DeeSpencer

Nah he can be worse than Dawes. He was dreadful when forward earlier in the year. He's a first ruckman only. I'd prefer him than Spencer as a backup for sure, but I presume North will want to keep him as a backup to Goldstein?

He's at that age that players sometimes stagnate as expectation outweighs production and a new club can really benefit them. Remember how much Nath Jones was floundering under Bailey, reduced to being a tagger and not using the ball well at all. A coaching change and big preseason later he was our best player. That's the best result with Melksham and might not happen but it is possible he improves quickly. Personally I think the team would improve quicker with a more natural outside mid or half back than another depth midfielder who probably needs to play in the centre square to be at his best. But with the interchange cap dropping adding depth isn't a bad idea. Adding another mature mid might send the message that we aren't a young side any more and expectations are real. Having a deeper midfield rotation might also facilitate better development conditions for our youngsters playing forward and back.

Picking up Sellar when Neil Craig had just axed him at Adelaide is one thing, but he did have some versatility. Picking up M Talia when McCartney is our development coach would be a whole new level of ridiculousness. McCartney played Mark Austin for the majority of the year at CHB over picking him. That says a lot about where he rates him. He might end up a good player if he gets more physical but I can't see it happening at Melbourne. The rumour mill says he'll go to Sydney and it makes a lot of sense. Personally I'm pretty keen to see more of Sam Frost and Oscar McDonald as tall defenders for the future.

I think we are genuinely in to JOM and he's every chance to leave the GC if they continue to stagnate and have associated issues. I just can't see GC letting him go this year nor am I convinced we'd be able to land him.

I think they get 500k from the AFL and the rest is up to them. The swans run their costs at close to 1 mil but hired Roos on something like 400k and now O'Loughlin on decent coin to run it to give some brand recognition. They could easily just hire a young development coach or a much lesser wage and cut the costs. GWS and Gold Coast money is just AFL money anyway so it's an even bigger con. I would start by exempting the first round picks. Anything after than they can have access to.

I wonder where this leaves Andrew Nichol who I would've thought at least covered the education coordinator part of the job description? Either way, happy to have well qualified people and a focus on development.

I think it will be the white O linemen (not to make this a race thing they just happen to be white!) that will hurt Kelly. They had an amazing running game and he got rid of the 2 guards in Mathis and Herremans who powered a lot of that run game. And now they are spending money on expensive running backs who can't make any running yards because the line isn't blocking for them. And then the QB can't complete deep passes (partly because he's not great) because he's worried about getting sacked. You can't have everything in the NFL and be under the salary cap but I'd rather have a good O line and average running backs with 1 or 2 receiving weapons than a bad o line and whatever backs or receivers you want. Then you at least get a running game and from there you can help your defense.

As for the Bears. Well, it's a dumpster fire. I hope they keep pouring petrol on and ride out a lowly season to the number 1 pick. Tanking baby! It might work in the NFL if you're LUCK-y. The defense just can't make a play. No sacks. Dreadful secondary. Confused LB's. They aren't as bad as last year yet but they aren't much better and things probably won't improve for the rest of the year unless the D line which actually has some level of talent can make some plays. Cutler is spending most of the time being highly efficient and capable before throwing the costly pick. No bears fan will be disappointed if he's out, even if he gets unfairly blamed for every thing he just makes the killer mistakes all too consistently.

It's the American equivalent of liking Collingwood but I was very high on the Cowboys this year. For some reason I've gone from loathing Jerry Jones, Garrett and Romo to respecting the way they back each other. Will always be a fan of Marinelli's defense. So now I'm a bit sad that their season might be in big trouble. I wouldn't give up on the Eagles yet. Bradford's missed so much time it's going to take him a while to get to whatever his best might be (even if that's rubbish). The one thing I haven't liked with the Eagles is the way Chip has weakened what was a great O Line 2 years ago. I get him letting skill position players go and changing up the defense but if you have a great O Line and play hurry up running offense then why would you wreck that by not paying guys? Good to see the Bucs, Browns and Raiders (costing me the tip) bounce back with wins. 3 young QB's with interesting futures.

I see him only as depth as a forward. Might have more of an AFL future as a key defender but his lack of physicality worries me. Rookie or PSD level talent from what I've seen.

But they already can't play Ryder and Lobbe in the same side. Adding Dixon to that mix gives them 3 x 200cm+ talls. And reportedly they won't trade away Lobbe. In hindsight if they knew Dixon was available 12 months later they should've avoided Ryder.

