binman

Define me being right.

I did indeed. Is there something wrong with being optimistic? As a betting man, I'd give us better than even money of the things I noted occurring (well, not the flag, neom smith double - the rest) And why not? The club is not in crisis, whatever the media would like people to believe. Mutiple key players have resigned, including our four best young guns (jvr, winsdsor, mcvee and kolt) our best player is suiting up next year and we don't have players like melk with long term injuries. West Coast Eagles- the wealthiest club in the AFL with a 20k wait list to be a member - is in crisis. They just sacked their coach and can't find another one. Have been down the bottom for 6 years and a flag looks minimum 5 years away. It will come down to luck as much as anything. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong this year. We're due some good luck and if it comes in the next 12 months we'll be back playing finals this time next year.

All good points. But personally I could care less what he says in a media statement- now or in the future. I didn't, and don't, expect him to come out and pledge undying loyalty to the dees or talk about how much he loves the club and fans. And I'm not particularly annoyed with him either - merde happens. Im just glad hes staying. Rehab, train hard over the preseason and play great footy. That will do me just fine.

Which of those is the best kick Gator?

Sure, though pick 5 is a good start. Am I right to say we haven't traded our second round pick? If not we'll have a mid twenty draft pick which might add a future best 22 player if we get it right. After that tge draft is a lottery. So we'll need to trade in at least two best 22 players. That's a tall order, but with nibbla's, Gus BBB and smiths salary off the books, we'll have some room in our salary cap to be a meaningful player in trade season.

The story writes itself: Dees have a cracking preseason. The Max, Jack, tracc and clarry band gets back together. The young Turks (JVR, mcvee, Windsor, Kolt, disco and pick 5) make their own music. The dees win the flag. Tracc wins the Norm Smith. Redemption reigns. Traccs 'reach' goes nuclear.

I think it is a reflection of just how tough footy is anaerobicly now and how critical a good preseason is. Non finalists have essentially an extra six weeks of recovery for players and time to get surgeries done, which sets up things for a good preseason. No coincidence that we missed finals in the year before winning the flag. And no surprise to see the cats top 4 the year after failing to make finals after winning a flag in 2022.

More the point, as you say this time next year he will be just about to turn 30. Seriously, what contender, even in the unlikely event they have space in their cap to pay a new player 1.2 million a year, would use that space to trade in a bloke at the back end of his career? It would completely unbalance their salary cap. Have people forgotten that the pies only recently had to off load an AA ruck and gun mid, not to mention pay part of their salary, because their contracts were too high. And given tracc would still be contracted, what contender would give up the sort of draft picks and/or young guns they would need to offer up to satisfy the dees to land tracc. The pies and blues would only consider spending that sort of capital on a Harley Reid, JHF or Darcy. I mean, how would dees fans feel about us giving up our pick 5 and a couple of young players like Turner and Mcvee to bring in say Lachie Neale or the bont on a million bucks a year? Talk in the media comparing the tracc scenario to Judd's is just ridiculous. Yes Judd, like tracc, was a superstar. But judd was 23 when he left the Eagles after 5 seasons and ended up playing 7 for the blues. And another difference, a critical one, was the deal was all bit done when the rumours commenced. It doesn't sound like there were any serious conversations between teacc and say the pies. A better comparison would be ablett going back to the cats. Ablett was 33, but still playing good football and would have been on much better coin at the suns if he stayed than what the cats were prepared to pay him.

See, this is where I have a problem. Not with Morris' per se - he is paid to gin up angst and clicks. But is there really a huge story here? I mean it could all be boiled down to: 'Star player unhappy with how injury managed and concerned premiership wondow is shut wants to get to a more successful Victorian club.' A bog standard story written a million times. All the rest of it, for example the suggestion tracc not happy with how clarry was managed is old, stale news rolled into this one to create a club in crisis narrative. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I'm not going to dance to the tune of peanuts like Morris like some puppet. I posted a joke early in this thread asking for a gif with Morris as the organ grinder and demonland as the monkey. And to be frank, that is what this thread largely feels like. A bunch of adults dancing to the media's tune.

afl.com had an article in the lead up to our game tiltled: Don't dream it's over: what pies need to make finals the final paragraph: 'It technically isn't over yet, but surely not even McRae's miracle workers could pull this off.' McRae's miracle workers? How many times in VFL/AFL history has the premier failed to make the finals the following year? Some miracle workers.

