rpfc

Smart clubs can make the most of FA. You guys like Bernie Vince yeah? FA helped us get him. It got us the pick and smart people in our Footy Dept turned it into Vince.

Still think it is moot until the midfield can move it quickly AND well.

Hallelujah. What kind of service do we think our forwards are getting? He needs to clunk more when he manages to body out and get his hands up but don't sit there and tell me that Dawes is the reason he is getting kicked on his head. He is a good forward with good instincts. He is also a role player that needs better service. We have to get better with our forward entries, it's as simple as that.

Clever. You have not been tired of the way we talk about our duds, spuds, waste of spaces, 'girls,' disgraces, disasters? You can describe the delistings at the end of the season any way you wish but it won't be a 'cull' in any definition of the word. There Will Not Be Blood (apologies to anyone wishing to drink Pedersen's milkshake) and there will be about 6-8 players moved off the Primary List. I have bumped the Contracts Thread if you wish to measure your 'cull' against those of the past.

Culls are commonly bloody affairs, BB. Tag me as another who gets fed up with the emotive and exaggerated language we use on here.

Maybe we pushed them wide and didn't let them have easy footy into the forward line?

Just on that 'superior knowledge' if anyone on here knows about Clisby and Riley - let me know. Player sponsors are allowed to put the hard word on their subject if they wish. It's part of the package...

Well, you were 'begging the question'... We will win 5, 6, 7, or 8 games but either way we are going to have a percentage around 80, clear out about 6 players, and continue on this road with Roos. The alternative is a hypothetical that will be never wondered about by anyone outside of this sad place.

That's a good way to put it! We have got the bends reaching the dizzying heights of recently arriving at the ankles of some clubs...

Yes, but in June 2014 he is 'getting the most out of them' - I can't think of a player that has gone backwards. Garland looks rusty and Frawley lost for half his games (or half a game), but across the board players are motoring at capacity of what they can do at this stage of their career (or for a few - at any stage of their career).

You may be confusing the Spencer announcement...

You are right RF but at some point we are being unfair to Toumpas. Wines has come in to a great situation and is a genuine outlier when it comes to kids coming into the AFL. I reckon if Jimmy gets a running coach and some confidence - we will soon forget about the kid we didn't take in that draft. But the larger point about our recruiting is spot on - it is the predominant reason we are where we are.

Dunn and Spencer updated. Clisby and Riley may not be OOC so keep that in mind. Cross looks almost certain to get another year if he wants it. Clark is already off the list of course. Frawley may leave of his own accord. Before I start to look at who to delist I always like to look at what we have coming into the club. Picks 5, 23, 41, and 59 will probably be enough from the ND. Frawley's decision is irrelevant here as he will either take a spot or give us Pick 6. Our 5th rounder will be Pick 80 something by the time compensation picks are handed out and that can go to Jetta for his elevation. No FAs will be picked up due to uncertainty around Frawley IMO. We may trade away picks for players but that is even more up in the air. I will allow space for one Delisted FA to be picked up. That leaves 4 ND picks, Jetta upgrade, and one DFA pick up. The Pre Season Draft is pointless at this point, especially with a few clubs below us. So that is 6 vacancies required: Clark, Nicholson, Tapscott, Strauss, Byrnes, and Blease are the ones in the gun with Terlich's decision making and howlers obviously frustrating those in charge. Bolded are those I would keep/elevate if it were my decision

What would like to see happen if we don't win 2 more games?

If we had snagged that game after playing like that this place would have been raving about how we can still win while playing so poorly... You know we would be. I am not satisfied with how we played for 40 minutes but the apocalyptic tone is a bit much... Again, some of you are just wilfully ignorant about where we are coming from. Our list is still impaired. This is not a 14 game fix...

Oh, yes, we must bow to our betters that give us oh so much... If we had a fair draw and regular home games against other Melbourne sides we would make money and we wouldn't have to be in a position to be 'given' a game by The Benevolent One. The NFL is the most equal game in the league - it is the best run, it makes the most money - and it is a bastion of Socialist Sports Inc. A beautiful mix of Communism and Capitalism that would be a inspiration to modern day China... If we are headed down the same path - and I hope we all fight for that - then running over idiots like Eddie on that path is something we are going to have to do. Equalisation isn't 'stealing from the rich' - it's not a Robin Hood allegory - its the realisation that there would be no league without the beggars at the bottom and the aspirants in the middle. If Coll, Ess, WCE, Freo, Adel, and Haw want to start their own league go and do it - my money will be on the AFL they leave behind.

Maybe I am a sap but I am still looking at the Geelong game... Bump this when we get flogged but we played terribly today and got beaten because God smiled on a teenager with a long last name.

I thought he was good today, provided run and had a few choice intercept marks, but I was thinking while he was back there that Dunn was getting less footy due to his presence - and with Dunn so superior to Frawley ball in hand it hurt our rebound. And Garland has no touch, he is making simple errors he hasn't made for 3 years. But let's not kid around - if we had displayed basic skill execution in the first quarter we would not have lost that game. But kudos to the Dogs - they have some good kids.

I think you answered your own question in a way - it doesn't happen to AFL-calibre footballers...

Sorry. And yes, the Dogs are trying to lose this game. 2 new players, lots of kids, but do they know who they are playing? lol Two teams might be frustrated Sunday evening...

You are questioning his leadership. Am I making that up? What is so appalling (whatever small degree of pall that you are referring) that would cause you to question his leadership? Are leaders not allowed to delay contract talks? I can make the leap that he is no Trengove when it comes to sacrificing for his club, but I don't hold leaders to that exospherical standard. I want to know why Boak and Cloke are lesser leaders for their respective contract delays.

Liam Jones out, Fletcher Roberts in. Who?

Maybe it's the US sports fan in me that this stuff doesn't bother me. Le Bron opted out of a contract but may remain with Miami. Just today, a few blokes were selected by NBA teams in the draft and then traded minutes later. Do one interview with one hat on, do the next with a different hat. Free Agents are not allowed to sign until the window opens, even if they are re-signing with their own team. The Restricted Free Agent model allows a team to match a salary that another team has agreed with one of their players. So your player has signed a contract with another team but you still keep him and everyone is expected to suck it up and move on. This is the new world that we are a couple of years into. I am happy to not read into anything personally and try to maximise as much of what is happening to the clubs benefit. This is a professional sport.

Actually I believe the article mentioned $800k... And he obviously is not an integral part of the backline. We have shaved 7 goals from last year and the I50s conceded still remain very high. The proof is in reality, Billy. That backline doesn't need Frawley. I didn't think I would be saying that a year ago but here we are. It would improve with him but enough to justify the investment of the wage Frawley is seeking (whatever number that may be)? I guess the club has to make a decision aswell as James - ironically, his recalcitrance is helping the club make a more rounded decision. Delay is sometimes good for all parties.

I have always seen the point and I made it early - is he stays around in 2015 he will go back and he will make the backline better, but 2014 is showing you that he is far from integral to our backline. The bigger point is that the club may not see $700k spent on making our defence slightly better a good investment. Throw that money at a midfielder and the gains are astronomically larger. That is essentially stmj's argument and one I largely agree with, save for the fact that there are no guarantees we can lure that $700k midfielder or turn that compensation pick into that midfielder. As RobbieF said - it's better to have one bird in the hand than worry about the theoretical bush.