durango

He is from SA originally maybe he wants to be close to his friends and relatives rather than being in a lockdown state on his lonesome.

Buckenara has no imagination and as a result does not see the forest because the trees get in the way, looking at a team in terms of A B and C never take into account player chemistry where a great player makes others look good when they play the team game. Our Midfielder Gawn Jackson Oliver Petracca and Viney play as group which makes the 2nd tier midfielder look good when they get their chance. Teams win Premierships not individuals and as some have said great team will always beat a team of great individuals, this was the mantra for 2021 and beyond because the group now see it works and works well.

If the player wants to leave after seeing the premiership team in action he has not enough drive or faith in his ability to break into the team next or the year after. I like the look of Chandler but when he plays in the 1st he tries too hard and does not look comfortable and as a result does less team things and more survival things.

I think the players now realise that there are 4 midfielders at the centre bounce not 3 as in the past. And as some commentators pointed out that these 4 Gawn Oliver Petracca and Viney are now at the stage where they are in career best form and then along comes Jackson and forces Gawn to become better as a result of Jackson's form. The second string midfielders are at this stage nowhere near these 5 so the club has to get some more 2nd tier midfields to replace Nathan and Aaron.

The best goal was the one the players set for themselves before the start of the season top 4 finish, to make the grand final and win the 13th premiership for the MFC. The goals are individual efforts in games only get the results that you want to achieve during the season but team goals are the best.

We actual played West Coast at the Waverley Park where we played our poorest football and had a dreadful record of wins. By 1/2 time the game was like 2018 we were nowhere WC 10 goals 5 points to MFC 2 goals 8 points we came home well in the last quarter but they won 19 goals 16 points to 15 goals 10 points lost by 30 points.

I think we have gone past recruiting spuds like the Neeld era where we gave away players like Martin and Moloney replacing them with very ordinary players. I remember our trade in 1980's we gave away Wells for 3 spuds.

I think at this stage they have achieved what the club wanted to do retain all the players they wished to keep for next year. The recruiting team has stated they want a young ruckman project player. We have options NGA and Father/Son prospects so unless someone they want falls into the area of our picks like Mac Andrew or someone else, they have achieved a good result with last years pair Laurie and Rosman who are like new recruits with 1 year training.

The coaches Yze Williams Goodwin and Richardson would not approve us chasing a player like Luke Dunstan unless the believe there is an upside also he is only 26 so he is in the MFC age demographics for a mature age player replacing Vandenberg who is 29.

The question is whether this information is from the MFC or his manager trying to get more money for his client from other clubs. I agree that he would need Mark Williams to clean up his disposal but he would probably be a better player in the MFC surrounded by Gawn Jackson Oliver Petracca and Viney, a la Vin Catoggio was at Carlton before coming the MFC.

Just read an article by Buckenara rating players like English as A Grade and Hannan as B Grade that is one of the reasons they are premiers. Oh I forgot they we thumped by a small margin like 74 points after leading by 19 points. I guess these Jouno's must drink their own bath water because they were so smart. Jack Dyer had a grading like Great, Good Ordinary and Ordinary I think he would have rated these 2 as ordinary even when the Bulldogs were 19 points in front 5 goals were kicked by Treloar 2 goals later he kick another and Bontempelli 3 goals where was Hannan and English who most experts have said is not upto Jackson's standard.

I think that Salem would have joined him his game was far superior to Bailey Dale.

Norm Smith had Jim Cardwell as a recruiter and Checker Hughes as his mentor and Chairman of Selectors unfortunatley I cannot remember who were the coaches of the Reserves or U19 at the time but I remember watching the Reserves play before the main game. Great coaches surround themselves with good assistants and good recruiters like great CEO's in industry because at the end of the day the head coach in the modern game needs more good/great assistants when the team is in trouble.

All the people who made the premiership possible like Roos PJ Jones Jetta Cross Vince Lewis Bartlett Mahoney many past assistant Coaches and Goodwin Burgess Yze Williams Stafford Richarson as well as the board and the CEO Pert. Some may have left the club but without their input and effort we would never have reached the pinnacle of success in the AFL not only get to Grand Final but winning the Premiership.

I would think that Jones Jetta and Van Den Berg were on good money so there must be at lest $750,000 they could use.

My son-in-law and family are North Melbourne tragics and when we recruited Ben Brown he said to me 'he is glad because Ben is useless and they need someone better'. I spoke to him after the Grand Final and he changed is mind about Ben, supporters either see players thru rose colour glass or are critical when they don't live upto expectations in a year due to injury or loss of form. Some supporters and coaches did the same with Tom McDonald, Charlie Spargo and Alex Neal-Bullen but they had the last laugh because they will be able to say they have a premiership medal.

If you spent time in the change rooms when a team is getting beaten and beaten badly each week the players lose faith in their ability and some even question whether it is worth playing. I remember one year Ray Biffen was injured and was asked when he would return and his answer was 'if we win this week I will be playing next week because we are a chance to make the finals otherwise not agian this year'. That is why players with injuries in the later part of the year go for early operations when a team has no hope of playing in the finals.

Talk is cheap only actions gives results and Melbourne were playing good football the Essendon supporters were also doing what supporters do when they lose blame the umpires and are jealous of the opposition clubs.

Maybe Bailey has some friends at the MFC or he has a desire to join the red and the blue.

I guess dad must have got into his ear about joining a great club with still a huge upside.

That maybe so but he is probably past his use by date at 34 maybe a good fit for Geelong replacing Rohan or Luke? Under the finals pressure with 255 games he scored 1 goal 2 behinds against Geelong and 1 behind against the Bulldogs not exactly that much better than Spargo or Neal-Bullen or Pickett. We already have Jake Melksham for that role as well. The players from outside the club we bring into the squad must have at least 5 years left in his career best form so they have to be in the 25-28 age range.

The advantage Geelong has over the rest of the competition is they play at least 9 games at Kardinia Park so you pencil in 9 wins this is why they have had great runs over the years. Then they only have to win 3 other games to make the finals.

I once rang 3AW before a match between Richmond and Melbourne spoke to Rex Hunt saying every team at the start of a year over rates their list and aim to win premierships and Caroline Wilson poo me for suggesting such a thing. I have been in the MFC dressing room before game between the late 1960's and 1986 and found that optimism is always there between the training staff and players. In 1981 when we won 1 match by a point the players were told by Barassi at the start of the season he believed they would go very well that season even though he told the Journalists that he had a 5 year plan. What he did not know that during the season injuries would wipe out more than 1/2 of the playing list. But 2021 was a different animal and Brown and Co now have the reward and what ever was said in the past was an opinion peice from a paid journalist who like sensationalism.

At this rate he will be over 2 metres shortly.

The fact is the best 22 in 2021 was the premiership team and 10-12 extra for depth but you have to improve your list by going out and getting players that are not depth players but part of best 22 players each year. There are 2 methods of doing that by improvement in the 10-12 extra depth players or going to get players in the draft. This team has 7 player who were 21 and under as at the Grand Final so these players need to be better next year because the premiers become the hunted. A famous athlete Carl Lewis once said 'when you are number 1 you have to train like you are number 2', so this team cannot rest on their laurels and expect the competition to allow them to do it again without a fight. Carlton is an example of the scattergun approach to recruiting, were they recruit anyone they can without development of their skills hoping they will bolster the team.