Macca

We'll get what we want (or need) as the Eagles are still in the equation (so far) to up the ante If not, we still hold a strong hand

Well I disagree because we can still win out if a deal can't be struck with Freo (or the Eagles) He either stays with us because of a stalemate or heads to North in the pre-season draft (and he won't do that as apparently he wants to go back to WA) We need to hold our nerve and play hard ball Also, it needs to be factored in that LJ going to Freo strengthens a rival. Why would we want to do that? (for meagre offerings) West Coast less so (as a rival) but we've seen them rise up the ladder quickly before He's out of contract but he is still our player to trade. He's not a free agent so he doesn't get to call the shots We control his destiny Years ago I would have expected the club to possibly cave in but not now. We've already come out and said that Freo aren't offering what we want That will continue until we do get what we want (and what we want will be a reasonable outcome all round) It also needs to be remembered that if a deal isn't struck with Freo or West Coast, LJ won't be going home to play footy North stand in the way in the pre-season draft and they've probably got a pitch prepared for LJ if they get a chance to snare him Stand out of footy with no dollars? I don't think so especially when he can command $700k plus per year. Who would pass on that sort of money?

And just like that Haaland scores another hat trick for City ... sure knows how to score I reckon he's scored 11 goals in his last 5 Premier league games. That's a decent strike rate!!

We hold the strong hand with Jackson Either Freo or the Eagles need to come up with the goods or it ends in a stalemate We have to be prepared to let him go through to the pre-season draft knowing that is an unlikely outcome. Accepting unders is out of the question as you never want to sell yourself short North would gazump the clubs from the West in the pre-season draft (if it got that far) as they'd be getting LJ for nothing ... apart from paying him an agreed upon salary (organised prior to the draft) There is a chance that if a deal can't be done LJ re-signs with us and then the Grundy deal falls flat (cop that Collingwood) However, Freo or maybe the Eagles will find a way to satisfy us you'd imagine. If they want him badly enough, they'll find a way

Vikings, Bills, Chargers

@titan_uranus@DeeSpencer Tips! Really looking forward to SNF & MNF Bills @ Ravens might have been better suited to a late arvo Sunday slot but a good match-up nonetheless Vikings & Saints are playing in London with the Saints as the designated home team (12.30am start) And the Sunday games start at 4.00am, 7.00am - 7.30am and 11.15am (approximately) until Nov 6th

Have we had any from 'Men at Work'? What a great album was Business as Usual ... all the tracks stood up, and unique Pub rock back in the day

I only used to read 'ology but started posting here (must have been a topic that caught my eye) Last year I made the effort to post on 'ology for a couple of months before the curtain was drawn. Glad I did And when you start posting on these forums you can never imagine posting 1000's of times. But that's what happens

Listened in after half time but Miami without Tagovailoa couldn't score Glad to hear that Tua was discharged from hospital so it sounds like he's out of danger Bengals too good in the end

What is strange (and often quite amusing) is seeing one's old posts But really, comparisons can be made to just chewing the fat in a pub ... except everything is recorded!!

Gotta love these old threads ... filled with familiar names who are still posting now 16 years later and still going strong

Huh? Stop jumping to ridiculous conclusions

@Gorgoroth@layzie@Dee Zephyr@Go the Biff@Clintosaurus @JV7@DeeSpencer@Dappa Dan@titan_uranus@DemonDave Just the 1 point on offer in the comp this week All 3 of the evening games are eminently watchable (on paper at least) Jags @ Philly, Bills @ Ravens & Washington @ Dallas are good match-ups as well

That Stones doco is outstanding Final installment next Wednesday (Ch9 Oct 5th)

There's zero stress involved as far as I'm concerned. If Kossie wants to go then I'm not sure I'd want to keep him anyway So you do the best deal possible in that scenario. Don't really have favourites unless that player is pure A grade. The rest are tradeable Right now I'd rate Kossie as a notch lower to the best. He has the potential to be an A grader but he might not get to A grade status. That's all up to Kossie

I don't take any notice of trade radio and I wouldn't even know where to find it However, my opinion on a talented uncontracted player or a talented player nearing the end of a contract remains constant. Secure the player or you may lose the player Even Gysberts, Martin & Morton were traded whilst contracted and none of those 3 are in the same conversation as Kossie. Most here were happy to see all 3 players leave Mind you, pick 88 hardly qualifies as a 'trade'!

