Skuit

But should he be offered $550,000 over three years, what do we get in compensation? That's all I really want to know.

We've been drafting on credit for a few years now, and our talent pipeline seems reasonably promising. That said, you didn't remotely answer my question. I would try to keep Gus if I could, but what's he worth if he wants to walk? And would you really want the club to spend all its cookies on a short window of heightened success and then hit the ground hard like Hawthorn, or rather carefully manage our list for a longer spell at the top? Genuine question.

Presuming we stroll to another flag, and Gus found a suitor willing to stump up ~$2.4 million over four years, would that be enough to net us an end-of-first round compo, something like pick 22 after adjustments? While that boxes us in on recruiting our own free agents, do people think that would be a fair price? Considering that's quite a draft sweet spot nowadays and our high calibre recruitment team?

"Melbourne has a clean bill of health heading into the practice match phase, with only minor dental surgeries for Luke Jackson and Trent Rivers." It's not that hard.

Not one post-season surgery . . . except for actually two. Nice work J. Clark. I see News Corp have set up a journalism academy at the University of Melbourne's business school. Apply today.

Had it sewn up after the Port game. Proved we could take all challengers when we were inspired to.

I went ten metres to the fridge to get a beer and nearly missed Clarry's goal. A minute later I went and exchanged my beer for a whisky, knowing we had it completely sewn up by the broken expression on the Dogs' faces.

You're not allowed to criticize the football department in any way whatsoever now that we've won a flag. Those are the new Demonland rules. Even if you backed said football department for years while people took constant swipes You're basically a traitor now.

Ray Liotta auditioning for the role of Terminator. James Cameron: The idea is that you are an unemotional robot. Ray Liotta: I intend to wipe out you and your entire species.

Yet in that last footage Jeff shared he was really nowhere near dunking the ball in an open lane ? (Jeff mentioned the nearness, which makes it seem not so common). 6.5 - can't dunk - something is wrong with this picture.

Height or something here feels a bit fudged.

Also, I make no apologies. This is me.

Just quoting this so that anyone intending to respond to mo64's post hopefully reads it properly before doing so. Also, welcome to the club Taj. Drafted higher than your old man!

Definitely pokes at it. Outcomes don't seem too bad, but it's a flick of the lower leg rather than kicking through it. I also think we should be looking into his running mechanics. Seems to take twice as many steps than necessary.

Go on . . . Actually, on second thoughts, don't. What was intended as a jokey lend of the concept of a bunch of footy-heads sitting around listening to musicals has somehow morphed into me smashing a scared cow with a baseball bat. Please everyone stop quoting me. I'm sorry I deeply upset some of you with my post. This place use to be way funnier when the MFC was a hot mess at risk of folding. But as penance I will now adopt the song as my personal affirmation. I've highlighted the lyrics below which have particular resonance in my journey to be a better version of me. I am not a stranger to the dark Hide away, they say 'Cause we don't want your broken parts I've learned to be ashamed of all my scars Run away, they say No one'll love you as you are But I won't let them break me down to dust I know that there's a place for us For we are glorious When the sharpest words wanna cut me down I'm gonna send a flood, gonna drown 'em out I am brave, I am bruised I am who I'm meant to be, this is me Look out 'cause here I come And I'm marching on to the beat I drum I'm not scared to be seen I make no apologies, this is me Oh-oh-oh-oh Oh-oh-oh-oh Oh-oh-oh-oh Oh-oh-oh-oh Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh, oh Another round of bullets hits my skin Well, fire away 'cause today, I won't let the shame sink in We are bursting through the barricades and Reaching for the sun (we are warriors) Yeah, that's what we've become (yeah, that's what we've become) I won't let them break me down to dust I know that there's a place for us For we are glorious When the sharpest words wanna cut me down I'm gonna send a flood, gonna drown 'em out I am brave, I am bruised I am who I'm meant to be, this is me Look out 'cause here I come And I'm marching on to the beat I drum I'm not scared to be seen I make no apologies, this is me Oh-oh-oh-oh Oh-oh-oh-oh Oh-oh-oh-oh Oh-oh-oh-oh Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh, oh This is me And I know that I deserve your love (Oh-oh-oh-oh) There's nothing I'm not worthy of (Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh, oh) When the sharpest words wanna cut me down I'm gonna send a flood, gonna drown 'em out This is brave, this is bruised This is who I'm meant to be, this is me Look out 'cause here I come (look out 'cause here I come) And I'm marching on to the beat I drum (marching on, marching, marching on) I'm not scared to be seen I make no apologies, this is me When the sharpest words wanna cut me down I'm gonna send a flood, gonna drown 'em out I'm gonna send a flood Gonna drown 'em out Oh This is me

