Macca

Well, there goes 6 picks in the first 30!! Welcome back, Trac (he says coyly)

Nice prizemoney! And in all reality, nearly all of us are on the same page with regards to where we hope we'll finish in any given season. We all want success Those who are optimistic are aware that things can go pear-shaped and we can lose ground. There's always a chance of that happening And those who are less optimistic are hoping that we can perform better anyway. Being pleasantly surprised being the reward I wonder how many of us genuinely believed that we'd win the flag in 2021? I know I didn't Did we have a prediction poll? Anyway, at a guess, I reckon it would have been less than 5%

Well, it's a small world then This mate of yours will know who I'm talking about But keep it on the quiet, Roost it (isn't that typical of the horse racing industry ... 'keep it quiet' haha)

It kinda was if you want to explore the site (not easy to find though) No clues!! Haha

@Redleg Congrats Redleg Won like a good horse too!!

Ha ha, yeah, we live in hope, Roost it 🙄😁 Side note : I like how Tholstrup gets to a lot of contests ... another JT trait when he picks midfielder types. Sounds straight forward but easier said than done at the top level And in breaking news (speaking of gambling) A promenant member of this site just got his horse over the line a few minutes ago in the G1 Memsie Stakes No names, no pack drill !! (But he'll be a happy man!)

You also completely changed your mind a few times during the season haha (don't worry, I took a sabbatical but kept an eye on your posts) Your prediction of 1st to 12th (about as wide as anyone could go) was wrong anyway ... we finished 14th!!! Happy days!! Don't ever take up gambling, Roost it (and not too much sun either, that can frazzle your brain) ... free advice But footy brings out the passion and like I've always said, most footy fans are extremely optimistic and extremely pessimistic at the same time. One win or one loss and we're either ecstatic or despondent Our season went South when Brayshaw retired. Oliver was way below his best, Petty was average only and Melk was just ok So what I needed to happen to get my prediction right, didn't happen We needed a number of things going our way but when Petracca went down, that was it I remain realistic but my theory of X amount of good players equals X amount of wins will be tested in 2025 Interesting note We had 5 AA's & another 5 that were in the mix for AA honours in 2021 Yet this year it was Max only with no others going close We'll push for finals next season if somehow Petracca & Kozzie stay but if one or both go, we can defer to our MVP (Jason Taylor) to help us rebuild It's not easy replacing A grade talent so cross your fingers JT is still on his game I'm backing him in as he's never let us down yet ... in fact, why doesn't the FD trust him to pick out the odd gem from the 3rd round of draftees? Even the 4th round I'll take that over recycling NQR's If we swap picks for talent, it should be for players who are automatic selections

We need to rebuild the midfield with A grade quality talent (at least 2 add-ons) Another proper ruckman who can eventually take over from Max but in the meantime, we do need a forward ruck of some description I'm expecting the next 2 off-seasons to be rebuilding years and therefore have low expectations in the W/L column for 2025. A gap year with maybe 10 wins maximum But 2026 can see finals again but it's mandatory that we recruit well The above is based on the club losing 1 or 2 decent players with a good haul of decent draft picks to play with coming back as a consequence If everyone stays, we'll still need to bolster the midfield and our overall rucking & forward/ruck still needs to be addressed. And we might get to 12-14 wins Petracca/Kozzie has a +/- factor of 3 or 4 wins Same as losing Brayshaw & Petracca this season cost us some wins. Injuries to A grade players does matter As it stands, pick 5 should net us a decent midfielder and we might even move the pick up if needs be If Petracca & Kozzie stay I can see the club moving forward our 1st round pick from next year (some club may bite) ... so another pick in the 8-12 range could net us another quality midfielder

i.e. Club: We're pleased to offer you a $3Million 4 year deal Player: Where do I sign? A week later ... Player: I want to be traded to Freo Club: Wtf! You just signed a 4 year deal Player: I know that but Freo are happy to take up the contract Club: %&$=@#&%$&#@%!!!!!!

The contract amount that another club has to trump up for? Pardon my cynicism

I see, so a draftee can still be traded, like any other player under contract Thanks for that With a player like Reid, I can see the Eagles paying him big money on an extension just to secure him when a future trade is offered But Dockett's point about length of contract is quite valid. It's not the length of contract anymore although 1 year only on a contract leaves a club a bit more vulnerable A 5 year contract is not a deterrent if a player wants out. As we've seen with Petracca Of course, a club can hold a player to a contract but if a player remains and is unhappy, will we see their best?

