Opinion Commentary and media

[wolvesRoos]

I hate free agency, having lived in the UK for years it is soul destroying to know that your club can never win, unless a rich Arab lands in your lap. You live for the big game mid season where you can score one goal against the run of play at Old Trafford and defend for your life to hold on for a win.

I always said to people how good the AFL is, I went over in 2000 and told everyone North Melbourne was the best team even though we were one of the poorest, I think that was the great asset of our game.

I am really concerned that the tops teams will never drop now, look at Geelong, it might not come to be , but they are on for 4 excellent recruits this year which will mean they will not drop for 5 years for a rebuild like they are supposed to.

 

[kangaspurs]

NMFC Website is doing player reviews and are offering fan comments.

Will end in tears.

Wait for Gibbo's review. I imagine the feed will be completely full of comments from a couple of mysterious people named ATG and TZ.

 

[Gasometer]

Wait for Gibbo's review. I imagine the feed will be completely full of comments from a couple of mysterious people named ATG and TZ.

...i already notice that some comments have been deleted.

 

[TooUglyForFugly]

 

[ArjenTheGreat]

Wait for Gibbo's review. I imagine the feed will be completely full of comments from a couple of mysterious people named ATG and TZ.

Like I have the time for that.

I waste enough time bagging him on here.

...i already notice that some comments have been deleted.

Guilty as ****.

 

[jess_1804]

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/subscri...1e28833b70633101ec7e0065f1&memtype=registered

Any chance someone can post the whole article? It's got a bloody paywall thing on it and the article sounds like a good laugh.

 

[kangaspurs]

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/subscri...1e28833b70633101ec7e0065f1&memtype=registered

Any chance someone can post the whole article? It's got a bloody paywall thing on it and the article sounds like a good laugh.

I think this is it?

NORTH Melbourne’s re-signing of Brad Scott is either belief the Roos coach can extend the club’s premiership window beyond next season or confidence he’s the right man to rebuild its list.



After back-to-back preliminary final appearances, Scott was rewarded with a two-year contract extension on Monday that will keep him at the Kangaroos until 2018.

Scott said he was “ecstatic” that North had faith in him “taking this group forward” and declared his team was eager for another crack at a Grand Final berth next year.

But how much more forward can this current squad go?

When Round 1 kicks off on March 24, the Kangaroos will have the second oldest team in the competition — as was the case in 2015 — and six players aged 30-plus, the second most behind Fremantle.

If North Melbourne don’t win the premiership next year, who of Brent Harvery, 37, Jarrad Waite, 33, Drew Petrie, 33, Nick Dal Santo, 32, Michael Firrito and Daniel Wells, 31, will be there in 2017 and 2018?

In an exclusive column for the Herald Sun, recruiting guru Gary Buckenara recently said North needed to win the premiership either next season or in 2017 given its key players will be 30-plus.


Harvey, Petrie, Waite, Dal Santo, Firrito, Wells and Thompson, who turns 30 in 2016, are all critical in Brad Scott’s flag push, Buckenara wrote.

“If North Melbourne is going to win a premiership it’s going to be in the next year or two but the problem with that is living for today is a problem for tomorrow. And tomorrow can come very quickly sometimes and really bite you,” he said.

“A decision needs to be made in list management as to whether they head to the trade table or free agency in the next year or so to replace these guys or do they go to the draft?

“If it’s the latter then that puts a lot of pressure on in terms of ladder position and whether they stay competitive.”


Another concern is Petrie and Waite are key forwards and Thompson a key defender who they will soon need to replace.


If last month’s national draft is anything to go by, the Roos have one eye on the future after they picked up 199cm defensive prospect Ben McKay.

But they must look to recruit another tall forward after next season to inevitably lead the attack with Ben Brown.

North was not as active in this year’s trade period as last year but managed to snare 21-year-old midfield jet Jed Anderson from Hawthorn.

Scott admitted there was no guarantee the Roos would go one step better than last season’s “bitterly disappointing” preliminary final loss to West Coast.

Despite playing off in successive preliminary finals, making the finals hasn’t been an easy task for North Melbourne.

They weren’t in the top eight until Round 17 last season and hung onto eighth spot after the home-and-away rounds before riding their luck to reach the penultimate weekend with wins over Richmond, which suffers elimination final stage fright, and an injury-depleted Sydney.

And their inconsistency in 2014 denied them a top-four finish.

If North fails to make the finals next year then the rebuild could begin as soon as 2017.

Scott, who will start his seventh year in charge of the Roos next season, no doubt deserved his contract extension but the challenge will be keeping the team competitive while building for the future.

 

[jess_1804]

I think this is it?

That'd be the one. Thanks!

Terrible article though. I like the way they conveniently forget to mention we drafted Durdin and Nielson last year as key position players too. Morons.

 

[Twinkletoes]

Morans.

EFA for BF lingo jess.

 

[TooUglyForFugly]

That'd be the one. Thanks!

