rjay

Ok, now you are throwing 2 different issues into one, development and trade. I agree with you that development is important and it is an area we have been sadly lacking. Trade for players is not such a big deal in my opinion. If we look at the yardstick in Geelong then appart from Ottens they have not traded anyone into the club for quite a while. They have traded some good quality players out for picks and that's what I would be looking to do. We have traded in Clark and Mclean out for a high pick, I know he was picked up as a high pick but for us to get what we got for him wasn't a bad trade. We're not going to pick up an A grader with a trade (I think you are alluding to that in your PS) and if we did the cost would be too great, we are better with astute recruiting and quality development to grow our own. Diamond Jim, Big Carl, Templeton, Croswell, Moore etc. didn't bring us team success. At the end of this season we need to see who has real currency then make decisions to trade for more picks or if a Kennedy or Mumford are around have a serious look. We are too late now to start to top up our senior players, that horse has bolted. It's now up to the new leadership group and coaching staff to show the way forward. By the way Tim Lamb's police experience might be a real benefit in interviews (interagation), I reckon he might just be able to sniff out a bit of the BS that goes on from time to time.

Much rather use the picks on 2x18yo plus Viney, that's just my opinion. I think the up side is far greater and I also think that Strauss, Gysberts and Tapscott will more than hold their own with Beams and Sidebottom stalling in their development and Wellingham, like him but would rather take my chances in a good draft. Maybe a player trade if anything but these guys are definitely not first round pick trades.

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/players/playerprofile/rorytaggert/tabid/8357/playerid/23841/category/senior/season/2012/selected/bio/default.aspx

Yeah, imagine how much they would have won by if Bartel and Selwood had played good games.

Not a good idea for mine, these 2nd stringers shine with top talent around them. They won't have that luxury with us and it would be a waste of a first round pick. We should take 2 first round mids with Viney in this draft, there are a few really good ones that will be available to us given our recent form.

Check out Richmond this week, they might win the game but they give us a good run for our money on kicking skills. Edwards would be up there with Bartram for the worst kick in the comp and Rance is not far behind.

He can play, just can't get on the park at the moment. Good size, strength, kick and mark to make it as a mid. If the development argument is right and we have it right then he has every chance of making it.

I heard that too, but where are our runners?

If the game was still on I think Bartel would have nailed him, but yep Hawthorn were just as hungry. What a great game.

Seems to be the case not an excuse, hey I don't like the results either but I'm really [censored] off about why our team has stagnated since 2010. Neeld has given us a reason and is trying to rectify it, I just hope he is right. Adelaide started winning games when the coach changed over last year, we didn't?????????? The players didn't play for Bailey and didn't bother when he was gone. Neeld's job was always going to be a hard one but with what he's had to cope with on top of the playing list over the last month he's done well to stand up under the pressure. We played the odd good game over the last couple of seasons but it proved to be a false dawn. Neeld promised to push the players and said some would break, I think we are seeing that now and at the end of the year we will go to the draft with a young leadership group established and ready to bring in a new crop of players to join them who will play and train the way Neeld wants. Trengove is in my opinion a good choice for captain and is well on track, he will get better as the year goes on, he is likened to Jimmy Bartel and watching the game today, well I'll be very happy if he gets to that level. What a great champ Bartel is. I wish we could sprinkle some magic dust but it aint going to happen, maybe we will start to see the wheel turn a bit as the season goes on maybe not. Yep, I've had to sit through the great Fitzroy and Hawthorn floggings, many more downs than ups, I just hope we get it right this time. West Coast turned it around last year, Adelaide may this year, lets hope it's us next year.

