Dr. Gonzo

Hell no. We would've been better off just keeping Miller.

I understand where you're coming from, but you're wrong. The difference is a choice between a 17yo pick + Viney or a mid-20's pick + Viney. So essentially we will be weighing up the choice between a 17yo mini draft pick which is a likely top-10 if not top-5 kid in 2013 or a mid-20's pick this year. It's not like we are giving up pick 3 either as we would be otherwise forced to use it on Viney. I really think all this is moot anyway as we will end up being forced to use pick 3 on Viney.

Wouldn't have a clue. But if we can "do a deal" (I am skeptical) for a 17yo pick which allows us to get Viney in second round that will be a win/win. Obviously we get Viney second round - win. 17yo pick, while not able to play next year, will be one of the highest rated youngsters in the country. No these don't always work out and yes there is a great deal of speculation (especially considering the length of time between now and 2013 draft) but looking at last years picks, no-one is saying O'Meara or Crouch are going to be a bust. It is likely that getting one of these kids for pick 3 & Viney will be a better outcome than getting a mid-20's pick & Viney - win

We need midfielders. Clark and Jurrah will be a great forward line to build around throw in Watts & Sylvia and bring in a crumbed and it is a pretty dangerous forward line. Would like to bring in an experienced mid like Boak but even getting a GC player like Caddy or Prestia would be good. Would prefer not to part with pick 3 or 4 though (unless in a Viney deal for a 17yo pick) and considering we got Clark for pick 12 no reason we shouldnt be able to secure a decent mid (Boak) for that.

Watching the game today I had a revelation that a large proportion or majority of our list are not good enough to be consistent top 4. I'm not talking about needing another draft of kids to come through and getting games into our kids. At the moment it is more a question of who stays rather than who goes. Some guys like Trengove, Watts, Tapscott and Howe have time on their side but havent as yet shown they can be top shelf players. Others like Spencer, Bate, Dunn, Moloney, Bennell, Sellar, Jetta, Martin, MacDonald etc are complete spuds who will be lucky to be on an AFL list next year although Sellar perhaps "could" be a role player. I'm not a fan of Jamar and the fact Jones is our best midfielder says a hell of a lot. We have kids like Gysberts, Strauss, Tynan, Taggert, Cook who still haven't fired a shot but who knows if they will come on or have what it takes. Then the older guys like Green, Davey, Rivers are either past it or will be by the time we finally get a team together who can play fInals let alone finish top 4. Who knows if Gawn will be able to make a career for himself, Fitzpatrick has looked way out of his depth in the two games he's had and who knows what the hell has happened to Petterd this year. All in all we need a complete overhaul of our list - there are roles for guys like Bartram & McKenzie but you can't have them in the same team as Magner, Nicholson, Bail etc. Pen in guys like Clark, Frawley, Jones and the kids like Trengove, Tapscott, Watts etc and try to build a team around that. Most of the rest of the list all need to be chopped - the fact that most of them would struggle to get a game at GWS or GC should tell us something.

Could this be Neeld's round 14, 1998? Well, no, probably not.

Best midfielder, best forward and first ruckman out means we will be lucky if we get within 50.

It's all speculation; without it this website would close down.

Yes.

He is an idiot - Fremantle has the same salary cap as Collingwood so if Cloke walks its not like it was due to an unfair advantage. Completely different scenario to losing players to GC or GWS. He just likes to sook and bellyache to make others scared of going after any Pies staff or players but at the end of the day that's the new era we live in and there is nothing he can do about it which I'm sure is upsetting to a control freak like him. Focusing solely on the club that poaches one of your players is short sighted and counter productive. If they have $800k a year to throw around surely there's better players to entice than those on Freo's list.

Yeah fair enough, I was just commenting on that particular post of Jose's I read. It won't be impossible but I think it is improbable. Would be happy to be proven wrong though.

Surely regardless of what we are saying publicly we would be in Jack's ear to tell him we will be taking him regardless and it is all just smoke and mirrors to try and get him with our second round pick. I'd hope we're not stupid enough to be making him sweat on it and possibly putting doubts in his mind about our commitment to him.

My point is its all well and good to say we have to make a deal with GWS but what about GC? You have to factor them into it as well. I also didn't mean Boak isn't worth pick 4 (though on reading back it does some like that) my point is more I hope we don't pay overs for someone just becaus they are the players that happen to be available this year. Boak may be worth it, I haven't really seen enough of him to say otherwise (or really noticed him when I have watched Port).

That sounds good in theory but how do we satisfy BOTH Gold Coast & GWS? Considering they'll both finish below us we will need to do deals with both of them which is going to look very suss to the AFL who has already warned about draft tampering. I'm resigned that we will use pick 3 on Viney I just hope we don't waste pick 4 on someone who may not be worth it like Boak.

I have seen it before though where they have referred to banner size being an issue - actually it was in regards to flags to prohibit people from bringing enormous flags into the ground. Pretty are there is something as you walk into the ground referring to it in the conditions of entry.

Or have full time professional umpires.

Additionally, it's more about getting the players to play as a cohesive team and develop them to work together as one organism rather than merely focusing and developing on individual talents.

Who knows but I [censored] hope so. Edit: I still think we lack a decent crumbing forward, would have been a good pick up to get Saad in hindsight who some on here touted last year.

I don't know where I stand on the Boak situation because honestly I can't say I've noticed him enough to make a judgment - I have watched a decent amount of Port games though so maybe it is the fact he hasn't stood out that has me worried we might blow a top 4 pick on him. With your comment above, I'd just like to say I think guys like Pendlebury are actually worth two top 10 picks (similar to the Judd deal) so given that maybe a top 10 pick for Boak is reasonable, He is ready to go, about to hit his prime, and is more of a certain bet than taking a kid who only has potential and will need a few development years before he hits his strides. It is rather interesting to compare the methods of Neeld to Bailey though. The Bailey-era plan was to load up on as many kids through high draft picks as possible and build a team that way whereas Neeld seems more confident in being able to build a team through the trade table by poaching some key players from other clubs.

Although I think Anderson's comments are ridiculous and wanting to have their cake and eat it too, to be fair FA was basically forced on the AFL by the AFLPA. The AFL pushed back against this for years.

I went to last years one as well so kind of knew what to expect - location was way better this year how good is that Jim Stynes room? Beautiful view of the ground, do we get access to that as part of our Tridents membership or is it for the top grade members (or corporates) only?

I was hoping for some Q&A as well, was a bit disappointed but at the end of the day it was something to make the supporters feel more involved and there was a match about to go on shortly after - not really the time and place to open up cans of pent up supporter frustration worms.

GWS +22.5 is paying $2 seems pretty good odds considering their form. Otherwise Melbourne 40-59 paying $4.90 or 60+ paying $5.50. It'll either be close with GW giving us a run or a blowout like we did to Adelaide/Freo last year - I don't see it being in between.

It is a weird custom native to our game and I'm not sure if that makes it a good thing or not. I like it just for the fact that it perplexes people foreign to our sport much the same as having these jaunty American Civil War-era anthems blasted out of the speakers and mascots in velvet jackets paraded out to play a rendition on a trumpet before the game.

Big Max Gawn went the yawn So Scully ran back home Went to Sydney town to look around And then he just f***ed right off