Demonsterative

One issue Watts has been criticised for has been his aggression and not being a mongrel. I saw a side to Jack when he was easily beaten by Swan on the goal line resulting in a Swan/Collingwood goal. He may of been beaten by a far superior and stronger player in Swan, but Jack was so upset he screamed out loud. It showed that he cared and hated losing the contest. If this continues then Jack will become a far better player. Watts is only a victim of other peoples expectations that was fed to them by the club when he was played way before he was ready, and the club promoting him as the messiah. He is a very good player who may turn into an A grader. I believe the clubs new direction/culture will result into a player who wants to win every contest and who will work hard to get the best out of himself. In reality Jack is still a baby and is still learning his craft.

Totally agree Dr. The club has been a trend follower rather than a trend setter and its recruiting has been some what schizophrenic. It changes with recruiting coaches who have totally different perspectives thus the recruiters changing tact within 3 years. Morton, Gysberts, Bate, Dunn, etc have been victims of the clubs lack of consistency. Experts always talk about how game plans and game styles tend to change regularly throughout a season, this being the new trend. I think the club struggles with developing talent who are versatile, yet having players who can settle into a role. Dunn, Bate, Watts are examples of this. Dunn was recruited as a KPF, played 3rd tall in the forward line, then midfielder/tagger and is now a backman. No wonder he has yet to fulfill potential or settle as a player. It seems that Dunn has benefitted from the club going full circle being a big strong big body. I can only hope Need and co are doing the right thing and i believe in their direction. But I'm sceptical at the same time as believed in Bailey/Pendergrast and in Daniher/Cameron. If Neeld fails the club needs to have the conviction to employ another coach in the same vain as Neeld to build on this direction. I'm hoping that Neeld is the messiah though

Encouraging considering Viney was described as a top 3 talent.

I always thought you to be a leader amonst ferals WJ ;-) Love the work D'Landers

The sad (or funny) things is, there is only 5kgs of weight on the machine.

I would hope we are challenging for a top 4 position going into finals by the time these guys are at the 70 game mark.

Curently we are lacking 50 to 70 games into Jack Viney, Ollie Wines, Rory Taggert, Max Gawn and Jessie Hogan. Once all these players finish their apprenticeship we will have the depth to go with Trengove, Clark, Frawley, Jones, Mc Donald, Blease, Dawes, and Grimes. The future looks good

So america, I'm sensing your a half glass empty kinda a guy.

Sheedy was done as an AFL coach when the Bomber got rid of him. He was appointed as GWS coach as a figure head who could get in the papers and promote a club in a very hard market. Williams was the real coach, When he realised he would not get the job, in comes Cameron. If Sheeds was the real coach he would be given time. Yes he was overlooked at the MFC. A good choice by the interview panel.

I read a North supporter refer to Pedo as 'Mr Bubbles' on BF. A much better nick name

What did we just do? We used up most of our first picks before the AFL could take them away with the tanking issue. I suspect the club new about the tanking leakes and made the most of what they could via the trade and MD. Smart move if this is the case!!

let it go I say.

On another note. Did anyone hear Buckley on SEN today. I heard Buckley saying that Dawes was told by the Dees that his days were numbered at the Pies therefore he chose the Dees to play next year, or something to that effect. Does Buckley really believe that Pie supporters will believe that. He was a contracted player who could have stayed, or the Pies forced to stay if they chose. Buckley is a tool who I hope fails as a coach. Over rated player too. Pie supporters seem to be OK with Dawes leaving. IMO too many short sighted supporters in the AFL (including pie supporters). Dawes has played well as FF and was forced to play up the ground and went backwards. Whilst he is not a star, he is a more than handy FF. I'm backing Dawes to get back to form with Mitch and Pederson up along side him.

I too, old dee, have not read all the 'Tanking' threads. I prefer to keep my head in the sand and not get caught up in the drama (on here). On another note. I'm hoping Tippett goes into the ND. GWS will pick him up, leaving Toumpass or Wines to us. Add to that, i hope Jacobs leaves PA and we pick him up in the PSD. We need all the luck we can get. We may have some low draft picks next year. I'm hoping for Premiership points taken off us next year. I dont think we will make the 8 regardless

Have a looks at Ben Hur's post in the 'Training Thread'. Promising news!!

Thanks BH. Love to hear Sammy improving his fitness. He could be a big improver playing on the wing at times

Rodan listed as 187cms. I thought him to be much smaller like 177cms. It must be a mistake. The list looks good. More balanced with guys who have proven themselves at AFL level to developing players. Gone are the VFL champions but AFL nobody;s

Time to move on D'Landers. Leave the poor guy alone. Good Luck Cale

I thought Frawley was given an extended holiday. Thats good if this is true and he was at training today.

Agree. The club had taken full advantage of the Scully concessions. Without these concessions we would have Pick 3 and pick 26 (Viney). We now have pick 4 and Viney with Dawes, Barry and Hogan being the compensation for Scully. At this stage I would have traded Scully for Dawes to the Pies A big win IMO

Nudge reported Simpkon and Burbury (Geelong rookies) were highly rated by the club. I'm not sure what their situation is like at the Cats, but if they are 2nd year rookies they could request to be delisted or not accept a contract and go to the PSD if the club guarentees to pick them up.

Martin maybe an academic, but in football terms he is in remedial class. Morton showed a huge amount of effort last pre season when he hired himself a personal trainer. He had a few good games where he stood out with his run and spread, but, went backwards once again. He didn't gain the much needed strength that Neeld needs to suit his game plan

Couch is not up to AFL standard. If he is the yard stick in regards to fringe/Casey player then the club should have gone harder for inside midfielders. In racing terms he is a 'plodder' without the pace to get near the front.

The Herald Sun is reporting that the Dees will be paying part of Mortons salary. Surely he was on little money given his output

I'm not so sure that Gys is well suited to the way the game is going. His endurance is poor and with the new interchange substitute rules, endurance has become key. Yes he can build a motor, but he will be competing with other midfields that have players who have a more natural ability to cover ground. Getting to contest after contest will be a struggle for even if he starts to train harder and builds a motor. I like his ability to play in close, but will he ever be able to out run a tagger if he becomes a top line midfielder. I doubt it