RedBlueandTrue

All truth from Clayton here, I see nothing wrong. Play on.

Yeah I just don't really agree - I think it was the right decision to offer the contracts and if you get a different roll we win a flag and everything's a whole lot better now. I think we were always going to struggle with our contract situation after having a crack at the flag and this would've been considered at the time when the contracts were offered but deemed worth it for a crack at multiple flags. You don't win flags without gun players. Would've been hard to get guys like Lever and May without offering overs in terms of length, doubt we win one without them. Are 5 year deals ok? Were pretty long at the time. Claz and Trac are not far off standard for players of their levels these days. Clearly it hasn't worked for Clarry but I really don't see how we could've ever competed without offering longer contracts than the opposition. I'd love to see how many premierships we win on average from 22-24 if you could simulate it a million times. I sure as hell agree with you that we need to draft well to be any chance of competing ever!

Tbh i think bigger chance in a world where we don't offer long contracts Trac is gone at the end of 22 and we're a bit further away while he wins a premiership with the pies lol. We'll never know. Selfishness and immaturity? Were they immature to negotiate deals that could set them up for life? Selfish to ask for so much? They're just people trying to look after themselves. I get that you would've just let them go to other clubs and used the picks to draft some more kids but I don't see how that gets you closer to a flag when those kids are getting offers for longer deals at better clubs down the track.

I guess I just don't really see an alternative. Draft stars and hope they're willing to sacrifice better lifestyle options because they've fallen in love with the club? I think those days are gone. Maybe the last couple of years have just left me a little pessimistic. It hasn't worked out for Clarry but I'm glad we had Trac locked in and could extract maximum value! I also believe we were close in 22 and right in it in 23 and you don't get those opportunities if the gun players aren't kept happy. If we can get a home locked in so many of our issues will disappear overnight... can only wait and cross fingers

With our lack of a home base and being a smaller club, we are one of the least attractive teams for anyone looking to join. Anyone wanting to be in Melbourne will try and go to almost any other Melbourne-based team before us, with the exception of maybe North. Until this changes we have to offer long contracts to good players to be competitive - just the way it is. No one is driving to Casey if they have a choice unless there's a significant financial incentive.

its about understanding the value of the pick relative to other years. In a year with less academy/fs a pick will have more value because you have access to more of the finite higher quality players. Because X of the perceived higher quality players are tied up and inaccessible, the value of the pick drops. In reality all drafts are different and you can't really judge the value of the pick until years down the line.

Yeah, no I agree with you - my point is that Trac's actual trade value is very small compared to what might be expected for these reasons. Cerra just an example from the post I quoted.

Agree, if carlton were to take on his whole contract, I wouldn't be surprised if their first round was all that was offered. Someone like Cerra could be involved, but only by necessity to clear cap space. 2 first rounders+ is dreamworld with his age and uncertainty around his response to the injury. If we paid a significant chunk of salary then trade options would open up a bit.

He broke a toe doing that, not his knee. Also he was a child when that happened lol, not sure on the relevance

I find that Barrett article disgusting. One thing for us fans to have opinions without knowing the full story but for a brazen character attack like that to come from the AFL media is vile. Doesn't even matter if there might elements of truth, Trac has been one of our own and is clearly going through some sort of identity crisis in the wake of his life threatening injury. R U ok day in 2 weeks. Can't see how anything he's done has justified that trash.

Completely agree. Worth 2 top 10 picks at his best but there is no guarantee he gets anywhere near that again. If there's a single top 10 pick on any table I think the club will seriously consider it. After his ordeal, any club would be taking a huge risk with his contract. I can see a reality where we end up paying a significant portion of his contract if he does move...

My friend, I am pleased to say I cannot disagree more! So many of our players have scope for improvement! Not to say they all will, but there is so much potential. Even in the ones we might not expect - look at TMac. I expect natural progression from: JVR, Turner, Judd, Kolt, Windsor, AMW, Howes, Kynan, Taj and Jefferson. One or two of our other rookies may also come on. To a lesser extent I would include; Rivers, Pickett and Chandler. I think the following players have either been down or unavailable for different reasons and are a chance to either improve dramatically, play a critical role or regain their best form: Oliver, Spargo, Laurie, Petty, Sparrow, Bowey, McAdam, Melksham and Salem. They won't all improve but I think a lot will. We've got a great and underrated bunch! So excited to see how they all go in the years to come.

I'd argue that cogs and in particular Kelly are huge outs. Certainly agree we were far from our optimal team, but they still had very good players not playing. Briggs was also clearly very hampered too. Certainly we could've won the game at the end with more luck. With less luck though we could've lost by a lot more! They left one one on the park with an all-time blooper. I think we did very well with the team we had but I still believe the better team on the night won.

It was very sad to not win. Was absolutely gutted afterwards. In the light of day though I'm still proud of the performance. GWS were far from full strength but still have a lot of class and grit. It was great to see Oli playing with some more confidence and skill in the first half, but unfortunately spent most of his tickets. I didn't expect to win and they had a really good crack. Unfortunate reality is that in Brayshaw, Petracca, Salem, Tommo, Hunter, McAdam, Spargo, Smith and Brown a large chunk of our salary cap has been unavailable or inefficiently utilised this season. Another chunk is clearly hampered without a fitness base. Call it bad list management or bad luck, it's the reality and has made it virtually impossible to play at the required level consistently. I think we've taken necessary calculated risks that for most of the last 3 years have paid off but this year we have clearly been off the pace from a talent perspective. This has given some opportunity to younger players who have shown a lot of promise, but are still young. I am super excited about what this group can do and will be very interested this off-season. Love my Dees. The journey continues!

Agree with you completely. LDU is incredible, agility of Trac (without the same raw power and flair) and Pendle's presence of mind in traffic. Would LOVE him with us but I think it would be a very poor move to leave North. Will be as competitive as any soon. Jonesy gave a speech to them a few months ago and I reckon he got in LDU's ear about the value of loyalty.