As much as I'm somewhat confident that Kossie will re-sign, I'm a bit concerned that we haven't secured him past the 2023 season So it's the optimist vs the pessimist in me that arrives as the realist Boring hey?

But a club does have more bargaining power with regards to a trade with a full year on a contract as opposed to a contract that is finished The Luke Jackson example for instance ... many here are saying that we might have to accept unders as we don't necessarily hold a strong hand That may or may not be true However, I'm reckoning that Kossie will re-sign an extended contract. If that doesn't happen, the speculation will heighten So there's a few different outcomes (more than 1 club might want him) and none of those possibilities can be ruled out Have Port said they are not interested? Why the hell not? The bloke can play and who wouldn't want him? Many here have stated that we can't afford to lose Kossie ... so it could be assumed that he is valued highly Do you reckon we've offered Kossie an extention? If not, why not? I understand that we've been busy securing other players but we can do more than 1 deal at the same time

With only 1 year left on his contract the offers for Kossie (via his manager) would be there. Stands to reason. And it might be more than 1 offer That doesn't mean that Kossie has any inclination to leave but the reality is that he only has 1 year left on his contract so the vultures will circle I'd be surprised if the our club hasn't at least offered a 1 or 2 year extension as he is obviously a required player. We're not talking about a fringe player All clubs are always on the lookout for available talent. For instance, we made a play for Cerra but by all reports, we didn't have the trade value to acquire the player And what did Paul Roos say about about a required player only having 1 year left on a contract?

lol 7 road winners too and very nearly another 6 away victories! Go figure Haven't seen any games or highlights yet due to work commitments How on Earth did the Packers win? I didn't have us even getting close

@DeeSpencer@titan_uranus Don't forget your tips Bills, Bengals, Chiefs

It's a good point you make We have to go back to the Smith days to see how we influenced how other teams played during and after that great era The late John Kennedy sr is on record in saying that Hawthorn based their way of playing and recruiting on the great Melbourne team of the 50's (all about the team, great teamwork etc etc) So in turn, aspiring to be better than Geelong after their win yesterday is related to the standards that we have set for ourselves. A reinforcement as such Back in July a Geelong mate of mine mentioned that Chris Scott made big changes to their style of play after the PF loss last season ... finished off with "Thanks!" Again, that was back in July

Geelong have had any number of years much like the year we had this year (a terrific H & A record and then fall short at the pointy end of the season) But I'd like to think that our strike rate will be better than Geelong's if we can get into contention as much as what they have done in their last 10 years or so And there's no reason why we can't get into contention consistently Keep improving the list, get our fitness right, get our game plan back on track and we can win big again I'm quite confident those outcomes will happen. We've got the right managers in place and we've got plenty of talent But nothing happens automatically, success requires a lot of hard work and a good dose of luck Our biggest areas to improve on is our ability to run out games and our forward line functionality (method & talent) Total defence all over the ground was fantastic in 2021 but not very good in 2022 (I believe our pressure rating went from 1st to 17th in one season) So there's a bit to work on In my view we looked battle weary from earlier in the season. Even in that 10 match winning streak we decided to lock down the last quarter's in nearly all those wins (played the boundary line, didn't play on, didn't use the corridor, worked for stoppages to waste time) Specifically in those last quarter's after we'd set up the wins And if you're trying to save your legs early, there might be trouble ahead (and that's how it panned out) Yet we still won 16 games despite having a few issues. Absolute talent can take you a long way *The above are observations based on hindsight. For the most part, a huge percentage of us (85% plus?) still believed we could win big this season right up until the point when we were knocked out of contention And there were still any number of people who had question marks attached to Geelong right up until their PF win (they just got over the line against the Pies in a QF)

Oh yeah, great film. Top 10 all time For some add-ons ... google 'Harry Lime audio plays' Orson Welles starred in about 70 half hour audio plays based on his Harry Lime character ... available at archive.org They're all very good Anyway, back to Grundy ... Could it be that the end of Max (as Max the main man) is not that far off? And we need a ready made replacement sooner rather than later? He's taken a lot of punishment in the last 5 years and is a bit banged up right now. So no time for another understudy The time is now

Or a Harry Lime scheme in post war Vienna!