Macca

I'm predicting a stalemate unless they can somehow come up with the currency And it is looking like LJ might be on the move especially if the money offer is close to the truth ... it's a life changing amount if true (and everyone has a price) But we can play hardball and just on that, the 2 clubs might have an in principle deal on the table ... if Freo can come up with what we want, they get him And our ambit claim might be quite substantial But I'm speculating of course because in reality I know diddly squat!!

It's a good point you make ... the trade needs to in some ways match the dollars in the new contract elsewhere (if it all goes that way) And if it's a huge amount then the value in dollar terms should equal a similar value in picks and players An example at the lower end of the scale might be something like a 3rd or 4th round pick for a player being offered a 2 year deal elsewhere on below average money It's mere speculation but what would fair compensation be for a former no.3 pick who might be getting offered $10.5Million over 8 years elsewhere?

Eddie never makes any sense when he goes into supporter mode Tries to justify his alarmist comments with more alarmist conclusions He's a walking contradiction I'm not sure I've ever met a reasonably minded Collingwood supporter though. They are all a law unto themselves with chips on their shoulders the size of Mars

As a perfect lead in to the Commonwealth Games, Eleanor Patterson has just won the High Jump Gold medal at the World Championships ... a fantastic achievement!! n.b. The 1 hour packaged highlights of the Athletics World Championships are being shown daily on SBS Demand Here are the highlights of the Womens High Jump event

I can't think of anyone either ... but the only staging for high contact way back when was generally ducking the head and back in the day, at all levels, that practice was frowned upon and those who ducked their heads were generally pinged for holding the ball Most of the other staging was for holding the man with players regularly having their arms outstretched (flapping) to accentuate the contact (every now and again Clarrie does it and it always looks comical! ... and it never works!) Diving forward after being tackled from behind was also practised a fair bit as was accentuating a push in the back in marking contests But the game was much more open decades ago so the umps had a far greater chance to differentiate what was authentic and what wasn't authentic Nowadays, there are a myriad of players around numerous contests so the sport is now indinitely more difficult to adjudicate correctly There's cause & effect at play here and the first thing I'd do is reduce the amount of players on the field to 16 a side. And slash the interchange numbers by at least half Make the game more open and free flowing and then it's way easier for the umpires ... and the umpires should be full time as well (part time umpires in a fully professional league doesn't make sense) But the umpires aren't at fault with all the staging for high contact that goes on ... it's a rules of the game issue (AFL)

It's always about the money but if you've got great systems, structures & standards the money will flow as a matter of course So the custodians wait for the proverbial to hit the fan before acting? Bad governance

It's 360° game so the rules are always going to be exploited ... we may be just witnessing the tip of the iceberg Need better custodians

The custodians can't just stand idly by and only concentrate on the money and the revenues And many of the numerous rule changes over the years (and implications) have been good for the game (and that includes coming down hard on the KB (and others) in staging for free kicks Of course we are going to complain ... that's what any individual might do when something is obviously wrong Let the game evolve? Into what?

Back in the day if you played for frees you rarely got them and then ran the risk of never getting a free kick for the game The umps frowned upon the stagers and rightfully so

Wouldn't matter if the umpires were full time in this instance, Gonzo ... the infringements themselves are painted grey It's like diving in soccer ... partially fixed with retrospective penalties or on the spot via VAR Not totally fixed but it's miles better Re footy ... even with retrospective bans the players are still going to milk contact from time to time But they've at least got to try and fix things as it's getting worse (the milking of high contact frees) They've ignored the issue for too long

Not harsh in terms of a detterent We ping players for 10 weeks for having a $10 bet on footy And the encroachment area in terms of players giving away 50m is a good rule in the sense that players do not want to encroach They get caught out occasionsally but thems the breaks The abuse/dissent rule is workable now once the rulings didn't include frivolous indiscretions So they can get it right (or close enough to right) once they (the AFL) thinks things through

The new ruling is a good step in the right direction but another large grey area has been created The umpires have zero chance of getting every high contact infringement adjudication judged correctly ... no chance So what we will be left with are inconsistent outcomes with regards to the umpiring decisions made ... and that will be no fault on the umpires (at all) We could ping players for shrugging their arms up or dropping their body/knees but again, it's impossible to judge these types of actions correctly (in real time) The only way to fix the problem is to ping the stagers retrospectively and start handing out 3 match suspensions Otherwise, the problem will stay and the angst will continue on By the way, the ruling is 15 years too late but the league hasn't gone far enough, regardless

We flicked the switch half-way through the 3rd quarter and kicked 7 unanswered goals ... with Kossie getting us back in the game with 2 beauties and then sealing the deal with 2 more that in turn, finished Port off. A fantastic individual performance but the team lifted as it needed to (as well) Reminiscent of the finals last year and the game against Brisbane a few weeks ago Not for the whole game but for 30 minutes, we played some great footy Our best is really good (still) so it's a matter of reproducing our best when needed. And 13 & 4 is a good return (so far) Tough 5 weeks coming up but that's a good thing. We'll be well tested and we'll prepared for September We should be able to defeat the Bulldogs & Carlton but we'll need to have a decent plan against the Pies. Freo & Lions away are difficult but a total of 3 wins from 5 should secure a top 4 spot and probably a top 2 spot. 4 from 5 and we are set for a big September

