Slartibartfast

I'm not criticising his record but he's had the living in Sydney allowance for some of it and first dibs on players like Heeney, Mills and Gulden for starters. Given the thrashings in their last two GF's I'm not surprised. As usual the Swans very professional.

Turner looks really good. Very good in the contested marking drill and prominant in the handball drill which were both in front of me. Jefferson was pitted against Petts in the contested marking drill and was beaten in the first three and looked despondent. He then took a ripper in the fourth. He's looking much more involved and comfortable at the level this year compared to last year. Didn't notice Laurie much, sorry.

Is Hotton worth the risk?

I don’t, looked like the Essendon strips distance.

No. Windsor kicking on his left foot but participating in all the drills.

It won’t offend me Dazz, good idea to keep it from other clubs though, good thinking. Happy wit what you’ve heard?

So what’s the intel this morning Dazzle? Can’t wait for Wednesday, the suspense is killing me! Givemethenews!

Draft night is like Christmas, once you open the presents all the mystery is gone. I love the speculation and this year is special. Don't ruin it @goodwindees, we can all wait and enjoy the suspense. And if you do have quality mail, keep it to yourself, it can't do any good by releasing it but there is a very small chance it could do some harm. We'will know soon anyway! Patience grasshopper.

Not having a crack at you but this concept of "best available" just doesn't make sense. How can you say "best available" when your comparing a ruck, a key position forward, a small crumbing forward and a mid? Apples, oranges, pineapples and kiwi fruit. What's best? It's not just based on talent, it's based on scarcity, risk, needs and projection. We will be picking based on best available taking into account all of these factors and what we take will be instructive. If we believe Clarrie and Trac will be ours at their best long term then our picks are more likely to take into account May and Tmac's age. If we believe they will both be gone next year then that will impact our choices albeit that we would hopefully have Richmond like suite of first round picks. If we believe Jefferson will succeed then that will influence what we take. Our picks aren't in a bubble and what is "best available" to one club will be very different to another. Just look at NM looking at taking Tauru well ahead of his "best available" statue. Our picks on Wednesday will tell us quite a lot.

That seems really odd to me.

I’m not reading much into “positions” yet as there aren’t enough for a proper sim where players can play their usual positions. It’s still a wait and see for me. Im usually not into “he’s noticeably bigger this year” as I’m not convinced you can notice that much development over 8 weeks but Verrell looks very fit and strong. Kentfield is a beast, what a bonus if he succeeds. Seston is another where his body looks more defined. I find it hard to see where he fits in but he’s got some real AFL traits. Very strong in the clinches and a great kick. His ball handling is solid. One to watch I reckon. He looks very focused this year and comfortable in the group.

Monday’s plus Riv and Sparrow. That’s all.

Sparrow and Rivers trained today. Seston and Windsor stood out. Kentfield is a really big unit. Adam’s doing lots of running and not looking in any discomfort.

Sorry about the autocorrect, not a good start by Slarti. The session went for around 90 minutes and as far as I could see all 1 to 4 year players were there with Woey in 12 and Jed Adams in 19. It was pretty much a non contact session with the normal handball drills, lots of running and a little bit of field ball movement stuff. Good to see none of these boys in any sort of rehab group. Of the oldies Tmac, Viney, Chin, Marty Hore, Petts and Bowser did the full session with the young blokes and Salo and Fritta did a lot of lap running and a bit of kicking away from the group. It's really not possible to take much out of the session but Duke, Kolt and Disco sort of stood out but others would have picked others. Kentfield was there and he is one big unit. I was a bit disappointed Trac and Clarrie weren't there as it would have made a bit of a statement but it probably means nothing.

TMac, Petts, Vines, Chin, Bowser all training with the 1 to 4’s.

Fritta running laps.

Dali running laps.

I don’t pretend to know about all the players you critique but is there anybody you like?

Yes! And I blame them.

Ollie there is no reason to dance on Pert’s grave but I’d just make the point that if the man involved in the review couldn’t save his job it’s indicative that a change was well overdue. The whole world could see we’d become a laughing stock and it got so bad I had to excuse myself from any media exposure for a period, it’s awful seeing something you love being laughed at and ridiculed. Our leadership was obviously very poor and that’s now being attended to which is great news for the club. And through all of this our list still remains strong with a couple of very promising recruits to come. I’m now very optimistic about our future.

Your efforts to deride Lawrence are pretty pathetic. He’s been largely proven right in suggesting the leadership of the club was poor.

Yes I agree but all those who refused to see the issues we had and how badly they were handled must now recognise with both Pert and Roffey gone things were rotten at the top. I thank both for there service but I’m pleased to see a fresh leadership at the club.

Gawn, Trac and Hogan are sitting in the room waiting for you to pick “best available”. Who do you pick? Best available is avoidance to me, it’s best available for your list against the background of scarcity.

My thinking is that in list management it was decided to see what Oliver was worth. Rather than go through his manager Pert rings Lyon (this happened) to test the water. This course was taken as they played together and it was just an informal call. The Saints had interest last year and now have two top ten picks. Why wouldn't you ask? So in my view Oliver's manager wouldn't have known, only Ross Lyon and our LM team. I believe Tim Lamb when he says clubs ring each other about players all the time, it just doesn't get out. I've asked real estate agents about the value of my house on multiple occasions over the 30 years I've lived in it. I've never had the slightest intention of selling but it's important to know the value of things. It's important in list management too. I don't think Lyon had any incentive to leak the call so I think it came from us. But I'm just speculating. Why would we tell Oliver's manager? Unless of course it just a continuation of the appalling management we've seen for some time now.

Who leaked the Pert phone call/s? No player manager there.