Good Times Grimes

But if you think of it this way: Geelong paid all that money and they received premierships, b&f's, brownlows, etc from Ablett. They paid for what they received. We didn't pay Scully anywhere close to that because he never signed any contract other than the customary 2 year entry-level deal. Say Scully had signed an extension and played 8 years for us before being poached by GWS and delivered what Ablett did; sure, we would have ended up paying him roughly similar wages to Ablett, but we would have also received all the accolades that Ablett delivered. You're not losing out on money if you're getting premierships in return. That being said, if Scully had played for us for 8 more years, theres no way to say that he wouldn't have been a complete dud and we would have received next to nothing had GWS taken him. All in all I'm happy with the 2 compensation picks we received because there's no way to tell whether or not Scully will amount to anything, and we got rid of a selfish, money-hungry player.

I'm aware that GWS has salary cap concessions, but do you or does anyone else know exactly how much and for how long these concessions are in place? It will be very interesting to see what happens when all GWS's young players come out of contract.

Precisely my thoughts. I'm very thankful that we don't have to worry about losing anyone else to GW$ and we get to see the filth go through what we did last year, except with a player of much higher calibre.

Okay, so assuming that the AFL were to grant us further/better compensation, what do you suggest we deserve now?

I'm aware that this has been mentioned before somewhere on this forum, but Pendlebury was a Demons supporter growing up. Maybe he wants to come to the MFC and be reunited with his midfield coach in 2013? Does anyone have any idea as to whether (if he wanted to come to MFC) he'd be a free agent or whether we'd have to pick him up via trade/the draft?

I'm not saying that I agree with this, but I believe the argument is that Ablett delivered premierships, won Brownlow's and was a downright star for Geelong. They got their worth out of him over his tenure with the club. Scully was a #1 overall pick (priority, at that), and he gave us one awesome quarter of football against WB, and that's it. Edit: If you're asking why we deserve further compensation because of Phil signing, I have no idea. He was never affiliated with the Melbourne Football Club, and I see no reason that we would be able to lobby for further picks as a result of his employment at GWS.

How do you like it when GWS are going after your players, Eddie? I hope like hell that GWS can nab one of the filth's stars, especially after Eddie's comments in this article: McGuire threatens to 'go feral' if Giants target Pendlebury Based on news that has come to light in recent days, Melbourne had no chance of keeping $cully, so for him to come out and make a comment like this I feel is inappropriate. Say goodbye to Pendles, Eddie. I doubt he'll be at the filth in 2013.

Looking forward to seeing how Watts, Jones, Sylvia and Morton take to Neeld. Jones, by all accounts, is in the top 3 fittest people at the club at the moment. He is a competitor, and if Neeld can fine tune his deficiencies he will become a very good footballer. We saw Watts take his game to a new level in 2011, but he is still far from elite. Interesting seeing that Neeld gave him a kick up the backside the other day, and I'm curious as to what influence this will have on Killa. He is a player who still isn't in his prime, but will Neeld and his assistants be able to make him into a star? Cale Morton is far and away the most bagged Demon. This is mostly because he has been labelled as 'soft'. I believe that Neeld's no-nonsense approach will either make or break Cale, but with Misson on board he should be able to significantly bulk up, and I think it is likely he will become a very good player for the MFC. He has the tools, he just needs the guidance. The player I'm going to be watching the most closely this year, though, is Col Sylvia. For too long he has been able to get away with not playing to his ability, not taking professional footy seriously, and being a 'passenger' in most games against top 8 sides. Neeld has shown that he isn't going to take any **** from Col by already suspending him for one game. I think this will be a major wake up call to him, and he will work harder and become a potential Bluey winner in 2012 as a result of Neeld's hard nosed attitude.

I think this weeks performance will temper a lot of club's views of him. Granted that I didn't see the game, but unless he was playing up the ground, no goals in a 92pt win is a bit suspect. That being said, 32 goals in 4 weeks is a great effort regardless of the opposition. I would be happy to see Melbourne pick him up with our first pick, given that this year is a 'shallow draft'. We have the support network for him, and it sounds as though he is a similar style player to Jurrah. Imagine 2 on-song Jurrah's in the same forward line (I know I'm dreaming a bit....)

I completely agree with this, however as you said, the AFL is majorly conflicted. There is no way they would take away a top 3 pick from a franchise they are trying to get off the ground. Unfortunate but true, it seems as though GWS can get away with almost anything.

He looks very short, regardless of the fact that he's with a bunch of tall players. Well built though...very curious to see what he can do!

There's many good footballers who I wouldn't take on my team. Being a good footballer isn't the only factor that is considered when recruiting a player.

1 - Jones 2 - Moloney 3 - Watts 4 - Martin 5 - Garland Most Improved - Stefan Martin Best 1st Year Player - Jeremy Howe Coach's Award: Curious as to who decides this, though I'm assuming it's Viney. If DB were still around, I'd say Watts hands down. I still think Viney will give it to Watts, but I think there's a chance someone like Trengove could get it.

Good.

I'm looking forward to seeing Strauss play again next season. When I first saw the injury I feared it could be career-ending, but by the sounds of it he'll be back at it sooner rather than later. He'll be a gun.

Would like to see Bate back for another year after his success with Casey and in the last couple of rounds. I think he could really thrive under a new coach and game plan. I think Dunn has played his last game as a Demon, while Warnock also appears to be gone. Campbell I think is an obvious delisting given the progression of Martin and Gawn. McNamara has been on the list forever yet seems to be stuck in the VFL, so I think it's time for him to go as well. It will definitely be interesting to see what happens over the coming weeks.

6. McKenzie 5. Rivers 4. Gysberts 3. Martin 2. Green 1. Watts

6. Watts 5. Jones 4. Martin 3. Evans 2. Gysberts 1. Jetta

6-Moloney 5-Trengove 4-Jones (to me, he's always consistent and hard at it. We'd be a lot weaker without him in the side.) 3-Petterd (can't believe it took him this long to get a game after round 2. he better be in the side from here on out.) 2-Watts (look out,he'll be something. He's gaining confidence every week). 1. Maric (showed he deserves a few more games at the top level before he's written off) Honourable mention: Bail (quickly becoming my favourite player), Warnock (him missing games earlier in the year shows we have good depth in the back line), Green (finally getting back into form).

Past: Schwarz and Tingay Present: Bail and Jurrah.

I would be thrilled if they didn't win a game this year. And I think that is a very possible scenario. In my opinion, these continued floggings are only going to hurt GWS' hopes of getting players like Scully. As has been said, I can't wait to see what Collingwood does to them. B)

Green - hitting some form Jones - Some bright patches Bartram - hard at it Watts - hungrier than usual Gysberts - fumbled, but good. Bennell - fast as hell Frawley - searching for form Trengove - quickly getting better Morton - improving after injury Sylvia - awesome second half Dunn - replace with Petterd Grimes - work on kicking Garland - disappeared at times Moloney - early brownlow leader Jurrah - good first half Rivers - better than 2010 Wonaeamirri - reads play well Martin - versatile and improving Tapscott - definitely a gun Davey - better as forward Jamar - All Australian 2011? Bail - Most improved player

Could be a good opportunity for him to get up some confidence though. If we're playing well and he comes on in the 3rd quarter or so against a tiring group of 19year olds, he may have a good chance of snagging a few goals. I can't say I'm disappointed with the decision to make him sub.

Also, looks like Watts is the sub for today.

That;s funny. I'm in Toronto, Canada, and the Dees/Suns is on live over here. Can't wait for it to start!