtter crew have to do with it? Are the MFC twitter crew some old school break dance team? By the way i thought Gatewood was a moral, backed and also backed it for the cup. Nice win.

What use our pick 4 on him? I don't think so.

I think the vic state gov is funding a search for Mortons in the high country - are the local stories true about mysterious mortons wondering the bush or is a myth?

I'd go with bunkum. Not wanting to pot Gysberts but if the Cats really rated him they could have had him for a reasonable pick/swap. Instead they went for Caddy - a young midfield player in many ways similar in style and build to Gysberts who despite playing most of last season could only come 17th in a lowly clubs b&f. They were prepared to pay a pretty big price for Caddy (too big a price IMO) and could have got Gysberts for possibly a late second round pick. To me their choice to focus on Caddy says a bit about how Gysberts is rated externally.

Look Stuie i agree to an extent. I think it would be a shame for him not to fulfill his obvious potential at the dees. I guess where where we differ is i am assuming Neeld has worked really hard this year with all the players, including Gysberts. The time and resources have been put in this year and a year is long enough to reach conclusions. Why is another year necessary? The injury is a furphy to an extent. Yes it would have impacted on his fitness etc but you don't think how he went about his rehabilitation would have been considered by the club in their assessment of his work ethic? Compare his scenario to Bartram. Barty barely played all year due to injury but his work ethic has never been questioned and i would be shocked if he is cut (maybe made a rookie?). Instructive also is a comparison with Blease who seemed to have switched on mid season and responded to the development provided by the club. Neeld was effusive in his praise for this and i suspect this was not just about pumping up his tyres. I hope Gysberts has a road to Damascus moment and convinces Neeld he is up for it. Then follows through with the commitment

Neeld has had a whole season to assess JG. My guess is that a key criteria is willingness to put in the required work to get to AFL standard fitness. perhaps i'm wrong but you seem to imply that Neeld hasn't "rolled up his sleeves"and work with him. I would argue he has and the indications are that Gysberts has not responded. This is not high school where you have to keep a student on - if Neelds assesment is that JG is not doing the work or won't in the future then why waste time and resources trying to convince him of the need to do so. I agree development is an important part of an AFL coaches role but so is making tough calls. Neeld made clear when he got the job all players were on notice. I suspect players such as Cook and Gysberts have been given theirs. They had their chance to impress, were given developmetn support and hvae not stepped up.

That's my recollection also. Of course Taggert's selection was driven by Neeld as were all the other selections in that draft. Couch,Magner? Hardly in the BP mould. Seems a weird barrow to be pushing RR.

Clint Bartram, footballer. A man barely alive. Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to make the world's first bionic man. Clint Bartram will be that man. Better than he was before. Better...stronger...faster.

And as i noted Dawes is only 24 - which for a big fella is really the time he is likely to start hitting his straps. If he improves fro this point in his career (which is likley) we are the getting the best years of him with Collingwood having had to do all the development (with the investment that entails). One other thing. Having Hogan in our system for a full year adds incredible value to him as a draft pick. If we had taken the punt and were luck enough to get him next year he would have missed the first month or so of pre season and would have been dealing with the interstate move and all the associated issues. Instead we will have a young gun, ready to go round one and be third tall, surrounded by two big men hitting their physical prime. He will have settled in Melbourne, know all his team mates and the system and have a year of Misson polish. I don't think any of the so called experts, or at the least the ones i've heard have acknowledged how beneficial that will be for us. Nor has there been much comment on the fact Neeld is trying to build a system and is bringing in players specifically to play roles, fit the system and provide role models (that a young 18 year old, no matter how good, is going to be able to provide)

Yep i agree. I also agree with DemonWA. Relying on the trade system to get us up the ladder has hardly been a raging success for us.

On AFL trade radio just now (in the 2 mins i grabbed before it dropped out again!) Mooney was very critical of our approach to trading this year, basically saying we had got spooked and gave way too much away. Said we should not have traded away number 3, 13 and 20 (though did acknowledge Viney going thru to second round was part of the deal so i'm not quite sure how he comes to his conclusion) and instead should have used those picks to build for the future rather than a short term fix. Wallace didn't disagree. Its funny the different perspectives you get. I'm rapt with how things have gone so far. Hogan is certainly a punt, but contradicting Mooney's view is a punt for the future. Dawes is still young so he is both helping us now but also perhaps for the next 6-7 years or so. He didn't mention Barry - if he becomes a regular best 22 player people will reassess this trade quite significantly. I also think he underestimates the importance of having some more wins next year. Bottoming out and going thorough seasons of losing is a huge risk and really damage a club IMO. I reckon GWS and GC will struggle to overcome this. We have been down way too long and for the club to to move forward needs wins next year to allow the fans and players to see teh light at the end of the tunnel

Why not relay the rumor and keep the source to your self? Otherwise what was the purpose of the post?

