deeko

I think this year he will only be a fringe player at best, heres hoping to Flash back to his best out there looking dangerous but I believe the game has passed him by. There is a larger emphasis on speed now when players are recruited then when Flash was at his peak 5 years ago. Also with more rotations keeping players fresher we saw the pace of Flash make a significantly less impact over time. The game has changed quite a bit in not a lot of time. Although he clearly was injured last year it's positive to hear that he is getting through training and looking ok. I hope he can get some games as a couple goals by the man will lift the team as they clearly all love him around. (note - haven't heard or seen this, just assuming after reading the training reports) Doubt he will have an impact this year but as I said, would love nothing more than to be proven wrong.

I am looking forward to the day that our midfield crop matches his effort with there own as they will have a lot more polish than Jordie but he still warrants a place in my 22 on endeavour alone. He definitely was a better kick when he first came on the scene also. It was never brilliant but it wasn't noticable one way or another, now unfortunately it is noticable and not in a positive light. I can't believe I am going to say that Colin Sylvia will be my rags to riches prediction. I was O/S during the second half of the year and only catching up on games via foxfooty. The Sylvia Saga has been done to death since 2003 but his second half of the year was very strong. His tackling and physicallity around the contest was the most consistent I have seen from Col. I remember him starting slow (which a broken jaw or back or something wouldn't have helped so excusing that a little) but he came home really strong. So I kind of feel dirty for saying this (really dirty) but I believe he will have his best year to date if he stays injury free. Not tipping a brownlow or anything ridiculous but I believe a 25 goal year averaging 20+ possessions. Sorry for bringing Col into this thread.

Agree with all of this except Beamer. He had a shocker of a year because he had the sulks up with the new game plan and I believe being demoted from the leadership group. You could see most of the games he wasn't interested at all. He will have a good year at the Lions as he is the sort of character who will want to prove people wrong. In saying this though I was filthy watching him this year go at it half arsed so stoked we got rid of him. As for Martin, he is a bits and pieces player. Shows a glimpse of brilliance and then does something completely ridiculous a minute later. Those who rate him better than Jamar are kidding themselves. Yes he may get some more of the pill around the ground but he gets eaten alive in the centre square contests and boundary throw ins. Jamar is a smart cookie, he will learn to adapt to the new rules and hopefully we get to see some more of his form a couple years ago when he was jumping a lot more at contests. I'll miss Rivers as he is a just a good honest player who I always liked and was always super courageous. I have had a chat with a couple of players who love him as a team mate. He will be a bigger loss then people realise and look like a really great player with the support at the Cattery. As for the rest... umm... don't really care. Wish them luck though except when we play them

Don't hate the player because he was in the right place at the right time. Who else were we meant to pay in order to get to the minimum 92% of the salary cap (or whatever it is). Although he is apparantley looking awful on the track, lets take the positive out of it that he is at least training and building a base. The more he trains the fitter he gets and the higher the chance is that he snags a game.

Can I throw something a bit different out there if everyone is so keen on Dunn?? Watts to start on the wing ala one runner up M Richardson in his last year. Just let him take one side of the G and run up and down it taking grabs from the back line and hitting Mitch / Christoper lace out all season. Dear diary.... jackpot

We would not select/recruit/draft a player to fill a specialist sub role. Two players I will be interested where they play this year. 1. Grimes. Of course he will be in the team but will be interesting to see just where he starts on the team sheets now that on the field brigade has Toumpas and Viney in there and you can't leave out Trenners and Jones in the centre. Then there is McKenzie. Will Frank go back to the HBF? 2. Sellar. I would rather have Sellar in the team than Dunn. I missed the whole second half of the year due to travel and am putting myself through the pain of watching a game every couple days. Sellar goes ok in the backline and I think his disposal is quite good. Also, more and more teams this year will have a similar setup to ours with a back up ruckman up forward and I look at most teams confused as to who will take that player. I think Lynden has had enough time to make a spot his own. If people want him there for his kicking skills I believe Watts can handle that with Tappy. I think that Garland can play above his height but would struggle on a ruckman in comparison to our Riv went about it. I worry thinking how Col will go playing on say a Hampson, Hale, Cox etc. He should be in the team but playing on the medium small forwards. Its really too hard to select a best 22 until we know who we are playing anyways but I do like the look of everyones teams when we have a full squad to pick from. Im officially on the off season band wagon, same as this time every year!

I played a 20/20 match for echuca thurs night with half a dozen of Ollies good mates. The moment it finished everyone ran into the rooms to watch the draft to see where he would end up. When PA read out his name there was just dead silence until one of his best mates says, '[censored]... Ollie will be [censored] at that!' Haha. Doubt we would ever get him in the future though. Would you really want to go to a club who had a chance at you but passed for someone else? I'm stoked at selecting the Greek adonis, can't believe he slipped to 4.

