I rate our list,recruiters,managers 5out of 10. dale $700 thousand easy trade,again everitt and doc gave our picks tell me what is so hard about doing this. We better hope daisy ankle is okay. no bruce or a savage or adams swap player for a pick (hampson) something better. Any way hopefully everything will work out.

Unfortunately I cant disagree with any of that. Are we contending? Are we rebuilding? Do we have a long term plan or are we living for today.
If there's a strategy in place, its not apparent to me. Docherty was a good get but the rest is hopes and prayers.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

Who says you need to pick? You build for today and build for tomorrow, and only make the really bold move if it's a win/win or you can cover your arse 18-24 months down the track.

Some of the older players are going to have to be on board with that after this coming season though.

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29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

You only build for today if you believe you can contend for a flag. Otherwise you plan to build a list that can win one.
We seem unsure and so we're hedging our bets IMO. That's not management and leadership. Its uncertainty and guesswork. Do you think we have a defined strategy Jim that has achieveable short and long term goals?
Are you seeing any evidence of one?

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

I still think we're protecting the quality on our list and attempting to acquire more. If we felt the list was trash we'd trade up and take the short term hit.

The goal is to not repeatedly middle-out like we have. We need to repeatedly finish top 6 because then we have the currency in players to upgrade picks as needed.

I'm very much a believer in the idea that with the right mindset, good analysis and management of contracts, you can regenerate a list while still looking to compete in finals. It's the failure to keep things ticking over or a complete disaster injury/development wise that brings a club to its knees.

We look like we extracted value in this trade period, and we've got 3 decent selections to work with, as well as multiple strategies and opportunities with pick 69 if the pool is shallow. I'm happy with that. Still plenty of broad strokes and finer detail to work on in this picture.

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29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

Really well said!
















































huh???

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Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience!!!

After Monday and Tuesday, even the calendar says W T F .........
Visit http://fromthemoshpit.com/

FFS we are going to turn over 10 or more players!
This is a big change. Most of those staying are very good to great players. We denigrate our own and glorify average players from other teams.

We don't need to completely overhaul our top 22 in the one off-season!
We are building a team for the next 5yrs and in the meantime, aiming to finish top 8 and possibly top 4.
From there, anything can happen.

Our whole future does not depend on getting a CHF during this trade period. Apart from Buddy, there was nothing there.
J White was the best available and, frankly, if we'd paid overs for him, I would have been pissed off.
I am glad we didn't get Dawes last year. Or Lynch. These are 2nd-stringers past their best. Mitch Clark hardly inspires.
Tippett was a good pick up for Sydney but hey, they went on to lose anyway.
In any event, I don't think there was much around this year that we could say will definitely be better than Casboult or Rowe.
There would not have been much point trading in good players to get higher picks with no guarantee they'd be better than what we gave up. Ok, if we could have gotten a top 10 pick, that might have been good but at what cost?

We have improved our list in the last few weeks, losing one top 22 player and receiving, hopefully, 3 top 22 players with good skills (who were all 1st round picks).
The top 22 player we lost, we can somewhat cover for.
We will pick up another first rounder in a few weeks time. That will mean half our top 22 should be first rounders. That should give us the skills required. Now it's up to Mick to craft a formidable team and coherent game plan.

I don't buy into all this doom and gloom. We are not where we would have liked to be but we were also a kick or so off beating some good teams last year (Ess twice, Rich once) and should have made sure of the StK and Bulldogs games. That's 5 games turnaround which would have put us into top 5 contention - and who here does not think we will be better next year than this year? Yes, we have to nail the wins but if you think we weren't capable of it, you're kidding yourselves. We genuinely struggled against the top 4 teams but were capable of beating anyone else. We should improve next year.

We have every chance of improving our playing level and ladder position next year. And then, we can build a bit more, get another top pick, pick up another free agent, make a couple of trades... we are on the up. Has taken longer than we'd hoped but that is the same for pretty much every team (Hawks would have expected a flag last year, Pies would have expected to win more after 2010 etc...)

Don't let the facts get in the way of brain dead hysteria

Get with the program. It is a miracle that the club even manages to unlock its doors every morning!

But seriously, great post!

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Formerly Blues-Back2003.

To me no doubt the list is improved in structure and quality but the question yet to be answered is have the others improved more than us ?

Our list is a mess. We've improved it as much as can be expected given the poor salary cap management and inability to make tough decisions.

..won't know until next year, and each team's injury list will dictate much.. ..if yazz didn't have early hammy issues, waite injury setbacks, betts broken jaw, murph busted in half, judd hammy issues early year and niggles later, carrots calfs most of year.. ....

..a full pre-season into murphy, DT, krooz, judd and carrots will have a big improvement in the list already.. ..natural improvement in the younger core like krooz, hendo, touhy, yazz, jeffy [continue 1st half season form all season long], curnow, robbo, army [who i think improves every year] and now everitt [right age and games group].. .... ..and a fair bit rests on watto's shoulders, if he can push hard over pre-season and get himself in a position to be given CHB opportunity we will be looking good..

..what can we expect out of docherty moving ahead?, menz we know is high talent so how much can we count on him in regards to gaining more fitness, cos the skills and smarts are there.. ..will there be more to bell than just a taller version of robbo?, will graham get more opportunity? [i think so], will temay push his way towards making a debut??.. .. ..and of course, pick 13..

..and thats just the players.. ..with i believe a bigger shared buy-in by the playing group, with reinforced expectations and standards, with more time again to learn what the coaches want, and the coaches themselves learning what the players are capable of,, i think we could dramatically improve.. ..we played a lot of dysfunctional footy, but even thru that we now and then put it together, its now about making sure we get that consistency..

..in regards to our improvement vs other teams, i think we'll be good..

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..if you can't be good, be good at it..

I am unsure of what "tough" decisions needed to be made. Can you be specific?

I hope Casboult can step up. He showed signs but very inconsistent, & has to learn to kick strait. But all this is confidence.

trim down and add something when the ball hits the deck.

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Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Back to BASSics I suppose?

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THEY LIKE TO SEND UP!!!!!!!!

Until each team plays each other the same number of times, the AFL, as a fair dinkum competition, cannot be taken seriously.

He (Mr Swann) said the honour and pride associated with the club's traditional navy blue jumper was priceless.

I wish it was confidence, but it's not. He has a shocking technique that is unlikely to be rectified at the age he is now.

_________________
Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience!!!

After Monday and Tuesday, even the calendar says W T F .........
Visit http://fromthemoshpit.com/

Worst technique in living memory was Warwick Capper. How he managed to kick straight is a mystery to me.

Levi is a reasonable kick on the run. I think he can be turned around. Even at his age (What is he, 21?)

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Let slip the Blues of war (with apologies to William Shakespeare) (and Sir Francis Bacon, just in case)

What age did Tuohy learn to kick a footy?

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"Who discovered we could get milk from cows, and what did he think he was doing at the time?" Billy Connolly