It seems that way, Dockett, and the destination club just takes up the contract after satisfying the original club with picks and/or players. No matter how long the contract is for. 1, 2 or 5 years, it makes no difference And of course, there might be a level of thinking that if a player wants out, his original club might just do the best deal possible to clear the books. Get it done quick and move on, in other words I'm starting to think that way, whenever a player is looking elsewhere ... just do the deal and hopefully win out on the deal. It helps that we've got the Guru talent spotter in JT If it was still Barry, my thinking would be to get experienced talent coming back (best 15 player - automatic selection) And I wouldn't trust Barry with any picks either!!! (Swap them for best 15 talent) Of course in sports like soccer, a transfer fee is involved so a club in that sport can often set a price and there are often any number of suitors In other big sports in the USA, a club can often move a player to another club where the player has no choice but to just pack his bags and go

Sooner or later, it seems a move will happen as the talk of him moving has happened every year has it not? He's just turned 23 and is entering his prime years so on potential and from what we've already seen, his trade value would be very high. As someone else said, he's also box office so I'd want say, picks 8 & 10 (or 6 & 12 or thereabouts) Reid could be anything and by the time 2027 comes around, he might be one of the best players in the comp I can imagine the Eagles throwing the big bucks at him to extend sooner rather than later

Doesn't Reid have to remain at the Eagles for a minimum of 3 years? I've read that the first 20 picks in the draft have to serve a mandatory 3 years now (change happened May 2024?) As for Kozzie, is this going to be a yearly occurrence? With JT's Midas touch at drafting, getting 2 decent picks for Kozzie may not leave us short and we might in fact, win on that sort of deal But he is such a talent and has the capabilities to be a top 10 player in the league. On potential alone, the 2 picks would have to be top 10 picks

Thanks Grr-owl And yes, the footy dept. need to be hard at ... in many ways, their work now begins even though it's already the off-season Recruit, Recruit, Recruit and get an absolute commitment from the playing group. All our players need to make sure they are in good nick before pre-season begins. No excuses Goodwin, McQualter, Williams, Richardson, Chaplin, Taylor, Lamb & Co need to put together a list to challenge again There's going to be around 10 changes to the list with all the retirements & delistments but (in my view) I'd be keeping T-Mac & Melksham around to add that all-important experience and back-up Won't cost the club a great deal and if we do bring in a number of youngsters, we'll need a nice balance on the list I'm football dept. and player talent focused as all the rest of the noise will die down eventually anyway

You might be right with Trac as a decent deal seems like a long shot I'm a forgiving soul so if we can pursuade him into at least playing next season (and then re-evaluate) most, if not all, will get behind him It's been an absolute roller-coaster of emotions ranging from anger to dissolutionment to acceptance, back to anger and then all the way back to that he's possibly playing for us again I couldn't blame anyone for lashing out and those not lashing out are possibly suppressing their true feelings We're allowed to change our minds But if a deal does eventuate, c'est la vie I reckon we win either way especially if the deal is a good one or if Petracca nuckles down and gives us his best

I reckon one would have to be a rusted on Democrat to be inspired by that Yes, now that's impactful but I could never vote for him Mitt Romney, yes!!

Loved it but when he talked about his own shortcomings, it got a bit weepy What would have worked better (for me) is how he ended up as head coach and all the struggles to get there (knock backs etc)

I vaguely remember old dee saying that he was going to have a break but then he posted for a little while after that A delayed break? I haven't seen Straight Sets Simon (formerly Clint Bizkit) for 6 months. Hope he is well too

What about player abuse? You've got a lot of people well covered there You can have a contrary view but I don't have to agree with it So let's agree to disagree. If you reckon that we've got no hope, you may as well give up now. I mean, why put yourself through all that pain Personally, I don't for a minute believe we are heading for oblivion Let's see your views after the trade week. I'm betting that you will change your tune (again)

I'm not ruling out trading picks for established talent, but my focus for now was JT turning picks into gold As for your disdain for giving out likes, it says a lot about you as a person You only listen to your own voice as there have been 10's of thousands of posts that you could have liked but chose not to give credit

Contrary views are great and I would fight for the rights of those views and the people saying it But we're allowed to disagree I played a fair bit of local sport and you were never allowed to give up So does that rule apply to us spectators? Well, kind of, because there is going to be disagreement in that area

You're the same person who never shuts up about going to the draft instead of swapping picks for established talent You're a true believer (in the draft) and now they are children? As usual, you change your own argument to try and win an argument. You rarely, if ever, like anyone else's posts. 24,000k likes received and 170 likes given? By far, that's the lowest ratio on this site.

Losing talent can easily be turned into a positive and as you said, Tassie are going to swallow up a majority of picks from when (2027? 2028?) So by default, we get to strike early and set ourselves up for at least 5 years (that's if we get a raft of picks in the 1st & 2nd round) So if players want to go, go. We drive a hard bargain so as to at least break even on trades and thus, replenish And we've got Jason Taylor Although we aren't really looking, a number of other club's head recruiters wouldn't have anywhere near the strike rate that JT has So yeah, I'm hanging my hat on draftees & JT but I feel like I'm backing Winx or Black Caviar!!

You are a self confessed pessimist and true to form, your miserable prognostications come to the fore again I don't agree