poita

Brayshaw and Dunn for O.McDonald and Frost. If we had lost, any of Vandenberg, Kent, Tyson, Bugg and Harmes would be in the gun as well. Lumumba can come in when we have a greater need for some moon balls.

Frost was completely underwhelming on Saturday, exactly as he was in his games last year. Someone described him as strong - that may be the case, but he has zero physical presence. He was pushed off the ball with ridiculous ease at a couple of kick ins in the first half, and is clearly never going to take a contested mark. His skills are average at best, and often well below that. He has no game sense and has the uncanny knack of being everywhere except where the football is. Apparently Frost is capable of being a key defender, but I can't comment on that as I didn't see him play for the Giants. If he can't get a game in defence ahead of Oscar McDonald at present, then that is a real problem for him as he is clearly not a forward or a ruckman. Yes, he is quick for his size, but that alone will rarely cut it. I would much rather see him learn to play in the VFL then having him do so in the senior side.

YAAAWWWWNNN. Do the exact same job with a 300% pay rise locked in for 5 years? Every single one of you would have done exactly the same thing Tom did, so I don't understand why people have still got their panties in a bunch about the whole issue.

Clearly best 22 for me, well ahead of Lamumba and Wagner. If Roos was the guru he thinks he is, he would tell Jack he has the first 4, if not 6, weeks to make a position on the HBF his own. I'm sure he'll play much better if he doesn't fear being sent back to Casey, or wearing a substitute vest, every time he makes an error.

We're in deep poo if Max goes down. Why he was crashing packs in the dying minutes of a practice match is beyond me. Ditto for Hogan. Both should have been in cotton wool long before then. Spencer seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth, Frost is giving nothing in any position at present, taking Pedersen away from the forward line is robbing Peter to pay Paul, and the Kings are babies. We desperately needed another experienced ruckman last year, instead of having two developing ruckmen on the list. Really poor list management.

How ridiculous. You've listed ten players, only 3 of whom played on the weekend. Brayshaw and Garlett are the only ones currently clearly in our best 22, which means 8 who are not. How that equates to a dynasty is well and truly beyond my powers of comprehension.

Leadership groups for sporting teams are a complete w@nk. Of all the ridiculous trends in football, this is right up there with the worst. What was ever wrong with having a captain, and a vice-captain to replace him if he was unavailable? It seems to me that having a group of leaders provides a "safety in numbers" feeling, rather than encouraging individuals (either inside or outside the group) to do their bit. I can't see what each of these blokes is actually doing that makes a lick of difference to anything. The best sides will still be the best sides because they have the best players, the crap sides will still be crap. Having a leadership group doesn't change a thing. The fact that we have just turned over 5 of 6 of last year's group, after turning over 3 of 6 the year before and about half the year before that, shows that we have (a) no idea who our leaders are and (b) how to develop potential leaders into actual leaders. If you are going to have a leadership group, you should be in for a minimum of two (and three would be even better) years so that you can develop your leadership over that time. Chopping and changing every year benefits nobody, least of all the players themselves. Dawes has never been a leader on or off the field, and never should have been selected. His multiple suspensions in 2014 and his inability to contribute consistently are proof of that. Lumumba was an even worse selection given his lack of commitment on or off the field. I like Grimes as a leader but you can't have fringe players as leaders (same for Lumumba). And Cross was only ever a short term selection. I thought Dunn had grown as a player and leader over recent years, and am disappointed he is not included again. That said, Viney and McDonald were obvious selections and I'm glad they are in. I would have stopped there and not worried about the rest, none of whom I see as particularly being leaders.

What has happened to Jake Spencer? I assume he is injured, because I really dislike the idea of running Gawn into the ground before the season even starts. Of course, anybody with half a brain could have seen that our lack of ruck depth would be a problem at some point this year.

Amazing player, watching him and Lyon dominate through the second half of 1994 was probably the high point of my football watching life. That day against Sydney was probably the low point of my football watching life, including the 2000 GF. The saddest thing about Schwarz was that he didn't even make All Australian in 1994 with 60 goals, 406 disposals and 173 marks. Carey kicked a couple more goals that year, but Schwarz had more marks and more disposals. How he didn't even get on the interchange bench is still beyond me.

I think I'd rather Clark than Lumumba. At least Mitch gave his all for us on the rare occasions he played. Lumumba barely gave us 50% effort last year.

