Uncle Fester

Balls. They would have beaten Sydney in the 2005 SF but for the Nick Davis show. Maybe they were dodgy in 2007+, maybe not, but to say it was an overnight thing is to rewrite history.

i'm more worried about the plaid jacket

What's a flag?

Agreed. #10 and second round pick swap. Or #10 and Kent. I think he has it in him to be a very handy player, but it's not working here for whatever reason. Maybe Adelaide can see something similar in him, and back themselves to make it happen. I don't want us out of the first round of the 2018 draft. It's said to be big, and if nothing else the pick could be gold when next year's trade season comes around.

Bloody hell. Do you hide under a rock until this time of year, just to come out and throw sand into the machine? Seriously. Lift your game.

Huh? Can we get a link to that please

There wouldn't be many on the list I'd consider untouchable if it meant getting Kelly and Lever... happy to burn picks too, but the $ tag... I dunno. A price war in the club among the young 'uns wouldn't be good. I don't know if this story is true or not, but I'd like to think it is - back in the 80's one of the guns at Hawthorn went to the club asking for a hefty pay rise. The answer from the club was to show them Leigh Matthews contract and ask them if they thought they were worth more than him. That's a bit hard to do when you have a player on $1.5 a year or so.

The full back

He used to scare me as a kid. I think it was the eyebrows.

If he wants to come here then this years 1st rounder and a later bunch of pick swaps will do. If he doesn't then we can offer all our first rounders until 2050 and we will be wasting our time.

How often does selling the future for the next wunderkind work? A first rounder and a swap of later picks or a fringe player that suits their needs is enough. Otherwise we walk and grow our own. Adelaide know they are going to lose him. They don't hold the whip. They will agree to a good deal with whoever he nominates. It's the new world. We'd do the same, because not doing it will backfire.

#StandbyHird

And we got a guy that should probably be AA this year for what now?

And Richmond chose Corey Ellis with that pick... Sigh... They should have just handed it to us.

Under the radar is fine with me

If Trac can have a day out a couple of times this year, in the way he did against Carlton in the pre-season, then I'll crow. Until then it's cameos and potential. Don't get me wrong - he has all the tools, and I have very high hopes for him, but he needs to show it for 4 q's regularly. (Hoping tomorrow is the start of it!)

I have a couple of Collingwood supporting mates (yeah, I know... shoot me now) and for the last decade they'd rag me about living in the past, QB is your GF... blah blah blah... but when we started beating them... well, the tone has changed. Now they are talking up the importance of QB, and how they will get revenge this year. It's their GF at the moment. Or at least SF with Anzac as the GF. As an aside I'd always love when they say it's our GF. I reply that our GF's against them brought us six flags and them one. Real GF's. They go quiet at that point.

Seems fair. Two quality players plus Weed, from a draft we didn't have a lot to offer. And hey, if one of the late picks or someone in the rookie draft turns out to be a gem , then we;ve not just won, but killed it dead.

And there it is. That's the golden rule in the AFL. Not rule of law, not precedent, not even common sense... but what is good for us in the next 24 hours. Drug cheats, FA, PP's, fixtures, MRP etc etc etc ad vomit. Thank god for the MFC, coz otherwise I'd walk away.

It is what it is, and it's not new. It's just more pronounced these days. I try not to worry about it. When they were the red and blue they matter. When they don't then they don't. Put it this way: every trade season we all cry out that we want to poach an A grader from somewhere. We went hard after Dangermouse and no-one cried that we were ruining the game by doing so. I don't see anyone whining that we are unethical chasing Dion. Quite the opposite... we all rub our hands in glee. Anyway, we'll offer Jesse a very good contract and he'll accept it on the basis he likes his teammates and the direction of the club, or reject it because he doesn't see anything worth getting fired about... or he might think we are a great club and loves his mates here but simply wants to go home... either way money wont be the issue because I reckon we'd match whatever offer he was given, if only for the marketing angle.

And they are well aware that while they sell papers, get clicks, get ratings today, that it will be a long time before they are proved right or wrong. The goldfishbowl public won't remember what they were told 12 months from now.

I'm pretty sure I wouldn't care one way or the other if that happened

I drew X's over the ones that are gone. Now I can't see my computer screen.

Now I know who you remind me of.

Your first point is the one that stood out most for me: he hits the pack hard - bash and crash style - but always has it in mind to dish it out to a player that is free if that doesn't work. I know... highlights and all that... but its nice to see a talent that knows that instinctively rather than someone that has to learn it as in the case of the Jones boy.