Macca

Any pick we get for Weideman (3rd rounder?) could be bundled up with a F2 for a better placed pick in this year's draft And you're right, we've virtually abandoned using any 3rd rounder on a draftee. Makes sense too as the likelyhood of drafting a good player past pick 35 is not good You're probably better off with a delisted free agent as a DFA doesn't have to be trained up from scratch So a $500k* investment (over 2 years) on a pick 40 and beyond seems high risk *Salary, FD spend around that player etc etc

This is just a guess but I reckon we might use 1 or 2 of the F2's for a pick (or picks?) this year (moving up in the draft as well?) We've dealt with the GCS & GWS before so there's the conduit Thus keeping 2 x F1's for next year's draft ... and we can move up in next year's draft using those 2 F1's (along with any other picks we obtain)

We could do that as well as draft 2 players ... by my reckoning it would be 1st or 2nd round for draftees as that's where we've trended

So next year we have got 2 x F1 & 2 x F2 And this year we have now got picks 13 & 27 only (plus the late picks only to be used on a rookie upgrade or 2) Pick 27 will be needed for Grundy (at least) But we need another pick (or 2?) this year if we are drafting 2 or more players (by all accounts our 3rd pick will be Chandler upgraded) So 1 or 2 of next year's picks could be traded for another pick or 2 this year ... we could deal with GCS or GWS for that to happen Moving up in the draft this year is on the cards as well

Another way to view things is if Jackson stayed how much would we have paid him ongoing? (after such a disappointing 2022 season) And was he going to improve? Maybe not There would be no Grundy, no to the 2 x 1st round picks ... or the extra 2nd round pick Our first pick would have been in the 30's and that's about it. As we've found out, Hunt, Bedford, Weideman (?) going wasn't going to add in top end draft picks. Only Jackson had real currency Clearing Jackson allows to the club to renew & add players and clear out a few others to make way

The original figure we heard was $10.5Million over 8 years! Recent trades with Freo ... Jesse Hogan - we got pick 6 (May) & 22 (Sparrow) Colin Sylvia (RIP) ... pick 23 (Bernie Vince) Ed Langdon ... all up, I x 2nd round pick So we're way in front and we can't rule out winning the Jackson trade LJ is going to have to turn out to be a proper gun whilst we'd have to recruit in a below average way with the 2 x first rounders and 1 x 2nd round pick 3 good players with those 3 picks? Why not? Plus, we replace LJ with Grundy with (another) 2nd round pick All up, conceivably 4 good players to replace 1 who might be good. And we get a big upgrade in the rucking dept. I'm backing Taylor to make the deal a win for us. And there is no reason why Taylor can't continue to turn 1st & 2nd round picks into good footballers That's what he does

According to the story it's nearly $1Million a year for 7 years That's close enough to $7Million reasons to go elsewhere. It's any wonder he seems so happy with his lot So often it's about the money and all the rest of it is a furphy But let's face it, a lot of us here would take the money (along with the opportunity to go home)

The Thousand Guineas is to be run on Wednesday (back in the day it was a day off and at the Races!) I like She's Licketysplit (3-1) but Boogie Dancer (3-1) has got very good form as well ... Tajneed at 11-1 represents excellent value Up at Warwick Farm on Wednesday the Gloaming Stakes will be run (from the postponed meeting Saturday) ... Williamsburg has drawn wide but will come into gate 9 with all the scratchings (and it's a backmarker anyway) A serious chance at 3-1

Points awarded everywhere! (well, almost everyone got amongst it) Leaderboard Tipping Comp 2 - DeeSpencer, Gorgoroth, titan_uranus, JV7, Clintosaurus, layzie, Go the Biff, Macca* 0 - The Backmarkers *Denotes 1 bonus point awarded .

Aggressive and competitive beasts get to more contests and get more possessions And then do something constructive with those possessions. In A grade style (we are getting 2 x 1st rounders & 1 x 2nd rounder ... that exchange is normally reserved for a proven gun player) He gets outmanoeuvred too easily in ruck contests as well ... taps to advantage? Negligible Marking skills - bog average That wasn't and was LJ this season Unless he was playing possum. Over the next 2-3 years, we will find out how good he's going to be And if we can turn those 2 first rounders into good players as against 1 'maybe' good, we win the deal. I can't see great (LJ) And then there's the 2nd rounder which could turn a profit as well ... we've done very well previously using 2nd rounders on experienced talent Do your best work, Jason Taylor! Time will reveal who has won this deal but it could end up in a win/win as well How did you see things, DS? Footnote; How about this trade? (compo, actually) Hawks got pick 19 for Buddy then won the next 2 flags without him

