nutbean

I heard two minutes of Patrick Smith in the car. The two things he said was that MFC only worked a system that the AFL themselves put in place. The other thing he said was in response to a caller and he said if the AFL went the MFC they cannot stop there and must then do the same to other clubs.

I hear you but I am of the exact opposite opinion. The AFL are still saying nothing - it is the media beating the drums. Don't give it more oxygen. There is plenty of time to defend the club IF the AFL come out and start making unsavoury noises. I am still of the firm opinion that there are two factors that will make this a non event - firstly, tanking is purely subjective (unless there is something in writing or someone who was privvy to the strategy willing to say " we threw" games) for tanking to be proven there needs to evidence that we actually threw games - such a fine line between list management and tanking. Secondly, if the AFL wants to take us down then they are obIiged to go at least 4 other clubs which I am sure they are reticent to do.I am happy with the "nothing to see here - lets move on" approach.

And say what ? I would not be as bold to suggest that a "strategy" was not discussed at the highest level and even with Bailey. But I cannot believe that Bailey would have told players not to win or try. Unless players heard something of that nature from the coaching staff then what they have to say is as interesting as what Brock said - " geez no one said tanking but some of the positional moves were funny". Yet more opinions with no foundation. (I repeat - I would not dismiss that a strategy on how to get top picks into the club was discussed at the higher levels - just not with the players)

fresh evidence from unnamed sources - Caro sounds like half the posters on demonland.

No - they have so many good footballers flicking the ball around it wasnt hard for Buckley to look in a couple of games.

I apologise - it was overstepping the mark. I rarely fume but have this period but perception and reality have been bent all out of shape. Let me rephrase - We threw out bathwater that promised a luxurious, satisfying bubble bath but in the end didnt deliver any bubbles at all ?

I dont know anyone on the inside, have no special, secret information and the MFC "deep throat" did not whisper in my ear. Here is my guess (yes - a guess) Prior to the supposed sacking of CS he was sticking his nose into FD issues - and the board was not happy with this aspect of his management. I can't see how they could be anything but happy with his commercial efforts ( attracting ANY sponsors to the club with our current appeal is amazing in itself, debt reduction etc etc). At 186 elements wanted to sack both DB and CS but calmer heads said you cant heave ho both. I "guess" that CS was told he can stay but limit his influence to admin and stay the hell away from footy - he has done that - everyone happy - nothing to see here - everyone move on. Just a guess.

I reckon we just threw out the bath water and there were turds floating in it.

If I threatened to burn my membership every time we made a mistake there would be constant inferno's raging.

Couldnt have put it better myself.

I wish people would stop quoting Morton as pick 4 and Gysberts as a pick 11. I have no problem in referencing them as our mistakes but for anyone to say "we got rid of a pick 4 for pick 88 and we got shafted" refuses to acknowledge that the number that players are drafted at is just a reflection of the thinking of the recruiting staff at the time of the drafting and like good or bad investments, the real value of a player constantly changes as the players form and health fluctuates. Bate was worth a 2nd round pick last year at trading time last year and zero now. A few have mentioned getting rid of Jnr and others but taking in Rodan and Byrnes. The older players we let go, junior included, had no X factor at all. Rodan may turn out to be a big bust, but we got him for nothing (pick 88) and if fit and healthy can bring something to the table that we are missing - albeit for possibly only a season or two. The two are nothing more than speculative picks but they are speculative picks with some purpose. Anyone who says that we were shafted on the Morton deal needs to look at what he has produced over his career.If he were to play the sort of football he has played to date in the TAC now he would not get drafted at all - that is his current worth. That he was originally a pick 4 is ancient history.

I think we are getting caught up in the mystique of the number 11 pick. Ricky Petterd has had the same amount of injuries and probably had the same of amount of games where we left thinking "wow" - but because he was not pick 11 there will be about 10 seconds of hand wringing when he is chopped. Even if he succeeds at North and the penny drops the mistake was not trading him - the mistake was taking him at pick 11

yup - they are worth a punt at little cost as opposed to a punt and releasing a worthwhile pick.

