Dee*ceiving

salaray cap issue would have to be a furphy. With Neitz, White, Yze & Holland all off the list at years end and no-one else really up for a big pay rise based on performance the total player payments will come down dramatically next season with little effort. A few others on decent money are a chance to get the chop too i.e. Carrol and Sylvia. Plus Brown, Pickett, Ward and Bizzell all pulled the pin last year and they must have been getting paid in the higher bracket. After this year we should have only 3 players earning at or near $400k, Green, Bruce and Robbo. Next highest paid would be the likes of Davey, McLean & Miller. Surely that would be at least 7.5 % less than a team like Carlton, Hawthorn or St Kilda. Don't even mention Sydney or Brisbane

Maybe we could trade Sylvia, Bell and a pick in the 30s for a top 20. But as stated previously with the depth of class reported in the upcoming draft and the impacts the Gold Coast team are going to have after this year its hard to see any clubs being prepared to part with any picks let alone a top 20

I think those extra bits and pieces such as stickers, scarfs and ties are superfluos. They cost the club next to nothing and just represent a little extra value to the punter for their membership. I think you'll find even if they did away with the little extra non-sense in the membership packages the actual price of the package wouldn't come down that much, if at all. I think its potentially a good idea but not quite in the manner you have presented it Clint, definitely something that could be explored though. What about something like those that purchase an 11 game membership can fork out an extra $20 for reserved seats at 2 of the more popular home games for the year like Collingwood or Essendon, things like that. Or for an extra $50 you get access to the lindsay hasset room 5 times per season for 2 free pots, etc etc.

The ball didnt make it into our 50 for 2 qtrs and he still kicked 2 goals. I think he had about 6 shots against the Dogs. Has been good enough in 2 games back to persist a bit longer. He needs to learn to exert some influence on proceedings when the ball is not coming to his area by working up the ground and ensuring his opponent gets a work out, but that can be achieved. Still young enough to persist with IMO.

I think Dutchy is a stand up guy and will not unfairly hold the club for ransom at their detriment. Smells of 'TANK-ITIS' to me and he is just helping by saying he feels he can't deliver. Or he doesn't want to re-injure the shoulder and need surgery for the sake of 1 more game. Maybe he doesn't want to retire in the hope he'll get a round 22 send off with his mates Ooze and Whitey

No Brock?

Not sure what it tells us about the boy. Terrible tattoo in my opinoun

Anyone know what Jared Rivers tattoo reads in the picture attached. Surely not Rivers?

Luke Molan, Aaron Rogers and Nick Smith being duds hurt Danners pretty badly And Miller never blossomed like he hoped.

Trading Green would be a bad move. He bleeds for that jumper more than anyone else currently on the list.

I think you're right Cactus. It seems each AFL boss comes in with 1 major goal for their term and for Vladimir its to introduce new clubs in the GC and West Sydney. Tackling an additional item such as the fixture and competition structure can be left for the next head administrator in his mind.

thanks for that. Just 1 questions does that mean collingwood train on the Storms ground?

Correct, those teams will still meet once per year, sharing home fixturing in alternate years. I know its a bit complex and takes some reading but I thought it would generate a bit more debate; not too worry thanks to those who took time to read it.

