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I expect that he will announce his decision early next week. Andrew had another meeting with North last night to tick of the remaining boxes before he decides which way he goes (with the meeting I gather being held to advise North of his decision one way or the other).

If Gaff does decide to return to Melb at the end of year (which goes against how happy he was in Perth last year) then we're certainly a preferred club (at least according to his family).

Salem - a witches hat. Absolutely no pressure, intensity or even attempts at chasing.

There is definitely more to this. Dusty (via his manager) has been telling other clubs of his disappointment at how Richmond dealt with him over his last contract, with it being conveyed to both North and another club involved in the process that Dusty still has a few issues with Richmond. Whether there is any truth in his annoyance with the Tigers is another matter. It wouldn't surprise me if there was no truth in his annoyance, but rather this being a story told to other clubs to drive up his price.

The mail I've heard said the Bombers offer was $1.2mil over 3 years, with our offer to Hibbert being $1.7mil over 4 years. Whilst our offer isn't a massive increase in $$, the desire to leave for a fresh start & join his best mate was the overriding factor.

Yes I did mean Andrew. It was his brother James who told me about how happy Andrew is in WA.

Expect a number of players to be squeezed out of Port Adelaide at the end of season due to salary cap concerns. I don't know if there would be any interest, but Jackson Trengove is one name mentioned at the start of the season by some family members who are very heavily involved at 2 Vic based clubs. For those mentioning interest in pursuing James Gaff, forget it he's no chance at returning back to Melb. Very happily enjoying life in WA, recently bought a house and settled in WA.

As someone who's privy to a lot of inside information (due family involvement at the club), I hope we stay well away from Daw. There's a lot more to his story than just past off-field issues and lots of potential. Whilst he has potential to actually be a good player, he has much more potential to cause disharmony amongst the playing group. Unfortunately it's his off field actions (re: training, attitude & respect for other players) that I would suggest are most of concern than any past alleged actions.

You have to be joking! Even North have realised he has limited upside even after 7 years in the system.

I'm neither making this information up, nor relying on any mates for information.My source is first hand. I have a family member (via marriage) who had to leave our holiday home in the early hours of the 3rd Jan to meet up with Dangerfield and his management. (As both parties wanted the discussions kept out of the media). Suffice to say, my family connection with the matter doesn't get any closer! (More than happy for you to doubt my information. I simply thought I'd share the details obtained at a family dinner on the 2nd Jan.)

Unfortunately we have absolutely 0% chance of securing either Danger or Hannebury at seasons end. Either would be a dream, but Danger is either off to the Cat's or staying in Adelaide (all the discussions/presentations with him took place over the off-season in early-mid January). Any talk of Danger going anywhere else than GFC/AFC is completely mis-guided and ill-informed. Geelong were extremely confident (95% - 99% sure) he'd make a decision to leave in Feb, however the odd's have gradually moved towards him staying due to the improvement in both the Crow's onfield performance and his relationship with senior members of the Crows. The focus on improving the 'quality' and depth in our midfield is likely to be come from the interstate clubs (who are after greater opportunities at the MFC), with the goal of securing 1 free agent (who will assist with the development of our young mids). Expect us to chase after a current CHF/CHB swingman with some experience at the end of the year.

No, at this stage we're not one of the 2 clubs.The connection with MFC - is that he did support us as a youngster (and we would be more capable than the 2 clubs of accommodating his contract/salary).

No. He's from a Melbourne based club. I'd say he's probably a 25% chance to leave at this stage, however if he does end up asking for a transfer (as he's still got years on his contract) then the news and fallout (of why we would want to leave) will be huge.

There's a possibility that a current captain may ask for a transfer at the end of the season due to "drug culture" issues. He's had enough of the club failing to address his concerns and has spoken to 2 Melbourne based clubs over the past couple of weeks.If would require a club giving up a lot to secure him - but if MFC somehow managed to secure him it would massively improve our class and ball use throughout the middle.

Geelong are definitely the front runners in the race to sign Danger. He met up with Chris Scott for a 2 hour long chat on the 2nd Jan at Skilled.

I wouldn't rule us out drafting Lever..... I've heard (as of Tuesday) from one senior coach and two recruiters (one Melb based and one interstate) that they still believe we may pick Lever based on PR's apparent love for the kid! Whether this eventuates is still to be seen.