Does anyone have links they can post to him doing illicit drugs or is it known that he definitely did? I can't recall this happening. The photo of him having a dart is quite old, saw that mid season I believe. Yes its an awful look but let's not forget he is only 18 and has a very challenging upbringing most likely without a decent rolemodel/mentor that so many kids go through the system get. From all accounts he is a great kid and quite likable. The best thing for this kid would be to get out of WA and try a fresh start. Really hope he makes it somewhere but the MFC is probably not the right place at the moment to take on a full time project like this when we are really only just rebuilding ourselves

Was meant to mention before in my post but forgot, a bloke I play cricket with did a tour of the Collingwood rooms a couple days ago with a few other boys. He said he wandered into a room with Collingwoods idea of the draft order on a large white board. They believe we will get Toumpas with 4 and Wines will go at pick 7. Not sure if anyone is interested or not but thats where the pies rate him.

I won't tell people that the flag is ours easily this year. Expectations will be lowered to a 2 pt prelim loss due to a shady umpiring decision. I'm just not ever going to mention Jack Watts name in a sentence outside of this forum (always positive) as its just not worth the arguing.

Well my old mans favourite saying is "no matter what time it is during the game, big men stay big." He also says that if he was a coach he would field a team full of red heads as they just seem to be angry at the world so they make good players. I think our balance is a lot better having a few 'true' position players. As in a giant Clark at FF or CHF with Dawes sharing and Pedro obviously swapping with Jamar in the ruck. They along with Watts and Frawley are the only real certin starters IMO and that doesnt necessarily make us a giant team. Gillies is back up for Chip, no more no less. Gawn will still take time to develop the required leg strength to become a good ruckman which will be in perfect timing when the Rush is finishing up. Spencer is just depth for now. Sellar is a role player and will play against teams with multiple monster forwards. Fitzy will pressure Pedro and Dawes to keep performing at there best. I think the amount of talls on the list is just right

Perfectly summed up here. If Tappy became a Chappy then wow Id be happy but plays more like Josh Hunt does this little... ball of muscle. Forgive my very ordinary humour, very dull evening at work. He played U/18s as a forward flank though I believe but you would think with this years recruits there will be little place for him up forward. I recall early on playing in the back pocket he took a number of overhead intercepting grabs and got crunched in a few to just get up and shake it off. He has a lovely penetrating kick that will is a real weapon coming out of the backline. I think he will be used there this season.

Great profile pic by the way LT, love it! As for your comments on Wines, his outside work is a lot better than average/good. Have seen this first hand with Echuca and a couple Pioneers games. If your referring to his highlights packages on different AFL channels then you will only see a lot of clearing handpasses and thats about it. That is definitely his forte and he has been great at that feeding it out role. But have faith, when he receives the ball from another his execution is of a very high standard so I don't think people should worry about this. The link I like about Ollie is that he gets the ball again and again and again. He genuinely hunts it. I don't care if his kicking efficiently is 5% lower than another player picked after him as he will get the ball 10 more times a game. I watched the Q/B replay a few days ago on foxtel and of Dane Swans 3,456,015 disposals that game some were comical they were that dirty but he just keeps getting the pill. (please dont take this comment as if I am comparing Wines to Swans as a player like all those ridiculous Jobe Watson comparisons) Fair call on your comments on the players I listed, but I am not sure how many outside mids are required in a team. Other people noted the minimal amount playing for the hawks and swans which I really agree with as I don't believe you need one outside player on each line. If you have that genuine quarterback (Watts) and a dashing Blease we will be fine in that department IMO. Also, its a lot easier to develop an outside/spreading game to a true inside mid who wants there own ball. As anybody can run to space when required. It's a lot more difficult to teach a player who has played outside there whole career to start winning there own ball, hence someone like Cale being moved on. I do agree we need more class but not necessarily on the outside. If we start winning a majority of the stoppages and becoming more efficient at these (removing hospital handballs/not panicing) you will find our outside skills will improve across the list as I can promise you every player on our list can hit targets when not pressured. We just have to win those stoppages and hit our players in space then watch the good times role!!

I don't think you can ever have enough players who want to win there own pill. I believe we had one (Jones) for the last season who was continually desperate for it. Wines will compliment him well. From one game I watched this year he also did some good things on the outside so please people, don't think of him as simply a ball extracting machine who is average everywhere else. He and Viney will be great. The problem is that there excellent ability inside the packs takes the gloss off there great work outside. Which as said, was great and will be going forward. As for outside mids / more receiver like players, Blease, Bail, Davey, Strauss and Watts will be around. Along with the additions this year of Byrnes, Rodan, Tynan and my main man Taggert (get around him!!) will assist.

