Vanilla Gorilla

Can't see the club abandoning Bartram given his injury situation Lynden Dunn MAY just squeeze into a new contract Jake Spencer is a "competitive beast" (in the words of Nathan Jones) and will not be delisted The rest are out of here faster than a Barry Bonds home run.

Does anyone know if Russian is on the vets list? If so, his contract doesn't fall under the salary cap and it makes sense to sign him for 3 rather than letting him walk as an UFA...

I'd be actively seeking to trade Martin in the off season. If Nathan Jones' most recent interview says anything, it's that competitiveness in a ruck man is essential for the midfield to work as a collective (re spencer). I don't believe stef has this hardness in centre contests. Sure he's athletically gifted and has good speed, but I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't fit into the type of list Neeld is trying to build.

Boak 10 times out of 10. Like I've said before, no point having Cloke if you have no midfield to get the pill to him. Also one would have to start questioning whether he is worth the advertised $8-900,000. Even with the Collingwood midfield behind him he's not having a great season, let alone the Melbourne midfield.

why not? he's not getting a gig in WA so we could bring him over for cheap. Gotta be better than what we've got atm...

Thanks for the updates KC Cook had 4 goals in the first half which is fantastic, but he finished the game on 4. Did he fade out of the match in the second half?

Ablett Pendelbury Selwood All slotting the pill down Mitch Clark's throat. That's the stuff of dreams.

Maybe he's finally realised that senseless shouting, pointing at no-one at stoppages, and general chest-beating behaviour have no place in Neeld's new playing environment. Hopefully he's understands the path back to the leadership group is through actions and work ethic, not by bullishly barking orders at younger players.

GWS and GC saying this mid-season is very different to calling our bluff on draft day. Hypothetically, if they DO nominate for JV, we can always say "fine you can have him" and we end up getting pick 2 instead of JV at pick 3 (assuming we finish 16th) Kevin Sheedy is an old coot, but I doubt he's senile enough to risk losing Lachie Whitfield at pick 1 and instead get JV!

Fairly certain Rosa re-singed for the Weagles earlier this year. Unfortunately...

James Magner singing the song after the game. Inspirational.

Hit the nail on the head

I love how people outside the club think they know how to fix it. Reality is, anyone on the outside has no idea what internal systems are in place to mend the issues. Cameron Schwab - How does the media know he deserves to be replaced? The only criteria we, as outsiders, could possibly judge him on has been his reaction to the energy watch scandal. He managed to secure us 2 major sponsors in a relatively short period of time. Thats is a tick for me. Appoint the best recruiter - Wasn't it mentioned here that we were chasing Collingwood's number 2? Looks like we've got that covered, thanks for the input Mike. Beef up the coaching panel with more successful people - let's have a look: Mark Neeld: Premiership assistant coach Neil Craig: Forged Adelaide into a consistently competitive team with regular finals appearances. Very highly regarded in the industry. Dave Misson: Head of fitness and conditioning at both a premiership winning sydney team and grand final appearing st. kilda team Leigh Brown: Premiership winning player, and played in a granny last year! (Should not be overlooked how invaluable experience is from a player who retired so recently) I'm not sure how you could beef that coaching panel up with any more success. Lastly, big changes to the list at seasons end - blind freddy could have seen that one coming! Geez Mike, how do you get such valuable insight for your articles? The point I'm trying to make is that our football club is full of professionals who know what they are doing. Media types need to keep their 2 cents for a rainy day. Have some faith and patience, we will get there.

Sam played his best game for the club against the bluesers. The most positive thing is that he KNOWS he's quicker than everyone, and his first instinct once getting the ball is to take off. That's a great attribute to have. Little concerned because, as has been well documented, sam struggled over pre-season. Let's hope he can continue this form.

I'm sure he still has somewhat of an emotional attachment to Brisbane from his coaching days. That comment probably had a bit of resentment about Clarke leaving behind it. I'd be just as filthy if he wanted to leave Melbourne. He's the sort of player you build a team around. I'm sure Leigh just got caught up in the moment after our drumming by the Lions.

Why wouldn't he come to melbourne? We have fantastic facilities, an extensive coaching team and will have plenty of cash to splash. He is young enough not to be demanding instant success, and would be a magnificent addition to our insipid midfield. Very underrated outside of SA. We should go all guns blazing.

Let it be Carlton! Their supporters don't even deserve to be called putrid filth. Lowest of the low. Bane of my football existence. Oh Carlton, how I loathe thee!

It's times like this when the club needs the most support from its supporters. A true demons fan would recognise that. Go dees

Chris Scott takes over a hardened Geelong side and wins a premiership in his first year. This year, he loses a few seniors players in Ling, Ottens, Milburn and Mooney and now look, they are a far cry from the dominant Geelong over the past 5 years. Previous coaching administrations build momentum. Fact.

Clinton Young and Nathan Foley are 2 realistic possibilities for us to target. Young could be that rebounding half-back that we so desperately need. Has recovered this year from a few injury issues in previous years and is hitting his straps. Also, he can free up J. Grimes to have more of a run in the midfield. Foley is rated much more highly at Richmond than outsiders believe. Has returned to some of his best form this year and would definitely raise the bar in our otherwise uncompetitive midfield.

Dylan Grimes has played well this season, but it's easy to do so when your getting support from the rest of your backline and, more importantly, have your midfielders putting pressure on the kick coming in. That's the difference. Put Jack Grimes in a Richmond jumper and the critics would be raving...

The footy purist in me got a genuine sense of joy reading that article. Spot on!

Paul Roos showed some vision during On The Couch of beamer not adhering to defensive structures at stoppages. Three times he followed the ball selfishly, not paying any respect to his opponent who subsequently got the clearance on each occasion. Considering Mark Neeld is trying to introduce a rigid and defensive game style centred around stoppages, it seems beamer needs to work on his natural tendency to get every clearance himself. I feel like beamer is the antithesis of Mark Neeld's gameplan. In saying that, he does have a bluey so if he can become more defensively-orientated there should definitely be a future for him in the team.

Couldn't agree more. Yesterday Josh Bootsma played his first game for the blues. he racked up a few measly possessions after coming on as a sub, until he slotted a reasonably good kick down the throat of a carlton forward. All of a sudden, the commentator (can't remember who) proclaims he is an "elite AFL kick." How can he be an elite AFL kick in his first game!? A knowledgable commentator might have said "his disposal efficiency coming through the TAC cup was excellent," or some other tangible comment. But no, apparently we have the next Brendan Goddard on our hands! This sort of hyperbole occurs way too regularly and makes me want to watch footy with the mute button on.

It wasn't Neeld's decision who to make captain. I can't understand why people think the 'Jacks' don't deserve captaincy if a vast majority of the playing list voted for them! Give them time FFS. They are obviously outstanding characters and their on-field performances will inevitably follow