SaberFang

The Bulldogs would make Port's performance against them in last year's final look positively placid.

Eagles fans notoriously boo EVERYONE and EVERYTHING. Always have. They just get so heavily invested into the game... this isn't a bad thing.

Not to be THAT guy or anything, but is it strange how Hawthorn have gone off the boil since Chip returned from injury? Is he playing injured?

I have it on good authority (a Geelong supporter) that every single free agent in the league has already put pen to paper at Geelong. Boy, they are going to have some midfield next year!

Pure Hawthorn arrogance thinking they could bring Frawley up to their level. Just like Sam Blease at Geelong. Where's he at now, again?

My god Stringer is just...unbelievably good. An absolute freak of the game.

Cripps having a blinder today, from the sounds of it.

Not sure if Doggies are just explosively good or Port are hot garbage. Probably a combination. Geez it's interesting how beating a team depends so much on their form. I don't like our chances next week if they can play this well without a senior head like Murphy even playing.

I'm guessing Jones will play a negating role on Harvey. He's fast and obviously not a super skilled user of the pill, but he's a role player and Roos likes that.

Felt sick listening to 3AW today. Eddie, DeGoey, all commentators talking up how poor Collingwood's performance was last week, looking for answers as to why their club is playing "so badly." Eddie said their team is decent against middle-tier players, but when you don't bother to turn up then, "you lose to a team like Melbourne, simple as that." DeGoey said the players didn't bother showing up last week because they expected the win to just happen against us. Lloyd said Collingwood were a rabble last week who simply allowed us all the space and time in the world to dance around their players. Can someone call out these asshats for once and give us some credit, please?! Geelong in Geelong, Collingwood, Richmond, Bulldogs... I suppose all 4 of those teams just "didn't bother showing up."

$600k for.. Howe? Hahahaha... What's that, $100k for every decent game he plays per year and $25k per speccy? Fair dinkum, expected a little more common sense from Jeremy.

I reckon the key barometer that recruiters need to start identifying in potential draftees is players that: a) aren't intimidated by pressure b) apply immense pressure to opponents It's the way of modern footy and it's why we've gotten our drafting so, so wrong for so, so long.

Not a bad call from Dion, really. Gold Coast will finish above us next year, if their injury list gets back in order.

I reckon set the salary cap based on ladder position. Hawks get $1million as their cap, 18th placed team gets $18million. Maximum 1 year contracts allowed for all players. The end.

Viney to Cripps will be the showdown of the century. And by showdown, I mean Viney burying Cripps' head into the turf for 120 minutes.

Been a lot of industry chatter this week after that damning non-effort vision from Cripps last week. One more blinder from Hogan and it's his.

Wouldn't even bother going after Wines. Would be a colossal waste of time devoting resources into prying a player with no interest in leaving their club, and I reckon we'd be spewing right now that Prestia turned us down after we chased him for so long.

If only GNF had been feeding the rumour mill! Oh well, love the player but it's our own fault for being such a hot mess of a club for so long. If the Suns are still a mess next year, we'll have a much better shot at him. Maybe Dion was doing us a favour, realising he'd cost us 2 first-rounders while in-contract at the Suns.

Well, I was trying to be realistic on the final 5 rounds. Don't really want Essendon getting the best talent in the draft either. They can just welt aimlessly around the bottom 4 for the next decade for all I care.

Tigers 9th, Geelong 10th, Melbourne 13th. Perfect final ladder, IMHO.

Deledio is more than a barometer player, he's almost their entire team's structure. They completely fall apart and look stagnant without him. What a typically Richmond thing to do: beat Hawthorn then follow it up with a rubbish performance against a middle-tier side.

Could well be the game that determines if GWS play finals this year. Oh boy, wouldn't that be delicious?

What Xavier said makes no sense in the light of Watson's comments and the fact that WADA DID provide all players with this brief. It's just part of their ongoing, pathetic attempt to smear ASADA and now WADA and portray themselves as innocent victims. You have to admire their propaganda machine; despite the facts that contradict their ludicrous claims, rusted-on Hirdites will nonetheless lap up their club's comments.

We are talking about Essendon here, hardly known for intelligent decisions. It's not far removed from the equally high payout clauses that high-level managers get in the corporate world.Don't forget Hird's wife is a lawyer, too.

If the rumours are true about a $6M+ payout in the event of being sacked, I can entirely see why Hird wants the club to sack him. It would be right up Essendon AND Hird's alleys to put such a moronic clause in a contract. The arrogance of both parties is only equaled by their stupidity.