Earl Hood

Ahh BBO how good it is to read your dulcet tones again after your totally unfair enforced vacation. Only Biffen knows how many strings I tried to pull to overturn your ban and I more than anyone knows about the power of pulling strings! I battled strongly in your defence but the powers that be could not be swayed. Their demands were too much, you would not want to know the details. So be it but you are back and all is well, as if nothing has happened. Remember in adversity we must all stick together, that is my motto!

At the time Ball should have been charged with draft tampering, end of story. He refused to speak to other clubs or disclose his medical situation I believe, so given his dodgey groin etc, no one else but the Pies could be sure what state he was in. When the Saints made a stand and dropped him into the draft, he should have been charged and banned for the next year and the Saints should have been compensated with a pick along the lines of compo for free agents. Of course things have totally changed in recent years so I don't think players can draft tamper now, it is all in their favour. Howe chooses the Pies, the Pies know that so why would they want to play ball with us unless we have some power to send Howe elsewhere but I don't believe we do. The player still has a veto on trades. But to move against that is seen as restraint of trade. I give up it is all loaded in the players favour and the top clubs these days.

Are they discussing grammar on Trade Radio?

The description was correct at the time as JT was regarded as a top pick by the industry. What happened? Was it the hip problems? We have not seen the explosiveness or genuine speed as described and without the speed to give him time and space perhaps that impacts on his decision making because he has really struggled for composure at the top level.

Interesting discussion Ralphius, I believe leadership is important and when you talk of the 5 traits I believe competitiveness is a close relation to leadership. If we are both talking the same thing, a competitive player relishes the physical contact, loves to win, hates to lose and will do whatever is needed to win within the rules, these days anyway. A competitive beast may not be a natural leader of men, in that he may not be able to motivate them by words but he will do so by his deeds. Interesting the club is now talking about targeting competitive types. So in my mind in hindsight that would mean you would pick Selwood over Maric, Hurley over Watts, Dusty over Trengove, Wines over Toumpas etc. MFC is now targeting leaders, those who have confidence, who hate to lose and especially those who won't drop their head at the first sign of adversity. Good heavens didnt we suffer enough in those loses at the end of the season before the GWS win. These loses should be totally unacceptable to the playing group where we had lost the game by the end of the first quarter, not once but three games in a row! That says to me something is missing and it is players who have confidence and a desire to win and will not accept failure.

I note his manager saying in the Hun that not many people realise Howe is an elite endurance athlete as well as a repeat sprinter of high order! Not sure I noticed that in games but at training I know he ticks nearly every box on mobility, ball handling, speed and aerial skill. And his manager says a major motivation is for Jeremy to find one position and play there. Well yes he has been moved around as we have searched for where he can play to his obvious strengths. Has he ever played on the wing for an extended period? He has obvious Isaac Smith like abilities but I don't believe he has ever shown the willingness to work hard running both ways. He has at times looked bloody good at running forward on the wing, think of that incredible running with the flight of the ball mark over Embley at the Gee some years ago (degree of difficulty 9.98). And this year In the last game at Etihad i witnessed him run forward to the pocket and Brayshaw I think just loop up a pass in the air. Howe just launches himself vertically for the mark, the defender had no chance of getting a fist in there. And then he kicks the goal. He should be able to do that three times a game easily. These are all cameos of talent. For some reason he lacks the work ethic or the knowledge of how to do it, to be a consistent 20 to 25 possession outside runner who can kick goals. He learns that and he is worth his weight in picks. I would be happy for him to stay and we work on his potential. But if he goes so be it.

Gibbo has won the B&F for your info. You know the roving third man up in the back Iine that has had zilch pressure on it all year. And now I have to hear that they are giving all the accolades to Yze, the backline mastermind! Sorry I am going to puke again.

