King Kunta

In a draft that seems to be devoid of standout midfield talent, Kelly would be the player I'd happily settle for. The ability to spread and have players wiling to link up to create the extra man on the switch is very important in moving the ball from defense to attack in today's game. As noted by many, Kelly is the best runner in the class and knows how to accumulate the ball (something the Demon's list does not have). Furthermore the more times he uses his disposal the better off your team will be, he has a very neat left-foot ala Nick Dal Santo. Dominated the APS as a year 10 against much older and bigger bodies, and is an outstanding human being who will improve the standards and culture of the club.

That's not a bad take, when I saw him at training I was also impressed with his speed and without getting the measuring tape out I could see that he is taller than the other mids ala Griffin.

Forgot about Matt Jones the reference was to Nath although Matt did get several plaudits from the coaches Brian Royal in particular.

I got there early to catch Viney, Nicholson and Couch out on the oval practicing hitting moving targets out of defence. No surprises Viney's kicking had a lot more penetration and accuracy than the others whose disposal still needs work After an extensive warm up the boys began a match simulation exercise where the ball would be marked on the half back flank with the objective of getting the ball forward. With resistance only in the form of four or so defenders as opposed to ten rebounders, the team in possession were able to move the ball effectively the majority of the time, except for Davis (won't get a game until disposal improves), Nicholson, Tynan and Gillies who all turned the ball over at times much to the displeasure of the coaches. There was a key focus to play on at all times and there was lots of ball movement through the middle and switches to the fat side. Dunn really impressed with his run out of defence, he looks incredibly fit and seems to have gained a yard or two in pace. Thereafter, the group split into blues and whites for separate drills. Down the other end of the ground there seemed to be a kick out type drill. Whereas the end I was watching had a 6 on 6 exercise deep in defence where a group would try to move the ball out by hand under lots of pressure form the opposing 6 players. As expected the bigger bodies thrived with N Jones and Viney the standouts, consistently being able to rebound the ball cleanly by hand. These two seem to be a level above all other midfielders with their pace, size and tenacity. Others who impressed were Strauss who showed good pace and was willing to back himself, Dunn again used his bigger body to break tackles and McKenzie was the standout chaser and haggler. The final drill was end to end match simulation with 15 or so a side plus interchange. Watts, Dunn and Terlich were all used a lot in defence when switching and were all good by foot, throw in Jetta, Strauss and Nicholson and there's going to be a lot of competition for those roles as rebounding defenders. Dawes and Pedersen both took good marks presenting high up the ground at the ball carrier. Rory Taggert had a period he would rather forget where he dropped a simple mark causing the drill to restart, only to be used again in the next passage where he kicked a shocking wobbler out of bounds. Also the forward pressure was much improved, Dawes always impressed me when he was at Collingwood in this facet and he seems to have brought that intensity along with him as they were consistenly pressuring and forcing errors deep ind defence. All in all a solid session with Dunn, N Jones and Viney the standouts.

Just finished, Howe walked gingerly off early after a marking contest with Tynan. Didn't seem too serious will provide report later

The slagging of Melbourne officials is one thing but the cheap shots at supporters seem completely out of line. No surprises seeing Caroline stooping to new lows

Ahh a true 49er Whiner . Anything over 50 yards is no 'gimme', after starting at midfield due to a 14 yard shanked punt your offence failed to get within adequate field goal range. No shame in losing to the Jeff Fisher led Rams my friend, when we play tough defence and the offence doesn't turn over the football it's hard to score against us at home. We're a young team not ready for the playoffs, hopefully next year we can add some talent to the O/Line and get a safety or two then we could give the playoffs a shake. Yeah Givens is developing nicely, no longer just a deep threat Sam's trusting him on the intermediate routes and he took a great catch on 3rd & 3 to put the Rams in range for the game-winning field goal.

As clubs don't issue dividends nor pay tax, due to being registered as "not-for-profit organisations"; profits from football clubs are in reality a meaningless accounting figure. I would rather look at a cash flow statement or a statement of financial position in comparison to previous years to see how the football club is improving financially. Ultimately the aim for all football clubs, off the field, is to increase spending in the football department to the point that is financially acceptable. The reported $1.674 million increment in spending whilst breaking even, indicates the Front Office have prepared an accurate budget that has determined future revenue streams accurately allowing maximum spending in the football department. Which is the positive I would take from the media release until further statements are released.

Rams baby! Doing what we should have done a few weeks ago. Defence was nasty, special teams was awesome and Sam made some plays with his legs to get it to overtime. Suck it Whiners

It is a little disturbing that Jovan Belcher and Junior Seau, who took his life earlier this year, were both linebackers. As we know there are lots of tackles and hits, often with the use of a helmet. With research suggesting concussion is closely correlated to depression these athletes are certainly putting their body at risk every time they take the field.

