Earl Hood

2008

1. Jack Watts (Nic Naitanui, 2) - Nic Nat WC

17. Sam Blease (Luke Shuey, 18) - Luke Shuey WCthe

the Eagles must love us

Don't forget 2007 when they went cold on Morton and grabbed Masten at 3 who has turned into a solid player and then in 2008 we take Maric and leave them Selwood. They love us alright! At the time I thought it interesting that they were tracking us in the 2007, 2008 drafts for early picks when they had won a flag in 2006! A mixture of pretty blatant tanking and the Judd deal.

Pretty much his last chance. Reading the AFL.com.au article it says that 95% of these injuries have no troubles with the screw, but of course that's not the case with Trenners.

Making the call now gives him an outside out of playing a bit in 2015, but realistically we won't see him until 2016.

It's those bl**dy screws again!! First Mitch now Jack and another problem with foot screws. Are we using the wrong thread?

The underlying theme amongst all the recruits is Melbourne recruited them.

I find it hard to believe that we got them all wrong, and the fact that we have been unable to develop anyone says more about us than the individuals.

These guys put faith faith that club knows best how to train and develop them.

If players are commenting on 'how hard it is at another club' then Melbourne is the problem, not the players.

If anyone thinks they're not trying their guts out, then seek help.

But Misson has been in charge of fitness and conditioning and has been at MFC for some time now. He is supposedly very good at what he does? He has been at Sydney and St Kilda when they were contending. So why would our players be so far off the fitness levels of other teams?

Can't be certain Earl, but general consensus is that he's departed this (demon)land. I think BBO is trying to be the new 'land spiritual leader, pathetically I might add.

Very sad to hear that news I always looked to LW for a balanced opinion. I know at times I thought he had over indulged in sacrificial wine but he usually gave us a balanced view of the world. Albeit a conservative one from the past.

Further help required: who has pulled what?

Redleg - a fetlock?

Moonie- ???

Earl - a princess??

Deluded - ??

TSFKA - a pectoral??

Fire away.....

Mine is definitely calf problems. The last 4 years I have found I can pull a soft tisue at any time. I keep pulling muscles, tendons or ligaments in either leg. It has stuffed my tennis career! As I have stated elsewhere Serena Williams and I have six US Opens between us but I am now sidelined. All I can do is ride a bike or swim, no adrenalin there!

You'd better do something about the hair and make up then Uncle Mahatma.

This is where we need Lordweaver (RIP) to step in and snap you out of this funk.

Luna have I missed news of LordWeaver? I do miss his sober input.

I am a changed man Moonie and find many worthy role models in the community around me.

Did I see you at Ethihad last week among the 70,000 Jehovah's Witnesses.? I certainly saw some strange dudes there. I happen to work across the road and had hordes of Gods Kingdom's badge wearers in my local cafe. Is there a Romsey branch?

Not quite so apocalyptic Earl. I assume it's Kurt Cobain.

Whoops fair enough got my Kurts mixed up.

Although you do claim that Kurt never died

General Kurts who is up river, in the highlands? "the horror" is that who we are talking of?

I've seen some silly statements on DL in the past but this one takes the cake.

Unless of course it was a poor red!

Yes you are right silly of me, the result of a couple of bottles of Mendoza Malbec, good wine but it can fog your mind at times. And at the time I seemed to be seeing Clint and BBO in every thread, thus my confused state. Maybe I need to find another vintage?

Jamar, Gawn, Betty and Fitzy.

Why do we need another?

If Jamar went down early the answer is yes! Spencer I am not sure of, Gawn is injured, Fitzy isn't a ruckman. Pedo is a back up and King is raw. I would have chased Louden from the Hawks myself who you know can play a role and that allows you to make some delisting decisions with our big blokes, some of whom will have to go some time soon.

Good job describing Scully and Trengove almost to a tee. That worked out weel. Scully was so self-driven he drove himself to Western Sydney. Not far off describing Toumpas either.

