Watts Jurrah Dunn?

Thanks for sharing this mate but we need mids, mids, mids, skilled half backs and more mids. No point building a dream forward line if we get smashed out of the middle week after week and it never gets into our forward 50. Very little interest in Boyd. Perfect fit for the saints pick 1 in my opinion given McCartin and co are so underwhelming.

Surely if the Swans were to win it this year and Parker has 2 Premiership Medals by the age of 22 he would have to seriously entertain a 5 year $3m offer and the chance to move home? They have highly rated young midfielders coming through in Tom Mitchell, Lloyd Perris and now Isaac Heeney, and Sydney surely can't afford to match a big offer. He was a Dandenong boy so the Casey alignment shouldn't be a huge turn off. I think Roos might look to turn one of our early picks into 2 ready made players so what about the compo pick for Luke Parker and Zac Jones? If both players were going to get significant pay increases and really want to get to Melbourne Sydney might see it as some some slight salary cap relief and with a top 5 pick they could then take Durdin, the best young KPD in the draft, as Grundy and Richards are nearing the end?

RPFC, if you're going to hold onto blokes until they turn 27 (Pederson), or give 5 ft 9" back-pocket players 6 years on the list before they show something, we will never move up the ladder. Even the club knew Pederson was a spud when Roos and co told him he'd be paid out at the end of this year if he didn't improve. I am pleased that they have proven me wrong and Roos has turned them into serviceable, good ordinary AFL players. You scoff at me wanting to delist these players for late draft picks and rookie picks yet last year we could have taken a Tom Derickx with a delisted free agent pick before the draft and we would have a better player than Spencer and Fitzpatrick. We could have taken Jonathon Simpkin the year before and had a better player than Evans and McKenzie. Jeremy Laidler was there last year and he gets a regular game at Sydney. Pick 95 in the National Draft could have got you Eli Templeton who showed as much in 5 games as Jetta did in 5 years. Anthony Miles could have been taken late in the ND. Given you have to make at least 4 changes (I believe?) I would be really disappointed if a club in our position only gets rid of 6. The Evans, McKenzie and Spencer contracts are still absolutely baffling for mine. How you can call Spencer 'competent' back up is beyond me given opposition sides moon-walked the ball out of the centre square until Jamar came back. It was laughable how Spencer could not even get hands to the ball and he's had 6 years of development. I'm beginning to think you are Tim Harrington.

Thanks rpfc. If we only get rid of 6 from this pack of spuds though I'll spew. Got to turn some picks into 2 players, and turn picks into 2 picks. Cannot for the life of me work out how Evans can be contracted for another year. Doesn't get a kick at VFL level and has been in the system for years, albeit with some back injuries. He is no where near it though and is seriously challenging Spencer as the greatest list clogger of the modern era.

And some people think Tapscott, Blease and Strauss are worth persevering with. What a bunch of spuds. Top 20 draft picks that can't even stand up at vfl level. See you later.

Jamar's contracted for next year so obviously he didn't mean replace right away. As Roos said to ling post match, games are won and lost in the middle. We need more quality through there. We corrected the midfield in a big way but Cross is 31 and Vince is about 28. We need mids and half backs that can run and use the ball and get it forward efficiently.

Jamar's contracted for next year so obviously he didn't mean replace right away. As Roos said to ling post match, games are won and lost in the middle. We need more quality through there. We corrected the midfield in a big way but Cross is 31 and Vince is about 28. We need mids and half backs that can run and use the ball and get it forward efficiently.

The main difference for mine was the run and kicking of Young, Seedsman, Williams and Langdon. Compare that to the run and creativity of Grimes, Terlich, Jetta. McDonald and Garland. The only bloke down back that can kick is Dunn. Hope Roosy can pull off another Rhys Shaw type pick up.

I am really proud that Grimes delivered the 'spoil of the year', Dawes delivered the 'tackle of the year' and Viney delivered what I would call the legal 'hit of the year'. Also loved Dawes making sure Jaensch didn't get the kick away without any physical contact. So many great 1%ers and tough acts. I have been really critical of Grimes but his game on Saturday night was exceptional. He has no right to stay with Dangerfield on the lead. A brilliant effort.

Demonland membership should be revoked if: A) you think you'd get any better than pick 40 for jack watts, or B) you think that Terlich, at age 24, might still be able to tidy up his kicking and decision making and make it at this level. It infuriates me that people are this stupid, but I guess they're probably the same supporters that think Jetta, bail, Evans and Spencer, who've each been on the list for 4-6 years, aren't list cloggers.

Spot on. I think it was the Footy Show where Hogan mumbled that his back was a bit sore before the Geelong match and it flared up after the match.

Wouldn't it be great if there was a Jaeger O'Meara or a Deledio available in this years draft. I am so deflated that they are talking about the first handful of players being key position talls who'll take 3-5 years to develop.

I'd just love to see Roos concentrate on getting some good kicks in the back half. For years we have relied on terrible kicks such as Frawley, Grimes, McDonald, Terlich etc to bring it out of the back half. No wonder we chip it backwards and sideways. These players have no confidence in their disposal to kick to anything half-creative, and those up the field don't run or spread because they don't have any confidence in the kicker either. The only times on Sunday that we looked half decent were when Tyson and Toumpas drilled 40m flat balls from half back to the corridor. I would play Blease and Tapscott in back pockets, and have a Toumpas or Vince floating around half back at all times as well. I'd play Fitzpatrick on Jeremy Cameron and teach Fitzpatrick a lesson. Pederson should also play back. He couldn't go any worse than Frawley has been. Frawley and Dunn to both play forward and just crash packs and make a contest, which Fitzpatrick was pathetic at.