It is Development, Recruiting, Culture, Leadership, Coaching, Administration and a whole lot more that goes into making a player. If it was just development alone then you wouldn't be concerned with first round picks at all and be happy with a bunch of 2nd and 3rd rounders knowing that development was all that counted and you had the best development so all of your players would become top liners. Development is not alchemy you are not going to turn Tommy Mc into Buddy Franklin no matter how good your development but you can help him become a damn good player. I think the jury is still out on our recruiting but at the moment it is not looking so good. I would think our development has definitely been sub par with no improvement being shown in our players over the last 2 years. I think this is also the reason Neeld said he was not surprised by the performance against Brisbane. This to me was the most telling thing to come from the club and with all the drama's of the last month it has almost gone un noticed. It made me bloody angry, not that he said it but that he was right and that the club has let it happen. So I can understand the development argument and feel that we have failed some of the kids who have been drafted to our club, some will turn it around and others will fall by the wayside. We now have a good chance to see how our new coaching group go about the development of players over the next couple of years. I'm interested in a couple of test cases from the last draft, Jai Sheahan picked up as a rookie with a bit of inside knowledge from his TAC cup coach was a KPF who played a bit in the ruck. Tall, could take a grab and a good kick both sides. Watching his first couple of training sessions looked like a kid (he is) and a bit lost but they have moved him to defence at Casey where he has been very impressive, he seems to have matured in his short time at the club and may be a player in the next couple of years, let's watch his development. Tynan and Taggert are the others to watch, Tynan has surprised me with how far he has come already, I thought he would be a good couple of years away when I first spotted him at training. Unfortunately Taggert is injured, I was really looking forward to watching him as he came with a ready made body for AFL unlike a lot of the skinny kids we have picked up in recent years. A good size, strong overhead, and big kick. With a few good picks in this years draft, I would look to trade for more picks and trust that we have the development in place now to grow our own.

I think some questions need to be answered, so I hope there is no over zealous censorship.

Sacking Norm Smith.

Spot on with the technique and it may also be a philosophy re the most stupid thinking error in football about pinning the arms so he can't get a handball away. Players will lift there arms in a tackle if allowed to but if you drive a tackle through the lower body I guarantee they won't keep doing it if they keep getting the wind knocked out of them and the ball drops free. The best tackler technique wise in the AFL at the moment is Nik Nat, a perfect example was the one he laid on Magner today, the guy is 200cm to Magna's 178cm and he got in nice and low and took him out, Magna had no chance to give off the ball. It did my head in the amount of missed and or poorly executed tackles today.

At least I got a laugh out of this one, and I needed it. Thanks..

Sorry Sloonie but as much as I love Howey he was very ordinary today, could not stick a tackle. Really needs some adjustment time at Casey but there are about another 15 or so in front of him there.

The tackling is just f....d. The only ones we stick are too high. More on this later.

These companies have had someone bearing cash, of course they will do biz with them. The power companies in particular do anything for a sale, door to door and phone BS so I wouldn't use them as paragons of virtue.

Clark needs a run in the ruck. Selwood loose cause we are already tagging Priddis and Kerr.

Bartram v Priddis?

Hope Clark has a run in the ruck, as someone said on SEN crunch time, Ottens went to Geelong as their answer as a key forward and look what he ended up. I can see the same with Clark, very mobile big man and would be damaging around the ground.

I think I used this quote on another thread about the same issue. I agree with you about the sponsor, and when it was announced on the footy show I had a bad vibe about it and talking to a mate the next day he felt the same way. However if something didn't add up to me then I find it difficult to believe it didn't for CS, like him or not he is a smart guy. So...he must have had a reason for taking this sponsorship on. Maybe it was a punt as no other sponsors were in the wings and something was better than nothing (then working to get that elusive FOJ sponsor to cover if something went a up), maybe it was a deflection, a good news story in an otherwise bad news year or to sure up his position in the club or maybe he is just not as smart as I give him credit for. Having said this I think Melbourne has handled the issue very professionally and I think Patrick Smith is way off the mark with his article which to me puts him in line for goose of the week, although I'm sure he will find a loop hole to rule himself out.

That private conversations or official conversations in Rendalls case have been leaked to the media is a big issue for me. The media chose not to print the BS about Neeld 3 to 4 weeks ago until Thomas took the bait last week, someone has been spreading this story about trying to get a bite and it points back to someone in the AFL. This was not a private conversation between Misssssfud and Thomas, it was between someone and Carro, Pat Smith .......and how many journos.

I find Patrick to be a top notch journo and usually find him to be thought provoking even when I don't agree with what he is saying but with this column we really need the moron button. Does he really think the CEO could make a unilateral decision to dump the major sponsor without board approval, it was always going to happen Patrick it's just that due process needed to take place. I would be more concerned that Victory put out a statement they were looking into the situation before they acted.

He was rambling on about Mitch Clark being the highest paid player at the club and then he made an off handed comment that he didn't know why suppporters would want to put money in trying to link the 2. Yep, I know it is a 2 + 2 = 8 argument that doesn't stack up. Then he mentioned Leigh Mathews name to justify what he was saying. I think Leigh might be back tracking a bit after Hudson was subbed off last night. I really think there is a big issue with Greg Denham and Cam Schwab so he sinks the boot whenever he can.