MikeyJ

Keep in mind that Dawes has effectively one less year of development under his belt as he suffered a serious knee injury in his final U18 year. From all reports, he's shown enough promise in the VFL to be considered a viable prospect at AFL level. With Rocca, Cloke and Anthony in the queue ahead of him at Collingwood, it's been a tough ask. I'd give him a go, probably with pick 34. Pick 18 seems too high, so we'd need to obtain another second round pick to satisfy that demand if it exists.

G'day torpedo - my group was a trio and we scored seats well undercover on level one, as close to the wing as we could possibly get (given the reserved seating occupied all the best seats on the centre wing). We debated whether or not to head for level two and we probably could have gotten seats, but being undercover was a priority on Saturday! If you were desperate to get seats on level 2 and needed to be certain of scoring good ones, you'd need to be there at least an hour earlier than we arrived.

Flew down from Sydney on the Friday night and queued up at the G from 3.30am on Saturday to get seats before heading into Bridge Rd for some breakfast. Killed time until about 11am when it was time to crack the first beer of the day. Three hours later, returned from the bar to seats and watched a cracking grand final. Laughed at Milne, cheered for Chappy's goal and thought Schneider had ample chances to win the game. Celebrated with a Geelong mate immediately after the game, before heading to a pub in Hawthorn to finish consuming my bodyweight in beer. Pulled the pin at 10.30 when my eyes just wouldn't stay open for some strange reason...

Named All-Australian CHB, and shone in the final game when moved into the midfield. Relax.

Just a note on Debt Demolition: I got a phone call last night from an agency representing the MFC that was selling off the last of the DD raffle tickets. The raffle closes this Friday, so I guess they'll wait until that's done and dusted to tally up this year's contribution. Given that timeline, I'd suggest there will be a final update some time early next month.

Hang in there mate, you never know what can happen. I had a family member who was told they had six months; they lived for another seven years and defied every prognosis in that time. The power of a positive mind is an incredible thing. As others have said, fight with everything you've got and make every moment count. I wish you all the courage and strength in the world, and I hope sharing your story has given you some relief. All the very best, mate.

$2m over 4 years for Shaun Burgoyne is a steal, knee notwithstanding. We've got a shedload of room in the salary cap - now's the time to see if we can put it to use. Fingers crossed.

Good audition for a special comments role in the media, I reckon. He needs to show potential employers that he's got an opinion and he's willing to air it. Good on him. As for the content of his interview, I've got no problem with what he said at all. His comments were frank and measured and he's entitled to some disappointment.

I like the way you're thinking Redleg. But I'd make it a player and pick 18, because I think that would get the job done.

I dunno, I think I prefer blunt honesty from player than the usual bland cliches. What's the alternative? Something like: "Yeah, Juice has got plenty of talent and he could be anything, it's just up to him now. He's had a great year at Casey and shown some important glimpses at senior level. He could be a really important player for our club and we think he's going to play a big role next year." If Brock is as frustrated as we are with his teammate's efforts, I'd rather he speak his mind than trot out platitudes.

It goes without saying that any deal would be dependent on a thorough medical investigation of his knee. Of course, you could absolve yourself of using any common sense and just try to start an argument. Oh hang on...

On his day, I reckon Shaun Burgoyne is the best player in the comp. I'd have him in a heartbeat and I think he's worth every cent of $600,000pa. PSD with luck. If we could miraculously do a deal with pick 18 and a player, I'd be delighted but I don't think that will fly.

I can't quite remember Robbie Flower, but several of his contemporaries from that 1987 side make it in: B: Alan Johnson, Sean Wight, Steven Febey HB: Brett Lovett, David Neitz, Adem Yze C: Stephen Tingay, Todd Viney, Travis Johnstone HF: Garry Lyon, David Schwarz, Russell Robertson F: Jeff Farmer, Allen Jakovich, Aaron Davey R: Jim Stynes, Cameron Bruce, Glenn Lovett Int: Brad Green, Jeff White, Matthew Whelan, Shane Woewodin Emerg: Brock McLean, James McDonald, Danny Hughes

I've got the signatures of pretty much all the 1988 Demons squad in an autograph book somewhere. Apart from that, I don't have much MFC stuff that I treasure, per se. HT, the enlarged Robbie photo sounds like an absolute cracker!

Others have already posted the link. Just a good memory, I suppose.

No, they've met once through Grant Thomas. Watts knows one of Thomas's kids through Brighton Grammar and he happened to be at the Thomas house when Riewoldt was there meeting with Thomas.

I'm unsure why you care so much. Sure, it's obnoxious behaviour, but it doesn't make Maher any more or less of a [censored] than thousands of other footy supporters. He was probably just three sheets to the wind and watching his boys play well in their first final in eight years. And you've got no reason to be sensitive about his comments about Melbourne's "strange tactics". We manipulated our performance to ensure we lost enough games to get the priority pick. Them's the facts - no point in getting upset about commentary on it.

No, I've never watched it. Can't stand most US comedy. Try taking the internet a little less seriously.

Not this year, that's for sure. But he'd be a super fit for the Swans. With Goodes likely to spend much more time playing centre half-forward, they could do with another line-breaker in the midfield. Without Malceski's influence and Rhyce Shaw playing in defence, Burgoyne could play a very important role in Sydney.

This is my favoured option for trade week. Key defenders are in short supply in the league; we've got a surfeit of them. I vote for packaging up Rivers and pick 18 to obtain another pick inside the first round. Likely targets include Carlton (pick 11) and Hawthorn (pick 9). It would free up an extra space on our senior list and give us three picks inside the first round of what is expected to be a shallow draft. The third party would receive a proven key defender to boost their weaknesses as they challenge for September honours and a pick just outside the first round of the draft. Win-win.

Another big fat zero for me. And I just realised that it's the first time in 22 years that I've gone an entire season without seeing an MFC game live.

Yze_Magic's "I'm getting drafted" thread.

Agreed, but the laughs I've gotten from the good stuff allows me to just ignore the rest. No doubt others have different tolerances.

He is without a doubt the funniest poster I've ever read. Some of his work with Hawthorn supporters circa '05, '06 had me in tears. I suggest those who take umbrage at his posts: a. haven't read his best work and b. take themselves a little too seriously. PS As others have mentioned, the legendary "I'm getting drafted" thread was started five years ago. And it's still comedy gold.

Enforcer: I agree wholeheartedly.