Ouch!

LOL, not a damn clue! I honestly think it was around the time that the media were banging on about how good the pies were in the ruck, and Brodie mightnt get a game with the streak they were on. I should have put some money down for a Tattslotto ticket that weekend! (*cough* Gamble responsibly kiddies!!)

Can I just say.... I started this thread back in July and it was a crazy notion that has now gone 51 pages, and looks likely to happen. :D ... I still think it's a crazy notion. I'm concerned that will will end up giving up a lot of the value we get from the Jackson trade, but the club needs to bring in at least 2 rucks in this trade/draft period.

I see it a little different, I am struggling to see how this can't be true, and at best you could argue for some misinterpretation.... but the substance of the allegations surely remains regardless I think.

I'm hoping that we have the forward in Van Rooyen, one of the elite kicks in Bowie, but a couple more wouldn't hurt ;) We also need another ruck on the list, may as well get them learning from Gawn (and possibly Grundy)

Ugottobekidding, hmmm apt! Anyhow, I'd strongly suggest you stick with your gut feel and don't say it, because you'd be wrong, (you might save yourself a few facepalm emojis being thrown your way too!) How can any of the players on our list, but even more specifically who played in the GF team in 2021 be even remotely considered a stuff up. Jackson contributed significantly to our first premiership in 57 years. He wa the rising star winner almost unanimously, and has been will be a massive player for whoever lands him. He holds a huge amount of currency in the trade market, and West Coast and Freo are looking to pay a huge contract to land him. Similar thing happened with us with Scully leaving, and we got compensation that got us Jesse Hogan & and I think Dom Barry, we turned that into currency that landed us Steven May. Melbourne were never going to lose from whatever happened with Jackson, if he stayed I still think we had a great player on our list that could play almost anywhere on the ground. If he goes, we get fantastic compensation, and potentially also being able to land Brodie Grundy who still should have a solid 4-5 years left playing, especially if playing alongside Gawn and sharing the load. ... best part of all, Collingwood might pay up to $300 -$350k of his salary! Along with what they are paying the dogs for Treloar, that is a stupid amount to be paying other clubs for extended years to take players off their list. Am I missing where we stuffed up?

I don't think we were as fit, but I don't know if it's as simple as that either. Not sure how to pull up the stats, but I am pretty sure that all but 3 or 4 games this year, we held a lead of 20 or more points. Yet only West Coast and Nth Melbourne conceded more points in the 4Q than us. Considering how few points we actually conceded for the year, it's truly bizarre. Goodwin thinks it's connection with the forward line, the commentary and media say it's also our forward line and not being prepared to try new players. I don't know the answer but I can't think it's only Selwynn Griffiths fault, but equally I think we are only just realising how much we are missing Darren Burgess.

Called them more duck than dinner, and a bit of a one trick pony on the Andy and Gaze SEN radio program yesterday… not a lot more to it than that

Anyone else bothered that Howe left us to play forward cos Roos was playing him in defence, he gets to the pies and Buckley gives him a pre-season up forward, moves him back mid season and all of a sudden it was a Buckley masterstroke?

Alright .... now hear me out. If we were to hypothetically lose Luke Jackson, and the MFC could convince Collingwood to pay part of the salary. Does this sound as stupid as it sounds to enquire about Grundy to play alongside Gawn? yeah... you are right it's stupid. 🤔

Will be a challenge for DK to hold up their backline without Steward. Perhaps a key part of Brown's role tonight might then need to take DK away from the play and being a decoy. Dees play the game through Fritsch and other forwards. Brown is good on the lead, not when they dump it on his head.

agreed, on TV that was horrible with the jumpers...

whilst that's somewhat laughable to think in those terms, the contract being speculated for a 21 year old is 'deserving' of type of thing. For Peter Bell, it's one thing taking Hogan when he was homesick and Freo were an ordinary team struggling at the bottom third of the ladder, it's another to get Jackson from us with both teams essentially top 4 clubs. They will need to part with some serious trade currency to land that deal. Also if the rumours are try and they are holding out on un-contracted players to try and lure Jackson on a mega deal and also apparently land Lachie Neale back at the club, is ballsy, but it could backfire somewhat spectacularly. I love Jackson as a player and want him to stay at the dees, however if 1.5 mil a year for 7 years is on the table, we won't come near that, nor should we even attempt to.

.... or economics and list management.

