praha

If you can *play* like a small forward, your height is irrelevant.

I also saw Simon Godfrey at Inflation nightclub about 15 years back. I went up to him and said "Go Dees" like a groupie. He looked at me strange. Good times.

While in Amsterdam recently I had two extremely random MFC encounters. 1. My walking tour guide, who was an Amsterdam local, asked us who we followed in the footy after he heard we were from Melbourne. Before answering I asked him how he even knew about footy, and it was because his roomate was a diehard Melbourne supporter. Funnily, he knew all about Essendon's drug saga and compared it to FIFA corruption. 2. The next night, we did an awesome canal tour (Dam Boat Guys if anyone is after an awesome canal tour with some, erm, smoking flexibility). The guide was an Aussie that had been living in Amsterdam for a few years. While he was driving the boat at a blistering 5kmh, he was showing me highlights from the final vs Geelong and was almost in tears talking about how much he wished he was there. It was so random to find myself talking about the Dees on the other side of the world, twice, within 24 hours. What are your random MFC experiences while traveling? (NOTE: I asked the boat tour guide if he was the roommate of the walking tour guide, and he wasn't)

Gus squibbed a few times early as well...but he changed that really quickly and went from one extreme to the other. I think Andrew is a smart footballer, but unlike Gus he is taking longer to, erm, squib the squibs. Unless he does, he's just a Cale Morton 2.0

We are better defensively with a fit Lever and May, better by maybe 3-4 goals. Losing Hogan makes us 2 goals on average worse. However if we can keep the differential high enough, the total score is irrelevant.

Ceiling is higher for Neale atm you would think. Beams has probably peaked.

- Based in beautiful Princes Park - Fringes of melbourne CBD - ...flies free agent to Noosa

Norf is trying very hard not to bottom out but imo they would be best served to. Build up and trade for draft picks, and manage that cap space accordingly. Throwing money at every single free agent is getting embarrassing for them. Imagine having your $200k p.a. better offer rejected.

I said on this forum once that he'll either be a solid forward-flanker that routinely kicks 40-50 goals a year, or he'll end up as Clive Waterhouse 2.0. The way people attacked me you'd think I'd killed their dog. Hogan both epitomizes and is the antithesis of Waterhouse's career so far.

The club probably would have had to let one of Brayshaw, Oliver, Harmes, Petracca, Mcdonald, and Hogan go at some point. Close to 0% chance we keep all together for the duration of their careers. Hogan leaving probably provides some flexibility, doubt they want to see him go but if they have an opportunity to get high value, of course they will do it.

He set the bar pretty high, no? You can either go the Adelaide or even the Carlton or WC route and pretend to be hard arses but end of the day the player will get to their destination. Our trade with Crows for Lever will stand as an important moment whenever we go to the trade table because that set the precedent.

Someone should interview him with non-questions about his time at the club. He took a page out of the Mark Stevens book on interviewing, making statements and expecting the interviewee to drive the conversation.

The funny thing is that it wasn't even a block. As with the goal of the year, of which Pies fans carry on like autistic seals about it being a throw, they have established themselves as amongst the dumbest fans in the game. Watch the replay. Both Maynard and Rioli have eyes on the ball. They are both competing. Rioli had better positioning. A block is where you actively infringe on a player's ability to contest the mark. That's not what happened. There were two marking contests, one overlapped the other.

Hate to say it but can't see Collingwood losing. Pies by 17 FG: Darling NS: Howe (yeah I went there) If Pies win, you can bet one of their defenders will nab norm smith.

Both Melbourne and Collingwood stand to have tough draws next season whereas the likes of North, Adelaide will [censored] it in with 15+ games against non-finalists. 2019 stands as our true test. Collingwood's too (even if they win today)

Of course but i think it is bigger now than him being contracted, or a "player". if you're not motivated by the environment or your motivation lies elsewhere, it always falls down on management and stakeholders to find a way to motivate and instill belief. imposing rules or contractual obligations never works because no organisation in their right mind keeps someone around who doesn't want to be there. it's not just in football. the contractual element in sport is less about putting an explicit time window on the minimum obligation a player has: it is a safeguard for teams that, should the contract need to be altered, they have bargaining power. it's extremely rare that a contracted player that wishes to leave the team their contracted to doesn't have their wish fulfulled. I cringe when I hear teams say "they are a contracted player". The contract serves to protect the player's earning capacity first and foremost. If Hogan wishes to move, first intent is to ensure he is fully aware of how important he is. Beyond that, I believe the team has an obligation to him, fans and the team environment to get the best possible outcome in a trade.

My thoughts after some reflection: He was adament to stay and be part of something great. Getting injured and missing finals has changed his perspective. A young kid has seen his colleagues succeed without him. It can be demoralizing and can impact your own self worth. It happens to all of us. I am not the least bit surprised by this if it's all true. This stands as an important test for this regime. Scully felt he didn't belong. Then money weighed in. I don't think money is as big an allure for Hogan: he is getting the coin whether he stays or goes. The test for the club is to highlight to Hogan how important he is. To sit on the sidelines after being through so much, and to miss the excitement of finals...that must have really affected him. We need some perspective here. It is not about playing hardball. Or rejecting his request. It is about ensuring Hogan is mentally able to understand how important he is. We know he is a strong kid after what he has been through. But I feel his missing finals was kind of the cherry on top of a horrid 24 months. That he still kicked 80+ goals in that period is truly amazing. Club and fans need to get around him and let him know how important he is. Tell him on instagram. Don't be all "woe is me, please don't leave Hoges!" Give him support and tell him he's a star. These kids are so aggressively scrutinise in the social media era. We need to turn it around and make him one of us. We can't lose this kid.

A sign and trade with Gaff for Hogan.

could be drummed up to prompted a larger contract extension from Melbourne. I suspect we will hear otherwise in fhe next 24-48 hours. Either it was be confirmed or he will flat out deny it. I'm guessing the former.

Good. He has unfinished business.

Doubt it. Grundy imo was set to poll more because he won more of the ball. Ruckman just don't poll well. Gawn did superbly to get as much as he did.

I don't think the club is seeking a trade. But if he is open to a move and the club would benefit of course they're doing it.

Freo doesn't have the chips here.

One need not have logic in Demonland trade proposals, James.

That's not what was proposed. Read it again. If Hogan is worth two first round picks, it goes without saying that a top 2 pick + a player taken at top 2 LAST YEAR is effectively the same.