whatwhat say what

the big difference btw paul marsh and other former aflpa ceo's is that he has no ambition beyond his current role. this whole thing is such a shemozzle.

it's not the one year ban that makes a difference as to whether or not he's a drug cheat - it's the 'guilty' finding.

no top-up for the dees in 2016.

if i recall correctly, watts came in on qb after some outstanding vfl form. it probably shouldn't have happened, but his selection was not unwarranted.

9 games in 2016, rising star nomination, one finals game, 2017 rising star win, also a 2017 grand final performance in a premiership winning side... that'll do...

here's hoping he's as good as rockliff.

His kicking in those highlights reminds me of Cotchin.

They won't, 1 and 2 are locked away. What we do with 3 and GC17 do with 6 will massively impact how the draft rolls out.

Just as many of those middle sized players don't come on as expected either. Whoever we choose, it's a hope rather than an expectation that we will get a player who can go on to be a quality player - God knows we deserve to get a star or three from the last couple of drafts, don't we??

He looks like a super neat kick who will bring his teammates into the play. I think he'd definitely add to our midfield and I expect it will be him at #4, as we will bid for Mills and he'll go at #3.

On the whole, the gun key forwards are all early picks, academy / pre-draft selections or father-sons.

He was never touted as a likely pick 1. Top 10 sure but never top pick.

he won't ruck. he's a key forward.

weideman's ceiling is higher than any of the other supposed tall 'forwards'. both francis and curnow are more third talls - and curnow is more a mid-forward and francis more a defender. weideman and burton are genuine key forwards, while the twins are more ruck-forwards. i really hope we get this kid.

i just don't see tom mcdonald as a forward. he can swing there...but his kicking is just not good enough to make him better off playing forward as opposed to back, where i think he can become one of the best in the business.

melksham and kennedy for our second rounder would be okay (wada-pending).

Weideman could end up being the player of this draft. He's a beast, albeit one who has had injury issues. As a result he will probably end up sliding to a late first rounder and be picked up by a good club and given time to develop.

Straight swap for Toumpas.

as i think i said in another thread, the story goes that he was proffered as an option and there were no takers.

There's actually a pretty solid history of players, coaching and administrative staff switching btw the crows and the power. Hammer would be our best mid. Seeing as we are apparently not in the race for Bennell this becomes my next Get. It. DONE.

Can't believe Port would trade Hammer. He's a jet. If we can pinch him I'd be ecstatic but the Crows will go hammer and tongs to secure him.

Interesting listening to ABC and SEN yesterday. ABC with one of the journos from the Age and one from AFL Media are pretty adamant that Melksham to Dees for our second rounder will happen early on once trade period opens up, and that it's probably a good deal for both parties. The Age journo's brother is Howe's manager, and he was reluctant to comment on him, but it seems his asking price has fallen by some $2-300k, and he's happy to stay with us - primarily because no one is all that interested in him at his asking price. Listening to SEN, it seems that the story is the same for both Garland and Watts - with the former, there seems to a general feeling that he's explored his options and his contract offer will be higher at Melbourne than anywhere else. With the latter it was really interesting - slobbo said that he's been shopped and there's been absolutely zero interest in him, especially as he has a year to go on his contract, and the vibe is that any club recruiting him would only want to pay him a bare minimum contract not what he's on at melbourne. it seems that, like us, other clubs have no idea what to make of him; they can all see his upside but think he lacks the basic fundamentals to be a regular AFL player. the general acceptance seemed to be that he'd stay with us for at least the next year, if not beyond, as no one has any idea as to where he fits into a side's make-up as he's lacks a true position and seeminly lacks the desire to become an AFL-level player.

Gotta say, I'm on the fence re Goodwin too. Anything involved in the never ending scandal at the bombers bothers me. Plus I hated him when he was at the Crows. Prove me wrong with six premierships in a row, please!

Very surprising he was delisted. I know he was rated quite highly internally. I guess sometimes things don't work out for players / clubs.

His stats for the next couple of years could be far far worse...