binman

I also thought it wasn't a bad game from us. In the first we were up in contested possessions and inside 50's. Our lack of option in outr forward line was the killer - and so frustrating to watch. Very difficult for a team that keeps throwing the ball into their forward half only to watch it rebound time and time again not to begin to struggle. The Saints third quarter was predictable in that sense. That's one of the biggest problems of having no forward line to speak off - the rebound so often becomes a scoring threat and puts huge pressure on the back line. But our field kicking was ok and is getting better. A couple of howlers but less that earlier in the year. Jetta showed with that one act of bravery why Neeld rates him. I bet that vision will be on high rotation in the review. Our back half held up well until that third quarter. We showed terrific application not to get blown away. The other thing i really liked was that through out the game, as some have noted, we were taking some risks with ball movement and doing quite a lot of switching. Quite aggressive really. To me this is a glimpse of what we can expect next year and shows that Neeld is slowly revealing his plan. He has been adamant all along that before adding flair the defensive aspect needs to become second nature. In his robbo interviews over last 5-6 weeks he has noted he has been pretty happy with our pressure and contested possession; so i think we are getting there. Even if Saints dropped off in intensity we still managed to kick 8 goals in that last quarter, which by any measure is impressive - particularly with a forward line missing most of its key players. It shows that we are not simply developing a defensive mind set. This subltle change is something the Neeld knockers should take note of before they start banging on about no development and a boring limited game plan.

The silver lining actually is lead from which you get poisoned

Classic. I only get the occasional flash of TP's brilliance (as he/she is my sole block) but like watching a slow motion car crash i sometimes can't help reading bits that are quoted. If these quotes were put together in the fashion of one those mid seventies 'best of (insert year, band or genre)' cheapo records (think K-Tel) with lurid cover art, the title would "Best of the Trolls" By the way if you were to want to look up the phrase 'don't throw the baby out with the bath water' where would you look? Bartlett's book of quotes perhaps?. I wonder if he has a quote on trolls?

This makes no sense to me. What makes you say he clearly hasn't coached 'the cattle' he has.

In news just in. Thaipantsman doesn't think Neeld is much chop and unless he improves on 6 wins will be axed at or near the end of 2013. In his opinion Neeld will 'harbour the same "done" feeling towards the end of next year"that Primus just has In more news on that subject Binman advises internet fan site Demonland that he is prepared to bet Neeld will be coaching at the dees in 2014. Wager? If bet accepted and he loses Binman will cease posting on Demonland. If on the other hands he win anyone taking the bet will stop posting on Demonland Takers?

It is a ridiculous argument now whether we should have got him at 12 (goodbye darling). It's history. Cooky's our boy and part of the club so lets embrace him. Clubs with strong cultures (at any level and any sport) support and nurture their players, not denigrate and cast out. We chose him not the other way 'round. Cook (and Fitzpatrick for that matter) will provide Neeld and his coaching team a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate their abilty to develop young players.

A lovely cheese is Boak

Whatch ya talkin' 'bout willis? No way GWS are the form side between the dees, them and GC. No way. In round 13 we beat them by 78 points. Between 14-18 they were towelled up by between 15-20 goals (their lowest thrashing in this period was 94 points and their highest loss was 120 points!) Last round they beat Port but that club has very quickly devolved into a basket case and just had their 186 moment. Total breakdown. In those rounds (14-18) GC copped a couple of big losses (Sydney and WC), pushed Geelong and could have won (going down by only 14 points), beat Richmond and just lost to Brisbane (in a game they should have won). We beat GC last round and GWS round 13. Between rounds 14-18 we lost to Brisbane by 61 points, Richmond by 23 points, Freo by 34 points, Port by 28 points (admittedly a shocking loss) and North by 54 points (again a bad loss). Not great but no 15-20 goal losses and 3 of those clubs were/are pushing for top 8 and had a big incentive to bury us. GC will easily beat GWS and we will hammer them. GWS will finish bottom, mark my words. Edit: Just saw ouchers post re GWS form, could have saved myself the trouble. Any way point stands

Woah - freak me out. I thought Keyser Soze and E25 were back (have they ever left?)

I bloody hope so. At the moment he's sitting on my Super coach bench with Mitch Robinson. With an elimination final and only 3 trades i want him back!

What is up with Watts? I'm now officially getting worried. Four weeks is a long time. I hope it is not more serious than they are letting on.

Interesting and reflects the philosophy of Neeld - ie combining ready to go players and youth. Not rocket science obviously and you only need to looks at clubs that have sustained periods of success to see that it works (eg Swans, Geelong, Collingwood). This approach was evident in his recruitment last year of Magner and Couch and i'm sure we'll see more early to mid 20 players getting drafted in from VFL and other similar leagues, along with whatever ready to go players we can trade in (think Boak, Caddy and some from left field that might be part of complex trade deals with multiple clubs). At the same time we will put the time and effort into developing the young kids, and if need be that will be in the VFL (as it should be). The model of developing craft and experience in the magoos harks back to a time where it was common for players to play 30-50 in the 2's before getting a chance in the seniors. Think of the Hawks and players like Ayres and Tuck. Granted there are smaller list these days but still being patient with players and giving them the time is a terrific approach i reckon With another solid pre season and some new blood (and a half decent run with injury) i am hopeful we will move away from the bottom of the ladder next year

Melbourne must have been involved in both incidents some how. I'm sure Greg Denham or on the couch will make the connection soon enough.

