Dee-tonator

One of those borderline decisions that could have gone either way. Next season's injury toll will probably indicate whether it was the right choice or not. Thommo has always given of his best when selected but unfortunately is way behind May and Lever in the picking order. He should go with the best wishes of everyone at the club.

Great draft hand now. but I'm more cautious than some posters who seem to have jumped straight from despair to elation. Drafting is never an exact science, so it is crucial that we get it right with picks 5 and 9. If so we would be well set up with young talent, given the compromised Tasmanian-team drafts that lie ahead. Maybe an infusion of classy youngsters would also make Oliver and Petracca realise that another Demons flag is still possible in the next few seasons.

If Oliver is indeed trying to force Melbourne's hand, I just hope the club stands firm. Geelong have nothing to offer in terms of trading or draft picks which would come anywhere near Oliver's value as a player. If he then refused to play for us, he would be in breach of contract, potentially leading to a fine and/or non-payment of his salary. That would be more of a legal and financial nightmare for Oliver than for the club. The AFL really ought to be investigating Geelong for such a blatant attempt to poach a contracted player from another club.

The trouble with our Ferrari is that it keeps blowing its gaskets. We need to get its engine running smoothly again.

If Oliver starts next season with a clear mind and a fit body, the sky is again the limit for him and the team. Same goes for Petracca. So after the trade and draft periods, we could be looking a lot stronger than a disastrous 2024 might suggest. Only big loss from our best 22 so far is ANB, whose running and tackling will be missed. What Clarrie needs right now is total support from everyone at the club to get back to his best.

That would be a great result, but unfortunately it would leave you stranded about 384,000 kilometres from the MCG.......

So far we have heard from the media mob that: (1) Viney's off to North Melbourne. (2) Trac is about to start a huge trading melee. (3) Clarrie is as good as signed by the Cats. (4) Kozzie has already bought a plane ticket for Perth. (5) Melbourne are a spent force, consumed by bitter infighting on all fronts. Score: 0 out of 5.

Some rumours for the media mob to follow up: 1. Max is about to leave for Ireland to play Gaelic football for Galway. 2. OIiver's proposed move is a cunning ploy by Goodwin to destroy the Cats from the inside. 3. Bowey is unhappy because his request to play at full forward has been rejected. 4. May and Melksham have lined up a UFC fight to see which one stays at the club next season. 5. Kozzie wants out because of the Melbourne weather. PS: No 5 might be true.

Media pundits and some posters are talking as if Melbourne have no choice but to let Oliver join Geelong for whatever scraps we get in return. Not so. It's time to get tough, tell other clubs to back off, and warn Oliver that the club will fine or suspend him for any further infractions. Melbourne have given him a contract that ensures he can retire from a game a wealthy man. The club has also gone out of its way to support him when he experienced off-field problems that have had an adverse effect on the team's performance levels. Metaphorically speaking, his response is apparently to kick Melbourne players, officials and fans in the teeth. The notion of letting him leave for a likely mid-teens future draft pick, while still playing a hefty chunk of his salary, is frankly insane. Having seen how the Petracca and Oliver sagas have played out, one thing is now certain. Very few clubs, if any, will be offering seven-year contracts, even to superstars.

Suggested message to other clubs: Our minimum requirement is that (1) you take over Oliver's full contract and (2) we require an elite player in return plus a high draft pick. Suggested message to Oliver: you are going nowhere unless Melbourne get a fair deal in exchange, including a high-class midfielder. This club has bent over backwards to assist you and it is you who owe us big time. If there are further issues with fitness or conduct, prepare for a year in the stiffs at Casey.

If Oliver wants in, excellent. But then it's time for him to commit himself to us publicly and put an end to all the rumours. If Oliver wants out, it's time for him to tell the club he is ready to move if a deal suitable to Melbourne can be arranged. We know that would not be easy. If Oliver continues to sit on the fence and talk to other clubs (as reported), he will again be a major distraction for his playing colleagues and the fans in 2025. We need one of the first two scenarios to happen, and soon.

"For the Demons it was not a good Friday". A gentle way of saying that, like the AFL team, our AFLW side currently has almost zero depth when struck by injuries.

With Windsor and Langdon clearly ahead of him, he clearly didn't fancy another season at Casey.

Our trading policy over the past few seasons has unfortunately misfired badly, landing us with plenty of list cloggers such as Schache, Hunter, Billings, Fullarton and McAdam. Now I fear we will probably cave in and accept being shafted yet again when ANB's move to South Australia is finalised. And Casey's dismal performances this season suggest that the hopes being pinned on some of the younger brigade may not be well founded. (I would love to be proved wrong). If Tim Lamb doesn't get it right this time around, his role must come under serious scrutiny. Unless the Big Four (Gawn, Petracca, Oliver and May) all avoid serious injury and produce their best, our so-called premiership window may be firmly closed by the end of next season. That's not being a pessimist, just a realist.

Springfield is at least a half-hour drive from the Gabba on an extremely busy freeway. It is an excellent facility, but it is not even in Brisbane. Springfield is a suburb in the adjoining city of Ipswich.

The most wonderful aspect of this never-ending thread is how many people who have never met or spoken to Christian Petracca are confident that they know all his innermost thoughts and motivation during a period in which he has been traumatized by potentially life-threatening injuries. As long as he is with the club and gives 100 per cent effort on the field (which he has always done) he will have my full support.

Mark Twain famously said there were three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics. Now we can add a fourth category: AFL media lies.

The AFL has now made it clear that in these borderline cases of bump + head injury the benefit of the doubt will go to the injured player. So the player who chooses to bump takes the risk of a ban as the outcome. Unfortunately Kozzie has built up a bit of a reputation for the occasional reckless act, and Goodwin doesn't seem to have found a way to rein him in. Kozzie was a bit unlucky inasmuch as Moore ducked down very late, but by then he had definitely chosen to bump. So once again he misses the start of a season through an unnecessary action, this time in a match in which nothing was at stake except pride.

Outclassed all night.

6 McDonald 3 Gawn 0 Everyone else

Two minutes to go and Billings finds the perfect way to sum up the season, running unchallenged into an open goal ---- and missing.

It's hardly the fault of the umpires when our two defensive pillars are missing, Collingwood players are left in acres of space, Fritsch couldn't tackle a one-legged opponent, Tholstrup and Woewodin look out of their depth, we have no cohesion in midfield, and Nibbler chose just the wrong game to have a shocker.

Defence shambolic so far. This could get ugly.

Giving a team finishing 10th, usually after losing more than half its games, even a theoretical chance to call itself the season's premiers is simply absurd.

In business, which is what AFL football has become, a contract involves guaranteed rewards and obligations both ways. Players expect full payment for the term of the contract even if they lose form or get injured. In return, the club has the right to insist that a player gives of his best until the contract term ends. There is no doubt Nibbler has kept his end of the bargain by giving 100 percent effort and proving himself an outstanding clubman as well. But his request has put Melbourne in a very difficult bargaining position. If Port or (more likely) the Crows play hardball and offer minimal trade value (eg a third round pick), do we simply cave in and accept the loss of an important contracted player? Or do we also play hardball and tell ANB, despite his great service to the club, that he has to fulfil his contract unless and until we get an adequate return for his departure? Surely a second-round pick is the minimum return acceptable for Melbourne. If that can't be achieved, I don't see anything wrong in the club requiring Nibbler to meet his contract obligations. We will just have to hope a deal satisfactory to both sides will be arranged. Even in that case Melbourne will be the losers, because ANB is the kind of player and person that no club likes to lose.