Instead of strengthening the weak clubs perhaps the AFL should look at weakening the strong clubs.

How do you do this?

The higher a team finishes the smaller the salary cap. Can you imagine the uproar.

The MFC playing list deseves a PP but the MFC itself does not. The club made woeful decisions with the help we got.

The MFC has to get sharper and more intelligent.

This obsession with the priority pick is exactly what's wrong with our club.

Couldn't agree any more with this comment. I can't fathom the idea of accepting more draft assistance. We need to create an environment where we get the most out of the talent we already have instead of thinking that bringing more in is going to solve our problems.

I now accept that it's going to take a long time before we have any chance of being at the top end of the ladder again (maybe up towards 10 years). I also believe that if we don't do it in a sustainable way then we won't even exist to get the opportunity to make it there. I want the club to be around for my kids to enjoy so I don't want shortcuts to be taken now.

Our group is still suffering from the poor coaching and development of the last 5 or so years. We've almost completed the necessary clean out off the field. Changing the midfield coach is one of the last pieces to fall. A decent midfield coach does not preside over the shambles we are seeing in and around stoppages throughout this season I hope we go after Williams as head coach because the Roos show has become and ego stroking circus and if his heart isn't in it 100% and for the long haul then I don't want him at my club. With Williams I believe we will have someone who is in it for the long haul and who will be committed to rebuilding the club into a power in this competition.

No thanks to priority picks. And I'd rather us get the right people in place and run another debt demolition so that we can pay back to assistance given to us by the AFL asap. I know we don't have Jimmy to drive it but there must be a person/group of people out there who can unite the masses again. Thanks to the AFL for the prop-up but if we are going to continue to hold out our hands for help we are not going to survive.

Couldn't agree any more with this comment. I can't fathom the idea of accepting more draft assistance. We need to create an environment where we get the most out of the talent we already have instead of thinking that bringing more in is going to solve our problems.

I now accept that it's going to take a long time before we have any chance of being at the top end of the ladder again (maybe up towards 10 years). I also believe that if we don't do it in a sustainable way then we won't even exist to get the opportunity to make it there. I want the club to be around for my kids to enjoy so I don't want shortcuts to be taken now.

Our group is still suffering from the poor coaching and development of the last 5 or so years. We've almost completed the necessary clean out off the field. Changing the midfield coach is one of the last pieces to fall. A decent midfield coach does not preside over the shambles we are seeing in and around stoppages throughout this season I hope we go after Williams as head coach because the Roos show has become and ego stroking circus and if his heart isn't in it 100% and for the long haul then I don't want him at my club. With Williams I believe we will have someone who is in it for the long haul and who will be committed to rebuilding the club into a power in this competition.

No thanks to priority picks. And I'd rather us get the right people in place and run another debt demolition so that we can pay back to assistance given to us by the AFL asap. I know we don't have Jimmy to drive it but there must be a person/group of people out there who can unite the masses again. Thanks to the AFL for the prop-up but if we are going to continue to hold out our hands for help we are not going to survive.

Draft assistance is a tool to even the league when there is a team that is a hindrance on the league.

We should receive some form of draft assistance.

The question of whether we get Draft Assistance for the 2013 AFL Draft is completely irrelevant to culture.

Couldn't agree any more with this comment. I can't fathom the idea of accepting more draft assistance. We need to create an environment where we get the most out of the talent we already have instead of thinking that bringing more in is going to solve our problems.

I now accept that it's going to take a long time before we have any chance of being at the top end of the ladder again (maybe up towards 10 years). I also believe that if we don't do it in a sustainable way then we won't even exist to get the opportunity to make it there. I want the club to be around for my kids to enjoy so I don't want shortcuts to be taken now.

Our group is still suffering from the poor coaching and development of the last 5 or so years. We've almost completed the necessary clean out off the field. Changing the midfield coach is one of the last pieces to fall. A decent midfield coach does not preside over the shambles we are seeing in and around stoppages throughout this season I hope we go after Williams as head coach because the Roos show has become and ego stroking circus and if his heart isn't in it 100% and for the long haul then I don't want him at my club. With Williams I believe we will have someone who is in it for the long haul and who will be committed to rebuilding the club into a power in this competition.

No thanks to priority picks. And I'd rather us get the right people in place and run another debt demolition so that we can pay back to assistance given to us by the AFL asap. I know we don't have Jimmy to drive it but there must be a person/group of people out there who can unite the masses again. Thanks to the AFL for the prop-up but if we are going to continue to hold out our hands for help we are not going to survive.

I have a thousand dollars for you as a present. Oh you don't want it because you are too proud. No worries I will give it to someone else.

How is getting a top player as a bonus, not a sustainable way to success? I am just staggered at people who wouldn't accept a bonus top player. Obviously they are not recruiting people.

