Dees2014

As above..

I was riding my bike along the Yarra this morning and happened to notice the Dees training on Goschs Paddock. I stopped for a short while. A few observations: I have never, and I mean never, seen an MFC group train with such intensity. When I was there, they were basically doing circuits, but at full pace, and intense practice kicking accurate 50m passes to fast leading. This also included amongst the kicking and leading, individual players sprinting from one end of the field to another while the kicking and leading was going on around them. The intensity was hugely impressive; - there were others running the boundary, but at full pace for a change. Honestly, they looked like Olympic athletes such was the intensity. These groups included McKenzie (a very impressive runner - something I hadn't seen from him before), Strauss (likewise), Jamar (impressive commitment), Tyson (a lot less tentative compared to last week), Garland (as impressive as ever). Notable absentees were sadly Gawn and Bleese. Hopefully they will be back soon.

I am not in a position to make an expert judgement on this, but Freeman does appear to have a lot going for him particularly in relation to our needs eg pace, endurance and his line breaking ability, in addition to his ready to go mature body. What is the case to choose Christian Salem over him?

WJ, yes you are right, the sporting bodies world-wide complain about the pace of investigation by local WADA affiliates. I think it is largely a matter of resources and local laws. In the AFL/NRL cases, the legislation had to be changed in order for ASADA to get the powers to gather the evidence. They also needed to be given additional resources which is not easy in these straightened times. We are talking about public bodies here. If the AFL was solely responsible for the investigation, I have no doubt that, being a private body, they would have thrown resources at it because for every month this drags on it increases the uncertainty around their competition and its long term viability. Personally, I'm glad they are taking their time to do it thoroughly. If they came out with a half baked judgement, Essendon and the AFL (and the NRL) would tie it up in the courts for years. They need to develop a water-tight case BEFORE they pronounce on the consequences. it would not surprise me if we didn't get a pronouncement until 2015. The implications for all concerned in this are just too serious all round. We will just have to be patient and trust them to get it right.

Thoroughly agree. I think Strauss being an elite kick overall is a myth perpetrated by Demonlanders. I think he is soft and coughs it up under pressure. Having said that, he was a high draft pick, and I would prefer we make high draft picks work with our new first class coaching. They are by definition elite athletes at that level - we have wasted too many of these types for our own good. The same applies to Watts, and Bleese,

I get the impression Roos does not see the Captain's appointment as his highest priority. I think he is more interested in the overall culture and "collective" leadership. For what it is worth, I think he will go with Dawes as Captain (if he thinks they can keep him on the park), Grimes and Jones as joint VCs, and the rest of the leadership Group comprising Clark, Trengove, Frawley, Cross and Vince.

And David Neitz...

Neeld never had the pedigree or experience, or track record of Roos. That is what gives me confidence, plus he has not put a foot wrong since arriving here. I do not remember such a united playing group behind the new regime. There seems to be a steely determination this time to succeed. I never got that feeling with the Neeld regime.. He always seemed a bit ordinary to me. I know it is early days, but we have made a great start.

In Roos I trust. Jack Watts is such an opportunity for him, as are the Jacks Viney, Trengove, Grimes, and Fitzy, and of course Hogan. These guys are all potentially elite footballers. No wonder Roos is excited. we are coming from such a low base of incompetence

Jack Trengove will be very formidable player this year, and will eventually show himself to be vastly superior to Scully. He will be one of our elite.

Can we get a bit real here. This guy has not played an AFL game yet. I think we all realize we have an immense talent on our hands here, but every indication is that he is not a Scully. I don't know how many remember the night that Scully was drafted, but I certainly had an uneasiness when I looked at the family, and the body language that night. I tried to dismiss it as maybe prejudice, but the fears were soon realized, and somehow Tom Scully never really belonged at the MFC (unlike Jack Trengove who will turn out to be a 15 year Demon champion).Hogan I think is totally different. If you see him train in the red and the blue, he is totally single minded in getting the best out of himself, and displaying a single minded team spirit. He also clearly has great rapport with his team mates, and a great sense of humour to boot. Now he may at the end of the day take the money and run, but somehow I would not begrudge it to him the way I did Scully who was ordinary in the worst sense. If we show real improvement this year, and this young immensely talented group feel as though they are making real progress in the next year or two, I think we will be able to keep them together, including Jesse Hogan. It is up to the team and the players really, but the signs are good. hogan I think is real quality, hence this Post. Lock it in!

