btdemon

Anthony Tipungwuti

Just read the article. I agree so wholeheartedly with Flanagan. I have found the loud ads and the rest of the crap annoying enough but I do realise that it is a commercial environment. To have those ridiculous musical interludes is indeed an intrusion and a step way too far. We must make it very clear to the AFL that they don't own the sport and could easily alienate many of the true followers. Footy doesn't need razzamatazz. There is is plenty going on the field. I like AC/DC but they're killing that song for me. It makes you pine for old days of going to Arden St or the Junction oval where you just watched the game and soaked up the real footy atmosphere. That's what kept me going every week.

Consider the areas of improvement that should occur. I don't know if it's enough to make the finals but .......... who knows? Firstly, Neeld's game plan will begin to gel and become more natural to the players. All of the "structures" and set plays will be more instinctive. Second, they will come off a much better preseason fitness base which will mean it is more likely that they will be able to implement the plan. Third, the backline has already proven itself to be pretty reasonable and will only get better as players like McDonald, Nicholson and Strauss (I'm yet to convinced about this guy) gain experience. If Watts is given permission to stay in the the defence for 2013 then he should cover for the loss of rivers. I think Dunn has also been a great success. He can play this role very effectively. Fourth, ruck stocks are better. Jamar, Spencer, Gawn, Fitz, Pederson and Clark is a good mix of experience and potential, providing they all stay healthy. Fifth, the midfield will be stronger. Moloney was running on three cylinders this year so was a wasted mid o a certain extent. Jones is in career best form and can still improve. Trengove is hopefully over what was slowing him down and will make incremental improvement. If his execution can match his work rate he will be better. Grimes has been good and will improve as he learns the mid role. I don't expect Viney and Wines to have quite the impact that people are assuming. Both are still young and inexperienced. Viney has not played that much footy in 2012. i think both will play regularly but expect them to peter out a little as the season goes on. Taggert and Tynam should get some games. Both appear to be real goers but again are coming off significant injuries. Bail, Sylvia, McKenzie and Howe will all spend time in the midfield mix as well. Overall I think there will be a net gain. Hopefully a substantial one Sixth, Pace. We have been lacking both inside and outside pace. Blease, Bail and Nicholson have been quickest line breakers. The inclusion of Byrnes and Rodan (if he stays upright) will add to this. Also as the game plan becomes more intrenched the ball movement will improve and it will look like we are quicker. Seventh, The inclusion of Dawes and Pederson will change the way we bring the ball into the foward fifty. Pederson is actually a very mobile tall and uses the ball really well. I hope that Clark makes something like a full recovery. I'll wait and see. If he does then we will have a great mix of height strength and versatility. Eighth, we now have depth. The injuries and dramas that beset us in 2012 were very hard to cover. There will be more injuries next year but we will be better placed to cover them. Ninth, we have offloaded some players whose attitude was not acceptable. The team ethos will build from here and hopefully we will be a much more mentally resilient team. In summary, if we add all of these thing up, if some or most of these things are true (there many 'ifs and buts'), we will have to win some more games. Confidence is an intangible thing but it could play a big role as the pieces fall into place.

Here's some youtube highlights [media=]

Assuming that we pick Wines at #4 I would like to see this guy picked if he is still available with our first pick after Viney. We are in desperate need of a clever small forward and even if Davey comes good this year he has only a couple of years left. Tipungwuti looks sensational.

As per usual Nutbean. A measured and thoughtful post.

A couple of things I noticed. Spencer, Gawn and Fitz all look very big in relation to the others (this may be because they are). But seriously, Fitz looks a lot more imposing than he used to. Spencer is massive too I watched Hogan doing handball drills with Fitz, Clark and a couple of others. The boy has some skills with his hands. Very sure, naturally coordinated. At one stage he was kicking the ball up to himself soccer ball style. He looked at home. Grimes and Jones very prominent in his encouragement etc. Dunny and Watts were training were working with the backs. (as promised) Trengove looked sharp Blease looked fit Sylvia was sharp Strauss was doing a lot of kicking out in defensive clearance drills

We have been the most amateurishly led team in the comp. WE CAN"T EVEN TANK PROPERLY FCS!!!!!

FB: Nicholson Frawley Dunn HB: Watts McDonald Garland C: Grimes Jones Blease HF: Howe Pederson Davey FF: Dawes Clark Byrnes R: Jamar Trengove Sylvia I: McKenzie Viney Tapscott Sub: Rodan Emerg: from - Taggert Pick#4 Bail Tynan Gawn Macdonald Strauss Fitz Jetta Spencer Sellar Magner Couch * we could conceivably start with this lineup Rnd 1 2013 barring preseason injuries (that's basically everyone left on our list who will be fit (assuming Bartram won't), except Barry and Davis, who I don't think will be ready yet)

I'm not sure that Farren Ray is such a great pick-up. He has never impressed me particularly. When he moved from the Bulldogs, "He has said that he had to move to give himself the opportunity to become a regular senior footballer. There were question marks on his decision making and willingness to strongly contest the ball." (Wikipedia). This has always been my impression of him too. He then had a couple a good years under Ross Lyon but has languished at Sandy for much of 20012 under Watters. Are we picking up another Cale Morton that will only ever be a depth player and won't be in our best 22 in 2 years time? If he's so good then why isn't he in the Saints best 22?

Rabbit in the headlights

Welcome aboard. Some people get into S&M, some run marathons, some flail themselves with thorn bushes. We follow MFC.

