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Today I noticed that my teapot was a bit close to the edge of the kitchen bench and just had to stop for a cry because it might one day topple over and hit a future child of mine as it falls.

Adelaide’s List Manager: “We expected a much better outcome with Crouch. Frankly, we were hoping for pick 2. At one point we heard Collingwood were very keen on him. It turns out that they were turned off by his one drug strike. They have a policy only to consider players who have 2 or more. The Atkins compensation was a bit of a surprise though, especially since we forgot he was on our list.” Brisbane’s List Manager: “We felt it was important to bring Joe Daniher into the club in order to take the scrutiny off Hipwood’s shoddy goalkicking. Some suggested that Joey’s relationship with our club doctor sealed the deal, but he had a stronger connection within our club. Joey and Mitch Robinson have become great mates through their tattooist, Stevie Wonder. Our next priority was to secure Nakia Cockatoo in order to give Daniher some companionship during prolonged rehab stints.” Carlton’s List Manager: “We have a lot of straight-line runners in our club, but up until we secured Adam Saad the only other player that could run in a diagonal and zig-zag fashion was Charlie Curnow when trying to do a drunken runner from the police. There was a rumour that Saad wasn’t content playing a lockdown role. This is plainly false. He has however expressed a desire not to wear Navy Blue, to do half the expected training loads, to skip all post-game meetings and wants an assurance that if we go back to the “Can you smell what we’re cooking” motto, that it’s Halal certified. We brought in Zac Williams to support Patrick Cripps, but on his pay packet, he can probably support at least seven 3rd world countries.” Collingwood’s List Manager: “We clearly won the trade. After years of being selfish, we decided it was important to give back to the other clubs. A rising star, a gun midfielder and young wingman was the least we could do. I can also proudly announce that I am requesting a 9 year 1 million a year extension on my own contract after killing this trade period.” Essendon’s List Manager: “We thought Joey was going to stay. In fact, it wasn’t an easy decision for him. For a long time there he was sitting on the fence. Literally. We tried everything to keep Saad. We even made a hopeful bid for Houli’s services and reserved the club’s spongy surface for prayer times. At the end of the day he decided he wanted to go to a professional club so he chose one that features Mitch McGovern. Orazio was clear about wanting to tear up his existing contract which was no surprise as he is very good at tearing things. Caldwell, we were keen to get after he passed a medical and Wright we were keen to get after he passed a measurement. Hind is a great story. We were very keen to reunite him with his roots - the VFL. Many will assume we are shattered to be missing out on Josh Dunkley, but the truth is we are more upset about not netting Mitch Hinge! Marty Gleeson has triggered a clause to extend his contract by agreeing to eat a meal sometime.” Fremantle’s List Manager: “We thought we had a shot at prising Jordan Clark, because he is about 15 years too young for the Cats target age demographic. We just had to let Hogan go. Some may think that we traded him out because he broke COVID protocols to sneak into a female’s house. To be honest we were more disappointed that he wasn’t getting any. That’s not what we are about…” Geelong’s List Manager: “We saw it as our duty to acquire Higgins and Isaac Smith, less so for their football ability and more so out of concern for their wellbeing, as they are both in the high-risk age demographic for COVID. We couldn’t risk them being sent to a nursing home. We thought there was no way we would get Cameron to come. Our first meeting didn’t seem fruitful until someone said the word “fishing” and he signed right away. We were hopeful in getting Cameron for free but at the end of the day GWS did to us what Gary Rohan did to our staffer. Next year we will look to further target our niche age demographic by adding Joe Biden to our Category B list." Gold Coast’s List Manager: “The Adam Treloar thing was just media hype. There was no way we were ever going to get him. It’s not like we had anything to offer him besides his partner, young child, a massive contract and a top 5 pick. Oleg Markov will be a favourite of the coach because Markov comes from a pole vaulting family and Stewart Dew likes peeing on poles.” GWS’s List Manager: “Many will be horrified that we let Hately walk to the PSD. What’s so wrong with walking? Shane Mumford does it every game. Both Braydon Preuss and Jesse Hogan bring a lot of experience when it comes to failure which will help our less star-studded list cope with the realities of where we are headed." Hawthorn’s List Manager: “Kyle Hartigan should live up to the expectations set by Michael Hartley for the coveted most superfluous player award. We were happy to get Phillips for a bargain and believe if he maintains his running credentials he can continue to run away from the contest for many years to come." Melbourne’s List Manager: “Ben Brown has plenty of experience playing for an underperforming team so he should fit right in. After missing out on Isaac Smith and having our last 4,000 wingmen all fail on us we are really confident Ben Brown will play the wing role to perfection.” North Melbourne’s List Manager: “We realised that Jaiden Stephenson was gettable after he placed a bet on himself to end up at the Kangaroos. We were so lucky to get him as we are frankly a rubbish football team. He came to us due to a heavily back-ended contract whilst Atu Bosenavulagi came to us with a heavily back-ended surname.” Port Adelaide’s List Manager: “Fantasia was a bit shy to come back to us. Less so because he stuffed us last year and more because he was afraid our theme song “Never Tear Us Apart’ disqualified him on account of his dodgy calf and quads. We are stoked to have Aliir Aliir as he is 2 in 1”. Richmond’s List Manager: “We had to let Higgins go due to his inferior defensive skills whilst Oleg Markov had to go due to his inferior moustache growing skills.” St. Kilda’s List Manager: “Crouch is a great get for us. Initially, we engaged with Adelaide in a strategy that would see them get pick 2 but the AFL put a line through that (Crouch subsequently snorted the line). Crouch is looking forward to meeting the players and has already swapped contacts with Jake Carlisle. After looking at our data postseason we were keen to get Shaun McKernan to help us improve in the key frees against element of our gameplan.” Sydney’s List Manager: “We were looking for a player that had experience in at least 3 other clubs and then narrowed the search to Tom Hickey. Hickey excels at being traded out and it is our plan to use him in that capacity sooner rather than later. We have already committed to helping him get his memoir “Pass the Parcel” published in the coming months” West Coast’s List Manager: “Witherden was a bargain. All we had to do was give away late picks and contend with a lazy ball watcher for the next 2 years. It was an offer we couldn’t refuse. ” Western Bulldogs’ List Manager: “We are thrilled to bring in Stef Martin as insurance if Josh Dunkley gets injured. Treloar fits a need for us. He is great in busy traffic which is vital as Lachie Hunter isn’t even good with parked cars. We considered Jack Higgins briefly but decided not to go there. We thought it wasn’t worth getting a player in who tells a joke after half time when we already have Josh Bruce, who is a joke all the time.”

