Earl Hood

A la Blease I think we all live in hope, that is all. At least he was one of the picks from that abominable period where BP was calling the shots and he had an obvious weapon, that maybe BP actually saw, who knows. He is quick and gee do we ever need leg speed on the outside but unfortunately it seems Sam's brain will never catch up with his speed of body. And if after 5 years he is still learning to be defensive in the magoos well, let's just move on, which is a real shame. I have watched him play in the VFL and he looks the goods but he so often wins the ball and unloads a spearing pass straight to the opposition. It is so frustrating.

Hmmm from what you say it looks like he is cactus! AFL and common sense do not always overlap that often. Ask Jack Trengove.

When I look at it again Vineys options were to pull out of the contest completely or to not turn side on for the bump and therefore take an open shirt front from Lynch, what would you do? This will.be a real test of the MRP, I reckon. Viney didn't go hunting a hit it just appeared as a genuine contested ball situation. Will be an interesting adjudication. I have zero faith in the AFL let me say.

Well yes DC you have picked up on one important point, we saw that with the Desal plant at Wonthaggi, the ETA and others went for the jugular, because they could with the tight timelines and the mining construction boom. That could be controlled this time if there is not a boom in construction. But even so, let's be honest the unions are squabbling over the crumbs falling off the table, from the Merchant Bankers and their financial backers who will have already taken us to the cleaners to the value of billions of dollars over the life of these contracts. There is a real danger that we will let the private sector start to finance big infrastructure nationally. It will cost all of us a fortune. They will build the wrong things and charge us a bomb or it. We are seeing disturbing signs already with the Napthine Government listening to Metro Trains offer solutions for upgrading the Packenham line and other solutions. Who is doing the planning here? Government or foreign owned consortiums?

I think you have described it correctly. Probably only get 2 with an early plea! Knowing our luck.

I agree!

I had to work all day today so was not even listening, then I start getting text messages that we look like winning! I am just so overjoyed, we have finally broken the Adelaide hoodoo! Thank God they have buried Westlakes or whatever that horrible ground is called.

I am only talking about requiring super funds to invest x % of their investment in AAA government infrastructure bonds at the going rate. That way super funds have a conservative investment option in their portfolio, Governments have access to cheap funding for productive investment. In the best of worlds the infrastructure investment decisions would be decided by an independent authority, so what gets built delivers the best bang for the buck. You can't trust the pollies to pick the right projects and you definitely can't trust the merchant banks to decide where they can make the most profit. The last thing OZ needs is the financial sector going on a PPP spree of high cost, useless construction that delivers high cost non solutions in search of a problem.

Perhaps that is what he needs, to get him involved in the middle. At VFL level he should be able to handle himself well we would hope, for his sake. He certainly looked up and about at training today.

Yes I agree and gives us hope that there is a tipping point where eventually we get some game breakers and makers who dominate enough to then allow the Pedersons of the team to flourish. Then suddenly the bit players start to perform above their own expectations. We live in hope that we develop that supporting cast!

Moving well at training today, should be OK, I think.

Gee put in a blinder in that game. Would like to see more of that playing for us.

The way we bring the ball into our forward line won't help is cause but I hope you are right. However if he doesn't click up forward this time, the only position left for him is "left back".

Strewth, how did I miss that? I was down at training this morning, actually that is me in the background of one of the photos, the guy at the back wearing a bike helmet. Obviously focussing too much on Garland. He took part in everything and looks to be moving well. He did a couple of drills where he and T Mac had to jostle with Chip and Dawes as balls were kicked high to them. Garland looked very good in that drill. Is he ready though after so much time out? Spencer walked a few laps and disappeared. Fitzy, Pedo, Max and Jamar did a lot of ruck drills. Max played well in the magoos but Jamar went OK last week, so could we afford to take Max in as well? The others were split into 2 sides and were doing a lot of drills where the ball is moved constantly by foot to leading players who must get clear of there opponent to get a mark. This is what we would like to see more of on game day, players moving and presenting all over the field ahead of the ball carrier. Mitchie was training well and Riley was in everything, he could be a chance. Tapscott and Blease both look like can play, if only they would! For a change just about everyone was involved in the drills, there were no groups doing laps etc. Had to leave early unfortunately.

