old55

Mathew Stokes unrestricted free agent, having a great year playing midfield. We could offer him 3 years and Davey 's salary. Daniel Cross - out of favour at the Dogs because they have many of his type, he should be available at a reasonable trade price eg 4th round pick 60. Then we can use our early picks on u18 mids who'll have some protection while they develop.

Morton was Larke Medallist and a star at U18 level - he looked like a great pick up at the time. Everything is easier in hidsight. I think our pointy end picks have been in line with the recruiting consensus - Morton, Watts, Scully, Trengove - none of them were left field. Our later and rookie picks have been solid too. Where we've really been hurt in with the Gysberts, Blease, Tapscott, Strauss picks - 11, 17, 18 and 19 - if we had 3 or 4 solid mids from those picks, which we should have, then we would be a lot different side now. Yes there are also injury and development reasons why they haven't panned out ... But they are the selections that are really hurting us.

I think there'll be some other extra picks in the 1st round - GC is sitting on at least one.

Have we had drafting problems? Well that explains a fair bit, thanks.

McKenzie and Nicholson - both rookie selections

Seems like the leadership light has turned on in his head which is great. With what I've seen and heard from Grimes, N.Jones, Dawes and Garland recently, my faith in our team leaders is really growing.

Toumpas vs Wines is in the rear vision mirror. It may have some influence on Aish vs Dunstan vs Sheed etc

Good interview with Col Garland on the Sunday Inquisition on ABC on Sunday - he's a ripper, it's probably in here somewhere: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-30/the-sunday-inquisition-round-14/4790190?section=sport Said he and Chip have had plenty of experience working together with the amout of ball coming in over the last few years and need games together with Tommy to get that real understanding going. Said how Terlich and Clisby are great mates off the field and are really contributing to a stable back 6.

Essendon guarantee suspended player payments - how will they field a team inside the cap?

Yes EQ using the "deserve" word - it's not about deserving. We deserve to be on the bottom of the ladder. We deserve to be ridiculed and are. We "need" a PP. I'm keen on the compulsory trade idea, that's what the GWS mini-draft picks should have stipulated. If the GWS picks HAD to be traded and some bandit club was going to make off with O'Meara or Hogan by trading a mid range player they'd quickly be outbid. We need an immediate injection of experienced talent - not 3 more 18yo with potential.

The players only hope is that AOD was not banned at the time they took it. If so they'll get off but Essendon the club will still be whacked by the AFL for having such a program running. I'd be thinking similar penalties to MFC's non-tanking penalties. $500K and Bomber Thompson and/or Danny Corcoran get the Chris Connolly. If Essendon cannot establish that AOD was not banned at the time then player suspension is mandatory for all the reasons explained - otherwise everyone will be saying "i didn't know" - and the suggestion that it can be served in the off-season is laughable. As the master points out the players were definitely duped and some way of mitigating the penalty down to the minimum 6 months is desirable and warranted. But Jobe's Brownlow is toast. God help Essendon the club in this scenario - for starters without the majority of their player personnel for 2014, if it's decided before the end of the H&A 2013 I'd say stripped of match points this year and excluded from R1 of the 2014 draft (because they'll finish last or near it). Corcoran, Hird, Thompson, Reid all gone. Massive fine - maybe $2M and probably civil suits from the players.

I think that's got a lot of merit - a pick that has to be traded for a player. GWS traded for picks and it could be assumed that there wasn't a market of established players but how much of that was GWS strategy? Other clubs complaining that we've wasted our picks is a bit contradictory - it just left the good players for them to pick.

Craig is tarnished by his association with Neeld. If he'd gone to say Richmond instead of joining us he'd be right up there in everyone's calculations for an experienced coach. He had a good record at the Crows but they were flat-track bulllies who couldn't deliver in the crunch. I'd favour others. He might be interested but then again he might not - I think it was a smart move saying that he could be because it keeps the players on their toes because he's not confirmed as a placeholder.

Yes that's another idea well worth considering - look there's a fair chance we'll have pick 1 anyway, definitely pick 2.

Might be talking Mundy or Barlow for Clark or Dawes.

Well I'm gonna put the ultimate heresy out there ... we've got Clark (depending on his recovery) and Dawes forward and the world's worst midfiled, Freo is in dire need of a key forward, relying on the aging, injured Pav and Hogan is from WA. Would we consider a trade - Hogan for Fyfe?

lol

excluding training

I think we've got a core down back with Frawley, Grimes, Garland and probably Terlich and McDonald. To add to that we need a line breaking, great kick in defence. We've tried Watts, Dunn and Strauss in that role with mixed success. Good luck to Mitch Clisby, there's a role there for the taking. Strauss is a nice kick but I don't think I ever seen anyone take so long to get set to kick in general play, his hand to foot takes too long for AFL football.

Agree, I'm convinced we have to get an experienced, successful coach and I think we need to stitch someone up so we don't waste a year of list management, therefore Roos, Williams or Eade: - persuade players to stay - attract free agents - decide trade and recruiting strategy, we'll have pick 1 or 2 and 20 and maybe a PP, that's leverage - decide who has no future at the club We can't wait for Clarkson-in-the-bush. Ratten, Knights, Harvey, Laidley etc just don't have the record to survive the pain still to come.

It's a great question. Former premiership coaches and captains would be good candidates: Leigh Matthews, Tom Harley, Cameron Ling, Brett Kirk.

AFAIK he's a Hawthorn supporter too

Clarkson, Roos, Eade, Williams, Ratten could be good if they're willing. I'm not convinced that we HAVE to go for an experienced coach. We could go for the best new coach with a proper process this time - Richardson, Burns, Tudor. We've already got Neil Craig and he could be mentor to a new coach a la Thompson-Hird, Williams-Hardwick, Eade-Buckley - yes we tried this but Neeld wasn't the right choice.

David Neitz should be there - record games, record games as captain, record goals. How could Garry Lyon possibly be there ahead of him? Russell Robertson played more games and kicked more goals than G.Lyon.

Hazy and Baghdad Bob tried to tell us ....