The heart beats true

I'm not a Schwab fan but if you seriously think our playing group from today would beat Collingwood tonight if only he wasn't CEO then your drunk. North have had very few injuries all year and have a playing group with an average of 50+ games on our current group.

If I must explain (this is Melbourne forum right?) Neitz was a 300 game player and the longest leader at the MFC. He could win a game of his own boot (unlike Maxwell), and he was aggressive while maintaining discipline (unlike Hall). He lead from the front which is exactly what our club has always and continues to need. Wonder what big Jolly things right now with the Pies being sticked in the middle against North? Pity about Swanny isn't it?

Agreed. He's so bitter and I don't understand why. It's like he wasn't popular at high school and now he has to rub it in our face. He could have very easily ended up at the Bulldogs and North Melbourne and been safely shunted on to the scrap heap of ex players that never achieved a flag. He's a decent player that got lucky in 2 drafts and now he thinks he's an expert on leadership as a result. I'd take David Neitz as a captain and leader over both Barry Hall and Nick Maxwell but I guess Darren wants to ignore that.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/demons-get-in-games-spirit-20120815-24929.html At the bottom of the article. Sounds promising.

Drafting boys based on what they'll be in 5 years is a gamble. Living at home and playing footy for fun with your mates at 17 is very different to having to organize your life and compete against grown bodies that'll do anything to beat you. I find this talk about young potential draftees by most supporters (elite skills, natural leader, future 200 gamer) is the root of the problem. We are feeding the beast. It's obvious that a lot of the players on our list are suffering from thinking they succeeded too soon and as a result they don't go on. Let's all remember this come October when a new round of kids come to the club.

I thought recent comments by McLardy alluded that the Dees may be moving away from Cloke and focussing on mids. I saw this as a big play for Boak. I say Cloke goes to Carlton. He'd look very money hungry if he came to us where if he goes to Carlton he can make the argument about chasing success. He's probably also really impressed with their culture of not tanking

I played footy against his brother as a jnr and then with him for a little while when I was older. He really developed into a good player and was very hard at it. I like the look of his kid brother. I'd trade Bail for him. I don't see Bail's skill level improving and I don't see him winning enough inside ball. Caddy is a no brainer in that swap.

Well then unfortunately we got a dud and my theory doesn't hold up. I blame Neeld.

I had no idea I've been preparing for knee surgery the last 10 years.

Why can't this thread read 'Does the rise of McDonald spell the end for Sellar?' I like Rivers. He has a crack and is an honest footballer with the right temperament for our development. I say keep him for a year if we can get away with it (meaning he doesn't get 2 years from someone else as a FA).

Again, hindsight is 20/20. I can guarantee you that Jolly wouldn't have written this article had they been beaten on Saturday without Swan playing. It's easy to talk up your culture and look the hero when you have a flag, unless of course your the WCE's of only 6 years ago. Worst culture of the passed 30 years and premierships to show for it. Just goes to show that good players that play hard is really what's at the core of a winning culture. I'm sick of Jolly taking cheap shots at Melbourne. I'm sorry we drafted him and gave him a lot more opportunity then he warranted as a kid. Can he please get over it already? Jnrmac, sorry mate, missed the brackets and was genuinely wondering if I was missing something in the article. I'm not sure that this really proves much about Col Syliva though. Based on the same theory Swan won't make it and neither will the Shaws. Not all players can be leaders, some just need to put their head down and get on with it and I'll come to Col's defence here and say that I think he's working on that side of his life.

Where does he mention Sylvia, or even allude to him?

Hindsight is 20/20. Jurrah and Petterd looked like different players at the end of 2010. All drafting is is a series of 'if's' anyways. If Darling came to Melbourne would he be the player he is now? Based on the reality of the other 'if's' you'd have to say no he wouldn't be. Based on the same logic should we just take the best kid this year even if said kid is a light weight outside type? I think we'd have a mutiny on our hands.

Really good points. If Jurrah was fit, Petterd and Syliva delivered on talent and Dunn and Bate were up to it then Darling would have been a wasted pick. Gysberts has had a bad year with injuries and deserves more time. Cook looks like a waste. Struggling in the VFL. A little off topic but does this not make the argument for a stand alone reserves team? When I was playing TAC cup back in the day the AFL reserves comp used under 18's kids to fill up the side and get a look at them against men. That's why I like Viney playing against big bodies now. I think the kids coming from WA and SA have this advantage too. I think Cook would have been sorted out a bit more.