Draft assistance is a tool to even the league when there is a team that is a hindrance on the league.

We should receive some form of draft assistance.

The question of whether we get Draft Assistance for the 2013 AFL Draft is completely irrelevant to culture.

The MFC has failed the club's supporters over the last, how many years, and we are now at rock bottom; they've had the debt demolition and all the money's gone, so they've stuffed that up as well.

It's all very noble to suggest we don't need help when we clearly do and we need the help because we get screwed everywhere else by the AFL; other clubs get help which is not so evident by way of a better draw or games at better venues (see Geelong), we get the equalisation money that goes nowhere near equalisation.

Players want to go to the successful clubs that have been given a leg up by the AFL to be successful and don't want to go near us, Free Agency will see us robbed of players we have put years in to and given pick 88 in return; guess where the players go to? It sure isn't other struggling clubs.

If we get a priority pick, it won't even begin to repair the damage that was caused to the club by the defection of $cully; that humiliated our club and has had a lasting effect on us, suggesting we can't hang on to our recruits and we're not a good place to be. Forget Hogan and the fact we've done well out of it, the damage to our reputation was tremendous and the AFL were the ones who initiated it; any help we get from them will be merely payback of an existing debt.

We have a poor list, not a good, or even acceptable one, this is another legacy of the failure of our administration who have placed us in the most precarious position in the club's history, and we need an injection of talent either young or established, otherwise in ten years time we won't be around.

Sorry RPFC that response was meant for Rufus not you.

Lets face it if this was a another club we would probably be saying they dont deserve one.

We have had heaps of priority picks over the years and stuffed some of them up.

Of course we don't deserve it and for the reason u pointed out above (i would say we have stuffed most of them up) but it doesn't mean we are not going to get it.

It's probably part of the the AFLs "get Roos to Melbourne" plan.

All the other teams will hate it and I will love it.

It's been a long time since other teams have hated us.

Does a bear sh*t on the pope?

The MFC has failed the club's supporters over the last, how many years, and we are now at rock bottom; they've had the debt demolition and all the money's gone, so they've stuffed that up as well.

It's all very noble to suggest we don't need help when we clearly do and we need the help because we get screwed everywhere else by the AFL; other clubs get help which is not so evident by way of a better draw or games at better venues (see Geelong), we get the equalisation money that goes nowhere near equalisation.

Players want to go to the successful clubs that have been given a leg up by the AFL to be successful and don't want to go near us, Free Agency will see us robbed of players we have put years in to and given pick 88 in return; guess where the players go to? It sure isn't other struggling clubs.

If we get a priority pick, it won't even begin to repair the damage that was caused to the club by the defection of $cully; that humiliated our club and has had a lasting effect on us, suggesting we can't hang on to our recruits and we're not a good place to be. Forget Hogan and the fact we've done well out of it, the damage to our reputation was tremendous and the AFL were the ones who initiated it; any help we get from them will be merely payback of an existing debt.

We have a poor list, not a good, or even acceptable one, this is another legacy of the failure of our administration who have placed us in the most precarious position in the club's history, and we need an injection of talent either young or established, otherwise in ten years time we won't be around.

Sorry RPFC that response was meant for Rufus not you.

Fair enough points. However I don't believe draft assistance is an answer at all. To my mind, none of the top teams are where they are in because of high draft picks. They are there because there is an expectation of everyone that walks in the door that they will perform to a certain level, and improve in a noticeable way due to the coaching they are given, and the way they are expected to approach their professional duties during the week.

What use is another high draft pick going to be if we continue to allow a bloke to get games who has played over 100 games, goes around mouthing off at the opposition week in week out, yet shirks almost every contest he ever needs to compete in? Hasn't anyone at the club noticed this yet and why is it still allowed? Or if we play a guy in a tagging role who apparently has great endurance yet stands 10 meters off his opponents in the 4th quarter in one of the few games we've had a chance to win against proper opposition in years? The same guy who has also been shirking contests from the first time he stepped out in the field for our club. Why has he been allowed to do this from the start of his career and why hasn't someone at the club enforced what should be a minimum expectation?

These guys have the tools to make a contribution in this game, but they haven't had the expectation of a professional standard of performance put on them. Nor do I believe have they had very good coaching provided to them. I believe we would get more value out of concentrating on making the most of the players we have and the picks we earn than being handed more concessions in the draft.

Saw a great interview with Kieran Jack a couple of weeks back talking about what it means to be a Sydney player. Don't really care much for Sydney as a club, but hearing what he said made me so jealous of anyone who supports that club. They're all about commitment to the cause, constantly looking for ways to improve and looking for a contribution from everyone in the team. We are not any of these things, and sadly it looks like the majority of people aligned with our club are hoping for the quick and easy fix again.