Obviously Neeld did not want Gyberts, Martin and Morton at the club - all contracted. If you delist contracted players they have to get paid out - if you trade them and dont have to contribute to the contractual amount you are a winner right there. The pick is inconsequential ( as the other clubs know) for players with little value.

seconded

Hallelujah ! someone sees the light

I have said this on previous posts - people arent accepting they are failures ( thats their rightful opinion). We should get more for Morton because he was a pick 4 - what we have done is delisted him and freed up a little bit of salary cap. People dont get that he may have been pick 4 but his value now is zip. That hurts but doesnt remove the reality that Morton is worth zip.

I bought Adelaide Steamship shares ( which were blue chip) in the 1980's - now they are no longer in existance. Why don't people understand that what we drafted players at originally has no bearing on their current value when it comes to trading. Absolutely we have stuffed up picks (and those responsible are now gone and forgotten), absolutely we have failed to develop players but just because a player is drafted at no 4 like Morton was, I fail to see why this implies that we have to bang our heads against a wall and continually try (and fail) to develop him. Cut your losses and move on.

Not sure if that infers that nothing has changed or our current actions are a result of 2012. Attitudes and desires cannot be gauged from outside so I fully expected a fairly softly softly approach prior to last season in regards to chasing players and delisting or trading existing players - Neeld has now had a year to see who fits his criteria and who doesnt. Whilst I am not expecting finals next year I certainly am expecting a different look feel and most importantly intent compared to this season

I don't know if Mark Neeld's approach will be a success or failure but he is certainly sending a strong message for us the supporters, the football public but most importantly, the players on the list. Train hard and train my way. Play hard and play my way. If you chose otherwise to either of these you will be at Casey this season (note the dropping of Green, Davey, Moloney, Sylvia, Blease, Morton,etc and the none playing of Gysberts) and at seasons end you will be gone. Will this approach be successful ? I dont know - but we cannot keep on doing what we were doing pre Neeld - half arsed, close enough good enough, I'm an AFL footballer so thats enough for me type performances and seasons. This is the most focused and directional I have seen this club in my lifetime and although internally I am shuddering at some of the trades I absolutely hear the Neeld message screaming in my ears. I for one say - Hurrah !!

I have no idea if Gys will be a star or not down the track. However, today and now we have not traded a pick 12 player for a VFL player. What we have traded is one VFL player for another VFL player. This notion of draft number = player value is a nonsense. We have seen a plethora of footballers taken late in the draft and perform brilliantly - conversely we have seen lots of early picks fail to deliver. This mythical draft pick number ceases to be relevant the minute after your name is called out. It is then up to the player ( with assistance from the coaches and resources) as to what his real value will be.

I put the giant disclaimer in that I dont have insight and am purely postulating ( I only posted this so I get to say the word postulate). Its kind of like the theory - you look outside - you see really dark clouds - someone comes inside covered in water - you would draw the assumption its been raining. I think we have all seen that the kid has talent. You would assume that people within the club have alerted our coaching staff to the talent the kid has displayed, albeit infrequently. Neeld and Co seem determined to get rid of him. I have to draw the conclusion that there is something that Neeld doesnt like about the kid so all the talk I hear about attitude and committment and preparedness to do the hard yards makes sense to me. We have bemoaned for seasons our lack of hardness, our lack of players prepared to bleed red and blue and half hearted efforts by our players but when the coach identifies what I can only assume is one of these types of players and wants to move we cry foul. The issue is not the return we will get for him because again I assume that if Neeld thought he could be a work in progress he would keep him - the issue is we are going to play hard ball and keep a player who Neeld doesnt think is up to it. Gys could turn around and bite us later but if we paid for a diamond and got a lump of coal, dont hang onto the coal purely because no one will pay diamond prices for it - at the end of the day - coal on a ring on your finger looks like crap

It may say " here is another in a long line of footballers from many different clubs under many different coaches that had god given talent but possibly werent prepared to work hard enough to turn talent into constant high level performance". Once again - let us blame coaches for the footallers failing to deliver on promise.

if you would have said hollowed out white loaf with peanut butter and bacon I think I might have believed you.

Twas him ! he went alright for Adelaide.