Skuit

I said this before Mac Andrew was a thing, and will now say it again. I believe that the MFC must lobby the AFL for a more equitable phase out of the NGA, where clubs should continue to be able to match bids at any stage of the draft until they tally the equivalent in discounted points as whichever club has spent/saved the most to date (exc. the Northern Academies). It could even be tied to just the first round. A much slower phase out, but the draft will become less compromised each year and the actual intended benefits from the NGA will be realised as much as they are today for longer. Clubs may even be hesitant to spend their small, one-time allotment of points if there are promising prospects coming through, meaning greater longer-term engagement. As only a handful of clubs have benefitted to date, one would imagine the majority would readily agree to the proposal. It's ridiculous that a couple of clubs should gain an advantage in such a tight competition to such a random extent. I really do believe it would be a worthwhile exercise for the club to gain support and make its case to AFL HQ.

Caveat: I may have this all mixed up. But the kid I was thinking of can be found here (12.25 some excitement):

Interesting. Played for St Mary's in the Central GF when I was down there last year. Our NGA territory, and we have a particularly strong connection to the Santa Teresa community, having grassed their oval. A great watch for anyone who hasn't seen it:

Probably last chance to bring big bad slamming Sam Baulderstone to the club. Otherwise, your loss Demons. http://resources0.news.com.au/images/2013/05/14/1226642/435736-sam-baulderstone.jpg

From the cocky 8-0 corner: tap Kysaiah for some of Trac's middle minutes. Bring in Bedford or Chandler to cover those lost up forward. Brayshaw can pitch in in the middle too. I know we got slaughtered in the centre-clearances last week, but Oliver, Harmes and Brayshaw should have it covered, and the extra small will balance the extra tall. Keep challenging Pickett while we're in the black.

Aborted post.

You're right. It was 2005 - 16 years ago. My poor memory has completely invalidated my point.

Reality is - despite being the crappest team in history for a good part - we haven't had an unwanted go home beside maybe Scott Thompson in the past fifteen years. In addition, since Goodwin has been at the club, we haven't lost a single player we really wanted to keep and have brought in almost all of those we've publicly targeted. Club is well run and we have a good culture. Just signed up Trac to seven years, along with deals for Max, Viney, Oliver and Salem. No one of interest will be leaving of their own accord.

Thanks for sharing the link. A good read. I'm concerned you have comprehension problems though if your take-away was that Petracca's signing would lead to long-term issues. Exact opposite to the jist of the article you're providing as evidence.

I don't know to be honest. Maybe elite sport in Australia is different to global sports? We've been busy trying to build a mature team - I would contend that maturity includes not wanting to go 'home' and play around with high-school friends. Anyone who does desire such - see Hogan perhaps - isn't the right fit to begin with. Let them walk.

I left my home-town at the earliest possible opportunity, at about 17 (admittedly, it was Adelaide) and never went back. Is there any other elite sport in the world where fans fret over the origin of their players and some supposed go-home factor? Does it even really exist in the AFL, outside of an excuse to chase dollars? Jackson was on an elite basketball path - that means not even being in Australia. And it's not even clear where Kozzie's home is. They both seem entirely committed to the club for now and into the future, and I trust the club and our 'local' players to make them feel entirely at home chasing a flag together.

I should also give credit to our board for sticking fat in the face of widespread nuftiism. Like I said after our loss to Fremantle last year, we should have signed Goodie up for another two years there and then.

Yes, Liam Jurrah and I was joking. Luke Jackson broke his finger for a couple of weeks and now people are going crazy that he will leave the club, or we have to unload Weideman for some reason, contrary to all available evidence and logic. Text-book MFCSS.

A suitable track-list for MFCSS: "I Feel You", "Walking in My Shoes", "Condemnation", "Mercy in You" . . .