Stay with it to the end for a nice little piece that might be a topic of conversation for when he catches up with Stephen May at Demons training.

There is never going to be another Robbie Flower mate ! He was in a class of his own. Played his first senior game in 1973. So l feel sorry for you that you missed him playing. He would have walked into any top side with ease in todays football. It is not an opinion it is the truth. You cannot compare.

So, if i’ve read all this right. BB waa injured last year, a floating bone in his knee. He also lost a child and while dealing w that ordeal was stuck in a hub w a coach who was losing more of his [censored] by the day and a club that was internally imploding. So one way or other, as the club descended and the emergency grew down there , his massive form loss was perhaps taken personally by coach or those around him. Relationships seem to have been broken and they also obviously must have had some doubts about his capacity to recover physically. All in all a perfect time to buy the BB stock ... at its lowest ebb. But not without a degree of risk..... mitigated in a massive way by having burgess on our side. here’s hoping the arrival of BB lifts us up to the next level . out of the 6-10 range and into 3-6 range. fingers crossed.

It’s actually interesting to see the players who didn’t get drafted for a few years and then finally got picked up 3-4 years later. Sam Mitchell, Michael Barlow, Ben Brown, Kane Lambert, Isaac Smith, Michael Gibbons, Brodie Mihocek, Luke Ryan, Bailey Fritsch, Adam Saad, Sam Collins , Mitch Hannan. Jake Riccardi was the obvious 2019 standout and he’s already shown his talent. There’s plenty of talent still coming through that missed the traditional draft me at 18 pathway.

Obvious why North got rid of him, he is too articulate for the Shinboners.