Just watched the whole video of the conference this morning. These guys are seriously good. I know we have a long way to go, but it is great to have serious skills and substance behind the Club both in the Admin and Football departments. Roos in particular is immensely impressive. I am more confident than I have been for ten years that our future is assured, and that in my lifetime, I will see again another Demon flag. Roll on 2014. Go Dees.

Yes I think he is the classic case of take the money and run (or not in his case). I believe his contract is up at the end of next season. My guess is it will reduce by over 50%, or be traded for around the 30s. Given the way he left the MFC, and his general attitude, and the expensive price tag, I think there would be a lot of clubs who wouldn't touch him. He is no Brenden Goddard that is for sure.

Good suggestion. They would have both PJ and PR at such an announcement.My prediction? Michael Voss. I think he would develop hugely with 3 years under PR - he certainly has the killer instinct - whether he has the brains or not I'm not sure. He would be the AFL equivalent of Kevin Muscat, and the jury is well and truly out on him.

I agree. We are entitled to be excited, just as West Coastcwere excited when the got Judd, Hawthorn with Hodge, Collingwood Buckley. The old regime did a really good deal here and should be recognized for it

Agree, although we would need to be confident Dawes would be on the park more often than not. I don't think at the moment we can be

But not surprising. I thought Longmire would have been smarter than that

Oh I disagree. Collingwood have serious culture issues, which Malthouse ignored and Buckley is fixing. It will advantage them in the end but may take a year or two. I'm tipping they will not make the eight next year while they go through this. I think they are regretting already their decision to trade Dawes, although it may have been related to his tendency for injury, in which case they were smarter than we were!

From what I hear, neither does he have the disruptive personality. That would help. I think he would suit the sort of side we are developing perfectly. The explosive pace would be a real bonus too

WJ, ultimate responsibility must rest with the Board collectively over the last ten years. There was a lack of football expertise there, and seemingly a unwillingness (or inability) to build a high performance organisation. Too many lawyers/accountants and small business entrepreneurs and not enough with solid business experience who are used to the hard slog of turning their organisations into high performance entities. And seemingly an amazing inability to hire high quality leaders. It took intervention by the AFL to assemble the leadership team to turn our rabble into a high performance team, and to reconstitute the Board with the right set of skills. Watch us fly from here....!

We will see i guess.

My understanding is that they can compulsorily require him to talk to them, the penalty for not complying of which is $5000 per day. Clearly he has not yet complied. I understand they have tried to talk to him, but not sure whether they have compulsorily required him to. If they have he will have to pay the fine. What is interesting is to speculate on why he is not talking. Has he got a great big secret to hide which will incriminate him, or as you point out by stringing it out it actually helps Essendon and the players. After everything that has happened, he may want to ingratiate himself to them, although personally i dont see what advantage he would get by doing so.The other explanation maybe is that ASADA may want to talk to Dank once they have interviewed everyone else. After all he is the common link across a number of AFL Clubs, and of course NFL clubs.