Hodge, Rioli, Hawkins, Christensen. There's been plenty of youngsters come in lately with high skinfolds and turn in to very good footballers. The key is to recognise they are just kids who play footy not athletes, but to believe in them that they will mature. Country kids at boarding school are often the ones with high skin folds but who also just thrive in footy clubs as they are self made types.

Really I'd be judging McCartin on whether he'll have the speed, size, strength and ability to get to the ball and take marks. Character is certainly important, but at some stage we just have to get the talent in and back ourselves. There's enough things to worry about with McCartin's footy before you overanalyse him I think.

You are confirming even more my thoughts that the whole thing is a lottery. If as you say they were the attributes of Scully and Trengove, well what other criteria can you go on when you are picking at the pointy end of the draft. Has the whole industry just analysed itself into an ever decreasing circle so it is now making poor decisions in picking the best prospects?

Jon Anderson's article in the Hun last Sunday on the draft compared the actual first three picks in drafts since 2001 with who he nominated as the best three actual outcomes. It was interesting to note that in the earlier years 2001 through to 2005 those selected 1,2,3 were close to the best 3 players produced in that draft. Then from around 2006 it all starts to deviate with the early picks. Kreuser, Scully, Watts, etc versus late picks like Beams, Fyfe, Shuey, Darling on and on we go and throw in Selwood and Rioli.

The recruiters are supposed to know more now than ever before but our blokes, anyway are still struggling.

You just love getting that word in don't you BBO?

Hey weren't you two on the other "not the B&S thread? Or have I had one red too many tonight?

I read Andrew Bolts piece on Whitlam this morning ( I know - what was I thinking ) - as you would imagine - not a fan of Whitlams. He is such an objectionable man ( and highly predictable).

There are countless books on the Whitlam era that points out his great achievements laced with his many failings and shortcomings.

There is no doubt in my that he was a true visionary in what he wanted for Australia even if his ability to implement was lacking. I just found it distasteful to launch such a broadside at such a great man at his passing.

NB looking at Hardtrack's list of Whitlam Government achievements I don't think implementation was one of Gough's weaknesses but as I said earlier when make so many decisions you are going get your fair share wrong and make plenty of enemies along the way. Unlike some of the botched efforts of the recent Rudd administration, Gough and co had actually spent years developing detailed policy. They knew what they wanted to do and had a good idea how it could be done. He was the last leader to actually develop detailed policies for implementation. Unheard of today of course when you can knock up a $40 billion NBN plan on a whiteboard in the PM's office one night and announce it to the world a day later.

Thanks for the warning not to skim read through today's Hun as I sometimes do if I can't find something better at the coffee shop.

Saw this list posted on FB, so I thought I would share:

It was the Whitlam Government that:-

1. ended Conscription,

2. withdrew Australian troops from Vietnam,

3. implemented Equal Pay for Women,

4. launched an Inquiry into Education and the Funding of Government and Non-government Schools on a Needs Basis,

5. established a separate ministry responsible for Aboriginal Affairs,

6. established the single Department of Defence,

7. withdrew support for apartheid–South Africa,

8. granted independence to Papua New Guinea,

9. abolished Tertiary Education Fees,

10. established the Tertiary Education Assistance Scheme (TEAS),

11. increased pensions,

12. established Medibank (medicare today),

13. established controls on Foreign Ownership of Australian resources,

14. passed the Family Law Act establishing No-Fault Divorce,

15. passed a series of laws banning Racial and Sexual Discrimination,

16. extended Maternity Leave and Benefits for Single Mothers,

17. introduced One-Vote-One-Value to democratize the electoral system,

18. implemented wide-ranging reforms of the ALP's organization,

19. initiated Australia's first Federal Legislation on Human Rights, the Environment and Heritage,