Don't think we'll panic and make too many changes. Our defence has been pretty solid most of the year, we've been hit with injuries in game where we have had to make do, and that's hurt us. However connection into forward 50 has been horrible. We just bomb it in on Brown's head. I have to admit that is where we are missing TMac, I think he holds our structure up forward, without him, the positioning looks horrible. However I will say ANB (who I have loved watching in the last 12 months or so) has absolutely been a momentum killer in the last few weeks. We were 20 odd points up in the 2nd quarter, with momentum and had another centre clearance where I think Trac spotted up ANB 40m out directly in front. They bring up on the TV that he ANB has kicked 1-7 from set shots this year, and all he did was add to his behind tally. Trac up forward has been similar, set shots are woeful and neither is kicking with confidence. I watched the VFL team, and Rivers was solid behind the ball but his disposal was just ok... which I think is why he was sent back to the VFL. I thought Bedford competed hard all day. Andy Moniz-Wakefield looked good too, and Van Rooyen can't be too far away from a call up to the VFL, but I don't think we'd bring either in against Brisbane. In: May, Bedford, Weid Out: Gawn, ANB, Turner

I'm not getting that read out of the media with May, but he does have history, admittedly being hit by team mates :D. I don't think people are piling on him as a troublemaker, but they are saying he'll have to earn the trust back of his team mates, the club and supporters, and that is a fair enough call is it not? Similarly Smith has flagged he has mental health issues and absolutely needs the support of his club and others. The white bag with Smith, and the fight with May/Melksham, cannot be condoned, but equally they should receive support from those around them.

You are kidding yourself if you think this is just the domain of sportspeople and NOT professionals. The difference is that there is the public media profile that goes with being a sportsperson that most cannot competently manage.

I totally get that, my point was more the condescending ill formed comments about every team in Tas apparently has failed thru history, the majority of people leave Tas in their 20s. I have no doubt however that the models being used for the business case are acutely aware of economical implications of a team in Tassie, as would those trying to put a case together for the NT.

The biggest issue with the NT entering that I can see is that they play AFL in the off season to the rest of the country. Whilst a stadium could be built, the local competition is still out of step isn't it?

OMG, could you be any more condescending? Historically? what teams are you actually talking about here? The only team on the national scene that 'hasn't survived' I can think of in the last 30 years is the Tassie Devils basketball team. Tasmania economically is one of if not the strongest performing state in the country for quite some time... Tasmania named Australia's strongest state economy for seventh quarter in a row (9news.com.au) Most people leave in their 20s for opportunity?

It is a good point that whilst Nth is solvent now, I wonder how much they are relying on the Tas Gov sponsorship..

Yeah we did get a bit off topic ... what is the actual topic here? I guess saying that soccer and basketball aren't popular in Australia is what I was trying to say, they are certainly popular, but they have a failure to transition the pathways from junior to adult I believe. It's not like they don't have active junior participants... I agree with your comments otherwise :D

Thanks Daisy, but you are referring more to the nickname of 'The Bloods' attributed to the football club itself. I'm referring to the culture of 'The Blood's that is attributed largely to Stewart Maxfield's time at the swans in the early 2000s with Roos being there. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2014/sep/18/how-sydney-swans-built-the-bloods-culture We might be talking two different things?

Every Saturday morning I see soccer fields packed with juniors who play. Basketball stadiums for junior players are packed. What hasn't been managed is a way to harness the pathways for these players. Basketball is growing a lot faster than you think, the number of players now in the NBA, the expansion of the NBL....

I think Pre COVID is a great source for what CAN be. COVID is still around, but I didn't say look at things now, I said look at 2019 for what it could be again, once more.... give it some time to build back up. Remember Tassie's entry isn't happening next year, they are talking at least 4-5 years away to prepare. 1. Do you put that caveat on every club in the AFL currently including GWS and GC? 2. 19 Clubs will suck, and I hope *IF* 19 clubs are a thing, it's a transition to 20 clubs. 3. I contend that they come out the current pathways we have at the moment, they could also come from reducing lists to say 35-38 players. Reducing the list size by 2 for all clubs free's up 36 players. I'm sure those players ultimately would prefer playing AFL than VFL/WAFL/SANFL given an opportunity. 4. I think the AFL admitted they got the way GWS and GC wrong, I don't have an answer, but I suspect that there will be some concessions, but not like it was with those two clubs.

Just on this point. If anyone heard Alex Neale-Bullen on SEN recently, they asked him how he felt about the (then) 16-0 run that Melbourne was on. His reply was awesome, he said, we don't look at it that way, from the team's perspective we lost to Carlton in the preseason, so we are still just 9-0. when we get to the end of the season, it will be really interesting to see where both clubs are at.... if they are still top 3 and we are on top, it will be a cracker of a game!