I'm not interested in his relationship dramas or mental health issues, so please don't go there. Can someone please tell me why Garry inspires such disdain, animosity, hatred, etc from members of this forum. I started seriously following the MFC in 1987 as an 8 year old, so only really saw Robbie Flower play his final year. I have seen the entire careers of Stynes, Viney, Neitz, Jones and other greats of the club, and rate Garry above all of those for his on-field contribution to the club. He is the best MFC player I have seen, and he was captain of the best MFC sides I have seen. So, why the negativity?

You are the biggest hypocrite on this forum. Anyone slags off one of your favourites, and you're all over them (see Dawes thread). But you are happy to take pot shots at other players and posters whenever it suits.

Some good suggestions here folks. Re scoring, I don't like accuracy either, and it would be good to have hit outs worth more than last year. Other than that I am not really fussed, although would prefer games to be decided on the main stats. Happy to drop to 14 teams, certainly better than 16.

No he wasn't detained, but why was he there anyway? The guy has come off a woeful season, is miles behind in his preparation for 2016 due to surgery and he buggers off to Africa in the middle of the pre season. Does he want to be a professional athlete or not? If yes (and particularly given his salary), then he should be putting in the extra yards to get fit, not going on holidays.

I thought I already replied to this, but apparently not. Please count me in. Team will be PC Demons again. Thanks.

I'd like to go in again. Having said that I think we had too many teams last year, and it was impossible to pull back the top side. Any chance of capping at 12?

I'd love to hand off most of my job responsibilities and still be paid many times more than the bloke doing all the work. I can't believe the unconditional love for Roos around here. He only took the job because we gave him a pile of money too big to jump over, and has hardly embraced the club with open arms like he did at Sydney. Will he finally start using "we" this year, or do we have to endure another 12 months of "they". I would argue that the quality of recruits has been really poor given the status of the coach. Vince and Cross were good, but there was hardly great demand for their services. Lumumba is a bust and was overpriced. Ditto Melksham. There is certainly nobody approaching an A grader on that list, and we are clearly no closer to being a destination club. Good luck to Roos - he has been paid a fortune over the journey and can spend this year doing media and whatever else takes his fancy, without forgoing his wage or his title. But I sure as hell hope that his self-appointed replacement knows what he is doing or we will be back here again in 5 years.

Please count me in again. I will be PC Demons again. Thanks for organising this.

Grimes was already in my best 22. Melksham on the fringe somewhere. Lumumba can spend the rest of his career at Casey for all I care. I would prefer to see White in the team before Lumumba gets another chance.

People are kidding themselves if they think Viv Michie is the answer to our problems. Aside from his lack of leg speed and fitness, he has no defensive side to his game at all. He'd be a poor replacement for Melksham, and I don't rate Jake at all either. I'd rather see both White and Wagner tried first.

The only downside in this situation is that the AFL doesn't have a promotion / relegation system. I would love to see Essendon spend the next ten years working their way back up from Division 4 in the amateurs, as Juventus had to do in the Italian Serie A. As for Melksham and Goodwin, I can't see why we would want either to be at this club. Melksham - very average player and confirmed drug cheat. Goodwin - no coaching experience and present at Essendon at time of said drug cheating. Really disappointed that both are here.

Of course, he could do his knee on day 1 of next season, in which case we would be two years into a four year contract for no return. It was a bad trade at the time, and this confirms it.

Matt Jones has had enough chances over the past two seasons, and probably hasn't grabbed them. He will most likely struggle for games in 2016, as he is only really depth behind younger players. Terlich is an interesting one. Jetta is a decent lock down defender (most of the time), but does next to nothing with ball in hand. Terlich is much more attacking and creative, but is probably less effective defensively. The difference between them is not as great as some around here make out, although Roos has clearly made his mind up. I wouldn't mind seeing Terlich playing on a wing. Ultimately neither should have received a multiple year contract if the coach has no intention of playing them. Our list management has been poor for years, and these decisions are as bad as any (again, if the coach won't play them).

Wow, I didn't know that you weren't allowed to talk to your former workmates after you leave a job. How dare Howe set foot within 100 metres of one of our players.

There is talent on our list, but we simply don't have enough experience in our youngsters to expect massive improvement this year. When Gawn, Brayshaw, Salem, Petracca, Hogan, Stretch and this year's draftees are at or around 50+ games we will have a group that can match it with the best. I think we will finish around 13-15 this year, hopefully with 8 or 9 wins. I suspect 2016 may be a more even season than 2015 outside the top 3 or 4 sides, so there may be only 4 wins or so between 5th and 15th. Having said that, we are only a serious injury to Hogan or Gawn away from being a bottom two side. We have no depth in either position.