Macca

They're a slick outfit the Doggies ... and their teamwork is immense. They'll trouble whoever they play next Friday night

Well I would - winning a Brownlow would boot my non-stellar footy career to the crapper

Nonsense.

Their supporters can't deal with the lack of home town decisions. They've had a dream run for years

Nah ... the brownlows should go to Cotchin & Mitchell. A win for clean sport. As for those who say they wouldn't want it ... lets keep it real. There would be barely a person here who has even been on an AFL list. If you were in that position you'd take it in a nanosecond.

Picken has hands like his old man

If the Bont & Stringer fire up in the 2nd half, the Dogs will win.

Seeing we're on a new page I'll post up the games again ... a reminder that 7mate are covering tomorrow's game (10.30am) and then 3 games on Monday (Cinci @ Jets, Giants @ Dallas and then SNF - Pats @ Arizona)

Panthers Green Bay Giants

Garland & Dunn would be well known players to the FD's of other clubs ... a legacy of getting better is that certain players become excess to needs and therefore become real tradable players who may bring the club a decent return. Players want to play so it may not be the club trying to offload these types of players ... those type of players being told their chances might be limited could be the catalyst moment for those players possibly requesting a move. A few of our younger players may become targets too ... there are obviously a number of untouchables but we may end up trading quite vigorously to offset the lack of a first round pick in the draft. Taylor looks like he's got a real eye for talent and he may have his eye on a few players that may end up being drafted in the 2nd or 3rd round ... and if we want more draft picks in that area we'll need to trade in a clever manner. Trading up to picks 3 & 7 in last year's draft caught most by surprise but 3 off-seasons ago we were also creative in securing Tyson & Salem. I expect more of the same but we'll have to make the odd tough decision to be a real player. Even when we did the obvious in drafting Petracca & Brayshaw we used some creative thinking in the Frost trade (ANB & Oscar were drafted as a result) ... and in that same trade period we picked up Garlett at a bargain price (basically pick 61) Another important aspect to remember is that Goodwin was coached by Blight and Blight made some tough decisions on certain players before he coached his first game for Adelaide.

^^^^^ (up to date table) SBS game this week - Sat 9pm with a 9.30pm start ... Man Utd vs Man City. It's a pity the game clashes with the footy but the big derby could still attract a huge TV audience regardless.

These lines might help with the tips ... then again, they may not. Keep hearing that there's a number of road upsets in week 1 but I'll probably play it safe again, and fail. Regardless, I'm looking forward to the games.

Agree on the rotations but the players are so fit that we're still going to get congestion (or less open play) In soccer there are various coaches (notably Zidane) who want to bring that sport down from 11 a side to 10 a side for similar reasons. 16 a side in footy would bring back wing play if it was instigated ... it's not like the space would be left vacant just because the number of players was reduced. Coaches are constantly attempting to close down space. Teams written out on paper with all the positions in place has been a thing of the past for years anyway. There's any number of midfielders these days. Could anyone name a dozen top wingmen these days like we used to be able to do in the past? Soccer doesn't have it's wingmen like it used to as well. The rules in place for yesterday's footy are often outdated by today's standards. The game has moved on in leaps and bounds but the people who oversee the sport often haven't.

It should also be noted that tanking is not illegal nor inlawful. If it was then any number of sporting clubs across a number of sports would have had action taken against them. Throwing games deliberately or bribing referees is a different story ... Juventus, Chicago White Sox etc etc. Tanking happens quite frequently in US sports ... notably Basketball (sixers) and the NFL (Raiders) When there is drafting in the current set-up there will be tanking.

1 - Gawn 2 - Tyson 3 - T-Mac 4 - Viney 5 - Jones

I reckon hitting rock bottom saved us in an indirect way. We worked our way towards having a terrible list of players and we succeeded. We could argue the point about how we got there but it's all academic now ... PJ and then Roos have made a profound difference. Roos has shown the club how to build a list properly and whilst he needed another 2 off-seasons to finish the job, hopefully we've got others who can continue on the path that we're on. This next off-season is as important as the previous 3 off seasons. I know we've heard it all before but I see the club as entering it's 4th year of a 5 year plan (ducks for cover)

The stuff that came out (the Connolly 'joke' and the mysterious 'vault' nonsense) was revealed after the investigation begun. Most of the talk that surrounded tanking was previously directed at Carlton ... we weren't saying anything. There was virtually nothing then McLean opened his trap. And the tanking surrounded the 2009 season ... McLean spoke out in late 2012. 3 years had passed and in that time what we'd allegedly done was not even a topic of conversation. That's how I remember things.

My issue was that so many other clubs had blatantly tanked on numerous occasions yet the media and the footy public turned a blind eye. Most people I know happily admitted that they were glad that it wasn't their club being investigated ... the consensus was that we'd be the only club to be investigated. Once it was done, that was going to be it. We were the 'story' and the golden rule is that you never spoil a good story with the truth. Ironically, Kennett was the loudest with his condemnation of what we'd allegedly done but he went quiet after a time too - someone from his own club probably worded him up.