Arizona Baltimore Edit: Late change at 1am. Going for Atlanta for the 3rd tip.

He's a lot of what we need and had 3 consistent injury free years. But I thought he was a little down on his best this year. He'd be great, but I'm not sure I'd go super hard in a trade for him. If you pay top dollar for a trade in you need top results. To get Hartlett I think we'd have to give up nearly a kings ransom. Surely Port would rather squeeze out a lesser player than one of their best 5-10.

He should go on season 2 of the recruit

His lack of progress this year has frustrated me. Freo seem reluctant to pinch hit him in the ruck and/or play him Pav and 2nd ruck. He'd probably still be part of their future alongside McCarthy. Michael Apeness is a 201cm ruck/forward who I'd be keen on of the Freo back ups.

If we have to give out 4 year deals to attract mediocre players then I'd rather we kept Toumpas, Watts, Garland and Howe. There's no point having a bunch of 2nd or 3rd picks if you can't deal them for anyone and the draft isn't good.

Surely we are. All it costs is a rookie pick to replace them if you're looking to do it cheaply. You have to pay the guy if he stays, so is just the extra cost of a rookie. I don't what the specifics of the rules are but that's what I'd be doing and if that's all it costs financially we can afford it.

Was just reading a bit of Port discussion about him. A fair few Port fans seem to favour the other tall forward they've delisted in Mitch Harvey. Similar build. Similar concerns over lack of athleticism. I'd consider both for a rookie spot.

Presumably Viney, the coaches and recruiting staff evaluate players. Mahoney helps grade the finances. 400k isn't excessive. The AFL player earns 340 and in 4 years time 400k with be basement rates. But someone has to be responsible for the 4 year deal and whatever we trade (likely overs) and they better realise they are putting their balls on the line.

So I watched his highlights. His TAC grand final highlights (in a game featuring Prestia, Wallace, Libba, Mega-head on his side and Parker, Casboult for Dandy). And the cut of his 2013 Essendon made for their B+F Pro's: Burst speed and cat like agility Solid left foot Seems to cover the ground Can leap at the ball and mark when out in space Cons: Bad decisions under pressure Kicking goes astray under heat Tentative in some contests I do think there's a role for him as part of the midfield mix, especially as he brings a burst of speed that some of our mids don't. But if we expect him to help our ball movement at all then we are kidding ourselves. He can win a bit of the ball, tag a speedy opponent and cover some ground. It's going to take drafting or some different trades to find more skilled players to move the footy.

If we are going to pay him so much maybe we can walk him in to the PSD. Would Carl/Bris/GC/Ess/StKilda give out the 4 year 1.6 mil deal for him? 3rd round pick or lets find out.

I like him as a player, but I don't love him. Probably wouldn't give up our 2nd round pick for him and our 3rd rounder wouldn't get the deal done. If we trade Howe, Watts or let go Garland then we might have more to work with. I think half forward/midfield depth can go from a weakness to a strength pretty quickly with a few guys having good preseasons. I don't feel that way with wing, half back, ruck/ruck forward spots.

Brisbane winning in rd 23 might have done us a big favour. I could see Howe going to Brisbane where they really lack for anyone over 6'2 foot who can kick a goal. Howe has his struggles forward but with some midfield supply actually makes for a decent 3rd tall, we've seen that at times this year for us. I'm not so sure he'd enjoy going to Carlton via the PSD where they already have Walker who should play as the 3rd tall forward and actually have some decent half back options as well. If the big money isn't coming and a good trade isn't on offer he could stick with us. Until we have more definitely leaks about who wants him and what they will offer up via trade it's hard to make a call on Howe. I know one thing, if he signs a new deal and plays like he did in round 1 this year everyone will be lauding the decision and praising him.

He's a wingman, but not in a sophisticated team, he's best chance is actually in the role he played for the Dogs most of this year in a helter skelter team. But they're clearly trying to move him on. It's still a position of huge weakness for us but I think we'd rather keep playing the extra inside mid and being a bit slow/uncreative than wasting time with Grant.

In the middle of the season when he played 8 straight games including a few good ones he was in the 22 and we probably had less than 8 injuries at that stage so he was in the top 30. His efforts in the VFL in the back end of the year were not great but at the same time he had a couple of concussions and the flu that went around. I don't see the need to rank players so much. I doubt he'll get delisted like most of the above and I think with a full run at it he'll be too good for VFL and pushing regularly for a senior spot (not that that means much, most of the names above were dominating VFL). Given that Stretch is the only player I'd call a natural wingman on our list I'd say Toumpas would always be close to a game.