Pennant St Dee

Looking forward to seeing all 22 picked week in week out playing their guts out looking over their shoulders knowing others are waiting to take their spots and have the form to step in.

2011 Top 4 - Hawks for me that PF defeat will burn inside as will the Pies GF performance so I expect them to also bounce back, Cats I think will miss Ottens & Ling but still have a lot of class. Darren Glass really hobbled into the last few weeks as did Kerr and don't expect Lynch, Embley & Nicoski to have years like last year again they will be the Top 4 slider but home ground advantage and a fit Cox will see them probably stay in the 8 2011 5-8 Blues - Top 4 if Juddy can stay fit and his shoulder is right, Sydney who knows good at the SCG and just keep proving everybody wrong, Bombers will be up there if Hurley can get through unscathed but wont get early wins like last year when they were much fitter than everyone else while I expect Saints to be either falling in or knocking on the door of the 8 not sure about Scott Watters he did well with Subiaco in WAFL but was handed a Premiership team on a plate by Peter German. 2011 9-17 North will be same as ever floating around the 8 and depending on the likes of Zieball, Cunnington and Bastinac coming on could be anywhere from 7th to 14th, we will be fitter and harder to beat so that and the natural progression of our younger players should see us pushing for the 8 along with Richmond. Freo were cruelled by injuries last season but Lyon still has a lot of work today yes he is a good coach and IMO the best game day coach going around but bottom half of the 8 at best. Adelaide should improve I do like some of their kids although I think the 8 is beyond them. I expect the same from the Doggies as this year with their stars being good at times but not every week and Ports improving with some youthful enthusiasm and Brissy for me were not belted last year and we all know how damaging anyside can be if Browny is fit and firing, if they stay fit and their impressive kids continue to develop I expect them to hit a purple patch at some stage but lack consistency. Suns kids all face the 2nd year pressure and GWS will be awful, every year pundits say they cant see much change in the Top 8 but we are always surprised b teams improving so going out on a limb early I will have my 8 as 1. Hawks 2. Pies 3. Blues 4. Cats 5.Bombers 6.Eagles 7.Freo 8.Demons ambitious I know but having faith and we will be contesting with Roos, Tiges & Swans

Macca thank you so much for post #38 & #40, this day was my first great memory as a Dees supporter and took me back to the joy as a 15 year old I had in ralising for the first time that my Team would be playing finals. Living in Perth at the time I still remember listening to the game on the radio bting my Nails as we held on and they crossed every time to the Cats and Hawks game at Geelong. Making the GF in 1988 & 2000 provided me with great joy but this was I would love to relive that Saturday afternoon again listening to that game again, my da like everyone else in the country took the Dees up as his 2nd team that week and through the finals and I still recall him yelling Yes when they confirmed the Cats had been beaten. Happy Memories, I hope to share teh same joy with my boys when we take off the big prize

1987 for me it ended years of schoolyard ridicule for following a bottom side, cried my eyes out when my fellow countryman ran over the mark and Bucky kicked that Goal, but Finals disapointment as a Dees fan was all new that year. Still think we would have struggled the following week with the injuries we would have had. 1998 was another great year it was great to see our stars all fit and playing and Jeff White was at the top of his game. 2000 proved to be a false dawn but I did enjoy the second half of that season. The years from 2004 to 2006 were the most dissapointing that was our window but Danners never knew how to build a defence.

Only in order from my memory as a kid when I started following and when they came into the side Flower - Pure Class Grinter - Pure Hardness Wight - Brave and a Freak Viney - Won it where it mattered at clearances and stoppages Lyon - Born Leader, Great footballer with booming kick What could have been with a stronger back Stynesy - Heart bigger than Phar Laps IMO stands along with the Red Fox and Barrass as legends of this club Stinger - What could have been when he was fit showed class, sadly body let him down Schwarter - Crippled by injuries but at his best he was almost unstoppable Neitzy - AA at CHB & FF, gave everything for the club and made defenders know he was there Woey - Did everything he could to get the best out of himself, to think we let him go and kept Yze and Jonno Chris Connelly was my favourite for a time in the 80's but like others on this list was crippled by injuries. Trevgove is my current favourite and shows great leadership for a kid his age, I see another Woey in him with a bit more talent.

Injury, Please elaborate!

The article was a great insight, 12 months ago we thought we were on the up because we had a talented young list and things had looked promising at the end of 2010. What Neeld is instilling is hard work is what is required to get this list to become a regular contender. Don't underestimate what a difference these small changes will make, we will no longer be pushed around and we will become a team that is very hard to beat. We will also see reputations count for nothing and a team who leaves nothing out on the ground. This paragraph caught my eye as to what to expect under Neeld and where we are headed. But then the conversation turns to two other potential recruits. One has superior endurance and skill, but the other is harder and tougher. Neeld interrupts. His verdict offers the clearest insight yet into where he wants to take this club. "Eighty thousand people, Queen's Birthday, Collingwood, Dane Swan belting the s--- out of us, who are you backing when the heat is on in the middle of the ground?" he demands. The answers are fudgy so Neeld interrupts again: "I'm going with the grunt." He has his eyes on the big picture and what is required, I am optimistic that we will see a side similar to what we had under Northey. I don't expect us to be contenders next season, I expect us to push for the 8 and see an end to eratic performances and beltings. I am confident as I have said in many forums before that we are heading in he right direction Go Dees!

Remember that game I was at a mates 30th, his wife booked a restaurant wihich didn't have a tv, I wathed the 1st and 2nd quarters and listed to the 3rd on the way to the restaurant and was feeling confident. I asked one of the barmen during the party if he knew who won and he said Melbourne, I was happy as thinking bring on the Pies in the prelim next week, then we got back to me mates house and watched the 2nd half of the replay, f#%k I was gutted and wasn't saying too many good things about the barman.

