Nasher

If that was the deal, I'd be amazed if the coaching years weren't counted in the salary cap. It's almost identical to Fat Phil isn't it?

Okay then. Elaborate on how this is "fishy" and how they've colluded outside of how any other clubs do deals.

Using your network to get stuff done isn't colluding.

Yep. Melbourne playing funny buggers on Hibberd when our second round pick would have got it done in the opening hour of trade week suggests more irons in the fire to me.

Nothing mate, Mahoney is just scratching his arse and arguing with Essendon about which year's second round pick we'll give for Hibberd. That's what olisik said (38 times) anyway, so it must be true.

Interesting to consider what deal would have gotten this done. Someone on BF said the only reason Hawthorn pulled the plug on any deal was because Melbourne low-balled (and I believe that as much as I believe any of this), however I can't see then being in any position to get much for a 30 year old. There's no doubt he's a very good player, but the MFC is not going to mortgage its future for a player who might only have a year or two remaining, when it's unlikely that we will be flag contenders during Lewis' stay here. I'd have thought something like our third round pick, or upgrading their second round pick or something like that, but for them that's essentially scrap value for the player who came second in their B&F. I can't see the MFC coming at anything more for a short term prospect. They must be bloody desperate for salary cap relief if this is the path they have taken. Damn shame he's not a FA!

Snort. I wondered the same thing. Draft someone to do the actual playing in his stead?

We're in a lucky position that we're able to put our feet up and wait - Cam Pedersen remaining on the list enables this. Weideman becoming a good player depends on him being able to develop the right size, which is obviously not a given, but obviously has all the other aspects to his game already, i.e. smarts and skills. It might be a long wait, but it will be worth it.

One thing I've always wanted to get a good handle on, which is impossible from the outside, is how much value there is in goodwill between clubs when it comes to trading. If it's as I suspect, Hawthorn taking a dump in the very small AFL trading nest probably doesn't help them much either.

This is exactly why in the "if Hawthorn get Mitchell and O'Meara thread then..." I said they'd have to pay. Something would have to give. Even if we don't get Lewis in the end, it is very nice to know that they've utterly shat off the old brigade in order to bring in all these high priced new young players. They've thrown the players loyalty and goodwill back in their face, when they've all been paid unders for years to keep the cap under control and the dynasty alive. I wonder what the team dynamic will be like when Mitchell, Vickery, O'Meara rock up for the first time. Great stuff!

We were told to expect pace and dashes off half back, but his toughness caught me off guard. Not afraid to fly for a mark, lay a tackle, or get crunched when necessary. I really hate to stereotype, but it totally belies his looks. What an absolute gift from the footy gods.

Thanks for passing it on - like others have said, I love a good rumour. "A Hawthorn supporter", though. It'd be a bit like me opening a post with "A Melbourne supporter told me...", when we all know that most of us know SFA.

The club's strategy seems to be to back ourselves to develop our stars in house rather than pay a single player the "premium for moving" you need to get players to consider going.

I wonder why it's Hawthorn so anyway - they're not the only club that are a flag threat, and they're not the only club with money. I reckon a big part of why everyone is silent on this except fans is that because that the people who are involved don't think it's an issue. It could be that the reason so many players seem to choose Hawthorn (or Collingwood) is because that's the club that pursued them the hardest have gave them the most compelling deal. Clubs always have a strategy when it comes to recruiting players, it could be that Melbourne's discussion goes, "yeah look we'd love Tom Mitchell, but with our talented young list we're not prepared to offer him that sort of money because we'll have a salary cap later, if Hawthorn want to throw everything at one last flag, let them go nuts...", or "yeah look we'd love Tom Mitchell, but we're not prepared to sacrifice ourselves out of the 2016 and 2017 drafts, or lose any of our key young talent, in order to get the deal done with Sydney. If Hawthorn want to throw everything at one last flag, let them go nuts...". Next time someone ends up at a function with Todd Viney when he's in one of his candid moods, ask him about it.

The chances of this rule being abolished are so close to zero that all you do is waste the finite seconds of your life mentioning it. Players rights type rules are never going to regress.

If Hawthorn get Mitchell and O'Meara, then... They will have to pay for them. I'll save the wrist slashing until I see the outcome.

I don't think Redleg is referring to it being leaked to the media.

Let's not get too carried away with our own season here. We are not yet a side bristling with midfield talent that is impossible to break in to, there were places in the side ripe for the picking most weeks. For whatever reason, the opportunities he got were obligatory at best and the club looked to other players for the most part. Without wanting to be disparaging, I think even the weaker teams will look elsewhere. Most clubs would prefer to gamble on a player they've never seen before than a player who has now been in the system a while and failed at two clubs. I know that's harsh and I feel very sorry for him as he's clearly left nothing out there and seems likeable, but I think it's just how it is.

Team Mahoney/Viney/Taylor have demonstrated ability in pulling rabbits of hats, so I hope you're right. I've got to say I've never been as excited by a bunch of bland footy administrators as I am by this team. So boring to listen to, so many runs on the board to date.

Rockliff was training with us at the time, and my recollection was that all and sundry believed we would take him with our PSD pick. The selection of Jurrah with the PSD pick was totally out of the blue and allowed the Lions to swoop. That generation of recruiting staff also had form with telling players we'd take them and then spontaneously taking someone else when the time came to deliver (ref Bennell-Sloane), so while this is all hearsay, it adds up to a plausible story. He's still a tool if he's not over it by now though.

How many people who were running the club then are still there now? It wouldn't be hard for Taylor/Viney/Mahoney/Goodwin/whoever to go "yeah yeah sorry, those guys were idiots, the club isn't like that now.". If he still holds a grudge over that, he's probably a sandwich short of a picnic anyway.

Kennedy and McGlynn for 39 (Grimley), 46 (Stratton) and 70 (promotion of Matt Suckling). Grimley was a dud and Stratton is a decent player, but hardly worth one of the premier mids in the comp. Regardless of who they took with the picks, on that trade it's obvious they just didn't rate him at all.

Just so exciting. His hands are the best I've seen at the MFC. Glaring weakness is his tank - he only played one game at AFL midfielder minutes (round 9 against Brisbane), but since he was fresh out of the footballer factory that's hardly surprising.

Prone to being a total passenger when we play poorly. Probably just a product of an inexperienced HFF player. His best his quality and he's only just passed 50 games as a player, so he was still really playing as a junior member of the side this year; he still has plenty of time to work on it. His best is fast, dangerous, hard and exciting. Can't wait to see what his 2017 brings.

Most of us are excited by his talent, and it's easy to forget he's just a baby still. Was 19 for the duration of the season. If he plays every game and a final next year he'll play his 50th game in the final, in the week of his 21st birthday. Unlikely to happen in reality, but it paints a picture of just how far away he is from full tilt yet. Great example of sensible development of young talent by the MFC. Has played low minutes and missed games to date, meaning the experience he has accumulated has been under less pressure. Looking forward to Billy's workload being ramped up over the next 2-3 years as he clearly has the ability and drive.