Wells 11

Great post....but as point six is about the only thing I can think of to be positive about I want to focus on that.

Worst game Ive ever seen him play ....and Im big fan. Maybe Walker is THAT good? or Frawleys injured? If neither then he's seriously got some work to do. Ive never seen him make a fool of himself before...he's usually the only one that doesnt. sigh.

As bizarre and painful as its been, we had a big win here didn't we. In all the gloom of this year the footy gods may have turned our way. Imagine ( and no disrespect to an improving and hopefully great Jack Watts) but imagine the pain if we had 2 underachieving number one picks hanging around and the type of crap we'd be getting about that.

For mine, its not so much about the fact that he actually left. Ward, Ablett, Harbrow etc all did the same.....and if someone dangled 6 mill in front of me Id find it hard to say no to as well. So, I don't blame him for taking the money and going.... as tough as it was to lose a no 1 pick. Its the system etc etc. we got compensated well. What I really do still feel [censored] about is the WAY he left. Its not even the "He lied to Jim" thing...although that sucks too. But by what he said and inferred (and by what he DIDNT say and thereby allowed to be inferred) was that he left because of our "culture", because we sacked Bailey, because he didn't believe we would ever be successful etc. None of the other teams that lost players got tarred that way...we did because of how he ( read his management team) handled it. All he had to do was say the money was irresistible, sorry everyone Im out of here. MFC great place...hard to leave..part of my heart etc. Instead of that, he tried to protect his arse, make himself look like a golden uber professional and make the club look like it sucked. Thats the road he chose and the pain he left behind him and why its left an ongoingly sour taste. I think we did well out of the trade but the slur he left hurt us.

Good summary....and yes "bewildering" is also a good description of the amount of NGE on that list. But I do think that "not good enough" tag on Jetta, Nicholson and Bail is still premature and put on Jamar (former AA) and Davey is just plain wrong. Not sure about where to put Dunn.

Thats a massive admission. I havent bought the book yet but what was the reason they did that? Not that it matters so much I guess.

No...but I do believe we got out of jail with that company. And its not unimaginable to think Schwab might have been on to that given his arse was on the line with it.

Has anyone ever wondered if we actually set that scandal up? Nothing but a hunch to back that up. But, for the sake of conspiracy theory, if we became aware, ( after many reported late payments) that actually they had bluffed us and others. How would you get OUT of a sponsorship that, if left, might ruin us. Just a thought.

Yep...great post Deevoted. My only addition would be about Bailey. He had no FD to speak of and given that, realisitically he really did ok. Especially so given how average the list turned out to actually be. Perhaps ultimately this was his biggest failure. Do we blame the recruiters or blame Bailey? In the end it's the coach that pays for those calls. I dont remember the name of the Richmond recruiter who must have suggested Tambling, only that Wallace was coach. But what Bailey DID do was get the players playing for him and to their strengths. Without knowing the inside workings of the club Im yet to really feel the players are playing for Mark or that he is maximising players potential. I hope Im wrong or that that is still developing. Time will tell. I just hope we get both right this time. Recruiting and coaching. Draft day and 2013 is going to be massive for the Dees.

Yep...pity its two years. But if we're still at the bottom like we are now in 2 years time he wont be the only one to jump ship. If we're going to hold these guys and pull new players in, in a free market, we've just got to move up the ladder and be a finals chance or we're stuffed. Blease and Howe resigning is great news and I think we're in for better times now. I'll be looking with interest as the Doggies, and perhaps soon StKilda, try to rebuild in this new era. Glad we're not where they are.

YES..lol. thats a positive sign that I got that wrong. My prognosis is improving...maybe I AM forgetting it.

I'm def jealous. For 16 years of my barracking life it was a fantasy to even imagine making the finals!....I didn't think ANYTHING could make me feel bad after we did in 87. Until...........but Ive well and truly forgiven him for that now...and Cambell and Yeats and Elshaug. ( well....almost forgiven them.) And I have no spot in my memory where a premiership ought to be. Must be wierd to follow them now after following them then.

Scully didnt sign up with GWS while he was playing with us...did he? (Sorry couldnt resist). Oh thats right it was legal last year and this year too ...but ummm not anymore. Yeah right. Watch for a swathe of stories re "did he sign or didn't he" in the coming years, and some scully in front of the cameras denying the rumours and saying how badly he wants to be "a one club player". Or Maybe it will be a bit like tanking. It will only be proved and punished when WE do it and our ex president comes out and says he couldn't possibly stay watching for a full game knowing we signed so and so during the season. I think Im jaded.

