Wiseblood

You need to update JKH as well, as he signed on until the end of 2017 if I remember it correctly.

Great stuff and good get from Ash. My only gripe is that it is set to be just a 2 year deal, would rather 3-4 year deal in the current climate but beggars can't be choosers - would rather him signed than not signed.

Not much we can do about it now. Let's just hope that when we play Geelong he is out there and the boys give him heaps. That will do me.

So we made preliminary discussions and, based off that, he basically told us he had no interest in us. Adelaide will be kicking themselves that they didn't trade him come the end of the year. We put plenty on the table, more than they'll get as compensation, and they rebuffed it. Stupid stuff.

Kind of disappointed they are resting so many players. I'd rather have a crack at them at close to full strength.

He saw Nev Jetta hit a bullet like pass and went behind a tree. You can make your own assumptions from there...

I'm sure there will be a few changes for the weekend. Interested to see if Hogan trains - I'm assuming if it's light duties, laps etc then he will be rested for the weekend. As Moonshadow said it might be a good chance for Fitzy to step up and show that he can fill a spot, although I still hold my doubts about that.

Sums it up for me. I don't kid myself that we are a chance over the next few years but there are too many dynamics going through the AFL to make sweeping statements like KB and Ralph have. It's up to us to prove them wrong.

EFA. You have doubt about it because you can't fault the club. Ever. The whole list could be done for growing marijauna plants in their backyard and you would excuse it because 'it raises funds for the club during the off season when they sell it instead of putting up membership tents.' They dropped the ball. If they didn't drop the ball then they wouldn't need to apologise. Simple.

The irony in this post smells so bad you can almost see it. You take aim at the supporters who were annoyed with the day, who are in the vast majority here, and then back up your statement based on a chat with 1 person. Give me a break Saty. The club stuffed up and you know it.

Had a brief heart palpitation... and then it was all good. Give the kid a rest for the week and bring him back for NAB 3 against the scum. Let's see if Fitzy can come in and give us something for once.

Great, you knew what would occur and had a riveting discussion with your wife about it. I fail to see the relevance. Regardless of contacting the club we will still discuss the issue and that's why Demonland is here - to discuss the issues, both positive and negative, around the club. Most threads reach the 5-6 page barrier anyway so it's not as if this one is any different to the rest.

Forgive us, yet again, for wanting to discuss something on a public forum.... which is here so we can discuss things. If the club stuffs up we will talk about it, predicting the above certainly doesn't make you Nostradamus no matter how much you want it to.

Great news for the club. It's important to see us on the front foot and locking these players away so we can keep them out of the clutches of other clubs. It's a sign of the changing landscape of free agency and I'm happy to see us moving quickly with that change.

Disappointing from the club. If you advertise it in advance and make a big deal of it, then you need to stick to it. They changed the times late and then didn't even stick to that. They should have just had a normal training session and not advertised it if that was going to be the case.

He tackled the bloke and allowed his momentum to push him into the turf. It may not have been a jump but it was terribly clumsy.

To be fair I think Howe has shown more than that. I thought he did a pretty good job down back, rarely beaten one on one, took some terrific intercept grabs and he is an above average field kick (although he is prone to the odd mistake.) I see what you're saying but I think he brings more to the club than just a good speccie these days.

The Jones tackle, for an AFL player, was very clumsy though. Players at this level should know that the opposition player will want to fall forward, it wasn't as if he was under pressure to lay a big tackle. He just needed to use proper technique, which he didn't do and it looked terribly clumsy.

It's funny you mention that though - prior to going back he had a pretty lacklustre year up forward, and for his development Roos saw fit to send him back and as the season progressed he got better and better. It's a courageous man to argue a decision Roos would make in a players development, but it would be pretty poor if that was the reason. Unless Danger didn't want to come to us in the first place. The bloke is Geelong bound IMO. Plenty of ties to the area and they can probably just offer him enough coin to entice him over.

I don't think he is either, but the idea he might is something that doesn't sit well with me. I'm happy to look a little silly by still living in the 'past, so to speak, of how players approach their latest contracts as I'm fully aware the landscape has changed. But Howe was working and playing local league footy when we took the punt on him, put the time into him and helped to turn him into the player he is today. I'd be shattered if he turned his back on us like that for the instant gratification of a top 4 club, as clearly we can offer him the money he may want. We still have the power though as he isn't unrestricted so we can match any offer, but I'm holding out hope it doesn't get to that point.

I might be too sentimental and place too much on loyalty in a market that doesn't necessarily reward it, but Howe was plucked from nowhere by the club and given every chance to shine. If he were to leave I'd be disappointed in him for basically saying 'thanks for the support and the great opportunity but I need an extra 100K and instant gratification'. I understood Chip leaving as he was here for all of it, but I'll be really disappointed if someone like Howe leaves straight away. It will confirm that loyalty to the club that drafts you is done and dusted, and what a shame that will be.

You seem to be a little extra frustrated and snappy round these parts at the moment C&B. Had your period come a little early this month? Fact is that we can match any offer given for Howe, and we have the money to do so. Things are firmly in our favour.

He just screams mediocrity to me - when we had a thin list he was good enough to show a bit, fill a gap and bring some experience with him. But if we want to climb the ladder he isn't the sort of player we need in our side in any way, shape or form. Handy depth player at best.

5 frees against for Jones tonight. Not even close to best 22 IMO.

Solid hitout, apart from some of our forward entries I thought we were pretty good. Lumumba, Newton and Vandenberg looked good, Garlett can only get better, Hogan showed a bit and we came through unscathed. Not much there to complain about really, outside of the usual suspects but we've complained about them for the last 2 years.