I'm glad Ratts didnt listen to those telling him to pass on the caretaker position because it would harm his long term prospects. His 2 weeks as coach have made him the frontrunner at carlton and even Melbourne if Carlton looks elsewhere.

Chris Bond sounds an excellent prospect. When you hear him talk, he sounds like a coach in waititng. He's no 2nd prize but my heart is with Ratten. I would guess that if Ratten has decided the caretaker job was a poison chalice, Bond and he would be neck and neck for the Carlton job

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Reading through the posts on this thread, two things stand out for me

1) love to get Darcy as a ruck coach

2) Peter Bell would be a great assistant. He would be great working with the young guys. He is not the most gifted player going around, but more importantly he has determination by the bucketful.
Throughout his whole life he has had to fight against the odds, even as far as footy goes, yet his playing record is hard to beat.
He would be a great role model for our young list.

PS - has made it known that he will retire at the end of the year even though he is contracted for '08.

I am pretty sure Ratts will get the job but if he doesn't Either Chris Bond or Guy Mckenna(Swanny being an ex collingwood man may like him) will get the job.