Macca

The 10 best signings of NFL free agency so far, ranked

Eddie Lacy off to Seattle ... rumour is LeGarrette Blount might be heading to Green Bay. AP still hasn't been snapped up but they reckon his price might be too high.

Balmey claimed 3 victims in the '73 GF ... Waite, Southby & McKay. All knocked senseless from king hits. It was a different game back then and there were any number of thugs going around ... those who didn't make to VFL or VFA level terrorised their way through the suburban ranks. The modern game is unbelievably clean by comparison. These days players get rubbed out for a slightly misplaced hip & shoulder. As good as Matthews was there was no better pure footballer than Gary Ablett sr. He had everything and could throw one too. Carey, Matthews, Jezza & Flower round out my top 5. Robbie would have won 2 or 3 Brownlows if he'd played in better performed teams - he was that good. Jesaulenko was a freak who had 'Ablett' like qualities.

You may be right RB ... if we're looking at rotating 3 distributors off half-back then a trio of Lewis, Salem & Jones could work better. Vince is at his best when used in the way that you've described. Lewis & Salem both seem naturally suited as distributers whilst I reckon Jones can grow into the role in his latter years. All 3 can all play midfield roles as well of course. Vince's clearance work whilst untidy at times is also quite effective especially when we just need the ball heading our way (against the better teams) Winning the clearances by a decent margin usually points to a win.

Good news for fans of the acclaimed series - 'Power Without Glory' All 26 episodes have been posted up on youtube ... they've been up for 6 months now so hopefully they'll stay up. Power Without Glory (youtube link) And here's a short biography of the show's central character - John Wren .

I would have recruited a ruck/forward in the off-season. But we have to deal with realities. Goodwin probably sees playing Spencer as the lesser of 2 evils. When Watts or Pedersen are rucking the opposition often win control of the ball ... if it's Spencer, that is less likely to happen. Pedersen is not the future anyway although he's a handy back-up. Gawn gets more of a chop-out when Spencer plays and that can't be underplayed. Workloads when over-done can lead to injury. He could get through it all but he may not. Any rucking at the top level that Spencer experiences can't do him any harm. Watts can still play in the team with Spencer playing so we still have a decent 3rd forward actually playing. Not 'great' but decent. Watts needs to at least bring his last year's form, Goodwin recognises that we don't have a decent no.2 forward yet so rotating 2 big bodies in the forward line (Gawn & Spencer) has become an option. Where Weideman sits with the above in play is anyone's guess ... he may have to bide his time in the 2nds but Goodwin might be able to squeeze him in. Right now, whatever outcome we can foresee isn't exactly ideal ... but again, Goodwin is going to do things his way and all we're doing is speculating on what his plans might be.

I didn't see Watts rucking and he didn't register a tap-out. Spencer had 11 hit-outs and kicked 3 goals. I reckon Spencer will play in round 1 now ... Pedersen seems to be out of the mix and Watts was ignored (re ruck play) in the only practice game he played. It all points to Spencer playing and if so, I hope it works. I could think of a number of opponents where Spencer might be more suited but if Spencer does play, that might give us a pointer on how Goodwin wants to coach the team. It should also be noted that both Watts & Pedersen are largely ineffective whilst rucking which means that Gawn generally shoulders 90% of the workload ... and that workload percentage carries a risk. There will be other surprise selections or non-selections (Jetta?) Not sure if Frost will be considered yet either where as I'd have him in if he's declared fit. Goodwin is going to coach the team his way - whatever happened last season happened last season. He will stamp his M.O on team selection and game style so we should (in some ways) expect the unexpected.

A couple from one of my favourite bands from the 70's ... the first track is more meaningful whilst the 2nd is a rocky little number that the band obviously enjoyed doing (watch for Shirl's signature move, 2 mins in)

Before listening to that podcast (posted in the OP) I had no real inkling of the extent of how North Korea had armed themselves (nuclear) ... many of the ex-Russian nuclear scientists & rocket builders have obtained gainful employment in North Korea since the Soviet Union was dissolved (and they've been hard at work) If we take Obama at his word, he sees North Korea as the greatest threat to the World's order and one of America's biggest headaches going forward. Of course, it's now Trump's headache. The latest estimates has North Korea having somewhere between 14 & 48 nuclear weapons. It should also be noted that the Americans have up to 50,000 soldiers & civilians based in South Korea and up to 90,000 soldiers & civilians based in Japan. And then there's the spectre of China who are watching developments with an eager eye. That whole area which includes Taiwan could get very dicey very quickly. .

The 'Deep State' at work Wrecker? haha There's not a lot of relevant data to prove that these sort of organisations do actually exist but if 'certain' agenda's need to be fulfilled then Trump is just the type to be able to deliver ... within reason of course as the leash can be tightened when applicable. Nothing would surprise me and going right back before Nixon & Watergate, dirty tricks from both sides were an almost accepted practice. Nixon just went too far and his own paranoia got the better of him. Trump's phones may well have been tapped and if so, Trump might have just jumped to the conclusion that Obama knew about it. Or, it's just a load of bs. Who knows? It's an amazing allegation to make about the immediate past president but even if there's no truth at all to the allegation, no one will care. The latest wikileaks with regards to the CIA can't be disregarded.

