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Collingwood want at least 70% of Grundy's salary off their books, so will pay a maximum of 30%. I think it's a risk going with Cameron and Cox/Begg/Frampton/McStay - I think Hickey touched them up in the ruck in the PF and they couldn’t take full advantage against Heeney and whoever when Reid went off. Its happening and in the end, whether we give a late 1st or a 2nd round pick in this deal won't be the key factor. It will be whether 5 years of Grundy helps delivers flags. If it doesn't, then no-one will be saying, it's OK we only gave a 2nd rounder. Forget about worrying about the pick. Think about how this can work for us. Otherwise you're in for plenty of teeth grinding and unhappy thoughts.

That's probably enough of the mini bar for now!!!

Aaron Sandilands played until he was 36. He was still playing good footy at 32, but injuries effected his final years. Dean Cox played until he was 33. Shane Mumford played until he was 35. Last good year 33. Paddy Ryder played until he was 34 and looked like he could go again. Todd Goldstein is playing good football at 34. And is going again. Ben McEvoy played until he was 33. Last good year 32. My point ? Not many ruckman are AA at 24 like Cox and Gawn. Most start playing their best footy from 25 onwards. And plenty can be important contributors well into their 30s. Grundy plays all of next year as a 29 year old. For me that doesn't put him near the back end of his career, it puts him smack bang in the middle for a ruckman. How many rucks reach their peak before the age of 26 ? More-so 28+. Our premiership window should be at least the next 4 years. At the end of this period Grundy will be 32 and should still have some years left. Subject to injury he should play at least 100 games. You may not think Grundy will work, or you may wonder how it will work, but if he's injury free his age for our list demographic is not only fine, it's perfect. The only proviso is his injury status. So dismiss Grundy as a good trade target all you want - no problem - but stop using his age as an issue. From an age perspective, he's in the "window" at the exact time we are.