I too am very apprehensive about Neeld. It is based on 'gut feel', and I have been wrong before, but these are my concerns. Neeld presents as a 'put down' artist. You can see this in his exchanges with Robbo in his interviews and in some of his pressers. He appears to be very egotistic but this may be masking a brittle ego. He may well be different when dealing with players behind the scenes but he is very quick to resort to one-upmanship. His 'my way or the highway' approach to team ethos and game plan my seem refreshing to all of us who are sick of seeing the softness and mental fragility of our club but it must be handled with great skill and intelligence. Neeld is not filling me with confidence. The players who have not performed this year, such as Petterd, Moloney and Davey (injury has played a big part), are too skilled to be written off as soft, slack or just plain disobedient. Good people management gets the best out the largest number of people. It appears that Neeld is antagonistic. From all reports, Malthouse is a very different person with players. Yes, football is a tough game and requires resilient characters but resilience can be built by careful management. I don't remember Neeld as a player but a good friend of mine who is a diehard Tiger supporter remembers him as a reasonably clever but not particularly hard at it player, who had a bad run with injuries. This seems at odds with what he is demanding from the players. The great hard-arsed coaches of the modern era - Sheedy, Matthews, Malthouse and more recently Williams, Worsfold, Clarkson, and the Scotts, were all hard-arsed players. In other words, they were not asking something of their players they they had not done time and time again themselves. If Voss and Hird become great coaches the same will be said of them. His game plan appears very much based on the successful Collingwood model of 2010. Conditions have changed. Hopefully he has the creativity and intelligence to be a innovator rather than a rigidly adhere to his own master plan. Admittedly he has not had the skill levels at his disposal to create anything yet. I have other misgivings as well but have to go to work. I desperately hope that I am wrong about him and that this is the dawn of a new team.

So? What are the dots?

I am sickened by some of the comments on this site. I am a long-time, loyal Dees supporter and I'm very disappointed by the way things have panned out. Liam was my favourite player and one of the most gifted I have seen. I, like many followed his story with interest. I was desperate to see him back in the red and blue on a consistent basis. He has pressures on him that we don't understand. The invective on this site towards him, and then amazingly, towards Davey, is very disturbing and makes me wonder what sort of people post here.

We play the dumbest football in the comp. I'm sick of it !!!!!!

It's ironic that Brock found the tanking so unpalatable and ended up at Carlton. Also, wtf is Paul Gardner trying to do? My wife thought that tanking has a really bad effect on the club culture and I greedily disagreed. I rubbed my hands at the prospects of high draft picks and pointed to the other obvious tankers like Carlton, Hawthorn and Collingwood. I now tend to agree with her. Mind you, I think the culture at the club was brittle long before we decided to tank.

Looks great but can't kick. We can't have any more super-unco kicks. We have too many already.

The injury happened when he landed from an earlier mark. Nothing to do with the collision with Magner.

He is egotistical and full of BS but don't let that fool you. He and Choco have done a fantastic job at GWS. They have instilled something in the players already that we and Mark Neeld realise is desperately short at the Dees. They play with real desperation and belief. As much as we may rail against the formation of this club and their aggressive recruiting, they will flourish. Yes, they got Scully, but his loss was the least of our problems. Due to draft concessions they will also have a list which far outstrips us for talent. Whether we like it or nor we are going to have to get used to playing against a very talented and hard-at-it side. I pray that we beat them on Sunday.

It would seem that my OP is at odds with the majority sentiment here. I had no problem with his hit on the young boy Elliot. Especially since it was immediately after Nicholson went down through his own courage. But the late hit on Fasolo's ribs and the attempt to put maxwell on the bench were out of order. If it was Campbell Brown or Barry Hall doing that to our players we would be demanding they be rubbed out for a long spell. Unsociable footy doesn't require players to forget their duty of care and behave like they are on crystal meth. The good teams of the last few years have been super disciplined in relation to their agression and directed it toward the ball or the man with the ball. Even Byron was very measured in the way he dished it out. Ruthless, but he chose his moments. Mind you, he would be regularly rubbed out now. Don't get me wrong I like Tapscott's hardness and the intimidation factor he brings, but there is a difference between 'tough' and 'dirty'. Anyone who has watched from the 1960s to now will know what dirty means. History has thrown up a number of players who were dirty. The John Greening incident was a tragic example. Tappy needs to see the distinction. Would posters here have been so enthusiastic if he had been successful and Maxwell had crashed head first into the bench?

I like the fact that the Dees are playing a more spirited "unsociable" brand of footy recently. But, Luke Tapscott, WTF does he think he is doing? Fasolo annoys me as much as anyone but Tappy's attack on him was out of line. The attempt to launch Maxwell into the interchange bench was quite unhinged. If he continues to behave like this on the field he will be a very unpopular player. I would rather see him attack the ball with the same intent. Both Tappy and Silvia seemed intent on proving that they weren't pushovers. There's a better way to do this. Watch Jordie McKenzie.

Is he moving? Do you have inside knowledge?

I agree with this. Better core strength will help him keep his feet in contests and give him better acceleration. It seems that he has put weight on his arms and shoulders but tackling strength comes from lower down. (before anyone says it, I'm not talking about his gonads)

Your comment concerns me too Rudeboy. Am I to construe that Liam is not happy at the Dees? Or perhaps that Neeld is not sensitive to the diversity of personality types, cultural differences, playing styles etc? I'm not just referring to players with indigenous backgrounds but anyone who doesn't toe the Neeld line. Please understand, I'm not sure whether Neeld is the right OR the wrong man. I'm a passionate and tragic Dee supporter and I'm desperately hoping that he is the right man. It's just that your post seems pregnant with meaning. Being a Collingwood person, you may also have some additional insight into Neeld. You would also have witnessed the way he has managed the situation with Liam over the last few months.