Pates

So sad, so young. My condolences to Nick and the rest of his family.

I don't think this thread is about delistings, it's about who needs to show improvement through this year to avoid being on the chopping block. We can talk about delistings after we're finished in the finals.

I get the feeling that the club may have learnt from past pre-season mistakes about putting timeframes on players who are coming back from injuries. There are no games at the moment so they may feel that just letting things tick along at their own pace is a better way to go than putting time on it. That said it is a shame that Howe is having a limited pre-season, I really feel this could be a big year for him if things fall our/his way.

Agree with most of your points but if you expect Trenners to improve to keep his place you might as well put the pen through him now. My thoughts are that we'll offer him a significantly lower one year deal performance based with a trigger clause for another year or two and pay increase should he meet certain expectations. I feel that's fair on us and on him, it means if he has another interrupted year he can explore his options freely. Grimes is a tough one. I really like him and his courage is undeniable. I think he's got the drive to move with the pack, but jeez he needs to work on his kicking. I swear I remember in his breakout year he was hitting players on a dime. All those other players I wholeheartedly agree, they all need to take their game to another level or they'll get left behind. A lot of them I feel have benefitted from our lower standard and expectations in the past, well no more. But this sort of pressure can be a good thing, I'd say Dunn was possibly in this category at the start of last year. Having been played in so many positions he was struggling to find his place for the future. Well he found his place and it ended up being VC to Jonesy. Pederson is another who everyone had given up on but he showed his value as a role player, whether or not he'll be a regular is for debate but he's shown that when he comes in now he's going to give it everything he's got.

I couldn't have gone either way but I tend to agree that the club really didn't think this through from a potential marketing point of view. To play it at a time where you're going to get sweat FA amount of people and no BBQ or anything going on is a real failing on the club's part. Given that the AFL have this idea that it's a year for the fans it's not a good start from us. I hope the club considers this for next year.

I'd rather be us right now than either Essendon or St Kilda. Essendon: Obviously the stink of everything that's going on. Hird may take it another step and drag it out even longer. Either way they have been branded with something that they will not be able to get rid of for a very long time. St Kilda: Something about them just makes them seem pathetic. I don't think they'll have any hope of being in top 8/flag contention for a long time and they just don't seem to have anything to hold on to that makes them an appealing club. When Riewoldt retires they will be back to square one. But who knows, they might have another forward gem with their no 1 pick.

Maybe there should be a ceremony!

A great find, great talent to burn. Well done JKH, looking forward to watching you light up the G with Garlett in '15.

This is what I'd imagine. He's had his time as a club CEO and seen Geelong go from being a mid-range club with good assets to a powerhouse, he has set himself up for life in property I just can't see why he would jump back into this high pressure world. I get the feeling a lot of Demon fans are nervous and haven't warmed to Bartlett. We've accepted Roos and Jackson because they have the runs on the board and we can see tangible improvement in their respective areas. Bartlett on the other hand we haven't really heard much about and when he opened up about his visions for the club it's felt similar to what we got from past presidents. For that reason it's easy to get those old pitchforks ready. I really hope that Bartlett is making PJ feel comfortable in his position, as I said earlier I'm not sure about where he stands long term with the club but if he's wanting to make a longer commitment then it should be something considered.

I'm gutted for him. Sounded like he was really poised to make an immediate impact and get working with Brayshaw from the start. Another young gun not given a clean run at it from the start, please release us from this curse!!! Ultimately important thing is that we take our time with him getting right and let everything heal as it should. Maybe the club should organise Lenny Hayes or someone like that to give him a buzz over the next week just to chat to him and raise his spirits (ala Hawkins/Hogan last year).

I'm not totally sure what Jackson's long term plans are but I was under the impression that when he joined us he would be looking in assist getting a long term option over the next few years. I think he doing doing a brilliant job and I'd love to see him hang around for while but not sure where he stands long term.

Great, more confusion. More points systems. More A+B=C, just to get a bloody recruit. The current system gets FS players to the club, confuse/diminish it and we could loose that. I reckon it is one of the better parts of the game, seeing a son of a gun (and hopefully become a gun) creates feel good stories and positive press. Take that away and it'll just push fans away.

I'd just ditch the game and have a full hit out against Casey in Casey. Try to promote the crap out of it to get people through the gate with competitions, BBQs, fun for family, meet the players etc. Make it another family day. Not ideal preparation for the team but at least maybe the club can get something out of it.

It's no surprise that the story was "broken" by Robbo. He's essentially become their head of media relations since this whole saga began. I'd like to see them try this because they won't win any friends at the AFL, and it'll just cause more backlash for the players and club. So fricken sick of this, Hird's dragged it out based on his own ego and now is bringing the players to his level by trying to create a "woe is me" situation. That said I admire the players claim to want to protect the identities of those facing the music. Feels like they're drawing out the inevitable though.

I agree with you that the gradient makes it too busy. Just keeps it simple. Your other logo works as well as an alternative logo for some different merchandise. I'm personally a fan of the current logo though. One of basically the only good things the CS era has left over.