The thing with Bolt is that he uses selective facts and very specific words and phrasing to distort the truth and present a warped version of reality. Here's the first distortion of the truth. Daisy didn't express hatred for our past; she only said there were competing narratives about the impact of the British arrival. That is a fact, evidenced by the debate we're having. Nor did she express hatred for any institutions, including the royal family. On the contrary, she acknowledged and praised the Queen's life and service. The language is important here, as is the use of quote marks to trivialise the significance of the words 'genocide' and 'stolen'. Genocide has a number of definitions depending on which institution or dictionary you use, but Bolt is relying on most people's tendency to think of genocide through the lens of the Holocaust, where the plan to systematically annihilate the Jews was basically written in plain English (German) for all to see. Other genocides - see Rwanda and Cambodia, for example - had different characteristics. You can quibble about the use of the word in relation to Australian history, but there's no denying the large-scale widespread killing of Aboriginal people in the so-called Frontier Wars, something which even the most conservative of historians admit happened. Here's a piece from the Australian Museum which argues that genocide is an appropriate descriptor of what happened in Australia. And here's an interactive map from the Guardian and the University of Newcastle detailing the massacres. Whether it was genocide or not is just semantics. As for Aboriginal people having "some form of control" over half the land, again the language here is important, designed to give you the impression that most of the country is off limits to the rest of us. It's a throwback to the scare campaigns around the Mabo decision and subsequent native title legislation, that Aboriginal people were coming to take your backyard. It's true that large parts of the country are "Aboriginal land" in some form or another, but it's not ownership as you and I know it. They can't just build houses or businesses on this land - in most cases they can't do anything with it at all. Here's a story which highlights some of the complexities around land ownership and tenure, bearing in mind that this is one community of hundreds which was successfully able to secure a bit more agency over their own land - ie they're the exception to the rule. Cultural traditions remain strong in some parts of Australia, with the Yolngu of Arnhem Land being one example. But elsewhere, much has been lost - songlines and stories, customs and traditional knowledge. When the British arrived there were about 250 Aboriginal languages spoken across the continent. Today it's less than half that, and many of those are in danger of disappearing too. Government policy was the key reason for the decline, with Aboriginal languages banned on missions, and children who were taken from their parents punished for speaking their native tongue. This is from the Commonwealth Office of Education in 1953: "There is a need everywhere for a planned, vigorous and maintained drive for English." Linguist Arthur Capell wrote in 1964: "Government policy looks forward to the loss of Aboriginal languages so that the Aborigines may be 'assimilated'.” Read the bolded quote below from the Chief Protector of the NT about 'eradicating' Aboriginal culture. Sentence 1 is really just an opinion - an agreeable one to most - but it's all a matter of perspective really, as Yolngu continue to forage for yams and other traditional foods and enjoy mixing the traditional and modern worlds. But no-one (including Daisy) ever denied the benefits or joys of the modern, western world. Sentence 2 presumes that Aboriginal women prefer the western justice system over the traditional one - where's the proof of this? And even if it's true, so what? It doesn't undo all the other harms and impacts of colonisation. . This is classic Bolt, using a very narrow framing of events to present an inaccurate picture of reality. Just because there hasn't been a court case, doesn't mean the Stolen Generations don't exist. There's vast reams of evidence about the forced removal of Aboriginal children from their homes - a whole report actually, the Bringing Them Home report. You can go in there and pretty much pick any page you want and read for yourself the policy in action. Here's an excerpt quoting the Chief Protector in the NT about 100 years ago: Generally by the fifth and invariably by the sixth generation, all native characteristics of the Australian aborigine are eradicated. The problem of our half-castes will quickly be eliminated by the complete disappearance of the black race, and the swift submergence of their progeny in the white ... Bolt and others will hide behind the "perceived danger" excuse, which is just another way of saying "it was for their own good", a smokescreen for the assimilationist policy articulated above, and in so many other places. Do we really want to pretend that every child taken from their parents was subject to neglect? And really, it's not hard to find people who were members of the Stolen Generation. The legendary Jack Charles, who passed away last week, was one of them. Read his obituary. Here's an excerpt from a speech by another - William Tilmouth. I am mix-matched – a creation by others who decided they knew what was best for me. I am a product of assimilation. I am a product of being denied my identity, my family, my country, culture and my language. In the west I am a success. I was the kid who came good – became a model working citizen, living in my own home, paying my rent in advance, hiding my identity and keeping my relatives at a distance. What you see today, you might think is acceptable – but to me it’s not. Why? Because I have spent a lifetime, along with my brothers and sisters, trying to rebuild and recapture all that was stolen and denied us. I have a good command of English but I can not speak my own language. I have grandchildren but I was denied my mother and father. Sometimes I don’t know where I belong or where I’m going – or who am I? That is a question that you are left with: Who am I? Coming here was hard for me, coming back up north. I was stolen and taken to Croker Island. Minjilang and its people hold some of my fondest memories as a child. There was heaps of nature but very little or no nurture. Notwithstanding the efforts of the cottage mothers who had to spread their love over 12 or so distraught children each. Leaving Alice Springs was hard because I still cling onto home. I am the sum of my experiences and my experiences are such that my life doesn’t have the cultural integrity and grounding that it should have. I’m not recognised in native title. I’m not recognised in land rights. When my father’s traditional lands were given back, my brother and I were not even notified of the ceremonial handback. The apology meant nothing to me – there are too many sorries and not enough truths.