20. established the Legal Aid Office,

21. established the National Film and Television School,

22. launched construction of National Gallery of Australia,

23. established the Australian Development Assistance Agency,

24. reopened the Australian Embassy in Peking after 24 years,

25. established the Prices Justification Tribunal,

26. revalued the Australian Dollar,

27. cut tariffs across the board,

28. established the Trade Practices Commission,

29. established the Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service,

30. established the Law Reform Commission,

31. established the Australian Film Commission,

32. established the Australia Council,

33. established the Australian Heritage Commission,

34. established the Consumer Affairs Commission,

35. established the Technical and Further Education Commission,

36. implemented a national employment and training program,

37. created Telecom and Australia Post to replace the Postmaster-General's Department,

38. devised the Order of Australia Honors System to replace the British Honors system,

39. abolished appeals to the Privy Council,

40. changed the National Anthem to 'Advance Australia Fair' (confirmed at 1977 Referendum),

41. instituted Aboriginal Land Rights, and

42. sewered most of Sydney.

All in three and a bit years.

Building, nurturing, protecting, not cutting, slashing and burning.

What an extraordinary list of achievements in the space of 3 years, half of which was spent fighting elections and supply crises, not to mention the odd Cyclone. He was far from perfect but you cant bring about that sort of change without making mistakes and making plenty of enemies and he had them by the truckload in the end both inside and outside the party.

Fraser recently said Gough tried to do too much too quickly. Yes he is probably correct that the people couldn't handle it but in reality after 23 years of conservative slumber Gough was the equivalent of many CEO's we now laud when they come into a moribund company and turn the whole place upside down just to wake everyone up that things need to change. Oz certainly needed a shakeup. What he wasn't ready for and didn't handle all that well was the economy but the economy of the Western World was in crisis, inflation from the US printing money to pay for the Vietnam War and then the OPEC oil crisis that tripled the cost of oil overnight. Add to that powerful unions and the centralised wage system so it was near impossible to control wage demands until jobs losses started to mount. Every government in the world struggled with the "stagflation" crisis as it was called, low growth but rising costs.

At the time I was at Uni and I was only there because of Gough so I am biased but what a contrast he makes to today's regime. Gough the ultimate crash through or crash agent for change versus Tony the ultimate defender of the established order!

I just think he is a bit stiff. He played some good games this year if I remember correctly. Some good inside play, managing to get the ball out to the Blues runners and went forward a few times and kicked some goals. Have the Blues picked up a raft of young inside mids? They are unloading a few hard heads this off season.

The 2008 draft was an absolute disaster for talls bar a couple.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_AFL_draft

Gee looking at the draft order again there was a bit of talent there! Beams, Hannabury, Shuey, Sloane all came later. Bartlett, Hurley came early. Not too bad but Geelong got it wrong as did we perhaps.

DAT SPIN AT 1:37.

When Jako went down towards the end of the season, The Ox really stepped up his game. Those 9 against Sydney in Round 24 to put us into the finals was absolutely God-like.

Why has this club had such badluck with forwards?

Jakovich was flying before he screwed his back. Lyon was always injured. Schwartz did his damn knee 3 times.

Then we saw Jurrah, Clark, Wonna, Hogan all have their own fair share of problems.

There was probably only one period of time where we didn't have any major on-field injury issues in my time supporting this club, and it was from probably 98 until 2006. Everything around that has been frustrating.

Don't forget Sean Charles in that 94 forward line who played very few games after that due to a carpal tunnel problem I think. He could play!

Was happy with the news until I saw it's going to be Channel 7.

On 7Mate or something?

C'mon Monk give him the good old fashioned Shirt Front!

The Ox and Marko were analysing this potential biffo last week. Looks like a miss match. Tony has a good left hook but Putin is a judo black belt, former KGB colonel and spy, firearms expert and swordsman. A shirtfront while he is not looking makes sense.

Lloyd wasn't an early pick persay, he was a compensation selection to the Bombers for losing a player to Fremantle

True but I guess Lucas is saying he was a priority pick? Dodgy stat perhaps that he had thrown up given the small population of data. Power forwards picked post national draft, who were not priorities, not Father Sons, not Darling types etc, etc. who is Lucas actually talking about now that I look at it? Josh Kennedy WCE, Buddy, Roughy, who else?

Isn't Lever a tall?

