binman

A query for the board. I've been thinking how slow we seem to be and how despite a big pre season we are struggling to run out quarters and games. Obviously one big pre season is not likely to be enough if as Misson had suggested we were way under the required fitness standard (though Essendon seemed to improve their fitness substantially between Knights and Hird - perhaps we were alot further back). And we do lack leg speed across the team. However i wonder if Misson is continuing to train the squad super hard, perhaps thinking ahead to 2013 and this is contributing to our obvious fatigue. Perhaps they looked at the fixture and thought we are in for some pain in the first half of the season any way (partic because it will take at least half a season to get the game plan) so why not [censored] them then ease up or taper a bit in the second half when we have alot more winnable games. This sort of heavy loads and tapering (albeit in shorter cycles than half a season) has been part of footy for along time and i'm pretty sure is something Craig favored as did the pies This might serve the purpose of building the fitness to the level required to implement the game plan . It might increase the number of games we win the back half, build the belief of both the team and supporters and provide a great platform for 2013 both in terms of fitness but also confidence. A long bow perhaps but perhaps a necessary step as we are clearly not fit enough to implement Neelds game plan and what other alternatives are there to get them up to the fitness level required in a hurry? Thoughts? Does anyone out there have any knowledge about how hard they are currently being pushed? Am i clutching at straws?

They won't pick Watts, one tackle won't do it. Jurrah won't come back, not when you have the player himself saying he needs more time at Casey. Bennell definitely will be selected, he showed the kind of intensity the last couple Neeld is looking for. Besides we will need his run to have hope of covering the Hawk's spread.I wonder if Couch will be elevated off the rookie list and selected as he was again among Casey's best this week, in a game that was pretty willing by the sound of it. Sellar to be dropped (never to return in my book, i'd rather Juice in). Do we need another big man to replace him? Probably but perhaps Jamar could go one out with a chop out from Mitch. Tapscott to get dropped. Agin they need runners and even though Bail played poorly on the weekend Tappy was not that much better and offers little run (suddenly we are a team of plodders, Gys out is a bummer, what's the stroy with Blease?)

Sellar has to be dropped, he was hopeless, a liability. His stats for someone who played close to 100% of the game were simply woeful (3 i think)

Wouldn't it be 23 players?

Interesting idea. One problem Jack will have though is the 2 week break the Scorps have. Perhaps he'll play in the development squad (i highly doubt it). A two week break is nonsense and won't help Green or Jurrah for that matter

The Scorps play tomorrow then next week then have a 2 week break (a bye and the state game or something) so he will need to really star in the next 2 games or else he is likely to miss at least a month.

I made the point that Neeld would not be picking Watts if he wasn't showing the required level of intensity. Well he's dropped him and i take from that he believes his intensity is not where it needs to be. That's good enough for me. I stand by my comments about Jack's talent etc but i also trust Neeld and i'm hopeful he really does know how to get the best out of players. I'll be fascinated to read KC's description of the Casey game as i reckon how Watts responds will give us a great indication of where he is at.

Jeez i don't know about that there have been some pretty out there suggestions. Recently i read a couple of suggestions that we should trade Watts - surely that trumps it in the stupidity stakes

Spot on. And this is not a recent phenomena that can be blamed on Bailey and BP, realistically it stretches probably as far back as the late sixties. Stars in my book are the elite, straight in to the all Austrlaian side no questions asked sort of players. I don't know but i'd be guessing we've had fewer AA selections on average than just about every other team