Fair enough points. However I don't believe draft assistance is an answer at all. To my mind, none of the top teams are where they are in because of high draft picks. They are there because there is an expectation of everyone that walks in the door that they will perform to a certain level, and improve in a noticeable way due to the coaching they are given, and the way they are expected to approach their professional duties during the week.

What use is another high draft pick going to be if we continue to allow a bloke to get games who has played over 100 games, goes around mouthing off at the opposition week in week out, yet shirks almost every contest he ever needs to compete in? Hasn't anyone at the club noticed this yet and why is it still allowed? Or if we play a guy in a tagging role who apparently has great endurance yet stands 10 meters off his opponents in the 4th quarter in one of the few games we've had a chance to win against proper opposition in years? The same guy who has also been shirking contests from the first time he stepped out in the field for our club. Why has he been allowed to do this from the start of his career and why hasn't someone at the club enforced what should be a minimum expectation?

These guys have the tools to make a contribution in this game, but they haven't had the expectation of a professional standard of performance put on them. Nor do I believe have they had very good coaching provided to them. I believe we would get more value out of concentrating on making the most of the players we have and the picks we earn than being handed more concessions in the draft.

Saw a great interview with Kieran Jack a couple of weeks back talking about what it means to be a Sydney player. Don't really care much for Sydney as a club, but hearing what he said made me so jealous of anyone who supports that club. They're all about commitment to the cause, constantly looking for ways to improve and looking for a contribution from everyone in the team. We are not any of these things, and sadly it looks like the majority of people aligned with our club are hoping for the quick and easy fix again.

No ones looking for the quick and easy fix, we've been down for 50 years so nothing's easy or quick with us.

What you talk about early on is the complete lack of discipline or courage shown by a couple of players, well the simple fact is they are simply not good enough and haven't been, nor ever will be. We have lot's like that and we need to rid the club of them and replace them with the Jack's of this World but we can't do that without assistance; much the same way they couldn't build their club without additional salary cap that allows them to pay a $1m for a player after they've just won a flag.

It's all well and good for Jack to say that they are a great club, but it is a great club built on years of advantage given by the AFL. Why is it any different for us and why should our long suffering supporters have to suffer because of the ineptitude of Administrations we have had in the past?

We can't build a new house with rotting timber and sub standard materials but that's what you want us to do; we simply don't have the players in place to rebuild the club and if we are going to retain all the old problem players we might as well give up.

The highest pick Geelong has had in the past 19 years is Pick 7. And they are enormously respected because of it.

There is enough young talent in thIs list, combined with what we will get through traditional means, for the club to make a push up the ladder, as long as we get the fundamentals, the actual cause of where we are, corrected.

The AFL will be proving financial assistance, rumoured to also be bankrolling our next coach, and we supposedly need draft assistance as well? Anything else while we're at it? Maybe Pendlebury, Selwood and Dangerfield, plus a Nike sponsorship deal?

Those who have arrogantly dismissed anyone who DARE question us getting a priority pick should prepare themselves for disappointment. The club however will survive, either way.

The highest pick Geelong has had in the past 19 years is Pick 7. And they are enormously respected because of it.

There is enough young talent in thIs list, combined with what we will get through traditional means, for the club to make a push up the ladder, as long as we get the fundamentals, the actual cause of where we are, corrected.

The AFL will be proving financial assistance, rumoured to also be bankrolling our next coach, and we supposedly need draft assistance as well? Anything else while we're at it? Maybe Pendlebury, Selwood and Dangerfield, plus a Nike sponsorship deal?

Those who have arrogantly dismissed anyone who DARE question us getting a priority pick should prepare themselves for disappointment. The club however will survive, either way.

Well written mate, and I also tend to agree.

We deserve a PP and i'd be surprised if we didn't get one, we have been shocking for seven years, we now have the systems in place to deal better with trying to bring out young talent, two top 5 picks would be nice.

I have a thousand dollars for you as a present. Oh you don't want it because you are too proud. No worries I will give it to someone else.

How is getting a top player as a bonus, not a sustainable way to success? I am just staggered at people who wouldn't accept a bonus top player. Obviously they are not recruiting people.

Maybe Hawthorn should release Franklin and Collingwood should release Pendlebury, since they were priority picks and their "successful culture" demands that they compete without them.

The highest pick Geelong has had in the past 19 years is Pick 7. And they are enormously respected because of it.

There is enough young talent in thIs list, combined with what we will get through traditional means, for the club to make a push up the ladder, as long as we get the fundamentals, the actual cause of where we are, corrected.

The AFL will be proving financial assistance, rumoured to also be bankrolling our next coach, and we supposedly need draft assistance as well? Anything else while we're at it? Maybe Pendlebury, Selwood and Dangerfield, plus a Nike sponsorship deal?

