Palace Dees

He could be the 3rd tall and help in the ruck whilst developing. Obviously as a tall he won't peak for a while but I'd be confident he won't take as long as most talls to have significant impact.

I saw all the televised u18 carnival games and he looks a VERY special talent. The Brodie Grundy comparison is spot on. Far from a lumbering type he offers more versatility than the typical ruck prodigy. I certainly wouldn't be adverse to selecting him with pick 8. Best available theory.

Indefensibley wrong by the AFL! Take out the last 40 seconds of our round 8 match and we finish equal last. Incredible assistance that just keeps on going year after year. More players, more high level picks, no cost 'Academy' kids. Our great work in the NT being diluted. Yes, give them a hand but all this overkill in the extreme. I'm guessing we'll just roll over and accept it as a club like always.

Oh OK, but the fact remains he could leave then and from a GWS perspective they can get a guaranteed 2/3 pick and salary cap relief now. Of course we have to convince Lachie but....

Coniglio has just re-signed on massive $. GWS have to be stretched to the limit of their salary cap now. Whitfield is a restricted free agent end of next year. They wont get anywhere near pick 2/3 as compensation if he left. We will never be in a better position to have a real go at the exact requirement of our team. We have to explore this possibility to the hilt.

Really people??? If Gawn doesn't play, Pruess will. It is that simple - and obvious.

Agree - very unusual for a ruckman especially.

Toby Bedford 2 goals 10 kicks 5 handballs 15 disposals 4 marks 4 tackles 82 dream team points Kyle Dunkley 1 goal 13 kicks 4 handballs 17 disposals 3 marks 4 tackles 70 dream team points Jay Kennedy Harris 3 goals 1 behind 14 kicks 10 handballs 24 disposals 2 marks 2 tackles 93 dream team points Oscar McDonald 15 kicks 4 handballs 19 disposals 4 marks 2 tackles 70 dream team points Corey Maynard 12 kicks 11 handballs 23 disposals 4 marks 13 tackles 114 dream team points Braydon Preuss 17 kicks 17 disposals 6 marks 1 tackle 64 hit outs 130 dream team points Corey Wagner 1 behinds 13 kicks 8 handballs 21 disposals 1 mark 15 tackles 114 dream team points I was pretty happy with these, Vineytime

We need to understand that this is the first publicised contract offer post the 20%+ pay rise so figures are going to look inflated to historical offers. Current players will all get a piece of the pie at their next contract if their form warrants it. Lever will make us a better side - fact. That means finals - combined with other improvements, maybe even the big one. What will that do to every other MFC players market value? I would be jumping for joy if I were a current player. The benchmark in these things has been Hawthorn. How do you think this deal compares to the $500K p.a (pre 20% rise) Ty Vickery got.

Adelaide are acting totally unreasonably and unprofessionally. It is almost a form of football terrorism trying to create a frenzy of fear, hate and jealousy within our club, players and supporters. We have dared to lure a player back home as they did with Thompson and are trying to do with Gibbs. Well Victorians get homesick too and Lever has called their bluff and they don't like it! FFS the poor kid had to live in Adelaide for 3 years - give the kid a break!!! We should be celebrating this news as our club is trying to win a Premiership - FOR US!!!! I am sick of being the wimps of the competition, on and off the field. Don't feed the Adelaide FC hate.

Yeah, lets stick with our plan of the past 53 years. That will work! People are speculating the amount anyway. The bigger the amount, the bigger the reaction. Don't get sucked in.

Agreed. Hadn't heard $mill mentioned. Wouldn't be surprised if Adelaide would throw that around though. Hell hath no fury as a Crow scorned.

Photoshop (I hope!!) of the year

No......no we haven't.

Still time for him to have a scattergun 3peat

Pleasantly surprised by Barrett's questioning. Wasn't letting Burton fob it off without a fight and Burton ended up sounding a dikc

It's just making the GF result all the sweeter

just turn it upside down

Burton clearly interested in a career in politics. Broken record.

Lever and O. Mac tie in Brownlow! 1 vote each. Maybe Oscar should ask for pay equity

I love that theory! Given I have played 0 games, I'm takin' 10 years off!!