I just don't get this anxiety. It's pretty obvious to me we aren't playing finals next year either. I'd say a realistic goal is 8-10th. That's a big step in the right direction given we'll still be a very young list at the end of next year. So what point is Greeny serving for the club by playing next year? I think we can safely say that he's a great bloke but probably not a natural leader (those at the club certainly showed they think this when Grimes and Trengove became captains). His spot can be filled by a younger body that's not able to run through the midfield yet, while Clark, Howe and a draftee are marking options. Instead of hand wringing and finger pointing lets acknowledge that his time was up BUT that we really appreciate his service to the club. If you want to do something to thank him and help the club go to the Adelaide game.

He looks a player to me. A mix of in and outside. I think he's at a perfect age for us to develop him with out new midfield. I do think he's 3-5 years off his best which is great if he gets there but he needs someone to show him the way. We really need an experienced midfielder that lifts the workload from day one. If we can get someone like that (Boak) and then Caddy and Viney I'm very happy. If it's 3 more young blokes I still have concerns that they don't have enough on field leaders in the middle.

How great would it be if the club came out and said its raising money to pay for the 3-4 100k fines coming our way next year for all the gun players we are publicly grabbing during the year. I'd donate to that!

I hope the club sees the error of its ways and resigns Green for 3 years and then picks up Juice Newton to help solidify the forward line. If Neeld doesn't get this done on day one of the trade period then he must be fired!

I think the issue is that they haven't offered him a good contract though. I think he wants 2 years and they only want 1. I'd have him for 2 years while our guys learn from him.

I don't want Nahas or Riewoldt. Both are overrated. Riewoldt would be a cultural disaster for us. All he does is point and yell. I think the plan is to get rid of those types.

Of the 11 I'd rate them as follows: Brent Moloney - Gone. For his own future and the clubs he needs to be somewhere else. Liam Jurrah - Obviously depends on the case. Have some serious doubts over his body now though. Looks like it might not stand up at this level. Jared Rivers - Offer a one year contract as a back up defender. Deserves to be treated well I think. Ricky Petterd - Gone. Shown nothing. Matthew Bate - Gone. TIme is up. Lynden Dunn - I see him competing with McDonald for a spot. Lynden has more flexibility and can kick the ball long which will become valuable if we get another KPF. One year contract if we don't bring in better players. Joel Macdonald - Read above. Love his effort but his skills are poor and he's just stopping a younger player from developing. Jamie Bennell - Gone. I think Nev Jetta showed enough on the weekend to seal Jamie's fate, especially with his injury. Clint Bartram - Love Barty but his body has given up. Gone James Sellar - Kills me to say it but I think Neeld likes him. If we get a big FA/experienced player from somewhere else he has to go. Troy Davis - Gone. Thats 8 gone with Green's retirement. Bring in 3 jnr midfielders (Viney, Caddy, plus one), 1 gun midfielder (Boak) a couple of project players and a KPF (love to get TIppett) and we look a lot better.

This kids going to be a star. We've been frustrated with him because he's been around for 4 years but with injuries he's only been up and about for about 40 game time weeks in that period. He's going to be our Lewis Jetta. I'd love to see him in a side with Watts, Tom McD, Trengrove, Grimes, Viney, and Howe for the next 9-10 seasons.

Excellent point! Having people around to learn from is a huge help. Gys is hardly developing under the wings of Cale Morton, Brent Moloney and Matthew Bate is he? Nik Nat made it obvious he didn't want to leave WA but I think people forget how strong the desire to go home is when it suits their argument (We wouldn't even have Mitch Clark if he hadn't thought about going home. We just got lucky with cash and timing). Naitinui would have played 2 years for us and then left. Lets hope the home sickness works in our favor with Boak and Caddy.

When you look at half of the blokes nominated for the Rising Star in the same year as Ricky you realize how far he's fallen: Ryder, Hawkins, Pendlebury, Selwood, Mitch Clark, Nate Jones, Boak, Le Cras, Goldsack, Sam Gilbert. He's just never come on. I hope he goes to GC with a draft pick for Caddy.

So thats what happened! You could tell Chris Scott was [censored]. Sheahan is a joke. He said St Kilda are going well and are the best side not in the eight yet at the same time completely dismissed Melbourne. If he watches the replay from the weekend again he'll realize that with one KPF in the team we would have been in front at half time by about 4 goals. We played all over them for 70% of that game. The gap for the Saints between genuine talent (Hayes, Del Santo) and everyone else is huge. I bet Scott Waters didn't think those 8 goals were academic. They won't be academic if they miss finals by percentage. They'll be quite real.