I’ve been trying to reverse engineer Melbourne’s approach based on what we can see. This is what I think it is. List management is a multi year discipline and includes contracts, drafting, trading, free agency, current list development projections, junior footballer development projections and finally industry assumptions (e.g. salary cap increases). There are a hell of a lot of assumptions and guesses in there. As time progresses assumptions become less risky as you learn more. Melbourne appear to want to position themselves where they hold the least risk (i.e. highest confidence on likely outcomes) and away from high risk. They engineer this by looking for market imbalances - which is often enabled by the bidding system which means different clubs place significantly different value on the same pick. You see this in securing proven players for identified needs (Langdon, Tomlinson which hasn’t worked out but still illustrates the point) which is not certainty, but close to it. You see this in the willingness to trade out of the following year’s draft (lots of uncertainty about junior players, order of draft picks, future development of the current list and therefore future gaps) and into the nearest draft where there is less uncertainty. Only to repeat that the next year. You see it in targeting very specific players like Pickett and then using pick swaps that are win-win to secure that targeted player, but also not over pay. Not a bullet proof approach as pick 1 is the only way to secure who you want for sure. It’s quite a sophisticated approach and requires the confidence to be seen to “pay overs” by some commentators and not get spooked. I think this contrasts to an Essendon, who appear to go down the flashy messiah signing, and bravado approach that requires every trade to be “I win, you lose”. I’m happier with Melbourne’s approach.

If we don’t manage to move up the draft order with 18 and 19 I think there’s also a good chance that we trade one for a 2021 first round pick. Clubs can make some pretty bold offers on draft night to get a player they like that has slipped. eg. Carlton/Adelaide Stocker trade or last year Gold Coast trading a future pick (11) for Geelongs pick 27 (Jeremy Sharp) A team like Fremantle could see a player they almost selected at pick 12 slide out to 19 and offer us their 2021 first for pick 19 and perhaps a later pick swap and then back themselves to improve in 2021. Having these picks together gives us a lot of flexibility. Ideally 2 players we really like will be available but if only 1 player is left trying to leverage a deal in our favour could get us back up the order in 2021

Hmmm, maybe not. Mahoney was talking about their intention to have those picks because of the lack of exposed form making it harder to assess a lot of the talent, especially Victorian talent. As such the hit rate on earlier picks should be lower and there should be more of that talent seep through to the second round. Basically it's saying that early picks are overrated this year (compared with 'normal' years) because there is less certainty surrounding the selections, but picks in the 20s will be somewhat underrated because the lack of exposed form means that differentiating between that top group of players will be more difficult. I expect that this draft will see some terrible (in hindsight) draft selections but also some absolute bargains.

From AFL website Cal Twomeys top 25 prospects last updated in October https://www.afl.com.au/news/514307/cal-twomey-s-2020-phantom-form-guide-october-update And his next best 15 prospects https://www.afl.com.au/news/515600/phantom-form-guide-extra-the-next-15-prospects Draft resources from alleged informed U18 observers on Bigfooty Knightmares Draft resource https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/knightmare-2020-draft-almanac.1234618/ eDPS Draft resource https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/edps-draft-watch-2020.1237689/

Nathan's advice to Prime Minister Scott Morrison after ScoMo took his family on a holiday during the bushfires. What a rolled gold hypocrite. But hardly surprising. How does it feel Nathan to be hoist on your own petard....?

Why don’t we look at someone like Ben Brown for the role?

It is amazing how close the statistics of Cameron and Brown are, except in one area, their trade price. If Brown recaptures his best form, we have got an absolute steal. Well done JM and those involved.

It's a joke mate, lighten up

In my view the Cats are deluded. They have a dads army list who this year granted made the GF but in shortened games, in a shortened season, predominantly played on the moderately sized grounds. The standard season will wear and tear on them significantly. I would not be surprised if they dont just fail to contend but drop out of the eight. They are a few soft tissue injuries away from disaster with limited quality depth.

Having re-watched his highlights package and having heard him interviewed about joining the Dees, I just do not understand why North let him go. I just don’t get it. He’s a gun. And he strikes me as a quality individual. Brown has the potential to become my favourite player. And quite quickly too.

Can anyone ever emulate the great ultra team man Pedo Phillip Island B and F they must think he’s Superman down there

My read on Harmes is he's always had a good tank. You need a good tank to be able to play tagger. And yes, I like the drifting forward idea, but just generally, Harmes playing on a wing frees him up to be able to defend and attack in a more expansive way than playing off half back in some strangely rigid role.

We have brought in a brilliant character who is articulated and impressive in the way he conducts himself off field. We have picked up a brilliant individual who play a crucial role in the development of Weideman and Jackson.