Here is Team Ivan's top 50 with some thoughs on the top 10. i'll hopefully do a mock draft once the order crystallises with more info on the top 50 and other prospects. Elijah Tsatas - Oakleigh Chargers. I think if the Dees somehow managed to get a very high pick, Tsatas could be a target. He faded from view with injury before dominating in what is the best club-level under 18 game - Dragons v Chargers. He's always been known as a very good rangy, high possession winning outside midfielder, but his ability to storm away from stoppage and deliver inside 50 in that game postmarked him as the ideal modern-day midfielder and in turn a number pick candidate. Will Aschroft - Sandringham Dragons There's not a huge reason to write much about Ashcroft as he is certainly off to the Lions with a matched pick one or two, but he's a prodigious ball winner who just keeps running to receive, is skilful and innovative. The scary thing is his brother is looking to be a similar standard of prospect brewing for the Lions. George Wardlaw - Oakleigh Charger It's hard to assess Wardlaw, as he's played so little footy and now has a worrisome recurrent hamstring injury tendency, but he was the standout in a rain-soaked Dragons v Chargers match early in the season. He is tough, tackles, powers through stoppage and is neat and smart with his ball use. This could basically be a Chris Judd/Joel Selwood situation whereby injury has masked what is the best player in the draft pool. Aaron Cadman - North Ballarat Rebels Positional scarcity and positional value drives Cadman this high. I've always felt and think was one of the first to suggest that it will be difficult for teams to pass him over and that he will go very, very high with all the topend-of-the-draft teams having a strong case to take him. He wins in multiple ways, with him both leading well and also having an ever=improving one-on-one wrestling game. The good thing about Cadman is he is not dead when the ball hits the ground, his tackle pursuit is often above-average for a player of his type and he is good below his knees. A lot has been made of his goal-point ratio, but many of those missed shots are low-percentage snaps and ground-levelattempts. The knock on him is actually there haven't been credible opponents for him to play on week to week. Harry Sheezel - Sandringham Dragons Sheezel is the fifth of five credible number one draft pick options in the draft and I wouldn't criticise any team for taking any of them or him. Sheezel's issue is that he plays a role that is theoretically the least valuable from a list rebuilding perspective. He's a highly talented, smooth moving and skilful medium marking half-forward, with a lovely kicking technique and ability to win one-out contests. My only concern is I worry whether he can play as an inside midfielder. He could easily vault to being the best player out of this draft if he can, but I have niggly doubts just about that. Josh Weddle - Oakleigh Chargers I think I have Weddle higher than anyone and just think he will make a long-term major difference to any teams back 6. He can play on talls and smalls, has a terrific team-first attitude and just brings everything you want to the table - accountability, pace on the rebound, intercept marking and flexibility within a defensive grouping. He does have some rough edges but is a terrific kid and whilst it won't happen, I wouldn't criticise a team taking him at one. The ideal modern-day defender. Bailey Humphrey - Gippsland Power Anyone who saw his comeback game for a draft-prospect stacked Gippsland Power would have identified Humphrey as a very high draft pick candidate. He started the game as a dominant leading forward before mixing in some minutes as a very good inside midfielder with cultured hands, the ability to break away from stoppage and a competitive edge. Another who probably needs to add to some ball use polish to be considered an elite prospect, but as a midfielder who can seamlessly play as a deep leading forward or high half forward, he's an exciting prospect and I think at my seventh-ranked player he is the last player I can see teams aggressively trading up to get. Jhye Clark - Geelong Falcons I have no criticism of Clark, other than I worry he is too small to be a dominant midfielder sufficient to be taken higher. He is however a very good ball winner, neat ball user and has the ability to float forward and be dangerous. A very good well-rounded player but best fitting in with some big-bodied midfield support at the next level. Jedd Busslinger - East Perth Injury has scuppered the back end of Busslinger's season, so it will be interesting to see where he lands, but as a 195+ key back, he has the frame AFL clubs look for in key defenders and is a promising ball of clay for coaches to work with. The exciting thing about Busslinger is that while he needs to bulk up to improve his competitiveness as a defender, he has a terrific sidestep for a player of his size and ilk and is able to seamlessly contribute to attacking ball-movement from the back half, a trait becoming more and more important as the year's roll on. Elijah Hewitt - Subiaco I've been critical of Hewitt but I think the move against him has been too drastic. Hewitt is one of the high-risk kids in this draft. He has the perfect