Katrina Dee Fan

Yeah, fair point. Nonetheless, Tay wanted to stay, and I'm glad she's now able to. It's a crappy situation to put players in, tbh.

I'd go so far as to say that Melbourne and Hawthorn had a very informal hypothetical chat, Melbourne asking do you reckon Tayla would be worth pick 14, Hawthorn said no, the conversation was dead early last week and the media decided to spread it out and create a non-existent story. I don't think Melbourne and Hawthorn have been seriously discussing it.

This. I spoke to Tayla at the B&F on Saturday, she told me she wanted to stay, but it wasn't up to her. Going by Todd Paterson's comments, I take that as Tayla telling me the truth. Regardless, I'm pleased she's staying, and I daresay so is she.

This is his first comment after he was called out: "Mate, just think about it. Why on earth would Kolt say that to a supporter about another player, in the same week his contract is spoken about on the forum. And if Kolt, as a 1st 12 mth player, is actually saying that about other players and their relationships to supporters at a training da he needs to pull his head in. Play it through in your head. Seems like a fanciful fairytale to me. I might well be wrong but I bet even you doubt I am." Yeah, I'm struggling how you can interprete this the way you're claiming.....

I think you're making a completely different interpretation of what's happening here. You claim he was "happy to be proven wrong", no such occurance is evident. What is evident, though, is not only him doubling down, but then chucking a pity party for himself.

Rather a hypocritical take given the context of the discussion, ie, that opinion you claim is unpopular was of a poster that.....didn't agree with another poster.

Freedom of speech does not come without freedom of consequence. When "freedom of speech" extends to being nasty to someone, expect backlash. And by the way, that's their freedom of speech to call out that nasty behaviour.

Why would it be fanciful? Judd and Lily said the same thing to me on Saturday night at the B&F.

Unlike Judd, Luke had no ties in Melbourne. Judd's girlfriend is not only living in Melbourne, but also plays at the same club. Plus, what would the incentive be for her to go to WA, when she's not from there?

Self realisation suits you, Adonski. Please try it more often.

It was my mistake, I accidentally replied to your comment instead of the one saying we were a long way back.

TBH I didn't think we'd have a good season the minute it was announced Gus was retiring, given how late it was in the season. Then when Trac got hurt that pretty much sealed the fate for us. Last summer was a sh*tstorm, which was very disabling for the team. This year I don't see that same climate. Clarry is in a much better headspace than he was last year, Trac has worked hard to get back to where he was before his injury, they've drafted well and the kids are developing nicely, and for me the biggest factor is the court case looming over Goody is gone, and he seems much happier and more focussed. I have optimism for next year.

I have to admit after North won the GF and they were mentioning her winning her third premiership with a third cup, my thoughts immediately went to "Wait til she spits the dummy and wants a trade....again....."

Thank you lovely!!

Are we? Three weeks before the end of the season there was still a chance of making finals. We only finished 14 because it was such a close season. In 2021 GWS had exactly the same win/loss numbers as we did this year, and they finished 7th.

Can you ask about January by any chance? When they'll be back after Christmas and if it's at Casey or Gosche's?

our side is currently on the slide because of the calibre of players we traded last year. Libby Birch was one of the best players on the weekend in North's Grand Final win. Eliza West just won Hawthorn's best and fairest and was one of the key players that got them to the finals. Maddi Gay was named All Australian.

An yet every team that got one of our 4 top players we traded out last year not only made the finals this year, but also soundly beat us during the season. One even won her third premiership.

It wasn't just the media that painted the misconceptions, primarily they came from Carlton. They stated to the media she wanted to leave to chase money, which was not the case, she found out from her manager while she was visiting family in Brisbane that they weren't going to offer her a new contract, which left her devastated. She was actually in tears on the documentary when she was describing how their misrepresentation of her made her feel like her integrity was being wrongly portrayed. I don't think she has a lot of regard for Hartford, to be honest.

I wouldn't be surprised if Paxy does retire. She's 36, and the issues with her foot this year is not a quick fix.

Exactly, why is the big question. As I said, nothing official has come from either Melbourne or Tayla, so as far as I'm concerned it's speculation from the media.

There were a lot of misconceptions about her departure from Carlton, which I had a long conversation with both her and her mother about a couple of years ago. She didn't want to leave Carlton, she was delisted. She also told me the figure being quoted in the media about what she was demanding was not remotely true. She came to Melbourne at the lowest pay rate available, by her own choice, and opted to focus purely on her football. Her first season at Melbourne saw her as the second highest goal kicker in the league and finished second in the club best and fairest behind Daisy Pearce. Her second season saw her playing more a ruck/midfield role, so less goal scoring opportunities, yet, she kicked the winning goal in the grand final. Her mother told me that if it was up to her, she would have stayed with Melbourne after the exhibition games, but in Lisa's words, it was Tayla's choice, and ultimately she was happy she was at Melbourne. I don't think it would be Tayla's choice to leave Melbourne, I'd say it's possibly Melbourne exploring possible trades. Which disappoints me somewhat, if true. But then nothing official has come from either Melbourne or Tayla, and I take the media speculation with a grain of salt.

There is so much in here that rings true and is a big reason why we didn't make the 8 this year. We can't afford to lose key players, and it would be shattering to the team structure to lose either or both Lily and Tayla. If we trade them for draft picks, then don't expect us to be in the finals next year.