You are dreaming WJ. He would be worth at least a 1st rounder plus probably a 2nd

He seems like a really solid, grounded citizen as well. Dealing with some challenging life experiences has given him a proper perspective on things. He is mentally tough and will deal with the pressure of the move with ease. I predict he’ll take to the MGC like a duck to water, clunking marks and slotting goals for fun. I could not be more excited about this trade.

Calm down. The only crime @Hogans Demonscommitted was by not being able to put together the meme properly and inserting the text into the panes.

Genuinely can’t wait for the growth that will now come from Weid. Jackson will grow and Jackson things anyway. But for Weid - being able to be the 2nd guy will release the shackles and more importantly has a gun to learn his craft from. We haven’t had a genuine full fwd as a senior player for a long time. The little nuances he will pick up from Brown will seriously elevate his game

If we lose Oliver and Petracca we will get 2-4 1st round picks some being top 10, not the rubbish Coll got: 1 mid/late 1st rounder and a bunch of rubbish. Don't want to lose them but the situation would not be comparable to what Coll have done this year.

If we are play8ng finals and playing good football Clarrie will re-sign. Same goes for Trac. If not then both might look at our history and think well this place is still cooked and look elsewhere.

Interesting chart: it clearly shows that there is minimal difference between the performance return on pick numbers 5-10 than numbers 11-20. To get two picks this year inside 20 is indeed a coup (and I get the feeling Mahoney/Taylor & Co. haven’t finished trading yet).

AF time to take a deep breath and go for a walk.

Look, we might be okay. I agree with @Pollyanna that Harmes could fit nicely on a wing. And Tomlinson is a reasonable back up winger. I'm less concerned with the Blues TBH, I think they've got a good spine, but an ordinary midfield and I think they'll fall short of the top 8 next year. St Kilda are difficult to predict and they could well drop out IMO. People know what they're going to bring now and I don't think it should scare too many. We should be right up there with the Dogs. I think we've got a slightly better 22, but their midfield is more balanced than ours and better coached. If we can add a plug and play young star like McCrae this year, as well as Brown, I think we should be top 6. Top 8 will include Richmond, Geelong, Port, Brisbane, Melbourne, Bulldogs, St Kilda and West Coast. The bottom 10 will come from North, Adelaide, Essendon, Hawthorn, Fremantle, Sydney, GWS, Collingwood, Carlton and Gold Coast.

Come on down Magpies ~

With no U18s National Championships and the Vic under 18s comp not being held, this years draft pool is hard to assess. I have worked off last years champs and the Futures games as well as the brief videos and YouTube content in WAFL and SANFL performances. There may be a good opportunity for the Dees to draft in 1-2 mature aged players (ie. Above 18 year old) with perhaps a 3rd or 4th round picks. Clubs have recently had some success with mature age types like Luke Ryan, Sam Collins, Fritsch and Brodie Mihocek to name a few. Good players identified so far are: Sam Fisher, 22yo Swan Districts WAFL - exNthnBlues, exSydneySwans rookie. Skilled. Left footer. Good pace and footy IQ. Moved across to WA this year and won the Sandover Medal. Definitely value pick in 50s or 60s. Jacob Wehr, 21yo WWT Eagles SANFL . Half back with excellent skills and ability to kick 55-60 metres. Composed defender. Could play wing as an option. Perhaps a rookie pick. Ryhan Mansell, 20yo WWT Eagles SANFL. Originally from Tassie and moved to SA this year. Wing or half forward. Talented indigenous player with burst of pace and skills. Unlucky not to be drafted. I think he will get onto an AFL list. Whilst he’s still developing, I think he is too good for state league footy and would thrive with a AFL club. Probably pick in the 60s is about right.

I've got a Robbie Flower Patch. Yes a Flower Patch! Circa '77. 2 signed footys from the Daniher era. And the bits of Terry Wallaces teeth surgically removed from Rod Grinters arm Circa '88.

I love the modern game and can't get my head around the view that the game was better 'back in the day'. I was recently watching a final from '98 (I think) between the Doggies and Kangas. It's considered one of the great finals games but by today's standards it was horrendous and the entire game plan involved the backmen torping it from half back to half forward, then back again until someone accidentally kicked it to a team mate. Don't get me wrong, it had its charm. It was aggressive, loads of bumps and great one on one contests but the notion that today's players are less skillful, in my opinion, just doesn't stack up. The decision-making of today's players is phenomenal given what they face defensively. The ability to stay calm and not just 'kick it', and work through traffic is so common, where it was once only the stars that could do this. The game has and is evolving and I, for one, love it.