physique for the modern midfielder and prototypical athletic traits. Where it melts away to worrisomeness is there are question marks on his consistency and just his overall smarts and decision-making instincts. It just seems like he needs that little bit of extra time to process the puzzles in front of him with ball in hand. Still, he is dangerous in space, can take an overhead mark and has those great aforementioned physical traits to be good AFL inside mid. Him being proven at WAFL senior level is another tick. I just worry about the headless chookness and methinks that is why he falling out of number one pick contention. Mattaes Phillipou - Woodville/West Torrens - big bodied mid/marking forward Cameron MacKenzie - Sandringham Dragons - well-rounded midfielder Jaspa Fletcher - Brisbane Academy - tall, balanced wingman/mid Alwyn Davey - Essendon father/son - skilful aboriginal high half-forward/wingman Max Gruzewski - Oakleigh Chargers - smooth moving third tall/swingman Henry Hustwaite - Dandenong Stingrays - I see him purely as a promising Ridley-like intercept defender/creator. Others like him as a mid. I do not. Lachie Cowan - Tassie Mariners - rangy and quick rebounding fourth defender. Reuben Ginbey - East Perth - big bodied inside mid/leader. Can play back as well. Clubs will see some Clarrie Oliver in him, very similar build, but Ginbey doesn't have Oliver's otherwordly feel for the game. Jacob Konstanty - Gippsland Power - skilful small forward, deceptively good in a contested. Isaac Keeler - North Adelaide - tall indigenous ruck/forward. Very raw but with intriguing ball skills. Oli Hotton - Sandringham Dragons - midfielder/flanker perhaps the best mark pound for pound in the draft, but inconsistent. Matthew Jefferson - Oakleigh Chargers - lightly framed key forward, will take a long time and I question the opponents he's been outwitting. Jaiden Magor - South Adelaide - two-sided and highly skilled x-factor medium forward. Underexposed due to injury. Oliver Hollands - Murray Bushrangers - lightly-framed outside mid with tremendous running power Lewis Hayes - Eastern Rangers - spindly key back interceptor, Rangers trust him to kick in as well. Darcy Jones - Swan Districts - tiny helmeted small forward/rover, but he is skilful, quick and competitive Harry Barnett - West Adelaide - ruckman who is at his best flying for marks behind the ball. May convert into a key back. Max Michalanney - Adelaide father-son - third defender who is good overhead and poised with ball in hand. Cooper Vickery - Gippsland Power - one of the best ground ball defenders in the draft and a heart and soul player but needs to tidy up his error rate. I probably have him too high. Noah Long - Bendigo Pioneers - small high half-forward with a penetrating kick and a touch of class. Archie Lovelock - Glenelg - competitive two-sided and well-rounded midfield/small forward. Brayden George - Murray Bushrangers - Powerful mid-sized leading forward. Sadly done an ACL. Ed Allan - Claremont - son of Ben Allan - bid bodied half-back/CHB/inside midfielder having a dominant second half of the year post-injury. Sam Gilbey - Claremont - rebounding half-back with silky footskills Coby Burgiel - Gippsland Power - hyper-versatile small runner. Can play wing/half back/defensive forward. Not flashy. Harry Lemmey - West Adelaide - man mountain struggled in the championships. Mobility is a question mark but his actual football skills are very sound versus most his size. Can play forward/ruck and back. Blake Drury - Oakleigh Chargers - some clubs will love him. Small red-headed midfielder/crumber with a good all round game. Harry Rowston - GWS Academy - midfielder with a solid inside/out game. Jack O'Sullivan - Oakleigh Chargers - injury has marred his season but a skilful but slight midfielder/half-forward. Clean/one-touch player. Harvey Gallagher - Bendigo Pioneers - top ager who has excelled as a defensive rebounder/kicker but also can play wing and half-forward. Tom Scully - West Adelaide - 200cm key forward who needs to work on his contested stuff but is good at ground level for his size and a good lead/finisher. Luke Teal - Oakleigh Chargers - rebounding defender with a good all-round game but missed a lot with injury. Adam D'aloia - Woodville- West Torrens - hard-working inside midfielder who grinds through games. Hugh Bond - GWV Rebels - inside ball-winner with good hands/plays like a leader. Not used in his best role in the champs. Olivier Northam - Geelong Falcons - mulleted ruck/forward. Very strong and competitive and with a basketball background. Undersized probably to a be an AFL first ruck is the concern. Harry Cole - Claremont - had a very good championships. Perm-haired medium forward. Deceptively quick and good overhead. Beau Tedcastle - GWV Rebels - will-o-the wisp half forward/goal sneak. Very small and light but evasive. Jakob Ryan - Glenelg - half-back rebounder with very good agility/ball winning but needs to tidy up his distribution. Ryan Eyres - Murray Bushrangers - top ager has moved to defence and whilst he needs to learn has shown excellent ground level skills for a 200cm big man. Seth Campbell - Tassie Mariners - been a bit disappointing but has shown flashes of star quality over the last 24 months as a game-breaking wing/half forward.