Was thinking along the same lines in reference to Dom Tyson and how he would be a great addition to the team, classy midfielder with inside and outside ability and a good size. Still yet to be re-signed and there were reports he wanted to go home. Prying him away from Gubby Allen would be no easy feat, I'm sure we would have to pay through the roof for him.

Cam Pedersen is the majority of the time spelt incorrectly as Cam Pederson, fair enough weird spelling.

Although the pitch did favour the batsmen, it provided a much better contest for the viewers. In contrast to the Gabba it had pace for the majority of the test which induces stroke play and runs whilst also making it easier for the quicks to get wickets. Although not enough in my mind, there was a bit if grass which aided swing conventionally and reverse. Also scores in each team's innings were inflated by the quick outfield and shorter boundaries: although no result was achieved it was due to individual heroics and injuries rather than a road.

Once he trusts all his receivers and develops that synergy like he has with Amendola and Givens this offence will be far more dangerous. Yeah was good to see the ground and pound back its best, unfortunately I don't think SJax will be at the rams next year, maybe a few more performances like this will change Les Snead's mind. Finally the defence forced some turnovers Janoris Jenkins' two pick 6's amongst the teams 4 in total was the difference. Saw the niners game and Kaepernick further enhanced my belief that he is 49ers best playmaker and rightful QB. He throws the deep ball far better than Smith, has more velocity on his throws and can make plays with his feet. I'll still back my Rams against him next week as the Rams continue their undefeated record division

Nah buddy we gave up 21 that became 20 and was used on Tim Broomhead. Still a few good names on board for the PSD; Matthew Haynes and Sam Colquhon are two I was suprised didn't find a home.

Croatians take to ball sports like ducks to water, for a small population (approx. 4 million) they have produced a lot of quality soccer and tennis players. In addition to the AFL players mentioned many of Australia's past and present international sportsman are of Croatian lineage; Andrew Bogut, Mark Viduka, Jason Culina, Mark Bosnich, Ned Zelic, Simon Katich, Bernard Tomich. Pretty impressive considering Croatian Australians make up only about .6% of our population. Anyway back to Toumpas or Wines, the best way to build a culture is to inject leaders into the club. Of recent times we have been devoid of leaders resulting in Melbourne appointing the second youngest AFL captain ever, a blight on all senior Melbourne players as much as it is a credit to Trengove. One of the few things Toumpas and Wines share is that they have both been captains in their junior football, Wines captained Bendigo Pioneers whilst Toumpas captained South Australia. If whoever we pick can make the transition to being a leader at an AFL club, with the addition of Viney, Clark, Dawes also being strong characters, the Melbourne Football club shouldn't be facing a shortage of captain applicants.

The only reason I can fathom as to why GWS would pass on Toumpas is that they may be slightly concerned about his injuries. Surgery to both hips is slightly alarming for an 18 year old and considering they have a wealth of top end midfield talent may possibly lead to the Dees getting the most complete midfielder in the draft.

As everybody has done teams already and have covered my sentiments I'll analyse players instead. Best Player: Defence- JJ Watt (Texans) has been massive and can be credited for Houston being the team to beat right now. Playing defensive end in a 3-4 defence he has been able to stuff the gap while also getting to the quarterback with a league high 10.5 sacks. Offence- too hard to single out one player, at running back Adrian Peterson (Vikings) has been phenomenal averaging almost 6 yards a carry and over 110 yards a game he has been unstoppable. Wide receiver AJ Green (Bengals) with Megatron not operating at his 2011 level Green has taken the mantle as the best wide out in the league getting into the end zone more so than any other WR and has been a vertical weapon for Andy Dalton. Quarterback afterinitially struggling Aaron Rodgers has been lights for the last month or so, strengthening his case for a second consecutive MVP. With the largest touchdown/interception spread 25-5 and a huge game against the Texans, one of the best defences in the league, A-Rod has been operating at his record breaking 2011 standard in recent times. Worst players is a bit hard but; Matt Cassell, Mark Sanchez and the whole Arizona offensive line have been as expected pretty poor. Biggest surprise: pick 252, the second last pick in the draft Daryl Richardson has been a great change of pace back for the Rams and is averaging 5.7 yards a carry (3rd highest in the league), and seems destined to become the number 1 pick when SJAX departs. Reggie Wayne has halted his regression and his putting up career high numbers at 34 with a rookie quarterback. Biggest disappointment: I expected a slump but not to this degree, Cam Newton has been woeful on the field and even worse off it with his poor attitude infecting the whole team.

