Older demon

Jones has earned the right to lead and his seniority and experience means he stays in that position a little while longer. It is difficult unless you are in the club to know who is right person to lead. Personally I have reservations about Viney as captain because of his poor disposal and occasional lack of discipline. Certainty in the leadership group for his work ethic and passion. Max has been a revelation this year not only as a ruckman but as a member of the leadership group. Bernie is a no because to me he hasn't led this year but is a senior player who doesn't need a title to show leadership. Goodwin's influence will dictate next year who is in the group. I am not convinced the T. mac will stay and would not be surprised to see the likes of Tyson, Vandenberg and Bugg being nominated. We are still light on for experience and standout leaders and I think Watts has earned his right to be a leader and has committed to the club long term........

Lay off Weideman. He played very little under 18 last year and this year the club wants to build him up with at least 7 kgs. Has not played a lot of footy the last 2 years missing most of last year. He is rated highly and possibly will be the best of the under 21's, source, Brendan McCartney. He is tall mobile and athletic, a 1 grab mark who kicks straight. Unlike other era's where we need instant champions now we are not looking for the Messiah but someone we build and develop into a key forward for the next decade. Note Talia didn't play his first game until midway into his second season for 9 games and took a while to develop. Riewoldt debuted in 2001 and didn't have his break out season until his 3rd season, 2004. Jono Brown was an unspectacular but consistent contributor during his first few seasons, at 195 cm and 105 kg, (Weed is 196 cm and 91 kg so he has a way to go) he debuted in Rd 5 2000. Plagued by injury and regular meetings with the AFL Tribunal during the next three seasons, Brown's development was hampered until 2004, when he had his best season to date, averaging an impressive 8 marks, 16 disposals and 2.3 goals per game. he just happened to play in 4 consecutive grand finals from 2001 to 2004 (source Wikipedia).

Rather than start a new thread I am posting the AFL opinion today. "Head umpires coach Hayden Kennedy was satisfied free kicks paid against midfielder Dom Tyson and ruckman Max Gawn were warranted, and he said the duo didn't do enough to keep the ball in play." What a load of rubbish. Every week this muppet comes out and rationalises why his umpires never make a mistake. Not for the first time this year the umpires influenced the final outcome yet Hayden is there every Monday defending his umpires. maybe if he actually corrected and instructed them and acknowledged errors they may improve. Last week it was the Ferrito free and this week 2 against us as deliberate ""Certainly there were instances over the weekend where there was some poor (skill) execution by players and they weren't paid as deliberate out of bounds," he said. What particularly angers me is that he reckons Tyson and Gawn didn't do enough to keep the ball in play. What rubbish Tyson was in a contested situation and if there were other instances why weren't they paid? Turn must be poorly skilled as the ball always went out of bounds when he was nearby. Kennedy you should resign if that is what you are teaching umpires.

Marchbank out for the year with shoulder reco. From AFL site. 193 cm who has played 7 games "Marchbank is still not contracted to the Giants beyond 2016 and may have played his last game for the club. GWS selected the athletic defender with pick six in the 2014 NAB AFL Draft and he is seen as a key member of coach Leon Cameron's defence, but his name has been heavily linked with a move to Carlton next year."

Tom's turnovers today cruelled us and Oscar just doesn't have the body to compete 1 on 1 with the big boys but I don't see any alternatives atm. Tom undoes any good work with basic skill errors.

Loved Frosty's game and pace out of the backline.

No he withdrew from Casey with back spasm on the day. So he gets back in on not playing, maybe he trained really well.

I see that kennedy-Harris and salem have been named in the Casey development squad. I imagine on limited time but great to see them back playing.

SEN discussion today was about 2017 draft prospects and it is expected to be a great draft and clubs will be reluctant to trade out future picks unlike this year where they thought on trading a 2016 pick wouldn't miss much. Anyone considering trading a 2017 pick should shelve that idea.

The figure is speculative but for arguments sake lets say it is close, then as all the commentators agree, you have to pay overs to get someone to move, especially interstate. Sydney may have $700K on the table but I would like to think that MFC can retain him for less as Tom will need the extra coin to live up North. If Dawes is on $500K and about to take a pay cut then Tom is entitled to start at that figure and reach a suitable agreement somewhere between that and what others are offering.