+1

Greeny is a proud man and has been a good servant to the club all his knockers should not count against him bouncing back this season!

Well said! Hutchy and his ilk will read posts like that and put 2 + 2 together to get 5 and a story

I read this article this morning with great sadness to think Jimmy may not see another christmas, But then to read he had some reprieve, which will hopefully see him being able at least to have one special christmas with Sam and the kids, gave me some hope for him. I have said it before I pray for a miracle for Jim, jeysus Sam and him deserve it!. I hope Jimmy gets far beyond christmas for the sake of his family and he gets to see the Dees play at the G at least one last time. Should this happen I hope the boys play with Jim's spirit so the way he seen us finish 2011 is not his last memory of his beloved demons! Keep fighting the fight Jimmy and may God bless you.

+ 1 Jimmy wants the Holy Grail for this club and we all need to embrace and learn from him.

Green was not Robinson Crusoe in having a poor 2011, he realised it and my mail is he sought advice from several people on how to deal with it. He has been a good servant to the club and IMO should get 1 more year even if it is in a co-captaincy role with a contingency plan in place to hand over to JT, Grimes or chip whoever they deem as the best candidate.

Swan Districts have pulled their offer to Davis, while West Perth have offered him good money and a job away from football. Peel & Perth are also chasing him. He will either play at Port or WAFL, nowhere else so close the thread!

Wont happen he wont come as a Rookie as he has been offered a big contract to Play WAFL with Swan Districts and we don't have a pick in the PSD!

As much as I think whilst playing home games in Victoria we should never have to play away from the G I like this idea, if we could negotiate some kind of deal where we played 4 games a year at a boutique stadium at Casey which resulted in us getting other games against Vic opposition at the G it would be a good thing. The Hawks adapted quickly after the 96 merger and we stood still, which is why we are playing catch up. Big Jim made moves from 08 which have brought us financially to where we are today but as 2011 taught us we can't stand still and need to keep looking at ways to make the club a power again and keep ahead of the pack. Whilst I think we will always struggle to match the supporter bases of the Pies, Bombers, Hawks, Blues & Tigers I think the Casey move has given us a foothold in a growing area. As other have said AAMI is a big step up from the Junction but the Cats and Bombers are already planning new state of the art facilities so the proposal is good for the club IMO and if it comes off even better!

I know a lot of us look at the club with rose coloured glasses, but intensity, game plan, physicality and structure seem to be the big changes from the reports we are getting. To Maldonboy, Freak & Joeboy as a supporter who lives in WA thank you very much for the updates becuase if it aint blue & gold we don't here about it in this town. Have to say I'm looking forward to seeing how the new training and natural evolution of the younger players will see us perform on the real stage this season. Keep up the good work guys

Still hoping for a miracle for Jimmy, Sam, Matesse, Tiernan and family. Keep fighting & inspiring Jimmy you are an absolute legend!

We will improve I have no doubt, natural progression of our young list, the GWS saga behind us, a lot of players with points to prove after 2011. Yes I would like to make finals but not just to make up the numbers, What I want for 2012 is to be a team that is hard to beat week in week out, cop no beltings and be pushing for the 8 and finally for there to be enough improvement even if we don't make finals for the doomsayers on this site to finally see we are heading in the right direction and have been for some time. Yes 2011 was dissapointing but remember this time last year we all thought everything was going to fall into place. We have seen the club and FD get the kick in the arse after this year and everyone realised the job was nowhere near completed. With continued hard work 2012 should give us something to be positive about IMO

I don't think the fact he is indigenous is the reason. It's his style of play, TJ was of the same ilk and Sylvia on a lesser note and do you remember Andrew Mcdougall pick 4 in National draft. laconic with talent to burn like the others. People expect LJ to grab a game by the scruff of the neck and win it off his own boot and with Aussie we remember the Freo comeback game and expected him to do that on a regular basis. Sometimes when you are so talented you don't have to work as hard as the others from a young age and that is where I think the issue is with supporters. But I believe what the club is doing with building his fitness base and increasing his aerobic capacity will benefit him greatly, he has the explosiveness and ability to create something out of nothing so I would not be criticising the club or LJ at this stage without knowing the facts behind his training programme

it's nothing to do with the colour of their skin, it is Manson's record of committment I am against, footy isn't that big a deal for him it is just something he is good at, in fact a freak. But he is not prepared to put in the hard yards, that is from his application at draft screening and also failing to put in the hard yards at Claremont, we seen what lack of fitness did to us last season the line must be drawn in the sand

Seriously "roost it" I think you validate your opinion higher than others may do, that may sound harsh but to think your view has more meaning than others, get over yourself. This midfield is developing and will take some more time, Eagles midfield was D grade at best in 2010 step in Shuey & Gaff allowing Emlbey to play as an outsider and on the wing, a fit Kerr although he didn't last the season and doesn't have that much more footy left in him and they had an A grade midfield in 2011. The changes in our list and development in 3rd & 4th year players will see us with a B grade midfield and take pressure of Maloney & Jones similar to what happended last season for Priddis and Embley. I don't kid myself we will flick the switch and be a Top 6 side next season but I really don't think we are that far away from making the 8 and with the growing maturity in our list cementing Top 6 to Top 4 regularly after 2013

The improved fitness overall will come in very handy and have a domino effect. Don't underestimate the effect lack of conditioning and tired legs has on disposal and being able to use fitness to create space and gain extra time will help, I'm not saying we will all of a sudden become an elit kicking side but better conditioning should provide some help in disposal

None of these names fall into the Manson or LJ project, they are not from Communities and have proved a track record of training week in week out at TAC, local Colts etc so don't see the same issues of progression to AFL although the step is huge for them they do not have the other outside issues.