Hawthorn and Sydney had most of their run from their halfbacks rather than rely on midfielders to run and carry, Birchall, Suckling, Malceski, Shaw. Quality teams use these players as the outside run as opposed to their midfield. At the moment the Demons are lacking in this area, with Watts and Nicholson probably the only two candidates but both have respective deficiencies. Still I would rather target ball winners than carriers for the Demons midfield.

I agree not only improve but have confidence in his disposal. I'm sure Ollie will do everything he can to be the best version of himself, which makes me confident he will be a contributer to our side if picked.

You can't make that comparison because as soon as the rain came both teams altered their strategy plus there was three hours recovered in longer days. Rather than hypothesising I would prefer to look at what happened which was a drawn game. Despite the players efforts to get a result. Umm never quoted Saturday, and you can't simply ignore crowds on workdays that's ridiculous. Does that mean we eradicate Friday's as an outlier as it was also a weekday? As you said, nobody wants to watch a team 2 down bat and bat and bat. So why don't they create more bowler friendly wickets? I would rather a test match that is going down to the wire rather than a match with a "distinct possibility" of getting a result. Firstly that is purely guesswork and your opinion; there is no way we know what happens if Kallis goes for 43, perhaps JP Duminy doesn't go for his run and doesn't injure himself and makes a hundred, no point in pondering what ifs? Also that possible dismissal, like many others, was the batsman's undoing rather than the bowlers. A pitch that relies on batsman's poor stroke-play rather than bowler's skill is not entertaining for me. No, don't misquote me I said 4th day pitches "offer variance in sideways movement off the seam and variance in bounce on the 4th day" which is usually as a result of crumbling wicket and cracks appearing which create doubt into the batsman's minds as the ball's movement and bounce is variable. For a moderator you're incredibly petty and seem to struggle to be able to create useful retorts as opposed to the other posters, for a guy who has spent much of his life on an internet forum I thought you would be of a higher standard. Shame you turned a cricketing observation into personal attack but good job buddy.

Ziebell is more damaging than I think Wines will be initially, JZ is more explosive and has a better kick than Wines. Whereas Cunnington's leg speed is comparable to Wines and will cut you up with handballs, winning the football and getting on the scoreboard

A good indicator of Wines future transition into AFL, I think, is former #5 draft pick Ben Cunnington. As a kid he dominated under 18 football as a tough inside midfielder who was capable going forward and impacting the scoreboard. His transition into AFL certainly hasn't taken the world by storm, but he has been useful addition to the North midfield and would certainly walk into our team and be the second/third best midfielder. His foot speed and kicking ability has, and probably will continue to, hold him back from being a gun but he is a regular contributor and I expect Wines to be of a similar ilk.

The crowds have been abysmal since the first day, you can't deny that. It is in part due to people want to see results and things happen, not games that meander along with no result and this pitch has not induced wickets and therefor the game has been a fizzer. As for 'plucking number' the crowd attendance figures seem to reflect the interest in the game, don't you think? You're contradicting yourself saying 4th day pitches offering variation in seam movement and bounce is "bulltish", but then go on to say many 4th day pitches start to crumble and break which creates natural variation in bounce and movement... Also you seem to think it's a good wicket because it stays true but pitches should crumble and offer natural variation in the latter days of a test rather than stay consistent in movement, pace and bounce. The aim is to get a result not for batsmen to boost their averages. That's my point, there was a lot of anticipation for the first test of the summer and Brisbane finally hosted a top ranked team so they obviously drew well on the first day. But the conditions haven't been conducive to entertaining cricket and as a result people haven't turned up. That's BS that a rained out day will put any cricket result beyond doubt. They get about half of it back in extended play, it's the pitch that created the draw not the rain don't kid yourself. Anyway if you two prefer watching leather fly to all corners of the ground that's your prerogative, for mine I (as a quick myself) would rather see an even contest between bat and ball especially with some of the quality quicks going around.

You've gone away from my original point that this pitch has heavily favoured the batsmen which has come at the expense of a tight contest and ultimately the purist's viewing expense. It is also evident that the crowds have been woeful, 4500 today and 11,000 on Sunday after the initial 25,000 show that people aren't willing to pay to see these types of matches. Most pitches around the world will offer variance in sideways movement off the seam and variance in bounce on the 4th day but the Gabba's been a road and a slow one at that. Psychologically I admire the Cowan and Clarke of course, but the pitch failed to provide a surface to adequately test their respective techniques. Also what about that Kleinveldt guy he bowls absolute puss; I play second eleven subbies and I reckon would put him to shame and he seemed to overstep every second delivery.