Everything that is happening now is a direct extension of everything that has happened over the past four years, thanks to the vison of Simon Goodwin and 'learnings'. The biggest factor is maturity and it always has been. The second biggest factor is the personnel we've brought in - in particular Lever, May and Langdon. Tomlinson was a lucky bonus (and actually one of the few missteps, which we looked to correct last year with the failed recruitment of Isaac Smith). Getting the right assistants on board has also been crucial, but: Adem Yze - I haven't noticed any massive midfield development this year, and; Mark Williams as development coach - none of the rise of our juniors is revolutionary. Jackson, Pickett and Rivers were already on track and anyone could see that. If you want to somehow delimit the influence of Goodwin, look to Taylor and Burgess. The former, I'm sure Goody has a huge influence, and the latter, I think it was Goodwin's connection that got him to the club. Each point of the OP is complete and utter bs. Confirmation bias gone mad. I can't wait till we win a few flags and see these posters try and wriggle some nonsense explanation.

We'll lose 50% of our membership base through aneurysms if that plays out.

Sigur Ros thinks Depeche Mode is the greatest band in the history of mankind. I read once.

No. After Liam, no-one gets to go home for a while.

But in all seriousness, will be interesting to see Burgo's approach to player management. I recall Port circa 2014 suddenly dropped a number of games in the back third of the season and it was later revealed they were getting flogged on the track as a mini 'pre-season' ahead of finals. A kick shy of the grand final but had to launch from 5th after sitting atop the ladder for much of the season.

Little Charlie Spargo looks like he could do with a rest.

Some further (partially distressing) reading: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/apr/08/gimme-shelter-left-a-dark-taste-in-my-mouth-merry-clayton

Would have thought that me suggesting that Brayshaw get off the 'Google machine' might have indicated the tongue-in-cheek nature of that portion of my post? I couldn't remotely care less what players do in their spare time (to quite some extremes short of assault or bigotry) and I'm not old enough to be Brayshaw's father. Also, like Jack Watts, the level at which he invests in his football career or even the MFC is entirely his prerogative - I don't demand he respect the jumper, but I do naturally prefer players who demonstrate their hunger through actions. My primary point still stands though. I don't believe Gus is currently getting the best out of himself and has been surpassed by several team-mates when it comes to maturity and desire (even though I'm generally reluctant to make conclusions based on outside appearances). Great positioning or whatever is great, but a lack of evident intent at the actual contest and lazy skills execution shouldn't just then be overlooked. Also, if he'd made himself indispensable in the middle he'd still be there, and I wonder what the story would be right now if we had landed Isaac Smith. I'm not biased. I didn't want Gus traded when the 'midfield balance' discussion came up last year and was almost a lone voice in defending him a couple of years ago against accusations of laziness vs. Sidebottom, which arose through some selective and misleading footage. I've even thought he's been very good at times this year as to his short delivery inside-50. Last time he was left out of the team - and went on to come third in the Brownlow - he struggled to adequately self-reflect, and I'm concerned that he's back in that comfortable space without the requisite attitude to improve.

If we win next week the current crop will be equal-second on our all-time consecutive wins tally: 1960 and 1964 being the other times we recorded an 11-win run, with 1955/56 way out ahead with 19 consecutive wins.

I'm with SONS. Great to show maturity and keep winning crap battles, but we still haven't truly clicked and there are red flags popping up all over the place. At one stage today I even thought it would be best if we lost, as the defeat 'we had to have'. Our structures are falling away, maybe in part because of the loss of Tomlinsen and into of B. Brown, but we will lose to the Dogs if we don't get tested in a fast movement game over the next two weeks before we meet.

At the risk of sounding like one of our back-in-the-day premiership-witnessing members, Angus Brayshaw needs to quit the podcasts and barbie onions and google machines and concentrate on becoming the best footy player he can be. Trac and Clarry and Salem seem like they've now outgrown him in the maturity-stakes. A spell on the outer worked wonders last time. Is it time for another reminder?