Pennant St Dee

Half your luck old Dee I had to take a year off from swimming after a passenger of a vehicle decided to exit the car by flinging open the passenger door into the bicycle lane without looking. I should be trying to get back into the pool now but thanks to another bicycle incident I am sitting at home with a fractured arm

Was absolutely shocked when I heard it on the radio this morning. Really sad news, he was an absolute gent and the game has lost a man of high integrity Thoughts and prayers are with Dean's family RIP Bails

but to be honest I think he only occasionally spent the odd weekend on the farm, more of a western suburbs boy was Cale

Didn't work for Cale Morton who originally hails from that neck of the woods

That is just BS WYL, one incident my arse. The incidents had little to do with it. He dropped off dramatically at senior level after being outstanding at underage level, he did not train well in his last years at West Perth and had to be pulled in at Meth Coast very early days as his attitude had not improved. A few harsh words were exchanged and from there he knuckled down and he registered what he needed to do and talent alone was not going to get him a gig alone

Lucas Cook was a shocking pick in fact probably one of our worst but every club passed Jack Darling over, even Meth Coast who did not take him until their third pick. Those who think we are the only club who make bad picks are fools, it is not an easy exercise and I still say the way we develop these kids and our culture has a lot to do with it. As the master said we were on a bit of an upward rise under Bailey but decisions to off load players who provided leadership around the club and put so much pressure on the younger guys well before they were ready was a disaster from the end of 2010 to now

It's very much like the chicken and the egg, bad recruiting vs development, I think we have recruited badly with a number of players namely the project players and not recruited for the here and now with some of our selections. 2010 we had a good balance with Scully and Trengove playing with Junior, a fit Jamar, Green, Jones and Maloney's big body. Whilst we were mid table I think we were somewhat on the right track. To me the way we drafted in 2009 was the way to draft Scully, Trengove & Tappscott were ready to go and Gysberts was a project player who the club obviously felt had something to work with. Think back to the side we had in 2006 and how the young players of Bate, Dunn, Bartram and Jones fitted in because they were surrounded by older players who took a lot of pressure of them. The club needs to learn from the Gysberts, Cook & Morton picks ON how to screen and target players with a greater desire and workrate. 2008 was a bad draft, I have no problem with the club taking Watts at number 1, but taking Blease & Strauss with our next two picks left us with 3 project players and nobody ready to step straight in. That type of drafting is going to leave holes which on our list were amplified by bad drafting towards the end of Dannihers reign and the premature moving on of Junior, Miller and some other senior players left a massive dearth we are still struggling to recover from. We could not have timed things any worse with the last 3 drafts being severely compromised with the two new clubs coming in, but IAH we have not helped ourselves. I hope we learn and learn quickly about picking the right players, it is not easy and there are always surprises and luck plays a big part but targeting long term prospects and skinny kids to much is fraught with danger. The Hawks are renowned for their kicking skills but never underestimate the targeting they did under Brereton & Dunstalls influence of targeting hard nose honest footballers, they overlooked Judd because of concerns with his shoulders but Hodge was vital and his influence is massive in the culture of the club. It would appear on face value Roos has started to address this with our trading & drafting last year, Tyson, Michie, Cross & Vince ready to go and Salem/JKH can be allowed to develop at VFL and come in when they are ready. It is what Roos did but time will tell. There is a kid I know being looked at by several clubs who will be in this years draft and has all the right attributes on face value, size, skill and some good athletic ability. He has been a highly regarded player for a number of years and should be in our state 18's this year. This is the kids biggest year in terms of his footy future but he is not as fit as he should be and spent a large part of the off season lazing around. To me that is a large warning sign, the kid thinks it will just happen for him and does not have the right attitude as opposed to another potential draftee who has recognised deficiencies in his own game and has started working with a sprint coach to increase his speed and acceleration. The second kid is a very long shot to be drafted or even rookied but the extra time he is doing in the gym and with the sprint coach just to get the best out of himself is something which has a lot of upside and potential in the right environment. The likes of Lyon, Roos and Malthouse can teach any player with adequate skill but the right desire to fit into their game structure and it is something the MFC needs to consider strongly in their recruitment and drafting process as opposed to trying to draft potential project players who have had it easy at junior level but lack the hunger and desire to really succeed. I am sure the new Footy department are well aware of this and have started to address this and whilst we will go through some more ups and downs we will see different types of players being targeted.