Terrible article though. I like the way they conveniently forget to mention we drafted Durdin and Nielson last year as key position players too. Morons.

You expect the HS to perform due diligence? How dare you demand that of a leading state newspaper.

 

[TooUglyForFugly]

Channel 9 now calling us an 'aging' list like we're a bunch of dinosaurs.

 

[Mav]

Channel 9 now calling us an 'aging' list like we're a bunch of dinosaurs.

10 top in the Syd Barker have an average age of 27.

 

[fool]

Channel 9 now calling us an 'aging' list like we're a bunch of dinosaurs.

Well to be fair every list is 'aging' so they aren't technically wrong.

 

[Elite Master]

Channel 9 now calling us an 'aging' list like we're a bunch of dinosaurs.

The media can say some stupid and incorrect things, but what was said is not wrong nor stupid, we do have an ageing list.

 

[La Flama Blanca]

10 top in the Syd Barker have an average age of 27.

Great sign. The only older player you don't want is the one who is no longer performing. When we start to have older players who aren't playing good footy then the criticism is fair.

What do people want us to do? Delist guys like Petrie and Harvey who are still at the top of their game?

 

[Gasometer]

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...t/news-story/bd2c43c9bb1ae397839c32b7411b370e

 

[Roo Beauty]

 

[coopers pale]

Aging is the new cash-strapped.

 

[Mav]

Great sign. The only older player you don't want is the one who is no longer performing. When we start to have older players who aren't playing good footy then the criticism is fair.

What do people want us to do? Delist guys like Petrie and Harvey who are still at the top of their game?

Like Farren Ray??!!
They may have performed last year but old guys drop away very quickly. We could have 4 or 5 retirements at the end of next season.

 

[La Flama Blanca]

Like Farren Ray??!!
They may have performed last year but old guys drop away very quickly. We could have 4 or 5 retirements at the end of next season.

When Farren Ray or any of the other older guys drop away then we can get rid of them. Until that point I don't see any reason to.

 

[TennisPlayerAndy]

Aging is the new cash-strapped.

There are clubs where the positive angle is always reported and there are those where the negative able is front and centre.

We're in the latter.

 

[Mav]

When Farren Ray or any of the other older guys drop away then we can get rid of them. Until that point I don't see any reason to.

I agree with you. You don't get rid of someone just because they are old. Farren Ray was booted from two clubs not because he was old but because he is shit. But that's not the discussion we are having. The question is, do we have an ageing list? And to answer you need to look at how many guys have peaked in their performance and will now start to decline in out put. Fact is, this happens to every player.

Boomer, Dal, Wells, Thomo, Drew, Spud, Waite, and Gibbo are all 30 or older next year and are the twilight of their careers AND they're all an integral part of our best side. Add in the guys who are 28 next year: Swallow, Hansen, LT, Goldy and Higgo, and that's over half the side.

It's an ageing list!

 

[TooUglyForFugly]

At the same time having a hard on for playing youths all year makes us a worse team on all counts.

You lot would undoubtedly shit yourselves to fill Arden Street if or when we have to withstand the pain the Mutts had to, to get where they are.

 

[tiltraise]

This from AFL website- http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-12-19/wheres-your-club-at

Pre-season so far North kicked off its pre-season with its annual high-altitude training camp in Utah, with this year's two-week trip attended by the club's draftees, second to fifth-year players, and Jack Ziebell, Shaun Higgins, Jamie Macmillan and Shaun Atley. The remaining senior players resumed in Melbourne shortly afterwards, with veterans Drew Petrie and Daniel Wells reporting for duty noticeably lighter, with both shedding about 5kg in the off-season. The most pleasing thing for coach Brad Scott, though, has been the good health of his list. This time last year, the Roos did not have enough fit players to run large-scale match practice sessions. So far this pre-season, Scott has had all bar a handful of players at his disposal, meaning the Roos have made a much faster start to their 2016 preparations.

Injury room Second-year defender Ed Vickers-Willis had a right shoulder reconstruction after a training mishap in Utah, but is expected to be fit for round one. Andrew Swallow (knee) and Sam Gibson (ankle) should return to full training after Christmas after undergoing minor surgeries, while Jack Ziebell (shoulder), Lindsay Thomas (foot) and Trent Dumont (both hips) have made quick recoveries from operations to start their 2016 preparations strongly. Second-year key-position players Sam Durdin (shoulder) and Daniel Nielson (ACL) have recovered well from the injuries that prematurely ended their 2015 seasons, with both back in full training.

Christmas break December 20 - January 3

Community camp Werribee, Wyndham, Tasmania (Hobart, Devonport, Burnie, Rosebery, Ulverstone, Oatlands), February 25-26

NAB Challenge games
Game one v St Kilda, Norm Minns Oval, Wangaratta, February 20, 2.05pm
Game two v Collingwood, Robertson Oval, Wagga Wagga, March 5, 4.40pm
Game three, v Hawthorn, Etihad Stadium, Saturday, March 12, 7.10pm - Nick Bowen

 

[TooUglyForFugly]