rpfc

I am standing by my 'Band 3 Compensation (ND21) for Sylvia if we don't sign any other FAs' belief.

Well, I am glad you can see that his heart was in the right place.

Er, because our club screwed up and after yesterday we might need a QC or two...again.

Port did the same thing. They seem to be travelling ok. I think that our utter lack of confidence and lack of good midfielders is holding us back - not humidity.

Aren't opinions by definition subjective? My subjective opinion is that Dunn is not a very good footballer and he plays the easiest position in the whole world ever - HBF. He makes far too many mistakes, and has far too many brain fades not to have his position under review going into 2014.

This just tells me the kind of bloke we used Pick 20 on. When you want to trade for a player in the position we are in, you want him to be exactly the kind of leader Dawes is. That deal is looking better and better and if he can contribute to creating a good culture at the club - one focussed on selflessness and performance - then it will be remembered for quite a while. More than happy to give him 5% of the cap...

We do, but this is a little different because we can get done for not doing anything wrong. Essendon are pying for their governance issues and their failure to live up to the duty of care they have to the players and the AFL Drug Code (they have no idea who got what when). We apparently didn't know (I really hope we did) Bates was using Dank or his pharmacy. That constitutes a governance issue right there and I hope that long list of supplements we revealed in a press release were kept by the Dr so that they are the gospel truth. Otherwise, we also don't know who got what when... We obviously didn't set up the kind of regime that the Bombers did but we did allow the players to be exposed to someone like Dank. It's really less worrying if Craig and Misson knew what was going on, but if that were the case why didn't we come forward and put our hand up when the Bombers were exposed? (As Jackson said when he first came on board "the club was naive" to not notify the AFL, I hope it was, because it is better to know facts and be naive than to not know who is injecting your players with substances.) The story has yet to play out...

It doesn't have to be terrible. But Neeld pushed defensive running as a priority when he should have toned it down with a young team. Uncontested possessions make up 60% of disposals these days (and I harp on them a great deal) but Neeld's desire for a player to be defensive firat and foremost stifle your run and break from contests and that is what has hurt us. And Terlich, Clisby, M Jones, and N Jones need some help when it comes to getting into space and finding some footy. If you can get that confidence to run up then we can get to AFL average very quickly I believe. We need hard running, experienced mids ready to take on a high workload. Viney, Toumpas, and ND2 should not be asked to do the things we are having a go at them for not being able to do.

For all your aggressive posturing on any and every issue that comes up on this site, you always have to glaze your ego with some form of dismissive insult. I would be more insulted it were more deserved (slow?) or if it wasn't emblematic of your own issues - not the person you have insulted. So how about you take a deep breath and try not to take The Internet personally.

I will moralise because we didn't put the health of players at risk nor 'dabble' with prohibited substances. It's a little more grievous to say the least... And the Bombers broke a few rules, RR... I cannot believe I had to write that.

My ears pricked up at that too... I was expecting some form of investigation. I am curious myself what the hell we were doing, or whether we just let Bates do his own thing. Fine and another admonishment probably...

According to Caroline...

Let's not get into this again... We were chased around the yard for playing Warnock forward and Johnson back in a game we were in front of when the final siren went. What the football world thinks is neither here nor there. I have a Crows supporting mate who thinks they were hard done by moreso than the Dees because 'all they had was an email' and 'we were under the cap with the extra payments anyway!' (I had to explain all the AFL had on the Dees were disgruntled former employees and a bad joke) So I am not about to continue the flaggelation of the Dees for doing what the Pies, the Hawks, the Blues, the Eagles, the Saints, and the Tigers have also done in the past. Especially with what the Crows, and the Bombers have done more recently.

So no finals, $2m fine, and out of the first two rounds of this draft, and the first round of the next one... Those picks being taken away will mean that the Bombers will feel this more 7+ years from now.

I agree. They could appeal and take to court or push the Government to pull funding, but I really think that their power is based on public opinion. So they better be careful how they act and how quickly they get their job done.

Yeah, I don't think that is going to happen... The AFL is not the AIS or the AOC, it is an independent authority. The MLB, NFL, and NBA have an abhorrent history and present with PEDs. No US sports team has been greatly affected by these actions. WADA and ASADA's power stops at the water's edge and is dependent on the desire of the public to pressure the sport to penalise the players. ASADA really needs to get its arse in gear and get it right - how they are seen in the future is dependent on how quickly and well evidenced they make their cases to the NRL and the AFL for Cronulla and Essendon.