His GF and Paddy Dangers GF pointed out that they are not typical WAGS. As in ,not bimbos who rely on their looks. I think it's relevant to raise this piece of information. And sincerley hope he can rectify the situation .

Agree. Trading into top 6-12 provides little additional value. I think we should hold onto our picks and use to select a small forward and winger. Pace and skill. JT is a good judge so I back him in. I would consider trading for Collingwood’s future first though. They’re a good bet to drop off significantly next year.

Geelong have gone so far out on a limb I don’t know whether they are mad or genius. There must be a crop of young falcons down there flying under the radar to explain the strategy. Otherwise its inexplicable and reckless in the extreme to mortgage your future to such an extent. There is no getting around the laws of physics.

Part Two: The Bucky Horror Show As the AFL’s free agency and trade period lurched its way to an end, it became apparent that the virus that has plagued the world throughout 2020 hasn’t spared our list managers from the heartbreak of this dark age. With the leader of the free world otherwise engaged with his own troubles, some of the competition’s power houses struggled to come to grips with the art of the deal leading to one of the most shambolic trade periods on record. The lowlight was Collingwood which telegraphed its salary cap woes early, clumsily grappled with them and managed to alienate its fans, loyal players, the media and the football public all at once. When the dust settled, Adam Treloar and Jaidyn Stephenson had been forcibly moved elsewhere, Tom Phillips was whisked away in the night and Joffa’s young stepson Atu Bosenavulagi shunted out as steak knives. They went for the price of stale peanuts in the light of their recent achievements at the club. The bitterness and recrimination leveled at some of the club’s leading lights and played out in public was embarrassing. The spin doctoring at the end put the club in a place of derision and scorn. The ominous aspect is the warning that this sends to other clubs to act not just for now but to plan well ahead. Essendon’s Adrian Dodoro’s antics continued. He has the knack of managing to stretch out every trade to ensure that he achieves what he thinks is best for his club but he almost perennially ends up with one or two deals undone thanks to his obstinance. The failure to finalise a deal for Josh Dunkley when he had his fish hooked speaks volumes about the way he operates and the frustration of Bomber fans at this particular time of year. Still, he managed to come out with picks 6, 7 and 8 giving him a strong hand at the draft. Meanwhile, everyone is hailing the Bulldogs for their genius at acquiring Treloar and retaining Dunkley which gives Luke Beveridge what appears on the face of it, a very potent midfield. But that department was already a strength, albeit with one or two cultural issues attached to it and is now compounded with the need to satisfy Dunkley while fitting in Treloar at the same time. And while the Bulldogs’ main areas of deficiency haven’t really been addressed, Port Adelaide and Carlton appear to have done well in covering specific requirements, leaving their fans reasonably happy with their outcomes. What of Melbourne? The highlight was the addition of Ben Brown, the only player added to the list. For what is effectively a pick around mid second round, the Demons gained a key forward who kicked 60+ goals in each year from 2017 and 2019 and was pretty resilient until a knee injury curtailed his 2020 season. Brown’s arrival and the return of the promising Harry Petty should shore up the club’s key position stocks and if Tom McDonald can also drop a few kilos and return to his 2017-8 form either up forward or down back, it would be a bonus. The vagaries of the draft were clearly demonstrated by the cost of Brown to the club as compared with that of Jeremy Cameron to Geelong. Their respective goal tallies for the five years 2016-20 were virtually identical but the latter cost the Cats three first round draft picks. The departures of Mitch Hannan and Braydon Preuss were hardly consequential given that both were outside best 22. The latter case makes sense in light of the emergence and expected development of 2019 draft pick 3 Luke Jackson. The pick exchanges in what is considered a speculative draft still represent possible unfinished business given that trading of draft picks will continue right through to the selection meet. Who knows what Jason Taylor has in mind for that? Most likely a fast skillful outside mid like Isaac Smith for who the club was underbidder against the Cats. The final wash up for Melbourne was:- In: Ben Brown, picks 18, 19, 28, 50 and Brisbane 2021 2nd round pick, Western Bulldogs 2021 3rd round pick, North Melbourne 2021 4th round pick Out: Mitch Hannan, Braydon Preuss, picks 26, 53, 68, 69 and Melbourne's 2021 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th round picks 2020 draft picks: 18, 19, 28, 50, 89 This week’s trades:- • Peter Wright went to Essendon for a future fourth-round pick to the Suns • The Crows traded their No.33 selection and 50 to the Demons this year for Melbourne's future second-round and future fourth-round selection • Melbourne has traded Mitch Hannan to the Western Bulldogs for its future third round draft pick. • Melbourne has traded Braydon Preuss to GWS Giants for pick 31 • In a 3 way deal, Stefan Martin was traded to the Western Bulldogs and Lachie Young ended up at North Melbourne. Brisbane traded Pick 70 to North Melbourne, which gave Pick 63 to the Lions. • Carlton received Adam Saad and picks 48 and 78 from Essendon in exchange for picks 8 and 87. • Geelong sent Lachlan Fogarty and pick 38 to Carlton for picks 30 and 51 • Geelong traded Nakia Cockatoo to Brisbane for a future 3rd round selection. North Melbourne transferred Shaun Higgins to Geelong for pick 30. • Port Adelaide Power received Aliir Aliir from the Swans in exchange for a future second-round pick. • West Coast Eagles sent Tom Hickey, picks 34 and 60 to Sydney in return for picks 58, 62 and a future second-round and future third-round pick. • Richmond's Jack Higgins was traded to St Kilda along with pick 21 and a future fourth-rounder. The Tigers got pick 17 and a future second-rounder. • Ben Brown was traded from North Melbourne to Melbourne. North traded Brown, pick 28 and a future fourth-round pick to Melbourne for 26, 33 and a future fourth-rounder tied to Brisbane. • Brisbane’s Alex Witherden and pick 86 were traded to the West Coast Eagles in exchange for pick 58 and a future third-round pick. • Sydney traded pick 25 for Melbourne's 31 and 43. • Collingwood traded Jaidyn Stephenson, Atu Bosenavulagi and pick 39 to North Melbourne for 26, 33 and 70. • Collingwood traded Tom Phillips to Hawthorn for pick 65. • Essendon traded Orazio Fantasia and pick 73 to Port Adelaide for pick 29 and a future third-round selection • Brisbane traded 18, 19 and a future second-rounder to Melbourne for a future first-rounder, and 25, 68 and 69. • Greater Western Sydney traded Jeremy Cameron and two future second-round picks (one tied to Essendon) to Geelong for 13, 15 and 20. • Greater Western Sydney traded Jye Caldwell, pick 44 and 74 to Essendon for pick 29 and a future second-round pick. • St Kilda traded Nick Hind and pick 77 to Essendon for 67 and 74. • Collingwood traded Adam Treloar and 26, 33 and 42 to the Western Bulldogs for 14 and a future second-round selection.