Respect for Brown, a good honest footballer.

West Coast in Perth Geelong in Geelong These things are surer than the sun rising

Max is in my opinion the best ruckman in the league, however this season we persisted in him sharing the duties with Jackson. It was a great succession plan which has been nipped in the bud. When Jacko went into the ruck we always fell away a bit and we all questioned why start the game with Jackson in the centre. Jacko is a 20 y.o and his best is great but often he just disappears. He would have been offered $700 K if he stayed with us. What do we lose with Grundy? He is a better ruck, good below his knees and couldn't be worse than Jackson up forward. Jackson will not peak for a few more years where Grundy is established and if we get 3 good years out of him we are in front Maybe Max cannot ruck the whole game as he has in the past. We don't know the ins and outs at the club and have to have faith in the match committee.

No way am I happy for a first rounder even if they throw in 300k.. We have them over a barrel we should be giving up a 2nd rounder at best. They can go and get fkd

I think the insight one can glean from us chasing a top 5 ruck is that Max can’t take much more of being flogged from pillar to post in the ruck anymore. And that we see his last few years as a FF who can ruck forward and go into the middle when needed. What an amazing career he has had as the premier ruck for more than half a decade. Now we try to fashion a forward line around him.

Max was beat up this year and it showed. Cox drove his knee into his back a dozen times on QB and I don't think Max ever got back to full fitness. He's 31 and with Grundy playing we'll have a chance to float one forward and one behind the ball. With our midfield we'll own clearances and stoppages. We need to sort out some dash and a rejig the forward line a little. Our game plan might bore you but it works really well. Can't see how we don't compete right at the pointy end next year. We actually have most of the pieces already at the club, just some tinkering required.

I've changed my mind re drafting Cadman this year, especially with the news that Grundy is more than likely to be with us next year. And whilst I agree that Max is not a forward, I understand the importance of prolonging his career at his age given how well he plays his position. I'd rather Max play more forward-time in the hope that we get consistently high level ruck service from him over the next 2-4 years as opposed to flogging him in the ruck for most of a game and risking him falling off the cliff within 2 years. So given the likelihood of a 'Max at Full Forward' situation next year, our forwardline will need a facelift. Which brings me to Sheezel. I'd be doing everything we can to move up the draft/acquire the pick that will likely land him through the Jackson trade. He is absolute class, I watched the TAC cup grand final and he is what we're crying out for to play that half-forward connector role or even a pocket in his first year. Our ability to turn inside 50's into scoring opportunities is our biggest issue imo and Sheezel's ball use, vision and ability to turn non-opportunities into scoring chances can't be understated. He's exactly the player we're crying out for and has the ability to move into the midfield in time. Sheezel and Konstanty would compliment our forwardline nicely. Konstanty is a small forward with an appetite to defend and he possesses great agility and forward craft. So the forwardline would look like the following (when Gawn is resting forward): Konstanty Gawn Fritsch Pickett JVR Sheezel Int forwards: Brown and Spargo/Chandler * I've left T mac out because I can't see him playing first quarter of the season after this op, maybe more. That forwardline just excites so much more. I think it cause so many more headaches for oppo given the damage those players can have with minimal touches. Sheezel and Pickett's ball use, speed and touch is scary and would give so much more confidence to leading forwards like Fritsch and Brown who rely on quality ball. I just think there's so much scope with a forwardline like that. The only knock is that we wouldn't have ANB's running capacity but I really think that can be covered for given he rarely impacts when around the ball anyway. He's either getting caught or fumbling most of the time which just cancels out all his hard work getting up the ground. Make it happen. I'd do anything to see Sheezel running around for us next year.

