I, along with a small group of others, had the privilege of spending 2 hours with a member of the Blues coaching staff earlier this week where a range of issues from this season were discussed, including players, drafting and leadership.

The following is a summary of what was discussed;

Scott Camporeale – the club is keen to retain him on the list. Will be at greatly reduced $

Matthew Lappin – clearly his worst year for the Blues, quote “coming out of contract is not a very good time to have your worst year ever, will not be offered 3 years.â€

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A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.

Thanks for that excellent insight, Ockham.

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Writer for SuperCoach Paige www.scpaige.com.au
Twitter - @johnfeeney24

I find this a very curious, and somewhat troubling statement. Surely, if our leaders in the playing group aren't leading, then on-field all that's happening is we're going round in ever decreasing circles until the day we disappear up our own fundamental orifice.

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And so while others miserably pledge themselves to the pursuit of ambition and brief power, I will be stretched out in the shade, singing.

Cheers Razor............

what ever the club do............let's hope they
know what they're doing...........!


kindest regards tommi

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that'siti'mnotchangingthistagain......!

Thank you, Thank you Razor, at last a commonsense post by somebody not running an agenda.

Much appreciated.

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A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty" -Winston Churchill

L.M 35-06

Many thanks OR!

Interesting to hear those opinions from such an important inside source. All will be revealed within 3-4 weeks when trade week concludes.
My opinions don't match some of those necessarily, but I am only a supporter of the club. I hope there is a strong undercurrent at the club in that all footballing staff are under pressure to start improving things down there. Whether it is merely a personnel issue (which will be addressed in the next 3 or so months) or a coaching/tactical/management issue which the footballing department is responsible for, EVERYONE is responsible for improving the situation down there

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C'mon Blueboys!

This seriously worries me

Great work OR. Particularly interested in the comments on Fev and AW.

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Patrick Smith - Just another reason to HATE Essendon*!

This sounds pretty accurate to me. I figured we need 6 good new players but would probably have to give up at least 1 to get the right 'mix'.

Great report!!

Thanks Ock,

Very interesting read. The point about Teague missing Princes Park is a really good one and really explains his drop in form this year. I'm guessing this isn't going to help his contract negotiations.

Isn't your point about Jordan Russell a contradiction? - "did not command a place"..."was never going to be selected..." I would have thought his form didn't command a place and yet he was selected.

I wonder at what level "wholesale delistings" cuts in? 10 players?

5 quality players. Is that 5 from the draft or does that include a couple of mature players?

Interesting times ahead.

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If you'd given me the choice of going out and beating four men and smashing a goal in from thirty yards against Liverpool
or going to bed with Miss World, it would have been a difficult choice. Luckily, I had both. - George Best

I agree with this statement. While young players need some guidance from the older blokes, they still have to take responsibility for themselves.

Interesting isn't it that the players whom many on here would regard as having at least something resembling leadership qualities (Waite, Thornton, Fisher) are among our best young players. Just shoots Synbad's theory to bits that players like Wiggo, Sporn, Davies etc are only struggling because of the perceived lack of leadership. Maybe Wiggo, Sporn etc just can't take responsibility for themselves?

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Formerly Blues-Back2003.

Here's a radical thought.

Maybe Wiggo, Sporn etc aren't that good.

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If you'd given me the choice of going out and beating four men and smashing a goal in from thirty yards against Liverpool
or going to bed with Miss World, it would have been a difficult choice. Luckily, I had both. - George Best

Great read. Well done mate.

If that is the case then we are a club in denial.
Our leaders are insipid with the way they conduct themselves on the field.

I agree with you.

Synbad though and others would rather those blokes over Campo, Kouta, Lance, Lappin etc and blame these 4 for the fact that Wiggo, Sporn etc aren't all that good, as if to say that the only reason that these blokes are struggling is because of Kouta, Lance etc. But what the fails to explain is why Waite, Fisher, Carrazzo, Simpson are flourishing. Therefore the theory makes no sense.

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Formerly Blues-Back2003.

Did they mention anything about Campo's involvement in recent Baghdad bombings?

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Working alone. At the coalface. Scott's gone for lunch! Said he would be back in 30 mins.

Thanks OR, for a balanced and thought-provoking piece.
Totally agree with the assessment of Matty Lappin's year, and the development of Andrew Walker. I have been a fan of AW's from his first game, but I have to agree that he hasn't come on as quickly or as decisively as we all hoped he would.
I still have enormous faith in him, and in Campo and Big Red - despite the vicious slagging the latter two cop incessantly from some quarters on TC.

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Princes Park - always was, always will be.

OR thanks for great report..

are you a member of the Inner Blue group?

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Give and you shall recieve

Thanks for that.

I think the question of leadership runs both ways. The senior players' leadership is quite poor. But on the other hand, the 2nd tier we have aren't good enough to take the next step to be leaders and take initiative.

I think that our 2nd tier must now equal the kids - Fisher, Thornton, Waite, Simpson, Bentick, Carrazzo - the players in the middle like the class of 2000 are good as GAWN IMO.

Having said that, the senior players have been very poor in their application and their attitude to some things - like training and mentoring the kids.

It seems some at the club are still stuck in the every man for himself mentality - where's the help that Kernahan used to give Hamill, where's the help that the older players at Carlton used to give players like Camporeale?

Why isn't Camporeale mentoring Simpson etc? Surely it would have been news on here if he was...

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"A good composer does not initiate. He steals."

- Igor Stravinsky

Great goss, thanks for that...

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"...that's the thing about opinion - you don't have to know anything to have one..." Andre Agassi commenting on Pat Cash 2004
"...the less you know - the more you believe..." - Bono 2006