If we were still crap next year and Jones left I would be shattered but ok with the decision due to the fact he has given every thing since he came to the club.

Nah. Good service isn't a cushion for disloyalty.

And we are going to trade Jones because he hasn't re-signed, we have about a fortnight...

It will not happen.

But the EPL is popular due to a few factors.

It's tribal, you support your team where you were born.

People from other countires mainly follow the big 5 teams.

There is the title to win, qualify for Champions league, Qualify Europa, Win FA cup and the other cup, can' think wahat its called these days

plus relegation.

So there are mini battles all over the place and if your a bottom club you still have interest as you want to ensure you don't get relegated.

The AFL has the premiership cup... the end.

This is absolutely spot on...

For clubs like ours the season has been over after the first game with nothing to play for, if this continues and the same clubs have nothing to play for then they will drop out of existence.

This is the argument for equalisation, unfortunately the argument doesn't equal the actions. The EPL provides so many interests besides winning the competition, the AFL only has one.

This is absolutely spot on...

For clubs like ours the season has been over after the first game with nothing to play for, if this continues and the same clubs have nothing to play for then they will drop out of existence.

This is the argument for equalisation, unfortunately the argument doesn't equal the actions. The EPL provides so many interests besides winning the competition, the AFL only has one.

Whilst I agree with most of your post rjay.......The season was not over in the first round.....We were with a whole bunch of clubs with the same number of wins up to about round 10......Richmond season was apparenty over when they lost to us on the MCG with only 3 wins finals were gone, somehow they ended up playing finals...

I thought our season was very promissing up to the Collingwood game. We seemed to drop off after that. All the defensive pressure seemed to have evaporated and bad habits I thought were disappearing from previous seasons returned. Like after we were mathematically out of the finals race we had no more incentive and gave up.That irked me a lot because at the very least I was expecting that we would have had some pride to fight the season out. We finished the season on a significant downer. If we have to rely on only tangible incentives to motivate improvement then that is not a good cultural sign. I hope this is one trait of club culture that is on the agenda to be eradicated for next season.

Haven't spoke to pat for a while, however last night I was lucky enough to run into some other mutual friends. Namely Bernie Vince. It's not a dead deal yet. We have offered him a deal to set him up for life and he is mulling over it. Dont expect any news for a week.

But the EPL is popular due to a few factors.

It's tribal, you support your team where you were born.

People from other countires mainly follow the big 5 teams.

There is the title to win, qualify for Champions league, Qualify Europa, Win FA cup and the other cup, can' think wahat its called these days

plus relegation.

So there are mini battles all over the place and if your a bottom club you still have interest as you want to ensure you don't get relegated.

The AFL has the premiership cup... the end.

The "other cup" is currently the Capital One Cup but generally referred to as the League Cup.

I can see how a league where only 5 or 6 teams actually have any realistic chance of winning might seem like a worse trade off. but I agree that the side stories, in particular the relegation battles towards the end of the season, are what give the EPL a different dynamic. The AFL simply can't afford to become like the EPL, as without that dynamic, it will become a snoozefest. I can't see it happening, but certainly the likes of Sydney and Hawthorn are starting to look like their stay at the top could be a lot longer than we are accustomed to.

Haven't spoke to pat for a while, however last night I was lucky enough to run into some other mutual friends. Namely Bernie Vince. It's not a dead deal yet. We have offered him a deal to set him up for life and he is mulling over it. Dont expect any news for a week.

I really hope your info is on the money. Still has an air of too good to be true that we may be chance for a deal. What a coup that will be.

Haven't spoke to pat for a while, however last night I was lucky enough to run into some other mutual friends. Namely Bernie Vince. It's not a dead deal yet. We have offered him a deal to set him up for life and he is mulling over it. Dont expect any news for a week.

Hope Bernie's in his ear every day for the rest of the week.

Nah. Good service isn't a cushion for disloyalty.

And we are going to trade Jones because he hasn't re-signed, we have about a fortnight...

It will not happen.

Disagree. If he hasn't signalled his intent to sign, we'll trade him.

IF we somehow manage to land this monumental, club changing and superstar player...

I wonder how Frawley and Clarke's sphincters would be coping.

Dangerfield would genuinely change the face of our club.

Seeing the EPL got mentioned do not forget that player movement involves all of Europe in fact the world. EPL clubs gain and lose players to a variety of markets. AFL free trade is too limited to model on free trade in any of the overseas markets. This is where the AFPLA and AFL have got it wrong. What we are seeing is free gents choosing to go to successful clubs and big coin and we are seeing clubs de list players to make space. Nett effect is that only 4 clubs max will be in a premiership window and the top 10 players in these teams will take the lions share of the salary cap. Some of our younger players took front ended contracts so that we could pay 90% of the salary cap and free up salary cap space for new aquisitions. I hope offering Danger the once in a lifetime deal doesn't upset the internal pecking order or mean we shed others as the playing list improves...and it will improve.

Whilst I agree with most of your post rjay.......The season was not over in the first round.....We were with a whole bunch of clubs with the same number of wins up to about round 10......Richmond season was apparenty over when they lost to us on the MCG with only 3 wins finals were gone, somehow they ended up playing finals...

Richmond as records show were an anomaly. When I walked away from game 1 I knew it was more of the same for us, in fact when we were flogged by Hawthorn in the pracy game it pretty well pointed to how our season was going to look.

If Dangerfield doesn't move this year, I bet you will see him in a Geelong guernsey next year under FA.

Yes. I fell asleep while reading it!

lol my post was only one line though

If Dangerfield doesn't move this year, I bet you will see him in a Geelong guernsey next year under FA.

Not if he decides he wants to set himself up for life financially. Geelong would probably only have 700k unless they clear out their senior players on the big coin.

I could easily see us offering him $1m/year over 6 or 7 years.

Edited October 5, 201410 yr by Lamashtu

If Nate Jones won't re-sign this year, should we trade him?

No he is a RFA and we can match the offer.

lol my post was only one line though

Sorry, but it was the post you responded to!

Haven't spoke to pat for a while, however last night I was lucky enough to run into some other mutual friends. Namely Bernie Vince. It's not a dead deal yet. We have offered him a deal to set him up for life and he is mulling over it. Dont expect any news for a week.

Weren't you the one saying your 99% sure Dangerfield was certain to become a dee?

And were you at Chris Dawes wedding because thats where bernie was all night..

Weren't you the one saying your 99% sure Dangerfield was certain to become a dee?

And were you at Chris Dawes wedding because thats where bernie was all night..

dammit!. Don't tell me he's lying...

Yeah he was. As was Matt Jones and byrnesy. Who would have thought, the wedding finished and they went out for a few. Do you need photos hero?

Yeah he was. As was Matt Jones and byrnesy. Who would have thought, the wedding finished and they went out for a few. Do you need photos hero?

Yep, put some up.

Nah. Good service isn't a cushion for disloyalty

Oh God I wish people would get over themselves.

Players move! It's been happening since the competition started and it will continue until it ends.

Aren't we talking about getting Dangerfield, Malceski, Merrett, Lumumba etc etc??

Saturday night.

Surely Gen, the players are not allowed to talk about upcoming trades or offers???

Saturday night.

Good to see the shoulder sling hasn't affected Bernie's ability to lift a beer glass