rjay

The common wisdom (which is often not so common or wise) is he left because he couldn't get a game.

See, there you go again... You don't even know what I think of Lumumba, his time at Melbourne or his view of the world but it has nothing to do with what I'm talking about. So, if you do some research you might see that I didn't think we should have brought him into the club in the first place and I was happy to see the end of him. He was a Roos vanity exercise. However this has nothing to do with some of the points he is making, and I stress some. I don't know if he is a victim or not, I think he is a very lucky man to have the opportunities he had and still has. He has a voice that for better or worse gets heard unlike most of us. ...but, I think we are over some of the nicknames that are offensive to some, him included. Also, there are racist elements in society as you well know. I actually happen to think they go both ways. I also think there are major indigenous issues to be sorted out and am interested in all opinions. I don't think the victim mentality and a lot of side issues really helps the debate but someone might convince me otherwise. So, there you go. I'm not left or right, I have my own opinions and they are flexible. That means I like to listen and consider other peoples opinion. ...so go ahead and label me whatever you like. I actually hate labels myself, a bit of a simple way to look at life.

Sad news to start the week with Walter Becker passing away. Half of Steely Dan with his partner in song Donald Fagen, he's left a great legacy. Not sure what you would call their music, all I know is that I loved it. Very intelligent music with great lyrics that sat well with the song even if I couldn't understand what they were on about for the greater part. Have to admit that. Here's a small example of his and Donald's ''Whack" sense of humour...

Agree 'hardtack', although at times (a lot of times) he appeared somewhat misguided it's his view. You would really need to walk in his shoes to fully understand. Maybe for some it would be worth getting past the headline and preconceived ideas and at least considering what he has to say. But I think that a lot and of a lot of people and situations. Unfortunately we seem to deal in headlines, scandal and quick grabs without taking the time to dig a bit deeper. Also, unfortunately some are just going for the quick grab and set us all up in the process. I thought the interview on SEN this morning with Andrew Krakouer was excellent by the way, he told his story well.

Jake is a battler, amazing some on here seemed to think he would be picked up by another club this preseason as their first ruck choice. All he needed was a chance. The word is we have offered him another year. Personally I think he has got the most out of his talent but his time is done here. I would like us to pick an experienced ruck with some runs on the board to be backup for Max and help with the development of the kids, both ruck and mids...

Unless we can trade in another first rounder then pick 10 looks headed to Adelaide...I hope the deal is done on the first day with no p.....around.

For those not so enamoured with getting Lever...think Josh Gibson, who would have guessed he would be the player he became. Yet this guy is a no brainer, at worst he's going to be a very good player. We're cherry picking to build a team people. We either sit on our hands or do something proactive. The football department have marked KPD as a weakness from last season, this hasn't changed. I like the approach, we need some class down back.

Nice addition to stoke up your argument but he arrived in Bailey's time...a few coaches back.

Yep, win win. We swap our VFL level player for their WAFL level player...

Is this a trick question 'Red'? I think it's pretty obvious who the 18 coaches would select, they like giving him (Oliver) votes and the other 17 coaches for some reason that seems to escape the AA selectors like to tag him. Obviously a waste of time for someone who doesn't do any damage with ball in hand. Maybe they should watch the games and not just go by the metres gained and handball stat sheet.

Seems to be a forgotten man but had a real purple patch last year. Really looked good and very composed in defence. Anyone know what's gone wrong? How was his NEAFL form? Was he injured? 22yo promising key defender, is he worth looking at?

It's a very big if 'Owl'...I think he's likely to be cooked by the end of this season & won't have another game in him. Agree...

McVeigh will be lucky to see out the end of this season let alone another. With recurring calf problems it looked like he was done earlier in the year but has made a great comeback. Only one more recurrence and he's done. No thanks...

Whether this is true or not, one thing I do know is that after we came out fired up against the Saints in the first Q we haven't fired a shot since... 1 quarter of footy in 3 weeks. We thought we were over the line, had it in the bag, finals were just a formality.

The curse of this club is the late 80's/90's, it hangs over everything that has happened since....Hollywood Boulevard, the failed merger the odd even years of the Daniher times, Gutnick, CS... These are the things that are still surviving (just) and have an impact on the culture of the club as it sits now. Forget the so called Norm Smith curse now, there is no doubt that the mid to late 60's through the 70's were badly effected by decisions made after '64. ...but have no doubt our current woes go back to more recent times and one of the key players sits on his high horse and criticises the current group. Things are being worked through now but it seems a bit more time is needed.

Will need pick 10 for Lever anyway 'steve'...

I also think he has a way to go 'Diamond' but to say he is not damaging enough is not correct if you take in the view of the coaches. He's the only player we have that is consistently tagged and I've heard the Richmond FD in particular say that their defensive planning revolved around stopping Oliver. Stop Oliver and we are in some trouble, Collingwood worked him over and it worked early on but he got out and with Trac was responsible for our comeback...they couldn't do it on their own. This is also backed up by how he has poled in the Coaches award. My own view to back this up is that when he gets his kicking & outside game together, and he is a very good kick, he will go to the elite level. He's already there with his inside and handball game, there is no doubt in my mind that he's now the most damaging player with hands in the competition.

Ah yes I forgot the plural... Kornes Family - a tribe of irrelevant F...Wit's

Kane Kornes - definition; Irrelevant F....Wit

Nah, just angry 'Red'. Was also angry last week as I could see this happening, and also thought Frost would be brought up. Whether it's the Macs or one of the Macs & Frost...we have a problem there. We only have Jetta and Hibberd that can be relied upon and Hibberd was starting to look a bit tired in the last few games. Interesting that his mate Hurley (the 2 that didn't train during the suspension) is struggling with injury now. It's one of the things I agree with 'stevetheman' on...with our backline it's shuffling the deck chairs. We need to add some class there and of course in the midfield. I'm more worried now that we have missed out, that our opportunity to pick up someone like Lever has diminished.

Always going to happen over there, you have to factor that into any game unfortunately. Not Adelaide's fault. It's one of the reasons I thought we were only an outside chance after losing to EdBuck/Wood.

If Richmond (or someone) gave us a first rounder I would take it...there's always been a bit of tiger talk around him. Otherwise a keeper...

Three...Oliver, Viney, Trac. We need to get more class in there.

No...if there's one thing we really need it's players who can hit a target.