I am honestly perplexed by the trenchant criticisms of Jack Watts by a handful of posters on Demonland. To be clear I am not a Jack Watts apologist nor do i see him through rose coloured glasses. I consider myself to be pretty objective when it comes to rating Melbourne players, have seen alot of them and I rate Watts highly. I understand the query about his hardness at the ball etc. I had the same concerns (and voiced them on Demonland) before the start of the 2011 season. To summarise those comments, in my opinion, he had to show increased intensity. Which in my mind, having watched him closely all season, he did. This view was largely shared on Demonalnd IIRC and most posters here would also have been watching closely. The issue of his supposed lack of hardness seems to me to overly colour the view of Jack, in the same way that the occasional flashes of athletic brilliance overly colours the opinions of many about Natanui (top 50 in the league - give me a break). Yes there are times he could be more physical with his attack at the ball but look, at this stage that is not his go - and perhaps never will be. That said his intensity improved last year and was acceptable and likewise has been ok this season. Clearly Neeld agrees or else he would have dropped him. Neeld made it perfectly clear when he started (and multiple times since) no one would get picked on reputation, that he was starting with a clean sheet, there would be no passengers and furthermore specifically publicly put Watts on notice. Does anyone seriously believe he would compromise himself with his players (who of course know better than anyone who is putting in and who isn't) or risk losing their respect and pick Watts when it wasn't warranted? Watch the snippet of his first speech before answering. So if we assume the answer is no, his continued selection is evidence that in regard to intensity (and his general performance level for that matter) he has satisfied Neeld and the FD, who are both well paid and well placed to make that assessment. That's good enough for me. So what about the other facets of his game. He is by far the best user of the footy in the team - by far, as evidenced by his disposal efficiency statistics. As we all have seen this is absolutely crucial in footy generally but even more so in a team of disposal spuds. He almost always takes the right option. He kicks equally well of both feet, indeed he is a better left foot kick than almost every other player in the team is on their natural foot in terms of not missing targets. He is clean with his hands, amazing below his knees and quick (for any size). The deft touches he so often does (clearly influenced by his basketball background) are creative and bring other players into the game. On that point i reckon these taps on and flicks etc sometimes unfairly give the impression he's not going hard at it, but they can be devastating. He is unselfish and has incredibly quick hands - as an example watch the bit of play in the 3rd quarter last week (AFL video on Bigpond) where he gives off to Davey putting him in space (who then gives it to Beamer who gets hungry, doesn't give the easy ball over to Dunn who was completely free and misses a sitter - Watts would have almost certainly got it to Dunn). He is a team player and looks to bring others into the game, as evidenced by his goal assist stats (a stat coaches apparently put alot of store in) I say all of the above because as i say i reckon many in the media and some on this site are not objective enough about him. There is way too much discussion (and has been throughout his brief career) about being number a 1 draft pick. Its a totally moot point now and again distract from objectively assessing him. Facts are he finished 9th in the Bluey last year and apart from last week has been amongst our best this year and has consistently put in Is he star at the moment - no. Will he be? I am very confident he will be but understand why others may not. Could he be more physical? Of course, it is one of the weakness in his game. But watching him again on the replay you realise how skinny he still is (this is not an excuse by the way just a fact) and that he probably won't fill into his body until he is 23 or 24. When he does there is no doubt, even if he isn't as aggressive at the ball as say Hurley, he will be much, much stronger and will impose himself more through that strength. In the mean time the dees desperately need his skill and ability to create. Realistically he and Jurrah (and perhaps Frawley, apologies to Trennners) are currently the only players in the line-up who have the potential to be legitimate top shelf, A graders. Neeld has got him early enough and if he is as good a developer of players as his reputation suggest he is then Watts will fulfil that potential (and i'm sure be taught to be more direct in his attack, something another 5 kgs of muscle will help no end)

I blame Jack Watts for all the silly posts littered throughout the Demonland space time continuum suggesting he should be dropped and/or traded. I also blame him for being a number 1 draft pick. While i'm at it I blame him for having the temerity for being a good natured young kid - who the hell does he think he he is, develop some spite. How dare he go around looking so happy, doesn't he know he should be snarling and not so chilled?

I totally agree. Bail is a very important player for us. Am i right in thinking he hadn't played a huge amount of footy before we picked him up? IIRC his focus was on athletics and was a state rep for Qld in the 400 or some such distance (unless i'm confusing him with someone else of course). Tremendous upside and i reckon all the young players will benefit hugely from having a coach who is a proven developer

Good to see the Gys back in only i week, i thought i saw him listed as 2-3 weeks last week, which would be a welcome change (ie weeks off not weeks on)

I think i dreamt the answer to this question last night

All in good fun Biff, no malice i assure you. I have a real fondness for Ray Biffen by the way. My Dad wasn't much into footy (so not sure why i'm such a nut for it) and actually barracked for Richmond - sort of. Dad was in advertising and I think his agency was handling Fable records. One day he brought home the demons theme song on a 45 single, on which Ray had scrawled a message to me and signed his name and number (19 at that stage, am i right in thinking he initially had another number?). I loved that record. The flip side had that song that stared "When football season comes around again, the fans are streaming from the grounds again, there's a sort of fever that keeps us on our toes, hear the fans a roaring as the whistle blows.....etc etc". Still one of the very few songs (other than the dees theme song and one or two Beatles tracks) that i know all the words to. Keep the axe sharp, that Cook fella really needs to be brought down a peg or two.

