Wells 11

He reminds me of a young Jack Watts to be honest. Not re the decision making ( which Watts always excelled in) but more so the sense of physical uncertainty he projects on the field Yet he also does do a lot of things well. The trouble with replacing him is that Frost, Garland and Smith are all now unavailable so I don't see we have a great deal of choice. My heart went into my mouth every time I saw him in a one on one......and, as others have said, for now at least he is definitely one of our weak links. Its the simple errors that he makes ...dropped chest marks, kicks under no pressure that go over the head of someone 20 meters away... that make him an occasional liability. But he IS young and developing and I just think we have to bite the bullet, keep putting time into him and maybe I'll try to remember to take deep breaths when he has the ball!

Funny that this is the LEAST talked about point in all of this. Robbo and his puppy Ralphy are constantly drawing threads to Essendon re WC. Its just another way of airing more pro Essendon complaints imo. I can hear the not so subtle sub text How come despite "the lack of proof" Essendon got hammered where WC got off. Or its clear now that this has obviously all been a conspiracy against Essendon. The only reason EFC got hammered is that ASADA got involved or it would have been swept under the carpet like everything else. Even then they tipped them off and organised a trial that would find them innocent. Everything gets swept under the carpet except the tanking saga...because hey, that was really serious! Or so said the betting agencies that was paying big bucks. I still feel angry about the public shaming the dees got in that period of time. For doing something that probably half the comp had done. Despite enjoying much of her work since....I also can never fully forgive Caro for going so hard. For questioning our right to exist as a club and Stynes' legacy.

It does feel big doesn't it. Round one always feels that way, but we're also playing another side who may be battling for the same ladder spot. Huge 14 game hoodoo to break, Goodys first regular season game a the helm with us and Vineys first as co captain. So...re season defining.... If we win I agree, if not I'll scoff at it.

That's a big call Rangie. In the stories Ive heard, Wells didn't have much of a say in it.

Well compared to recent years yes, be jealous. But he, like the team then was such a tease. Its hard to remember those " semi-golden" years without a sense of disappointment. I guess Im an old cynic now but I get no real joy out of Jakovich memories because we never quite got there.

Ive been hearing commentary about the inside 50 count for woman and how it doesn't have the same meaning that it does for the mens game. They're saying, and I agree, that inside 50's can still be 2 kicks from goal for the woman. The stat we really need for the AFLW is inside 30's. Imo the stat that really hurt us against the giants and Brisbane was poor kicking for goal!

yes re the North game. In my memory he had 11.1 on the board at 3/4 time that day. Kicked 7 points in the last. He hit the scene like Franklin hit the scene...irrepressible. But didnt take care of his injuries apperantly, and very amateurish in approach. Next to schwartz was THE big heart ache re injuries Ive had in 40 + years of following the dees.

wow...THE destination club. Find that hard to believe. But Im glad to hear it

Lets hope its simple. It does go to show how hopes can so easily get undone though doesnt it. i have strong memories of the preseason when Charles, Schwatz and Jakovich all got injured ( all three of the cusp of being absolute mega stars) and all three were virtually career ending. My head protested but I knew in my heart we weren't going to win that flag which had seemed so close. To win one you just got to have the footy gods on your side....or in the case of GWS have the odds so heavily stacked in your favor that even the gods cant stop it. We need a really good run if we're going to sneak one in the coming GWS era. Fingers firmly crossed on Jesse

...and the more open game that is being pushed by the AFL will suit him. He wil be a star imo. But so will Clarry . Im expecting both to be A grade. I highly doubt anyone from EFC or MFC will regret who they recruited. Would have been satisfying to have Toumpas V Wines situation run in our favour for once....but it wont be the case.

yep...Im getting over the Watts bashing too. I cant believe we're back here to be honest....after all the work Roos did to change the subject

Agreed! why end it? .....theres still lots more pleasure we can get out of this yet.

I liked your thinking re Spencer and the tackles / forward pressure. In the abcense of a dean kent or AVB I agree with you. I also don't feel weed is ready. In fact, not even close yet. I also think Vince on Riewoldt is a worthy option. Rooey will out mark anyone so its just when the balls on the ground anyway. Plus vince is experienced enough to use that and not to be awed by him Last time we played them they left Reiwoldt unmarked (as we were zoning) and he murdered us as he does EVERY time we play. Its almost embaressing. In general after quarter time our style looked awful at the ground that day. I doubt they will cover man for man but last time the saints could have won by 15 goals...so I hope we've got a few more tricks up our sleeve if things head south. Given what he did to Franklin ( and got away with) , expect Hogan to be manhandled by Carlisle and his influence nullified. He kicked 7 that day and was one of our only winners so Who's going to kick the goals? Garlett is a massive out for us imo. As much I WANT this one (for 100 different reasons) ...I cant see us taking them at that venue........ this time. But Im flying interstate to see it so I sincerely hope Im wrong.

I think Im just burned still by Neeld. He made it his aim to "get tough" with all the players ...and, lets face it, was cheered on by many on this site to do so. We all know how that ended. Roos got so much out of the players using a very different method. So when Goody "gets tough" with Watts or makes a hard call with JT its hard not t be reminded of the darkest years this footy club has ever known. I think Goody generally is a big players man...and from what Ive read has excellent relationships with them and the coaches. His moves with JW and JT have def made me nervous but he's gotta find out who HE is as a coach. The last thing we want is someone too scared to make tough calls.

We're like 50% behind the crows or something so I doubt a goal or two is gonna fix things. We have to win and they have to lose....full stop. Fingers crossed.