The club is sure that TMac will be right for next year. The Grundy deal is a given apparently

Pickett Fence becoming Charlie Spargo’s number 1 fan Drysdale Demon becoming all soft and cuddly No negativity on Demonland.

I'm all in on Petty being our new KPF in 2023 - probably at the expense of BBB If JVR has a very big summer and gets super fit and puts on more size there is no reason why he doesn't get AFL games next season With the addition of these two I think our forward structure would be way more potent both in terms of competing in the air but also at ground level - both have also shown that when given a look they are very capable at set shot conversion Begs the question who replaces Petty in the backs Problem is Petty is our tallest defender so we don't have an automatic replacement that can easily take the big gorillas or resting rucks of opposition teams Options Turner - I rate him highly and he is an AFL tall back in waiting - 2023 could be the year he cements a starting position. But probably needs to muscle up more - probably doesn't have the height to replace Petty's role TMac - yep he could go back and provide a solution to help cover Petty's move forward. But is he physically able to be the player he once was - big risk IMO Weid - seems to have found a role as a mobile ruck - personally don't think his ruck work is that great and he is particularly vulnerable near opposition goals where he gets out bodied far too easily. He also can't hold marks in general play. Some have suggested trialing him as a KPD - it could be worth a try as he has the height and is reasonably mobile - I remain skeptical due to lack of aggression but who knows Tommo - I don't think he plays tall enough and lacks mobility so its difficult to find a suitable matchup on a regular basis - like him as a footballer and you know he is going to give 100% but I just don't think he's a KPD J Smith - not the height of Petty but with his leap he is probably best suited to defending the oppositions tallest forward if Petty went forward. His biggest issue as we all know is injuries - he just can't stay on the park Corey Ellison - Casey tall that IMO has shown enough to be given some consideration as a rookie listed player - not sure of his height (193cm ?) but is a late developer that could really grow in statue quickly in an AFL system New recruit - yes I know we all think we need another tall forward but if Petty goes forward as I believe he should we may actually be better looking for a tall back - arguably easier to find than a tall KPF

If we're looking at flags in the next two years, the fact Petty is our succession plan for May is irrelevant because May is playing great footy. Petty can always be switched back to defence when that times comes if it were necessary. Getting a look at the upside of Petty up forward makes complete sense. Strong mark (not a two-grabber like most of our forwards), strong presence and can kick the footy. Makes complete sense to me. There's no doubt our staff are workshopping it

If Gawn stood in the goalsquare with Pickett at his feet would be a nightmare to defend and Pickett can also keep defensive pressure. Max would draw two talls leaving the forward pocket with Brown, Van Rooyen having one less tall against them or Fritsch potentially one on one or free. Seems to create a lot more goal scoring options and could still set relatively good hold in pressure in forward line. Grundy is an elite ruckman, and at stage LJ is in his career, Grundy is a better player. Bigger, tougher, stronger and covers the field well, no slouch at following up in the ruck hitouts in the middle. For a few years the argument was Max or Grundy, if they can make work will be great. I think Grundy will add years 1-2 to Max career and vice versa. If one injured then a Weideman or Van Rooyen as a backup can work.

Spargo would be much more highly rated externally (and on Demonland) if he played for a team that used the ball better and actually utilised him more He is one of our most naturally talented players, not that his output or consistency necessarily reflects that

Are we seriously discussing dumping Spargo at age 22? The kid will improve.

In years to come, when you look up the definition of "journeyman" in the dictionary, Mitch Brown's name will be there. Something like 14 years for 79 games (plus 100 VFL games, or thereabouts). That is in no way meant to denigrate a fine footballer who tried his best. And that's all any of us can ask for.

