poita

The number 1 issue facing cricket is the scheduling of the games. You already have T20s and ODIs finishing at 10:30pm. Soon we will have test matches finishing at the same time. If kids can't go to matches to see their heroes they will lose interest and take up a different sport. I'm not a massive cricket fan, but it was a big deal when I was growing up (late 80s - early 90s) for people to go and watch international cricket. The attendance figures this year, and for a number of years, suggest that this is no longer the case. Sure television has had an impact, but people who want to go games will still go in the right circumstances, as is the case with the AFL. The AFL has enough day time content to keep kids happy at the moment. But every year we see more games finishing after dark and there has to be a tipping point, particularly when you have games finishing late on school / work nights. I wouldn't dream of taking my son to a game that finished after 6pm (ie get home after 7pm) until he is at least 10, and who knows whether he would still care by that point.

Honestly, what would be the difference? He still gets paid the same, he is still (roughly) the 38th best player on the list and he still only gets a game if enough better players are unavailable. If you were desperate to keep playing at this level, you would do whatever it takes. A question for someone in the know - does a contract specify that a player be allocated a position on the senior list for X years, or is it just an agreement that we will pay you X dollars for X years, even if you are no longer at the club?

Correct. I don't know why people have this belief that we erred with the picks of Morton, Scully and Watts. They were widely, if not unanimously, regarded as the best players available in those draft positions. Nobody expected Dangerfield to go as high as he did and Adelaide copped a lot off flak for drafting him when they did. The errors were clearly Maric, Strauss, Gysberts and Cook. Players who were drafted well ahead of the consensus view, who were clearly unsuitable for AFL football and who were selected by people too dense to understand the fundamental differences between junior football and the AFL.

The big problem for me is the lack of quality of our older players, compared with basically every other team. Jamar, Pedersen, Bail, M.Jones, even Cross to a degree, are fringe players at best. It's alright to say that we should have X players of a certain age, but they have to be able to play. N.Jones is the only top liner amongst our 27+ year olds.

I really hope we use at least one of our rookie selections on a slightly older state league player, rather than on more spindly 18 year olds. Interesting to see Josh Tynan on that list, although it would take a bit leap of faith for someone to draft him again.

I'm not sure what people expected King to say. Our finish to 2014 was as bad as anything we displayed under Neeld, and I cannot see our recruits adding anything of note, at least in the short term. If King is of the opinion, like me, that we will be putrid again in 2015, he'd be hung, drawn and quartered by all and sundry. If he thinks we will be markedly better, he is essentially betting (a) on a kid who is yet to play an AFL game and who has barely played a game at any level for 18 months and (b) on the addition of a bunch of fringe players and teenagers. As much as the diehards on this forum want to believe this, I'm not sure that any of that reads particularly well in an analytical article either.

I'm in again. Thanks for your great work.

Well not the one player who actually puts in each week. Most of our list should be on an annual wage of about $30K each.

Correct. We'll never get anywhere with a team of teenagers & 30 year olds. Howe has got more talent than 95% of our list. We would be stupid to let him go.

What's he supposed to do? You can only play at AFL approved venues. Presumably there is only of those in South Australia. As much as we'd like to believe that the clubs control their own destiny, ultimately the clubs play where the AFL tells them to. Once again the clubs (and by extension the fans) get screwed over by the AFL and its cronies.

Exactly. Jetta was extraordinarily fortunate to be given a second (or should that be fourth) chance. I wouldn't have given him another shot, but good luck to him for making the most of it. That situation should in no way set a precedent for every other mediocre player on our list. What is Evans now - our 15th best midfielder? We could find a dozen players of equal ability and greater application in the VFL. His time is done.

Why would you waste any more time and effort on a guy who (a) doesn't wan't to be there and (b) wasn't that good to begin with? It's not like he was Liam Jurrah who was basically the team's best forward from his first game. Just put this one down to (yet another) poor contract extension from Roos and co and move on.

