mo64

Unless Jackson is happy to go to the Eagles, Freo are not in a bidding war with anyone. What people perceive his trade value to be and what we get, is likely to be totally different. The reality is that Freo won't be able to acquire a top 5 pick, so a top 15 pick, a future 1st and a fringe player is what I'm expecting.

This article makes me nauseous, with the talk that we'd have to give up a 1st round pick for Grundy.

Nick Daicos goes 1 and Jackson is not even close. I'd take Sam Darcy at 2. And there are numerous other players that have played more consistently better football than Jackson, such as Serong, Young and Noah Anderson.

Should Max be out injured for any period of time, I wouldn't want a makeshift ruckman like Weid as no.1 ruckman. You can get away with it for a week here and there, but not long term. Also a forward line the includes BBB, T Mac and Weid hasn't worked in the past. I'd like to see BBB and Fritsch as leading forwards, with T Mac and possibly Meek as a bash and crash forward. Weid hasn't created contests as a forward.

Weid's game yesterday was as well as I've seen him play in years. Yes, he's previously kicked bags at Casey against ordinary opposition, but he was up against seasoned AFL ruckmen, and competed very well. But I wouldn't be making a decision on the club's ruck stocks based on one game from Weid. Two weeks prior, he was absolutely putrid, and gave no effort. Assuming there's no interest from other clubs, I'd have Weid as the starting ruck at Casey next year. I'd be chasing a young ruckman like Meek, plus a rookie ruckman. Meek played in Freo's last game, so it will be interesting to see if he gets a game this week. Weid needs to show the same effort he did yesterday on a consistent basis before I'd consider him as a 2nd ruck.

No Bomber Thompson was always Bomber Thompson. I'm the same age and from the same area as him. Went to school with some of his mates.

Spot on. The knock on his kicking is justified.

Unfortunately he can't kick like Shai Bolton. But seriously Bedford is nowhere near as polished as Bolton. Can't question his endeavour though.

Weid and Woey playing well, though a bad miss by Woey. Buntine good in defence. JVR getting out-muscled. How slow are the umpires in calling a ball-up or holding the ball? Little wonder sling tackles occur.

But they can't burn their bridges with the Government, so it's a delicate situation.

Chandler hasn't been given a block of 4 AFL games like Bedford. At VFL level, Chandler has shown a better skillset than Bedford, but Bedford has shown a bit of X Factor at AFL level. It's line ball IMO. With most required players re-signed for next year, and Hibberd, Hunt and Melksham likely to get another contract, we need to move on some fringe players. Players like Bedford and Tomlinson have some currency.

Well it basically comes down to Government funding at all levels. I just saw North's facilities were upgraded through council funding, because it incorporated community facilities. It's difficult to put forward a case for a training facility close to the CBD when there's no votes to be gained. We have more chance of getting funding for a facility out at Casey.

For starters, you don't know his reasons for returning home. Secondly, what exactly does hardball mean? He's out of contract and can walk to the Eagles in the PSD. I'm sure the club's idea of a fair trade differs from some posters here.

When he was on the park, Ryder was very good. If we could get 15 games out of him, he's worth it. But more than anything, I hate the idea of getting Grundy and his 5 year contract.

It's also about supporting the first time coach, and allowing them to grow into the role. Thompson, Clarkson, Hardwick and Goodwin weren't overnight sensations. It would be hard for the remaining Essendon board members to go with a first time coach because they pulled the rug under Rutten. The board members and CEO who supported Rutten have resigned.

I like the idea of Ryder as a stopgap measure rather than pursuing Grundy for 5 years on $700. Ryder's impact on games is obvious, and has shown more ability up forward than Grundy.

I better delete all my posts questioning the wisdom of getting Grundy after suffering back to back long term injuries.

I don't see the correlation between Jackson seemingly happy on the footy field and staying at Melbourne. It's in the club's best interests to keep Jackson in a good head space, because we'll reap the rewards for the remainder of the season. The club and his teammates are probably past the "is he going or staying" stage, and just want him playing good footy. Karl Amon had a blinder in his last game, then told the club he's leaving a few days later.

I think that Tomlinson may have some suitors, and wouldn't be surprised if the club looked to trade him. Turner and Smith as depth, plus Hibbo can play tall or small. Smith on a base level contract is worth keeping.

For a long period of time we've had AA ruckmen, starting with Stynes, White, Jamar and Gawn. The only time we've dominated clearances was once Max had Oliver, Petracca and Viney. We still have the best ruckman, so paying Grundy $700k for 5 years is a waste of cap space. Jackson on that money is a different kettle of fish, because Jackson over the next 5 years has a greater ceiling than Grundy.

I read the book before the movie came out. Great read, ordinary movie. Personally, like the Dogs and "Freed From Desire", it's best kept out of the public's eye.

Based on that, Grundy could be the difference between the Pies winning a flag or not. So why are they so keen to get rid rid of him? If they're paying $300k of his salary going forward, they believe that a player on $700k offers more to the club than Grundy. And Goody said after the Crows game, when we were missing Gawn and Jackson, that it's easy to play around getting beaten in the hit-outs.

A club will match the offer if the compensation pick is significantly less than what they can get via a trade. If there was no compensation pick, more clubs would match an offer and force a trade.

Spot on JCB. Whilst I think Tmac is hugely important to our forward line structure, he's had patches of ordinary form, and was dropped this year. He needs more than 1 game at Casey to prove his form and fitness. With or without Tmac, bombing the ball into our key forwards is a recipe for disaster against the Swans. The McCartin brothers will have a field day. Hitting up leading targets on a regular basis, like we did against the Lions, is a must.

As Clarko said this week, most deals are organized well before the season ends. All the talk prior to trade week was that he was going to Carlton. I think we were late to the party. If you look at the trade rumours this year, most players are already linked to a club. There are some exceptions, but most pan out as predicted.