PaulRB

Good draft picks have currency in the Trade period if we want to use them to get mature players. All clubs need a blend of young and old, and FA only delivers the old...

I think Bombers and Blues who seem to be looking to stock up with Goddard and maybe Tippet will be exposed to raids by us on other (under paid) players in their squads. Arrogance and a bloated sense of entitlement always lead to an over extension (a.k.a Brissie a couple of years back with Fev). We just need to keep our powder dry for the moment.

If there is a weakening of the poorer performing clubs the AFL will simply have to up the compo... Be interesting how they do it once the full FA period can be viewed in a months time.

They are rumours Picket! i.e. not real, speculations... Best save your righteous bewilderment for when the deals are actually done.

Farren Ray makes Cale look big boned and Jack Watts a terrier. Deck chairs shifting...

Can also put pressure on/ open opportunities for trades when players (not able to use FA) are being squeezed by incoming FA I.e. Wellingham (Cloke deal) and Gumbleton (Goddard deal)...

I suspect the Dons are keen if the Goddard deal falls through. Can Essendon afford to pay big to both Beamer and Goddard?

Agree. We need to recruit so as of next year we can play the structures and game style we'll be playing in 3 years. If that means some short term stop gap solutions while we work to develop a younger alternative then thats what we need t do. The recruitment period The Free Agency phase - is generally only going to deliver us player with a "lifespan" of the next 2-3 years and ready to go in 2013. Low risk, moderate reward and moderate price (no picks but lots of cash) The Trade period - would ideally deliver us players with "lifespan" of 5-7 years and ready to go in 2013. Low risk, good reward but high price (i.e lose high picks and lots of cash). The Draft - will provide us with players with a lifespan of 10+ years but unlikely to be ready/prime for a couple of years... High risk, high reward with moderate price (high picks). Getting the balance right between these three elements of the recruitment period is key to our prospects in 2013 and more importantly our prospects of pulling together a premiership winning team in the next decade.

Unfortunately culture is not created in a season. The Swans have been nurturing and developing theirs for almost two decades, and as some players said after the GF they owe part of their success to those previous Swans players who nurtured and inoculated them in the Swans culture (i.e. Kirk, Kelly etc...). Unfortunately the culture building process at MFC will take time. However, Neeld, Craig, the Jacks, Jones , Clark all seem to be committed to crafting it well and with the right values to generate success in Sept...

I thought it was a very mature and respectful way to put their loss in perspective and acknowledge the real loss of others.

It think people are confusing FA (i.e Cloke) with players wanting to shift clubs via a trade (i. Wellingham). In the former case (FA) the player has power to negotiate their way to the club of their choice, and their previous club has to suck it up and accept the compo from the AFL, in the later case the player's current club has the power to determine where the player goes via the trade system even if the player is not so happy on the destination (unless they want to try their hand in the draft). Talk of deals where Caddy goes to X club and Wellingham to Y club are only done when their current club agrees to those deals, prior to that it is just argy bargy by players and their managers to try and get the player to their preferred club.

A mighty Morton comes good. Good omen?

Every Auction needs a couple of bidders to up the price. We can say to GC and the other Vic clubs we'd take Caddy for Pick 13 (if GC play ball on JV). This would mean for Caddy to go elsewhere that the club would need to offer GC batter than Pick 13. GC get a good deal for a so so player.

He's off to support his 15 yr old son Jake with his footy. Might be one to watch for 2016 F/S.

SO if we picked up Hogan in the mini-draft he would spend 2013 training with MFC and playing for Casey?

Four wins and many losses + proud young men = hunger Go hard boys.

huh!? "Have we learned nothing? Obviously not." does that mean we've learnt a lot? I suspect your condescending swipe should have read "Have we learned nothing anything? Obviously not." Much better. proceed.

Poor peripheral vision (aka Kozi) would prefer hogan, gumby, etc... And Rass, just because we don't agree with doesn't mean we are suckers. We just don't agree that Tippett is worth pursuing.

Demons working overtime (XTC) ... And all the world is football-shaped It's just for me to kick in space And I can see, hear, smell, touch, taste And I've got one, two, three, four, five Demons working overtime Trying to take this all in. I've got one, two, three, four, five Demons working overtime Trying to taste the difference 'Tween a lemon and a lime Pain and the pleasure And the church bells softly chime.

Kosi mark II

Season 2012 is over. This is good. Off season time to re-charge the batteries, lie in the sun. Think of other things to footy i.e life. Our FD is about to draft into the club at least 6 players who will be in our top 22 in 2013. Our players are already knuckling down and prepping for an huge pre-season. Just because we're not fussing over every inane rumour like a bunch of nervous old ladies doesn't mean we've lost the will... more that we trust the coach and his team to deliver a better result than we can imagine.

I don't think Geelong have another flag in them. Be a shame for Jared to leave Melb to chase a rainbow.

muppet

I like the National Anthem at finals because as it finishes the crowd roars in anticipation of the imminent game. It's the calm before the storm, and part of the ritual of finals that works a treat. I for one are looking forward to singing along again in September soon.

While I like and think Jared a very good player I don't think we'd look at him if he was at another club and available. We are well stocked in tall backmen with Watts, Tommy Mc, Garland, Frawley and Sellar. This is probably why the FD are not freaking at the prospect of him leaving. We need tall forwards, and losing Riv to gain a Gumbleton type forward may be what we have to do.