What a system we have ... at least a dozen clubs have tanked at least 30 times for the rights to a prized pick number (or pick numbers) in a flawed drafting system (the teenage high school lottery) - which in turn can be a recipe for disaster or it can even be a ticket for a future premiership (or premierships) As recently as 2013 GWS tanked their last game in order to secure the no.1 pick (they rested 6 or 7 of their starters in that game against the GCS) Brisbane have a history of tanking too (late 90's) but more recently in 2011 when they tanked for a 2nd round draft pick The Tigers lost their last 14 games of season 2004 after starting 4 & 4 - hey presto, priority pick and a top order pick. Danny Frawley coached out that season and left them with a couple of nice parting gifts. The Pies sat on 5 wins after 14 rounds of the 2005 season and then tanked the rest of the season (lost their last 8) ... result - Thomas & Pendlebury. Malthouse & McGuire were in charge 9 clubs tanked for 18 picks (priority & top end pick) in the years 2003, 2004 & 2005 (the tanking years) Carlton have tanked at least 5 times ... Ratten took over in 2007 when they were in full tank mode. The Sheedy led Bombers tanked in 2006 (Bryce Gibbs cup) ... ironically, that match against Carlton was a draw (the twin-tank) The Hawks tanked in '04 & '05 - Clarko's first year as coach was '05 - nice intro. The Eagles tanked the 2008 season and finished on 4 wins - that's a big fall from a premiership in '06 Their was zero betting on the Kruezer cup game - no odds were fielded. Another forgotten gem The Saints tanked at least twice - in came Rooey, Kosy & Ball Chris Judd was tanked for twice (tank fatigue) The Bulldogs tanked for Griffen & Cooney (in separate years) The Tigers tanked their last game of the 2007 where Wallace admitted that he didn't make any coaching moves in that game against the Saints (they lost of course) ... everyone had their eye on the Kruezer cup though - played the following day. Libba attempted to blow the whistle on the Blues but that got shut down. Vlad ... "There is no such thing as tanking" And then we got investigated.

7mate are covering the games again this season but 7mate is no longer a HD channel in Melbourne ... however, the channel is broadcast in HD in Sydney, Brisbane & Perth. Anyway ... 7mate are covering Friday's Panthers @ Broncos game whilst on Monday, 3 games will be telecast ... Cinci @ Jets (early), Giants @ Dallas (late) and Patriots @ Arizona (SNF) It's doubtful that the MNF games will be covered as they weren't covered last year .. haven't seen the listings as yet. That will probably be the pattern for the season although the Friday games may not last for the entire season.

Here are the rest of last season's playoff games - the Super Bowl is in 2 parts and has various participants mic'd up ... Patriots @ Denver AFC Championship Highlights Arizona @ Carolina NFC Championship Highlights Super Bowl Panthers vs Broncos First Half Mic'd up Highlights Super Bowl Panthers vs Broncos Second Half Mic'd up Highlights

I'm left wondering where the NFL will sit for us next year when the Demons are making a run at it in September Re the college games ... every year I get a little more interested but usually reserve my interest for the big match-ups. Losing for any of the top seeded teams can be diabolical with the record required to qualify for the top 4. And there's been a few big upset wins already.

It's that time of year again ... NFL is back and with it, the 'time-honoured' tipping comp ... hopefully we get enough starters so as we can do it again but 5 or 6 or more participants should get the job done. Last year's notable tipsters, hall of fame and the rules of the comp ... Final Tally 10 - Gorgoroth 9 - cowboy_from_ hell, JV7, DeeSpencer 7 - Macca Regular Season Tipping Competition Year Winner Runners up 3rd place 2013 cowboy_from_hell/ pantaloons/ Gorgoroth Strafford Macca ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 Dappa Dan DeeSpencer Gorgoroth ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2015 Gorgoroth cowboy_from_hell, Macca JV7, DeeSpencer ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Season Tipping Competition Year Winner Runners up 3rd place 2013 titan_uranus DemonDave cowboy_from_hell/ Macca ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 JV7/ pantaloons Gorgoroth/ Go the Biff Macca ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2015 JV7/ cowboy_from_hell, Gorgoroth/ Macca DeeSpencer ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rules of the 'Demonland' NFL tipping competition ... (the same as last year except a couple more bonus weeks have been added) * All participants are allowed 3 picks only in any given week but they must all be 'road' teams ... and anyone who correctly tips all 3 winners from their 3 picks receives 1 point (any number of people can win a point in any given week) * Bonus points are up for grabs in weeks 2, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 (2 points to all winners) whilst week 17 carries 3 points to any given winner. * No margins or correct scores are required - just the straight winners. * If you miss a week or come into the comp later on, there is no penalty. You just simply miss the chance to win points for that week or weeks. You can join in the comp at any time. * Your tips must be in before the start of Monday's games (AEST) ... or before the Friday game if you include that game. All 3 tips must be included in your post (editing your tips is strictly forbidden ) * The person (or persons) with the most points at the end of the regular season wins. For those out there who just read this thread, feel free to join in the comp. Putting your tips in usually takes a surprisingly small amount of time as there are normally a couple of obvious tips ... but those 'obvious' tips often have 'trap-game' attached to them So get your tips in Ladies & Gents ... the season kicks off next Friday (our time) with a rematch of last year's Super Bowl - Carolina @ Denver. All the week 1 games ...

Here are the 4 divisional playoff game highlights ... Chiefs @ New England AFC Divisional Playoff Highlights Packers @ Arizona NFC Divisional Playoff Highlights Steelers @ Denver AFC Divisional Playoff Highlights Seattle @ Carolina NFC Divisional Playoff Highlights

From memory these arrangements often start out this way but any change could happen quite quickly if the outcomes don't come up to expectations. Win early and Goff has to wait ... but if you lose games early then Goff may well get fast-tracked.