I'm done.

You sure?

The Priority draft pick, yes we need one and yes we deserve one. If you work on the old system of 4.5wins, we should have had end of first round last year, and if we don't win 3 more games this year we should receive the number 1 pick. The system has changed and we will receive nothing. Forget about the past and the tanking debate, we sucked then and we suck now. OK our drafting has been bad but other clubs with bad drafting have recieve priority picks.

The Bulldogs won 5 games last year and have won 4 games this year, they wouldn't have qualified for any priority picks(assuming they win another game this year).

The AFL has a choice, give Melbourne a Priority pick, it won't be pick 1, if anything it will be end of first round, and hope they get it right or just hope we have the talent to move up the ladder. The MFC is a major concern to the AFL, they know that if we get it wrong again we could become the club formally known as Melbourne. They need a stong competitive Melbourne, they don't want 15-20,000 people watching games at the MCG, they don't wan't under 30K at games for two Melbourne Clubs at the MCG. They know that a strong Melbourne can average over 40K per game, unlike North and Bulldogs and even St Kilda.

Do we get a priority pick who knows, do we deserve one yes we do our win loss ratio over the past two years proves this.

I know a story about a person caught in a flood who prayed for God to save him from drowning. God told him He would. As the water got waist deep, a man in a canoe came by and asked the man if he would like to float out with him. The man politely responded, "No, God has promised to come and save me." Later, as the water increased in depth, the man had to take shelter in a second story of his house. At that moment, a man in a life raft floated by and shouted to the man through an open window, "get in the raft!" Again, the man politely responded, "No, God has promised to come and save me."

After everyone in the mans neighborhood had been rescued, the water relentlessly increased in depth.

The man had to go up on his roof. Just then a National Guard helicopter flew by and pleaded with the man to get in. The man again politely refused! He said, "God has promised to come and save me!"

One hour later, the dam on the river broke and the man and his house were washed away in the flood, never to be seen or heard of again.

Suddenly the man realized he was standing at the Pearly Gates! He realized he had drowned!

About that time, God spoke the mans name. Startled, and somewhat angry, the man asked God why He didn't keep His promise to save him from the flood?

God said, "I tried. I sent a man in a canoe, I sent a man in a life raft, and I sent a helicopter! You sent them all away!"

"I thought you said you would save the club."

I tried, but you didn't accept the draft assistance...

Scrap it then.

I'm not buying for one minute that "it doesn't alter the situation one iota". If you don't give it any weight, fine, but you're essentially saying that the remainder of this season is irrelevant to the outcome. Why then wait until the end of the year? If there is so much weight given to the previous 7 years, why wait? Purely to keep up appearances? There is a logic to waiting until the end of the season.

We've already betean GWS and the Bulldogs. We beat both of them again, and for argument's sake, Gold Coast, you really think that would have NO bearing on the AFL's decision?

Why wait till the end of the year? Because the rules relating to draft assistance don't allow the Commission to consider it until the end of the year.

The concept of giving assistance to clubs is based on helping clubs with longer term issues than those confined to a single season or part of a season. This overcomes the situation whereby a club like Collingwood could have one bad season as it did in 2005 allowing it to pick up a Daisy Thomas as well as a Scott Pendlebury or as the Eagles did a few years ago when they picked up a PP on top of a single bad year not long after winning a flag, then making a Prelim Final the following season. The Saints and the Bulldogs were not so long ago members of the top four. It's too early for them to be entitled to assistance. Further, if Melbourne suddenly has a further spike in performances and wins a couple of games it doesn't alter the fact that our list has been so poor over such a long period that assistance is urgently needed.

Here's the win stats for every team over the past 7 years. I haven't included finals or mentioned draws.

Geelong: 123/147

Collingwood: 103/147

Hawthorn: 99/147

St Kilda: 86/147

Sydney: 84/147

Adelaide: 77/147

North Melbourne: 74/147

Bulldogs: 71/147

Carlton: 70/147

West Coast: 70/147

Essendon: 69/147

Freemantle: 69/147

Brisbane: 58/147

Port Adelaide: 57/147

Richmond: 53/147

Melbourne: 34/147

GC: 11/59

GWS: 2/37

I've highlighted the Bulldogs record as they seem to be generating a bit of discussion over their eligibility for a potential priority pick.

Thats rather damning and confronting isnt it

JHC weve been sh1te !!

Well, I was wrong.

If any team needs one, we need one. Badly.

Clearly I overestimated the progress and potential in this team. Today has been every bit as woeful as the worst games under Neeld, and it's time to flat out accept that this list just isn't good enough to even compete with, let alone beat, half decent AFL sides. We're not even close.

So rpfc, Adam, rjay, dean, WJ, and everyone else I've debated on this topic, know that I did so from a position of hating the pathetic depths to which the club has plummeted, and wanting to see it fight its own way out. But I accept now that we need all the help we can possibly get, and whilst I'm still not an avid fan of the PP concept, I'll welcome anything they want to throw at us.

PP coming for sure

there is no possible way that we wont get one.. now whether its start 1st, mid first, or end of first im not sure, but something has to be on its way.

My personal opinion, is that unless we trade in a mid, we will finish last next year either way as our midfield isn't good enough and gws will pass us, sad state

Trengove, Grimes, Davey, Blease, Watts, Burns pathetic. Happy if they traded the lot.

Some credit to Jones Sylvia and Clisby.

PP coming for sure

No!!!!!

