binman

Yep

Yep. Really, who does he think he is with a quote like: "I'll give Melbourne a nice heads-up - keep going after my players and I'll knock off all your sponsors," he said on Triple M. He's also seems to think he is the puppet master when it comes to the AFL as the following quote indicates: "And not only that, I'll go to the AFL and say they've obviously got too much because they're paying over the odds, so stop giving them money. "That's the way I roll on these things." Give me a spell Eddy, "that's the way i roll on these things", please. I know this is just media rubbish but he needs to be put back in his box. They give us QB? Is it not possible for the AFL to schedule us against say the bombers or tigers with us as a home game on that day. Or even alternate the home game with one of those clubs? Stuff collingwood - the G is our home ground.

Sorry chook can't agree with this. Sammy, like the rest of the team, has been busting a gut all pre season and again like all his team mates would have been dying for the chance to have a proper game of footy. Denying this reward will do more for his development than 18 minutes of quasi game time

My preparation is often improvised

Perhaps not but it would have been great to see some edited highlights of the game. As we move increasingly to an online, muti media future media such as dee tv will need to actually start producing some real content, not just silly interviews with our newest supporter from the US. Already clubs such as Man U, et al have 24 hour pay tv channels and whilst it is fanciful to think we would have something similar at the very least, in the next 2 -3 years, we should expect to see some serious online visual content (eg proper vision of training and practice matches, video analysis etc)

I s'pose it's the sign of the demon (mate)!

It always amuses me that footy fans go ballistic at the thought of a player being a traitor and leaving their own club but won't bat an eyelid at trading out players or throwing in a couple of stalwarts into a deal mix to get a good player from another club (who of course is being traitorous to the club they are leaving). We hate Scully (yes more for the way he handled himself but never the less) but laud Clark for joining the dees (after telling Brisbane he really, really wanted to go home to WA). Ahh the beautiful mystery of football! (P.S not having a go at you JD, your post just made me think of this apparent double standard amongst footy fans)

Burgan's post scratch match interview with Bale is also pretty interesting in terms of what role Bate see's himself playing, the Neeld game plan and the training "volume". In some ways the Dee TV interviews are much more revealing than the standard group media door stoppers or conferences, in part because of their length (ie stuff sometimes just pops out) but also because of the players seem to like Burgan

Certainly not the most comfortable or confident interviewee. You could add to saying s'pose heaps the amount of times he says mate. Even Burgo (mate) gets in on in the act by the end of the interview. Happy for Frawley to lead by example. I've really enjoyed the interview series with the LG. On the whole they seem a a pretty switched on group, quiet, considered and intelligent. Also some very interesting insights into the new regime, training program and possible match day strategies. Some random thoughts: Burgan an ok interviewer who goes extremely red - paint a blue line on his face and he'd be demon mascot. Tends to repeat questions (ie same q, slightly reworded several times in the one interview, eg "what do you see as your leadership qualities?") Clark very nervous but seems a pretty quiet guy. Jones surprisingly articulate and thoughtful. Garland a ripper, would be great to sit down and talk footy to (the dees should tap in to this somehow) Grimes oozes a quiet confidence Trengove is really young and will take a while to find his feet as captain (unsurprisingly) Bartram seems a pretty switched on bloke and likes the new coaching set up

Funny this was raised. I went to last years intra club game and Beamer gave a young fella (can't recall who, could have even been a Casey top up player) an all mighty spray. From my, quite close, vantage point it seemed unfair and was by any standard well out of order. During that same game he drove another young fella into the ground and was generally mouthy to all and sundry. Hardly positive leadership was my thinking and i reckon this trait may be one of the reasons he isn't in the LG. That and the fact he appears not to be the sharpest tool in the shed, which is in contrast to this years LG if their interviews on dee tv are any guide (which seems to indicate they are a pretty thoughtful, reflective bunch, not a bunch of pumped up yobs)

Not for the first time i agree with you Ron, not so much about the moral high ground, more that we've had our GWS hit and can focus on this season without what has been acknowledged by the club as a major distraction. I for one feel sorry for supporters from other clubs who might have to go thru the sort of drama we endured last season, but better them than us. To paraphrase my second favourite PM Scully was the defection we had to have

I agree. Its easy to forget how good he actually was last year. When Jamar was out he was the man. As noted by Trident his skills below his knees are first class and as he is a relative new comer to aussie rules, having only committed to it as an 18 year old, his skills will only improve. I reckon he's also got a good footy brain, that again will only improve with more games under his belt. Still heaps of upside for Stef and i reckon he could end up being as good as Jolly and better than Dawes, two players who contributed heaps to the Pies success in 2010.

