is there any hope

[blues future]

hi folks, i've been a reader and am now putting in my 2 cents worth. V. disappointing on sunday, but from halfway thru the 3rd quarter or so the dees were all over us. we had no run. time to try a number of players in the 2s before they get delisted. i would hate to have someone delisted and then have him play okay at another club. massie was a bad pick given the talent in that draft available when we got him (tarrant, cornes carr nick stevens, simon black adam goodes etc. thelast three were still available when we picked adam chatfield....) but he was developing okay and is going alright at adelaide. i'd rather have him than not and the swap for eccles seems a failure....but we have to play eccles, give him 4 games with reasonable game time and see if he can redeem his career. he looks slow and no penetration in his kicking but i do remember he was good as an 18 year old in the 1998 grand final. and we must have seen something to get him. same goes for a few others, anyone on the list who has been around two years or more ( and isn't ready to be pensioned off) must be given a chance to sink or swim. the season's long gone and winning less than six games will get a a priority pick, not that we want to throw games, but if we try our best we are not likely to get a better chance than sunday and we couldn't take that.

 

[Thrawn]

The best thing we can do is play as many kids as possible, but at the same time have balance between young and old. We need experience and youth to do well... old legs cannot run for an either match (let alone a year) alone and youth is inconsistent, raw and not stong enough (either physically or mentally). Either Ratten or McKay may retire at the end of the year, so we have to dig deep and see if there are any options left for us. I know that the penalties will limit these options, but there are still gems late in the draft (Kemp, Hird, Fisher, etc). We just need to recruit in a smart manner, and with a bit of luck (and some much needed confidence) we can hit back sooner rather than later.

I'd de-list Plunkett, Merrington, Franchina, Eccles and Mathews. Manton and Martyn to retire. I suppose some of you are asking "Why not de-list Fletcher?", well I think he's handy backup in case some one like Ratten gets injuried. Sure, he may not be as skillful as the others, but he gets plenty of the ball and does more good than harm. Probably the only 'decent mr fixit player' we have, at least he has more balls and tries harder than one of Murphy, Franchina and Houlihan. If he can keep his form up, he'll be retained. But if he drops down, he'll be trade bait along with Murphy.

Livingston and Wiggins shuld be given one more chance with Beasy and Campbell yet to prove themselves. I'm confident that Sporn, Davies, Thornton, Fisher, Waite, Norman, Houlihan and Fevola will improve themselves as they're still young. In fact, if we can snare some late gems in the draft, our future doesn't look as bad as some opposition supporters predict. But they will still be lean years without a doubt. We'll make finals when these guys mature, along with Simpson and Hedge. Kouta and Ratten may be in their last years at that time, so let's see where we can go.