Since you are such a hard man mjt I would have thought you would have confronted him face to face on this matter rather than typing a post about it to demonland. You amaze me does your mum and dad know you figured out their password on their computer

Stuie the reason people get annoyed with you is when you are pulled on you try and back pedal. http://www.jump-in.com.au/show/aflfootyshow/videos/3301388481001/ Around 1.35 in Barrett clearly says we have received information that Jesse Hogan has a slight stress fracture to the back

SEN did not just report that as you said I heard the entire interview and they discussed a number of things about the Dees including Hogan having a back injury, which Denham had no information on. They also discussed free agency and the bigger clubs doing well out of it, KB said Melbourne did okay in picking up players they managed to lure Clark they done well there. Denham made comment about the large amount he was being paid and he believed Melbourne were not reporting how serious the injuries that Dawes and Clark were carrying. He said Dawes he thinks has a degenerative knee while Melbourne are saying Clark has hamstring problems but he thinks his foot is not right. So if you were flogged on the website for what you posted last year it's probably more to do with the way you portrayed it. SEN just reported is a lot different to , Greg Denham just said. KB said nothing about the injuries at all and it was fairly clear to me that Denham was rehashing stuff he had read while trolling through demonland

You could be right DC, just think it's one of those a defender can get away with and if I was in Smedts shoes I would have done the same and made Toumpas earn it and think twice next time

The head is sacrosanct for players who put their head over the ball. A player is still allowed to spoil. If it was a bump - end of story

Seriously I thought on the night he would get away with it, the ball was there as he hit Toumpas, when Cloke hit Tyson Edwards the ball was still on it's way to him. The Smedts & Toumpas incident was high contact and worthy of a free, nothing more IMO

IMO that wouldn't warrant being able to comment on Trenners 13 disposals being a worry if you missed half a game. To many Trenners bashers on here, had you watched all 4 quarters and said something about his performance that would have had more weight

The fixtures icon with the results at the top. Watch replay is on the bottom of the icon click on that and it comes up

so did you watch the game or just make your comment after reviewing the stats

Still a few weeks away and this weeks game against the mayblooms will tell us a fair bit more about the level of fitness of Dawes/Viney and whether JKH is in serious contention for Round 1. I will be interested to see if Hawthorn cut us up like they have the other sides they have played in the NAB cup. They are the bench mark and have an air of invincibility coming into the season I have not seen since Cats 08 & Pies 11. Not set in stone but round 1 with almost lock ins bolded B: Georgiou - Frawley - Dunn HB: Grimes - McDonald - Terlich C: Watts - N Jones - Trengove HF: Michie - Dawes - Toumpas/Bail F: Howe - Fitzy - Hogan FOLL: Spencer - Tyson - Vince I/C: McKenzie - Cross - JKH/Blease Sub:Toumpas/Bail Emerg: Viney?????- Kent- Pedersen- Clisby If Viney is up to match fitness he comes in for Bail or Toumpas, I think Bail may get a game to nullify Dylan Roberton who Saints utilised a lot last season as an outlet out of defence. Mcdonald goes to Reiwoldt, If Fisher plays we need to make him accountable and play through his man when opportunity arises, Mckenzie plays to get the run with role on Armytage. One tall and two medium sized emergencies for any late changes and Viney is just in there in case he has been nursed through the preseason with a view of always being ready for Round 1. The best thing about trying to pick this side was it was a lot more difficult then it was last season with a few mids to consider