How can you definitively say this? Do you have a crystal ball that says we are not going to have another pandemic or a natural disaster or what is your source? The truth is that we have no idea, any more than we could have looked ahead last year. Frankly, I have more confidence in Mahoney and Taylor than I have in anyone fulfilling their roles in the past and am happy to back them against their counterparts at the other 17 Clubs.

Yes, next year the networks are even threatening to cut to an ad break as he starts his runup and then cut back in as he kicks the ball. A ten goal game could add up to as much as an extra 13 minutes of AAMI ads. For the run up he has been told he is not allowed back past the centre line at the G if he marks the ball inside the 50. He has asked to be allowed to go as far back as centre half back but this has been nipped in the bud by the coach worried his run up could actually extend all the way back to full back if he is allowed his natural game.

I hope Petracca is packing away his poster of Bucks, looking at those off loaded Collingwood players, saying to himself, 'there but for the grace of God go I', and vowing to stick with his Melbourne mates through thick and thin. ?

With those picks there is historically a 50% chance of getting a 100 game player across all drafts. So two picks is better than a single pick 15 next year (assuming we finish 4th, as they are clearly backing themsleves). https://www.draftguru.com.au/analysis/pick-value-comparison

As a possibly oversimplified comparison, I've been saying for a while that we appear to be in a similar position to Richmond prior to 2017 clicking for them. We have an elite core and then a drop away from the rest after this, as the system and coaching has failed to get the best out of the group. Likewise, the group itself has been too inconsistent. For comparison though... Riewoldt, Rance, Martin, Cotchin, Prestia Brown, May, Oliver, Petracca, Gawn Our bookends and midfield are elite. If we get the system right, there's no reason why our team can't win a flag next year. Time to put up. Next year the window is wide open.

