Ron Burgundy

As a player, he'd virtually be the opposite of Michie. Skinny and quick. Strong overhead for his size too. Dons supporters rate him.

Given that most of this thread is dominated by trying to land the elite, or near elite, players with high draft picks, I'll go the other way. I'd like to see us have a crack at Martin Gleeson from the Dons. He's hard at it, very quick, and would add a bit off half forward/wing IMO. I don't expect he'd cost us very much. He hasn't had a game in the seniors for ages. And I don't think he was a high pick in the first place.

Absolutely - good post. What it says to me is that, but for three or so games this year, we've genuinely been competitive. That, in itself, represents a simply mammoth improvement.

Not all players are motivated by the same things. Some players wish to play their entire career with one club and be known/remembered for that. Those players are generally very popular with club supporters. Not all players have that desire. In short, players, like every poster here, have different priorities. That much is clear. Keeping it simple, my position is as follows. 1. I regard Frawley as a required player. I will be disappointed if he leaves the club. 2. The whole 'this is professional sport and loyalty means nothing anymore' argument is so bloody obvious that it doesn't even need to be stated. Yet we've got half the posters on this loop happy-clapping one another whenever someone states this. I absolutely get it. I just expect more of senior leaders in this club. I get that Frawley is entitled to adopt the approach he has, but it doesn't mean I respect him for doing so. 3. I am 42 years old. I do not have a poster of James Frawley on my bedroom wall. I'm not going to cry if he leaves. My position is not remotely based on the emotion of potentially being jilted by a 20s something football player whom I've never met. That some posters have suggested this about some here who demand loyalty is laughable in the extreme. In fairness, those posters are probably still in their teens. 4. Players circumstances differ. For a university educated player who's seeking to pursue a career after football, being a one club player, especially at a club like the MFC, actually makes perfect financial/commercial sense. For a player who has limited career aspirations after footy, I get that the size of the contract is far more of a priority than the whole 'one club' notion, which, to that player, is perhaps quite idealistic. 5. To a supporter (ie, me), I will always have more affection for those players who bleed for the club that I support than those players who merely see the club as an ATM facility. Jeremy Howe strikes me as a player who loves the club, and I really like him for that. Frawley, well, he's just become another player for me. And this taps into the reason as to why kids are meant to prefer Luke Skywalker over Boba Fett. That said, I hope Frawley stays - quality bounty hunters can be very effective operators. 6. The thing that really annoys me about Frawley is not actually that he might leave the club. He is obviously entitled to do whatever he thinks is in his best interests. What frustrates me is that his rhetoric is all 'loyal country boy', but his actions are clearly not aligned to that. In short, he's not being fair dinkum with the club and it's supporters and I find it unnecessarily disingenuous in the circumstances.

Don't rule out GWS. Two years ago, after GWS beat us at Spotless, one of the GWS assistant coaches (can't remember his name) told me they intended to have a big crack at getting Frawley if he was available. He pretty well said he was the only player they rated on our list, which prompted a bit of an argument at the time.Well, he's available. And I expect they've got a fair bit of dough up their sleeve having just missed out on Franklin last year, seemingly (in their view) at the 12th hour. If $$$ is the driver, I expect Frawley's manager will have had, or will have, some serious discussions with GWS. And, relevantly, Spotless Stadium is situated next to the place at which they hold the Royal Easter Show each year. For the loyal country boy, this may be a determinative factor - he'll be able to participate in the wood chopping competition, pat the little lambs, and be a judge in the pickled jam bottle competition every year whilst he's running around with his mate, Tommy Scully. It's almost romantic. Edit - typo.

Possibly my two favourite players. Can't separate them.

Is there any chance that the loyal country boy might just pack it all in and return to the family farm?

Don't say that too loud here. There are many here who buy into the loyal country boy theme. Apparently he can take his time and do whatever he wants. Stuff creating a strong culture - they seemingly want the leadership vacuum at the MFC to live on forever. Fortunately we now have Roosy and some imported senior leaders and some newly recruited junior players who want to change that. Personally, I'm very disappointed that the loyal country boy is shaking his ass for the best possible offer, as he absolutely has to be a required player for the MFC. That he and his manager are flirting with the biggest cheque book makes me want a top 4 pick instead. Unlike some here, I am absolutely partial to loyalty. I don't see that as being naive or unprofessional. In fact, I see the opposite view as being thoroughly uncritical, flabby and lazy in the extreme.

And Neville Jetta. He has turned himself into a required player. Top work. Matthew Whelan Mk 2.

I thought we'd lose by 10 goals today: Port overdue for a win, our midfield depth/options severely lacking, Adelaide Oval, The Dom Cassisi factor, our form in recent weeks etc. BUT - we genuinely deserved to win that game. Some of the umpiring decisions were bordering on criminal. At key moments in the game too. I was genuinely surprised with, and proud of, the Dees today. Very unlucky. They deserved it. That said, I've no doubt some absolute numbskull here will suggest otherwise.

