praha

They'll end up with 14-15 Etihad games again. They'll be gifted a finals berth. Bookmark it.

It is futile to try and pick a top 8 let alone a ladder. It's much easier to predict which teams will be vying for a finals spot. 1. Out of last year's top 8, only 1 team -- North -- looks like dropping out. 2. Teams like Hawthorn, Sydney, Geelong, West Coast could surprise everyone and have an "off" year. 3. Melbourne, St Kilda, Port, Richmond, Carlton, GC, Bombers, Pies could all realistically be vying for a top 8 spot. You can't discount anyone. Melbourne should be in contention. There is absolutely no guarantee. The competition is fiercer and closer than it's ever been.

He's not going to Collingwood. His wife has her own business and they're moving to Hawaii for a bit to work on her life. There's no way he uproots those plans for a second time to take on a secondary coaching gig.

Not entirely. Low crowd hurts media exposure, which hurts memberships, which hurts branding, which hurts merchandise sales, etc etc. There are bigger ramifications. I still predict a crowd in the 40k range. It was 31k when we played on a Sunday in Round 1 in 2014. Both clubs are better placed and there's more riding on this. Don't imagine it'll be a small crowd. Book your seats.

1 year contract, minimum salary. Good backup who when healthy can kick goals and give Gawn a rest. Worth it for a year if we have a spot imo.

It's pretty awful scheduling. Round 1 is historically a big drawing round and as a club that really needs those big crowds and gate receipts, we are playing Etihad on a Sunday in an away game. We'd be better off getting 28k-30k to the MCG against GWS or GC. I'm [censored] off not so much because it's against the Saints at Etihad and we have a bad record in both scenarios. More so because we miss out on a big windfall from the inevitable round 1 interest. Meanwhile, a team that got caught cheating is in prime time, and the season opens with two teams that finished well below us in 2016. I think being [censored] off for those reasons is completely rational. It's awful scheduling. I imagine the club is mightily [censored] off as well. Especially if we end up getting Freo or GC or GWS at the MCG the next week (which I'm willing to bet we will). We'd have started the year off with limited exposure with a Sunday away game at Etihad, before coming into Round 2 with the Round 1 hype having been rubbed down and us facing a low-drawing interest side. Probably at 1:10 on Sunday.

We'll be paying an attractive $3.20.

Don't disagree...but awful scheduling. 2x not finalists opening the season. Bulldogs vs...Collingwood? *yawn* Essendon vs...Hawthorn? How predictable. The AFL and Channel 7 just don't get it. It's not really about Melbourne. That opening round is just predictably boring.

I remember Dawes' first game for us. I think it was against the Suns. We got belted by 60 points at the MCG. He worked his butt off but simply couldn't get into the game. He was among our best but that says more about the team we had that year. He tried, but for his salary greatly underperformed. I wouldn't have minded keeping him on a low salary as a backup ruck/forward. I think he offers more than Spencer, even if he isn't a traditional ruck. Oh well.

It'll be Essendon vs Melbourne, Essendon home game. To alternate every year. Hawthorn plays Geelong in Round 1.

Nice pickup. GWS offloading talent to free space. They have so much young talent depth on their list it's not funny. We'll take him.

No chance. Richmond paid well above market value for him. GC along with every other team weren't prepared to go over 500k/3 years.

If it's the rumoured 700k over the 3 years that they mentioned on SEN yesterday, they're taking a HUGE risk, particularly with the free agents on offer next year. Don't think for a second it had anything to do Richmond's list. By the sound of it, no one got within 300k of Richmond's offer.

Why? Because of his age? Viney has undoubtedly been behind Jones in the leadership stakes, not Vince.

The MFC intern has been doing the club's Photoshopping again.

Are you being sarcastic? That is the same BS spin we hear from clubs when a player asks to be traded. "They are a required player." "As far as we know they haven't spoken to anyone." "He has not sought a trade to CLUB." Not saying it's a surety but if you think it's done and dusted based on anything Hawthorn has said, you obviously haven't been following AFL for very long. Unless Lewis and his management explicitly say, "We are staying at Hawthorn", it's a chance to get done.

What the hell is Lewis going to do with a third-round pick?

"There was an enquiry about Jordan, but he's a contracted player and a required player." This is diplomatic trade-week talk that is said whenever a player asks to be traded. Far from over. Suspect Lewis planned the move, agreed to contract pending Hawthorn deal, which they also agreed to, but then backflipped when Mitchell deal got done.

So have we got Dangerfield yet and if so who did we give up for him?

I hate trade period.

You'd think Fantasia is worth more than a third-round pick...

Was never anywhere near as bad as half on here made him out to be. Had zero experience but came in and played again top talent and league power forwards. Will be better for the experience as showed in a handful of games towards the end of the season.

I felt that Bernie went "over the hill" this year. Really peaking in 2015 but ultimately took on too much of a burden playing down back. People understate how important Hibberd and Melksham will be to that part of the team. Would like to see Bernie play more on the wing and up forward.