I heard that rumour too. But if that's true it is a really easy and honest thing for Collingwood to say publicly. Perhaps it was more like "Treloar asked if that was possible, Collingwood said no, Treloar said ok no worries I'm just asking, Collingwood decided his wife going to Qld was a risk, tried to trade him."

It appears our strategy with the draft is ALWAYS trade our "next years" 1st rounder - effectively getting the player asset one year early. i.e. Kozzie. Then next years we'll get a 1st rounder by trading out 2022's etc. So far the Clubs have delivered on this. I like it. At least they have a clear strategy.

Short answer is yes. Be thankful we are Melbourne and not Collingwood. The club didn't bust any relations with its players in offering them up for trade (at least from the outside) - T Mac himself and his manager were very complimentary of the club and their honest approach about discussing the opportunities that would be available for him next year - I imagine it was the same as with other players as well. I haven't seen one piece of negative social media with how the club dealt with guys like Preuss and Hannan moving on. Meanwhile down at the Carringbush...

I personally would love to see us take 18 & 19 to the draft. These are perfect picks to go for quick, skillful smalls similar to the Power did with Duursma and Butters. Areas we have covered: KPF - Brown, Jackson, Weid & McDonald KPD - May, Lever, Petty & Tomlinson Ruck - Gawn & Bradtke - ideally we add Phillips on a one year contract as back up Inside Mids - Oliver, Petracca, Harmes, Viney, Brayshaw & Sparrow Medium/Small backs - Rivers, Salem, Hibberd, Smith & Lockhart Medium/small forwards - Fritsch, Melksham, Pickett, Spargo, Hunt & Baker I want players with genuine leg speed and skills to play on the outside more or partner Pickett up forward. Any keen draft observers have same names in mind that fit this?

I've gone and developed a genuine draft-crush for the first time in years. Archie Perkins will likely go in the middle of the first round, so we need to get into that range. Possible Targets: Essendon: 6, 7, 8, 44, 77, 85, 87 Lots of list spots to fill. Some top picks but then dross. They might be enticed by some combo of 19+ 28 to keep them participating meaningfully. Fremantle 12, 32, 55 Doesn't seem likely, but hey, it is Fremantle. GWS 10, 13, 15, 20, 29, 52, 74, 88 What the hell are they going to do with all those picks? That's just selfish. Again. Unfortunately they look all set for drafting early and then burning late picks for academy points. North Melbourne 2, 11, 30, 39, 71, 81 That 11 is 'ours' anyway, isn't it? I can see it happening, once they've got their draftee star they'd love to be able to point to as many young guns as possible coming through the system, so a pair of later first rounders may have value. Adelaide 1, 9, 22, 23, 40, 56, 66, 80 Nine would do the job for us nicely, but they might not see the point in adding 18 or 19 to their 22 and 23. But 18, 19 and 28 for 9 and 23 might start a conversation. Collingwood 14, 16, 65, 70, 75, 92 Offer them 18 and 89 for 14 and 92 and see if they are still drunk, but only if Archie is still available at 14. And that's every pick from 6 to 16 covered in just six clubs.

So did you come on to offer something or just be negative. You can actually answer your own questions by reviewing other threads or going to the AFL site. Let's be truthful you rarely post when we win have contributed little during trade period won't acknowledge the excellent deal for Brown would be the first to complain if we tied up $1.1million of our cap in Phillips and Treloar which meant we could not give Clarrie and Jackson what they wanted to extend. Let's not even contemplate the Dogs gave up a first rounder for Treloar. But hey any chance to have a baseless shot at the club and we know you're in the first dozen FMD

Now that we have access to Regional Vic I am heading back to the Goulburn Valley this weekend to visit the folks. I have a whole shed of late 80s and 90s Memorabilia that is currently gathering dust and cobwebs. I'll sort through it and hopefully be able to part with some of it for this. Someone will definitely want my signed Darren Bennett poster. He signed it along his outstretched leg. I also have a signed Todd Viney headband that I wore my entire junior footy career. Last time I checked the signature was still visible. On a serious note though I do have some great framed/signed memorabilia that I could donate. Kudos to the MFC for continuing to raise dollars to keep the Club an unassisted club.