Earl Hood

Roos doesn't seem to all that popular. Candidates aren't rushing the doors for a spot under the master. Nathan Bassett anyone?

As I have posted recently our midfield has no system, it doesn't work together as a team. Individually they may have a rating but as a group they rate a 3 or 4 because they are competing against well oiled clearance machines like the Hawks or The Cats. These guys hold the ball for nano seconds before it passed off by hand to another who gets it out to an outside runner, who spears a pass forward to a half forward who presents for the pass. In comparison we have MFC players battling for the ball as individuals. If they get hold of the ball and get some space don't expect anyone to lead and present. Where's Brett Ratten as mid coach when you need him?

I wonder if you are on to something here. I look at the top clubs and the way they rapidly move the ball at stoppages. The likes of Mitchell and Lewis barely have the ball for a second before it is passed to someone else. You can't tackle them because the balls moved on. You don't need leg speed just clean and quick hands to get the ball and move it rapidly to an outside player. You need a system and a group of players who instinctively know how it works and where they need to be. You also need a couple of inside ball magnets. You could argue we have some of the basic ingredients but no systems. For years we have watched Jamar and co win the tap outs to Maloney or Jones who grab the ball and take on the tacklers before we end up in another ball up. No sharpe movement of the ball at all, no system.

You have come from a different angle but I think we end up in the same place. Daisy equals Col in terms of compensation taking into account our different situations. Tha AFl formula should be able to handle this. Again I say it is very difficult to shine consistently in a bottom side but it is eaier to shine in a dominant team.

I am still thinking Freeman as a power mid versus a nice outside mover.

Not sure what you mean here. Col could never have been a premiership player, that was his lot in life. Yes he did not have a massive breakout year but I am noticing in modern football that if you are in a Shyte team you will find it very difficult to be a star. It is not impossible but it is less likely that you will be able to meet the metrics set out in the AFLs statics to get in the all stars. Daisy's been injured for some time and it is a few years since he played good football but yet he gets a rating based on what? His last good game or his last great game? It is looking all very subjective. And that is where the AFL tends to like to live.

What I have seen of Blease I just think with more time, training, discipline and maturity he could be a very damaging player. You watch him at Casey in a competitive team and he can be electrifying, getting the ball at high speed on the wing where he is balanced, then delivers a low piercing pass to a leading forward that unfortunately is just as likely to hit an opposition player lace out on the chest as his intended target. What is that about? When he gets into the firsts he will have an occasional blinder that we all remember or else go missing completely or he gets injured yet again. All that said he has some obvious weapons that I would like to see if Roosey could develop.

I really think Bail should hang the boots up for his own good. Too many concussion episodes for my liking. Better to look to your future, I say.

Fatal error: Out of memory (allocated 7077888) (tried to allocate 32 bytes) in /home/demonlan/public_html/forums/admin/sources/base/ipsRegistry.php on line 3150 Me too!

Great news about young Stretchy. Father son may be our only hope to break through to success given everything else that has been stacked up against us in the last 10 years. Geelong has made father son an artwork but still claimed it is all about their coaching and development. Well yes but gee the genes go a long way to success as well you know. Lets face it you could not have stopped Gary Abletts developed, no matter haw hard you tried.

Ditto. congradulations on a great win. But tell us was there any mid field talent there we can draft in? We are desperate. Also were any sloppy handballs, floating in and under kicks into the 50 or anybody failing to go hard forward and back the other way? I would hate to hear there was given that we have zero tolerance for this on Demondland.

If we end up with picks 20 and 21 after we have traded pick 2 for an established mid and we have lost Col in the FA, is there any horse trading we can do to swap our picks down to 15 to 19 for example to try and get our hands on the likes of Dunston or Sheed etc. do we need to cough up a player just to get a swap down plus a lesser player etc? Just trying to think outside the square perhaps.

You've sold me on Freeman already. Although Explosive and powerful are attributes we seem to avoid in our drafting and we definitely don't like beasts. Damned if I know why.