Well played Pitmaster. Nothoing like a sledge that is miles off. The Geelong game they could have so easily won and the Brisbane game they should have won (with the coach saying it was the first time they had lost a game they should have won). I just don't get the negativity about the win. As i have said in a previous post, good first quarter and a half, with some of our best ball movement of the season. And the back half was as solid as it has been for some time (and missing Watts to boot). Whilst they were not as good in the second half it was instructive that Neeld answered a question in his presser about whether he was disappointed in the second half with something along the lines of ....no as the indicators we use (pressure acts etc) to measure performance were where we want them to be.... Neeld is hardly one to gild the lilly and has been blunt all year in assessments of where we are at so i have no reason to doubt his sincerity (he certainly looked genuine). But of course all the keyboard coaches and analysts know the drum a whole lot better - and will probably guffaw at modern speak like KPI and say something like 'the scoreboard is the only KPI I rate!'. One thing i like about Neeld is his consistency. All year he has maintained it is not about the here and now or even the scoreboard, but about the right processes and structures (which when in place will ensure the scoreboard will take care of itself) and learning a game style that will win finals. His comment about the second half is yet another example of his singular focus and his refusal to but into the sort of short term thinking that will never get the club out of the malaise it has been in since Northey left the club.

Interesting idea. Example of his approach (and also a good example of his difference to other regimes) is his refusal to play players such as Cook when they're not ready in his mind for AFL, his preparedness to drop senior players, his preparedness to risk getting on their wrong side (i reckon the first coach since Northey who has taken on the senior cartel in an meaningful way) and his focus on his non negotiables (i'd love to know what they are) he expects of his players. The demons needed a new approach and a shake up from the ground up and from what i've seen thus far Neelds the man for the job.

Yeah, good call i reckon. It shows confidence being prepared to back your judgement as a back the way he does. I also reckon it reflects well on the coaching team in so far as if he thought he'd cop it in the neck when it didn't come off if he wouldn't do it. They obviously encourage him to back himself which is great. Also super important he does so with Rivers up forward and Watts out as we miss their capacity to intercept mark and zone off

Spot on. Arguably 4 of our top 5 players not in the side. Add them and it it is a different look all together. Everyone knows Melbourne don't have great depth so taking 4 of your best players out is going to hurt way more than it would for a top side. Just look at GC. Their 2 best players (not yesterday but full stop)? Ablett and Bennell. Take them out of yesterdays GC side (which was not far off full strength by the way) and we would have by 15 goals. I'll say it again - injuries are by far the biggest factor in football in regard to ladder position and we have had a shocking year in that regard.

Great point. He was consistently bagged and i recall quite a few posters saying he is would never be much better than a b grade plodder. He's not A grade - yet. If he keeps improving he will be and must be an amazing role model for the younger guys. Our younger players all need a couple of years of hard training and development, after which we can better judge where they are at. Three good examples are Gysberts, Strauss and Blease. All have great potential but have suffered from bad injuries and are not yet fit enough. It will be a real test of Neelds development skills to see where they are at in 2 years time. The other one is Spencer. I was impressed with his efforts on the weekend. Big unit who is unlikely to reach his full potential for another 4-5 years as is the case for most ruckman (ie mid to late 20's). Three obvious examples being Jamar, Jolly and Maric. Spencer is a keeper.

Except Howe doesn't need their help to get into the air!

In a year such as this any win is a good win. Stats were interesting as they matched us in most of the key stats at half time (and at the end really) but we were up by 8 goals. For instance they had more inside 50's. I thought that in the first quarter and a half we moved the ball into our forward line the best we have for ages and our back-line worked really well together. There were some really well weighted kicks to position and only one on the full (a record for us this year) I liked the game of Spencer and thought Sellar was ok. Moloney was hopeless. I hardly ever bag players but couldn't help giving him a couple of (small) serves. A player can't really help being slow but jeez he's a plodder this year and a couple of his efforts were slow of thinking and half hearted. Blease was good in spurts and could be the small forward we need as he reads the ball well and has the pace. But defensively he still has alot of work to do. A couple of times he just jogged along as GC moved the ball when a full on chase was in order. Nice to see Green marking and kicking well. Howe was a highlight, he has such great hands. Jones keeps getting better in my book. His evasion skills have improved and as i have noted before his kicking has improved out of sight,. he nailed a couple of bullets today. Fantastic both have re-signed. All in all, whilst the last quarter and a bit was pretty poor i thought we played pretty well. I was reflecting that it was heaps better than the woeful game against them near the end of last year. The line was 25 points and we near doubled so well done dees.

I was there but had no idea he hurt himself. Not sure how i missed it if was so obvious but there you go

And to top it off he has re-signed!!!

Donuts! Hot donuts! Ridiculously expensive but at the moment the only reason my 6 year old daughter wants to go to the footy

I have no idea Thaiman, it wasn't my poll. You're right there is no way he's not going to not be at the dees next year and we would have to have a year worse than this one for him not be there in 2014. But if a weeks along time in football a years an epoch.

Great post - balancned, with no hysteria. I hope Cook turns out to be a good pick. He's going to have to work hard to get there it would seem, based on Neelds recent comments about him not being fit enough yet