Ouch!

Fixed.... looks like you were in a bit of a timewarp. At least this makes a lot more sense!

.... and lets face it at the end of the day you play the position that you are told to. We all know how it worked out for Howe moving to Collingwood, he wanted to be a forward, thats why he moved. Roos had him pegged in defence prior to leaving us. Howe goes over,.... played a handful of games in attack, Buckley moved him back and it was apparently a 'masterstroke' I'm fairly confident we are still in the mix for Gaff, and thats purely based on the fact we are still in the finals, we are an attractive team with a huge upside and future. We won't offer the money that Nth will, but we will offer a better chance for a premiership which is a currency in of itself.

Which sounds a little odd, given that Gaff and Polec would be drafted in by North for one reason only, and that is the Outside hard running wingman roles. Don't know if North need any inside mids currently? Cunnington and co seem to be doing ok in there...

... Thats probably how $cully remembers the trip to China with Max!!!! hehe!

Absolutely I'd have him back. ....... *cough* ....... nah, just kidding! I couldn't even keep a straight face whilst trying to type that! hahaha.

Totally agree, Free agency is really all about salary space... also crucially it is something that you need to be decisive when the club sits in that window of being a 'destination' club. A destination club sells the future (and presumably premierships) to prospective free agents as along with the contract. Non-destination clubs really only have the contract that they can offer to free agents. They also risk having to pay overs as well. Lesser known free agents may be lured by the appeal of more game time, or a specific role in the team, but the bigger free agent names already get that!

This whole thing is very emotive, even Pavlich and Ross Lyon are being a little 'expansive' with the truth, both saying that the hit was 100 meters off the ball, blah blah.... You can clearly see it's only about 20-30 meters in front of the ball. Media and Journos seem to be getting carried away in the hype,... Can't recall an AFL season with so much going on this late in the season!!!

Shocking act, AFL needs to make an example of it BUT. I don't think for a minute Gaff intended to strike him in the face, in my opinion the action is reminscent of what a lot of players do to strike the arm/chest etc in order to break a tag or run off their opponent, but Gaff in this case misjudged his aim very badly, and the resultant injury is horrific and he's done for the year... and possibly then some. The hysteria on social media and by all and sundry is getting too much however. Let the tribunal judge him, and lets see where it goes from there. The talk about criminal charges ... dunno bout that, it's not condoned, and was a brutal hit on Brayshaw, but I don't think that these lawyers are helping anyone (except for their own profiles) by making comment. Leigh Matthews is even worse, he was a known thug in his playing career, I don't remember how many people he hit whilst on the field, but he should just shut up and stay out of it. What the AFL needs to come out and say as a result of this incident is that any striking actions (jumper punches etc) are going to be treated with a lot more severity. They cracked down on it last year.... for all of three weeks,.... and then let it go again, players get a fine at most. Don't fine the players, suspend them from games, that hurts the club AND the player. EDIT: Oh and if they are mates off field (including Hamish) it does add another level of intrigue to the whole thing. Won't change the impact of what has happened, nor the outcome, but I suspect the family will accept the apology knowing the person behind it a little moreso than it would from a stranger!

won't be done though Gonzo, media commitments require x number of games, the cost hit to revenue would be massive. Unless they sell a pre season comp, but no-one wants to see AFL-X. Still need to guarantee a fixture of 23 rounds plus finals... Actually AFL-X has not been mentioned in the 2019 fixture has it? just the JLT??

I'd still like to see the change to 17 games home and away against the other teams, alternating home and away across two years, then after round 17 splitting the teams into the groups of 6. We aren't going to get a 34 game season, this seems the fairest, providing that they can work out what happens with: Who gets home and away fixtures after round 17 (more a logistics and stadium management issue I suspect) How the positions on the ladder at the end of round 23 impacts draft position. It's pretty clear how the top 12 would sit... but you need to incentives winning in the bottom 6, without disadvantaging the basket cases at the bottom of the ladder. Managing any fallout from double headers (QClash, Showdowns etc...) and placating the bigger clubs who insist on having double headers. I think you can still facilitate Anzac Day, Queens Birthday clashes, and the marquee games easily enough... If the AFL wants to have a fixture that is equal and unbiased, I can't see anything else out there that is anywhere close to this. I'd hate to see conferences introduced.