Dawes wasn't a FA. We payed overs in money and trade pick 20 as I remember it. But a deal worth doing at the time. That is our lot we will always have to pay overs and usually through trades. FA will burn us mostly. It is the rich mans and rich clubs rule of choice!!!

Either way my take on the FA trend so far is good players going to stronger clubs. Good players from strong clubs going to other strong clubs and good players from weak clubs going to strong clubs. There has been some movement of journeymen over 30 going the other way of course. And there are some compensatory picks at the AFLs discretion. You take our experienced, hard bodied, proven players and we get a second round lottery pick for an 18 year old with potential. This is not a great way to do business in a competitive market. And is there a more competitive market than the AFL? Add to this that young players homesick or surplus to needs at GWS or Suns or any of the interstate clubs are openly saying they will only move to clubs like Geelong, Pies or Hawks. AFL commissioners, I think we have a problem! But then they can't think through things without Vlad to tell them what to think.

Not sure he fell out with the Lyon Stynes CC Schwab nexus? His profile says he left MFC in 2000 to coach Moama, then the Hawks etc. I don't think the CC, CS conspiracy was around in 2000.I am all for looking for culprits and conspiracies but Todd is not in the firing line. I don't see him or Greg Healy as part of the old firm problem that has all but destroyed this club.

Not a spectacular talent as we know but when I saw him in a few Casey matches he seemed to like to contest the ball, he was not scared of physical contact, to run and chase, and had the confidence to take the game on in defense, albeit at VFL level. Hmmm, these are some basic attributes I wish our AFL team could display.

That is interesting given what happened in 2010/11! A complete breakdown in communication lines between the player leadership group, the Board, the FD and the CEO. Absolute chaos. When Leoncelli moved on, Jimmy took on the Football Director and apologised for his failure to keep on top of things, given his dire health issues. As I see it this lapse allowed CS to fool the Board that all was well and the problems lay with some senior players. I think it is a crucial role. I hope the new regime has a suitable alternative so the Board can better understand what is happening at the coal face.

After three seasons we could have given him a game as a defender in the AFL just to check out what he might offer. In a season from hell we had little to lose and less to gain from trying to make him a forward. Whose idea was that?

Did Colliss arc up about our application for a priority pick? The level of hypocrisy among AFL club officials is quite astounding.

It sure looks like the beginning of the end to me. If the size of the new contract is a metric, the good players from top clubs will only move for big bucks while conversely good players at bottom clubs will go to top clubs for less money, chasing a cup. Everything that has been going on the past 5 or 6 years is conspiring to extend the dominance of the existing 4 or 5 clubs. I'm talking about the new franchise clubs, compromised drafts, the same talent pool spread thinner and free agency, and good players just refusing to re-sign and walking to the club of their choice, usually a top club again, think Luke Ball. We are certainly working at a significant disadvantage as I see it.

Look you have to take a more unbiased look at this issue of equalisation. Equalisation in the AFL is more subtle and sophisticated than just handing out the odd priority pick here and there. It's about ummh, well look at MFC, Vlad reckons we have this young talent all lined up and gee that big kid who hasn't played a senior game yet is going to be good and..... Well I could go on. The point is equalisation is not about priority picks, money hand outs or evening up the fixture. It is more about knowing your place as a second tier club and being grateful to the AFL for the previledge of playing second fiddle to the top clubs. Given that why would you want any of these high priced players like Buddy or worry where they go? Just accept you position in AFL life. Got the picture now and any attempt to buck the system will lead to another riot by the "other 17 teams who are not Melbourne" as Vlad is apt to say.

Yes good point. We would need an absolute clean bill of health if that would be possible. Good heavens Dank seems to have been everywhere from the Bombers, MFC and every second club in the NRL!

Sorry I am lazy on research rpfc. What determines the bands? You have franklin at 1 and Sylvia at 3. I don't disagree but what is the criteria for the bands? Again if it is about how good the team is we have an issue.

I think we should be working the Bombers and Adelide for a draft swap for a mid. Both clubs are desperate to get into the draft so lets leverage off that as a first option. Who would they cough up for a chance at pick 2 or 20? We are in a position to play hard ball.