AshleyH30

I love the next guys reply; "A Whisper!" I don't have any inside info about this, but it seems to me he could be trying to drive up his price in terms of $$$

It's not so much what people say they've heard. It's the ones that spout it as absolute fact. But when you question them about it, they somehow backtrack or spout a generic line to cover their tracks. I could say several things that have been told to me, but I don't because a lot of it is hearsay atm. I don't know what is 100% true and what is fake. If I ever post what I've heard, I always add the moniker "may, possibly, could" never "will, curtain, absolute." Do you understand what I mean?

You mean Jeremy Howe? The Same Jeremy Howe that said he went to Collingwood to play forward, only to suddenly flip 180 and say the backline is where he's best suited after being told to go there by Buckly? That Jeremy Howe? Right. PS. Sorry, I had to say it...

Sounds like a tail wagging the dog scenario. I've never liked it when players demand where they should be played. They're there to play their role. And while their input should be valued, they shouldn't kick up a fuss if it doesn't go their way.

To be honest, when I see this type of comment, I laugh. There is no guarantee that any player/coach/official/executive could be there in 2021. Things change. Player can have a falling out with other players. Literally anything could happen to lead to someone not being at the club! One could die in a car accident for all we know!

Outside of a few poster's here that I've found to be right when reading their posts over the years, I only take "Hearing" on face value until someone in the mainstream media rolls with it. I know mainstream isn't always right, and that some make [censored] up, but if I see it here and then see it being reported, I tend to add more weight to it. Edit: I think some on here also post things with a curtain agenda. A narrative of dysfunction through players "wanting out" adds to their argument about people inside the club.

The stupid thing is, as far as I'm aware, Petracca and his management had a meeting with Goodwin and Co. They had a robust discussion about his playing future (ie. he wants to play more midfield time) where they come out with a mutual understanding, and then suddenly that's ballooned out to "He's not happy at the club and is looking for a trade." Suddenly, everyone asunder has heard something, but no mainstream media is discussing it?

Unfortunately, this is one of the saner threads...

He didn't join us until Goodwin was in charge, which was 2017. 2015 was his last year at the Bulldogs. As far as I can remember reading at the time, there was a sudden shift at the end of 2015 with him and Bev having a falling out about future direction. Edit: Sorry, he did join us at the end of 2015. But he'd only ever had 1 season at the Bulldogs, which is what I found odd at the time.

Do people fail to realise that Craig wasn't at the Bulldogs when they won their premiership? They sacked him the year before. I don't know why people don't discuss this further. Every time his name has been mentioned this year, the first thought I've had is why did the Bullies get rid of him if he's such a Guru that everyone keeps saying?

From memory, a lot of teams have used Leading Teams in the past. Some have worked, such as Hawthorn, Geelong and Sydney, but while they were a contributing factor, they weren't the defining factor. While, for others, it has clearly not worked. Leading Teams has a success rate of about 50%, so I wouldn't think bringing them back would be much help. I don't blame Ray for pumping up his business' tyres during an interview, but to say that what they did was one of the reasons that Geelong went on to win in 2007 is a bit of an exaggeration.

The person that told me may have added a bit of an exaggeration for them receiving an end of first round pick. I heard end of first round, but you may be right. The way I see it, GWS would jump at it as they would also be relieving some Cap space.

Having a look, I miss read the articles regarding GWS on the AFL website.

If they get pick 3, they'll use it on Green. They're not waiting for Adelaide to bid on him with Pick 4. It's the sole reason they want our pick. They don't want it so they can recruit Ash or Young.

More so, I can't remember where I originally heard it, but its appeared/been told to me a few times now. Probably poor choice of language on my part.

At first I thought it was pie in the sky, but then I thought about their Cap squeeze after recent re-signings. They want pick 3 to prevent anyone bidding on Green, so I don't understand where you're coming from?

The only reason I find it plausible is because of GWS's Cap squeeze.

I'm hearing that we may sign Tomlinson as a RFA. GWS will receive an end of first round pick as compo. GWS will then trade Picks 11, 13 and Compo pick to us for Pick 3. Can't remember where I originally heard it, but it does sound plausible.

"New recruit spouts generic line about new club" = I know better than the club, see, look what he's said about St Kilda! Bah! I should be the one making the decisions! The people inside the club have no idea! And anyone who disagrees with me is an apologist who has no grasp on football!

Mate, St Kilda haven't appointed him their head of list management. Are you serious? Sure, he's a great player, but there's more than just playing the game involved in list management. You have to understand contracts, negotiations, scout info. If you think Melbourne should appoint a first year manager as the head, purely based on his playing credentials, than you want to see Melbourne go further down the hole. Seriously, I can't think of a more stupid decision to make.

Plus he wanted to be involved in list management, not coaching, which we weren't offering...

That's an easy answer. I suspect he would be getting similar coin if he went to Carlton. We're not paying him $900,000, more towards $450,000-$600,000 which is quickly becoming the standard. I don't have exact figures, but that's the range I've heard.

My point was more towards those that are saying (painting a picture/setting a narrative) that the situation is so bad that we're worse off than teams like Carlton. If they think that, why would Langdon chose us over them? That was my question. Don't get me wrong, I think this year has been deplorable, but I still think if everything is done right in the offseason, we'll bounce back.

I understand why he's leaving Freo, my point was more towards that he could get the same coin at Carlton or even North or St Kilda. Some on here are parading around like we're worse off than them.

He's still a 23 year old with a bright future. I never said he was the caliber of an AA, don't put words in my mouth. Other clubs like Carlton and St Kilda would be going after him as well, so are we saying that we're so much worse off than Carlton, but the player would still like to come to us instead?