Wiseblood

The club won't stand for so-so commitment anymore. What's wrong with that? We were all absolutely filthy with not only our end to the season, but some of our efforts within games. The club, internally, has clearly identified that there were certain aspects that needed to change, especially within our senior players. One of those was clearly Jack. We can speculate and listen to some of the drivel that get's splattered all over this forum floor, but the fact is that behind closed doors the club weren't happy with the standards Jack was setting for those around him. As a senior player that is unacceptable. So the club was ruthless. They basically said that they aren't going to accept that anymore, especially from someone as experienced as Jack, and instead of sitting on their hands and wondering what to do, they made the tough decision to move him on to better our club. Our FD are the ones who see everything, and if they believe that moving Jack on makes us a better club in the long run then I'm happy to get behind that. I'm sad to see Jack go, but I'm impressed with the club and it's willingness to make the tough decisions to ensure that the end to 2017 doesn't happen again and that our young players are looking up to veterans who set the right standards and drive them on to some sustained success.

Balic for Pick 47 will be fine by me. We take 3 second rounders into the draft while also adding Lever and Balic. Not that bad if you ask me.

I get the sentimentality side of things - while he could be frustrating to watch, he was an extremely likable player and when in form he was a classy player. Your last part is right as well, and when you listen to Mahoney speak it's clear they felt the same way. Some won't realise this straight away as they'll feel sad to not only lose Watts, but to get only Pick 31 in return, but I think in the end it was the right move to do.

I'm in the same boat - while I've argued more for why we should move him on, it doesn't mean that I'm not sad to see him go. He is clearly a great bloke who is well liked by kids, supporters and the playing group. The one thing I did like from Mahoney was his comment about it being easier to make no decision than to make a tough decision. You could argue in some ways that we have looked to shed that tag over the last 3-4 years, and I like the fact that the club will back itself to make a decision that it sees will help us in moving towards a premiership and not just hoping it will happen for us. I think it's a great attitude to have, and while this decision would have been extremely tough to make, they realised it had to be done and put all the emotion aside and did what they see as best for our club.

Thank Christ it's over. Time to move on. You can be angry about the pick but it will change nothing. Club wanted to move on, so should we. Thanks for everything, Jack.

A man can hope. This is arguably the worst thread I've ever read on this site and I feel dirty for posting in it.

Just trade him for something, anything, so we can shut up and just move on.

You might be right, although the HUN article I read doesn't say anything but Freo being 'flabbergasted' about being asked for Pick 2.

While they offer a future second rounder for Wilson, who is a better player? Poor form from Freo. Quite happy to welcome back a few players who want to go home but won't accommodate those who go the other way.

I had a laugh at Freo asking for Pick 2 for Lachie Weller. If he is worth Pick 2 then Alex Neal Bullen is worth Pick 1 and 3. The Hogan stuff is laughable. Sheahan and Nixon are as bad as those 'Trade Whisperer' twitter accounts.

So what? We didn't pay overs. Simple. Paying 'overs' for Melksham isn't nearly as clear cut as you make it. His second half of the year was very good. The Kelly deal isn't in our favour at the moment, but to suggest we pay overs on every deal is plain silly.

Yeah, the Hibberd and Garlett deals were absolute shockers...

I've always liked what he brought to the side, even if sometimes I was a little over the top in my defence of him (sometimes intentionally). He has been a great servant of our club, but the injury may have sealed his fate. I'll echo WJ's comments and hope that this ends well for both parties and that he can still have a role to play at the MFC. All the best, Col.

Hogan, Weideman, T Mac, Pedersen, T Smith, Petracca, Hannan. All can play tall. That's more than enough.

Certainly not unreasonable to bring it up at all, didn't mean to phrase it that way.

It changes nothing. Of course he will stick up for his son if he is asked about, any father would. And this will end fine for the club. Jack will be moved on, the sun will come up in the morning and the MFC will roll on.

So they've rolled out the old man for a few comments now, have they? Of course he will stand up for his son. So he should, and you wouldn't expect any less. It still means we can put as much credence in his comments as any on here, which isn't much.

You are superb, Ron, at making stuff up. Congrats.

Is there anything worth catching up on from the last 10 pages, or is going back and reading it similar to what Andy Dufresne had to crawl through on his way to freedom in the Shawshank Redemption?

Suns have stated from the start that they don't want picks, but a player instead. They may have to relent in the end but I don't see it helping them get GAJ back to Geelong.

This post is meaningless. It doesn't dispute my point, nor does it add to it. I know all of the above and said as much in my post, and I was making the point that it's posts like his that have been taken as fact 5 pages later. This Watts debate is seriously a joke now.

Exactly. Even if we had any interest in him, which we clearly don't, the Dogs want a first round pick for him. We just traded the ones we had. It simply won't happen.

And you know this how...? See, this is the sort of 'opinion' that gets thrown around in this thread until people just believe it as true and they can't remember where it originated from. No doubt I'll open this up in 5 pages time and other nuffies will be claiming they heard that players are texting each other about it and are ready to revolt. You're better than the above, Ron, so don't stoop to a level that's beneath you.

Speak for yourself. I'm stoked with where we are at and our prospects for 2018. I can't wait to get it started.

Cats are, apparently, already saying that they want to hold on to the compo pick (which looks to be Pick 35) for Motlop. I feel like they are just being arrogant here. Watts might end up wanting to go to Geelong, and they might be in his ear about waiting it out so they don't part with a higher pick, but I'd rather see the club hold on to him than just flick him for something that doesn't reflect his value. The relationship can be restored.