I'm sure most of us are pretty comfortable about the progress the Roos regime is making about getting the club back on track and the choices made so far in the trading period. I have no doubt we will have a much much more competitive team than last year. There is, however, a dark cloud over our list which I think may shower down upon the club earlier than any of us would like. I speak of our current position with injuries. Lets for the sake of argument pick our best 22 for round one (assuming we draft Freeman at 9 and Garlett or Jay Kennedy-Harris at 40: Backs: Bleese McDonald Garland Half backs: Toumpas Frawley Grimes Centres: Watts Freeman Tyson Half forwards: Hogan Dawes Trengove Forwards: Howe Clark Byrnes Followers: Gawn Vince Viney Interchange: McKenzie Jones Cross Sub: Fitzpatrick Emergencies: Michie Riley Kent Evans Jamar Tapscott Whilst this looks a pretty good side on paper, I have highlighted the players currently not in the main training group. This is 8 out of 22 - that is high by anyone's standards. Although there are good reasons for all of them, it nevertheless may stall our good start to the season. These are the reasons I can gather from various sources (judge for yourself how serious each of them are): Sam Bleese - underwent an operation on his calf in the off season. Has been jogging laps (slowly) at training. Unlikely to be back to full training before February. Tom McDonald - by far the best runner at the Club, and as far as that is concerned is streets ahead of the rest, and is in full training, but does not do contact for fear of re-injuring his shoulder on which he had an operation in September. He does not expect to be back into full contact training until late February. Dom Tyson - came to us recovering from serious knee surgery, and got back into training in October once he knew he would be drafted to us, but overdid it and injured his hamstring, a not uncommon thing for people recovering from bad knees. He hopes to be back in full training in February but not sure. Doing half paced running (rather gingerly) at training as well as handball and marking, in which he is I must say is extremely impressive. Jesse Hogan - his knee is still recovering, but he on Friday looked to be favouring his hamstring also. Does light running mostly at training. Some ball work but not much. Supposed to be in full training also by February. Chris Dawes - had major surgery on his knee in October. Will be back to training by early February. Unlikely to start the season on time. Max Gawn - reinjured his hammy, not unusual for someone with a history of knee injuries, and also someone so big. Unclear when he will return, but was not at training on Friday. Mitch Clark - doing light training, but has recently started to kick the ball although not with the main group. Is expected to be in the main group by January. Jack Viney - foot injury, back in main group in early January. Very impressive at training with his running, but not in the main group. As competitive as ever hates being beaten, even at training!

I know a lot of people on here will think i'm off my rocker, but i really think we should consider rookieing Jurrah (and Wonna if he is interested) and we have room for them both: but this has to be on strict conditions: they (and Garlett if we draft him) are mentored and supervised on a full time basis by Aaron Davey, who should be appointed a Player Welfare Officer; and they commit to a full preseason, and if there is any misbehavior they are sent back. Maybe we should be suggesting that for players with "issues" who can make a case out for a second chance, that there should be an interim position as an "Interim Rookie" whereby they can be sacked half way through a season, and replaced with a new rookie if they "go off the rails". i'm sure this would result in many more under privileged young men being drafted, particularly indigenous blokes. If we can get them really fit, and committed, Wonna solves our small forward problem (he was one of the best in the business when he was up and going, much better than Garlett, Byrnes, or Rohden), and Liam would make our forward set up the most potent in the league. You don't get many opportunities to recruit a ready-made player who you know can kick 40 plus goals a season and average almost four a game. He is also as good a mark as Howe and is better at ground level, and a better tackler - Liam is an awesome tackler when in full flight, but probably could improve his defensive skill and his willingness to run back as well as forward. He wouldn't be alone there, but that can be taught as Roos will do for the whole team. Let's for the sake of this post, assume Wonna and LJ agree to these terms and they are up and firing at Casey by mid year, so much that we elevate their rookie status (we are sure to get some injuries), let's pick our best team: FB: Bleese McDonald Garland HB: Toumpas Frawley Grimes CC: Watts Freeman Tyson HF: Hogan Dawes Jurrah FF: Howe Clark Wonna Foll: Gawn Vince Viney Inter: Trengove McKenzie Jones Sub: Cross Emerg: Michie Riley Kent Evans Jamar Fitz mmmmmmm.....I think that team could go places!

This thread is becoming ridiculous. What an absurd thing to say. You mean there is no room for mistakes in corporate life? All the successful companies I have had anything to do with had as one of their primary goals to get the best out of people. Not all people are stars, most do a solid serviceable job to the best of their ability, but you don't hang them for it. McLardy took over a broken organisation from Jim Stynes. He did his best, and he made some mistakes, the most notable being not getting rid of Schwab earlier, and employing Neeld. Overall he did not succeed, but I don't think many would have over that period. It has taken intervention by the AFL to get us back on track again, which probably should have happened five years ago when some of us saw the classic signs of a failing organisation, but it is always easy to be wise in hindsight. In successful organisations you weed out the non performers and commit to continuous improvement throughout the business, but overall you build an inclusive culture. This includes respect for the elders (ex employees). Very much the Roos philosophy I would have thought - and a very successful one it has been, and will be for us in the future too. PS usually I am not this anal retentive, but in this case I will make an exception - it is "their praises" not "there praises", and "companies broke" not "company's broke". There are a few more but that's enough!