La Dee-vina Comedia

So, has Jack Watts got brains or not? A number of posters have questioned why the club allowed him to appear on TFS. My question is whether the club had any say in it or not. I suspect Jack's agent, Paul Connors, engineered the appearance and gave Jack instructions to sound unhappy in order to improve whatever offer Jack's been given (or is yet to be given) to stay at the club. Keep in mind, that player's agents are far more influential than either the player or the club when it comes to public appearances, including the timing, the medium and what is actually said. In short, even though I didn't see it I suspect the whole event, including what Jack said, was stage managed by Paul Connors.

I can't believe anyone would be so naive as to place any credence or weight on the views of the Herald Sun. I also can't believe the sub-editors left in the line "The Olsen [where they had lunch] is close to an anti-ageing clinic and the hyperbaric facility whose operators are emobroiled in the Essendon anti-doping investigation." It's not like they were in some country town where it would be unusual to be seen - they were in Chapel Street, Prahran!

I'd like to see Microsoft Word's thesaurus add "sucks" to the synonyms for "omit".

Not sure I trust Craig's judgement of players, either. Didn't he recommend we recruit James Sellar? (Don't get me wrong, I think Sellar has worked as hard as anyone. He just doesn't have the talent).

Well written, WJ.

To climb out of the bottom 4 you need to find four teams to end up below us. I can see two possibilities in St Kilda and GWS. Who else?

I think Nathan Jones probably qualifies...but perhaps he's the only one.

More concerning is the number of times we've been caught. And in a similar vein, interesting how many repeat offenders there have been. Corporate governance is important and we've had a poor history in that regard.

I like this thought. We should get Eade for a few years and then, if he hasn't won us a premiership, we replace him with Paul Roos. That strategy has worked well before. As a matter of interest, does Roos have any current hands on experience other than working in the media? If not, I just wonder whether Williams and Eade are more current with their understanding of the latest in coaching (ie, fitness, gameplan, sports science, player management, etc) than Roos and whether that makes them better candidates.

I'm old enough, but I don't remember. Should I be concerned? Should I see a doctor?

No need to panic. There will be more experienced and good coaches looking for jobs than positions available. While Roos might be the favourite with supporters, Williams, Eade, Laidley, Ratten, Voss, Harvey, etc all have something to offer and should not be considered as "second-best". Which is the best of that lot? I have no idea - that's why we have a selection panel.

Hear, hear. And not just the club. I'd like to see Demonlanders pay him the respect he deserves, too.

I've thought about it but I'm not a great fan of Ratten as Senior Coach. Would be very happy to have him as midfield coach, though. He may have done better than Mick Malthouse at Carlton, but I suspect that says more about Malthouse and his motives for coaching (ie, to spite Collingwood) than it does about Ratten. I think Carlton are likely to go back before they go forward with most of their best players close to or past 30 years of age.

Didn't know Nathan Carroll had a sister. Why is she under rated?

As a matter of interest, who are the selectors?

I agree. But be prepared for an outpouring of anger if a Melbourne-listed player gets a serious injury while playing finals for Casey. To pre-empt that I'll just say that injuries happen in pre-season training, too.

Maybe St Kilda might have the highest number. A foundation club with a worse record than even the MFC has had in the last few years. You'd assume they must have turned over a lot of players in their time.

I agree with you. My point, though, is that I'm not sure anyone knows whether the stuff the players took actually does anything at all.

Robert Flower certainly made watching a poor football team watchable.

Not sure about that. I have no doubt they intended to boost their player development but I'm not yet convinced that anything taken (legal or not) has actually been proven to improve performance or player development.

As is this

Actually, I think there's more hope for us now than throughout the 70s. It's got nothing to do with how we play today - which is as bad as it's ever been - but everything to do with the structural changes made to the AFL (then called VFL) in the mid-1980s. The salary cap, draft and trading rules give no hoper clubs a chance to fix themselves if they have competent administration and coaching. Back in the 70s and early 80s, teams like Carlton, Richmond and Collingwood bought success by plucking the cream out of WA, SA, Tasmania and struggling Victorian clubs.

Greg Hutcheson, perhaps? And I'm not even sure I spelled his surname correctly.