Who cares. Anyone with half a brain knows we would have beaten anyone that day. Geelong were below their best, very obviously. We won and won the flag - who gives a [censored] what some journo says.

On Tomlinson. He joined us at a reported $500k p.a. That is an expensive player to have running round at Casey. I would say the club will take a 3rd or 4th round pick to move the $ out. Its would be a mini 'salary dump'. He came to us as an FA so owes us nothing in terms of draft picks. As I've mentioned in several other threads, Taylor doesn't use draft picks other than first and second round so if we get a 3rd or 4th round pick, I'm confident we will convert it to something better.

It's not just that, either. A recruiter's job is to identify the best talent but the player selection also depends on what the priorities of the football department are and the strategy that they're going for. For instance, you mention Essendon. I have mates tell me that Essendon's recruiting has been good and then mention the successes they've had. They're mostly right too, but selecting good players is only part of that puzzle because they now have a midfield of Parish, McGrath, Merrett and Shiel ..... 4 individually good players but also nobody over 6 feet tall nor defensively inclined. Then they get smashed every week in contested possession and end up losing. Essendon has selected a team of players whose whole is less than the sum of the parts. How much of that problem is with the rest of the football department's strategy for selecting players, and how much is the recruiter overvaluing the attributes demonstrated by smaller midfielders over the attributes of bigger midfielders?

I would be extraordinarily [censored] off if we gave a first round pick for Grundy !!!!!

Season should be shorter, not longer

I know he's not as good as Petty as a defender, but he could replace Petty as a permanent defender and Petty move forward. (Turner the other option) I thought he was solid in the early rounds of 2022 when were missing Lever and Petty and played an excellent game against Port in NT in round 18. Was very quick to be omitted after ordinary games against Sydney and Bulldogs where as others were immune from an axing. But yeah, for the betterment of his career, he probably needs to find a club light on for key defenders.

I don’t think Max is a key forward, but are we judging him in a year where he was banged up with a few injuries and playing to a game plan that doesn’t suit him? Max used sparingly up forward and getting one out, is a different proposition to the one going up in the pocket with BBB and 3 defenders smashing them. A fresher, fitter, Max, going forward for short bursts and being in space, is a real problem for the opposition. He won’t be out marked too often one on one. That’s how I see him being best used by us, with Grundy doing most of the heavy lifting. He can work on his kicking for goal and that can improve and Grundy will prolong his career and have him fresher and fitter in finals.

Can we please play our game at Optus Stadium against Geelong instead of going to the Cattery?

Luke Who?

Agree on this. I'm comfortable with the $700k salary as Grundy is an elite ruckman but you don't use 1st round draft picks on a 29 year old in the latter part of their career.

Is there a Demonland thread that @picket fence has not tried to start a Spargo bash-fest? It's everywhere, it's tiresome.

The way FORWARDS is not to cut and run on a 22 year-old who vastly improved his game between ‘20 & ‘21. He’s got footy smarts, is a huge tackler for his size and brings pressure. He’s also one of our players who lets me relax when using the ball by foot. You’re right, he does need to get near it more often, hence why there’s room to improve. He deserves another season to do that.

This will allow him to spend more time with Kim Jong-un.

Was best 1:1 in the league last year before his knee. Haven't got a strong feeling either way on stay or leave, just wanted to give the bloke credit for how he probably exceeded my expectations when we first recruited him.

Since coming back from his knee, he seems to have lost his pace a bit. Whether that is a confidence issue or a consequence from the knee injury, I am not sure. All the best to him if he leaves though, as he seems to be a great bloke.

For info only. I thought I'd do a comparison of Coaches award votes vs Brownlow votes for Clarry to see whether it was lop sided. R3 and R23 he should have received 3 brownlow votes as BOG, arguably should/could have picked up a vote in R15, but received BOG in R21 in the Brownlow despite not getting any coaches votes at all. So my take is that he polled fairly accurately overall comparatively.

More likely he'll be a delisted FA next year. Better for both parties he moves now.