Why is he part of the equation if Roos doesn't want to draft top end talls?

I hear people say he could be the next Bontimpelli but he could also be the next Cale Morton (who also carved it up in his highlights package).

Lever is also listed (and supposedly best suited) as a key defender. Didn't we just trade for one of those?

I have no problem with drafting Lever but I'm not sure he fits the bill (or Roos' rule for drafting talls).

While Roosey says there is a risk taking the big boys early so better to go with hard ball getting mids, there is also apparently another stat that says none of the leagues gun power forwards have ever come from outside the top 15 in the AFL draft except for F/S. I heard that one from Scott Lucas on SEN.

Now Darling may be an exception but we all know he should have gone top 10 but for some good scaremongering. But your Buddies, Roughies all came early, not sure of the others in this stat. Jackovich was a number 6. Lucas and Lloyd must have been early picks?

However if true it says maybe you take a punt with McCartin and hope you have found another gun forward to compliment Hogan. Especially if the word on him his true that he is super agressive as a forward. I like that as it compliments Hogan who thrives on physical contact. That would be an interesting forward line I think. I would be happy if we went McCartin, Brayshaw. If Petracca was available I suppose you would take him. But then the dilemma. Petracca and Brayshaw could be a game changer for us.

I thought we should have had a shot for Hallihan from the Hawks, 4 years in the system, tough nut. Gone to the Suns for late picks

Enormous talent!

The kid captain Vic Metro last year as a bottom ager so it just shows the leadership qualities he presents something Paul Roos screams for. A huge endorsement from his peers.

He is probably the closest thing in terms playing ability to Nathan Fyfe where he is that tall midfielder who is very courageous in the air and can take a big pack mark. Has a huge leap him. He is cool and calm under pressure and shows good poise with ball in hand.

Don't pencil him in as a defender he will be drafted as a mid by us could make a big impact in years to come.

Very driven and determined character and for what its worth he was apparently close to representing Australia in Boxing so not only is he a very hard trainer he is also a tough nut!

A 194cm midfielder to go along with Viney, Tyson, Brayshaw, Salem, Kent, Michie, Toumpas, JKH has the potential to become a potent midfield in years to come.

Strewth you have me sold. He ticks all the boxes it seems especially with the boxing prowess. Leadership, aggression, sounds good.

Happy to say that it was an mistake to take Toumpas over Wines but please don't rewrite history. Drafting needs over best available ??? Do the research and every publication had Toumpas going in the draft BEFORE Wines. Pre kicking a ball in anger Toumpas was considered a better prospect than Wines. Just hasn't turned out that way.

This constant moaning on Wines vs Toumpas is wearying.

I am so glad we traded out pick 2 last year or we would have a host of posters bemoaning taking Kelly over Bontempelli.

Go back over every draft and you will notice that draft order has never ever been correct. If you were looking at past drafts number one picks would be ( IMO and obviously subjective)

2013 - Bontempelli

2012 - Wines

2011 - pretty close between Coniglio, Dom Tyson (yay), Greene, wingard

2010 - probably Heppell

2009 - We talk about Scully and Trengove but look how everyone missed out on Fyfe at 20. Gunston at 29 !!

It doesn't matter if you agree with who I have suggested as pick one or not - the evidence is that if you do retrospective draft analysis and you will see that EVERYONE has pretty much got the draft order wrong.

NB you are correct I have been saying for a while the draft is a lottery and is not the equalisation tool the AFL claims it to be

What I was trying to say (rather poorly) was that although the general consensus was that Toumpas was ahead of Wines, T Viney was in a rather unique position to know the capabilities of Wines as he's grown up in their house and he also knew Toumpas quite well. The Ox said on SEN MFC made the choice based on the need to fill an outside running role as we already had the inside mid role covered with JV. So did Viney judge Toumpas to be a better player than Wines or did he let list management/balance issues sway his thinking and he assumed either kid would be a gun so went past Wines?

Why ever it happened, MFC still has a way to go before I will have my faith restored that we can spot good young talent in the draft as well as the successful clubs do it.