Macca

Not surprised re Johnno. Everything is related and connected in a team sport. Right down to who chases harder (or more importantly who doesn't chase with intent). You get 2 or 3 in your team who 'go through the motions' with regards to chasing and fairly quickly, half the team are doing it. This is where you need great leaders out on the park - but it starts at practice and I'm not sure the coaching staff in any organisation can readily 'teach' this type of attitude. It comes from within. We need more players in our team who A - never play a bad game B - never give up C - hate losing D - set a great example at training And these types should be self starters. The coaching staff can only do so much. If I was to stick my neck out for one of our current players to have all these qualities it would be Viney - but I could be wrong. The truth is we need 6 or 8 players on our list who have all of the above qualities. All players can achieve B, C and D. Mindset achieves B, C and D. We can achieve 10 wins this season. It's gonna take a lot of hard work but in the end, that's what it boils down to - hard work.

Yeah, I thought timD's thread idea more centred around the team 'ethos' or 'playing for one another' and didn't want to derail the thread too much into the specialised area's within a team - such as our 'kicking to position'. Other posters can educate me and a few others here, but hasn't our relationship with the Casey team changed to a point where we have a lot more autonomy? A team set up much in the vein of the Cats and the Pies reserves teams?

I was specifically talking about practice drills. Not the games. I get your point though and am fully aware of what happens on the field.

Johnson and O'Keefe at 23 and 24 is a ludicrous decision. Both are top 10 in my eyes and both have enormous influence with their respective sides. Neither of these players wastes a kick and they get plenty of it. Astonishing that they get marked so hard. O'Keefe especially - he is a gun footballer and much underrated. Johnson is just sublime. I'd have these 2 ahead of Beams, Kennedy, Dangerfield or Walker (all in Sheahan's top 10) You've got to be an A grade player for a certain length of time to be a top 10 player. Sheahan doesn't have a clue and never did.

Yes, neglected to leave that bit out but it probably can be assumed that a target is moving (in drills) Good point nonetheless Gonzo.

It's quite a bit off topic with regards the thread but it is connected ... Modern team footy requires a team to keep possession of the footy. And a big part of keeping possession of the footy is the team having very good basic kicking skills. We're not the only club to have a number of players on the list who aren't great kicks. General execution of kicking should play a large part in our training. I wasn't joking about Stevie J being a kicking and skills coach - even right now.(although it would obviously have to be part time) Teams are full time professionals and a greater emphasis needs to placed on the basic skills of the game. It can't be assumed that all players have the necessary tools when they get drafted. Many don't have these necessary tools and it stands out. It seems to be that ex full forwards are often the specialist kicking coaches. The reality is that players need to practice hitting targets of various distances whilst under pressure. Match practice isn't anywhere near enough (at practice) Doing set shots or kicking to a teammate on the run whilst not under pressure is fine but what happens in a match situation?? You should train as you play. This is not a knock on the coaching department because they'd be acutely aware of the situation. It is more an observation of our general kicking skills. Those who kick poorly or are 'average' kicks have been that way for a lot of years. Often a partial reconstruction is needed. Cut it right back to the basics. Probably needs to be done in the off season. Kicking a footy is a bit like a golf swing - and many of us know hard it is to get that right !! I watched a bit of the Crows/Blues game and specifically looked at the field kicking to position. We're a fair way off I'm afraid although we may still get 10 wins. It's our biggest issue and has been for quite some time. You've got to hit targets in modern day footy. And you have to hit targets all the time. As I said earlier, you can't have too many in your team that can't kick the ball well to position.

I reckon (in theory) any team could win a flag within 5 years. Before free agency, this probably wasn't possible. In theory, you could bring two 'very good' to 'A' grade free agents into a club every year for 4 or 5 years (assuming their salary's weren't too exorbitant) and be ready for a real tilt at the flag in 4 or 5 years time. Or you can draft, trade and continue to 'develop'. Or do both well and you end up with a great list. Free agency allows you to 'fast track' your list. We didn't land any 'big fish' free agents last year (Dawes was traded for) and there might be a few reasons for that but that doesn't mean we can't land a couple of good, experienced players at years end. In my opinion, we need to bring in some decent 'ready to go' talent. We might get to 10 wins this year but to compete with the best sides we will need some real talent. Free agents cost you nothing more than their actual salary. Not sure why it's not high on the agenda for most Demon fans. Seems like a no-brainer to me. We need talent - let's go out and get 'em. We should be in ears of the agents of these players - now. Always gotta be looking ahead. You've got to spend the 9.14 million anyway - may as well pay good players. With no offence to anyone in particular on our list, I reckon most of us would let a couple of players go for 2 very good experienced midfielders. ... Stars galore in free agency list

