poita

Looks fantastic with ball in hand. Unfortunately that doesn't happen enough (yet). As a first year player, anything he did this year was a bonus. If we still have the same concerns in twelve months time, then we have a problem.

If he's desperate to come, let him jump in the PSD and we'll see if we can help him out. I certainly wouldn't be throwing draft picks away to get him.

Mitchell would be a great get, but I certainly wouldn't give up pick 3 unless there is another player / pick thrown in. Perhaps they could send their first round pick back to us.

Tell me more about "the relationship between supporters and players and the club". Because, reading this forum, it seems like the supporters want to trade / delist 90% of our players after every bad game. But when you have a player investigating what is the best for his career and his future, everyone wants to stick the boots in. It sounds like you want the players to suck up and take whatever comes there way, just waiting for the guillotine to fall. Sorry, but that's not the way the world works.

As an aside, does anyone know why the vote tallies are about 20% lower this year than last year? Have they been tinkering around with the voting system again, or are there some harder markers amongst the new coaches?

I haven't read the article, but poorly skilled players such as those on our list shouldn't be attempting to play defensive, high possession football. All you are doing is increasing the likelihood of a turnover happening in a dangerous part of the ground. We should be taking the game on and ensuring that, if a turnover happens, it at least happens 50+ metres further down the ground. We have a tall forward line, so I see no reason why we shouldnt give them an opportunity to compete one-on-one against their direct opponent, rather than holding the ball up and eventually kicking to a one-on-three contest.

Congratulations N.Jones, you are a star. Dom had a great year too and hopefully he can be the standard bearer for the younger midfielders on the list. Leaving aside the Watts bashing for a moment, Dawes and Jamar are two of the most highly paid players on the list and they were miles off the top 10. Not good enough. If Jamar is still our number one ruckman next year I can guarantee we will be bottom 3 again.

Probably the most overrated player in the competition, to say nothing of his "holier than thou" attitude. I'd almost rather get Gary Moorcroft back.

That's what the club website is for. The fans are entitled to their opinions, free from the restraints of being tied to head office.

N.Jones Tyson Dunn Cross Vince

That's the theory, but why do we have Jayden Hunt and (to a lesser extent) Dom Barry on the senior list?

For all the reasons listed above and more, Nathan Jones has been clearly one of the best 40 players in the competition this season and obviously suffers from playing in a team that nobody outside us cares about.

I'm disappointed for Clisby - I thought he was a decent player, and at least worthy of a run in the seniors at some stage this year. Nicholson had plenty of chances and wasn't quite up to it. Having said that, he is still well behind Tapscott, Strauss and Evans as the first players I would delist.

Agree. I'm sick of our players getting themselves rubbed out for acts which are neither tough nor brave. Jetta is another with form in this area. Dunn at least seems to have removed it from his game. I wish our players would just go after the ball.

Typical AFL (Animal Farm Limited) - all clubs are equal, but some clubs are more equal than others. Until you have one set of rules that apply equally to all, these sort of issues will keep cropping up. The home team (Port) wears their home jumper, the away team wears an acceptable, non-clashing jumper. End of story.

Yawn. When do finals start?

The fact that experienced players such as Dawes, Jamar and Frawley have been (effectively) given a pass mark in 5 or less games across an entire season says everything about why this club is where it is. Until we can find a bunch of players who can match Nathan Jones's ability to put in every week, no matter what the circumstances, we will remain a poor football team.

The big question for me is whether we are a better team now than we were 12 months ago. Finishing the season on a ten game losing streak would suggest that we are at best exactly where we were last season, and possibly slightly worse. Our 0-6 record against the sides around us on the ladder makes me question whether we deserved our 4 wins, or whether we just got lucky with teams kicking inaccurately against us. Whilst we have improved in certain areas, other teams are moving forward at a greater rate. I can't possibly rate this season as anything other than a fail. From a player perspective, Tyson was a massive win. Cross and Vince have been good, but neither is likely to be part of our next finals side. JKH shows promise, but none of Salem, Michie, Barry or our other youngsters have done anything of note to date. The lack of improvement from our middle ranking players has been a damning indictment of them and the coaching staff. Despite his poor season, Frawley is one of the few top liners on our list, and losing him will be a massive blow. We also haven't come close to replacing Clark and now have the competition's worst midfield, as well as big holes at either end. Whilst there will be a purge of NQRs at year end, we have already given out new contracts to a bunch of very average footballers this year, so have a number of years of pain to come. F

If it was the first time Dawes had done something stupid this season, I'm sure nobody would be too bothered. But given that his absence in round 11 was a significant reason for us losing the game, and now he's suspended again a few months later, we have reason to feel aggrieved. As an experienced player, and a supposed leader, who has massively underperformed this year, he has to do a fair bit of work to earn back some respect over the next 12 months.

Yep, I'm so glad we hung on to Jamar with his big fat salary and his big lazy arse, instead of keeping Martin and his ability to win truckloads of possession and play any position on the ground for a fraction of the cost. Another tick for the master list managers.

Sorry, but what is this obsession everyone has with "swingmen" at the moment? You don't see the better sides worrying about whether their full back can play full forward, they just worry about having the best full back they can possibly have. Teams like Sydney, Hawthorn and Geelong have a dozen blokes they can push through the midfield, and their team leaders (Hodge, Bartel, etc) will go to wherever they are needed, but you never see them worrying about anything other than getting the best person for each role. Meanwhile, we waste our time trying to turn an All Australian full back into a centre half forward and our 2013 leading goalscorer into a defender, and wonder why we never improve. Like Dawes, Goldsack has value as a third or fourth forward, but you certainly can't build a side around him and he is definitely not worth the sort of money that is being suggested.

Yep, the Casey experiment has proven to be an abject failure in every respect. TIme to cut our losses and move on. And why we reward average footballers such as Dom Barry with 2 year contracts mid season is beyond me. By all means sign up your better players as soon as possible, but your fringe players should never be given the opportunity to become complacent and lazy.

Amazing that people want to give Riley a break because he has only played 12 games prior to this year. Clearly he only played 12 games in three years at Adelaide because he is a very average footballer. Aside from his terrible disposal and decision making, he doesn't even average 10 possessions a game over his career, playing in the midfield. Sure he tries hard, but honestly he is no improvement on Valenti, Magner or Couch. At least those guys could win the football on a consistent basis.

Dawes is currently equal 66th on the goalkicking ladder, behind such luminaries as Josh Green, Ty Vickery, Matthew White and Jordan Murdoch. GWS have 5 players who have kicked more goals than him. He's clearly worth every cent of his $500K a season - perhaps we could give him some of Mitch's salary as well.

What a pathetic excuse for a football team that is. North could rest their entire best 22 and still win. Convincingly. I assume Jamar will provide his customary 5 touches and 50 useless hitouts. Dawes will get 15 useless touches a mile from goal. Our midfielders will build their stats by conducting circle work until the inevitable turnover happens. Howe will play a mile off his opponent and have another bag kicked on him. North by 60 plus.