praha

Teams like the Magic, Spurs, Thunder, Cavs have all been able to draft well and attract free agents despite being in small media markets and being undesirable cities next to places like NY, Chicago, LA, Miami, San Fran etc. Like you said, you carve your own path.If you're run well, have a good culture and play the drafting and free agent game right, you'll be okay. The Spurs were a nothing club for a while before Duncan arrived. Built well and created an amazing culture with an (at the time) untried coach.

If we can get something for him then great, but I hope we don't offload him for the sake of it. Don't think he's asked for a trade because it would have come out by now. He's gone from best 22 to depth player. If he doesn't fit in the squad and takes the place of an M Jones or Bail as a depth player when we have injuries, then it shows how our list has evolved.

No.

The Age has got NOTHING on The Guardian. Some of its headline are worthy of The Onion.

Is Hardwick safe?

Elimimond Tigers?

It'll be even funnier if they lose.

Cocaine's a helluva drug.

I'd be disappointed if Pederson isn't at the club next year. I prefer Dunn as the CHF over Dawes and Pedo, but prefer Pedo over Dawes. Dawes is the third option at that position which is quite telling.

Not against him going for the right price but at the same time, good teams need downhill skiers who sprint down the sloper faster than the rest. In a good Melbourne team he'll look as good as Trapper did in 2002, 2004, 2005. I know that's not ideal to some but Watts has a role as an outside runner, and that type of role thrives in a good team. We simply don't win enough of the ball for Watts to be effective. I'm cautious of saying he doesn't try. I just think Melbourne being where it is, is at odds with the type of player he is. You can't expect him to lead or be our best player. He's just not that sort of player.

Yikes. Gonna bite him on the bum for wanting to leave.

lol he always looks baked.

It's hard work counting votes.

It was an honest and classy appraisal I thought. What he said is something that has been evident for a while. 2008-2013, particularly the 2011-2013 period, set us back massively.

Tried to do my own but found I agreed with most.

You need ruck stocks. Kreuzer can double as a forward because he has the capacity to kick goals. I'd even try him down back. I would think that if we got him, that would be the end of Spencer. If Gawn goes down, we don't have a backup. For a decade we have relied on a single ruckman and that also doesn't work. You need a good balance. It could also be at Port that Ryder is an egotistical ass.

We're reaching the point now where consistently good football (not necessarily wins every week) should be the bare minimum KPI. <50 games with at least 1 game in 2015: Hogan Viney Toumpas Salem Brayshaw Gawn Stretch Kent Frost Newton Michie JKH McDonald ANB White 50-99 games Trengove Tyson McDonald Grimes (still has a place imo) Jetta Then we have a very small group in the 100-150 range Dawes Garland Garlett Howe By 2017, a lot of that first group will be closing in on 50 games, and that second group on 100-150. A majority of our players will be in that bracket. That is exactly what you need to be a finals side. We currently have a massive gap in the 100-200 range that I think is reflective in how badly we drop off between our best and worst. When you think about that, the future is actually very exciting. I suspect that 2016 could still be a slog fest, the team still trying to find its feet. Finals isn't a KPI, it's a goal, something to aim for, but by no means a minimum requirement. Let's not set ourselves up for disappointment. Consistent football is what they should be eying down more than anything, and if finals come out of that, bonus! By 2017, finals will be a bare minimum KPI. Goodwin is going to walk into what will probably be one of the most balanced sides in the comp.

I do think Hogan is more deserving but I suspect the voters will have banded together to orchestrate a tie if there is one. I wouldn't be disappointing. I can't imagine Cripps winning it over Hogan. That would be outrageous. As much as the game has changed over the past 5, 10, 15, 20 years, going back to the Lockett, Dunstall, Ablett years, fans and pundits still respect a good, consistent key forward. I can't see how you could possibly give Cripps more votes ahead of Hogan if you have at the very least a novice understanding of the game.

2x wins against the Saints, Queen's Birthday, Carlton, Essendon...all games we *should* have won. That would have put us at 12 wins. I predict 10 wins for next year, but 12-15 wins is a possibility if this team can play consistent football. We are miles ahead of Carlton, Essendon, Collingwood, Brisbane, GC, St Kilda, Cats as far as recruiting, drafting and young talent goes. IMO anyway.

Most frustrating is that we bleed goals mostly through either lack of effort, or just poor turnovers under minimal pressure. Dropped uncontested marks, fluffed handballs in the back half, hospital handpasses, poor kicks to players under pressure. When on, we're very good, but when off, as Roos notes, our worst is still as bad as it's ever been. That gap suggests it's in the mind, just a lack of awareness and a breakdown of team fundamentals and dynamics.

He was okay. Good in patches, never terrible. Obviously seemed dogged by injury. I actually forgot about him for a bit there. Gee whiz. Tyson, Petracca, Brayshaw, Viney. If that isn't one of if not the best young midfield core in the league, I don't know what is. If we can't make the finals in one of the next two years with this crop, this club is unfixable.

Unfortunately while Bernie had a lot of very good patches, he went missing for 3-4 games a time, two or three times. His last four or five games, he was pretty much unsighted except for the last round. Unsurprising. Nathan Jones was far more deserving last year than Vince was this year. That said, Heath Shaw? Over Tom McDonald? Wow.

You also forgot the part where Cameron gets gifted cheap goals by umpires and his teammates. I hate him so.

I have a pretty wild idea, but I'm sure there are some holes in it. 1. Introduce a luxury tax for teams that finish in the 11th-18th range: they can pay more than the salary cap to sign a free agent, and pay a tax on the extra amount, with the tax decreasing the further down the ladder you go. Let's say 75% of the amount over the cap for 11th, and 25% for 18th. So the cap is $10 million. You have $1 million left in your cap, and you sign a free agent to a 3 year, $3.6 million contract. If the contract is back-ended and you don't go over the cap until the third year of the contract, you pay a tax rate reflective of your position that year. If you finish 18th, you're best placed to front-end the contract so that you pay the minimum amount of tax at the earliest point of the contract. In the case of this contract, the 18th-placed team could pay the free agent $2 million in the first year, and $800,000 in the following years as they rise up the ladder. They'd only pay tax on that extra $1 million they pay over the cap in the first year of the contract. 2. If you lose a player via free agency, the band compensation is reflected in a lower tax rate: the higher the salary and lower the position, the lower your luxury tax rate over a specified period (again determined by band). So in Frawley's case, our tax rate falls to, say 5% of the amount of the cap for the following year, maybe over two years if his salary band dictates it. This would entice Melbourne to sign a free agent at a premium price with a front-ended contract over the cap, pay a lower tax rate in the process, and then bring it back down in corresponding years to balance the cap out again. Discuss. *runs and hides*

We were also picked by many to finish last or 17th. I'd argue we exceeded expectations as well. It's just the whole "bad for a decade" narrative that turns people off praising Melbourne. I think people have higher expectations of Melbourne but simply don't trust them, so play it safe and say they'll be down the bottom again.