Let's just say that we don't win a flag until at say ... 2016/2017. Given that most top clubs turn over between 4 - 8 players in any given year then our 'premiership list' will look a lot different to our current list. The other question is who will be on our list in 2016/2017 that are on our current list. These existing players still on our list in that 'Premiership window' should all be either good - excellent players. A Premiership team generally has 8 - 10 'very good' or 'A' grade players. Or at least some of that Premiership team's players have had very good or 'A' grade years. The truth is that nearly all our potential very good - 'A' graders will need to end up being so. We'll also need to import 4 - 6 others who have genuine ability. (Hogan could be counted as one of these) Free agency can help or hinder us. We need to be a far more attractive proposition to a would be 'free agent'. Money talks of course, but it would be foolish to put all our eggs in one basket. We talked about it last year, but we really need to pick up some quality midfielders out of all the free agents. One per year for the next 3 - 4 years might be needed if we're going to win a flag anytime soon. Otherwise, we may only improve to a point where we are a finals contender only. Normally don't like crying over spilt milk, but would have been rapt if we'd made a big play for Stevie J and managed to land him. Hell, he could have doubled up as our kicking and skills coach as well !!!

In the match of the round, Spurs take on Liverpool at Anfield in the early hours of tomorrow morning (3am). Vital game for both sides although playing in the Champions League next year for 'The Reds' is all but a bit of pipe dream (the Europa League is a possibility) ... Current Table For a matchday simulation ... Fifa 13 Predicts Liverpool v Tottenham Edit : Manchester United are at home to Chelsea in the F.A Cup 6th round (quarter finals) at 3.30am.

I agree but unfortunately flying in a couple of batsmen won't happen. Our top order look deficient against spin and it's hard to see anything changing in the next 2 Tests. India could play Ojha instead of their young opening bowler (Kumar) and it would make things even harder for us. Ravi Shastri described our top order as 'Sitting Ducks'. The obvious concern is our preparation for the Ashes. It will be a miracle if our top order is settled before the 1st Ashes Test. The conditions are vastly different but it would be nice to know that our top 4 had some solid runs behind them. Khawaja coming in and Clarke moving to number 4 (?) could alleviate a few of our issues. (although in an ideal world, I'd much rather Clarke bat at no.5, apart from when we're on spinning decks) Our top 7 in the next Test in India could read as follows Cowan Warner Khawaja Clarke Watson Henriques Wade/Haddin (depending on Wade's possible injury) (who knows what they'll do with the bowling) In England either Watson or Henriques should miss out and the one who stays could bat at no.6. (Watson has to bowl to stay in the side) Complicating all this, is that Watson is probably best suited as an opening batsman. Another batsman could come in and bat at no.4 or no.5 (depending on where Clarke bats). That other batsman could be Doolan, Burns or perhaps another young up and comer. Cowan and Warner aren't guarantees either but both those 2 are much better away from spinning decks. Khawaja has a nice technique but needs to learn how to convert his starts.

The biggest issue for our team right now is our general kicking skills and decision making. What often happens is that a poor disposer of the ball often makes poor decisions as well. We're nowhere near creative enough with our handballing and kicking. Our skills don't match it with the best teams. In fact, we're a long way behind. We can win all the KPI's in the world but if we don't retain possession of the ball we can't kick enough goals. Sounds quite simple but that is the brutal reality. Aussie rules is a lot like soccer in that sense. In the old days when the ball was kicked to a contest it was different. But there is a solution. We need to work quadruply hard on our skills under pressure at training. The players should have a decent base fitness by now and besides, there are drills that can help your skills enormously whilst at the same time help your general fitness. The coaching staff should have drills in place where a player needs to hit a small target by foot whilst under extreme pressure. These drills should involve using either foot and the distances should vary (20 metres, 30, 40 and 50 metres). Similar drills can be done using handballing. To me, these are the type of drills we should be doing most of the time. Incorporating improving a players 'vision' is vital as well. You cannot have too many blokes in your side who can't dispose of the ball consistently well. At one stage last season, I counted about 8 or 9 players in our team who had poor/average disposal skills. You cannot hope to win games of footy if that is the case. As in often the case, the players who are the 'goers' are the ones who often can't kick or handpass well.(under pressure) Hard at it types + good skills under pressure = a winning team. Obviously this involves having good coaching as well. Playing as a team should be a pre-requisite and this is a coach driven area.

