Macca

Choo Choo no more Got going too late in the season to save his career at the Demons It is very sad to end this way but for his own sake, he needs a fresh start elsewhere I reckon he'll return to his best as he was born to play footy and all he needs is a healthy mind and healthy body All good things come to an end but prematurely losing Gus, ANB, Trac & Ollie is a body blow. In a parallel universe all 4 could still be playing standout footy for us And replacing those types of players won't be easy ... like it or not, the club is now in rebuild mode (certainly in terms of being a contender again)

Running on top of the ground too! Literally

It's impossible to keep up with thread anyway ... 625 posts in the last 24 hours is liking reading a book (if one is so inclined) Lots of BBQ chat as well as well as zillions of gifs and pun jokes Wake me up if he signs on otherwise it's zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I'm going by memory as well so perhaps the answer lies somewhere in between

I was of the opinion that the Grundy amount was 25-30% of his salary which is significantly different to 50% i.e at $1Million* we paid Grundy $750k and the Pies were up for $250k But we'll probably never know the true figure And I saw the $700k component for Oliver as "up to" $700k *Wasn't Grundy's contract length 5 years at $1Million per annum after his last year at the Pies? As for the pay cut, he doesn't have to flinch so why would he? I still don't understand why we didn't go down the breach of contract path. Unless those contracts are so heavily in the players favour that almost anything goes I suppose the players were always going to get full whack during covid so there's that

Yes, he's being delisted in a roundabout way ... but instead of costing the club $7Million for 5 more years of his contract (or thereabouts), the cost to the club sounds like it will be less than $1.8Million all-up* *If the recent reports are correct that we'll only be up for 25% - 30% of his salary

So that was 25% 30%? ... equates to about $325k per annum (up to $375k) A hell of a lot less than the mooted $700k per annum, and probably explains why we'll accept a late pick in the draft By the way, the median amount ($350k) equates to just over 2% of an $18Million+ salary cap. A moderate write-off

We'll recover and later on, prosper And there are ways and means in fitting future required players into the salary cap It's why it's the best time (before Tassie) to head to the draft this year and next By the time we have a need to pay the draftees better money as well as paying bigger contracts to Langford, Lindsay & Windsor et al, the money owed to Oliver & Brayshaw will be close to, or off the books

The Saga/Soap Opera needs to come to an end The team is there to play football and win games. We need everyone at the club on the same page and focussed

There's a good chance that the club would prefer both Trac & Ollie out so that they can kick-start the team again, without their baggage That would leave us with May, but it looks like he's been told in no uncertain terms to pull his head in (or look elsewhere) With or without the troublesome trio, we're in a rebuild of sorts anyway Take the picks and move on, this bs has gone on for long enough Whether we challenge again, short or long term, will be highly dependant on our recruiting and King's coaching ability

Well, we've been backed into a corner with these 2 blokes, Picket Everyone knows we want them both off the books so therefore, our bargaining power isn't strong We could stand firm and then what? Both come back and continue to put in below average performances for A grade, elite money? It's been like that for 3 years with Clarrie and who knows if Petracca will ever get back to his match-winning ways The club needs to start over again with a revamped list. The window will open again, down the track (we'll need to nail our recruits from here on in)

Week 6 Picks & Preview

As it stands right now, I'll be quite happy to take picks 7 & 8 for a few reasons 1) As good as player as he's been, Trac is going to be 30 going into next season and unless he gets his confidence back, he won't be a match winner (good to very good but not great) ... plus, he wants out and is on a huge salary 2) I understand it's a shallow draft but any number of top players emerge from down in the ranks in the draft after not being highly rated as juniors. Late developers or just surprise packets 3) We've got Jason Taylor who's strike rate over the years has been excellent (85% hit rate if we go right back?) ... not much escapes him so if we hand him 2 top 10 picks, I'm confident that he'll pick a couple of goodin's Best case scenario is we manage to draft 2 top level midfielders with the 2 top picks The cream on the top is if we can somehow get hold of a decent pick from GWS for Oliver ... hmmmm. Or maybe a player from them that isn't getting much of a go? You never know

Dart & Scattebo stood out Eagles @ Giants Highlights

Looks like everyone is getting in early on the Eagles but it might be closer than we think, being a divisional game at the Giants @Dee Zephyr @Go the Biff @Clintosaurus

Eagles Bills Broncos

If we get nothing for him and end up paying GWS up to $3.5Million then we would have been better off just tearing up his contract (for breach of contract) However, proving breach of contract would require a contract that has strict conditions In a normal workplace he would have been marched out of the joint A torn up contract frees up around $7Million in cap space (over 5 years) and allows the club to being in some genuine talent But it's all academic as we've gone down the path of trying to trade him

@Dee Zephyr @titan_uranus @Go the Biff @Clintosaurus @Gorgoroth @layzie @BDA @ElDiablo14 @Dr. Gonzo Leaderboard Tipping Comp 12 - Macca 11 - Gorgoroth, Clintosaurus 10 - BDA, Go the Biff, layzie 9 - Dee Zephyr, Dr. Gonzo, titan_uranus 8 - ElDiablo14

I agree, it's enough that we're losing our best ever (arguably) mid but he's in his prime years ... especially the next 4 years as a 28, 29, 30 & 31yo But it looks like we might end up getting virtually nothing back and have to pay a percentage of his salary (for 5 years) Nothing to show for it. And it's my bet that Oliver will now put his head down, stay out of trouble and play good football. If he's ever going to learn a lesson, it will be this time And if he falls into bad habits and bombs it long, he's got a competitive beast as a target in Hogan, who can win his own ball Ugh

I keep hearing that GWS won't be forthcoming with anything decent, coming back our way I reckon Clarrie will end up there but what we get back in a trade is up in the air

It's almost impossible to keep anything quiet these days in footy And you're right, Gonzo. Oliver's manager would need to be told about the payment arrangement as he would need to liaise with the other clubs about Oliver's availability (and his salary) And the various journo's would have relationships with the player managers so therefore, the info can leak out But $700k as a starting point? On the surface it seems a tad dramatic and could reduce the wriggle room in a trade A more open-ended approach could have been that the MFC would be prepared to subsidise part of his salary ... if needs be

There are so many unknowns right now but we'll know where we stand after the trade period And if we end up with a swathe of draft picks, there will be a stack of threads about prospective draftees. Hope will return but it will be a rebuild of sorts If we recruit really well, we can be more than competitive What we really need is for our experienced players to find their best form. And we've got quite an experienced list with about 16-18 players falling into that category

Do you not realise that all you do on these forums these days is have a go at your fellow supporters? And it's constant Wake up to yourself

Good point, Culley looks a real prospect

Ha ha! Speaking of immaturity Over the years here, you've turned into quite a nasty piece of work I'd advise you to grow up, but that ship has sailed