That works better than the other one flagged. Essentially means swapping Martin for Pederson which would be about right i guess

Good get BH. For some reason it is easy to forget Dawes is only 24 and as a genuine big fella (ie a big tank like Jamar say as opposed to someone as athletic as Natanui) probably being coming into his prime in the next year or so. Big, big upside and curious that the pies are letting him go. Perhaps Buckley has a different game plan in mind or recognized that they needed a better back up ruckman as Cloke is no good in that role and nor is Dawes. Instructive that one of the first comments the club made about Dawes after his signing was that he would play a permanent forward role and not be thrown into the ruck. I assume that was part of the sell to Dawes. Am i wrong in thinking that Clark made AA as ruckman? With Clark we have a pretty bloody good second ruck option to give Jamar a chop out. Also i expect Fitzpatrick to develop in this role. I also think getting Dawes will be a huge benefit to Watts. I expect they will continue playing off the half back flank but also reckon they'll throw him forward occasionally and when they do other teams will struggle to cover his height if both Clark and Dawes are on the field.Won't hurt the smaller players either knowing two gorillas are prowling around the forward 50. I was keen on him last year. Rapt we got Clark though. Now we have both. I could not be happier.

Read my mind Nasher. I'm assuming from Nudge's comments he works in the footy management business, I can't imagine you'd get to far in that industry without a pretty thick skin (and probably not without a pretty large dose of good ol Aussie bloke misogyny based on comments from Dawes manager who said something along the lines of "he needs to stay in Melbourne because his partner is very intelligent and has a career unlike most wags - sorry girls i like looking at you but really"). Nudge you seem a sensitive soul - i wonder if the hurly burly of footy management is really for you?

Out of interest what do people think GWS would be prepared to give for Frawley (given they have said they want a key back)?

I could not agree more SF. Frustrates the hell out of me. What mandate do the rules committee have anyway? One of the main problems i see is that the changes nearly always have unintended consequences that often contradict the reason for the change in the first instance. One example is being able to kick in from points so quickly. Designed to keep the game moving (and AFL mantra) which contradicts the current desire to see more one on one battles (that occur less because the ball is kicked less often to contests) and contributed to the increase in the number of of interchange (as the game has become faster and more aerobically challenging meaning players coming on for bursts of gut running on and off the bench) which they're just about to legislate against! I think Catholic nuns had it right - leave it bloody alone!

This quote has an eerily familiar vibe to it. Spooky almost. By the by since when are Geelong interested in Gysbersts (ie someone from the club actually saying they were keen the way they publicly said they were keen in Caddy as opposed to some musty rumor)?

Driving me crazy - the trade radio keeps dropping out! Not that its a great loss as it is gold standard filler! How many times can Wallace and Gromit say the the same thing. Wallace update btw - he thinks 20 for Dawes is more than enough an the dees shouldn't give up anything else. Marty Task says no movement on Ray. If we don't get him i would be thinking it's a shame about Ray.

I was not trying to be negative, nor positing myself as an expert because i'm able to use Google. Nor, it should be said was i being critical or negative towards another poster in my original post on the subject. I was simply pointing out there is evidence that suggest this a very serious injury and that in another football code there is evidence that players struggle to get back to previous abilities. As i said he's got a good doctor i am hopeful all will be well (though as you point out i wouldn't know one way or 'tother). By the by to add to what i was saying about the seriousness of the injury apparently the prognosis is significantly worse for people who require a surgical response (as opposed to rest etc) and unfortunately Clark had surgery. For what it's worth i tried to find the one of the articles but couldn't, but came across this one that details a sudden upsurge of the injury in NFL: ttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/neal-m-blitz/nfls-lisfrancs-foot-fract_b_1961141.html

I had the same thought Biff. He was good last season and his attitude seemed to be great but i do wonder if Neeld is keen to cut all of the key senior players from 2011. Rivers going would only leave Davey i would have thought. With RIvers though they no doubt want to tread carefully as i guess he'd be a pretty popular player at tye club.

Good on ya. Perhaps i'll google what the impact of negativity and rude sarcasm is on the human psyche. By the way if you are going to have a go at someone at least make an effort to spell correctly.

Whn his injury was di When his injury was diagnosed i did a bit online research. There have been other AFL examples from memory however there have been quite a few in NFL in the states. From what i read it is a serious injury, with some players not returning and the majority of players who were able to get back not being able to perfom at their previous level. Now i don't want to be a fear monger and the guy treating him is supposed to be the best so but it is certainly a worry given the way he plays and the weight the foot has to bear.

Interesting post which raises some valid points. However the key query over Gysberts is his attitude and desire to do the necessary work. I vividly recall the reports of him being on the edge of collapse after time trials last pre season. IIRC correctly Blease also really struggled. The difference? Blease turned the corner and lifted his work rate mid season - a point he made himself in an unusually frank dee tve interview (ie that he it took him a while to 'buy in'). I get the feeling Gysberst has yet to turn that corner. Granted he had his jaw broken but Neeld was quick to praise players who were training hard (eg Sylvia, Nicho, Blease, Trenner - even Watts post being dropped). I never heard them say this about Gysberts. So i would suggest that Neeld could care less about 'potential'. He only wants players who are prepared to train at the required level and Gysberts would seem not to be at that level. The other thing about the 'moneyball theory' is that you get players to the the club who are undervalued not keep players whose value the club is well aware of. We'd be better of getting what we can for him now and cutting our losses - unless he can convince Neeld he is prepared to do the work and given he has had 12 months to do so i reckon this might be a hard ask.