What's more important for us...

[one_demon 826]

Finishing the season strongly or getting higher draft picks?

[Ethan Tremblay 28,293]

Finishing the season strongly. 

Close thread. 

[Wadda We Sing 10,685]

Draft picks are hit and miss. While there is a chance of getting a gun pick, watts the point if we dont have a strong team. We need to win every game we can and help the memberships for next year as well.

[daisycutter 28,459]

the worst thing we could do now is to put the cue in the rack

need a decent base to kick off 2020

[Dee Zephyr 17,309]

The win tasted good, more please!

[Demonstone 19,050]

Wins FTW.

[Skuit 9,112]

I'm going to go with draft picks.

No, wait. What was the other option again?

[Moonshadow 16,115]

6 or 7 wins to finish off this year will have:

* our membership numbers up and about for 2020

* potential trade targets licking their lips

* the current list in a heightened state of excitement. 

 

I'm going to go with higher draft picks....

[Sir Why You Little 34,420]

WIN at all costs. Build a Culture that accepts nothing less

We used to think that way. 

Norm Smith mentored John Kennedy Snr. and look what happened. 

A draft pick can be injured in one Quarter

A Winning Culture is a state of mind...

[Redleg 37,478]

5 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

WIN at all costs. Build a Culture that accepts nothing less

We used to think that way. 

Norm Smith mentored John Kennedy Snr. and look what happened. 

A draft pick can be injured in one Quarter

A Winning Culture is a state of mind...

Good post.  I have changed my view. Now it is win, win, win, draft picks can take care of themselves.

[deebug 1,754]

Win?

[TRIGON 4,714]

Building a winning culture - one of delivering right here, right now - is paramount.

[Sir Why You Little 34,420]

1 minute ago, Redleg said:

Good post.  I have changed my view. Now it is win, win, win, draft picks can take care of themselves.

Yes. Sadly it is the mistake that was made 10 years ago. We must never think that way again. 

Whorethorn have plateaued right now, but in 2-3 years they will return to September. They do not accept losing. 

[Lord Nev 13,511]

This isn't a serious question is it?

Momentum, positivity and around about pick 7-8.

Heads down, negativity and around pick 3-4.

Not exactly a hard decision.

 

[The Red Fox 216]

We’re two wins behind 15th place. In an ideal world we win 5 of the last 9 and still get pick 3 or 4.

[defuture15 837]

Love to see our best team out on the park.

[jumbo returns 6,484]

Can we still make the 8?

[Little Goffy 12,512]

Wins and strong performance and presenting ourselves as a united and purposeful club.

Sure, it might make a few places difference in draft order.

But that handful of slots in the order is instantly balanced by the better hand we've dealt ourselves when it comes to having a choice of trade targets and of players keen to join us.

And all of that evaporates in comparison to even one quality free agent deciding they prefer us.

It is one of those impossible to know probability things; if we get six more wins for the season, instead of three, does that make Lachie Whitfield pause and think 'I'll hold off signing with GWS a little longer, see how Melbourne go next year, because I know I would be a super-valuable player there and it could all come together perfectly.'

I'd happily move from, say, 4th to 8th in the draft, just to keep alive the possibility of getting Whitfield as a free agent!

Plus, paradoxically, a team performing well has an easier time re-signing players at lower salaries.

[Little Goffy 12,512]

14 minutes ago, jumbo returns said:

Can we still make the 8?

Mathematically, Carlton can still finish 1st.

My brother is a Blue and also an analytical genius. Would you believe that Carlton-to-1st scenario actually requires every club to win 11 games exactly?

 

[bringbackthebiff 637]

31 minutes ago, W I S E said:

We’re two wins behind 15th place. In an ideal world we win 5 of the last 9 and still get pick 3 or 4.

In an ideal world we pinch a spot in the 8

[DeeSpencer 23,061]

Both. 

The next 5 weeks is:
Bris
Carl
Bulldogs
Eagles
St Kilda

No reason not to be competitive and try to win as many of those games as possible. Win 5 straight or even 4 of 5 we'll be in finals contention, win 3 or less and our draft position probably won't have changed all that much. With our percentage we could win 3 of 5 and still be at best 13th.

Then we have a couple of big home games against Richmond and Collingwood. Would be lovely to knock them off as they go in to September. We're unlikely to win those games unless our form is massively improved, so it's unlikely to be an issue. But beating teams in flag contention (yet to see where Richmond is by then) in front of big crowds would be really important for the players and club.

The last two weeks against Sydney and North might be time to put the cue in the rack and focus on next year. I know our history with tanking but there's still a strong argument for having our cake and eating it too. Again, if we're drastically improved things will be looking good, if we're not it's the time of year to try a few things for next season as well as getting all the surgeries and niggles fixed. If North and Sydney are in similar spots on the ladder and we're looking at pick 5 or pick 8 then just for the last 2 weeks I'd be thinking the results aren't that important. Of course we'd have to give our all and if we win that's good too but there's a way for the players to give their all but the club to make some strategic decisions.

[Matsuo Basho 1,053]

When are people going to get it through their heads that the abolition of the priority pick effectively ended tanking as a strategy? 

Throwing games for pick 3 & 21 instead of winning as many remaining fixtures as you can and having picks 8 & 26 is not only close to pointless but extremely dangerous in terms of damaging the fabric of the club, as others have stated and as both the MFC and Carlton in particular have found out the hard way.

Most likely you are going to get a decent to very good player in the top ten picks in the draft. Stars can emerge from any one of those ten picks. Maybe it’s weighted a fraction in favour of the top three but generally it’s a raffle at the pointy end.

Summary: Having a slightly better chance at winning that raffle gets trumped every time by doing all you can to build a winning culture and instil confidence and self-belief in the team. 

Win. Win. Win. End of discussion.

 

[sisso 2,383]

Yes agree with everyone we gotta win

[Bitter but optimistic 21,168]

Win of course!

And ….. hopefully..... [censored] up another team's chance to make the finals or top four.

Then we can be wonderfully spiteful and wallow in their unhappiness. Good fun.

[Nasher 33,047]

OP is a young fella who can’t remember what happened last time, I’m guessing.

Park players who won’t be here next year (as we have with Lewis) so the work done this year is all relevant to next year, but beyond that, go as hard as possible. I’d love to see us come storming home.