Well, the Avalanche stopped the streak ! Game highlights ...

Confidence can take you a long way. There has been a greater emphasis on winning contested ball, hard ball gets and clearances under Neeld. If we can keep improving in that area - great. The next step is to start using the ball far more efficiently. We need to keep possession of the ball whilst attacking the goals - easier said than done of course. You can't have too many poor to average kicks in your team. Ditto for decision making. The best teams don't often have many of these type of players in their teams. When picking their best 22, the match committee could place a limit on the amount of players who aren't good disposers of the ball. Maximum of 2? 3? 4? It might mean you have to leave a couple of 'goers' out of team but that's the price you might have to pay. I've heard a number of times that the Hawks deliberately trade for or draft players who can kick the ball well and are good decision makers. Apparently their philosophy is that they can always teach these more skilful types to get better at winning their own ball. We need to start hitting a lot more targets on a far more regular basis if we're going to challenge the middle tier teams. Turnovers are killers and we need to eliminate as many of these as possible. Our disposal needs to improve dramatically if we're wanting to win a fair percentage of games. It's going to be interesting to see how good all our new players are with their disposal in the games.(especially under pressure)

Some more classic Aussie rock from the 70's Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons with "Shape I'm In" and "Hit and Run" Macca 12.6 ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipqiMn965_c

Yeah, Rodan's great. Always liked him as a player ... let's hope he burns it up. Good work lads

From 'The Times of London' ... Shoddy England given lesson by New Zealand Beautiful !

What's the name of that French city ..... ????????

Bobby Hebb with .... "Sunny". "Sunny" has an interesting and quite tragic story behind it ... Sunny (the song) Macca's jazz 5.9

Well they're still going strong, amazing run. I see your Maple Leafs are gettin' up there. The Canucks and the Sharks are travelling ok although Anaheim continue to do well. I hear that there was talk of another team out of Toronto - any truth in that? Is the League revamped next year? The only thing I know is that there will be 2 conferences - 16 teams in the East and 14 in the West with 2 divisions in each conference. Not sure where all the teams end up but apparently the Red Wings and the Blackhawks will be in different divisions. (they are bitter rivals, yeah?) Yeah, Colorado need to get a move on but they're not out of it. Next 2 games are against the Blackhawks. Can your blokes stop the streak?

The experts (Vegas??) have the Lakers making the playoffs at the expense of Utah (based on strength of scheduling) That's gotta bring a smile to pantaloons face. I hope they get there. Not sure the Spurs or OKC would relish facing L.A straight up but either series would be definitely worth looking at. C'mon Lakers Meanwhile, over in the East, the Heat are on a 15 game winning streak. They look in Championship form don't they? Wade had a big night against the Timberwolves the other night. LeBron is just sublime.

David Neitz (but I'd play him at CHB)

No worries Moonshadow. I've gone back and edited that post of mine. I could see how it might have been misread. The written word hey? Probably my bad

You two blokes may have misread what I meant there. I don't exactly feel comfortable about this type of income but at the same time, where would we make up the 4.7 million shortfall? That was what I was alluding to. I'd much prefer the club had other income streams. It was only a couple of weeks ago that many of us found out about the large amount of income we derive from these machines. I had no idea these figures were so high. Especially for the Blues and the Hawks. It's a bit sobering to be quite honest. I'm not a gambler as a general rule and I fully understand how gambling can ruin lives and families.

The worst bit is that if we are not a part of it, where else do we get our revenues from? It's about $13,200 per day from all of these machines. Just to be clear, I'm not condoning gambling in any way.

If you look at it closely, we've sent some great teams to India who couldn't get it done. The conditions are probably the harshest for our team in some ways. You need to able to play spin really well on spinning decks, and you need good spinners in your team to have any chance. England defeated India 2-1 in Nov/Dec but they have 2 world class spinners in Swann and Panesar. England in England will be a different story but our batsmen will need to fire. We're screaming out for a young gun batsmen. Greg Chappell, Border, S.Waugh, Ponting, Clarke - who's next?