Earl Hood

Agree this is not making sense. Watts hasn't been the problem in the last month, he has been getting his 18 or so possessions in recent weeks. He may have been part of the recent problems but he had a lot of mates, most of them in the leadership group!

Terlich excepted there are some real spuds running around for us, under10 errors aplenty.

They said Watts and the Toump are late withdrawals on the TV, so he must be eligible

He hasn't lined up for Casey, the mystery deepens!

More likely the Saints will knock over the Weagles to give the Hawks second spot!

WJ did we ever actually pay the fine? If we did it was a temporary shuffle of cheques, $500k from us to them while $2M came back the other way to keep us solvent and allow us to bring in PJ and Roos.

Well he is not skinny, there is a far bit of him. No fat, a lot of muscle I agree.

And my other thought on this is that the last 3 weeks have been a disgrace. The first quarters have been disgraceful and much of the blame sits with the leadership group, N Jones, Vince , Dawes et al have all gone missing in the first quarter and more. Why Watts is all I ask and why now, earlier in the year would have made more sense, in addition to his self imposed demotion.

Well I didn't think he was out of form for him anyway. He has had his usual issues in the last 5 games or so but managing around that 18 or 20 possessions intermingled with some clangers but often because he has tried to set something up in a moribund team. I have found this decision quite odd. And surely it has nothing to do with a trade by us. Has he walked into Roosey office and said he wants out?

Frost? Not injured, not playing, not eligible for VFL finals? I was looking forward to see how he would go this year, big and fast but injured for all but the first few games.

Get rid of interchange and go like soccer and have 4 substitutes, no interchange at all. The sub came in because of coaches moaning that if they had an injury early on their team was at a disadvantage on rotations. So the AFL brought in the one sub rule and since coaches have complained endlessly. You can't win, just revert to how we started 18 starting players with some reserves or substitutes or injuries.

I haven't followed all the commentary here and it may have been covered but I hadn't realised that North taking a dive jeopardises Adeliade's chance to host a home final, and they are not happy, quite rightly. Now that shows the AFL up big time as having zero integrity on this. And if I was Channel 7 I would be asking for a refund for who is going to bother to watch a compromised game. I am not sure what the solution is but the AFL does have a rule to cover teams resting multiple players for no apparent reason and they have chosen to ignore it for whatever reason.

Bob I am not sure that will be that easy, to sit facing backwards I mean at Ethihad. Anyway I will keep an eye out and say hello when I see you. Keep your chin up, there is always next season.

DC I keep a constant watch around here for those types and I think I can safely say there aren't any Fitzroy BB types around here that I can identify.

My hope is if we ever get a our players working as a cohesive unit that knows their game plan and plays to it, that TMac and others will only have to kick to a target within 20 and so play within their limitations. Surely you can coach and grin players to hit a target 20 metres away? If everyone is coached to back up team mates and present forward of the ball carrier, surely the game gets easier for all.

Manny I hope you are right, I want to believe it but I am trying to think of a draftee in recent years who has struggled to get a game with us then managed to turn it all around. Nifty Nev did it but he showed something very early I thought then was cruelled by injuries before then getting his body right and being able perform to his ability. Has there been anyone else?

I have to report in that I have finally got down the coast after two months or so to find that the banana crop is dead as a dodo. The banana blight has reached the Surf Coast it seems. I have cancelled the handshack contract of course and will be seeking reparations for my lost profits.

We have some good kids, how good I don't know yet but what we have to do is get the players we have playing as a team consistently and with intensity. then we get some wins. From there we can make some intelligent decisions on what type of players we need to keep improving. My point is we have cattle but until we get them moving in the same direction as a cohesive unit we don't really know what we have really got. It must be tough for some of the kids, they are getting very little support on the ground.

Tony has done it again. His favourite new creation the Australian Border Force with the $10 million fascist regime inspired uniforms has fallen spectacularly on its first planned outage in Melbourne. I thought they should have been looking at the borders given that ISIS is coming to get us but they were planning to walk the streets of Melbourne accosting anyone they crossed paths with and checking visas. I wonder if they would check any 457 visas? Anyway supreme leader Roman QuoVadis has called off Operation Fortitude for now. What a giant cockup! Can it get worse for Tony?

Negative yes sometimes but mostly bewildered at how 22 full time professionally drilled players cannot show up for the first half, three games in a row. All we are asking is to chase, tackle, harass and get to contests, that doesn't take great talent, just endeavour and appetite for the contest. Why do we go missing with no intensity against good sides, against poor sides, we don't play favourites? I am flummoxed and I think Roos is as well. That is when he comes out with the scarred players comment or the veil of negativity in the club that has morphed into our negativity. In other words he can't explain these collective mental no shows at games either so he starts talking about ingrained culture problems. In the end it must have a lot to do with on the field leadership or specifically lack of it now not some scars incurred in past years and certainly not negative fans.

DC I am devastated and surprised she was so young and that Larry Storch is still going around at 92! I certainly had a crush on her when I was much younger.

What does Misson do with his time, Bob? He hasn't got much to manage, he must help out in admin as well.

Bing I have said earlier we have played at around 60% of our potential man power all year as many of the injured this year would be rated top 25 on our list. But I am not sure basic man power available explains some of our lame performances this year. However if we had an injury free year in 2016 things could look up very quickly assuming the entire list undergoes psychotherapy pre season.

Biffen glad to hear about your community values. I too devote much of my precious time to help the fallen in my community. My tax free trust provides counselling for troubled hipsters, unemployed baristers and failed street artists in my area. We hold regular sessions at Hammer and Tong in the mornings and Friday evening sessions at Madame Sou Sous in Fitzroy. Call it a passion of mine but I feel I should give something, tax deductible, back to my community.

Looks like Footy 101 since the 80's! Yes the speed and body sizes have changed but the basic non negotiables stay the same.