Yes I'll be tuning in TD ... depending on what time the events are held, I'll watch live or record and watch after work. Not as full on as the Olympics but a keen observer, nonetheless! Am watching the World Athletics Championships right now (in condensed form) as a prelude to the Comm Games ... got the schedule from the official site (the Worlds are being held in Oregon, USA) and then watching the events on youtube once they're posted Competition started on Friday and the Championships are in full mode now But can we beat England (in the Comm Games) from an overall perspective? The Swimming events will be keenly contested and of course, the Track & Field events holds centre stage These Games are ultra important in terms of the athletes having continuous competition for their overall careers. Just like the various World Championships are important ... with the pinnacle being the Olympics of course

Well worth watching a replay, layz As a general rule I'm not a replay person (there's too much live sport around!) but I'd watch the Origin replay

It was a great match both in terms of immense skill and physicality And I don't believe anyone watching needed to be a fan of rugby league to enjoy the match. Just an epic contest

Epic battle tonight! Nearly all of the players played the full 80 minutes too ... they must be exhausted Credit to QLD. Well deserved victory

The last 6 episodes of Better Call Saul kicked off last night ... a brilliant episode to begin the countdown to the finale

Ping the stagers retrospectively - 3 weeks on the sidelines (minimum) There is no other way to fix the problem And it's only going to get worse. rjay summed it up perfectly, it's a blight on the game The umpires are unable to differentiate a genuine high tackle vs a staged high tackle. It all happens so quickly that none of us know for sure until we see a replay but by then it's too late Personally, I wouldn't pay high contact frees unless the head & neck area are deliberately targeted. Most of the high contact frees are frivolous anyway So don't pay the frivolous high contact free kicks and retrospectively ban the stagers as well 3 weeks minimum on the sidelines and the players will stop staging Or do nothing and the issue gets worse

The funds available to spend (with the soft cap reduced down from $9.7Million to $6.5Million) hurts a club which needs to spend big on an established experienced coach So if North go that way there may not be much left over to spend on big name assistants There was a rumour that Goodwin signed on for less dollars to help the equilibrium Buckley and Ross Lyon could be approached. Blokes like that love the cut & thrust of coaching. It's in their blood (and it's a well paid position) Money talks

If nearly everything went right recruiting-wise they could be on the cusp of playing finals (or just make the 8) within 2 or 3 years ... but realistically, finals are probably 4-5 years away for North But again, they can't afford to miss with regards to their recruiting. They need a good plan and then they need to enact that plan The league probably wouldn't give them a priority pick but they probably deserve one (as we did when we were rubbish) But their needs are immediate anyway. A way to help might be salary cap relief so that they can get some established talent in We ourselves received a $1.4Million grant in 2013 (as well as PJ and as a consequence, Roos) I was never that confident ... in those years we were still receiving a lot of terrible hidings Plus, we weren't hard at the ball and the league style had swing over to a contested style where hard-ball-gets and contested possessions were paramount We weren't that type of team At times we looked good but it was 'usually' against mediocre opposition. We lost 27 games in those 2 years as well and a lot of those losses were thumpings Forward line had real issues as well A lot fell for all the top end draft picks as if they were written-in-stone to be good performers. Those outcomes went pear shaped as well By the way, I go back a ways ... in my more optimistic days I believed that we were on the cusp of success after making a run at the finals in 1976. In the 5 years that followed we lost a total of 88 games!! (not happy days)

Agreed but in both cases, the respective clubs both had/have way bigger issues than just the coach The heat now goes on the players at North (immediately) ... and every player is capable of playing above their average (from time to time) If that can happen all on the same day, a good performance beckons That largely explains (in my view) as to why teams often bounce-back with a win or much improved performance the game after a coach is removed ... so look out Richmond! But it is fools gold as North's average output from their current list is quite poor They need a big rebuild and they need to nail their recruiting like we did once Roos/Jackson/Taylor arrived. Easier said than done

Yes, they need an experienced coach but they also need to surround that experienced coach with more experience both in the coaching area and in the Admin area. So it's not just the coaching The eye-opener for me with the Demons was Roos' first year. To lose 18 games told us that the players we had simply weren't up to it. And my opinion of Neeld changed as well because of all those losses that followed And because it was Roos/Jackson that tenure was given the grace to 'limit the damage' because that's what we witnessed But none of that is ground-breaking news North have to be prepared to go through what we went through. And to be fair, there was never any heat on Roos at our club by the media or our supporters (or opposition supporters for that matter) Very early on it was obvious that Roos needed to rebuild the list from ground zero (after the other, failed rebuild)

Before Neeld arrived we played a very soft style (bruise free), were low on real talent and had cleared out a lot of experience (which Roos addressed later on by bringing in experienced players) And the Neeld tenure cannot be talked about without referencing the Roos tenure and the Schwab/Bailey years ... there is a real, undeniable connection With regards to Noble, he also inherited a poor list and North did what we did, turfed out the experience beforehand. A fatal error Carlton did something similar before they finally started building their list in a much smarter way But I'm not trying to change your mind, Dubdee, I'm just offering a different view

Roos lost 18 games in his 1st season and then incurred another 15 losses in his 2nd season We got sold a lemon in believing we were building a top list through the Schwab/Bailey tenure (inherited by Neeld) I am by no means stating that Neeld was anything more than a below average coach but there wasn't much he could do with that list ... as Paul Roos found out But Roos would have known the talent levels anyway. His was a rescue job There was good reasoning behind the recruitment of Cross, Vince, Lewis and others who offered onfield experience (with talent)