hoopla

Tend to agree. Has fantastic potential - but really has to improve his kicking to take full advantage of it. Given his pace and his clean hands, could be a very dangerous forward option ( again...if could kick!)

Oops ... ,"Sorry about that, Chief"!! I'm not convinced about Cheney either - but at 19 he has a bigger body - and a greater capacity to improve than Barts ( and I think he is showing signs of being a good decision maker>

Have to agree with this - even though Miller doesn't kick enough goals. He is our only big bodied forward at the moment. Its interesting he has only got a 1 year contract - given that he is a Queenslander and Gold Coast will be looking to add a bit of maturity to their list in 2010

Just about sums it up .......though you could have thrown in that he's not a particularly good decision maker either To climb the ladder we are going to need bigger stronger faster and smarter players than Barts - and ones who can kick Given his limitations he has done very well to chalk up over 50 AFL games

Why are we starting at the Junction Oval.? We're hardly in a position to impress Ball if he has to meet us down there! I thought Casey was the go for pre-season training.....

I'll be quite happy if that's true. Don't get me wrong - Barts' has been a great worker for the club - and I don't like to see him walk out bitter Its just that of our younger players , he is the one with the most limitations - and the one least likely to be part of a successful team going forward.

Agree absolutely If he nominates for the draft it will be in the hope that someone other than Melbourne will pick him up. I want him - but only if he wants us - and if he wants us he'll wait for the PSD

Every pick we take will force a de-listing We need to be careful not to throw out an injury prone player who has shown something - for an injury prone player whose shown no more (and been with someone else) I'd definitely take Ball - but I'm not that Jesse Smith is a better option than sticking with Bell or Buckley

I reckon something like this is on the cards. Ratten and Riley would rate Bell from their days at Melbourne. He certainly showed potential .... pace, hard at it, good kick etc. Injuries have definitely held him back - and his decision-making/awareness has not improved. They might hope that he'd read the game better under Carlton's game plan? Now that Brock has gone, I think we are below the 92.5% salary cap minimum. This makes Ball a real option if he somehow sneaks through. There's no way I'd look at a 29 year old like Monica Wojinski. I'm not holding my breath for any action today. But it would be great if we could somehow improve our later picks

I'd be happy with Gotch Surely if it really is 100%, an announcement is about to hit the airwaves?

Agree that we need to chase talls. I just reckon that Ball really is quality. I'd hope that if we got him we'd be more likely to concentrate our draft action on rucks/KPFs !! The other issue with Ball ( and Burgoyne) is that we need to lift our TPP to get to the 92.5% minimum. If a mid age tall of Ball's quality was available - then I'd certainly take him instead

Doesn't every player-for-pick trade potentially reduce the number of delistings required? The question is whether or not the picks are good enough to use ahead of the PSD, rookie promotions etc Bell and Pick 50 for Pick 30 say, would increase the number outs to 5. If we had always intended to use Pick 50 the number of delistings required would fall ( now 8 ins ( 5 + 3 say) less 5 outs) : its only if we had previously intended to pass on Pick 50 that number of delistings required would not change.

I guess I've followed Melbourne too long - it just sounds too good to be true!! The other issue is that without Brock - we are struggling to reach the salary minimum. Ball would just be soaking up money we're going to have to spend anyway. We don't want to have to artificially increase the salary of our current list just to comply with the 92.5% minimum rule. All that will do is increase the long-term salary expectations of our youngsters. It really would be a coup

I'm a bit suspiciuos of Everiit I know he's had injuries - but I would have thought the Bulldogs would have had a role for him in the finals if he's up to it Perhaps he's a little hard to handle like his brother? The best scenario for us out of all this would be to get Luke Ball in the PSD. Now that Brock is gone, we may struggle to get to the minimum salary cap - Ball's demands would fix that as well as putting a hard nut into the midfield - and he's only 24 or 25 Otherwise Harrington's strategy of getting into three-way deals to try to push our picks up the line ( ie lower them!) has to be the way to go. We are going to have to delist a couple of players if we can't throw them into a trade or two. There seems to be interest in Bell and Buckley. Unfortunately doesn't look like anybody wants Bartram as "run with' option. So far I reckon our strategy has been spot on. We'll just have to hold our breath until 2.01 pm tomorrow. Let's just hope that no paperwork on Ball hits the AFL before then...

12 months ago, Brock was in there giving money to the Debt Demolition - pronouncing his devotion to the MFC. Players weren't asked to hand back some of their salary - but he did - put his love for the club up in lights. From the day he first joined Brock has been shouting from the rooftops that he wanted to be captain.You can only presume that he got the message that he was no longer the golden haired boy - and with that all of his devotion went out the window. He wanted a full spread in the paper - so he had to put over some sort of story. He couldn't tell the journo the truth ... so he came up with the traffic story As captain of the MFC, I reckon he would have loved the spin out to Casey during the summer holidays Hat's off to Tim Harrington for snaffling Pick No 11 for a slow midfielder who likes the sound of his own voice

Doubt it - not this early in the week anyway. Sounds like a good Collingwood hoax call to me

Oops - I forgot Meeson - who I think is still just under 24. Perhaps that's because I'm not confident he will ever make the grade!

I definitely agree. To win a flag you really need at least one strong competitive ruckman and a couple of big key forwards plus a bit of back-up. Of those on our list under 24 , we only have Stef ( who needs to polish his footy skills) Watts ( who needs a lot of physical development) ,Juice ( who is a big question mark) and perhaps Spencer ( who has a long way to go). Quality talls are hard to find - 2 out of every 3 probably won't make it. I hope that we use 11 and 18 on rucks/KPPs - and fill up our rookie list with a few speculative big men

Doubt if the comment was directed at any particular player. Just a strategic reminder to everyone that we are sitting back in case any good players remain uncontracted at the end of the draft period. It may be some time before any specific targets emerge - if indeed anyone does.

The leopard hasn't changed its spots

It's now 12.40 am - and no confirmed deal on Brock. Are Carlton going back on their word? Does their hand-shake mean anything? I thought Carlton were now trying to be all sweetness and light - getting rid of Fev etc. How about sticking to promises?

Just noted that you have not listed the following Bartram ( I'd delist) Buckley ( still a chance if he gets fit) Dunn ( still has upside) Bell ( might go this year) Petterd ( definite midfield option) Jetts ( had time in the midfield at the end of the season) Aussie ( want to make him a midfield option) Bate ( showed at end of season that he is an option) Winning teams also need KPs - including two marking forwards

Sounds like a disgrace ... unless the parties were miles apart - in which case we're better to go our separate ways. We need to sign up a replacement asap - and shore up our relationship with Casey

Oh Jim. Terrible news. What's happened to the luck of the Irish? Hang in there mate If anyone can do it you can

Sorry I'm lazy ...but I don't always read 'ology -and I've gone back several weeks without finding the story. Can someone please send us the link? Our partnership with Casey is critical - and any ructions between the two clubs are disturbing. If Peter German never signed his contract - then he was never fully committed and we are better off without him - even if he is very capable.