Terrific thread Scythe, and a pretty good summary. I can't believe there are still supporters stupid enough to defend Grimes, Terlich, Bail, M Jones etc. Must like fumblers, terrible kicks and 15 goal losses. I would turn 25-30 players over in the next 2-3 seasons. The only players I wouldn't phase out would be Hogan, Jones, Salem, Watts, Toumpas, Dawes, Viney, Tyson, Dunn, Kent, Garland, Vince, Kennedy-Harris, McDonald and Gawn. Trengove and Grimes are no where near AFL standard. I even think that pick 2 as compensation for Frawley this year would be overs and could be turned into 2 good players. Picks 1 and 2 could potentially be turned into 3-4 very good players, as Tyson and Salem will prove to be. Just have to be patient and let Roos and Viney bring 25-30 new players into the club, and hopefully get 3/4 of them right like they did in the pre-season just gone.

How does David Misson have a job? I'm no sports scientist but I reckon I could have written a program that would have had one of Clark, Dawes, Hogan, Gawn and Jamar on the park.

Take whatever we can get for Trengove at the end of this year. When a midfielder is being overtaken on the lead by Eric Mackenzie he's got no future at the top level.

Grimes and Trengove no where near afl standard. Can't kick, can't run, no strength, pace or mongrel.

New year, fresh hope... Until you see spuds like bail, spencer, jones, Byrnes and Terlich still getting games. What I'd give for some aggro and mongrel as well. Plenty of nice boys there with Hogan, Viney and. Kent missing. A very soft side. Thank goodness we're playing sandy zebras' midfield.

My observations: Vince, Tyson, Michie, Cross, Georgiou, Hogan all terrific. Heart in mouth every time Grimes, Terlich, M Jones, McDonald, Mckenzie, Bail, Nicholson touch it. High possession game style won't take us far if these blokes are playing. Trengove just seems to go in slow motion. 15m from Horlin-Smith on a couple of fast plays. Just staggering to think he was a pick 2. Byrnes just a spud. Blease just doesn't do enough. JKH and Kent before these 2 any day! Watts needs to be much stronger over the ball. Give away the taps in front of yourself and playing for a holding the man free kick. Someone please make the Spencer project stop. Tries hard at ground level but his ruck work and contested marking are non-existent.

Tyson and Salem v Kelly/Aish/Billings and Gardiner/Crouch/Taylor/Dumont. Don't forget we gave back that 2nd round pick for 9 as well.

I went to training around late November / early December and noticed that Garland was trailing off last in all of the 200-300m runs that day. He looked terrible. I guess this might explain why.

Wow. And let's bring back Simon Godfrey and Luke Williams while we're at it, because it's still not too late to learn how to kick. Nicholson and Bail are nothing but list cloggers mate.

I went and had a look for half an hour from about 10:45-11:15. Was hard with the rain but don't think I saw Salem, Vince, Jamar, Kent, Dawes, Blease, Fitzpatrick, Clisby or Byrnes while I was there. A few keepings-off drills, then some end to end stuff with an emphasis on running back hard once the attacking team kicked for goal. Some grappling when I was leaving, trying to rip the ball off a bloke on the ground. Watts is still Watts. Seems to lope around, appearing to go at about 3/4 pace and intensity. Maybe he was buggered, but I don't think he'll ever be as ferocious as you need to be. Trengove's pace didn't look any better to me. Had about 5m-7m on Nathan Jones to collect a bouncing ball on a flank. Trengove loped to it, Jones shut the gap down in no time. Trengove fumbled and away Jones went with it. When I arrived Tyson was on a neighbouring oval with Gawn, Jetta and McKenzie. One would kick to the 3 at the other end with two of them leading and one applying a bit of pressure. Looks a beautiful left foot kick. Very solid through the legs and backside. Watched him then join in the running with McKenzie and he was finishing 3-5m behind McKenzie in a 200-300m run. He's certainly a footballer before an athlete. Liked the size of Harmes. Nice frame, decent height, was beating Viney in the 200-300m runs. Didn't see him with a footy though. One skinny brown haired kid caught my eye with a dashing defensive run from half forward to half back to pick up his man. Asked one of the trainers and it turns out it was Roosy's son. No surprises he has had the defensive, gut running drilled into him! Great to see Mitch Clark bounding around and in everything. The highlight for me was Hogan. Capable one minute of drilling a hard, low 40m pass to Terlich who didn't have to break stride, then outmarking Dunn when he had no right a minute later. Kick came in for Hogan and it was probably going over his head. Dunn had the run up and should have spoiled. Hogan pushed back hard, somehow bumped Dunn and then took it at full stretch in the wet. Would love to see Hogan thrown into a few centre bounces next year a la Jarryd Roughead. Looks like he can just do it all.

Anyone else a bit surprised Blease, Strauss and Watts wouldn't be back training today? Blease and Strauss have only done a couple of full pre-seasons and we know Blease couldn't run out of sight on a dark night. Watts is supposedly going to become a big, strong, two-way running midfielder and he's never done a pre-season as a mid. Would have thought these 3 would be doing every session possible and trying to impress the new coaches. I know I would be.

For mine Taggert has all the attributes, except for that hard edge/mongrel. Seems to be happy collecting 12-15 possessions a game, but doesn't really like the physical stuff all that much. Only a little thing I know, but I've seen him get pushed and then not push his opponent back. A little too 'bruise free' for mine. I think he's got by as a junior being 6 ft 2 and a beautiful kick, but he will really need an engine and an appetite for the contest before Roos will even consider him.