Those who have arrogantly dismissed anyone who DARE question us getting a priority pick should prepare themselves for disappointment. The club however will survive, either way.

I don't dismiss anyone questioning us getting a priority pick i simply put the case as to why we should. Geelong get all the assistance they need with the massive home ground advantage they get at Skilled and the fact they have a captive audience in Geelong, plus the amount of "other peoples money" that has built the stadium for them so they can continue to get more and more wealthy.

Father and son has helped a bit too, so assistance comes in all forms, they got theirs for a third round pick, we had to fight to get our to second round.

Need a ruckman, go and get Ottens, need a back man, go and get Rivers; easy to do if you've got lots of cash and free agency will help them no end.

Anyway got to catch a plane soon so I'll be off now.

The highest pick Geelong has had in the past 19 years is Pick 7. And they are enormously respected because of it.

There is enough young talent in thIs list, combined with what we will get through traditional means, for the club to make a push up the ladder, as long as we get the fundamentals, the actual cause of where we are, corrected.

The AFL will be proving financial assistance, rumoured to also be bankrolling our next coach, and we supposedly need draft assistance as well? Anything else while we're at it? Maybe Pendlebury, Selwood and Dangerfield, plus a Nike sponsorship deal?

Those who have arrogantly dismissed anyone who DARE question us getting a priority pick should prepare themselves for disappointment. The club however will survive, either way.

Geelong didn't make Selwood what he is, he was that way when he came to the club and fell in the draft order due to dodgy knees.

The Cats' 2 other best players of the era, Scarlett and Ablett, were father-son picks.

They get respect, but there are mitigating circumstances.

The highest pick Geelong has had in the past 19 years is Pick 7. And they are enormously respected because of it.

There is enough young talent in thIs list, combined with what we will get through traditional means, for the club to make a push up the ladder, as long as we get the fundamentals, the actual cause of where we are, corrected.

The AFL will be proving financial assistance, rumoured to also be bankrolling our next coach, and we supposedly need draft assistance as well? Anything else while we're at it? Maybe Pendlebury, Selwood and Dangerfield, plus a Nike sponsorship deal?

Those who have arrogantly dismissed anyone who DARE question us getting a priority pick should prepare themselves for disappointment. The club however will survive, either way.

The PP helped the Pies get Pendlebury.

I think others have answered your post and others re the Cats pretty well, I think you have been listening to too much DR BS on Fox.

Maybe Hawthorn should release Franklin and Collingwood should release Pendlebury, since they were priority picks and their "successful culture" demands that they compete without them.

Not to mention Kreuzer and Nick Riewoldt.

The PP helped the Pies get Pendlebury.

I think others have answered your post and others re the Cats pretty well, I think you have been listening to too much DR BS on Fox.

Yes, I'm hugely impressionable. My poor corrupted mind. If only I could form an opinion of my own.

Oh wait, I have.

Yes, I'm hugely impressionable. My poor corrupted mind. If only I could form an opinion of my own.

Oh wait, I have.

Ok, seeing as you and Dwayne are on the same page then how about you both look a bit deeper next time rather than sprouting off stats as though they tell the whole story.

I think he would be one of the last people that I would like my original thoughts to be aligned with but there you go....

wasnt there meant to be a meeting today ?

I still hate this thread's title. It's not a case of deserve.

I'd say we'll hear tomorrow, HH.

For the life of me, I can't understand those of you who say we shouldn't get a priority pick. Those posters who point to Pendles and Franklin are right. Just because you get a PP doesn't mean you can't work on other aspects of your culture. Good God, if we don't get one, you might as well abolish the system. We must be the worst team in decades.

Nor is Geelong a counter argument. They enjoy so many advantages that other teams, especially us, just don't have - the main one being that they've got such a 'settled' environment with a massive home-ground advantage. To my mind, they are the last of the old style, community-based sporting clubs. I reckon that gives them a huge base to work from. We, on the other hand, 'shift about...like some poor Arab tribesman and his tent' (if you're allowed to quote Yeats on a footy website)

This obsession with the priority pick is exactly what's wrong with our club.

He said it.

Instead of strengthening the weak clubs perhaps the AFL should look at weakening the strong clubs.

How do you do this?

The higher a team finishes the smaller the salary cap. Can you imagine the uproar.

I'd be part of the uproar if such a thing happened.

There's no reason why a club can't accept draft assistance and at the same time work towards providing the environment in which it can get the most out of its old and new talent.

Our most pressing problem is to develop our diabolically poor midfield and in particular, our inability to win ball out of stoppages. The type of assistance contemplated in this thread will help us get talent but obviously, we also need to do a lot more and, our past experience will no doubt be a guide to those charged with getting our list up to speed.

We're assured of a pick in the top 3 or 4 as it is but we would be foolish not to accept assistance that would help us get additional quality to the club as well. It's a no brainer.