cowboy_from_hell

Good evening all. This has been a thought of mine for a few years now and I would love to hear your thoughts. I believe the minimum age of draftees should be raised to at least 20 years old. The constant pressure put on new draftees to raise a club from the depths of the ladder is ridiculous and the people who suffer the most are us the fans. First we receive a dismal year on the field for two or three years that can test the patience of any supporter and then we are confined to waiting for the development years to be over so we can see some success.I'm not just talking about Melbourne I'm talking about every team and fan. Whilst there have been plenty of 18 year olds who have had a fair impact on a team in their first year they are even more who need time to develop their bodies and sometimes minds to become an afl player. The positives of raising the age are for club,player and fan. The club: Imagine being able to know exactly what type of playing you are drafting in terms of effort,playing position,skill and off field behaviour.Coaches can plan the year ahead with confidence of what their new draftees role will be in the club. In terms of the art of drafting kids whilst it is never going to be made fool proof drafting players would be made a lot easier. How many times have we all heard about tambling being drafted before buddy and Judd not being number 1.Also how much does it kill a fan when their 1st draft pick is destroyed by injuries and never gets going and is finally delisted Mitch Thorpe comes to mind. At 20 years old every would have know how good judd was and that his shoulders would hold up. The key position draftees are the biggest problem. How can anyone possibly know if a kid at 18 who is 195cm is going to fill out and be a man made mountain and how their body will hold up against men? I know at age 20 they are not finished getting bigger but its two years on you might have a bit more knowledge. The player: every one would love being drafted at 18 no doubt. The chance to live your dream at such a young age would be unbelievable. But the average life span of a player in the AFL is about 4 years. So for most the dream is gone before it starts. At a older age players would be more comfortable in their first working environment and more confident to play footy at the highest level. Whilst young they would still be men amongst men. When drafted players have usually finished high school. Their long term plans for employment or education after football are the last thought on most players minds. At 20 a future draftee would have to have at least be working or at university to support themselves and I can speak for myself when I say once I started working at 18 I matured a which can only help out the players in and out of football. The fan: Pretty simple.At the mighty dee's we know what is possible with this list. With some luck and natural progression and hard work we could be top 4 (Touch wood) in a few years. The pain we have gone through in the last 5 years could have been reduced to maybe 2-3 if draftee's were older. Jack Watts has taken time to mature and still is but he is a certain to be in are best 22 every week because he deserves to be. But at age 20 many of the draftees could easily play round 1 as they are ready to go. I am a big fan of NFL and new draftees can have an immediate impact. This takes away those painful years of seeing players play for the sake of development and not because they are good enough to get their spot in the side. Teams can turn their fortune around in a couple of years and not 5. How many rebuilding phases have the tigers gone through with no success? It will kill me if our list doesn't deliver and then we rebuild again and again and again. I know its long but this is my thinking. Cheers.

I forgot about the chewy. They were the days!

I just watched this.It's a pretty good trailer. This is a pretty good card.

Mat hughes is a legend which is obvious but I agree he should retire. I also about Jones. For some reason I can't stand him and would love to see him get smashed. I just cant see anyone doing it. There are a lot of fighters at LHW what I mean by that is blokes who just love to hit and get hit like rampage,Shogun and griffin but jones is more of an athlete like Anderson silva and i can see more and more of these athletic fighters dominating the ufc. I think most people love to watch to fighters though go at it like bonnar vs griffin and rampage vs shogun and so on.

I like that idea. My kids have been fully brainwashed and love the dee's but it is hard for them to get to know players names and numbers because the game is so fast and any parent will tell you that a child's concentration span is minimal. The cards could help them to get to know players names and it's one more bow to my arsenal of brainwashing equipment.

it also takes a few wins for a team and individuals to become mentally tough. You can't just wake up and start being mentally tough. We need to start competing against quality opposition and the mental toughness and confidence will come in time. Chris judd says that confidence comes from remembering past success and I believe him.

