binman

My best is egg tart. Should be too good. Syd race 4 no 10.

Exactly right LH. There was an excellent article about Taylor a few weeks back and he basically said we are deal makers. We get deals done and those deals specifically focus on a need. We are a good trade to deal with and don't look to 'bend other clubs over' as so many seem to fret about on DL every trade period. We play the long game now. And all power to the draft and trading team. As I have said every year that i have posted on DL at this time of year i have little interest in the machinations of the draft, particularly the byzantine swapping of picks of horse trading. Pre - Jackson i worried about our acumen when trading (and drafting for that matter), but i have complete faith now. Don't get me wrong i understand why people enjoy discussing the permutations and all power to them. I do however get frustrated by: the frequent nashing of teeth over fears of being ripped off criticisms of MFC not playing 'hard ball' often enough bemoaning the picks we are asking for (we want 16 first rounders!) claims we are always paying 'overs' over wrought concerns about how much coin we are paying (or length of contracts) Go back and look at some of the discussion around bringing elk to the club for examples of all of the above. On Hogan i'm spewing it looks like he is going. In all likelihood we will not come out in front of any deal as he is generational player . In my view our best forward since the Ox. I'm sure they would not trade if they had their druthers. But as i have said on a number of occasion sin this thread, of course if wants to leave then you do the best deal you can and make the best of bad situation. You certainly don't try and hold him to his contract. On his choice i am amazed he would choose to go to freo and all but give up a chance of winning a flag for the next 5-6 years, maybe longer. And travel across the country every two weeks to boot. But as a good demons supporting mate said he understands better than most that life is short, is unlikely to go in the media and may well never be able to earn the sort of coin he could for the next 7-8 years.

Proof please. A single quote will do the trick.

I don't recall one poster who has 'unequivocally stated he wasn't going anywhere'.

My pet peeve is people who can't spelt.

Had an incredibly frustrating day on sat. Goes without saying the footy was a nightmare. Punting was not in the same universe, let alone ballpark, in terms of frustration but very annoying still. Had one those days where I narrowed races to two and pulled the wrong reign. Happened about 4 times. Also made two straight out errors choosing the wrong horse (tulip and noire). I backed Eduardo at odds and thought it was home. Punters lament. Looking forward to being able to focus fully on punting now footy season is over. I like this weekend schedule. Good racing Friday to Sunday. Grand final? What grand final?

Apologies. My best is sin to win. Race 4 number 6 at rosehill.

My best footy bet is the tigers to make their 14.5 line. They will win by six goals plus as piers will run out of juice.

I'll do my form on the 4 hour flight to Perth!

That explains it. Rumour is 12 months old. Just takes that long to reach the gold coast

Apologies for lateness. My best is fighting harada at morpehitville. Race 2 no 1.

He could have played a straight bat and certainly not been as effusive or dismissive of the idea. One of the brothers. A rising star winner who averages over 2 goals game. A star.

Cue 'well he would say that' or 'what else is he going to say' type comments......

Exactly. Add to that Weed and TMac are both excellent in the ruck at centre bounces and Jessie ok from throw ins. This allows Max (who is incredibly mobile and athletic for such a big fella) to play a kick behind the ball, 'rest' up forward, fill the hole down back or have a solid break on the bench to recharge his batteries (essentially giving us another mid/runner on the ground whilst he is on the bench). (Giving Maxy more time on the bench might be important next year because surely we will want to mange Max's time a bit more next season given the load he carries and his importance to the side.) On top of that the athleticism of our bigs and their ability to play in multiple positions makes us very unpredictable as they seem to be very fluid in terms of role and field postion at any given point in time. Hogan, Tmac and in the last few games Weed also go well up the ground to provide the marking target down the line All this fluidity creates huge match up issues for opposition coaches and headaches for opponents. How many players are strong enough to compete one on one with Hogan or Tmac but also good enough athletically to run up and down the ground with them too. Sure they can 'hand off' but this creates confusion. it also creates space in our forward line. There were two great examples in the first quarter against the cats of the problems this fluidity and movement from our bigs causes. The first was the Harmes goal. We go down the line (in what is obviously a set play/team rule) to Tmac who takes a big contested mark. He kicks quickly to Hannan in the corridor (the 45 degree kick the commentators are talking about now). The forward line is completely open (in large part because Tmac has dragged his man up the ground) and Hannan hits Spargo who hits Harmes running into open space. The second example was the final goal by Weed. Weed delivered the ball lace out from half forward to Melk - so about 70 metres from goal. He then runs a big arc and ends up unmarked behind the defenders (including Blicvacs) and takes an almost uncontested mark 5 metres out. They completely lost track of him and were defensively all over the place. This versatility is huge weapon for us and a massive point of difference to the Tigers - or any other club for that matter. It means we have the tigers ferocity, territory and chaos style but can control possession more. It also means there is no issue at all playing Hogan, Tmac and Weed in the same forward line. Not least because there would be very few occasions when all three were actually in the forward line together but also because of the incredible endurance and athleticism of Hogan and TMac. I can't wait.