I've always disliked the Demon Shop's location. It's tucked in, out of the way and looks like a storage area. We should, or should've pushed for an area in the redeveloped Northern stand, I believe the great southern stand is going to be redeveloped, at least internally, perhaps we should look at a location in there. Otherwise I certainly think we should look at a store in the city. Problem is the rent is so high we'd struggle to get a profit from it. On the match day experience, I know I'll probably get shouted down for this but I reckon we were in the right thinking with the bugler. Just delivery was poor, and even worse the timing was horrible. On the delivery: It started well because it appeared to be a thing of the people. When it moved on the ground it looked forced and campy. The execution of the song itself was also at times off which just made everyone cringe. Don't get me wrong, bloody good effort doing it in front of at times a huge crowd, but if the song isn't done right it defeats the entire reason for it. Finally on delivery, that velvet jacket just looked wrong on so many levels. Timing: All that possibly could've been fine if it wasn't for the fact the the team and club was so bad. Instead of it being a symbol to rally behind it became a wimpering attempt at passion but ending up just being plain embarrassing. My point is that if we were even semi successful, it possibly could've taken hold. Whatever we look at possibly doing we need to learn from these mistakes. I've always thought that as a treat for the kids, for home games at the G they hold the players hands out to the walk way much like what the do in soccer. Now getting a "fan song" like what Port have managed to do is not easy, you can't just stick it on with the words on screen, for it to work it has to happen almost organically. And I will say that last line with an apology to the A-League as I know that's exactly what they do. For me it just doesn't seem to work.

Tyson: The guy is quite clearly one of our future key players, we need him to pick up in 2015 where he left off. And then some. Any improvement from him will take pressure off Jonesy. Hogan: It's tough not to get caught up in the hype, and I'm not expecting him to destroy every opponent. What is crucial that he gets through the year unscathed and that he shows his promise through the year. Gawn: Given no 11, that's a massive show of faith by the club to a bloke who's shown good signs but also a fragility with injury (ironic given the man who made the number famous!). Time for him to step into the no 1 ruck role. Tmac: He took on more responsibility when Roos pushed Chip forward, seeing the writing on the wall. Tmac looked like he enjoyed the responsibility, he really needs to improve his disposal though. N. Jones: Heart and soul, he just needs to keep doing what he does. The better he plays the better or young guns will go as they will use him as a role model. Viney another mention, time for him to step up. This is the age he needs to going from just a player to a future star.

Extremely well deserved in terms of length, it's a show of faith to us as much of a show of faith from us to him that his body will be durable enough to make it worth it. He should chat to Cross about that! But well done Jones, you're a dying breed and you deserve to see and lead success with the Red and Blue.

I would imagine (and hope) that OMac will be given only a taste next year and more due to regulars being unavailable. We have a bit of coverage in there now, we have Dunn who has turned himself into a very capable defender, Howe who I expect will go to the forward line this year but can be thrown back there, and Pederson who may struggle to find a regular spot but can cover positions in there. As you said physically he might struggle and Roos has shown himself to be very patient with the young players. I'd be hoping for him to get a run perhaps in the second half of the year.

Major difference with Jones is that he (or his manager) hasn't come out and said their putting off contract negotiations to the end of the year. That leads me to believe that he has a strong preference to stay but is also looking for a fair contract given everything he's contributed to the club.

I wouldn't call it a soft option, but it was only a bandaid solution. It did what we needed it to do at the time, raise enough money to eliminate the debt, but while that was going on we needed long term sustainable solutions. We had ideas, those ideas proved to be wrong unfortunately. PJ should be congratulated for being able to make a profit in his first year despite rising costs, poor (although improving) performances by the team, and poor crowds. How he's pulled it off I have no idea.

It doesn't. But as it was said earlier he kicked clutch goes, finds his own ball inside and outside, and has the skills to lead by example. I think he's got a long and prosperous career at Melbourne and I see no reason to put it on him at this stage since he's only been here a year. But he has all the attributes to be considered for the future.

I definitely think the stuff in bold was just him having a joke, maybe a casual dig at Melbourne but while I can see the poor training standards being the norm 5 years ago I'd be surprised if Roos let them get away with that now. The Lake bit I think is just reality. They are a well oiled machine that gets new cogs added to it every year and they mould those players to be what they want. Don't forget they got Kyle Cheyne when we traded him, now I'm not saying he's a gun but when he comes into their team he knows what to do and he knows the standards. Frawley has played for a club where you can put in 4-6 poor performances and then one good game and everything thinks you're a gun. I have no ill will towards Chip and the way he left is the way the competition is. He put up with a lot of crap at the Dees.

I must admit Lucifer, there is something I really don't like about the idea of Lumumba being made a co-captain. His speech at the B&F didn't sit well for me, and he's shown himself to be a distraction at times at the pies. I think there's merit to him being in the LG but beyond that no more for this year at the very least. Just to what P-man was saying on Viney. Your points are well made and you're right that age shouldn't disqualify him totally. But there's still much he's learning about the his game and has suspect disposal at times. It's inevitable that he'll get there eventually, for me there's no need to rush it, especially give Roos' stance that the young brigade shouldn't be seen as messiahs.

I can't see Trenners being even considered for the leadership group. Maybe the leader of the rehab group! It's unlikely he'll factor in 2015 in a playing capacity and even if he does it will just be to get some playing fitness into him right at the end of the year. Lumumba will probably put his hand up, I can see Dawes and Dunn being co-VC. I'd be keeping leadership away from Watts, he's a good bloke and on the training track he hits it hard but he's not an on-field leader. Not yet at least. Viney oozes it but he's young, give him another year or two to focus on his game. C: Jones Co-VC: Dawes & Dunn Group: Lumumba, Cross, Garland and/or Grimes (Smokey) Tommy Mac, he's younger and looks to be a long term player. Just needs to work on his kicking and a bit of decision making,