Picks are overvalued so we possibly won't be getting enough if Jackson turns out to be a stellar player But, what are the chances of that happening? Who knows? I have my doubts A lot of self improvement is needed by Jackson ... especially with regards to his marking and getting to enough contests ... related to possession numbers. He disappeared a lot in games this year and that's hard to do when rucking He (LJ) regressed this season and was often quite a disappointment with his output. Weighing it all up we might still do quite well when considering that we've got a recruiter with the midas touch with regards to the use of 1st and 2nd round picks Drafted Oliver, Salem, Petracca, Brayshaw, Kossie as well as the use of 1st rounders on Lever & May And we've done extra well using 2nd round picks on established talent or through the draft ... Langdon, Hibberd, Melksham, Sparrow, Bowie, Jordon, Ben Brown etc etc (JVR & Lawrie are showing promise as well) And our recruiting has to be judged over a number of seasons (at least 4 or 5 years) Not just one off season ... but it has to be said we don't often miss these days anyway As an example compare our recruiting from 2005 - 2011 as opposed to 2012 - 2018. It's like chalk and cheese and the latter time period led to a flag The former time period led to nothing but misery. Bust after bust after bust So there's no point sweating the small stuff (one 2nd round pick here or there)

49ers, Eagles, Miami

Golden Mile wins the Guineas ... another masterful ride by J-Mac. James Cummings again! Too good! I hope we get to see it past it's 3yo season. Anamoe has raced on so why not! Btw, Gator has tipped 6 of the 8 winners at Caulfield today ... freely available on racing.com, Sportsbet and Best Bets

They're going to get any number of sign-ups with that offer. And if Rupert wants to give money away for a tenner, I'm in. Even if it's just the one bet and then turnover the winnings Then cash out and say goodbye! Thanks Rupert!! I got that double as well, DZ Paulele just barged it's way through like a gun horse should. Worth following on that run. The Everest next? Or maybe the $2Million Manikato where the owners don't have to worry about a $600k cost to get a slot. About $1.2Million for the winner of the Manikato (22nd Oct)

And the Randwick meeting has been called off Had a few live multi's going too! Can't complain though as I'm way in front today They've pencilled in Monday for the remaining 3 stakes races but where? They'd be lucky to find a track that isn't heavy

Anamoe!! What a horse! Ridden a treat by J-Mac. I'm Thunderstruck & Zaaki very brave Skinny odds was Anamoe but perfect for the multi's Hot favourite for the Cox Plate now you'd imagine

Freo will be acutely aware that if we don't accept their offer, they won't be getting Jackson. Probably ever. The mooted big contract will be null & void He'd end up back with us or at West Coast or the long shot, North From our point of view, we might be prepared to accept a similar or lesser offer from West Coast bearing in mind that Jackson being at Freo strengthens a current rival (think a future PF at Freo with Jackson in their side as opposed to not being in their side) Losing a small amount of currency is not worth sweating over from an overall point of view. The only way we completely lose out is if he ends up in the pre-season draft (unlikely) Caving sets a precedent but not caving sets a precedent as well

Re the Colts @ Broncos. Glad I didn't do the tune out, record and watch later ... even the short-version highlights were ordinary! So it's Cranbourne races and the A league Derby for the night's entertainment!

I wonder if they (Freo) have got the Hogan trade & Langdon trade in the back of their minds right now. Or front & centre of their thoughts They lost out both times so they might view offering pick 13 & F1 as being fair trade for Jackson

Freo also gave us pick 26 in the Langdon deal (which we bundled up with our future (2020) first round pick to North - pick 13 in the end) In exchange we got pick 8 from North which we used on Kossie n.b. pick 8 eventually became pick 12 after academic & F/S picks Effectively we got Langdon cheap ... one pick in the low 20's

There's nothing like catching up with people for real ... with the odd exception, anything ever said in person is taken with a grain of salt. Agreeing to disagree is instantaneous!

Good point but your opening line made it look like we'd made an error in trading out of the top 10 (and first round) ... I just thought I'd fill in the details, DS And I'm not sure about our club's attitude to next season's draft. You may be right Conventional thinking often gets followed but it has to be said that Taylor has definitely got the midas touch with 1st and 2nd round picks (either with their use in the draft, or trading) As for 3rd & 4th rounders ... meh. Why waste time and money betting on 20-1 shots? Because that's what it is - a bet 10 years ago Malthouse said that each new draftee costs a club at least $200k per season (minimum 2 years) ... that figure would be closer to $275k these days That's a lot of money for a below average 18yo Spending that amount of money on a 3rd or 4th rounder is just not a good percentage play

His manager will be doing all the correspondence. LJ just has to sit back and wait ... it's out of his hands It's club vs club and LJ is the meat in the sandwich. If you lay down your tools just a fraction, the equation changes Put another way, if LJ had progressed further from his GF exploits, Freo may well have satisfied our needs by now with a better offer

We used pick 6 (which we acquired for Hogan) in the 2018 draft for Steven May Also, we traded our first round pick of that season (2018) for Jake Lever in a trade with Adelaide in 2017 Without both players - no flag

And Sydney has already set a record for the amount of rain they've had in a year (with 3 months to go!) Us punters should know as when we bet on the Sydney races, the tracks are nearly always heavy ... been that way for at least 2-3 years Good luck with your water tanks, Gorg!