I said Pick 15 and Pick 20 for Sloane and I also didn't include it because it was unlikely. So you might want to rethink that criticism... And Thompson didn't 'screw us' - he wanted to go home as a family member was ill. The ability to get him and Sewell will predicated on who the new coach is and how much they wish to be a part of rebuild - not an easy sell as I said. Sylvia for Band 3 Compensation is the same as Pearce and Chaplin EACH got for PA last season. I would be surprised if we didn't get a pick after our 2nd Round Pick. I am not pulling things out of my rear end, mjt. I read the rules and look at precedence: The free agency system has five ''bands'' of compensation. The highest-ranked players will bring a return of a first-round pick; the next level is an end-of-first-round pick; the third category is a second-round choice; the fourth is an end-of-second-round pick, and the last bracket is a third-round pick. Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/free-agency-banking-ban-hits-top-clubs-20120822-24mtt.html#ixzz2d38oagJT

Yeah, I am getting sick of it too. Some of these Dreams are doing too much Weaving... OUTS (10 PL, 2 RL): Deletions (7 PL, 2 RL): Jetta, Davis, Rodan, Gillies, Davey, MacDonald, Sellar, Couch ®, Magner ® Trades (2 PL) : Nicholson for ND60, Watts for ND15 (picks are approximates) FA Loss (1 PL): Sylvia for ND21 as Band 3 Compensation (the same as Port got for each of Pearce and Chaplin) INS (10 PL, 2 RL): Hogan ND (5 PL): Pick 2, 15, 20, 21, 61 PSD (1 PL): Young mid with high workrate, maybe a fringe player FA Gain (0 PL): N/A (if we wish to keep Pick 21 we will have to abstain from signing a FA) Trades (2 PL): Pick 60 for Scott Thompson (RFA), Pick 40 for Brad Sewell Delisted FA (1 PL): Solid midfield pro with a few years left RD (2 RL): Two teenage mids with hardness and potential So if Watts and Sylvia leave we should look at getting a name mid to come to the club but I don't see it happening (if they don't leave just remove Picks 15 and 21 respectively). Coaxing an Adams into the PSD is possible but not probable. Having Pick 2 and a further 3 picks in the top 21 may have to be spent on youth if no trades open up. I don't want to give up those picks unless a high calibre player comes back our way. If we could get Sloane for Picks 15 and 20 I would do that in a heartbeat. I just cannot see us being that attractive this offseason... Thompson and Sewell are far from easy gets but if you can get them to buy into their roles as Culture Changers at a club that needs leadership then I would try hard to bring them in. Headline: A couple steps back to go forward...if you pick the right players.

He is effectively a small HBFer who should drive attacks forward. His skills are ok, but his decision making and propensity to think hardness is hitting people leave him vulnerable to be replaced as easily as I think he should be replaced. Get another Terlich from the state league and plonk him on the HBF. HBF is the easiest position to play in the whole world ever.

Just on Jordie - his attitude is what a good club culture can be built upon. Those that just waive away his desire and hardness and attitude simply because of his skills are not giving enough thought to the type of club we want to build. We need to surround these kids with some big bodies and tough minds by the way. Don't give up much for them and don't attack the club for getting them either. If I could get Sewell, Cross, and Thompson while keeping picks in the 40s I would do it.

No, no, no, he's an important part if the future with his aggression and jumper punching and yeah whatever, I'm watching The Rock. It's a good movie!

How is that, Stuie? Craig was Adelaide's longest serving coach. An early pioneer of the whole team run from behind the footy that defines our era of 'slingshot' footy. A bloke who had the term 'Crowbots' invented for his hard working cadre of 22 competitors. The last 7 games does not define Craig, and nor does Neeld. I think many are being swayed by perception and it's a shame.

The problem I foresee is if the AFL says "they didn't dope, they were just dopes" and then their players get done as dopers by ASADA then it blows up in the face of the AFL. I would make it suspended loss of picks and when ASADA comes back with a doping claim (probably next year at this rate) the picks get taken for those next two years.

Ask that last question of ASADA.