rjay

Bolton made the mistake of coaching for the future...and he forgot about the now. He fell for the party line. Don't listen to the board, they will stab you in the back when it suits their purpose. In the end it's all about winning games. Teague came in with no expectations and put players in their best positions, to hell with development. The biggest example was Curnow senior who was played as a permanent forward this year under Bolton. Teague put him straight back in as a tagger, which is where he excels. ...and surprise, Carlton started to win some games.

I can't see it but hey, good luck to the kid. Maybe we're just trying to see if we have any small forwards that will offer something at AFL level before the draft/trade period. ...but me, I would be looking for at least 2 from other clubs and not the also rans. Targeted offers.

Said this mid year and a couple agreed, most couldn't see it. This was around the time of the Bolton sacking... They are well placed and now they seem to have the right coach. ...so of course they will rise up the ladder, they've already started.

I am one of Viney's biggest critics. My criticism is based on what I see is him trying to do too much at times when he should be bringing teammates into the game, not getting in the way, clearing space, understanding his limitations. I don't think he should have been made captain and said so at the time. I believe he should step down and concentrate on his game. However, you would think he can't play, doesn't deserve to be on the list, the worst player to pull on a boot for the club....etc...if you read a lot of the posts on this thread. Jack can play, he's obviously hampered by injury and that's effecting his game. If we can get Jack fit, harness his ferocity at the ball, get him to play as part of a team and use him in bursts then he will be a valuable team member. Currently I think Goody and the FD are not helping him by not using his strengths...they also didn't seem to learn from the errors made with the other Jack (Trengove), let's hope it's not too late.

You're pushing it a bit here 'picket'... O'Loughlin was a sublime, natural footballer who knew where to find the ball, Lefua is raw prospect who still struggles to find it. Lefua has some great athletic attributes but I'm not sure he will be anything more than a VFL level player.

I would back May personally... Much better player and one on one defender.

No more Wagners 'dexter', please...

I find this the most interesting part of the story... "Josh Mahoney is conducting a review, sources linked to Melbourne confident the highly regarded football manager is sufficiently independent to identify the issues and make tough decisions." How can he be sufficiently independent, he runs the department he's reviewing? What if he's the issue? Anyway, I sure hope we get this right...couldn't stand another season of irrelevance finishing early again.

Jennings wants to be a senior coach some day... The word has been he would leave at the end of this year. It makes sense for him career wise to take on a senior VFL job. I wouldn't read any more into it than this. Of course with the year we're having many will read too much into his departure.

Good to remind the AFL so we can get a priority pick...

Nice premise for a book but not the answer. There are a myriad of things that bring us to where we are now. I would think choice of captain is a fair way down that list.

He struggles to get a kick at Casey, what makes you think things would change in the AFL?

Absence makes the heart grow fonder... Roos, last game v Geelong. Geelong 24:11 Melbourne 6:8 Roos did his job, it was time to move on. If he did his job well then he picked the right successor...

Get's a game at any club...A- to A

I think sometimes the talk of culture is overblown...and can be used as an excuse. In the end winning is everything. If Watts went when it was his turn & played consistent football then I think he would still be at the club.

Why do we keep blaming Neeld for this? It might have been Viney...Jack was certainly in the Toumpas camp. ...but whatever, I would love to know the true story on it and not the Neeld narrative that is continually thrown around here.

Not many of them want to put their body in line with the ball. In the first half when conditions were tough they would put a hand out and the Hawks ran in straight lines. It was some of their stars like Cameron & particularly Whitfield that were the biggest culprits. Surprisingly I would also add Mumford to the list, not committing himself at the contest. He's playing for his super and very little else...tip toeing around like a baby elephant. Davis, Hayne, Shaw & Green the only ones having a go.

Bennell is a much better player than Jack 'binman'... To my mind there is no correlation between picking up Bennell and moving on Watts. You could argue yay or nay on many grounds but not this one.

Thanks for the info 'steve'... This is what I've been banging on about. Happy to know we are not falling for the hype, that's been a real issue with other clubs in the past. When a club overrates it's list it ends up in tears...

What makes you think they're not???? The only club not lobbying against a start of first round priority pick is GC....

I don't think Fritter should play anywhere else but as our 3rd tall link up forward, a role that Lynch plays with Adelaide. CP5 will run through the middle as one of the rotations as he does now & we could use Melk up the ground as he's probably our best field kick into the forward half. Nothing wrong with that strategy.

You've got rotations off the bench, Melk can play up the ground on a wing, off HB or through the middle, Trac through the middle, Fritsch is our 3rd tall not sure who the other 2 are as yet and I rate AVB ahead of the Smiths and Hannan. ...but history shows it's unlikely he will get back on the park.

You had a reasonable argument 'steve' until you mentioned these 3. 3 of the most professional players in the game. In reality you can't put them in the same argument.

Keep up the good fight 'Ethan', and ' @Pennant St Dee'... A year like this coming on top of many, many others and I'm nearly ready to do the Robert Johnson crossroads deal... I'm even finding Hird nearly palatable as an assistant. I mean, what could go wrong?

Doesn't find enough of the ball for me to make it as a mid...good young mids rack up possessions in the 2's. Think Harmes, ANB and Brayshaw when starting at Casey and they were all getting big numbers. Jordon is a good example of our youngest kid who really gets involved when playing midfield and gets as fair bit of ball. I would try Sparrow back, his strength on the ground, in the air and leg speed could be valuable there plus he may read the play better with the ball coming at him. Could also be a tagger down the track, has the attributes. Happy to be proven wrong about the mid thing, I like a lot of what the kid brings.