binman

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.

This must be an example of a Lance Armstrong suspension.

That's it- the wing. My all time favourite footballer Robbie Flower played wing then half back then up forward, then in all positions. Watts is the new Robbie.

Perhaps for you Biffen but not for me. When Greg Wells left the dees (whose number 11 i proudly wore on my coat when i was a young fella) i wished him nothing but success. Same went for Alves. Jolly - the same. Thompson - ditto. Healy - perhaps a little less positive vibe but certainly no hate. Even Scully i harbour no ill feeling for. Some of my all time favourite demon players have come from other clubs - Icke, Templeton, Cottogio, Fowler, Carmen and now Clark. Why should i 'hate' players who leave the dees? What a rdiculous waste of psychic energy. Good luck to Jurrah. I hope he fulfils his god given talent and brings joy to footy lovers agin. The real shame would be footy fans not getting th chance to see him agin in full flight. This nonsense about him needing to publicly 'thank' the dees is actually quite weird and to be honest is a great example of the cultural divide in so far as it is more to do with an anglo saxon cultural norm relating to what is considered 'polite' and rude. Also there is an echo in some posters post of a paternalistic element along the lines of 'look what we gave him, rescuing him from the remote wilderness and giving him a chance to play AFL, how inconsiderate of him not to say grateful thanks for our largesse'. Hate them because they leave? Give me a spell.

Comedy gold! As a kid i loved Oscar the Grouch - thought he was hilarious. I'd never block you ADC - too funny. 1415 posts of pure comic genius.

Good call. I wonder how long it will take before it is hijacked. The other thing i really like are the players that Neeld has got are all training animals who are fully commited to doing the work required to play AFL. Couch, Magner, Clark, Sellar, Byrnes and Dawes are all highly respected in terms of their focus on training and are all solid citizens (Byrnes is doing the Kokoda train in his off season FFS).. To me this is so important and is a clear statement of Neelds approach and what he considers to be to key to success (as he has made super clear time and time again). I honestly believe this point can't be emphasised enough This is how you change culture. The young players (current and new guys) will be surrounded by older blokes who go for it 100% and not only will set a great example will also not hesitate i suspect to make it clear what is required to succeed. In essence its like drafting in a new leadership group. very instructive that Clark was put in the LG from the get go. It would not shock me for one or more of the new recruits going into the LG next year. This will be the culture Hogan will be joining. No short cuts and the party boy element cut out of the club I love it

I wonder if Denham is amazed at the number of AFL players who are putting themselves on the market. Even more amazed by the number of them wanting to to come to the Melbourne bears. By my reckoning 2 have chosen to leave (assuming Rivers goes) but, with Pederson four have chosen to come to the club (i'm including Barry who could have knocked us back and taken his chances in the draft). Not bad for a club that is apparently on the nose - what did ADC say about the 'player fraternity'? Humbug.

I just heard him say that. Also said that no deal yet done with Melbourne. But surely 20 would do it. Wellingham would be considered a better player i would have thought and they accepted 17 for him (and many people said they got a good deal). Surely then 20 would do the job for Dawes. We can give them a bunch of steak knives if they want (Cook for example).

Will you?

I like it.

Good luck to him if it comes off. Unfortunately i doubt it will as he will be coming from a very long way back - and that's assuming he isn't incarcerated. Adelaide would be a much better town for LJ, given how much closer it is to his community, the fact that he has family there and also i guess because its much smaller. I'd rather see him play for Port (or Adelaide) then never get to see him play AFL again Footy doesn't have enough players like LJ - ie ones who can weave magic and make you gasp.

I liked this quote from the article: A former coach in Central Australia, Scott Weily had texted Barry too when he heard he had joined the Demons, excited to see him get an opportunity that seemed a long way away only 12 months ago. "He's a really nice kid, [a] top kid actually, and great with his family," Weily said. "I think he is a young Michael Long, very similar playing ability. I rate him as highly as that. I think he has got the capabilities of being something very special." Shifter Sheehan made the same comparison in the clip embedded below Green machines post

Not wanting to get into a to and fro but any negative comments made by Melbourne about Moloney would in no way impact on the decsion by the AFL re compo. As i said it may, in some small way impact on the length and value of a contact another club might be prepared to offer (which would impact on the compo) but even this i doubt. Clubs do their own homework and as can be seen on these boards clubs leak like sieves so all clubs would have an idea of his preparedness or other wise to to tow the line. Neeld did make some comment about him needing to adjust his style to fit with the modern game but i reckon that was spot on, was an honest response to a question and was an in the context of explaining why he had been dropped and where the club saw him as being at. Also a reflection of the frustration the club obviously felt towards Moloney as no doubt they had had many conversations with him about this issue before the end of the season and he obviously refused to take on board. Specifically there was talk he didn't like to the required training or direction to trim down. Again all other clubs would have known this before Neeld's comments.

They diidn't disown him at all. Moloney made it crystal he wanted out and they said alright see ya. As for knocking his value see above post

A couple of things. Dawaes is not FA or RFA so getting him does not impact on any FA related compensation. Secondly as i understand it players comp value is determined by factors such as age, contract value and to a lesser extent performance over last couple of seasons. Whilst i would concede his potential contract value may be influenced by our comments (ie by talking him down maybe his value also goes down), which may in a small way impact on the compensation we get i would argue that this would be negligible. Other clubs would have as good an idea as us where Moloney is at performance wise. Before even thinking about getting him they would have pored over tapes, done all the research etc etc. Also he was given every chance to prove himself, only getting dropped at the end of the year. I would argue that they did so to give him every chance to show why we would want to keep him and when that was off the table to ensure his trade value was as high as possible. Moloney shot himself in this regard and his stupid manager hasn't helped him either.

I reckon Gysbert's had his cards marked. He's going unless he could convince Neeld he is ready to go for it 100%. Sad given he went number 11 but there is it is.

Spot on Nasher. To be honest at this point i think Neeld's focus will be on players who train hard, follow his direction to their letter, play a specific role and dare i say it 'buy in'. Bail fits this criteria as does Nicholson and for that matter Macdonald, Magner and Sellar. All players with questionable skills but go 100% and for that reason í would imagine are part of Neeld's plans for the foreseeable future.

Very unlikely. His only option to do this would have been to put himself in the draft and having no control over where he went. Also he had his heart set onn getting to WA, which could only realistically happen if Collingwood traded. The Maggies had the whip hand not wellingham. They did all right out of it too.

As i understand it GWS could pre-list NT players and then trade those player pre-draft. I think if not traded they then had the option of picking the player up pre draft. If they choose not add the player to their list hehen could put himself in the draft.

Yes, i was thinking ht same thing. Interesting i reckon and i would suggest was part of their thinking with Byrnes and Barry.

Nudge, 3 and 13 for Hogan sounds overs even with pick 20 and/or Barry thrown in the mix. In your opinion is this related to the Viney deal?

Is Viney really a vampire?

From the same article: "We're getting good cooperation with Greater Western Sydney so we are very positive we can do something in the near future," Harrington said. The Demons also feel Dawes is up for grabs, although appear unlikely to offer one of their early picks to make the trade happen. "We think we're a good show and we've put a good case forward so far. The player has to buy in as well," Harrington said. "We think we're a good proposition for him. He's indicated positiveness to us." Raises two interesting points: If we get Dawes won't be giving up pick 13. Second point is that the relationship with GWS sounds very professional and productive. Which makes a mockery of the silly predictions that GWS (or for that matter GC) would look to stymie the dees with Viney just out of spite or because Sheedy wants to be mischievous. As i've noted before this is big, big business - too much at stake for games to be played.