binman

Our fixture is our fixture. And i cant be bothered going over ground i have covered on dl at this time of year every year since i started posting. Suffice to say the role of the afl is not purely to make money. IT IS NOT A BUSINESS in this sense. It is to run a fair and equitable competition, that yes continues to grow. It should, like the most analogous comp the nfl, create a fair draw where teams play each orher once (perhaos with a rolling annual double up to get to 23 rounds) and key free air to air matches like friday nights are shared equitably. That is equalisation. Stand on our two feet? Bite the hand that feeds us? Sheesh. The afl exists for the clubs not the other way round

It is so ridiculous. I would have thought taking the end of the season just gone would be a pretty reliable guide as to a sides chances of success, particularly if a crappy end mirrored a crappy middle and beginning. It is competency unjustifiable to give them four, a decision made worse by that fact they did the same thing two years ago and the blues were woeful. I hope the blues get smashed every Friday game they play and no one watches. Sunday 3:20 games rate much lower but i guess it is a positive that we get a few free air to Sunday games in terms of some neutrals watching us. But i hate going at that time. Not home before 8pm on Sunday sucks.

Yep spot on. A good assessment of where he is at i reckon. I'd add that he is smart and a pretty good kick. For a big young defender he is tracking really well (better than his brother at the same stage of his career) and as you say he is a competitor, which Goody has made clear is his number one KPI. Plenty of upside, which is exciting. Like his brother, he will work super hard over the pre season on his strength and fitness and on aspects of his game he needs to improve. He'll put on at least 5kg from last season (and he might even still get a bit taller) and be the key defender we need to free up Lever to play the role we have recruited him for and allow his brother to go forward, as noted in this article (if it doesn't work just do a search on the title of the article and it will unlock it).

I meant that for the pies it has no emotional connection. Certainly not in the way Vic does. Since we moved from the g we have had no home base and even then there was no social club attached. Olympic park would give us the chance for home for the first time in decades and whilst it might take time we could give the place a demon soul. And as i say its proximity to the g means the place has more spiritual attachment for us than the pies.

What he said. And PJ for that matter. We are at a huge disadvantage. Look at what the tigers have at Punt road. Punt Road plays a huge role in that club - it is their foundation and is a big part of their identity . I suspect the Lexus center does not work for the pies and Vic park would be much better. Where would pies fan go if they won a flag (shudder). I suspect Vic park not that rather soulless place they have now. Would work great for us though. The practice match and VFL game there i saw was terrific. It would be perfect for us

That is actually a great option. Vic park is their spiritual home, will never be built over, they play their VFL games and has infrastructure to build on. Plus it would be a great resource for a booming area in the way Arden Street is (eg public gym, community activity spaces, local sporting groups etc) The state and yarra governments would probably even chip in. We move into the old glass house precinct, smack bang in the middle of our our spiritual home the MCG and surrounding parkland. And we a beaut spot for pre and post training and games beers Both clubs win.

Well Jack has another 5 or 6 or so years of senior footy. And will play us perhaps 10 times. His great games will be highlighted and his poor ones not so evident but reflected on nonetheless. They are likely to make finals and a re a good chance to finish top four so we will see a lot of Jack at the pointy end. Imagine if they win a flag with Jack. Good lord! So i think there is little chance this thread will die. Perhaps it should be renamed again though. Farewell Jack Watts won't cut it next year (and to be honest is not really cutting it now). I hope though that whatever happens to the thread we keep away from character assassination of jack, goody and mahoney. And for that matter i hope we don't see any more scurrilous rumor and innuendo about Jack's extra curricular activity. Totally uncalled for and Jack deserves much, much better from demon's fans. To be clear PD i'm not suggesting you have engaged in such behavior, quite the contrary you have been very respectful, focused on Jack as footballer not a person and showed admirable constraint in not posting some gif of someone jumping up and down saying I TOLD YOU SO!!!!!!