I apologise if I am proposing a new a slant on an old idea but I have been thinking about this for a while and reckon its a fair idea. Just as a warning I am lending heavily from the structure used in most North American competitions where the total number of competing franchises is near or above 30. The main premise to my proposal is to break the current 16 teams into 2 distinct divisions or conferences. For the purpose of this exercise we will call them conference A and conference B. Each conference will contain 3 non-Victorian and 5 Victorian teams. Logically and for logistic simplicity you pair the SA teams and the WA teams and split Sydney and Brisbane. Here is an example of how I think you could split the 2 conferences: A West Coast Fremantle Sydney Collingwood Essendon Nth Melbourne St Kilda Geelong B Adelaide Port Adel Brisbane Hawthorn West. Bulldogs Carlton Melbourne Richmond Now for the benefit of this spilt. Under this system each team would play every other team in their conference twice, once at home, once away (2*7 = 14 games). While each team plays the 8 teams in the other conference only once (1*8 = 8 games) 4 of them away and 4 at home. This results in each team playing a total of 22 games per season. This would mean that each and every season you would know roughly the composition of the fixture before it was even drawn up. Ideally the teams from the opposite division you play away this season you would play at home the next season. Under this system each Victorian based team will play no less than 4 and no more the 5 games outside of Victoria each season. You could manipulte the composition of the 2 conferences all day long but I think this system works well for the following reasons: 2 derbys and 2 showdowns each year Brisbane to Adelaide and Sydney to Perth are similar distance trips The 2 biggest drawing Victorian sides (Essendon and Collingwood) will play twice each year The next 2 biggest drawing Victorian sides (Richmond and Carlton) will play twice each year The draw is the same each year which simplifies team planning, travel and nullifies the argument of inequitable or soft draws whereby clubs seem to enjoy less interstate games or more than one game againt the top/bottom sides Fixture scheduling is simpler as the draw structure removes objectivity Geelong can have 6 games at Skilled each year, 3 against the interstate teams in its conference and at least 1 against the interstate team from the other conference. This means that the lower drawing Victorian sides such as Melbourne, West Bulldogs, St Kilda and Hawthorn could take turns playing there no more than once every 2 years. Finals structure: 8 sides will contest finals The top 3 sides from each conference automatically qualify for finals (6 teams) The next 2 teams will be considered wildcards and these will be awarded to the 2 teams outside the previous 6 with the best records, regardless of conference (2 teams) Finals Week 1 4 games will be played The top team from each conference will play the team that finised second (at home) in qualifying finals (QF1 & QF2) for a spot in the prelim final The two teams finishing third will play the wild card teams (at home) in elimination finals (EF1 & EF2). The 3rd placed team with the best record will play the wild card with the worst record. After week 1 two teams will be eliminated and 2 will be through to a prelim final in 2 weeks time Finals week 2 2 games will be played (SF1 & SF2) Losers from QF1 and QF2 will face the winners from EF1 and EF2. QF teams will play at home with the best record from the home and away facing off against the work record After week 2, 2 more teams will be eliminated The 2 winners will face the winners from QF1 and QF2 in week 3. Finals week 3 QF1 and QF2 winners face SF1 and SF2 winners at home. The highest rated team at the end of the home and away facing the lowest rated team at the end of the home and away. The winners are through to the GF in week 4 Finals week 4 Grand Final at the MCG. The finals series itself is very similar to what is curently in place (if not identical) and could be modified, suggestions welcome. Overall the only negative I can see from the system overall is the AFL will find it more difficult to maximise attendances by not being able to schedule as many blockbuster games per season as humanly possible as they will be constrained to the overall structure of the league. This will prevent some leveraging of existing rivalries, however I think it will increase the liliehood of new rivalries being formed. Let me know what you think.

Here is a solution for Mick: Play every home game on a Sunday at the MCG or preferably TD because the MCG is our gound Play a minimum of 6 games a year on non-Victorian grounds Play Geelong at Skilled Play Essendon, Carlton, Richmond, Hawthorn & Melbourne no more than once per season That should prevent his players from big game burnout and at the same time reduce the Pies bottom line by about 30%. FFS Mick get off your high horse and think about the big picture, the main objective of the AFL is not to play to every whim of the CFC to the delight of your feral band of toothless, dim-witted, in-bred, mullet haired, moccassin wearing followers. [Deleted]

1 year of an extra ruckman is no big deal. Spencer wouldn't have to be retained as a rookie and after 2009 there is a good chance White will retire and Jamar will not be on the list. P Johnson might even struggle to keep his place on the list.

Correct, I am aware both Bate and Dunn were taken bottom age in 2005 because the thought at the time was they would all be highly sought after the following year

Best case scenario: We get pick 1, WCE get pick 2. We tell WCE we will draft Rich with Pick 1 unless they deal us Pick 2 and a quality player for pick 1. They get Rich, we get Natanui and a quality Eagle (Kerr maybe a stretch but Embley/Hunter a possibility)

Correct, he is a one grab player even when the ball is bouncing awkwardly and he seems to know where his team mates are at all times. His handpasses from a pack to Davey and Bruce in the last qtr were first class.

Big dutch he is such a smart player. If he had the athleticism and skill of a Buddy Franklin or even a Paul Wheatley he would have been a star in this league for many many years

Agreed, he makes sure he gets everything he can out of that body of his. Special mention too based on the fact that he hurt his shoulder in the second quarter and went off only to tell Ricky Olarenshaw on the boundary line that he would be coming back on to kick a goal. He kicked 2 in fact.

I would like to see Garland play on Milne...He seems to have good toe for a tall player. I think PJ could play on Kosi and Warnock on Riewoldt

Green has been great across half back recently, while I like the idea of him coming out of the goal square I would be reluctant to change his focus while he is playing some of the best footy of his career. Just because Yze and Robbo are different player types doesn't mean they can't line up in the same position and be effective. Its like saying Hawthorn couldn't play Mark Williams at FF if Buddy got injured. Ablett and Lockett were completely different player types too but both were sensational full forwards. We won't have a better chance to get Yze a game in his last season than if Robbo is injured. He is playing well, get him. in. Tough to call ins and outs on Monday without know the likliehood of players fitness later in the week however based on the assumption that Holland and Robbo are injured and White is fit. In: Yze, White, C Johnson Out: Robbo, Holland,, Bartram,

One would think Grimes would need a few games at Sandy before being considered for senior selection. That being the case there is a good chance we can place an older player on the LTI (should one get injured or require surgery to be ready for next year) or have Holland/Yze retire to free a spot on the senior list for Grimes.

True but Sandy played the Northern Bullants yesterday. C Johnson is knocking on the door for another chance by the looks and I agree with whoever said Yze should come in for Robbo is he fails to come up. Sylvia would be a chance to come in as well and if White isn't ready I think its time we got a look at Meesen...Jamar was puss yesterday especially in the second half