Pates

As much as getting him would be a fantastic get, I would much rather a quality mid to add some class in there. As has been stated, there's no use having the best forward line if you can't get the bloody thing down to them. Plus I actually think our forward line is in decent shape with Mitch Clark showing he can take a grab and kick some goals, plus we've got Jurrah and hopefully Watts will come on, then Howe can bob up and kicks some goals as well.

It's a tough one, he was absolutely useless against the cats (albeit playing against one of the greatest defenders in the game) and poor against the saints. I didn't think he played well v dogs as well, but I also feel that Fitzy just isn't ready. His role in the team is To be a chop out ruck man and a second forward. As a ruck he's serviceable, as a forward he hasn't done squat. I'd be happy for them to leave him out one more week if he's 50/50 fitness wise and give Fitzy another crack. Stef will likely overtake them both when he's fit.

If Howe can start to kick straight from set shots he'll be taking steps in the right direction. When Malthouse was commentating the game very Geelong he spoke very highly of him, Neeld as well has singled him out as well on a number of occasions. Trenners, Watts, Grimes, Tappy, and Gysberts (if he can get out on the park) are the others with great potential.

End of the day the same reporter would probably get stuck into us if we moved our admin out of the G thus having no official tie to the ground. We've got world class training facilities, and the admin are just over the road, nothing to be concerned about IMO. Another "reporter" taking a crack at an easy target.

Would love it to happen as I'm heading up there, no chance if we play like we did v Hawks, insipid 3 quarters. Having said that, if they have a good hard crack and hunt the footy, who knows.

Leadership GROUP, of which Jones, Clark, Frawley, and Bartram (who have been leading well IMO) are apart of. Grimes and Trenners are struggling, the latter so much so I actually think he might have an injury. But I don't actually think Neeled expected them light the world on fire, this year is about them learning to cope with the role. Clark has been sensational, if the players need leadership they only need to look in his direction.

I think people might be misinterpreting Neeled's common message through the media about building. A lot of people are seeing that as a complete rebuild (ala Bailey coming in and cleaning house), the fact that he didn't do that this year leads me to believe that what he sees in the playing group is potential, save for a few key components (star mid etc). But what he's building from scratch is a game plan, and this is an incremental thing, it will take time and a level of fitness that we currently don't have. Complete faith is a little optimistic in a first year coach, but bear in mind that we were not the only ones gunning for him. We BEAT Adelaide in securing his services, and he was being closely checked by St Kilda as soon as Lyon flew the coop. It's fair to question him, he's not above reproach, but it feels like a lot of suggestions and criticisms coming from the media are about short term fixes and it's clear to me that Neeled will not stray from this path. I also feel that he has total support from the club, which is a nice change. I get the feeling there will be some tough decisions made at the end of the year, and players that have coasted through their careers with us will be showed the door.

I wonder how long it will take for the media it get onto this. Not the worst thing in the world, but still very silly.

Very happy to hear Jurrah showing good form. I say bring him in! We need a spark, and who else can provide it?! Interesting comments on Watts, if he keeps gathering the ball you'd think he'll be in next week given the poor effort last night from Petterd. I'd like him to desperately want to ball, but I don't know that we'll ever get that from him, he will always have a larconic look about him. Also happy to hear Green doing well.

- Are our players confused by the game plan? (We have obviously been adapting better in recent weeks, but we still lack any real flow with our ball use.) I think such a drastic change in game plans was always going to be messy in the beginning, but I think Walls is overlooking the fact that we have been adapting to it much better in the last 3 games. - Is Neeld's game plan is the best plan for our current list? For me this is one of few valid points Walls makes in this diatribe. Jury is out, but he has brought in a lot of players that are suited to the style, so he is building onto the list. - Will such a defensive game plan be successful in the future? Again, a rare valid point. The game is changing so much, so quickly. Who knows what the "in" style will be in 3 years time. What I do know is that he, along with Craig, is considered one of the best thinkers in the game. - Has the treatment of our veterans been destabilising? A done to death point, it's easy to look at Green, who has only played a couple of games before his finger injury as an example of senior player revolt. Moloney hasn't been great but has only been back two weeks. But what about Flash? He allegedly had issues with Neeled Pre-season, but guess what? He's back getting into the play, kicking clever goals, and wanting the ball. Much like Denham the other week, he gets paid to write, he had nothing to write about so he rehashed 90% of the issues that we have come across this year and slapped his name at the top of the articles. He asks questions, offers no answers. He uses pathetic stats from last year to highlight his points, but fails to put forth stats that showed last year we were defensively inept against good team, not even great teams. I recognize we are doing crap at the moment, and there isn't much positive to write but when your using old issues to just simply write an article to make it like seem your a competent journalist I can't cop that.

Very happy with both the ins and outs. It sounded like Watts did enough to get a look in but not enough to earn the call up, this might not have been the case with the old selection panel. Both Petterd and Bennell sound like they've been putting in constant performances at Casey, I hope they are hungry for the opportunity, Ricky especially. Hope Fitzy can have a good go at it, long term I don't think Seller is the way to go. Tippy looked a bit underdone, Seller looked woefully outmatch against the best defender in the business, and Dunn I guess needs full game time. Hope the last two and Jurrah and Watts put in good performances, all forwards fighting for spots.

