Nasher

Delisted free agents don't count against compo. I think rpfc outlined the rules earlier in this thread.

Young and single, clearly. I watch at least one game a week. I always watch the Melbourne game unless I genuinely can't, which is usually only if I'm at work (I work shift work). I will watch the Friday and/or Saturday night games if my wife doesn't feel like doing anything else (i.e. default option if no better offers). I almost never watch non-Melbourne day games as I am usually busy with the kids and family.

Given that there's always at least one commentator that I can't stand calling any given game, it's impossible for me to avoid them all sadly.

Don't believe in "keeping the lid on it" for the sake of it. The kid is going to be a gun and I can't wait. Is it 2014 yet?

I took the opposite away. Fremantle have been perenially weak since joining the competition; they've had more than their share of years of being a complete basketcase on the field, and even when they've had decent sides, they were still prone to being flakey under pressure. Who could forget when Bailey's very ordinary 2008 Melbourne team ran over the top of them after being 50 points behind at half time? Ross Lyon has taken them from LOLmantle to one of the toughest, most well drilled sides I've seen. With the exception of when they put the cue in the rack for the last 15 minutes of the game, they crushed the reigning premiers as if they were nothing. This shows what a difference having a first rate coach can make. They set the bar for defensive pressure very high, but I took heart from watching them play after casting my mind back to the Freo of old.

That was unbelievable. I am stunned.

How did that happen?

Why is 1998 such a great example of why it didn't work? I didn't follow the machinations of the finals that closely back then, but looking it it now I can't see why it's such a disaster. Adelaide in their run to the flag beat Sydney (3rd after H&A), Western Bulldogs (2nd) and North Melbourne (1st). If they hadn't have rolled Sydney in the semi, then by Prelim stage, it'd be 1st vs 4th, 2nd vs 3rd just as it is in the existing system. Under the current system Adelaide (5th) would have played Essendon (8th), which you think they'd have won, so any "they got a second chance when finishing 5th" argument is largely moot IMO. It looks a little bit quirky from the perspective that they progressed further than Melbourne even though they lost to Melbourne in the first round of the finals, but after that they beat three teams ranked higher than both themselves and Melbourne (including the team that beat Melbourne), so I think you'd be hard pressed to argue that the system didn't work on that occasion. Where it would have been really balls is if the bottom sides had all won, in which case the 3rd an 4th ranked sides would be eliminated and the 5th and 6th ranked sides go through to prelims. The current system is better in that it eliminates weird results, but I don't think the old system was the abomination that people make it out to be. At least, not due to any of the results that actually occurred.

Don't understand why they'd elevate him when they don't have to; he could have a second year on the rookie list before they had to make the call and surely there's still sufficient doubt over whether he'll be a best 22 player for them.

Can't believe you forgot Paul Johnson.

I just spat coffee on my screen. I really, really hope we pick Swallow up and I'm prepared to pay a good price, but he ain't gonna be the best player of all time.

I'm not upset with Bluey's comment, I just thought it was moronic. There's a difference.

Wtf, why are we mentioning Travis in the same breath as Robbie Flower? Travis was borderline AFL for his first four seasons, it wasn't until 2002 - his fifth season - that he pulled his finger out. Travis was lazy and set low standards for himself, I've got no doubt that Toumpas will be a more consistent player than Travis. If anything at all, the only reason Travis may belong in this conversation is to prove that sometimes really talented kids take a while and that's why we shouldn't write them off early, as that was definitely true for Johnstone.

Said it before, he's a deep thinking, emotional kid who places a lot of pressure on himself, so will be more affected by confidence swings than most. He looked a player who felt he didn't belong for much of the season. I expect he will absolutely flourish under a coach who connects with his players as Roos does.

You're doing it wrong, you're not supposed to quash the rumours! (Thanks for the info.)

Me too Billy. That post was a smorgasbord of embarrassment.

The worst of all hiding to nothing roles. Best of luck to him if he gets the gig; reckon he'll need it.

It's a highlight clip at the end of the day. Attitude is more than just how he ran in one piece of play, it's about how he does it consistently, how he trains, how he reacts to criticism, whether he listens to instructions and so forth. And for those couple of good games he played for us, he played a number of absolutely wretched ones, including his one and only game in 2012.

I can't fairly vote because I've never seen Aish play, but of the existing players I'd choose Swallow.

Probably could've began and ended the thread with that, old dee. You are spot on.

I think the fact that we ended up with Pedersen on the list is a whole separate disaster. With my Harry Hindsight hat on I'd have preferred it if we'd just delisted Gysberts and ended up with neither of them on the list.

Nakor is an Isalani "trickster", who is referenced in passing in the Riftwar series, but first appears as a character in the Serpentwar series (I think?). He's a character all the way through and dies in the series before the last one. Umm. *Way* off topic. We could take it to a thread in the general forum?

Must have been screwed over by Scott too, I suppose?

He played a couple of good games in 4 seasons on an AFL list. Amazeballs.

It would be beyond stupid to take him back. North have given up after one year and when he was here there were all sorts of questions about his work ethic and attitude. That tells the whole story pretty well I think.