Very important point with the Cats and other good sides is the trust, many times last night and over the years they always have one team mate waiting out the back or on a wing free, even on occasions when they are a man short at the contest. They have the faith in their team mates to win the ball and they don't need to look up and lose a second, once they have the ball they hit the space because they trust a team mate will be there and he usually is. They also to a man have great confidence in their ability to carry a tackle and still feed the ball off to a team mate, so they invite the opportunity to draw a man and hot up a team mate who is left free. As you have said they have been together a long time and those who come in know how to play to the structure. It will take time to get to this level

Not totally happy with the game because we still had a lot of turnovers, but plenty of positives from tonights game. Tyson - OMG he has fantastic hands and is going to be a very good clearance player Cross - professionalism and effort personified, great asset for the younger players to learn from Vince - love him so far and looks like he has a point to prove Watts - got better as the game went on, class disposal and seen him putting in some big efforts tonight to get into space Tom Mac - good job for most of the game on Hawkins Hogan - believe the hype, has attitude and all the right assets, continually presents Nicho - not a bad performance, good cover as a run with player Trenners - got better as the night went on, smart footballer Dunn - always been a fan and never liked the shyte he cops on this site but his kicking will be vital to Roos wanting to move ball quickly from the backline Spencer - good solid effort, will struggle against the really good ruck divisions of the AFL but you know what you're going to get. Toumpas - long way to go but is a smart footballer Fitzy - this kid is going to be the surprise packet up front, shows a lot of desire and is starting to develop some smarts and confidence in his speed and ability to take defenders on Georgiou - is just solid no nonsense player who will be handy and provide some great depth for us Terlich - as honest as the day is long but needs to know his limits, once this sinks in will be very solid for us and finally Michie I liked what I saw in WAFL last year and nothing I have seen in the first two games has done anything to change that. Not a top 8 side for me but vast improvement is clear if we continue like this

I remember 2011 an understrength North travelled to Perth to take on Meth Coast, Cam Pedersen rucked all day bravely against Cox & Natanui, it was only very late in the 4th quarter that Meth Coast finally shrugged them off and held on to win. They won a couple over the next few weeks in arm wrestles and they gained momentum and confidence as the season went on. Meth Coast ended up finishing top 4 after winning the spoon the previous year. I'll take 4 points and a good performance and something to build on, we don't have the older stars Meth Coast had in 2011 but a win would get us off in the right direction

Pretty much my exact thoughts on Sylvia

I don't like the way Collingwood try and hold that over us, they get Anzac Day and a lot of prime time and we allowed that to happen many years ago when we were a good side and they weren't exactly flash. I'm referring to Friday Night footy not Anzac day here. That all comes down to the way both clubs were run off the field I don't want to rely on QB to keep us afloat and I would rather see our board making smart long term moves when we have a decent side again which people want to watch. We will never be a strong club if we rely on QB, next time Collingwood try and throw it in our faces call their bluff, pretty sure Richmond or the Blues would not mind another day where they are focus of attention

Don't like this idea at all Friday night is a huge financial benefit not only in gate takings but sponsorship & corporates. It's a bit like the chicken and the egg. If the Pies are playing every Friday night they will have Prime time exposure every week, therefore being very attractive sponsor wise. Same in regards to the corporates attending Friday nights and merchandise sales. Still believe the Friday night games should be distributed amongst all the sides, fair enough the better performing sides should get more of them but every side deserves a shot at it. I also have a bee in my bonnet with the Pies & Bombers having exclusive rights to Anzac Day at the G. There are other clubs who would get huge crowds to the G for that day.

Josh DELUCA is a kid I will be keen to see in WAFL and how he progresses. Caught my eye a little bit last year as a younger colts player and found plenty of the ball in the midfield. Subiaco will have an improved team in the WAFL and if DELUCA gets regular game time in the seniors will be interesting to see how he goes.

If Clem Smith does not sort himself out and get his attitude right he will slip down the pecking order in a similar fashion to Dayle Garlett. The kid has immense talent and potential but thinks it's just going to happen for him.