But he's not. He's a Demon. And this is a Demons supporter forum. Certain posters on this thread have asked, why the hate? First of all, I don't believe there's any hate. It's just disappointment that one of our most valuable players might be leaving the club. Added to this, there's frustration/annoyance that he doesn't appear to be being upfront with the club and its supporters about his intentions, which is especially grating given that he's currently one of the club's leaders. I actually think, why the surprise?

I reckon we should raid the Swans reserves. Let's make heroes of those players who can't get a regular game in the seniors.

And this is part of what makes AFL so different to codes such as the English Premier League and the US sports codes, where it's all about the individual. This is a strength that should be preserved, as far as possible. The club loyalty thing is becoming increasingly rare in professional sport, indeed society generally, and it's one of the great things about the game. It's endearing. It's human. It's intangible - the opposite of materialistic really. It's possibly selfless. When I worked in London, people asked me what I most liked about Australia. I responded it's simple really: it's the club loyalty piece in AFL. Arguably, it is best illustrated in Craig Bradley's retirement speech. So much so, I carried a copy of it in my wallet. At all times. Frawley, and every sleazy player manager in the comp, should read that too.

Tell Frawley to watch Dominic Cassisi's 'proud to be a one club player' retirement speech that he just gave to the Port player group. Though perhaps that's not a huge priority for our very own loyal country kid ...

I was absolutely stoked that we signed Daniel Cross last year, and, to date, he has exceeded the very high expectations I had of him. His on-field presence is sorely missed at the moment. In short, an extremely important player for this club. This is really good news.

Unfortunately, I tend to agree. At the start of this year, I had thought Evans, Michie and Toumpas would have really good years this year. Was obviously on the money with that prediction. I had also thought Jamar was finished. And that Pedersen, whilst having some talent, was never going to make it at AFL level. On the money again. I was surprised Jetta got elevated. I now think he's our next Matty Whelan. That said, I have always rated Dunn.

Several clubs were very interested in Watts, including Carlton and Adelaide. Spoke to a Freo Coterie member last weekend, and he said Freo were literally doing cartwheels last year because they thought they'd land him. Pity for them though - Watts is actually a committed Demon. He just needed some hope - and it came walking in the door at the right moment in the form of Mr Paul Roos. I want to see Watts, Vince and McDonald in the leadership group next year.

I think Tapscott was a sound selection at 18 (or whatever he went) in whichever draft - 2009 perhaps. I was very happy we landed him. My recollection is that he was by no means a left field selection, unlike, for instance, Strauss over Zaharakis at pick 19 in the, I think, 2008 draft. Or Lucas Cook at pick 12 over the next 30 or so players in his draft. To date though, but for some small glimpses, Tapscott has been completely underwhelming. I don't think he was a poor selection - it seems he may very well be another victim of poor development under the MFC during that time. In fairness, he's also been unlucky with injuries. Whatever the reason, it's been absolutely tragic how many first round draft picks we've had who simply haven't come through. And it's especially so when, at the start of the year, I excitedly looked to the likes of Michie, Riley and Evans as the future of the club, all of whom were third round selections and below. How did we stuff it up so badly?! It's bordering on criminal. Thank God we have Paul Roos.

His manager's played this like a fiddle. First violinist for the New York Philharmonic in fact. With Lake losing the plot, Frawley's worth as the only really high quality free agent has just clicked up another $100K. Roos must really be hating last weekend.

I agree with you WJ - I spoke to Stef at a couple of Debt Demolition functions and he always came across as a very articulate, clever, personable, young man. And fwiw, my benchmark for 'smart' is not other AFL players. Or various Demonland posters.

We drafted James Strauss.

Pretty hard to engender a good culture as a club leader in the sheds if that's the underlying mentality.

Not for everyone. Some players are capable of independent thought.

This is good news.

I don't expect Roos would be particularly impressed with Frawley from a club leadership perspective. Nate Jones, and virtually all other really effective senior leaders from other clubs who are determined to be one club players, would not be approaching this negotiation in the way Frawley has IMO. To my mind, it has appeared opportunistic. And it is causing some harm to the club IMO - if only because it is disrupting the 'we've turned the corner' narrative and it is slightly destabilising the momentum that's occurred under Roos. And before anyone cites Boak, Pavlich or Cloke, the list of senior players who would willingly sign up to their respective clubs well before the season end is much, much longer - other than, obviously, if they are actually intending to leave. This is perhaps the very reason as to why Frawley is likely to be so sought after. Most other good senior players put ink to paper a long time ago - and the list of decent UFAs is now pretty skinny. If Brett Kirk's Paul Roos' benchmark for club leadership, I'd say he's pretty underwhelmed by what he's observing with our Chip Frawley.