.... and apparently coming off the stunning logic that refers to St Kilda as being the only club into Gaff, and therefore why would he leave the WCE because they are closer to a flag than the Saints ?

Nah, sorry don't buy that Saty, if that's the case imagine how he looks with Oliver, Brayshaw, Petracca, Viney and co!

... and yet I defend people's right to play pokies if they so chose. I don't like that it's in all the pubs and clubs, and would prefer that it was in the Casinos. But I am also sick and tired of the way governments all over Australia are making us a nanny state. People have to be responsible for their own actions. A lot of things offer their users no benefit, but that doesn't mean you should ban it either. It's a sad fact but I believe a lot of people would find another thing if it wasn't pokies. I'm not saying we shouldn't help people who have addictions as a responsible society, but banning something doesn't automatically solve the problem. These people could turn to internet gambling, and that's even less regulated and grey market without any of the 'levies and taxes' that come back into the Govt.

As DrDrake mentions, these will be assets that are sold off, if it means clearing down some debt, or investing money into other ventures that can make the club money then thats the key here. Those numbers are misleading as all they do is say how much of our profit comes from gaming revenue. Can't just say now we don't have pokies therefore we don't have a revenue source. What the club does with the profits from selling these two assets will be the key.

I guess it depends how much money the AFL gets from the Fed Govt to conform to the WADA code.... if it's a couple of mil... the AFL can just cut back on some of the funding to the Gold Coast and Brisbane, and wear it.... however if the AFL was penalised through other means such as fed gov funding for grounds, sporting complexes and training facilities, perhaps it's a bit of a harsher pill to swallow.

Presume they are threatening to split from ASADA if ASADA is unable to prevent the FoI request through the courts. Essentially fighting along side them, but saying if it fails, we will part ways so that such a thing can't happen ever again... EDIT: An FoI request can only be made to a Govt agency I believe? or possibly to an organisation that receives public money to fund it's operations. Can't quite remember the details.

Just remember Nth had an offer in front of Kelly and Martin rumoured to be 1mil-1.2mil over 5+ years.

He won't be involved in anything at Collingwood until after this trade period. Guy has already said Lever is at the MFC. Not too much to worry about.

I'd advise you not to look in the Jack Watts thread....

I thought the Geelong model was no one earns more than the Captain??

Jade Rawlings, Nick Stevens, Luke Ball (.... almost) Lever can say he wants Melbourne all he likes, until the point that it breaks down and he heads to the draft. If it falls through and he goes to the draft, other clubs only have to match his asking price. Nth Melbourne and the Saints would be able to easily cover Levers asking price. Saints don't need his type, so might be fine, but Nth need to plug a huge number of holes everywhere on their list. Collingwood would not be too far off getting him and have a pick too and a need for his type as well. Going to the draft is a very big risk for Lever and the MFC and Adelaide get nothing. Doesn't work for any party!

In terms of the threat of Lever going into the draft, lets not forget that Nth hold pick 3, and have stupid amounts of money that they were using to try and get Martin and Kelly. They are not a destination club, but they can certainly match our financial offer to Lever if the draft is the way it heads...

I think I'll be disappointed if we have to part ways with Watts or Salem if it is only part of trying to secure Lever, however if the MFC has greater plans and are trying to secure some other players, Gaff or ... whoever it is @ Geelong that people are speculating on, and in order to do that we need to release some of talent on our list then I might be up for that. It will be about the sum of the gains / losses

I'm just chuffed to have you respond to my post ET haha!

Was purely putting out there as a hypothetical, I think Tom is a better player (due to age and experience now) than perhaps Lever is currently, but Lever has the upside in the long run. I guess it depends on whether our window is still 1-2 years away and Adelaide is firmly there now.... However if we managed for instance to effect a trade... lets say TMac for Lever, with some loose change exchanging hands. Allowing us to keep a first round pick to target someone else... knowing that Adelaide is potentially more open to the idea with Lever and possibly McGovern leaving... the currency for a swingman like TMac is more desirable, and we might get better value in the trade. I was being mischievous and I am tired of seeing posts where we are trying to 'lure' a quality player away from other clubs for what amounts to peanuts. We will have to give up something good to get Lever. Look at the Hibberd trade, how many people screamed about giving up what was it a second round pick? We clearly won out on that trade!