RalphiusMaximus

Either way, i'm just not that excited by that pair. I would honestly prefer to draft new players than trade for guys who are willing ot jump ship like that. If they do it once, who's to say they won't do it again?

Is it weakness to look at past examples? Last year we had two players (that I know of) who told their clubs that they absolutely DID NOT want to be traded to Melbourne in Prismal and Warnock. They may not have been players we really wanted, but we could have been in the mix for both in terms of our trading options. We all know that Warnock went chasing the fast cash at Carlton, but what was Prismal's reasoning? Perhaps the club just doesn't have a lot of currency with a lot of players.

Regardless it's too early to tell whether they will be up to it by the time the draft comes around. And with the new Father Son rules you can be sure that someone will try to make us use our higher picks on them. Will any of them be worth a first round pick?

5 recruits? Interesting.

Easy there. It would hurt, but it wouldn't be the end of the world. Last place still gets us Scully. That's the big one. pick 2 as well is great, but it wouldn't kill us to miss out.

I think the problem is the people who firmly believe that they are on the side of logic and reason but are in reality repeating the "Formulated opinions" as CB has termed them and using them as the basis for their logical and reasonable arguments. I think you have missed the point here. What people are putting up are examples of rubbish theories that have been preached as gospel with little or no factual basis on these boards. Therefore your statement "there is some real rubbish on this thread" is merely validating the topic.

Jurrah for the norm smith. He has the freak factor to do something amazing on GF day.

More or less agree. I think Geelong are still a force, but they are struggling to keep their best team on the ground. Also, look for Adelaide to do some damage in the finals before bombing out in the Prelim. Niel Craig is a spectacular coach and he's got the players to work with.

Just a couple of changes to consider. I don't see Green holding a spot in that midfield, but as a general in the backline he'll be fine. Give that spot to Grimes. Morton to go on the ball and use that engine we all love. I don't think PJ will still be with us, so no to him in the ruck. I also think Stef martin will continue to improve and may well be holding a spot in the starting lineup by then, but that's pure speculation at this point. A couple of thoughts for people: - This side has Blease in it, but where do you see Straus fitting in? - How does the side change if we get Trengrove or Morabito? - How does the side change if we take Butcher, or indeed Panos or one of the other well-regarded KPFs?

I agree with some of them too, but as you say that isn't the point.

That would be things like: - Morton is too soft - Bartram can't kick - Newton does nothing but try to take showy marks - Robbo does nothing but try to take showy marks. - The team desperately needs another power forward to be competitive. - The team desperately needs more midfielders to be competitive. - The team desperately needs a dominant ruckman to be competitive. - Jones is just too slow. - McClean is just too slow. - Moloney is just too slow. - Buckley always kicks long and blind. That the sort of thing you were after?

Lol. On that logic I would lean towards Green. Funny how everyone sees these things differently.

If you were to rate toughness and skill level as around equal (ie they both have the same points on the board for onfield conduct) what is left is how they do things off the field. Davey's work in this area is well documented. He's the founder of the clubs indigenous scholaship program and has worked tirelessly to increase our profile in the top end. Green is far less prominent that Davey, but I have seen the odd mention such as the recent article on Morton re-signing in which he credits Green and Bruce for taking him under their collective wing and making sure he settled in ok. From this it is evident that they both work for the team off the field as well. I would say then that if either one were made captain and the other VC, we would have nothing to complain about.

A Richo/Goodes hybrid. :D

Exactly where I was going to go. He's given Scarlet a couple of lessons over the last few years for one. Not many can say that. He's been a great contributor for a number of years, but I can't see him being offered another contract at this stage. Once again it comes down to whether he is going to contribute to our next premiership tilt, and the answer is no.

Didn't see the game, so I can't give votes but i'd like to comment on this. I see Morton being played as a wandering wing type player. He's shown us that he is a very good defender, he popped up in the forward 50 a few weeks ago and kicked three, and with his engine he could keep running up and down the field all day. Imagine the match-up problem he would present. Do you tell one of your tall defenders to try to stay with him because they can match his size, or do you give the job to a smaller running player who might be able to keep up but could never out mark him. Very much the role that Richo was playing last year when they moved him out of the forward 50 and almost won him a brownlow.

He could have had more money if he went somewhere else. He quite rightly assessed his options before deciding that he couldn't leave the club that had given him so much. If anything, this decision only enhances my opinion of him as a future captain.

My paranoia won't go away until we've knocked off Carlton next week. I think the Saints are safe from our fast finish, but Carlton are just inconsistent enough to ruin our plans.

My only concern with the Carlton game is that they are very one dimensional. If we manage to shut down Fevola they are very capable of falling in a heap. Perhaps we should rest Jurrah and Bate as a precaution? Bring Zomer up to fill in the gap in the forward fifty and we'd be about set I think.

Just looked at the Bigpond highlights footage. We looked good.

They're trying to sneak into the top 4. I doubt they'll be slacking off this time. Still, we should be able to shut Fev down, and they don't have much else up forward...

It was pretty damn good. Haven't seen the mark to Robbo yet. With a bit of luck it'll be on the news.

That is awesome! Thank you.

If nothing else he'd throw everything at the Cats when we played them. There have to be some hurt feelings there after the way they've treated him.

Collingwood have Travis Cloke in the side and Anthony Rocca waiting for another chance. There is also Anthony taking marks and kicking goals up there. You can't realistically be claiming that they play with an undersized forward line? Geelong have both Mooney and Hawkins in the forward group. Ottens too when he's fit. Again, not exactly small units. The Bulldogs are not now and will not be in the near future a serious threat to the GF precisely because they have no decent KPFs. They have been trying for years to get by with a small agile group of forwards on the back of a highly skilled running midfield, and it simply doesn't work. They are able to come very close, but at the pointy end of the season they are consistently beaten by sides with better balance. Basically, what I'm getting at here is that while the game is evolving, there are certain basic truths that will keep coming to the fore. Bookends are not a luxury or an anachronism, they are a necessity if you are going to win flags. The game as it is played now requires them to be able to run, tackle and perform any number of other tasks, but the essence of their role is the same now as ever. With this in mind, I can certainly see room for another KPF in our lineup. Twin towers filling FF and CHF would allow Bate and Jurrah to roam free in a midsized role ans leave room for rotating smalls in the form of Maric, Wona and random midfielders who need a rest. Of course, none of this is to say that we need to use pick 2 for Butcher. I would honestly be happy with either he or Trengrove. I have faith in our recruiting staff to be much better informed than anyone on this forum, and as such have to believe that they will make the best decision for our club. But if we went for Trengrove (or Morabito or Rowan) with pick 2, I'd very much like to see 18 used on a KPF.