I like the fact that Neeld is finding coaches who aspire to be a head coach in the future. This means they will bust their nut to improve so the can put their hand up for a top job someday which can only be a good thing for us right now. Don't be suprised to see Rawlings and brown applying for top jobs around the league in a couple of years.

if two ovals are available the second option is better.

cowboy from hell has some really good insight towards the game and his posts are very deep thinking and thoughtful. Seems to be really in touch with the modern game and i've meet him before and he is a pretty good looking bloke and has a bright future at demonland.

If we do find the success we are after the OP should get used to seeing newly appointed opposition coaches coming into our rooms as Neeld is finding coaches who want to have a head coaching job in the future. It's A non issue.

If the tigers dont start off too well next year the drums will start beating for M&M. Hardwick has one year left on his contract and Mick said he still feels like a tiger at heart.

I'm sorry for enjoying the colliwobbles. They are a great team but I still like seeing them lose. I have copped their crap all year and have had many a run in with some of their "Lovely" supporters over the years at the G. I couldn't see the filth keeping everything under wraps if they won so they can cry me a river!

I know this year hasn't been the greatest for all of us. But lets sum up the end of the year. Head coach who can scare the crap out of players and attempt to harden them up: CHECK Head coach surrounded by the best available assistants: CHECK Administration being aggressive in recruiting coaches and spending some dollars into the FD: CHECK No more hearing about "you know who" and if he is signing or leaving: CHECK Max Gawn showing that tall blokes can dance: CHECK AND THE PIES WOBBLE : CHECK CHECK CHECK!

i'd rather have lost by 186 to the premiers go cats!

I tend to agree. I watched the 2000 qualifying against carlton a couple of days ago and when brad green started kicking goals Mckay was sent to him and tried to roughen up the young brad green. First player to come in and let Mckay know that it isn't gonna happen was neitz. I think he should sign up but not as captain and just be the player we all know and love and not be the awkawrd smiling captain (On the couch interview) that we saw this year.

I hope bails ends up somewhere but I do like hearing his thoughts in the media aswell. But Sportsnewsfirst reporting it means nothing. Seriously I'm suprised they haven't reported rumours that I'm growing a third [censored] and that mark jamar has been called back to the homeland to play for Russia against the wallabies.

I am as pumped as beamers biceps and as positive as a chinese swimmers drug test. I don't know if craig will be any good in the job but at least the MFC are being aggressive in the off season. Nearly all the boxes have been ticked THERE ARE NO EXCUSES for the playing group anymore. I was already signed up so there isn't anything to do but wait for 2012!

I like matty. He isn't perfect but that's what i like about him. I liked the B&F interview with beamer where they kept his first take in there I thought that was gold. But hell it could be worse. This could be our man if you want Golly. http://youtu.be/gitT-GN2Y2I

agree. i'm happy with jade.

they rang me last night just after i put my 18 month old son to bed my phone was in my pocket so it woke my son up. I saw that I didn't know the number so answered with "This better be F____N important". They said they would call me later.

I met jack at the G before the hawks game this year. this adds nothing to the conversation I know.

I Am happy about the cash coming but I would love for us to stand on our own two feet one day without the empire having to help us out all the time. I am no business man thats for sure but we need that onfield success to see some big exposure games and larger memberships. With our list and the cash coming in from the empire I could see us maybe turning into a powerhouse but only with that on field success.

Also can I add a +1 to come down aswell?

Happy days I made the cut! Now to dust off my footy cobwebs. It may take a while.

Maybe its too simple a thought from me as I have many simple thoughts but I think it's hard to judge a forwards year when our forward structure was woeful and our delivery into our forward line was pretty ordinary. It was only last year that everyone was raving about how good a year he had so I would think a two year contract is well earned by Green. I do think that he should not be captain. I've always believed that forwards should not be captaining the side much like a bowler usually doesn't captain a test team. You can't stand up as a captain and have a so called "captain's knock" in footy when you have minimal forward 50 entries.