Great to see the club finally getting professional!!! This has been going on at a number of the other top teams for at least the past 3-4 years. I was overseas with a coach (family member) during a pre-season in January a few years ago and was astounded that he could check on all of his players from over 10,000 kms away to see how each player pulled up after each individual training. The detailed information he was able to receive (such as what a particular player ate and a summary on each players training or weights session) allows coaches to be across the fitness and performance of all players without necessarily being in the country.

Confirming that at least 2 other Vic based clubs (teams that finished top 6 last year) have also switched to the same no/low carbs diet. Not sure why the trend has changed, but know that the coaches have also jumped on board (they've been giving me tips on what to eat!!) Definitely strange eating mostly meats for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

For what it's worth, a couple of current coaches (family connection) consider Lever & Heeney to be the two players with the highest upside/potential. At a recent dinner both commented that they expect the 'so-called' draft expects will see a few surprises in the top 15 picks (well more than in previous years was their exact wording). I found it interesting that both expect Lever to be drafted in the top 6 (one suggesting to us at pick 3 & the other to pies at pick 5) with the general consensus that he's a 'permanent defender' being way off-base and most likely to play the game in a similar manner to Luke Hodge in a sweeper role who also rotates through the midfield. My 2 cents - Lever to MFC at 3 & McCartin to the Giants at pick 6.

No chance he'll end up anywhere other that the Pies. North offered Greenwood exactly what he wanted - more $$ and a 3 yr contract. The fact that the pies offer is OVER $1,000,000 (that's right over a mil) more than norths (albiet for 4 yes) is way overs. He'll be on similar money to what Beams was on at the pies. Reckon this trade is going to come back to bite Buckley and the pies....

Not far off the mark DA, however his problem is not pokies but the punt (thus his need to leave Vic and try and get away from his debtors). Most of the Vic clubs are aware of Allan's problem (with a number of the Melb clubs ruling out trading for him based entirely on his history and past dealings).

Confirming Matt Fowles is a good Dees supporter like his brother Will and the rest of the family.

There is no chance we'll pick Jones up at 9. If he's available for our 2 round, then maybe. Way too many more players with better upside will be available at 9. Fyi - played golf with a couple of coaches last weekend, who both reckon all clubs are far better informed than previous years in terms of which players other clubs will draft. They both mentioned that there is unlikely to be any major surprises amongst the first Rd draftees.

Billings is much more than a running half forward. Stood up enormously last year (as a bottom aged TAC player) and has battled injuries for most of this year, so very hard to judge where he sits against the likes of Aish, Kelly, Freeman, Lennon etc. I have no doubt he will become a very classy A grader in a few years. Knowing Jack personally and having seen him play a fair bit of footy over the past decade, he's an incredibly 'smart' footballer who reads the play better and finds the right position more than most. He reminds me a lot of James Bartel - being equally skilled on both sides, courageous and a footballer willing to do what it takes to get the best out of himself. If he's around at pick 9, we'd be crazy to go past him! My 2 cents, I would not be surprised to see him go to GC at pick 5 (thats if the Saints don't pick him at 3) only to return to Melb in a couple of years to play with his best mate.

This is slightly off topic, but found it an interesting analogy to the journey that Neeld (and Craig) are trying to take the players/club/members on. Was watching some tv recently on the history of the St. Louis Rams (NFL) under coach Dick Vermeil and couldn't help but notice the similarities between the Rams and the MFC recent history. The Rams of the 90's were considered the worst team of the decade, with poor attitudes to training by the previous coaches and players. Enter a new coach (Vermeil) in 1997 who changed the players mindset by training them harder than they thought possible. Vermeil wasn't interested in results during his first couple of years (and it showed with 2 very poor seasons), but in developing players who would give their all regardless of their ability. I see so many similarities here between what Craig and Neeld are trying to achieve. Vermeil went about recruiting players on attitude and competitiveness (with less emphasis on ability). He recruited 'recycled' players to change the culture of the club at the Rams. For example Kirk Warner (their quarterback in 1999 and the leagues MVP) was stacking shelves at a supermarket a couple of years earlier, having missed out on the draft yet decided to continue to puruse his dream by toiling away in a small indoor league. Whilst the players attitudes towards training, each other and Vermeil himself took time to change, the turnaround was remarkable. I found it an interesting fact that when the Rams won the NFL championship in Vermeil's 3rd year (1999), there were only 8 players on the clubs list from when Vemeil took over in 1997.The recent changes (14 new players this year) at the MFC, the recruitment of experienced players based upon their attitude and character and who are willing to 'buy in' to Neeld's plan and set an example, thus helping mould their teammates attitudes to training and playing, resonates to me as a similar strategy to the one used so effectively by Vermeil.