Help this is surely domestic violence, I have contacted Lifeline but they are not interested. I come home after a hard day on the course expecting dinner and what do I get? Well yes dinner was very edible but SWMBO had set up multiple streaming devices of the Hawthorn Best and Fairest Count that is happening tonight! Our smart television, her laptop and iPad all streaming Clarko's eulogy to a threepeat that had me puking when he mentioned the efforts of Neita, Bruce and Yze! There was no where to hide in our modest, yet tasteful apartment. This is spouse abuse surely? At last count Gibbo has been overtaken by Cyril in the B&F as if anyone wanted to know. This is all payback for my refusing to pay $200 to accompany SWMBO to the GF to watch another one sided flogging.

Moons I think you should go to bed its obviously been a long day for you!

Gee looking at those highlights they go on about Rioli but Robbie is doing something very similar up forward in some of those clips and then you add his other great work up the field and it shows just what a talent he was, a Rioli plus plus in my mind.

We should at least have a crack at Selwood, surely Geelong can't offer much with Dangermouse taking up any spare cap they had.

But Harry Hoo also said there are always "two possibilities"!

My guess is we set up for Curnow at pick six. If for some reason he is picked earlier I think we then panic and pick whoever is the current under 18 All Australian centre half forward. I mean we have done it before as a fall back option.

So it wasn't a chest mark but a Petracca back mark?

I thought the VFL powers that be brought in country zoning in the late 60's expressly to deal with us. Until then Jim Cardwell used to pick the eyes out of the country leagues and Tasy, bring the recruits down to the big smoke and offer them an MCC membership and the deal was done. We got the Shyte zones and the agreement to rotate zones never happened because the Dawks, Carlton and North would not budge on their very productive zones. We got dudded earlier on metropolitan zones as well. We were dealt with then, now it's time to deal with Hawthorn.

Sounds more plausible to me than this fuel reduction burn gone wrong story.

I hope you are right because that would mean we have two new recruits, Trengove and Petracca (two pick 2's) to add to whomever we pick up this draft/trade period. Could be a very exciting because if we get competitive in the midfield we will start to win games because we are well setup forward and down back I believe.

Talking climate change which we weren't I know. Strewth it is hot for this early in the year, in fact it has broken all 154 years of records. What is that telling us? Maybe a coincidence, a random anomaly, maybe a disturbing trend!!! I doubt it myself.

The Dawks have some form in this area, think Jonathan Hay and Nathan Thompson, both traded out for good picks but struggled with their own mental demons at their new club. I am sure they wanted to do all they could to help Hay and Thompson and would have disclosed all they knew, they are the family club after all. Did they knowingly send a similar problem in Buddy off to one of their major competitors for the FA compo that looked like unders at the time?

What the Dawks have identified a slight need for a role player on the half back flank, but only if two other preferred players get injured or something? Gee I hope they get their man!

Talking equalisation watching the NRL final, they seem to have got something right. That was a nail biter right to the end, unlike our last 3 grannies. I don't particularly like NRL but that final was riveting, unlike our final.

And how often Garlett was feeding him and providing some leg speed and JKH as well.

Good points Deecisive, except the Dawks aren't big bodied. They may may be strong and willing though. What I noticed at the GF parade was the different body shapes. The Dawks are quite lean, except for McEvoy and Frawley, the rest seem to carry little weight and muscle when compared to WC. Kennedy, Darling, Shuey, Hurn, they are big. Ability to cover ground and keep running is now more important than being muscled battering rams. It helps to be skilled of course, that covers a lot of other deficiencies.

True I read it in the Age!

Good point Deecisive. This back half zoning is interesting. We saw the Crows zone off and get smashed in a semi. So again we see WC zoning off in a Grand Final and guess what, they got smashed! Gee I don't get payed $300K a year to be a coach but my guess is if you lose midfield control you have to revert to plan B and man up on the oppostion's forwards, but what would I know. You go man on man, make every tackle hurt and go the knuckle if you need to make the Dawks at least think twice about their systematic game plan.