That’s not what I said. Collingwood have been rumoured to pay 1.5 million of Grundy’s deal. Tomlinson’s 500k could take that down to 1million. In no way would that excuse Collingwood from paying a good chunk. How the deal gets structured year to year will depend on the clubs books. We’d just have cap space to front load. Brodie himself might be keen on that too, he might take a little haircut for another 500k upfront to invest. God knows he needs a hair cut

I think community football is currently at the crossroads and I base this on some experiences I had this year following the suburban club that my family has been involved with for decades. This was the first season since prior to the Covid pandemic where the game was allowed to proceed to completion at grassroots levels but the effects were still evident in a number of ways. One of my grandsons who was restricted to about half a dozen games of junior footy in 2020-1 as a result of the cancellation of one season and lockdowns in the next decided along with a few of his mates to try out at Under 19 level to balance their VHS studies (he turns 18 late this year) at their club whose seniors play in VAFA B Section. As it turned out, a number of former senior players had made the decision to retire or take the season off in order to travel - some had completed their studies and others simply wanted to take the first opportunity in a few years for a break from work in the almost post pandemic period. Similarly, with many potential Under 19 level players having just finished secondary studies wanting to concentrate on getting jobs, having gap years or to travel for part of the time, there weren’t enough numbers for an under 19s. The result was that my grandson and a few other teenagers doing their preseason, suddenly found themselves candidates for places in the senior team in Round 1 in B Section. The club played a number of teenagers during the season and, all things considered, they were pretty competitive. The team lost players to injury and more travel plus a couple of retirements around mid season but they battled on. My grandson played 12 games and was out injured in four (there was an odd number of teams in the section requiring two byes and a 16 match season - also partly due to Covid). He was given a few tagging roles and was named in the best players on quite a few occasions. Despite us being in the second highest section of the VAFA and with a number of teenagers playing reasonably well at that level, we never saw any talent scouts at our matches. Was that due to a lack of money available to finance recruiting or simply that nobody was interested? This wasn’t an issue for our club but, in speaking to others from other VAFA and suburban clubs, what we experienced was happening across the board. Every once in a while, there might be a surprise result and the explanation was health and safety issues, work requirements, trips north, to the snow or overseas, retirements and the like. There isn’t the same level of commitment as there used to be at this level – perhaps with another year, things might return to normal.

I don't mind some of the suggestions. But you were complaining about senior players holding back the development of young players at Casey. Jack Newnes would be a classic example of just that. He got the flick from St. Kilda, can't get a game at the Blues, but you think he could be in our best 22. Personally I prefer JJ as our wingman, and see how Howes and Woey develop.

Fantastic takedown of disingenuous, smarmy [censored] and convicted racist Andrew Bolt. Why his opinion matters to anyone I'll never know

Pies have delisted the Brown brothers and Liam McMahon. McMahon was a 2nd round pick on potential in 2020, 198cm forward with a good leap. Pies are very conscious of cap space, think McMahon would be a good rookie candidate to see if he can develop into a low cost fwd option.

I'd rather all 18 teams play Round 23 at the same time.

I just don’t think Gawn is turning into Paul Salmon. However he is a 6 x AA ruck. Maybe he should just be our number one ruck.

Others have complained that the reverse is true, our young players don't play midfield at Casey. I think that's true - White, Munro and Dunstan carry the Casey midfield. And I think that's wise because if Chandler, Bedford or Laurie do come into the MFC side it's not going to be in the midfield, it's going to be in the forward roles they play at Casey. That's what they need to master.

The sun will come up. Gil will be gone from the AFL. There will be no announcement on our home.

lol who has won a flag? Fagan or Goodwin. Fagan isn’t in the same league of coach.

I thought The Weed has done really well over the past 6 weeks in the ruck. Full credit to him for really persevering. The only thing I think that's holding him back is his marking. He's still not clunking those marks like Mitch Brown and JVR usually do. If he can get his overhead marking sorted, I reckon he's still in the mix on our list.

Saying that Taylor has an awful record outside the top 2 rounds is like saying that Tony Lockett has an awful record outside of taking marks and kicking goals.