Whether any 'rules' actually apply is anyone's guess in the current climate ... if things stay as they are with their trade policy it's hard to see anything changing of any note with regards to manufacturing jobs. He went with a platform of creating real jobs and bringing back or revitalising the manufacturing industry all under the banner of making America great again. Did you read the article and see where the USA sits? I was quite surprised to see how so many other countries are so far ahead of the USA with regards to trade differentials (in real terms) .

What gets forgotten with the possible Russian connection, tapped phones, immigration issues, fake news, misreporting and all the rest of it is Trump's plan to kick-start jobs & manufacturing. After all, that's what a large majority of Americans are actually interested in. Whether Trump is able to succeed or not is debatable but the following article from 'The New York Times' paints a decent picture of where the USA sits with regards to trade, tariffs et al. Taking the path of taxing imports, imposing value-added taxes or suchlike is risky and can have repercussions but the illustrated graphs in the link sees the United States way behind most if not all of it's trading partners with regards to trade barriers. It will be fascinating to see what Trump and his administration do as the Republicans have traditionally never felt a need to veer away from an open trade policy. Anyway, it's worth a read ... Building Trade Walls

Not sure if many here are following the developments in North Korea but day by day the reality of what could happen is unfolding. There are any amount of links to post up but Monday's "New York Times" podcast paints a fairly clear picture of how dangerous this rogue state could become ... you can listen to the podcast here (the North Korea exposé starts at about the 5' 30") And here's the latest from CNN ... Missile launch: Was North Korea practicing to strike US bases in Japan? Whilst diplomatic measures might curtail developments it should be pointed out that apart from China, none of the other major players have previously wanted to engage with North Korea and it's leadership.

Yeah, good point Gorgo ... moving to a team within a division is often frowned upon but he is 32. Regardless, AP will probably end up in the AFC if he moves. As always, money talks and at his age he has to take on a good offer if it comes his way.

It's difficult to know what is going on ... he's a free agent and the Raiders are interested but the Vikes may want to keep him. I'd love him at the Packers even if it was just for a year or so. Doubt he'd end up at Green Bay though.

Fair enough ... I'm more old school Wyl. If we win lots of games then the upside isn't necessarily there and if we don't win games then the comment can come back to haunt. I'm confident the team will do well though because the talent level is there this time around. All teams should be aiming to play fearless football as a matter of course.

Again you resort to insults ... you continue to let yourself down badly. I doubt you'll ever learn though.

No ... won't be conceding. We all say things without the benefit of new information. You've done it yourself on numerous occasions ... especially when overevaluating draftees.

"Appear" is correct Preiously there were no direct quotes from Goodwin that mentioned the word fearless.

You're normally part of the "Talk is cheap" brigade Wyl ... have you changed your tune? I'm excited for the season ahead and I understand the supporters love this sort of talk ...but this sort of stuff has never really been for me.

Either way I don't particularly like it. There's no need.

If we end up with a list of 13-16 good footballers, we'll get our chance. It sounds a bit formulaic but it's something that I've come to realise over the years ... lesser lights don't really deliver unless surrounded by quality. Whilst I'm here, and seeing we're on a new page, here's the current EPL Standings ... (Chelsea look like taking out the title and will be hard to shift)

I agree Wrecker but younger Demon fans will want more than 1 flag ... I know a couple of Bulldog fans who are getting on and they are both well satisfied with last's years triumph (but their thinking might change down the track) As for Leicester, they turned in one of their best performance of the year in defeating Liverpool overnight. A bitter sweet outcome and they may well rally and prove my theory wrong. It's hard to predict (sport)

It was a highly entertaining event and I watched it live (as I often do) .... the bit that will get forgotten is that the La La Land cast & crew would be devastated ... but let's face, they've all made a stack of money and the movie might even get an extra boost at the box office. And the winner (Moonlight) was such an excellent movie that it was a fully deserved winner anyway ... if you haven't seen it hardtack, do so, I highly recommend it. It winning makes me think that 'Manchester by the Sea' might have gone close too. And yeah, Kimmel was terrific and Damon played his role to great effect.

I was assuming it was the right envelope with the wrong card inside - see edit below. The 2nd last award presented was for best actress so we at least know the envelope (or the contents) were doubled-up. Anyway, does it matter ht? It's as funny as in my opinion. I love the Oscars but I don't take them all that seriously. To me, it's just a simple error with hilarious consequences. And again, the tonight shows are going to have a lot of fun with it all. Here's a couple of up-to-the-minute podcasts about the shemozzle ... The Oscar's Were Crazy The Oscar's Surprise Ending Edit: Apparently there were 2 sets of envelopes just in case something happens to one of the envelopes and Warren Beatty was handed the copy of 'The Best Actress' award. Again, we'd need to have a look at the envelope but they (Dunaway & Beatty) couldn't assume they were given the wrong envelope. Regardless, they couldn't have been expected to look at the writing on the envelope. .