Hard to be too upset about this one. Not sure why he was given a two year contract in the first place, so I can't help but feel he has done us a big favour. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/dom-barry-quits-afl-leaves-melbourne-to-return-home/story-fni5f91a-1227120387215?nk=79c03f62a26ab8934767a1e4ac7f87db

If we keep going at this rate we will have more development coaches on the payroll than players. I've asked this question before - what do our coaches do all day, other than standing around scratching their balls?

He was an average player at best initially, who has regressed significantly over the past couple of years. Far better players have come and gone during his time at the club. I am more than comfortable with the idea of delisting him, paying his contract out in full and finding a replacement.

It is actually the dumbest thing this club has done in a long time, and that is saying something. If we were Hawthorn I could understand wanting to keep a premiership list together and not wanting to use mid-range draft picks, but we have the worst list in the competition. There are at least ten immediate candidates for delisting and we need to make a hard decision or two to improve the list further.

FMD this club is a joke. The list of players resigned this year (by Roos & co) includes Bail, Terlich, Riley, Spencer, Barry, and M.Jones, and yet we don't currently have room on our list to both use pick 40 and take a RFA. In addition, we have McKenzie, Jamar, Evans and others still stinking up the joint after years of mediocrity. And, we've had three players (to date) taken by top clubs. After 10 wins in three years, how you could possibly not have more than enough room on the list to take any player you wanted is mind boggling.

Sam is obviously the major cause of his own downfall at Melbourne, but that type of player will always be a much greater factor in a strong side. I have no doubt he has the talent, it will be interesting to see whether he can find a position at Geelong.

Nothing personal against Luke, but thank god for that. 5 years on the list, and he only ever looked like an AFL footballer for five minutes at the start of 2011. Far better to cut our losses now and try someone else. Now hopefully for Evans to join him so we can use all our draft picks.

Every time we have played in a marquee slot in recent years we have been humiliated. I can't blame Ch 7 for not wanting us scheduled on Friday night, when the game is generally over as a contest by half time. I am disappointed not to have more away games on Ch 7 as I have very little interest in financially supporting other clubs when our performances are so bad. The worst aspect of the draw is the three consecutive away games from rounds 2-4, particularly back-to-back interstate games. Good luck selling any memberships if we do poorly in round 1. From a football perspective, as with this year, there is absolutely no excuse. It is an absolute gift of a draw in terms of repeat matches and lack of away games interstate - now the players need to perform. Ultimately we will never get a better commercial draw until (a) the players start putting on a decent show and (b) the supporters start turning up in decent numbers. I don't think we can expect the AFL to help us out, we just need to provide an attractive alternative, as teams like Port have done.

Absolutely appalling list management to have players like Evans, McKenzie and Jamar signed to long term deals. I'm no great fan of Bail, but how McKenzie and Evans got multiple years and Bail only received a one year extension is mind boggling. If it was up to me, Evans would have been shown the door after round 23 and we could have had a full board of picks in the draft. You'd think Roos would have more idea than Neeld, but his form in re-signing the likes of M.Jones, Barry and Terlich to multi year deals is just as bad.

We need to play to win every time we step on the field. I'm sick of this club just going through the motions in the pre season and then acting all surprised when they get flogged in round 1.

Mark Neeld was a terrible head coach and set this club back many years. However, he won as many games in 2012 as the supposed messiah did this year, with an inferior list. I wonder when Roos will be subject to the same level of scrutiny.

Nothing against Tyler Roos, but I would have real issues with the club taking the coach's son as a speculative draft selection. Sure thing if he's a genuine top 20-30 pick, but anything outside that is asking for trouble. Particularly given our recent draft history.

What was the difference between Morton's physique when drafted and that of Fyfe? Very little I would have thought. In a lot of ways Morton fits the mould for the taller midfielders that seem so prevalent these days, but he was never able to add the extra muscle that he needed to become a genuine contested ballwinner. I agree with all three of these posts, particularly the last. Morton was a far better player than most around here give him credit for, and was yet another player whose career was destroyed by Neeld.