rjay

Agree with this, but if they go with Ling they must be convinced and of course there has to be the let out before the handover (no matter who the anointed one is) if it doesn't work. Longmire certainly did the hard yards and did a good apprenticeship. Voss & Hird show the pitfalls if you don't. Could Ling join the long line of Heally, Brereton & Lyon to name a few that are happy to throw dirt from the commentary box but never put their name on the line and take on coaching?

Really good pick up 'Clint' and it really annoys the hell out of me no matter what game I'm watching. It's not about rules anymore it's about which way the coin comes down, heads or tails.

lol...now name them.

No it doesn't and I think there are but we have given away a lot of our picks in this area over the last 3 years. Clark, Dawes, Vince and Tyson all cost us picks in the late teens early 20's and most overlook this. There is a guy called Dean Gore that I really rate on one viewing (I'm going to go back and look at some of his other games) and he is not rated in the top 20 of the so called experts. Look at the Doggies list now, they have invested heavily in the draft and will reap the rewards. We are coming from a long way back and needed to get some experience and leadership into the club. Thank goodness we got Cross and I think Vince has been a good get but we really still lack in young top end talent. I like Tyson, Viney is a beauty, Salem has promise but a long, long way to go and of course Hogan. I don't see anyone else knocking the door down yet. JKH is highly over rated on output at this stage and is no guarantee to make it, Toumpas is to date a disappointment, Kent shows glimpses but really needs to get a lot more footy at the moment he shows less than Tapscott did at a similar stage of his career, Tommy Mc has a lot of flaws in his game but has a good go at it. We do need top end talent, the right top end talent and we need balance in our drafting approach. If we give away all our top end picks this year it will be to make us competitive in the next few years and everyone will say what a genius Roos is but it will never win us that elusive flag and will put us in an even worse position in 4 to 5 years.

Our folly has been the wrong picks and poor trades 'BB', aided by poor management and the introduction of 2 new teams. That's why we have what we have now. If we trade to get a bump now it will be the biggest mistake this club could make. I've said before there is a reason that the AFL imposes draft sanctions, why they effect the long term success of a club and why clubs want to trade back in early. By trading out our high picks we effectively create our own draft sanctions. Last years Tyson trade was a good one because we still got a top 10 pick from it and we managed to right a previous mistake in getting another top 10 pick from a couple of years back, that is not likely to be the case this year. If we're serious about future success we can't trade that away. We need to draft quality at the top end, trade for experience with players, look for value in players like Sinclair and set our selves to go hard at free agency in the next 2 years, not this year. Free agency is where we will get the icing on the top. We should also be pushing for at least 2 PP's this year one at the start of first round and one at the end(at least one of these I would look to trade). Forget the howling of other clubs, it's time our supporters and members considered only our club and started pushing back on the AFL. The introduction of the 2 new clubs has hurt our ability to be competitive, if the AFL is serious about equalisation then this is where they should start, on the ground. They will need to do similar with Brisbane and St Kilda in the next few years. I would love to have McCartin and Petracca at our club. They will both be walk up starts and with Hogan, Viney, McDonald, Salem and Tyson set the way for future success. They will now come into a system with Jones, Cross and Vince giving strong leadership going forward. I was not in favour of bringing in O'Keefe but on reflection adding him to that leadership group and getting a few games out of him might not be a bad thing for the development of a new group.

I don't like the idea of mutually exclusive inside and outside mids. I want players who go hard when they have to, can get there own ball, make good decisions, know how to play footy and dispose of the ball well. Selwood killed us when the game was there to be won, good hard tough inside footy and hard running outside footy set the game up. Hardly the quickest going around but it doesn't matter if you know how to play the game.

Don't agree on Breust, a very good player, good skills, wins his own ball and does go hard when it's his turn.