Just on your comment there Satyricon (apologies if I mispelt your name also) I am interested as to where you would play Strauss. I hope as much as everyone here that he will be a great player but in my own opinion, his 18 games have not shown much to date. If people continue talking of having someone with 'elite' kicking back there in defence the surely keeping Tappy back there would be a better option. He is a longer kick then Strauss and adds a lot more grunt also.

Cale Morton will be a similar if not better player than Goddard (shudders while writing)

So Dunny finally had his 'breakout game' this season? And I hear it was against the all conquering GWS powerhouse? Wow, extend his contract asap please! In all seriousness but, why would be keep him? Toughness?? Hahahah please, can't remember one big contested mark he has ever taken or ran back with the flight into a contest or a time when he has seriously impacted a game. Not even sure what position he is meant to play or what his role should be or is. I didn't mind when he first came on the scene as a half forward, showed a bit but never improved. Could be another added to that list of players who probably were not developed properly. Delist/trade for me.

You bet me too it PaulRB, beautifully written. I think some people here realise the primary role of the ruckman. Its not to get cheap possessions around the ground like Stef does, although they are beneficial. Its to assist in clearing the stoppage. I only got back from 4 months o/seas and have been putting myself through the horrors of our games from Rd 10 onwards. The one game standing out to assist in this thread was against Freo (which I am sure was flogged to death on this board) but when Jamar went down Stef got completely murdered in the ruck and it had a big effect on the final result where it looked like Freo won nearly all the clearances for last quarter and a half. He did get some of the pill around the ground but his inability to compete in the rucking contest cost us. For the people repeating the idea that Jamar only taps the ball to his feet, well that is clearly the team plan and not just his doing. I believe he is more than a one trick pony which people seem to suggest here.

That's him alright. Being from Echuca myself its a common sight seeing him having a few brewa enlightening the world of how much of a star he is. And as much as I'd like seeing a local making it in the big time I'd eat my hat if we picked him up. He is a moron and poison to people around him. He has been involved in countless off field incidents here there and everywhere. A leopard doesn't change his spots and he wont change his. Also I can't understand the want for him, maybe risk someone who is an a grader but he is a 'just' player. Nothing more. Move on

Seems a bit rich for a player who was 'just' last year. Admittably, they both had better seasons prior and based on stats solely (which I know is not the greatest thing to compare but its all I have to make my argument stand) I think Stef has better value. Pick 20 by itself is overs for Dawes as he reminds me of a slightly more agile / stronger Brad Miller.... and god I hope I will be proved wrong! http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/ft_player_compare?tid1=5&pid1=1746&tid2=12&pid2=2718&type=A&fid1=P&fopt1=2011&fid2=P&fopt2=2011

What can I say, was a Don Cordner fan!

Didn't think my love for this kid could increase until watching his 'deetv' interview. Turns out he will be growing the wig over summer and possibly rocking out with the head band early next season!! Legend! Has to be #31

Great post, worth the derailing. Seems pretty much the complete package! E Quayle. The Age.... 3 Votes

Ah the forgotten man!! Went to a couple Casey games this year, one specifically to watch him and definitely liked what I saw anyways. He is classier than Tynan in my opinion and showed a great leg hitting team mates. Cant recall him smashing packs but remembered some great runs (Blease like) and hitting team mates lace out.

Was out in Echuca on the weekend and was lucky enough to meet Jordie McKenzie out and got the chance to have a chat with him for about half an hour about footy. Have met him a couple years ago when he first came on the scene and have to say, you could not meet a nicer bloke and he is just happy to chat to anybody. Asked him about Viney in the draft and where he would go, he just laughed and said he will be a dee, he (Jack) knew, the club knew and all the players already knew this. Everything else was just media fluff. Asked him about Moloney and he said since mid year he just didnt want to be there. On Riv, Jordie said the whole team adores him, he is one of the most loved and respected guys around the club and most of the players think he will stay. Across the bar there was a dozen or so tiges players (Newman, Deledio, Grigg were there) and I asked if he could please tackle them... for old times sake. He just started laughing and said 'righto, you take them high and I'll get them low.' Finally while laughing at some other random crap we spoke about I asked him when is he going to start kicking goals and hurting teams. He said he sees himself as a full forward and he continually lets Mitch know that he is only keeping his true position warm till he gets back in the goal square. Legend!