Good points. But even in footy right now having a mobile tall who can mark the liong ball down the line is critical. We are the number 1 long kicking side. Richmond second. Territory is now king. Our advantage over tigers is we have more players who can take a big pack mark from a long kick from defence. Just as tmac, maxy, hogan and weed do so well. The critical thing is that the bigs are great runners and can cover ground. Like hogan and tmac. And unlike say hawkins, who is a one position player. The dees are ahead of the curve.

What is this talk about him 'thinking of going'. The only talk from Hogan has been the complete opposite as per my comment above. You mention rumors that 'News was he was off to docket land last year but didn’t happen'. Why didn't it happen? because he extended his contract with dees. Pretty good indication he wants to stay with us i would have thought. He aint going to Freo. Why would he? Why would anyone? Why does their best player want to leave? This whole thread is based on premise of he is 'thinking of going'. For the sake of argument lets accept he does not want to. If you accept that then the thread collapses because he is contracted. And would have to agree to a trade. Sure the club could 'encourage' the player to agree to a trade - Watts comes to mind - for example by saying if you don't agree to a trade you'll be playing twos but does anyone seriously think the club would say would give that sort of ultimatum to Hogan? No i didn't think so. Fugazzi. And i'm out.

Of course. Prudent. And i'm sure the club will start discussions once this season is done and dusted. Those discussions are likely to go on for some months. And of course the club will be hoping to have them finalised by say mid next season to avoid the palaver that comes with a player 'waiting until the end of the season.' I'm sure Jessie will want that too. It is worth remembering Jessie extended his last contract for that very reason. Because he loves the club and wanted to avoid fugazzi (and he is private fella and no doubt he wanted to avoid drama). What we know is he has expressed only recently, though his manager, that he loves the club and has no thoughts on going. We know Goody has come out and said the club loves Jessie and has no thoughts about trading him.So any pressure to sign now or be traded is pure Fugazzi. Jessie is a once in generation player. Here is little trade secret i have picked up. You keep them.

I am going to try and stay out of this thread because reading some of the frankly ridiculous comments (we must act! he has to prove he want to stay! he needs to sign! yes he is gun, but we could trade in another gun! we don't need him! i'm not saying we SHOULD trade him, but if he wants to go home! etc etc) does my head in. The thread keeps popping up in the recent posts function and like a fool i can't help but to look. But its not all silly posts. This being a good example of a rational, logical one. Leaving aside the fact Jessie is incredibly unlikely to want to leave a club on the brink of a sustained period of finals success for one who is on the complete opposite trajectory (and he would have agree to a trade of course) the club has been shouting from the roof tops about building a team first, 22 brothers running out together , fully connected, group love culture. For pete's sake it recently became public that our motto this year is one borrowed form the great Norm Smith - Esprit de corps. Why on god's good earth would the the club risk that culture by putting any pressure on Jessie or considering trading him. I mean please. He is a loved team member who the club has nurtured and looked after during incredible personal issues. One of the brothers. Been at the club since he was 17 years old. The MFC is his his extended .Goody won't have it. And thank go for that. What about trading Weed instead (jokes)?

Good lord.

Best thw autumn sun. Rosehill race 4 no 1. A class above. Like the dees

Maybe. But highlights the stupdidity of the idea of trading hogan. Trading hogan now would be equally stupid

And further to that im pretty sure roosy said it the context of a scenario like steve may who is rumoured to be considering a move or fielding offers.

As i said nothing wrong wirh having a discussion a year out. There is something wrong with demanding a player prove his loyalty by extending and deciding if he doesn't yoy MUST trade him. Particularly a player who has shown loyalty already and rejected huge offers to stay with us

Did you miss rhe fact he is not a free agent unti 2021? And lets pretend he did become a free agent to be clear you would support shopping hogan if he did not prove his loyalty by commiting to an exstension?

One i never threw any insults around. I don't play the man. Two, you said: Don't get me wrong, if Hogan wants to stay, we keep him, but he has to prove this with a contract extension. Sounds lot like threat to me. At the least you are saying we should ask him to prove his loyalty and commit to an extension. Prove being the key word. As i said he does not have to PROVE anything. And to suggest he does is patent nonsense. Which is not an insult. it is an opinion.