Chris I like your list and I agree with it. I think you missed my point and that is while I am impressed with what Roos has done it speaks volumes of how low a point we have come from and how much work we have to do. 9 of the players on your list played yesterday and are the future but it is an unrealistic expectation for this young group to take on and beat teams in the top 8. St Kilda may have as many youngsters but they have Riewoldt, Stevens, Armitage, Montagna, Gilbert, Dempster and Geary as their senior group to provide the consistency, muscle and guidance to their young group. We do not have such a senior group and it will take a couple more years for our group to reach that level of maturity.

Just notice Bugg and Stretch were the match day emergencies with Billy having the weekend off. No sign of Chris Dawes at Casey is he injured or what? Certainly could not expect him to be considered for selection. Eagles play tall with 2 rucks so I would like to see Spencer play and he and Max to spend time up forward. Promote ANB because need to see if he has what it takes in the last 6 weeks and Frost hopefully over his illness. Out, whoever you like. I hate it when Viney says that St Kilda wanted it more than us. Viney clearly cares and I can never question his commitment, but I find it disgusting other team members as paid professionals lack desire and work rate. Some of those players have no right to ever be accused of not wanting it badly enough given what has been dished up over the last 5 years.. We the supporters certainly want success badly

The major shortcoming is that this year 3 sometimes 4 first year players are playing Hunt, Petracca, Wagner and Oscar and Harmes may as well be. What has happened to the players developed in the 2 previous years? Talk about 1 step forward 2 steps back in some instances. OK year 1 Roos had a very ordinary list, in year 2 some improvements but where are those players this year? There has been yet again an influx of rookies. We still lack key position players up the middle i.e. CHB & CHF who can straighten up and maintain that corridor football we would like to play. mentioned earlier is spread and movement up the flanks, a good point, but to do so you need good ball handling and kicking skills. The teams that make this work hit targets and don't fumble. The current backline do not have a lot of good kicks. Missing in action this year for a variety of reasons when we really needed them to step up have been Salem, Dawes, Lumumba, Dunn, Garland, Pederson and to a lesser extent Kennedy-Harris. Compare with the Saints. Their core of Riewoldt, Montagna, Dempster, Ermitage and Steven shows just where our deficiencies are and that is in our senior group. We have nowhere near the class in our senior group they have. It is almost like we have gone back to square 1 with a rebuild in year 3. Roos himself has admitted that in the 3 years of his tenure the team is getting younger not older and we still have no idea who our best 22 is and what the future holds for the likes of Dawes, Lumumba and co. We are a long way of the pace atm

Unless Prestia is having an op and won't play again this season because he has told Gold Coast he is leaving means I would not be interested at all especially at the price quoted. Wonder if the Richmond doctor has checked him out?

I am surprised in the clubs interest in Hibberd. I base this on this years rookies, Wagner and White who have both surprised me albeit in a good way. Wagner is poised takes a good overhead mark is a left footer and can only improve. White is similar in that he is a raking left footy and comes with a great rap from Macca who will tell anyone he speaks to that Whitey is a keeper. I thought both would be elevated to the senior list depending on who goes.

If Tom McDonald is lured to Sydney then what would we expect in return for his departure. I am unsure of the status of the Sydney academy this year and how many brownie points they need to retain their academy players which may limit their desire to give up any draft picks. If they finish 1 or 2 then their first pick will be nearly the same as MFC's 2nd round pick. If Hibberd is a 2nd rounder then Tom would have to be worth a first round. Roos has always been fair in trading and IMO with the footy dept good at assessing a players worth when trading in, who on our list who we would be willing to trade would have decent currency? Then we can work out who we could target.

Yes it was Chris from Camberwell.

Brian Waldron teed off on a lot of rumours, Tom Mitchell to Hawks, Bulldogs into Hurley big time and Hibberd keen to join Melbourne and wants out. He stated that he didn't know anything about McDonald, it was Chris, a regular caller and D's fan who bought up the topic of McDonald to Sydney and then it grew from there.