Goodwin would trade him for being selfish

I was wrong about the club trading Jack. I was, however, right about there being no chance if he left it would be for a cellar dweller and in all likelihood he would go to a top 4 club. Port is a much better option for Jack than Geelong i think. Not least because i they are in a much better position, in my humble, to win a flag in the next 5 years than the Cats. For the Cats its next year or never.

Who is Allen Jackovich?

This sort of stuff is rubbish. Fanboys - sheesh

Hence my joke

To be honest the thread should have been closed when renamed Farewell Jack Watts. Or a new thread started for people to thank jack for his service to the club and not use it to have more shots at him or the club for how they have handled the whole thing. Jack showed his class with his farewell comments. its not too much to ask i reckon for passionate dees fans such as us to show a bit as well. Good luck Jack. I hope things work out well for you. Thank you for your service to the club i love and for many fantastic memories - non grander than this years QB game (PS thanks for performing well in 2016. I enjoyed seeing PD using your avatar for 6 months).

Where is the der fred button when you need it?

A sad day.

No, i don't think it has.

If true it suggests that perhaps this draft isn't as weak as many have predicted.

5 trades so far! If the rumors of North Korea using trade radio as a tool of torture are true let hope that for the sake of all things sacred they don't use a recording of this years'edition!

I do.

Agree. I have had no interest in this thread other than scanning for updates. To be honest i have been hoping that there will be an update saying something has drastically changed and he is going to say. That's because i'm a huge Jack 'fanboy'. As i have said before he is in my top 10 favourite Melbourne players - and i have seen a lot of players in the more than 40 years i have passionately followed the club. But the key word is fan. i'm not a coach or member of the FD. Obviously. No really i'm not. I'm allowed to be emotionally invested and think through that lens. The coach and the FD not so much (though as Roos said in that great interview on Deetales footy is an emotional game, much more so that business, and that is why some strange decisions are sometimes made) To be honest i think it is pretty simple. Goody wants 22 warriors. And Jack isn't - and never will be - the warrior type. Now i might disagree with that be he is the coach and it is his call. Goody has made the call. And i very much doubt he has done so lightly. I support and respect his right to make that call. That said it is a big call and quite rightly he will be judged on it - and goody would expect nothing less. And i like the fact the club has allowed him to make that call. Many is a time that a head coach would have been over ruled at the demons - which is just one of the reason we have been so unsuccessful for so, so many years. this why PJ is quiet. He ha invested in the FD and like all good managers know you have to trust your key appointments. Micro management is an anathema to success. I will be totally gutted to see jack play at another club. The last time i felt this way was when Greg Wells left when i was about 11 years old. But like then i hope Wattsy gets all the success in the world. And as harsh as it sounds if we get the success we all crave the fanboys and haters will have consigned all of this palaver to the memory vault.

JACK Watts wants to play for Port Adelaide. The Herald Sun has been told Watts on Friday settled on playing for the Power, which has this week announced itself as the AFL’s newest destination club. Steven Motlop followed Tom Rockliff to Port, with the restricted free agent pair choosing the Power over Adelaide and Gold Coast, and Carlton respectively. The Watts camp is unlikely to declare his chosen destination given the Jake Stringer-Essendon impasse, but sources close to the forward are adamant he has decided on a fresh start in South Australia........ It is understood the Demons might have to tip in some of Watts’ annual salary of around $500,000 to get a deal for Watts done and gain more traction in next month’s draft.

Managing a player with significant behavioral issues a leap forward for the MFC? Shirley, you can't be serious. Perhaps we can see if Nick Kyrgios wants to join the board.

Apparently North Korea are thinking of using trade radio over 6 weeks as a form of torture

Yep, that was my point WB - and in much fewer words. ta.

Now you are confusing things martin. That quote is one i made up to prove my point Mahoney implied we wouldn't be active in the trading period, ie my suggestion was that he would have said it if keen to trade to give himself an out but didn't!