Terrific report and really interesting to hear about stuff not covered in other reports. The sausage congrats circle is something new. The masters should be about the dees and then you'll be fully justified going to all 22 (plus finals) games and even more training.

Not so sure about this. The Bombers responded pretty quickly to Hird and there are some obvious similarities. Like the dees this year the Bombers were coming off a really tumultuous previous season, again like Melbourne were given a completely new game plan to master and finally were also considered by their incoming coach and fitness staff to be unfit and were duly flogged on the training track. Essendon (with West Coast perhaps) were near the fittest side at the beginning of 2011 which really helped them get going early, including an impressive NAB cup campaign (during which they ran ll over the top of an unfit dees outfit). I reckon we might go all right (though i though that last year!)

Cut and pasted from Demonolgy FYI (poster was Nick48, ta):

Yep, agree on both counts

Fair 'nuff

I don't agree with this. I was critical of Watts before the start of last season in terms of his intensity, hardness at the ball etc and felt that he really needed to focus on this area or play in the maggos until he had improved. To his huge credit i reckon he really improved his intensity last season and for my money, whilst prob not on a par with say MacKenzie for hardness at the ball was almost the most consistent player across the season in terms of competing, second efforts and attacking the ball.

I have to say i thought it was funny - and actually i reckon quite accurate. With Clark, Watts, Howe, Petterd and Green we have a surfeit of marking options. LJ will have license to go for the odd speccky but also be there to swoop on the crumbs - just like Wiz. When you think about he would make a pretty frightening "small" forward and dam hard to match up on too

BTW the way agree LJ could end up being, if not the best, in our top 2-3 within 3 years (so not a smokey). Really surprised how many posters seem to have dropped of him. Sure he needs to build his tank etc etc but he has so much x factor he could be a porn convention. Added to that he hasn't come through a full on junior system or played in a one of the true AFL feeder comps (ie WAFL, SANFL, VFL) so doesn't have the advantage most other young AFL players do of 4-5 years access to top shelf fitness and conditioning systems. Lets see what another couple of years under MIsson's regime enables him to do fitness wise Playing as a permanent forward his role is to kick goals and he does. Would be interested in a statistical comparison to the Whiz - i don't recall too many dees fans knocking him. Yes he's obviously alot taller than the Wiz but their role in the team is essentially the same

Watts - he'll be close to the top of the AFL heap within 4 years. Smokey ? Martin - came to footy late (18?), is a great athlete, improved out of sight last year and if he continues to trend upwards will be super valuable in terms of positional flexibility

Spot on. About mid way through last season i posted about how i see the fundamental cause of our sustained lack of success as our history of woeful governance and divided boards. The events RB note above have reinforced my views on this. All the dollars thrown at the FD will be for nought if the board doesn't deliver sound governance and is truly united (for the long haul not just a few months). Only time will tell.

We should have taken Darling no question. We needed, more than anything else a big bodied forward who could provide a contest. Darling met that need. But that call was not BP's alone. His role was to select according to a template provided by the coach and FD. He chose Cook to meet the criteria of that template. New coach new recruiting staff. The whole thing handled well with BP's dignity preserved and Neeld able to appoint his own man. All part of the change process.

Was going to post something similar. I'm not sure on the play on if it comes back into play as this represents quite a change to how the the game is played, though it would add some interest. But a ball shaving the post and going through the goals being given the 6 points would not represent a change to how the game is played, either in the spirit of the game or just in the practical mechanics of the game. It would also have the benefit of being free and would elimate errors like the Hawkins one a couple of years back. A very sensible solution

Set shot. Though last year Green, who has always been a great set shot , was a pretty shet shot.