Watch Footy show tomorrow night for the fastest par 5 segment. Featured today in ghastly conditions on the 18th at Yarra Yarra hitting into the wind. Angus Brayshaw teed off (Jack told me Angus hits a driver 280 meters) to Sam Newman who hit it up to the green for Jack watts to chip it onto the green and Uncle James Brayshaw to putt. Unfortunately James had to wait for the ball to stop on the green, as, in that wind on a sloping green the ball took ages to settle. James putt was close and Angus who had raced up the fairway had to put in the par putt. You will have to watch the segment to see if they break the record. Angus and jack are seriously good golfers

As mentioned earlier, Weideman is a skinny kid and the club hopes to put 7 kg's at least on him this year. Macca rates him as the best of the young group and is willing to tell that to anyone who he has a chat with. Peterson was listed as injured on the website with a shoulder injury, so no surprise he didn't play this weekend I hope Hunt get the rising star nomination this week. His pace is blistering and I hope we look back at today as his breakout game. I know we made lots of errors and turnovers today but I think you will find that the Crows made some seriously bad turnovers too that resulted in goals. The game is soon quick you don't get a second chance.

I hope Hunt gets a Rising Star nomination, he is a line breaker and generates excitement. Watts - 6 Garlett - 5 Hunt - 4 Jetta - 3 Jones. N. - 2 McDonald. T. - 1

If we need to land a big fish then it needs to be a key position player. No offence to Prestia but we have greater needs than another high priced mid.

I did try and start a new post but obviously didn't do it correctly but this heading is close to my point. I noticed early in the year the Hawthorn appeared to be under instruction to kick the ball off the ground to clear a pack. At the half way mark they are still doing it and often one of their players will run forward of the ball and guess what the ball pops out and they run on to it. Against us in the wet I thought they were lucky and Mitchell kicked a wild one which went to Breust who goaled. Well he did it again yesterday against Gold Coast and it is a trend that they kick off the ground or even punch the ball forward for their swarm to run onto it. I am surprised that no one else appears to have cottoned on and still, us included, try to handball our way out of heavy traffic. Do the Hawks train for this? I don't know. Is it another Clarkson innovation? Maybe. They certainly don't bomb the ball into the forward line like we do and the Kangas did last week in Adelaide. The only time it didn't work for Mitchell, who does it, most was when he kicked in danger against Ablett. Has our football dept noticed? Any thoughts???

I noticed early in the year the Hawthorn appeared to be under instruction to kick the ball off the ground to clear a pack. At the half way mark they are still doing it and often one of their players will run forward of the ball and guess what the ball pops out and they run on to it. Against us in the wet I thought they were lucky and Mitchell kicked a wild one which went to Breust who goaled. Well he did it again yesterday against Gold Coast and it is a trend that they kick off the ground or even punch the ball forward for their swarm to run onto it. I am surprised that no one else appears to have cottoned on and still, us included, try to handball our way out of heavy traffic. Do the Hawks train for this? I don't know. Is it another Clarkson innovation? Maybe. They certainly don't bomb the ball into the forward line like we do and the Kangas did last week in Adelaide. The only time it didn't work for Mitchell, who does it, most was when he kicked in danger against Ablett. Has our football dept noticed? Any thoughts???

I noticed early in the year the Hawthorn appeared to be under instruction to kick the ball off the ground to clear a pack. At the half way mark they are still doing it and often one of their players will run forward of the ball and guess what the ball pops out and they run on to it. Against us in the wet I thought they were lucky and Mitchell kicked a wild one which went to Breust who goaled. Well he did it again yesterday against Gold Coast and it is a trend that they kick off the ground or even punch the ball forward for their swarm to run onto it. I am surprised that no one else appears to have cottoned on and still, us included, try to handball our way out of heavy traffic. Do the Hawks train for this? I don't know. Is it another Clarkson innovation? Maybe. They certainly don't bomb the ball into the forward line like we do and the Kangas did last week in Adelaide. The only time it didn't work for Mitchell, who does it, most was when he kicked in danger against Ablett. Has our football dept noticed? Any thoughts???