Wiseblood

I was going to say the same thing. It does put things into perspective a little, but the loss still hurts. I just can't wait until some of these younger players have 20-30 more games under their belts.

Yeah, because that's totally going to happen. Hibberd for a second rounder, either this year or next, is the most likely outcome.

They might be cactus in the short term. But three top 10 picks, as well as adding McCarthy, Hill and possibly Lobb, while Bennell might also come back into the side, and the future doesn't look all that bad. I think they need to go in to full rebuild mode now. What if Fyfe leaves at the end of next year? They won't get the same deal as the one GC are offering now. If they feel that Fyfe is even a small chance of leaving, then they would be silly not to seriously look at that deal.

I think Freo are a real chance of accepting the deal, but Fyfe is still under contract and has to agree to it - he might come back to Freo and say he wants out, but only to a Vic club. He doesn't have to go to GC if he doesn't want to. He might see Prestia leaving, Ablett being in his twilight years and possibly Swallow and O'Meara leaving as well, and not see much of a future up there.

Wow. That's a huge offer. I can't see Freo doing it, as I'm sure they'll want to back themselves in to get better next year and have him sign on, but if they are slightly worried about his leg and he isn't the best teammate (as has been reported and commented on in some areas), then they might bite on that deal. That would, potentially, give them 3 picks inside the Top 10, plus they are already keen on McCarthy, Hill and possibly Rory Lobb as well. This off season is going to be very, very interesting.

I'll clarify - what I meant is that, when I say I can see what Brisbane is trying to do, it's that they know they need to throw serious cash around to get players in to the club. And as you say, they are directing that cash at the wrong players. Jenkins, to me, makes little sense as well, especially at his age. If he was 25 then yes, I could understand it. But not at his age. He may only be good for another year or two, and how does he go when the delivery and gameplan are inferior? They need to keep investing in kids and looking for the right deals. Jenkins isn't one of them.

I can understand what Brisbane is trying to do, although if I were them I'd put that cash elsewhere. Schache and Hipwood have shown enough to suggest they could be very good key position forwards for the next 10-12 years, but they lack some serious class in other areas of the ground, especially down back. I'm surprised they aren't throwing big cash at Tom McDonald who would be a mega upgrade on any player they have in their backline. But to each their own. They'll need to pay top dollar to convince players to jump ship. I mean, why would Jenkins leave a premiership contender to play out his days at a cellar dwellar? The only reason is money. There was a reason Mitch Clark came to us and it wasn't our 'winning ways' that convinced him.

Jon Ralph has brought this up in an article tonight, asking the question of whether Jenkins is worth 800k or is he nothing more than a flat track bully. He commented that he rarely, if ever, leads up to the ball and his first instinct is to hang out the back looking for the easy goal. I don't believe he is worth the 800k at all and it certainly gives more credence to your point Jumbo. I'd link the article but it's behind the paywall.

Our boys noticed very early too and Jones, in particular, gave him lip for the rest of the day. I counted 6 head high free kicks from him dropping the knees and throwing his head back. No idea why umps get sucked in either. It's staging in it's purest form.

You could make the argument that he is the perfect foil for Gawn - a bloke who can play forward and then be a legitimate pinch hitter in the ruck. It's a moot point though because I think we need to strengthen other areas and there will be other clubs willing to pay over the odds to get him. I don't get the Weideman argument though - we like to talk him up, but he's a kid who is unproven at AFL level. Yes, he's coming along nicely at Casey which is great, but he's still an unknown quantity at AFL level.

They're crazy then. You would think he has more than 3 good years left in the tank playing alongside Tex, Eddie and Lynch.

4 years isn't THAT bad for a 27 year old. There will be plenty of clubs, Freo included, who will throw truckloads of cash at him though.

God I love Jack Viney. He just BLEEDS red and blue. It's bloody brilliant!

Just announced on the MFC website that Clayton WILL make his debut this week! Well done son!

I love how your first sentence is simply you being pedantic about grammar, and then you need to edit your own work for a mistake. Classic.

I thought he looked good, although I'm not getting as excited as others by this performance. He isn't a lock for Round 1 at all as I believe once Jones, Vince and a fit Brayshaw return he may be squeezed out. Kennedy and Bugg showed that they will be handy additions as well so I believe Oliver may have to wait for his chance, although that's not a bad thing. Liked his composure though and he showed signs that he will be a very handy player for us sooner rather than later.

Great opportunity to give the kid a real taste of senior footy over the coming weeks. I don't see him getting a gig in Round 1 but he'll know a bit about what it takes at the highest level and hopefully spur him on to earn his spot early in the season.

It wasn't necessarily about his ability to play the game, more that we picked him in the Top 10 of what was dubbed a super draft and missed out completely, just like Cook. Very different players but we picked them both and missed out on others. I was only being light hearted, didn't think you would take it so seriously.

I was hoping we could go even further back and have a discussion about Luke Molan...

And Brayshaw was the one who was subbed off for Toumpas in the end.

Even if 6 midfielders somehow improved unbelievably out of sight over the next month or two, Jones is still a lock for the Round 1 side. He is our captain for a reason.

Agree with all of that. And you're right - it's not a knock on Jones, but more about the fact that we need the kids to surpass him over the next few years and push us to the next level. Jones has been a warrior for us, but you wouldn't class him as an A grader with some of the other elite mids who are on that level. We've got the players who can get there though, and thankfully a guy like Jones is an excellent role model due to his terrific work ethic and willingness to improve.

Rubbish. I had an opinion that differed and responded in kind. I wasn't rude about it. Your post, however, added nothing to the conversation either, so go ahead and sort yourself out.

Is that a realistic hypothetical though, mate? It sounded like a few players returned from the 6 week break before pre-season a little underdone, but would the modern footballer turn up with terrible skin folds these days? They might not do everything asked of them, or play basketball and injure themselves, but you would have to do plenty of terrible things not to get picked if you're Hogan. Roos himself even suggested that, even though he is disappointed with the injury Petracca sustained, he is still well and truly in the running to play Round 1. That tells us plenty. I wasn't looking to start an argument and derail the thread in this case, more that the idea that every spot is up for grabs is ludicrous and we all know it. We need to play our best players each and every week.

Don't twist your words and meaning around now. You said that no one was guaranteed a game, and I argued that this notion is ridiculous as we have a number of players who are an automatic walk up start. If you didn't say Hogan and Jones wouldn't be playing then you should have said SOME spots are up for grabs, not all.