Adam The God

If Prestia demanded to be traded, while GC could still get reasonable compensation for him, would they do it? They may well. The alternative could be losing him for nothing the next year.

It'd be good to weaken that Gold Coast midfield too.

Prestia is a gun. If we end up getting Freeman, Prestia is the sort of player that will compliment the rest of our midfield group perfectly. Offer him a big contract in two years and trade a first or second round pick for him. Imagine Jones, Viney, Tyson, Prestia, a player of Freeman's speed and inside ability - that's a young, but wonderfully talented midfield group. It lacks a little bit of depth, but I'd also add outside runners like Watts, Toumpas and say Blease. We also have blokes like Michie (who could be anything) and Vince for another three or four years. It's the sort of midfield that has the potential to reach the heights of Hawthorn. A list of ball winners, without necessarily "superstars" in the midst. Mitchell is A grade and I've debated Sewell being A grade before too, but they don't have an out and out superstar in the middle. Hodge plays across half back, he'd be the closest to "superstar". After this trade period, it's clear that we're still missing two major things in our midfield. That is depth (though we've improved) and pace. Vince and Cross provide that experience that we've lacked, but they will need to be replaced in the next two to three or four years. As I noted above, I don't think lacking "superstars" in the middle will deny you a premiership necessarily. Hawthorn and Sydney have proved that consistent workers in the midfield can win you the ultimate prize. Thanks for bringing this up again, Dazzle. I've been holding out hope that we'll get Prestia at the end of or near the end of his next contract.

Fantastic article. Really, really, measured, thoughtful and unbiased. I wonder if Peter Ryan played football.

If Freeman's available, we'll take him. And he'd be picked round one, fitness permitting.

I see it in the hips. He's got a very similar gait to Moloney. Outside of that, he appears different in every other way. Thankfully.

This is still looking pretty good to me. I'm also close to convinced that we'll take Freeman. It makes sense from a list balance perspective. If we deem Freeman good enough to pick at #9, he offers our list something that it severely lacks. Run, carry and pace.

I agree with everything, but the last bit. Australian politics is still heavily driven by religion. Fortunately, religion is slightly more marginalised over here. Still, the leader of the country is an evangelical Christian. You don't think he's a road scholar for any intellectual strengths, do you? He can't string a sentence together. It's all about his service to the church.

I actually think the majority of Australians are apathetic towards the two parties. It's the hip pocket they vote on. That's why you get such big swings.

Yeah, I'm not entirely sure about that one.

Actually, I disagree on this. Both came out to the media and seemed to think their lists were in better shape than they were. Then, following multiple loses, they each changed their tunes and started to discuss rebuilding. In our case, it was a rebuild of a rebuild, but for the Saints, they simply had champion players coming to the end of their tenure and needed to start replenishing their list with talented youth. Another parallel between the two coaches, is that in 2012, they both tried to implement significantly defensive and Malthouse-esque game plans. St Kilda were more successful at it, but I always suspected this came from having a coach like Ross Lyon prior, rather than Watters' ability to communicate it to them and then have them successfully implement it. St Kilda were used to hard defensive running. We weren't. That's why we were complete failures in 2012 and St Kilda were only moderate failures. From an outsiders perspective, this is the right decision.

I agree, for the most part. I disagree on one point. The Saints have genuine champion leaders still at their club. We had nothing in 2007. Neitz is the closest we had.

I'm not surprised. Another Malthouse protégé too.

The MFC has clearly been a dysfunctional work place for a long time, but for Magner to come out and [censored] all over the only club that gave him a chance, I think that's a bit rich. He obviously knows it's all over. Go out gracefully. It's not a great way to leave the game.

Yeah, the broadcasters would go for the big Melbourne clubs every time. I'm not sure how much say they have in fixturing, but I'd be surprised if they only had a small amount of involvement.

I think you'll see more financial assistance from the AFL, if we struggle to perform again. I think we'll get our act together and become competitive though. At least I hope so. I'm completely with you on the fact that AFL "equalisation" is a farce. I just refute the claim that 'the AFL are trying to kill Melbourne' and that our draw next year will in fact do that. Only our performances will truly kill us. If we manage to field a proper football team in the coming two to three years, we've got a chance to increase our commercial viability and pick ourselves up off the floor. As WYL said, we need to win games. If we do, we'll be fine.

I haven't seen much Herzog, but 'Aguirre, the Wrath of God' has been on my list for a while. Criterion remastered it, didn't they? The only Herzog film I've seen is 'Grizzly Man'. But I completely agree. He is hilarious. I particularly like this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9P_sxaaMJE. There's also Herzog discussing chickens. That's even better. That might even be extracted from Harmony Korine's film 'Julien Donkey Boy'. I can't quite remember. NOTE. You've inspired me. I'm getting 'Aguirre' as I type this.

I saw 'Captain Phillips' last night. Wasn't expecting much. Thought the premise was decidedly problematic. The black guys are the villains. Well done, America. It was also a two hour advertisement for the US Navy. However, Tom Hanks is terrific in it and the film itself is riveting from just about the moment it starts. It tries to humanise the pirates, but in the end there's not a whole lot to them. If you're looking for a taut action thriller, it's certainly worth a look.

Oh, I didn't realise it was a McCarthy novel. Interessant. I shall check it out.

Thanks for that, 55. It was great watching that. I'd forgotten just how dominant he was in that early part of the season. He really is a player that can grab the game by the scruff of the neck and we don't have too many of those. Let's hope he gets the most out of his body next season.

You're describing the wraps on Jack Watts, around the time of the 2008 draft.Not so simple.

Of course, Carlton get the Friday night games. Bigger supporter base and a fringe finals side. We have neither of those draw cards at the moment. The fixturing makes sense from a broadcasters and advertisers perspective.

Come on, mate. I love PJ, just like every other MFC person at the moment, but he's AFL appointed, with a tick from the MFC board. He's been sent here to help, certainly, but he's essentially working for the MFC and the AFL. The fixture is being overhyped. The club will secure a major sponsor before the year is out. If our footy team plays like an AFL standard team, we will get MFC people returning to the games. Time to roll up the sleeves and stop whinging. Once we have a season that is AFL standard, we should expect a better draw. If the drew is still slanted against us, then I'd start complaining.

The fixture is fair, particularly considering the onfield rabble that was this season.

They might just rookie him. If not, he couldn't break into the worst midfield in the history of the game, not a big loss. Paul Roos has spoken.