Absoluetley 100% correct decision and one that means i can take off my supercoach bench and make him captain again

Biff you truly are the Demonalnd every-man; you are part of the lunatic fringe element, the centralists and the hard-lined moderates (whatever the hell that means). Like your avatar and namesake you can play forward and back and pinch hit in the ruck. I salute you

Ahh Choko, your feigned ignorance is a dead give away - you must be one those people. To paraphrase one of my favourite films: "i am not one of those people" " Only one of those people would truly deny he is one of those people" "What! Allright i am one of those people" "HE IS, HE IS, HE IS ONE THOSE PEOPLE!" Just kidding i know you're not really one of those people Choko, you just happened to be the first to post. And for the record i'm not either (but i would say that). But seriously very interesting post DD. And good advice to be alert for poster's agendas on this and similar sites. It makes sense to apply the same level of analysis to social media as it does for mainstream media in this regard, particularly as it is so much easier to be take cheap shots and write (and spread) falsehoods when anonymous and there is no immediate or obvious penalty for doing so (though this protection, from a legal perspective, might be illusory)

Energy Watch back in the news: "DISGRACED energy broker EnergyWatch and its former CEO Ben Polis face hefty penalties for making misleading claims in a series of high-profile ads" What i liked was when this was reported on SEN news it goes something like: "EW, the company dumped by MFC as their sponsor face hefty penalties etc etc..... It reinforces to the public that MFC has integrity and puts its values above financial considerations. In a funny way we might end up benefiting from the whole palaver. We've got two good sponsors, an improved image and the month of crisis we had (which this issue was but one of several calamities) may have helped galvanise the club.

Just had an email from a mate who is mad cats fan and goes to regularly to games at KP. He was saying that the Cats are right down at moment (despite their win in Brissie) but also noted that with the stand down the wind is now very unpredictable and having a big impact on games. Perhaps that impacts a little on their massive home ground advantage

I can't believe calls to drop Watts. Yes he played poorly but has been pretty good in the other games. He is the only player in the team that i feel confident when he has the ball in his hands that he will hit a target and not turn it over (little lone actually do something creative with it). We desperately this sort of skill at the moment as as Neeld has pointed out turnovers and not being able to get a chain of possessions going makes is a key reason our uncontested possessions are down and our opponents up are so much higher than ours

Absolutely spot on. Yes he was poor last night and it would have been great if he had done something out of the box to snatch us a win. But he was in our best 5 players in the first 3 games and last year he was arguably our most consistent player. Neeld put him of Fisher for the same reason he flagged he might put him on Riewoldt (even if this was in jest) - to give him a lesson in how hard you have to work to be elite. Yes he he got towelled up but the point was made none the less. He is still building his endurance and obviously his strength. As i have said previously give him 2-3 more pre seasons and 2-3 years of Neeld football 101 tuition and he will be scary good. I look forward to returning then to the discussion about whether we should have taken him number 1

Yes i agree. Wins are not the key, its the consistency of effort, the repeat game after game of tonight's effort. It's perhaps a bit of a strange attitude but although i desperately wanted to see a win tonight (every week) the thought crossed my mind an honourable defeat will help more in the long term than a win in so far as improving our draft options in November (when Neeld will really have a chance to influence who plays for the dees over the next 5 years).

The best game i have seen Cale play i reckon, loved his effort and was dead unlucky twice (at critical times) not to be awarded frees after terrific tackles.

C'mon you have to be joking, can't get DC's clue? What the f does one wear around a head, say a young beauty tripping through a field? Oh and i assume the LG reference is another misdirection