A better coach than he was ever given credit for and kept operating somehow in a pretty toxic environment. Noble under pressure. RIP

Think this describes it accurately. He lacks some of that wise , calm perspective that Roos so effortlessly brought and I think he's pulling a few wrong levers. Nothing TOO drastic just missing a little. But, unlike Roos, his reputation and coaching future lies firmly in the results column of his time with us. He's 100% invested in a way Roos didn't need to be. So I guess he's got to be allowed to find his way. Worst case scenario, its mid year and Watts, who hasn't found find form is dropped and people question our handling of him AGAIN...and Trengove injures himself in the mud at Casey. Best case Watts comes back in and fires up and Trenners pushes up and proves all the doubters wrong.

Im not sure if the author actually expected us to believe that line but I, like you, read that incredulously and laughed out loud. lets see, they injected their players with PED's en masse for a full season. They then had a viral spate of soft tissue injuries that completely gave the game away. They were tipped off ( a move the AFL must regret daily) They then burned the records, denied everything and hired a hit man to shut everyone up. They then tried to run both ASASDA and WADA out of town , shame them as much as possible and just litigate the crap out of everything that moved on the story. Hird who at the VERY least was a part of it if not the instigator, took the heat. But not before it was made clear to us all that really the AFL was to blame and going on air for an hour to say how innocent he was. But no "tanking" is what REALLY bring the game into disrepute. Now we are endlessly bombared with "returning heroes" stories and "Jobes new love"stories and "Poor Hird" stories..like they were all set upon for no reason. This story is THE biggest scandal in the AFL in my lifetime, perhaps in its entire history ...and somehow its all swept away now. The club should have been suspended for a year.

Hope you're right re the hawks....Im more than sick of them to be honest.

6 of them had us in the 8. Including Loyd, Brerton, King and Jay Clarke. King had us as high as 5th. Not sure Ive always found him that reliable but he DID pick the Neeld diaster before anyone else. Lets hope they're right. 8 of them thought Stkilda for the 8. I have sense it may be them or us.

I feel a need to be realistic here. Lets look at the top teams. Hawthorn, Swans, Dogs, West coast, Geelong, Adelaide, Giants. Something massive would have to happen to get those guys out of the top 7 positions. Huge Home ground advantage for 5 of them. Even the teams in so called decline ( Geelong, Hawthorn) have topped up with free agency....and I cant see them falling very far, if at all. But lets say one or even TWO of them has an unexpected crash somehow. I cant imagine that happening but its possible. So, if we say optimistically that that is the top 5 - 7 ( that I doubt we will be breaking into) then its a bun fight between St Kilda, Melb, Collingwood, Richmond, North, Power and (I hate to say it) Essendon for the last 1 -3 positions. Stkilda will be expecting to get there no doubt, Power would be expecting that too, Collingwood always expects and is a always a possibility. Essendon with so many guns back etc cant be discounted. North and Richmond less likely but they wouldn't be considering themselves out of it either. I can see a crazily close season with teams regularly knocking off teams above them. If plenty goes right and we win the close ones Im gonna say 7th. If not 10th.

Agreed. Gut instinct says he's pulled the wrong rein slightly on both Viney as co and his PUBLIC handling of Watts. But I suppose his been waiting a looong time to get hold of an AFL side. His career and all his cherished ambitions are here on the line too, so cant expect him to be perfect either. Seems like there is plenty of good will and respect for him and I reckon anyone playing would see that a new coach is going to up the ante. Including Watts. One thing for certain is that this team will be intense competitors. My hope is that Jones is big enough to share the role without fuss ( pretty sure he is) and that Watts gets selected and plays well this week and for many weeks and the story about him goes away fast. Anyone thinking he isnt a part of out best 22 has got incredibly short memories. If we're gonna win it with this crop...he is going to be a big part of that. My other hope is demons deep into September THIS year. I swear I can almost taste it.

Agreed . Except if Gil goes down its going to be portrayed as he was guilty and the bombers were innocent. Part of me would love it to be opened up again and the real extent of the performance enhancing drug use to be made public, Essendon to shamed all over again and Gil to be sacked.

Its frikn unbelievable this resurfaces it really is. These c#ckheads at the Sun and at EFC ( is there a difference?) dont know when to take a break. It 100% exposes that a Gil spoke of a deal with the bombers that he had to change. Thats IT. Is it a scandal that the head of the AFL would try to do a deal to get a club off after it had monstrously flouted the most important rules in the game? . Yes. But we all already knew that and that this thing stunk. Does it in any way show that the EFC didnt drug their players ...no. Does it any way clear any of them ...no. All It shows their utter arrogance and outrage at being confronted by their own cheating. And how they are determined to get back at Gil for having the temerity to try and save them somehow. Somehow the story their spinning is how Gil backed down from his "deal" not that the bombers were drugging their players???? In some ways I think the dees had a small part in this. We lay down so easily over the tanking "scandal" that Gil thought he knew how to handle things. He accepted a "not guilty" from us but let the papers shame us unmercifully before and since. With the bombers the deal was the opposite. You accept guilty ( because we cant possibly rescue you from this) and we'll make sure the penalty is as small as possible and that the press support you. ie we'll try to make it go away. He forgot that the bombers had way more money than we did and were prepared to sacrifice several million to save face. But in the end...the players were still doped, Drugs were still in the club and being injected into the players. Forget the word "supplliments". I wish ASADA had banned the team for a year ....and I wish Gil wasnt such a [censored] and saw past his own need to have a " no mess" situation and get how SERIOUS performance enhancing drugs in football really is. Can we ban the sun for a year too? sheesh....this stroy made me angry

To be fair it probably would have been Gutnick that would have had to pay for it personally. But he could have changed the club in ways no one before or since could. I always wished he could have been more like Pratt was at the blues. He's broke now anyway . The Melbourne lament isnt it. " what might have been" We need a base....and the longer we dont have one the more precarious things get imo.