Maldonboy38

This is where we do agree RR. In both cases, Neeld and Watters did poorly in the man management area. This surprises me a lot considering how many of the players coached by Malthouse say he is a leader of men who helps create good people, not just good footballers. I can't help but think that however good Mathouse is as a coach who coaches players, he is poor at developing strong assistants who can become quality senior coaches. Buckley and Brad Scott might prove my insights to be wrong, but so far the evidence suggests I may be right and may one day prove it.

Malthouse's record as a coach is impressive, and his autocratic style works well for him. But it is not a developmental model. His task was winning games and he did this consistently. The development of the players and the club was the realm of Eddie, Eade, Richardson etc... One of the outcomes of this style is a real void when the Malthouse kind of leader leaves. Just look at Man United in the EPL now Alex Ferguson has left. Collingwood are very fortunate to have Buckley but I think he is going to be in the same Mould as Malthouse. Neeld and Watters both have the Malthouse style, without the demonstrated winning percentage behind him.

Taggert who was recently delisted, or Addison from the Bulldogs. Both have been in the system, have AFL ready bodies, and there is no orientation or development phase required.

This really annoys me. Watters goes on a radio program with the clear and full agreement of club officials, and while he is there, all the strings are pulled together behind his back to form the rope to then hang the poor bugger!!! Absolute disgrace. And a reminder to Chris Pelchen - you are employed to work with the club UNDER the authority of the senior coach, not as an equal point of reference. I hate the AFL at times like this. I know it is a "fully professional environment" but so are the places most of us work at. If you are going to sack someone, have the guts to look them in the eye and tell them clearly and kindly what those reasons are. The Saints leadership culture = horrible The Saints coaching choices and development = horrible Board-Coach relationships = horrible (think of Blight, Thomas, now Watters) Interesting that another Pies coach is sacked with a horrible winning percentage. Perhaps the best thing the Pies did was to move Malthouse on. But there is good news for us. Brisbane, Essendon and the Saints look all set for a season of [censored] and the spotlight is off the Dees.

Did anyone else on here play in the Bendigo Football League, Maryborough-Castlemaine League, or the Horsham District League? In each of these Leagues there was always one poor sod who should have played AFL: Shane Muir from Kyneton. Unstoppable gun who was considered too short. He is still the best country footballer I played with. Brian Kelly from Maldon. Best mark pound-for-pound I have ever seen. Roger Clinton from Gerang-Kiata. Amazing physique and attack on the footy but a fair dinkum psychopath. Nutcase.

Just responding to a request made above. After the past 7 years, anticipation gilded with hope is always better then bitter and despairing reflection.

I actually admire what Watters is doing a the Saints. The leadership culture at that club has been abysmal for a decade - they would have won a flag or two if they have stopped all the drinking, whoring, texting, and other rubbish that wasn't only tolerated it was promoted. Ross Lyon aimed for the stars on the back of Grant Thomas' recruiting but failed to develop much young talent. He is doing the same now at Freo on the back of Mark Harvey's recruiting. The Saints need kids with talent and character, and Watters is undertaking this task at a very quick rate. Their stars are guns, but aging guns. Therefore, if we can break even in the middle we win the match. Play Gawn in the ruck, and run Fitzy through the ruck off the bench. Jordie to stifle Stevens. Set N Jones, Trengove, Viney, Tyson and Toumpas to make sure disposals, tackles, inside 50's from the 2 midfields are about even. Fit and firing Dawes, Hogan and Clark will be far too much for the Saints defense. McDonald to run all night with Riewoldt Blease and Watts to play wide in the run-and-carry roles With this set up, the odds are in our favour. But I will be very, very nervous. Round 1 has been a nightmare for 8 years!

I might be the odd one out, but I reckon this kid had immense talent. He had sure hands in close, and could think in a pack. It was the MFC that killed him due to a horrible fitness program, and even worse player development culture. Yes, he was skinny, but it cannot be the single reason for not making it at AFL level. Perhaps his mental application was not up to it. o it. But I saw him at training one day at Casey and he was keeping up with the others, running with the others, and didn't seem to have any down side except for his size.

