Wiseblood

Couldn't agree more. Kicked a couple of goals at the end of the year when the heat was off to blind some supporters to his ability, but early in the season when the heat was on against opposition who were having far more of a crack the bloke looked lost. His height is keeping him on the list at the minute, doesn't bring much else to the table. Membrey is worth a look but there are a few other clubs down here who lack a target up forward as well.

I'll be very interested to see if Smedts comes up in trade talks. He has had a very quiet year, although he still may be ahead of many of their other younger players who haven't come on yet.

I don't disagree at all. Unless it's something that seems to gain traction through the press I take everything here with a grain of salt.

Exactly - the moment I see 'Facebook' as part of the rumour it's automatically BS. Why others don't get that is beyond me.

Doesn't have me convinced that he'll stay at Adelaide. He's gettable IMO.

I agree, although Clarkson spent the majority of his career as a midfielder. But it bodes well for Goodwin's appointment at any rate.

So you're a bit of an idiot then...

I'm not. He doesn't have any contacts.

Doesn't make Roos look the fool - if the bloke holds off on making a decision because he knows a head coaching job will be available now, and he wants to be a senior coach now, then there is nothing wrong with that. There will be other guys in the pipeline that we have been interviewing, and there has been nothing more than rumours about him actually getting the job anyway.

Not surprising at all. Was always going to be somewhere else in 2015, the challenge now is to try and extract something of use for him. Reckon we might be able to do it too...

Could very well be the case. Mark Robinson also mentioned in a tweet there was something to do with drugs as well, but that's only a rumour at this stage.

Where the hell has this come from? Didn't think Sando was in the gun at all...

Source?

Only thing it might do is force him to put some sort of price on his head so he can get through, which might screw with the Pies salary cap a little. If another club wants him though there is nothing he can do but be selected by them so it would at least make things uncomfortable for him, and I'd be happy with that.

I'd be angry, but it's the landscape - if others will do it to us then we need to be proactive and do it to them as well. If this is how it's going then we can't sit back and cry foul over it, we need to be a player just like everyone else.

SOME reports, not all. There are plenty out there who talk him up as a great clubman, excellent trainer and a bloke who is willing to take the kids under his wing.

I love his post so much but you're right, it's crying out for some sauce and a bit of extra credibility before I eat it all up...

Higgins seems destined for someone like Carlton or Richmond anyway. He suits their profile - soft, injury prone outside runner with decent skills.

Cameron or Patton (even with the knee injuries) are worth far more than Petracca. Talented tall forwards are like gold.

No, it doesn't. The guys who leave are proven players or have at least shown enough to suggest they will be. Getting a high pick is fair compo but no guarantee that the player drafted will be a star. It gives us the opportunity to draft good, young talent, or trade for it, but the FA system also encourages these same players to leave in 5-6 years time to one of these big clubs after we've put countless hours into their development, only to get another pick as compo and do it all over again. Granted, we need to develop the culture to stop that happening, but this is a worrying trend in FA.

They got that pick directly after their first. They finish last they get Pick 1 and 2. Plus they lost him to one my envied 'big' clubs. It's not as if he upped and left for the Dogs to make them better. We will have to work around FA and build a list and culture that encourages players to sign on and stay, but to suggest the lesser clubs simply need to harden up and that we aren't hard done by the FA rules is wrong. Has Chip even looked at lesser teams in FA? No. Geelong and Hawthorn, the two best sides of the last decade, are the only ones in the mix. Where is Jarrad Waite going? North, a preliminary finalist. Goddard from a few seasons back goes to the Bombers. Sylvia goes to a top 4 side. The list goes on. Who have we nabbed in FA? St. Kilda? Dogs got Crameri but no-one else was after his signature, a sign he wasn't all that highly rated. Where does Gunston go? Hawthorn. Rivers? Geelong. History has already suggested the big clubs get the FA's, and while we get decent comp more often than not it can't replace what the club has lost.

Clarke? Marty Clarke? I fail to see how the first two have anything to do with the AFL. We got the pick we deserved for Sylvia and nothing more. Vince was a win but we could have easily traded that pick for a spud or used it on a spud in the draft. We will also get the fair compensation for Chip, a bloke with 7-8 years of footy left in the peak of his career. However he is just another player free to leave, and the AFL's rules didn't even allow him to be restricted. Redleg makes valid points about the system.

What can we do about it? Nothing. The OP should be banned on the grounds that this discussion has happened ad nauseum for two years and doesn't need to be started again. We get it and we hate it. Move the [censored] on.

I think it's based on Tyson, even though you are correct in saying O'Rourke hasn't had the exposed form like Tyson has. What many supporters see is another very high draft pick getting limited chances and interested in coming home - so they want to throw our first rounder out there for him (and someone like Frost...) like we did last year. It doesn't make much sense to me either as I think getting a Brayshaw would be better, or we could possibly find a far better deal out there.