It's more than likely he wanted out, noting he has not publicly said that. But I'm not convinced that even if they had the capital the pies or the blues would trade in petracca. At the least, not on the coin he's currently getting.

I was thinking something similar. If, and it's a big if, clarry gets super fit and tracc gets close to his optimal fitness we won't be talking about our midfield. Particularly with kolt looking a monty to play as a mid forward pretty soon (waxing with tracc?) and having pick 5 in a draft with good midfield depth. JVR, Turner, Mcvee, Kolt and Windsor will go up a level with another preseason. As you suggest, a huge preseason is critical - and if they can use this to get fired up all the good. Having a few extra weeks break wont hurt either.

Scare away potential recruits? Good lord. Sure, we might have had our share of drama, but every single football club has drama going on behind the scenes. And all our real drama was last season - clarry, Smith, Grundy. If the drama was so unbearable for tracc he could have got to another club that would have satisfied the dees with drafts and trades. It clearly wasn't so unbearable. And if the issues are so bad, explain to me why young guns Windsor and Kolt resigned in july when neither had to worry about doing so for another two years. Ditto for langers, who signed in August. Ditto Turner, Laurie, amw and Jefferson. But two weeks of tracc drama, which ends with him staying, and a potential recruit is going to say, no way, i ain't going to the dees. Right.

The good news, and I mean this sincerely, is that the the tracc drama is done well before the seasons end. Come the end of the finals it's yesterday's news. Just in time for wada to drop their findings.....

Now maybe the football media can start asking some questions about how the pies, the team every journ seemed to think was miles ahead of every other team last year, and set for a dynasty, missed the finals this year. Drinking their own bathwater? Culture issue? And perhaps ask why they allowed pednles to play with broken ribs foe two weeks Maybe an article about why noble has requested a trade? What about their list management - a third of their best 22 are 30 or over. Perhpas Whately's sanctimony bazooka can be turned on them.

Time for the redemption arc part of the movie.

Not really. They looked unfit and disinterested.

Me too. And I'd add: Clarry full, intense preseason. Clarry no broken hand. Tmac uninterrupted preseason. Hore an injury free year. May not having his ribs broken. Twice. Maxy not cracking his ankle (he was never right after that injury). Lever an injury free year. Bowey not starting season (after having a ripping preseason) smashing his collarbone In round one. No Hunter. Windsor no syndenmosis. Tracc no ruptured spleen. Turner no groin issue.

I said at the time Freo were crazy to use up so much capital to go after Jackson. Not because he's not going to be a star (though I wondered if he was driven enough- still do), but because they had an A grade ruck, Jackson is not a natural forward and had more pressing needs than another ruck. There was also the opportunity cost with the picks they gave up, and his starting salary created challenges trading in other gun players, nor to mention cap issues when it came time to resign Brayshaw and other guns. Two full seasons later, I haven't seem anything to suggest I got it wrong Surely by Jackson's second season they would have hoped to be a genuine flag contender. Hell, just a few weeks ago (after flogging us for the second time) they were in the top 4!. But for the second year in a row since trading in Jackson, they have missed finals again. And might have made finals if Jackson had put the team on his shoulders in the port game and been a difference maker, something you expect from your highest paid players. Like riccardio leaving red bull, the smart play for Jackson was to stay with the dees for 3 more years and then go to freo on a mega contract - maybe as a two time premiership player (imagine how different 2023 would have been with Jackson in the team).

Yes they do. But it has to be cooked very rare.

All I want for Xmas is an elite kick and decision maker. A lefty would be a sweet bonus.

Port win and they play the cats at home. Lose by more than a a few goals and we all put up with cats demanding they play port at Tax payer Park.

Suns do the business Ditto Saints. Our inability to hit a target inside 50 does the rest. Hello pick 5. Pick 5 changes the Houston dynamic from our perspective. That's a high pick in what is apparently a strong top 10 or so in the draft (though how often do they some variation of that).

And i was able roll out a golden oldy sledge to the Pies fans that were sitting in a dese members area - "You are rubbish Collingwood - a half decent team would be 100 points up!!!!!!" And i have to say i enjoyed contributing to the Collingwood chant - blending in: "Missed the finals as flag wiiiiiiiiineeeeers"

Cue in rack