Sorry to not be as happy as most seem about this. The biggest story in this that I see is that its in the papers. Either its a big leak or its false. The impact on the player group of a quarter of the list being unwanted will be huge. Everyone who's saying how good this is ought to think about how they would feel working in an organisation where this was happening in the public eye. We're humiliating the players AGAIN and that cant be good for anything other than taking the heat of Neelds coaching. It disturbs me its in the public arena... Theres a month to go of this season the last time I looked. The players had no football department to speak for years because we were broke. Thats at least PART of the reason so many have not come on. You disgrace the playing group en masse like this at a cost...I hope we're not digging ourselves a grave.

I think this is his fifth week missing now for what started as a one week injury. Does anyone know anything about his injury? Please dont tell me its his foot, his back, a broken leg or its career threatening. The silence around it all is stating to concern me.

I cant help thinking this way also re legal teams. If we are left with even a small penalty but a big "slur" we should sue the AFL for discrimination. Given that so many clubs have done the same thing. If we were the only ones to take the rap it will affect the brand for the next decade maybe more. It will affect us in terms of retaining and getting players, sponsorship, supporter numbers etc etc. If we go down....we need to take as many others with us as we can. We cant have this whole tanking thing ( read poor rules re extra draft picks) stuck to US alone. If we do its going to hurt big time.

This ^

Amazing really. He loves the club enough to work "pro bono" for 7 years then, in our year from hell, he tries to kill us WTF! Clearly he liked the power of his position much more than he ever loved the club. As an ex president his line " if you think this is the kind of club you want to support" made me feel sick! Clearly an axe to grind. We would have been considered light weights and "nice guys" had we won 5 games that year...lacking the ruthless edge of a Carlton or a Collingwood. Besides which we werent trying to lose......we were coached (with the medium long term in mind) .... to try to win the firkn FLAG like many before us. A place we havent been for a long time.

The great man has passed, now they want our IRRELEVANT club to die, is this what it's come too……….well F..KOFF vultures, DEMONS DONT DIE. It really IS an us against them culture out there isnt it. Everyone wants to kick us..as a club and as supporters. It could be more great motivation for the players to hang tight and shove it up everyone. If the Dees, as the oldest club in the AFL, are irrelevant then so is the game itself.

I genuinely believe we have an agreement with Collingwoods assistant recruiting manager. He will be in position BEFORE the draft. The recruiting is done by a full team headed up by Viney. He's not on his own. Aside from which I think his contribution, after all his junior involvement would be beneficial. Storm in a teacup

Yep, grt post. I reckon Brock has made himself look like a fool. Firstly because he took the bait. But Secondly he's saying that he left us because we were tanking...and then went to CARLTON. yeah right....high principles Brock . That should win some respect back for you lol. Carlton weren't the first to tank either......but they were the first to do it so blatantly.

Is that heresay or inside info?

Its the season to kick the Dees.....why not Sheedy. If ANYONE should be [censored] off its Williams at GWS. Something like 15 mins after his interview with the bombers they announced Hird as coach. Will we hear about that...nope. Because its his old club and his right hand man. Sheedy is a [censored] who cant accept his relevance as a coach is now over and wants to blame us for revealing that to him 4 years ago. Richmond said no to him as well if I remember. No mention of that either right? He's at GWS as a marketing tool now and making a fool of himself. He WAS a great coach and an outstanding player and he will be remembered as such... but he isn't an AFL coach anymore. Everyone has a time frame and his was... and is, up.

Missing my point a little re MN and NC. Without knowing much about it, its not the synergy between them that Im wondering about. From what Ive heard and read NC seems like a brilliant influence over all that come into contact with him and Im sure MN feels the same. So its not that I think we're using him "badly" . Only that Ive also read between the lines in some of his interviews and heard him missing the involvement on match days. Perhaps its to be expected from an ex coach, except when I saw Thompson on Friday night it made me wonder if we couldn't give Neil more of a role on game day and get him involved. Bay Riffen...you're also right. lol. Thompsons wind up at quarter time didnt exactly spur them into action did it.

We've got him another year and I say we need to give it to him. As frustrating as he's been can anyone imagine how it would feel if we let him go to see him flourish somewhere else! Wrist slashing stuff. The game changed around him and his game style ( yes, the same one he impressed us with in the first 2 years) and he got caught out. He's getting better and can still make it in the new game imo. But if he cant we better be 1000% sure on it or we'll be wearing egg on face for a long time.