The comparison was made to provide some background to the questions asked in my post, which you haven't answered. These are guys of the same age and physical size. Oscar has really only played the one year, 2016 - hence the comparison of that year only. Adelaide was the better side no doubt in 2016 but they finished 5th and we 11th with Melbourne conceding an average of just 9 points more per match, not quite the chasm you suggested. I'm afraid to tell you but statistics do matter, check out any coaches box on game day and you will see a lap top in front of most of the coaching staff. Check the 1/4 and 3/4 time breaks and you'll see white boards with the game numbers written all over them. The one stat you quoted is probably the only useless one. Being picked higher in a draft means nothing on game day as everyone on this forum can testify. Lever has copped his share of criticism, including from his own fans. Lever was a very promising junior (which is the likely reason he was played earlier than Oscar) but is what he has produced so far in his AFL career superior to Oscar - and is his upside greater? I know Oscar's game warts and all and I am seeing improvement. I am not yet convinced that he is not our Zac Dawson but I'm hopeful. What I was asking is what has Jake got, that people have seen, that think he is, or will be, a significantly better option.

Not being a big Oscar fan (yet) I started to get caught up in the idea of upgrading to Jake Lever. Then I thought - well is it? Not watching other games very closely I thought I'd do a Footywire stats comparison for 2016. Looks as though we'd be paying a lot for what we already have - at least statistically. Is there an X factor that doesn't show up here that I'm missing, or is it just a grass is greener view that us supporters have? Jake has an even higher 'clanger' average. Player Statistics Comparison Jake Lever Name Oscar McDonald Adelaide Crows Team Melbourne Demons Defender Position Defender 37 Career Games 20 Calder Cannons Origin North Ballarat Rebels March 5, 1996 Date of Birth March 18, 1996 Turned 20 in 2016 Age Turned 20 in 2016 195cm Height 196cm 93kg Weight 97kg 2014 National Draft Last Drafted In 2014 National Draft Round 1, Pick #14 Last Draft Position Round 3, Pick #53 Adelaide Crows Last Drafted By Melbourne Demons 2016 Stats for Season 2016 24 Games 15 10.3 Kicks Per Game 7.8 5.4 Handballs Per Game 8.5 15.8 Disposals Per Game 16.3 5.2 Marks Per Game 4.2 0.1 Goals Per Game 0 0.1 Behinds Per Game 0 1.0 Tackles Per Game 1.8 0 Hitouts Per Game 0 1.4 Inside 50s Per Game 1.3 0.1 Goal Assists Per Game 0.1 0.7 Frees For Per Game 0.7 1.0 Frees Against Per Game 0.6 5.6 Contested Possessions Per Game 5.7 10.1 Uncontested Possessions Per Game 10.4 12.1 Effective Disposals Per Game 12.7 76.6% Disposal Efficiency % Per Game 77.9% 2.2 Clangers Per Game 1.4 0.8 Contested Marks Per Game 0.5 0.1 Marks Inside 50 Per Game 0 0.1 Clearances Per Game 0.4 2.8 Rebound 50s Per Game 2.4 5.1 One Percenters Per Game 5.7 0.2 Bounces Per Game 0 84.0 Time On Ground % Per Game 85.4 59.5 AFL Fantasy Score Per Game 59.1 70.5 Supercoach Score Per Game 68.9

Good luck to the Mighty Eagles in a few hours. A win tonight could only be bettered by the Dees winning the flag. GO RED AND BLUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sad to read of the passing of Jimmy Hill. Match of the Day was what got me interested in (English) Soccer - or if we are to be truthful, the real football. I started barracking for Man U because they were called the Devils and they wore all red (like my then VFA team Preston), I sinned and swapped teams in 1989 after a tiny article in the MFC Newsletter stating Melbourne has formed an alliance with Crystal Palace FC, stating we had reciprocal rights with supporters of either club having membership rights at the other - something I'm sure is long gone. Anyway, Palace wore red and blue and were very much an underdog - both of which appealed to be. As fate would have it within a year Palace played in their only FA Cup final ever drawing 3-3 after extra time, only to lose the replay 1-0 to Man U!!!! I have since become a fanatical follower (hence my name combining my 2 obsessions) getting up at 2am to watch them live each week and getting right shirty if they lose. They have been fantastic this season, having recruited brilliantly and finally keeping a manager for more than half a season. Importantly I see similarities with the Dees as Palace have come from an even worse position than the Dees. If you'd have told any EPL follower Palace would be a top 6 club - above the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea, Everton etc you would have been admitted. These things can happen and I backed Palace to do what they have done so far this year because I could see what was happening off field. I get the same feeling with Melbourne. They will be knocking on the door of the 8 in '16 and I'm super confident will be a finalist in 2017. I can see the day when red and blue ribbons will be tied on the AFL Premiership and the FA Cups (prefer EPL title but will settle for this) in the same year. Bucket list complete!