The answer is presently we don't know and we don't know with any of the assistants, but like you I would have preferred it if Lingy had done some coaching time. It's all a bit of a risk even with Roos overseeing it. Ling ticks some boxes but as 'BB' posts, not all. I really like the idea of Lingy but the question that sticks at the back of my mind is does he have a burning desire to coach and if he does why has he waited to get started? Someone has posted in the past about how these succession plans work and it wouldn't be handed over if he wasn't up to scratch. There should be no 100% guarantee.

They were having a chat about the game nothing sinister. I got the feeling that Viney earned a fair bit of respect from the Geelong boys today, even Stevie J ruffled his hair as he walked past and shook his hand.

Well 'BB' we need to kick off our "Get Ling" thread for the year. If he is to be the successor given he has no coaching experience then Roos will need to commit to his 3rd year plus an extra for the handover.

Pretty much nowhere man on todays performance, just doesn't seem to have the tricks to make it as a consistent AFL player. They really do need to give him a run at it for a few weeks though to see if he can offer anything otherwise he won't retain a place on the list next year.

'Adam', I think it's time for Kent to get more of a run up the ground. I don't see him as a natural forward, particularly with the slim pickings available. Throw him in the guts and lets see if he's got what it takes.

No but incorrect disposal is and it happens time and again. Good to see them tightening up a bit on it this weekend though, I'm sure it will vary game to game and next week it will be different again. I'm not sure that unrealistic expectation is in the rule book either. Last night heard a good one when the umpire told a player the free kick was for interference in a the marking contest...yes I said that's it...then he let the unrealistic expectation thing come out of his mouth...oh no!

I thought you were being serious until I read down. Fewwww...

Not so sure it showed this at all. The stats may but the game itself didn't really. We ran an extra player around the stoppages whilst Geelong just sat an extra back waiting for us to kick it to them which we did more often than not. We have a fair few players that just aren't up to it, some of these guys actually work pretty hard but if we are to go forward they are not the answer. We do need players who can win their own ball, get there fair share and use it when they get it. As for this thread, well we all know it was a little bit loaded.

You know you are going to get some flak and scientific babble on the steak comment 'Gonzo', but I'll get in the trenches with you on this one. He needs to be a lot stronger and be able to hold his ground and I can't see how being a veggie is helping him. Some things just make sense...

So true 'jumbo' but not doing us any favours going over old ground. It's crucial to get the next decisions right.

I think Howe was ok 'joeboy' but went cold after going forward and Riley "showed a bit". The rest would agree on.

He doesn't need a coffee with Joel, he is well on his way. It's the others I'd be more worried about.

I think the first thing PJ needs to do is sign on for the long haul himself and then get Roos to commit for at least another couple of years.

Agree with a bit of this 'picket', not Riewoldt though. We need players who can get there own ball and win hard contested ball then be able to use it. We are building in this area but it should have been better. Recruiting in the past has let us down as we know. One obvious area is a ruckman who can help out and win his fair share of ball. We are automatically one man down in the middle when we take any of our current rucks into the game. Clark is a big loss here, he could do this and go forward to kick goals. I think we need to have a look at who we can bring in. I like Sinclair at the Eagles, struggling for games but can get the ball and kick goals. All is all we need class that can win their own ball, way to many passengers in this team.

Agree, Riley has been ok. He's shown some really good signs, a pre season and he will be a keeper.

Need more than one 'Redleg'. Roos will need to sign on for a bit longer as well as Jackson. This is not a quick fix.

Right on the money here...bringing in the new teams has been a disaster for clubs like ours and has meant that Geelong & Hawthorn have been able to prolong their reign at the top. The AFL will need a major re think. A priority pick will not be the answer, priority picks are what is needed and should have started last year.

Can't see a connection here with Essendon at all, although the writer was trying to draw some. The whole of the community at the moment subsidises the cost of operations to sportsmen and women (that's our money and not just membership money) and in a professional sport like football there is a good argument to be made that they shouldn't be funded by the general public. Not saying it's right or wrong just saying it is a debate worth having.