There's a small clue in Jason Taylor's post-draft wrap: "We were really thrilled to get him through at that point of the draft. We didn’t expect it. It was a nice – surprise probably isn’t the right word – but it was a really good result for us." A bit of mixed messaging in the didn't expect it/surprise isn't the right word elements, but I get the sense they didn't expect the overall result going in - but had put in a heap of work in assessing other clubs' strategies and gaining intel to feel that there were decent enough odds in Blake slipping to around our second pick. I would assume this includes direct discussions with other clubs.

Today is everyone's last chance to ensure that @picket fence doesn't take home the mock drafting recruiter's prize. If you ever hope to see or hear the last of this thread then best get voting. Sheeeit.

Jeepers. You're taking it back to the 17th century? My surname doesn't reflect my ancestry and nor does my birthplace. He has evidently spoken of his Zimbabwean background. That's all anyone has to go on. Anyways, welcome to the club Jacob.

So van Rooyen according to the AFL website comes from a Zimbabwean background. Can we quit with the Dutch thing now? It's a different continent. Also as such I have no idea how to pronounce his name.

And wasn't AVB Belgian?

Honestly didn't see any point 3 when I quoted you. At the very least I didn't intentionally delete it.

Not just Freo's 19. The limited history of live trading has seen a lot of movement in behind that first pick of the second round in the early-to-mid 20s, and some pretty decent rewards offered up. Good players are undoubtedly going to slip in this draft, and that's why I think we should slide with them. We've been drafting a year ahead, have a mostly healthy list balance with an abundance of young talent, and have JT sitting at the desk. Oh, and we're the premiership front-runners. These factors, plus the extra uncertainty of recruiting during a pandemic, offer a unique opportunity and I believe we should attempt to cash in. Dangle 17 in front of Hawthorn for example to move back to the early second round at 21, and then dangle that again overnight to a mid-20's team such as Richmond if there are still players on the board we think are good value. Then maybe even go again. We could come out of it with a trio of mid second-round players or possibly even more across two drafts for the price of a 17. That's a potential return of Bowey, Sparrow and Fritsch or whatever else JT manages to uncover. Or we could pool our gains to take a stab at some genuine top-end talent next year during a period we're unlikely to have much in the way of natural draft cookies.

The idea of playing that Greatest Showman 'This is Me' song for a bunch of young male footballers as a seasonal-theme, by what is essentially a young male coach - including on grand final day - and it having any impact on their motivation to perform is so far-fetched and ridiculous to me that I can only imagine this is some sort of grand post-flag [censored]-take cooked up by Goodwin and the players and delivered with admirable Academy-worthy straight-faces. Like, seriously? On each side of that scenario, my estimation of Goody either plummets or sky-rockets. It's not about the subject, just the notion that such cheesy lyrics and music could possibly inspire and be promoted by the demographic. Let's not forget the five years of preparation to get to this current point and the off-season buy-in from the players. I doubt the song is related at all, and I'm sure would have been met with mega eye-rolls from a millennial generation.

I've living between Cairns and Darwin right now, so happy to be Northern Australia AFL rep.

My side counters that by having no personal integrity. How are you going to stop that?