I was at school with Con Gorozidis - he was 2 years ahead of me. You are right, at 15 he was an absolute superstar - nothing he couldn't do. Problem was he didn't get any taller after 16 and was easily pushed around by the growing stature in the 80's. Had every skill in buckets, though.

Sorry, DOF, didn't mean to lure you into my growing expectations. Even though it was to juniors I found Roos very, very good in those clips. I remember a decade or so ago seeing video of Dennis Pagan prematch and I got a similar kind of vibe. Boy I hope I am not setting myself up for more MFC burns again!

Sorry, Dazzledavey36, but I now dislike you. You have officially ruined the preseason for me. I've never met you but you have given me that glimmer of hope for 2014 that I was determined not to allow myself. I was determined not to be burnt again by raising expectations based upon preseason changes. You have now ruined this for me. How could I not have more hope after seeing Roos at work - even if it was at junior level. Great video clips of a great coach with great communication skills who clearly and without compromise demonstrates the run and structure of modern footy. I cannot adequately communicate via a keyboard how impressive I found Roos' clarity and simplicity in those videos. I can see Jones, Trengove, Clark, Frawley, Toumpas all hanging off his every word and growing week by week.

I remember playing in the Maryborough/Castlemaine league in 1982. I was 16 or 17 in my first year of open age footy and I was on the wing in the 2's. We were playing Primrose on the large open spaces of Maryborough City Oval. Being 6 feet tall and about 70kgs I was running near the boundary, right in front of my dad who was an old fashioned, tough uncompromising policeman. A huge thug ran (waddled?!?!) up behind me and gave me the best whack I ever received - right in front of my dad. I still can't believe he didn't jump the fence. I tried to play on but couldn't balance or run straight for about 10 days. To be honest, I am glad the stupid thuggery of 70's and 80's football is gone. I was witness to, and participant in, some dangerous ridiculous stuff. Introduction of the second on field central umpire went a long way to fix country footy. Names like Scully who played for Talbot who was terrifying; most of the Chewton team who were psychotic; and a Maldon player called Docker O'Keefe who was suspended for 10 years for donging a goal umpire from Kangaroo Flat who spat on his neck. To be honest, they weren't the good old days - even if they did feel like it when in the midst of it.

Moved to the country when I was 10, started footy at 11, played 13 seasons until I was 27. I missed a lot of footy between 13 - 15 due to sport and motorbike injuries. Best level was playing in the Bendigo Football League. In my last game I went up in the ruck came down on both feet tearing my hamstring and groin upon landing. I never played again and to this day my hamstring/quad/groin is still the area of weakness. When I was 16 nad started playing open age footy, the full-backs were still kicking drop kicks! And one bloke coud stab pass with such force we asked him to stop because it hurt so much. I still miss it. I love running and swimming but nothing beats the skill and physicality of our great game.

We must keep Byrnes and Jetta as small forward options. Having said that, I don't think Roos used the small forward option in his time at the Swans. Nick Davis was sort of in that role but was more of a lead up, marking type of forward. I am finding it really tough to sort through our list and find 3 who need to be delisted. Magner might struggle but Roos will love his grunt. Nicho has to be in the sights but guess what, Roos will love his grunt. With his head injury problems, maybe Bail won't make it either.

This trade period has been really positive and I feel really good about 2014. But I can't trust the MFC enough just yet to make a full emotional commitment. I will be attending a lot of the preseason training at Casey like I do every year, and I will take the usual interest in all the build up. But I am keeping expectations to a minimum. The last 2 years tore my heart out so my trust quotient is running at an all time low. I am absolutely loving the quiet but strong approach of Bartlett, PJ, Roos and Mahoney. The trade ins have been outstanding. But we haven't trained or seen how Roos' game style impacts our existing players. Because of all this, the only commitment to hype I will make is I reckon we will only suffer one big loss in 2014, and in the games we lose we will be only 20-25 points away. 6-7 wins.

Barrett is making the same mistake so many modern journos make. As soon as he gets some TV exposure he begins to not only report and "journal", but offers his opinion as if people think it is worth something. And even though Neeld's trade approach last year was a failure - it also was NOT scattergun. It was a specific plan to bring really good training examples in and among our very young list. The plan simply didn't work. Scattergun implies no plan. Does Barrett seriously think that Roos and the footy dept. people are trading players in without clear objectives? We are yet to see if the plan works but it is clear what they went after, and they got exactly what they wanted.