Robbie I basically agree with your line of thought. But there is a basic structural tax income problem for the government. Outgoings are rising but taxes are falling. We have to raise extra funds from somewhere. Australia is a low tax country by OECD standards and we have to manage an entire continent. Taxes will rise but where from? I would be happy with a financial tax of a few cents on every share transaction, that would raise money on a useless, speculative activity. We could also remove the concessions on Super that is just a tax dodge. I read somewhere recently if you remove all these concessions, you can raise your income with an across the board 15 % tax rate on income. There is a huge backlog in infrastructure expenditure needed in the next 10 years to keep us functioning so Governments need funds to rebuild Australia. It must come from Government, not the private sector, they are far too expensive in raising funding. Goverment's must be willing to go into debt to fund infrastructure construction to maintain our productivity levels. Our Super Funds should be forced to always have a % of triple A government bonds as their base capital requirements for their license.

Scully, poor development or just a case that this number 1 was a good, average footballer at best? I think Scully is a good example that it is more about the cattle, than the development. I think Scully has tried to tick every box in his personal development, that is part of the reason he got the hell out of MFC as soon as his Dad could set it up. At GWS he has had every chance to develop but at the end of the day he is a super fit accumulator. What are his weapons? Not explosive speed or size, power, strength etc. He is a good accumulator of possessions without a laser like kick. It just seems to me that everytime we have been down the bottom and in line for the early picks, there has not been that much there. Morton, Scully, Trengove, Watts for example and we could go back to 2003 re Sylvia. It could be development but I don't buy it, except maybe Sylvia who did have potential X factor skills but never applied himself.

Machsy I think you are echoing what I was trying to say (perhaps poorly worded). Struggling clubs need more picks in the first and second rounds of the draft, not necessarily a priority 1 pick, to increase their chances of improving their lists in what you have described as a raffle. in the draft raffle about all we have some confidence in is that there is more talent in the first 25 picks than the next 25 picks. And yes this is exactly what Roos tried to engineer for us last draft.

I am with you Sambo but I do think we have simply picked the wrong guy in too many but not all instances. First round draft picks are potential gems but we have burnt too many over the last 10 years to make us competitive.

Good point. Is it the supplements or the fact he had been thrown around a bit or is he just a limited talent? The jury is out.

Very good summary of what has been driving me nuts. It is at best 20% development, it is mostly picking the right cattle in the draft if it is there. And we have made a mockery of the whole process. However you can only pick what's there and many of our drafts often didn't have a lot in the top 10. We and the AFL assumes pick one is better than pick 12 or pick 18 but history indicates this is not true. So the equalisers are not in place as much as Andrew might wish and Eddie never stops telling us otherwise.

If we get pick one, two or whatever it will still be a lottery. One of the pillars of the AFL's belief system is that the draft is an equalising force, while the salary cap keeps a lid on the powerful clubs. In theory the draft should be an equaliser but is it? Ignoring the expansion clubs excessive draft gouging of recent years if you look at drafts in the early to mid 2000's, the bottom clubs didn't always get the best talent. Selwood, Rioli, Darling , Dangerfield, Shuey, Fyfe, Rich, the list goes on. My point is the AFL lives on the concept the draft order provides more than enough equalisation in talent. I say no because it is still a lottery in the top 20 odd picks, it seems. I think the lower sides just need access to a greater number of first and second round picks. Forget priorities, just talk an extra pick say mid round 1 and an extra early 2nd rounder if you have failed to win 4 games for the last xxx years for Gods sake!!! Is this asking too much?

Nutbean this thread has had me thinking. I mean we all know politicians of any colour will always say one thing in opposition then contradict themselves in government, it is part of the game that surprisingly a high percentage of supposedly educated voters will fall for every three years for their entire life! But there you go. No but what has got me really thinking is if Noah played under 10's how many games did he knock up? I mean if he started that young and lived to be 950 years old as is recorded and we know he had his first child when he was 500 years old, how many games do you think he played? Now he could have played 490 seasons minus say one or two missed to build the boat and another season cancelled for wet weather. That leaves around 485 seasons, not sure how many games played a season but anyway even without records going back that far I reckon he would have Tucky's record covered!

I wanted Hurley in that draft as he was big and loved the physical contest but to be fair he has struggled a bit too, not sure why.

No it is all about development I am often told.

Yes I hope Brett Allison is a perfectionist because it is not great reading but we know from the reports our boys were very average. We need leg speed but Blease is still trying to learn the same defensive lessons for the past 5 years. Barry is still learning to run to the right spots! Not holding my breath there. Hunt has speed, is playing down back but giving his man 3 to 4 meters space? dont these kids learn some basics in under age? Oh well a first year project player there. Strauss sounds like he is coasting and Toumpas needs to work on his delivery!! A number 4 midfield draft pick should be putting it lace out to a target at VFL level surely? I will love it if Jimmy makes it big time but I am wondering what his weapons are. Not leg speed, not size and aggression and now not delivery. Anyway the spare parts cupboard looks very bare I am afraid. Boy we need some draft help to rebuild this list.