mo64

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.

GWS matched the offer, so he was no longer a RFA. He was then out of contract, which is exactly the same situation as Jackson.

Carlton had been courting Cerra long before we made our late bid. He gave us the courtesy of a meeting, but ultimately was never coming to the Demons. People saying that he wanted to play for us, but we couldn't get a deal done is nonsense.

Jeremy Cameron is a significantly better footballer than Jackson, and GWS only received what Geelong had to offer. There would have been other Vic clubs with better draft capital, but it's irrelevant once the player nominates his club of choice.

With the finals bye this week, there's some clear air for players who are not the finals, to make their intentions clear. Rankine is first cab of the rank. But if that player wants to go to a club currently in the finals, then they'll wait before declaring. So there isn't anything stopping Amon declaring that he wants to go to the Hawks. Maybe we are a chance. Clarko mentioned On The Couch last night that most deals are agreed upon prior to the season's end. The clubs are constantly talking to opposition players, through their manager. The media like to speculate that there are multiple clubs in play for a certain player, but the reality is that the player has already locked in a club.

Sam Taylor is a lock for one of the KPB positions. May should get the nod ahead of Weitering and Stewart for the other, and I'd imagine Stewart would get the BP position. Maynard should get the other BP position, and the half backs should go to Daniel Rioli and Sinclair. Maynard May Stewart Rioli Taylor Sinclair

AA selection committee meet mid year and Kossie wouldn't have rated a mention. Far better 2nd half but not enough to crack the squad. Jack Mccrae is a surprise. Had an average year.

There is no evidence. It's all conjecture and opinion. I'll leave it at that. Save your loading posts for the appropriate thread.

What's your background in this field? Just admit that you have no idea of how clubs conduct their loading. You're guessing to support your narrative. And you also don't know how much loading impacts results, if any.

I'm with ya. Freo only won half a game less, and Brayshaw doesn't have much competition to steal votes.

Yes, we're the only club with a sophisticated loading regime. You've been brainwashed.

Spargo started on the bench. After Brisbane scored their 1st goal, Spargo was on the wing and marked Gawn's errant kick from the centre bounce. He may have been one of many who rotated through there. But he definitely wasn't playing as a small forward, as he was rarely seen inside 50.

Spargo clearly started on the wing, but it's hard to gauge what percentage of time he spent there because he was largely unsighted after the 1st qtr. And we have a ready made wingman in Jordon, so we don't have to turn a backman into a wingman. Stop making excuses for Spargo's lack of output.