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Yep. That's the same reason that we've got Franklin, Pendlebury, Judd, Weitering and Prestia

Thought I'd paste a response from Nick Bowen on the AFL website trade chat today... Not ground breaking but worth a mention... Question asked if we were chasing anyone... Michael Hibberd is likely to be at the Dees next year. Dion Prestia also in Melbourne's sights.

He is 22, not much younger than T-Mac who is "supposed to be a top dog" because he is a far superior player. Some of Tom's mistakes drive me nuts, the one early against Essendon was probably one of the worst ever. But some of the commentary on here is beyond ludicrous. This guy is a young KPD who less than a year ago was in AA calculations. Sydney are rumoured to want him (and not Hurley incidentally) and I suspect almost every other club would be happy to have him. He has faults but FMD if he isn't a required player I almost don't know who is.

Because you have to live in Western Sydney, play in front of 7,000 every other week and represent a soulless franchise? And to answer the OP, yes he's exactly the type of player we lack and need.

Shocking game all round...Collingwood poor, Freo nearly as good as us at our worst under Neeld. The umpiring fit for the standard.

!!! + !!!!!! = !!!!!!!!!

"We often get requests for development opportunities where you can keep the home and build another behind. Well [this] offers the new owner the chance to keep the existing beach shack and build 2 more behind (subject to DA approval)." I disapprove.

Maybe harsh, but if he went and made another identical one after being discredited here then maybe.... oh wait

Optimism? Nathan Jones is meat and potatoes, Viney needs to curb his aggression, Oliver needs a rest, Trengove's slow, Petracca tries to do too much, Brayshaw's always concussed, Tyson is 'meh', Melksham can't kick, vandenBerg can't kick, Lumumba turns it over, Bugg's just a trier, Kennedy's too small, Spencer's unco, Tom is going to Sydney, Oscar is weak, Neal-Bullen isn't good enough, Wagner makes too many mistakes, Hunt doesnt get the ball enough, Harmes is too unreliable, Salem is always sick, Watts doesn't go, Kent plays one good game in four, Frost is not accountable, Vince gets reported too often, Kennedy-Harris's hamstrings are like tissue paper, Weideman is in the seconds, Hulett will never make it, Jetta's had two bad games in a row, Dawes can't clunk a mark, Dunn's gone, Grimes is gone, Newton's gone, Pedersen's gone, Garland's gone, Michie's gone, Roos is just in it for the money, Goodwin is tainted by Essendon, we won't win any more games for the rest of year and by 2018 we'll be the Tasmanian Devils. All we've got is Gawn. Come on. Get with the program.

The Engineer: that glass is twice as big as it needs to be

Tonight shows how poorly Freo plays when in Melbourne in the cold of winter. Which makes me feel great knowing we're playing them in Darwin in a home game in a few week's time.

Um didn't he just sign a new deal?

Hibberd aside, is this the most unskilled backline in the AFL? They each offer something, but skill aint it...

Crouch doesn't add anything to our list that we don't already have, so no. I'd be astonished if we targeted him. Great users and a bit of speed is what we are after. Crouch is neither of those.

You're right, according to this article, assuming it's reflective of the final rules. Given that we took two first rounders in 2015 (Oliver, Weideman), in theory we could trade our 2017 first rounder this year, *and* our 2018 first rounder next year and still fall within the "two first rounders in four years" rule. A future first rounder is a pretty risky commodity to accept for the receiving club though - firstly because of the obvious reason you don't know where the position of it will be, but the second reason is that it delays your player development by a year. This is why the trade with Gold Coast last year was such a belter - had it not happened, we'd have had pick 6 and not 3 or 10 - assuming Oliver was gone and we took Weideman at 6, our Oliver equivalent player would a) be a year behind in development and b) probably a lower caliber player since our pick will be in the 10ish range. I don't reckon it'd get the deal done for a player of any significant quality. Especially when we are competing with clubs who have a first rounder *this* year to offer (and I know you weren't suggesting it would Stu - just extrapolating my own point further).

He's a pup. Tommy supposed to be top dog. Huge difference no ?

Chemist: That glass is half full of a mixture of alcohol, sugars, and water; and half full of a mixture of oxygen, nitrogen, and other gases.

Saw Russell Morris on last weekend at Caravan Club. Also saw him as part of a great lineup this year at Bluesfest. He was great both times. The final highlight video from Bluesfest shows multiple artists from across the 5 days to the soundtrack of The Real Thing. It's a nice piece of work! Hope the linky works. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9sfl8W-2WAk&feature=youtu.be#

Not a trade period but I wouldn't be against a mid season draft allowing teams to look at the second tier comps for players to fill certain roles in case of injuries etc. Maybe increase the rookie list to allow another two players to be recruited mid year for example

I tried to start a thread like this a couple of years ago. In hindsight I was a bit premature, or maybe ahead of my time, Whatever, it took no time at all before the negative Nellies on this forum hijacked it and killed it off with the usual pessimism. I hope this one can endure a little longer. I agree, we are seeing the beginnings of something good coming our way. There is a spirit among the boys that I haven't seen for a long time. The heads don't drop any more and they keep doing what they have committed to. Jack Watts now attacks the ball with vigour because he knows everybody has his back. This is something I haven't seen in a long time. There's a sense of togetherness that will eventually lift every one of them to greater things. We have some great young talent but I don't think we're just going to see a team of champions - I think we're going to see a champion team. It's going to be great. This shot says it all... Good luck with the thread. Long may it live and prosper. GO DEES!

