BAMF

He was at the Swans first and then the Saints. Then us.

We wouldnt swap Gawn.

Jesus. why would you want to imagine that?

All good. I had a fair few bevies and got home to find one of my favorite players had nearly drowned (probably not even close to what actually happened but that's how I read it at the time.) My post was purely emotional.

I was venting. Jesus. Get a grip.

Jesus this club is [censored] thick. Heat training in preseason. (short term benefits only, if at all) Sleep deprivation military camps. (evidence says you should do the complete opposite) Brick in bag smash head exercise while sleep deprived. (Surprisingly not good at all) Drowning excerices leading up to round 7.(New low. Clap. [censored] clap.)

Indeed. I went to a Saints message board the week before our game. The majority of them wanted him dropped but thought he would scrape through because he was playing his old side. I was disappointed when Kent left. We were never going to get what his value was due to all the injuries he had. His best was good but he was never on the park enough to get a decent string of games put together.

To add my 2 cents, I recall someone on here at the time of that draft got to have a chat to Shifter Sheehan who advised that both looked like great young kids. When asked who Melbourne should pick first Shifter said that Salem was clearly the better player and alluded that no club would have picked Freeman over Salem. I think a few people are picking him based on his draft position in 2013. He has been in the system at 2 different clubs for that time but has spent the majority of the time with consistent hamstring injuries. For a player who was basically picked for his elite pace this has buyer beware written all over it.

I would take him if it cost us a 4th rounder and low salary. He comes across as a bit of a [censored].

I wasn't overly vocal about it but I raised concerns. There were a number of other posters who shared the same view. We were always going to be in trouble early. I thought we would have enough depth to get us through the first few rounds, unfortunately we got a fair few injuries which ruined this. There were a large number of us who watched the practice games and knew we were cooked. It isn't just the number of sessions though. There are a number of things that have created this which include: 1. Delayed start to preseason 2. Large turnover post season (10 is a lot for a team who finished 4th) 3. Post season surgery to 12 or more players 4. Injuries to a large number of players leading to round 1 I still think we will turn it around next year. While frustrating, this could be the year we need to have.

I like it. One of the guys from The Cat Empire wrote it.

Most. Sure. Front ended hopefully. The club advised mid last year that we had enough room to go after another player in the trade period. We lost Hogan and got May. Everything else isnt worth analysis. We should have a heap of cash. Just my opinion.

A few of our regular posters were strong on him in his draft year. We had three chances to get him but picked Spargo, Fritsch and Petty.

We should have a heap of cash to play with IMO. Hogan would have freed up a bit.

Oh I realised you were taking the [censored]. It just reminded me how bad Blease was. I was rapt when we picked him up in the draft. How wrong I was. We are a bit slow. But it's not as bad as some think. I'm hoping we pick up a hard running mid or two this year. Port have done extremely well by picking up Rozzee, Duursma, Butters and Drew. All of a sudden they are flush with youth and speed. It can turn around pretty quickly.

I can never recall Blease ever using his pace defensively. Did he ever run someone down like Hunt does? All i ever recall was him outting the jets on just as he was about to receive the ball.

Mostly agree. Disagree on the Lewis trade. That was worth salivating over and it has worked out very well for us. We gave up nothing.

I agree. He is a freak. He is amazing. There was a preseason game against us back around 2008 or 09 where he destroyed us. I have been a big fan since that game. It was clear that this guy was cut from different cloth. However, everyone declines towards the end. Buddy doesn't even train anymore. It's all recovery from the previous game. Would you take him for $300k each year for 2 years for a third round pick? He'll yes! Would you take him for 300k each year for 4 years and a third round pick? Maybe. (He is a freak after all) Would you take for for 1.2mill each year for 4 years and a second round pick? Hell no. That's around about what we would be talking about here. Hell no!

Yep that's the one. Can we get that output from him? Then yes. Everyone with a brain would take him. I don't think his output will remain the same.

Good point. Maths is the same as its based off the number of years Diamond Jim proposed and a ten year contract which he is actually on. However that does mean that he has in his 6th year and has another 4 to go. That's a long time left to be paying over 1 million per year. Would any club take that contract over? I don't think so

His reported contract is 10 million over 10 years. Under your scenario... 2013-2017 : 5 x 1.1million = $5,500,000 2017-2020: 3 x 1.2million = $3,600,000 Total = $9.1million So yeah, in hindsight not too bad. But you only have him contracted till 2020 when you could reduce it right down or more likely let him retire. Plus you would much prefer this option as a club when signing as you get to renegotiate in 2017. The AFL advised at the time of the trade that Buddy's salary would stay in the salary cap even if he retires prematurely (which they will probably go against). If he is forced to retire at the end of this year (as you say unlikely but possible), he will be chewing over a million per year for the next three years. That's huge. Sydney have been lucky that he has been able to produce at such a high level for so long. It really could have been a lot worse. They took a punt and it has largely paid off, but it was outrageous at the time.

Indeed. It was outrageous at the time. I hope they back ended the hell out of it. He is 32 years old, unable to train, is starting to lose his long kicking and has another 4 years to go.

Funny. I have exactly the same feelings. I had high hopes for the season but I am surprisingly Zen about us having a bad year. A lot has to go right to win the whole thing. I'm not going to worry too much. We should be worried about any team with strong outside run. The Saints should be sh!tting themselves about our contested fire power. They have Ross and Stelle on the inside.

I couldn't work out if he was serious or taking the mickey.

Just showed his highlights postmatch. I would like to look at them again but there were a few moments that didn't look good. Very dubious. There were also some genuine highlights from him that looked great. So hard to stop those 200cm forwards when they put the arms out. He is a ripper.