We need 5 PP's. of course we won't get them but I would start a media campaign now for as much as we can get in an ambit claim.

It would be impossible to mount an argument against draft assistance for us. Currently we are an embarrassment.

No!!!!!

We need 5 PP's. of course we won't get them but I would start a media campaign now for as much as we can get in an ambit claim.

It would be impossible to mount an argument against draft assistance for us. Currently we are an embarrassment.

Give us pick 1 and 3 and we will auction off pick 1. Stuff GWS.

Give us pick 1 and 3 and we will auction off pick 1. Stuff GWS.

I tend to agree on a needs basis, they have plenty of talent, surely they can settle for pick 2

It's not a matter of whether we "deserve" draft assistance but if we "need" it.

If there was ever a case when a club needed draft assistance it is us and now. We will get it because we are a burden on the comp right now and right now we are down the fitzroy path (it is the afl job to stop that).

Other clubs complain that we will waste the pick - fine you give us a good young mid and the pick is yours.

I tend to agree on a needs basis, they have plenty of talent, surely they can settle for pick 2

Oh yer I am sure they will be happy to "settle" with pick 2 .... lol

Oh yer I am sure they will be happy to "settle" with pick 2 .... lol

They won't be of course, but they can have a bowl of nails and harden up, we need pick one, they don't.

We shouldn't get a pick for poor list management and a bad recuirting department sad to say but I'll keep going every week to cheer them on

Well, I was wrong.

If any team needs one, we need one. Badly.

Clearly I overestimated the progress and potential in this team. Today has been every bit as woeful as the worst games under Neeld, and it's time to flat out accept that this list just isn't good enough to even compete with, let alone beat, half decent AFL sides. We're not even close.

So rpfc, Adam, rjay, dean, WJ, and everyone else I've debated on this topic, know that I did so from a position of hating the pathetic depths to which the club has plummeted, and wanting to see it fight its own way out. But I accept now that we need all the help we can possibly get, and whilst I'm still not an avid fan of the PP concept, I'll welcome anything they want to throw at us.

I fully understand where you were coming from 'P_Man' and why, but it's hard to watch a performance like the game today and see where the improvement is coming from without assistance. Even with assistance its going to be a hard journey. I must admit I didn't think the list was this bad either, 'old dee' was on the money there.

We shouldn't get a pick for poor list management and a bad recuirting department sad to say but I'll keep going every week to cheer them on

How do you think teams get bad?

Have a sit down and think it through, you will have an epiphany.

Teams become awful because they fail to get their picks right or trade away their picks.

All teams bring their awfulness on themselves.

And we have an avenue to regulate the league and improve a team that is so terrible it is an impediment to the league.

It is called draft assistance, and we should get it.

I fully understand where you were coming from 'P_Man' and why, but it's hard to watch a performance like the game today and see where the improvement is coming from without assistance. Even with assistance its going to be a hard journey. I must admit I didn't think the list was this bad either, 'old dee' was on the money there.

Today's match rocked me enough to reconsider my view. I genuinely believed that the club might have moved past these TYPES of performances. It was about the scoreline, but moreso it was about the manner in which we lost.

Today was almost enough to completely wipe away the belief I had been building up. This one hurt, no doubt about it.

I fully understand where you were coming from 'P_Man' and why, but it's hard to watch a performance like the game today and see where the improvement is coming from without assistance. Even with assistance its going to be a hard journey. I must admit I didn't think the list was this bad either, 'old dee' was on the money there.

It's not the list on the whole, rjay. It's the midfield. Without a workman-like midfield, it exposes every other area on the ground. That's not to say we don't have holes in the forward or back half, but no team will be competitive if their midfield rubbish. That's our predicament at the moment.

So the AFL, after fining us for not tanking is giving us a priority pick, still can't see it happening. Then again some more 100 point losses and who knows.

It's not the list on the whole, rjay. It's the midfield. Without a workman-like midfield, it exposes every other area on the ground. That's not to say we don't have holes in the forward or back half, but no team will be competitive if their midfield rubbish. That's our predicament at the moment.

Our midfield would struggle to make an impact against Box Hill.

It's not JUST that we deserve one; we require one.

The word 'uncompetitive' comes to mind, and has for seven long seasons.

It's not the list on the whole, rjay. It's the midfield. Without a workman-like midfield, it exposes every other area on the ground. That's not to say we don't have holes in the forward or back half, but no team will be competitive if their midfield rubbish. That's our predicament at the moment.

Whilst I understand your point about the midfield and its impact 'Adam', the list has holes all over the ground. We only have 3 players I would say are AFL standard at the moment, Jones, Frawley and Garland and you could add an injured Clark to the list. There are some promising younger players and a first year player in Terlich who shows a bit but there are so many more who are either not performing or just not up to the level.

We will get one for one very simple reason:

This is the AFL's doing.

Place the following players into our team: Harley Bennell, Jaeger O'meara and Toby Green.

Future is not so dim is it? The expansion of the game created heavily compromised drafts and the clubs at the bottom circa 2009-10 were always going to be up against it. The league is struggling to create feeder competitions which create enough AFL level players. Look at 3/4's of our side and try and find a spot for them in any top 6 team and it becomes glaringly obvious.

This AFL presidents trip to the US will confirm what the AFL already knows. Good players and good resources make good teams and without them the sport itself suffers. 2 x 100 point loses in a day is not a good look.

Andy D will literally lock in our PP with Eddie on this trip.