SaberFang

Well if I hit the town in Sydney tonight and run my mouth, that's a fait accompli.

I'll reserve judgement on the future of the AFL to after this year's FA and trade season. If it goes the way I'm expecting, I'll lose almost all interest. I'd almost expect an outcry from supporters begging the AFL to introduce new rules restricting top 6 teams from picking up free agents. Either that, or removing the dilluting of free agency compensation for lower teams. A team in the bottom 6 losing their best player should be able to pick up free agents without having their compensation (eg. pick 3 for Frawley) reduced. Otherwise, what hope do they have of getting off the bottom?

Don't you just love the Hawks supporters who laughed at our priority pick request? *cough* Jarryd Roughead *cough* 5 goals in the GF *cough* was a priority pick *cough*

Not even a question... Chip will go to Hawthorn next week. Gibson and Lake on the way out, they need to spread the age of their list, they're premiership contenders, and were very impressive today. His best mate might be at Geelong but they aren't going anywhere fast (other than sliding down the ladder).

Definitely no coincidence but I feel vindicated that the Swans have lost despite their aggressive use of free agency in their list management. Maybe they're just ahead of the rest of the league. Evolve or die.

We are going places. Just have to stay positive. The difference Roos made to our list in one off season was huge, and he'll do that again. He should improve us by at least 40 - 50% with better players. Remember, North missed finals last year because they lost 6 or 7 matches by less than 20 points. I think we managed to the same this year. North played in a preliminary the season after. The losses and disappointment need to burn in our players, and they need to react accordingly, which all comes from culture. And our culture will come from Roos who is masterful in all aspects of a footy club. We might not play a grand final for a long time, but we're heading in the right direction.

Looking forward to next year when Roos can create a few more stories like Jetta, by picking up delisted or rookied talent at other clubs and turning them into brilliant role players. Don't the Swans have 6 former rookie players in their team today? That's no coincidence.

The thing that makes me happiest about today is how Buddy must be feeling. In the words of Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuce.... DELICIOUS!

Wonder how many years it'll take the AFL to do something, if anything, when we see the Hawks and Swans play off in another 2 or 3 grand finals over the next 5 years. The AFL is just becoming a joke and free agency will destroy the game. (might be 4 or 5 beers down)

And Hawks reply .. margin back to 50. Surely that's game over with only 1.5 quarters left. Wish I'd put a quiet $50 on the Hawks at $4.

All I can say is wow. I guess you can't buy a premiership after all. Sydney just got 2... Hawks would want to stem the momentum immediately before they get another 2 or 3 and get a sniff.

My theory is that Roos will bring in 6 or 7 classy, good players that aren't getting games elsewhere (perhaps even Sewell?), rocket us up the ladder with players who actually know and play their role, then become far more attractive a prospect for free agents. The lure of Roosy as a coach really only lasts this trade period though. 2 years under him is worth the move, 1 year maybe not so much. If the unrest around league is any indication, it wouldn't surprise me to see Adelaide, Bulldogs, Essendon, GWS and Gold Coast tread water next year.

Unlikely, hence Essendon have been so trigger happy with the lawyers from day one. They know what they've done and they know what would happen if that came to light. Every government agency would come knocking on their door trying to shut them down, not to mention ASADA and the AFL, and the lawyers for players seeking compensation for any health effects later in life.

Jayden Hunt wins his first heat comfortably against 8 competitors. Kid looks like he's grown up a hell of a lot since being drafted. Hopefully a promising prospect.

Agreed that it could be one big fish and then a bunch of fringe players that other coaches aren't developing properly. Roos is acutely aware of talent at other clubs that are either being played in the wrong position, or left out of the team. GWS parting with Dom Tyson says it all, they clearly didn't rate him as highly as Roos, and they'd be regretting that trade now. Roosy's comments the other day about supporters not wanting to wait 3 or 4 years for success, and wanting it right now, definitely suggests he's going to be ruthless and get this team up and running before he's out. His ego won't let him leave the club anywhere near the bottom 4.

Quite a smug Chris Scott tonight when asked about Danger being linked to us and Collingwood: "I think a lot of clubs like the idea of Dangerfield wearing their guernsey." Also refused to answer questions about Mitch Clark meeting with Geelong because it's "inappropriate", and it's up to Mitch and his manager apparently.

Completely ambivalent. Living in Sydney at the moment, so if I go out to a pub here to watch I'd best pretend to support the Swans, lest I get bashed!

I'll believe it when I see Hogan breaking through the banner in round one.

All this talk about recruiting big fish.. wouldn't surprise me if Roos brought in another 3 or 4 Aiden Riley/Viv Michie unknown types for dirt cheap.

Jones should be the highest paid player on our list, no exceptions. He's worth every cent of 750k if you ask me. He's teetering on the edge of elite.

http://m.theage.com.au/afl/melbourne-demons/melbourne-meets-delisted-saint-james-gwilt-20140911-10fpiq.html If they met today as well it would appear Roos is very interested in picking him up. We'd use a pick in the PSD and trump the Giants surely? Not to mention very few would bother moving to another city to play football at that age. EDIT: Or is he a delisted free agent? Can't keep up with these draft rules.

Rather amusing this mentality amongst players that there's not much point coming to us because we aren't pushing for finals. If they talked to each other and agreed to go there together then we'd be far more successful, but nobody wants to be the first. Bit like when you try to convince friends to go out on the weekend, and everyone waits to see who else is going out before confirming, and you end up going around in circles.

Just imagine how disappointed we'll all be when we find out Roos ends up trading pick 2 for Shiel & Frost and pick 3 for Mitchell & Malceski. What a crushing day that will be for all MFC supporters. I might not get out of bed for a week.

There is absolutely a politically driven reason Roos spoke publicly about wanting Danger. That is not his style at all, and I'm confident there's a lot of politicking happening behind the scenes. Whether it's a tactic by Adelaide to warm their supporters to the shock of losing Danger, or a smoke screen by Roos to throw everyone off the scent, is unclear. I can safely say we have very little bargaining power with GWS this year as they only want Petracca, and the Saints will play games there. Their club is desperately in need of a tall, but they know they hold more cards if they give the impression they're taking a player another team wants. Devalues our picks as well and make GWS less likely to deal with us, if they think Petracca is already gone by pick 2.

Geelong was always a fait accompli for Danger. We'd need to put forth something spectacular to change that. He would probably prefer to be there for 300k a year less than with us. That's reality in modern football.