I went to the Heartland training session at Toorak Park tonight, a great initiative by the club for the 2nd year. They barely trained 25 mins but one thing that stood out to me was how much they seem to be enjoying themselves, and enjoying each other's company. Lots of laughs and piz$taking, cockiness as you mentioned but serious and intent when required, seems like a great environment to be involved in. Better times are coming, we just need to remember how young this group is and be patient, the tide is turning!

So you're saying the missus is a 'He'? I always wondered.....

he reminded me of a portuguese fish-monger

Jeremy Howe. Playing in the forward line in front of big crowds...

Says it all really

Maggie Simpson.

the afl does

Thanks IT. Thought the original post sounded like BS.

We've cracked 60 posts! This makes me optimistic about the future of Demonland. GO DEMONLAND!

Only a pessimist would think that.

We were pretty interested during the mini draft period. Whether we are now im not sure. Apparently off field he needs a bit of discipline.. I also reckon if Hawthorn miss out on Jeager they will turn their attention to Crouch.

rest well...get better

Why would Jetta leave?

Funny Wagner doesn't cop the same knocks. I reckon he's good for at least one howler a game himself.

Brad does not endear himself that's for sure. Nor does his brother but I think Brad shades him at the post . Two undearing twins.

As expected, North are pretenders. And who is shocked, really? I've been saying it all along.

Change the record, pf. Without McDonald and barring a replacement, our defence is left with a gaping hole. He's definitely a required player and is a good defender, just needs to string together some more consistent form. He's still very young.

Ask for Sydney's first round pick and on-trade to the Bombers as part of a deal for Hurley.

Yes and Rance went down like a $2 hooker what a pretender he is

Particularly on the fence behind the goals. It was very wet. Couldn't even eat my packet of chips without them getting soggy Not a lot of fullbacks are expected to do a lot with the ball, Frawley and Lake are two premiership fullbacks who are prone to brain fades with ball in hand and not penetrating kicks. Rance is all Australian and has had a knock on his disposal since the 18's. Zac Dawson doesn't inspire confidence. Bulldogs renowned for their back half disposal has , Dale Morris who is best regarded as serviceable. More often than not it's the players up the field that let MacDonald down by not providing numerous good timely options. e.g. he looks to play on quickly, part of the attacking game plan and see's nothing ahead, so then has to make another decision, someone is not making an effort but it is now a more dangerous option requiring more precise skills, unfortunately as this is not the first instinctive option there is now more pressure being applied by the opposition - resulting in a harder kick to a less than perfect option. I'm not agreeing or disagreeing on TMac's disposal or decision making, but I do credit him with being be brave enough to continually take the game on. Interesting that Frawley's kicking is no longer questioned as he is continually provided with simple options by his team mates.

We did try. Would've succeeded if not for Richmond's medical team.

yeah I'm not a fan at all. Yet another step from the AFL looking at other sporting comps for inspiration. I'd love the AFL to put a 3 year freeze on any rule or policy tweaks and just let everyone enjoy the game itself

So much conjecture. Fact . Melb offered him a 1 year just to see how he might rebound (or if .. ) !! He has. To the point he's back playing. He'll only improve . Again...no preseason, so he's not cherry ripe I'd be betting hell be offered 2 years on a fairly average remuneration but with good performance triggers and bonuses. It's a win win.

At the time of the proposed trade, he had been playing all season with a dodgy foot that had been not been diagnosed by the MFC medical staff. It was properly assessed by the RFC which was a poor reflection of medical management at that time. Having said that, Jack is not naturally quick, foot injury or not. Although the injury would not help. However, he has good skills and is footy smart. In that first year with Scully, I thought that Jack would be the better player simply because of his skills and footy smarts.. He can win the contested ball and is a competitive beast. He is a ferocious tackler and a team player with leadership qualities. So I think his lack of pace is offset by his other attributes. By all accounts, he has been a role model to others (such as Petracca) in the way he has gone about his rehab. However, he is now competing against a whole new group of young promising players so he will have to work hard to maintain a place in the side. I think the bigger hurdle for Jack is whether his foot will hold up long term. His foot will never be the same or be as good as new. So he will play with this limiting factor. It is an injury that has a poor prognosis due to the demands of the sport and harder grounds. Maintaining consistency and form may prove difficult if he is unable to play from week to week. He deserves another season before judgement is passed.

Did they rate him as a B grader? They were going to get pick 12. He did knock on the door of our best 22... in fact he beat relentlessly on it for weeks on end with outstanding performances in the VFL. Credit where credit is due; it's not nostalgia that sees him in the team at the moment, it's consistent good performances at Casey.

Ah yes but he was obviously taking the plss and talking shlt...Yellow and Brown all the way !!

Common convention, yes. But without risks of that ilk, we were never going to have a chance.

Were we the only team there that didn't have 3 players listed with a positive?? For what it's worth, I don't think Tom is a horrible kick all the time. I think he is an outstanding kick at times, but he has those absolute brain fart moments where he tries to do the impossible and it looks disastrous. The first quarter of the essendon game is one I'll never forget, waltzing out of the back 50 and switching, only to miss kick to I think merrett who walked in to a goal. But he also has moments where he lace out hits blokes pushing up on a wing. He's still a reasonably young defender, playing a new role this season. His last month has been very solid. I think like numerous players on our team, they are still coming to terms with what's asked of them, or how to implement what's asked of them. Tom would be a disaster to lose, replacing him with hurley or similar would still create problems as hurley would need to learn the role, as well as being surrounded by young inexperienced defenders.