old55

The shield is an integral part of the brand.

Doc Reid still at the club

I think it depends on whether O'Meara can get back to where he was before he was injured - he was the best young player in the competition and if he has recovered from his injuries then during 2017 he will adapt to Hawthorn's plan and in 2018 should be playing great footy. T.Mitchell is a good replacement for Lewis and a fit O'Meara is a good replacement for S.Mitchell. Hawthorn will lose Burgoyne but if they could replace him with Fyfe they'll be right back in it. I expect them to finish 7-12 next year. In 2018 I think it depends on O'Meara and Fyfe.: 1-6 and in flag contention: O'Meara fit and Fyfe FA 7-12: one of O'Meara fit and Fyfe FA 13-18: neither O'Meara fit or Fyfe FA

They have a plan and are aggressively pursuing it. if they can pick up Fyfe or Martin next year in FAwith rlthe salary cap they'll free up then they'll be right back amongst it.

Billy Stretch looks like he's put on some bulk in those pics and that's what BRFE noted too.

Almost right. The pick numbers do actually change. North bids at 11, GWS use picks after 47 to cover it and take the academy player at 11, North's pick is then 12 and everyone else's pick is moved back a number also. It happened to us last year, at the start of the draft we had picks 3 and 7. We bid on Mills at 3 and Sydney matched and our pick went out to 4 = Clayton Oliver and 7 went out to 8. Then Gold Coast bid on Jacob Hopper at 7 and GWS matched so all picks after that went out by one more and our original pick 7 ended up as pick 9 = Sam Weideman. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_AFL_draft Picks coming in - you've got it!

A pick can go out if the bid is before your pick and picks used to cover it are after your pick.

Bernie had a very good year again. He was consistent early, enormous mid year against Hawthorn and Collingwood and tailed off towards the end of the year because of the massive burden he carried using himself as a battering ram which is not his bread and butter. I see a general trend across the boards writing him off, but I think with the addition of Lewis, Hibberd and Melksham this year Bernie will be able to use his class and shine. All hail Bernie!

I believe Geelong have 8 also. The very vhard stretch is the 3 in a row, all against sides that have longer breaks. Apart from that it's a pretty good fixture.

It looks a good football fixture overall - the tough part is 3 x 6-day breaks in a row after QBW: R13 v Dogs (off 9 days) at Etihad R14 v WCE (off 8 days) at Domain R15 v Sydney (off 7 days) our Friday night at the MCG That's a very tough run, especially with the trip to Perth in the middle and our marquee Friday night exposure at the end which is a pity - we'll need to manage our rotations through that period and play a squad.

I do genuinely think it is possible for Collingwood, Richmond or Freo to make the 8. They have all improved their lists and Freo will get Fyfe, Bennell and Sandilands back. Not likely but possible.

I think there's 14 teams who legitimately believe they can make it. IMO Brisbane, GC, Carlton and North can't - but it's quite likely most of them think they can.

and then, not including Casey listed players: b: White Garland Smith hb: Wagner Frost McKenna c: Melksham Trengove Lumumba hf: Kennedy Pedersen Vandenberg f: Kennedy-Harris Hulett King r: Spencer Bugg Neal-Bullen i: Maynard

Hawthorn do appear to have traded their own 2017 2nd rounder but I admit there is still some confusion over whether it is their's or GWS's. I think GC prefer it to be the Hawthorn pick and I think it's a bit worse for Hawthorn if it is their pick - all based on my expectation that GWS will finish higher. http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-10-20/finally-jaeger-omeara-makes-his-way-to-hawthorn This allowed Hawthorn to send its own 2017 second-round pick to Gold Coast, along with pick No.10 for Jaeger O'Meara. I think it's a storm in a tea cup. Hawthorn still have a 2017 2nd rounder whatever happened and that is the intent of the rule. We used 2 1st rounders in 2015 and both of them count towards our 2 in 4 years requirement even though one of them wasn't ours, I believe we don't HAVE to use a 1st in 2016-18 because of that if it suits us. Same for Hawthorn with their own 1st and the 1st they received from North for Jed Anderson - I am not kidding you - they used 2 in 2015 and that's why they could trade both 2016 and 2017 away AND they don't have to use the 2018 either if they don't want to.

There's definitely problems brewing at Collingwood. I can't see how Nathan Buckley who seems to be a very straight shooter, and Gubby Allan can work effectively together. Maybe Nathan wont have to work with Gubby if ASADA gets involved. That may be where Roos fits in.

Yes some fascinating reading.

7 of 15 players delisted plus Lynden Dunn traded. Three players consolidated their positions soundly with good years: Watts, Hunt and Harmes. 2017 remains a big year for Lumumba, Trengove, Pedersen, Kennedy-Harris and Spencer I think Garland can be added to that list although he has 2 years of contract to run. It's definitely a shorter list now - particularly considering that Pedersen and.Spencer were retained as specific role depth.

Prefer Pharc but I heard he's moved to Colombia.

I think Harmes and Vandenberg belong in your 2nd group. The FD clearly rates their competitiveness because they were consistently selected last year.

I'm guessing Garlett is your 5th. His best is very good and he plays the most difficult position, but he needs to raise the standard of his off days which have been very poor.

I'm keen to give HL a chance. There's a question over his competitiveness but if he can overcome that then his positive attributes - size, run and experience are valuable and fill a big need we have. I'd like to see him on the wing rather than HB, where as you say we are well served. I note that I was bullish about Chris Heffernan and Chris Johnson every summer too. Let's just say I haven't written HL off yet.

Won't be surprised if the Weed moves to 6.

You left out the GWS deal where we moved pick 10 into pick 7. Yeah "fantastic" - get on! They'll be eating our dust.

I think Mahoney did a better deal for us last year to get both Oliver and Weideman through the door and now with a year's development.

If the Hawks finish 5th again next year the Saints go back from 10 to 14 a year later that's -234 points. 23 + 36 is worth 1317. Minus 234 = 1083 = Pick 16 is their bonus - you have a different definition of "fantastic" from me