Blease, Evans and Toumpas look likely for this kind of role.

I can't see Blease being delisted or traded because we need outside pace to compliment Roos' stoppage based game plan. Dunn can be annoying and I don't see him in our best 22, but it would be a mistake to let him go. He is good back-up for injury. I was a huge Rohan Bail fan but with repeated head injuries and horrible kicking efficiency I would be letting him go. I see Strauss in our starting 22 but he possibly has the best trade value of allthose players on the fringes of the team so if any are traded it could be him. Tappy is also a good trade option.

B: GarlandFrawley Strauss HB: Grimes McDonald Blease C: Watts N Jones Vince HF: Trengove Dawes Toumpas F: Hogan Clark Howe R: Gawn Viney, Tyson I: Fitzpatrick Michie Evans Sub: Barry Roos loves his team to attack from a stoppage at half back so pace is needed. Grimes and Blease have that pace so I have placed them there. The only problem is they are both notorious turnover specialists. I am hoping Roos' training methods and instilled confidence can improve Grimes and Blease disposal. I don't have either of Clisby or Terlich in the 22, and would love to fit Clisby in. The sub is the big one for me. So I have gone for an outside roughie in Barry.

Paul Roos uses the trade and draft to build a team rather than bring in individuals with exceptional skill. Vince is a very good footballer, while Michie and Tyson have shown skill and potential but it looks like they have been chosen to complete a group of midfielders of about 10 players. This will likely form the guts of Roos' game plan. We have a lot of players who can move through the back line and forward line but I reckon we lack two things: A small forward. A line breaking backman (Birchall, Shaw, Grigg) I can't see either of these types available in the PSD, so we might have to wait until 2014 to trade them in. Food for thought though: Small forward: Barry, Jetta, Byrnes, Strauss, Tapscott Line breaking backman: Blease, Evans

Just back from my son's soccer match, straight to Demonland and it is confirmed - we got Bernie Vince. Well done MFC. Vince, Vichie and Tyson - a very good trio to introduce into out list. Wrapped. Edit: that was supposed to read rapt.

If he can stay injury free, I reckon he will be fighting Blease and Barry for a spot on the wing. At this stage I see Barry winning that position, but it will be a close call.

What impresses me about this is that is was pretty much on no-one's radar. No dip-stick journalist was given a leak or an inkling of this trade. Both Michie and Tyson were done qyuietly but effectively. No smiling, puffed up MFC rep holding up a jumper at a photo shoot. I loved Roos as a player - one of the best backmen I have ever seen, who invented the "third man up" role. I hated him as a commentator/special comments man. He came across as wise after then event and smug. But I am loving his leadership through this trade period. I can't remember MFC ever entering the trade period like this before, or achieving so much on the quiet. Loving it.

I didn't know a lot about this kid, but the highlights reel was a bit of a revelation. His evasive skills are Pendelbury-esque, and his hand skills remind me a bit of Simon Black. I am not suggesting he has the qualities of those two great players but he is the type of player we have not seen for a long time. Since Flower and Farmer, who have been great evasive players for MFC? Nathan Brown was very good but could not kick. My October just got a very good, very warm feeling about it. Our starting midfield could look like N Jones, Tyson, Trengove, Vichie and Viney. Add in Vince (possibly), Watts, Toumpas, McKenzie, Barry, Blease, M Jones and Evans. I promised myself I would not emotionally invest until after round 11 and I stand by that comment. However, if we also land Bernie Vince I am going to find it very difficult not to have expectations on 2014.

Roos' trading history appears to be that he doesn't trade to "complete the list". Rather he trades for players he sees playing in the best starting 22- 25 players. Richards, Mattner, Shaw & McGlynn were traded in and played immediately. I reckon he will do the same with us. Vichie will start in the 22. Whether it be Vince and Lyons from crows or Shiel/Buntine from GWS - they will be brought in to play immediately. I am not a fan of the Bugg/Buntine deal because neither of these players have excelled. We don't need better players with pick 2 - we need some great players. If we can land Cross the same applies - he will play. All of this is speculation of course, but our starting 22 in 2014 is going to be a huge surprise to us all.