Very well summed up, there are different ways of looking at it. Viney has been highly rated for a long time now, he may well have been looked at as a top 5 pick regardless of our advertising of him. If we finish low, which current indications are that we likely will, we need to look past the negative of getting Viney for too much and focus on the fact that our compo picks will be a lot more valuable.

Jamar will stay, Beamer I'm not as confident on but still think he'll stay and this is just a way to get his contract sweetened. There seems to be a lot of animosity directed at him, despite him being clearly our best player last year. Yes he struggled against the top clubs, every player did. Clean slate remember? If he didn't have a role to play in the Neeled game plan (or wasn't doing it) he wouldn't be out there.

If we finish as low as we are now, we could take the punt and not nominate him. Force the other teams to pick the players on their merits and we could get him with one of our compo picks. Not an ideal situation, because I really do want him at the club but the gods and sent us down this unfortunate path. Let's go for a second half of the season revival, get as high as possible and then we don't have worry about paying overs!

Surely will be a lengthy ban, chose to bump, could've tackled, kid out with broken jaw for 6 weeks. 3-4 weeks total with his cheap little jab.

The development that we are putting into him should never be underestimated. Unlike other draftees who come to the club and have to find their footing, Jack will already have made friends and found a place in the group. He will also be ready made, and clearly will have no backward step about him when he steps into the AFL system. The bottom line is if we were finishing 10th this year you would've herald this as a genius move, also bear in mind that when this was all sorted out most commentators (and the club as well) were expecting us to be top 8 contenders by now. We made a decision to keep him out of the hands of the Crows, from what little i've seen of him we will be getting a very good player (I won't jinx him with the S word) wherever we pick him up. What we have to hope for is that this so called super draft has players go ahead of him, and GWS and GC become concerned about trying to bluff us out. A good response from Neeled. No doubt if he becomes one of the top players and we do call call the potential bluff of GWS, you will be the first to say, "God we are stupid, it's quite staggering".

Neeled has said quite a few times at he is building everything from scratch, basically peeling our game back to the very basics and implementing things as we go, sort of like mastering a level in a video games and then adding more challenges. It makes sense to go all the way back to an inside ball winning game, I feel Morton's development (which I'm cautiously pleased with) is almost the start of the next phase where the players feed it out to players like him. Meanwhile the attitude of "when it's your turn to go, you go" is being more and more accepted. With the players unity, I spose unless your in the inner sanctum you can't really say for sure, but I think the bonds with the younger players are getting stronger and the senior players not so much about being loved by everyone but just wanting to secure a role. A lot of people are criticising Beamer at the moment, I actually think he'll be OK, there were passages in the Geelong game that looked a lot like his old self, and he has the quality to know when to adhere strongly to Neeled's gameplan (boundary) and when to check inside and use his long kick to pick out blokes running in the middle (Bails long goal v St Kilda).

I can't work out Stef would be a step in the wrong directions as opposed to Sellar. He's younger, he showed he can hold a ruck position and he can take a mark. Best Sellar can do is provide a contest. A step back from last week but there's something there.

A real shame Clark couldn't finish after the great grab. Some positives, there was a certain amount of hung for the footy, not enough, but something. What always impresses me about the cats is when they're under pressure they just seem to have a plan, they fire a handball out and low and behold there's someone waiting for it. They work for each other, something that I feel is on the improve with us but still nowhere near the standard. Any commentator that bagged us for getting Clark should be eating his words, he's probably leading our B&F count. Great game from him and Frawley today.

Cats will have the breeze in the lat quarter, I really hope Neeled sets them a task of winning the last quarter. We shown signs, but I agree with Malthouses assessment of us, we aren't working hard enough and we're not trusting each other. It's quite funny, the way he's been analysing, it really sounds like someone coaching for Melbourne. He's not even bothering to look at Geelong, it's almost like he feels everyone knows how good the Cats are, he wants to see how good the Dees can be.

Clark misses an easy goal, rebounds and Geelong kick a goal.

Dunn kicks a goal with his first touch. 32 points

Bugger three in a row from the cats, big part of the game now. We have to be switched on or they could start to score heavily.

Holy crap, first 2 of the half. And is there any danger of the commentators getting the names right? Mitch Brown, Mark Bate.....

Spud People would disagree, but Stef Martin is surely a better option. Quicker, better ruck chop out, and does actually take a grab. As a spoiling defender Sellar may have a role against bigger bodies, but he is useless in the forward line. Happy with: The scoreline; should be worse, but they didn't take all their chances, thankfully we have. Clark is worth what we're paying, get a more competitive midfield he'll look even better. Morton has back up last week with a good showing in the first half, some good tackles and isn't over thinking things. Davey quiet but what he's has been good. Mackenzie was doing a good job on Bartel, let him kick a goal and the umpires gifted him another Not happy with: Intensity still isn't there, both quarters we were lucky not to have 4 goals kicked on us in the first 5-10min. Silly mistakes, moving the ball in the wrong direction in the wrong way. THAT free kick at the end of the half, disgraceful.