Jaded No More

It's not what he did, but how he did it. He is a self-serving, manipulative ass who wasted the time of 3 clubs in an effort to bump up his own price. The way he conducted himself is a disgrace, and what he did on the field on Saturday is also a disgrace. The subsequent decision of the MRP is unlikely to be reflective of his actions on the field. It hardly ever is in most cases. He is a bloody good player, one of the best, but his reputation has really been tarnished since moving to Victoria IMO. He could have ended his career as the next Hird. Instead he'll probably end up being seen in the same light as Buckley. Both champs, but one was hated and one was loved.

Once just a mercenary, now also an eye gouger/ face poker. All class Chri$ Judd, all class!

Rivers + 18 for pick 9?

You know what they say about Karma... it's a b$@*h!

A follow up if I may, do you think we'd get more than a mid/late second round pick for him on the open market?

Mid 20 pick- straight swap. Yay or nay?

So what would you trade him for?

Brisbane, although they are no chance to go very far. Still, they are my second favourite team and I hope Brown kicks a bag against the Carlton scum tomorrow. For this week: - Crows - Dogs - Lions - Collingwood (I HATE St Kilda!)

Docklands will become significantly less [censored] when this redevelopment is complete. The idea is not to build a stadium in isolation, but to incorporate it into a new neighborhood if you'd like, which is being planned for the area (another opportunity for Melbourne in terms of community growth perhaps). At around $4 million a pop for water-frontage property, the word shithole just won't be applicable anymore.

I hope you'll give us Bayside residents a bit of a warning before you or your mate decide to go for a nude run. In my very biased opinion we are a better side than Richmond and we'll finish higher than them on the ladder next year.

But as I've said, the question is what is a good deal and what is Rivers worth to us? Pick 9, great deal and probably one we should (would) take. A second round pick? a third round pick? Are we likely to find a better all round defender/footballer/leader with a pick in the 20's than Rivers? Is the risk worth taking? It says a lot about the quality of our defence that we look to Rivers as being tradeable, when in reality Rivers is a high quality player who would easily slot into Hawthorn's backline. Grand Finals are won from the backline IMO, you break up that synergy we have going, and it might cost us more than just a good player.

Both McNamara and McKenzie are getting surgery this week, which is why neither is playing for Casey.

Every game in Melbourne (MCG + Etihad). Missed Geelong and interstate games.

And yet poor Maric gets a non-suspended fine, for doing something silly yet pretty innocent. I know who has the deeper pockets and who made a worst error in judgment. Pretty soft.

To be fair I think you need to take into account that for an entire year, we've missed Garland, who is both a KP defender and a play maker. This meant that the rest of the defenders have had less of a chance to create attacking opportunities. What are Frawley's inside 50 stats? I recognise Rivers' shortcomings, and if pick 9 was on offer I'd seriously consider it, but I think the second half of this season he has shown that he can regain his early career form. He was fantastic on Kosi, who is taller and stronger than him, and when our midfield improves (and Garland returns), the opportunity to zone off will increase, and so will Rivers' form. We have finally got a defense, and while we may look at Warnock, Frawley, Garland, Martin and Rivers and wonder how we're going to play all of these guys, we saw this year how easily a defence can be torn apart by injury. We managed to cover Garland's loss fairly well, but that's because we had three other top quality players ready to take his place. 5 KP defenders is an absolute minimum as far as I'm concerned. Past history tells us that you can never have too many quality talls, and this is especially true if we decide to turn Garland into a forward. At the end of the day we have to ask, can we get someone better than Rivers with the pick we're likely to get for him?

Fantastic video. I hope Bailey is right and he'll play for as long as he is physically able to. Too often we see these amazing talents emerge and disappear quickly. Love the skinny lattes too. Well done Liam, you're a real Melbournian now! :D

The only one in that list of any interest IMO. Has pace to burn and could be a great line breaker for us. Would I give up a second round pick for him? probably not. But as you said, PSD target most definitely.

Too old, but it's OK, because he'll win the Coleman instead Grimes not getting any votes is a bit strange, same for Jurrah, but at the end of the day these awards mean nothing. Rich is an outstanding player, but many of the players who didn't score a vote, or even a nomination will go on to be better players than some of the guys who finished in the top 5. You can also be sure that someone like Beams wouldn't have got a single vote if he played for Melbourne this year, but Grimes and Jurrah would have got plenty if they were playing for a top 8 side. Just for comparison sake, does anyone know where Morton finished in the Rising Star and who the top 5 were in that same count?

And you could argue that the quality of your depth is not nearly as important as the fitness levels of your depth. A healthy list, one that can consistently play the same 25-28 guys is probably the key to success these days. We see the way Hawthorn have just been decimated by injury, and you just need to compare them to a lesser talent in Collingwood who have no injury dramas, to understand why fitness is so important. Your top 6 will win your premierships, but a fit list will get you there.

When he backs it up next year, and the year after that, and the year after that. Yes he has been very good this year, but he also stuffed up at the start of the year when he broke curfew, and again when he got himself suspended for a seriously dumb act against West Coast. Sylvia is his own worst enemy and if the club is fearful of rewarding him, it would be very easy for them to give him low votes in games where he probably deserves top votes. If it means he doesn't get ahead of himself again, than I'm all for it. He can and should be a valuable member of our team going forward, but at the moment he is still stuck in between "great player" and "basket-case". One good season after 5 years of disappointments from a top 3 pick is not enough for me to sit back and say that he deserves to be showered with accolades. Please don't take this as Sylvia bashing, because I think he has been absolutely terrific this season and is seriously talented.

You could also argue that the club would be very conscious of rewarding Sylvia at this stage of his career, for fear of him falling into the same trap of being comfortable and pleased with himself. He's had a very good season, but he needs to keep backing it up before accolades are bestowed upon him. IMO anyway.

I don't think that hungover Monday or hungover Wednesday are going to feel any different, they will both suck equally and will no doubt make you regret ever taking up drinking, all the while cursing the existence of your liver. The difference between us mere mortals and footballers, is that footballers get a fair few weeks to recover, while we all have to get up the next day and get on with life

Drove past Junction today and the place was full of cars, so Mad Monday may not actually start until tonight, as they were probably having recovery and meetings today as per usual. I'm having a Mad Tuesday of my own tomorrow, so if I see anything I'll let you know. Might take some photographic evidence to use around here when we lose games next year and everyone needs a little pick me up :D

"Other clubs may be coming, but we're going places"

I don't know about you, but I was celebrating our great victory in gaining picks 1 and 2.