Macca

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

Well I was talking to someone who just completely dismissed the crux of my argument. Quite literally, their comment was about just giving up Clubs can win big despite having issues running through a club Not ideal, but In fact, the FD & players can just get on with it and stay focused. Ok, the thread topic might look a bit over-the-top but the content can show that a club can stay strong and still win Of course, I'm not for a minute saying that the club doesn't have a few issues. I'm no company man But on the football side of things, we can build and contend again

Of course we can contend again but I wasn't talking like I am (now) in early 2013 as our player talent levels and everything else about the club stunk to high heaven (back then) In fact, I was calling for a total clean out back then and got shouted down, left, right and centre Not long after the AFL stepped and soon after PJ took over and the rest is history Different circumstances but this time we've got a way out of the mire So if you want to focus on the football side of things, which is the thrust of this thread, then we can continue to build a top class list with JT as our strongest asset Or, people can throw their hands up in the air and give up.

We've got a few at the club copping a bit of heat right now, but not (arguably) our most valuable asset ... Jason Taylor So, no matter who might leave, what we get back in return (draft picks) can be placed in the hands of JT and away we go It's even possible that we could end up with a couple of picks (this year) that we could swap for picks for next year's off-season (factoring in if 2 high profile players end up leaving) So the thrust of my argument doesn't focus on the issues the club might have but more so a present and future talent point of view The actual football side of things My mantra has always been X amount of good players equals X amount of wins (roundabout) I formed that view in the 70's & 80's when we didn't have many good players yet a number of other clubs did have lots of good players They won and we lost. It's as simple as that. So get talented!! The backroom stuff can be seen as more of a distraction that needs to be sorted out Meanwhile, we keep building a winning list

How is it all going back on the vinyl, rjay It's something I'll no doubt do down the track (someday) I've heard new vinyl is a tad expensive but that earthy sound quality would make it worthwhile, yeah? And do all the modern artists offer a vinyl alternative?

Post them up here, E14 3 road teams though (and it's a lot harder than you could imagine) But from this year, we are awarding 1 point if you get 2 out of 3 correct (3 points if all 3 are correct) Bonus weeks and bonus points apply as well Scroll up to the top of this page to see (my post) on how it all works

So, are we in need a bit of chillout jazz/rock? (or however else you might describe Steely Dan's Gaucho) Terrific album, all the same (all 7 songs from the album will play)

Excellent post Losing quality midfielders means we have to rebuild the midfield Anc the cheapest way is to go to the draft

The crux of my argument is Jason Taylor Apart from Weideman he does not draft busts. He has got the Midas touch He's the best in the business ... 12 years and one bust. That is exceptional So I say rebuild through the draft and back this bloke in. All the way And I'm a draft cynic with a belief system that drafting is somewhat flawed But not for Taylor. He puts my argument to bed On the pick #5 thread I make a case that we can have 6 picks in the top 30. It's entirely possible So 6 talented youngsters with maybe only 1 bust? That's a great percentage play

You give up too easily

So we've the Guru of recruiters in Jason Taylor and I see him as the person to kick-start things again We might lose a player or 2 in this off-season and contending for a flag next year or even 2026 might be a bit of a stretch but 2027? Finals in 2026 is an absolute probability if we recruit well We've still got a core group* of players who have a lot of experience and talent and a number of our younger players such as Rivers, McVee, Windsor, JVR and maybe Turner & Tholstrup have really come on So let JT work his magic at the draft as we might be able to manoeuvre ourselves into have a raft of picks to replenish the list. On the pick #5 thread I made a case that we could end up with 6 picks inside the top 30 (That's with the picks we might get back for Petracca if he goes) And that's without factoring in what we might get back for Kozzie if he departs (I don't believe he will leave though) As for the state of the club, we've probably got a few issues that need to get sorted out but it's not all doom & gloom. The current pile on has a lot of hearsay attached From a FD point of view and from an actual talent point of view, we can easily march forward *Our core group consists of Gawn, Viney, May, Lever, Rivers, Petty, Fritsch, Kozzie, JVR, Salem, Langdon, McVee, Oliver, T-Mac, Bowey, Melksham & Chandler Add in our up and comers and a raft of talent from the upcoming draft, and we're up and running again I'm confident that we will bounce back

McCarthy preferred Rodgers taking huge risks and it worked most of the time because Rodgers is Rodgers But that strategy didn't often work in big games as the opposition would negate (at least sonewhat) our passing games and put it on GB's running game And GB's running game was below par I much prefer a coach like Belichick but Bill still needed an outstanding talent like Brady So if McCarthy somehow uses Dak in a more conservative way, you've got a real chance. But can McCarthy do that?

We might be able to swap our 1st round pick (next year) with another club's 1st round pick this season I'm thinking we might go all-in on a raft of draftees ending up with maybe 6 picks in the top 30 Pick #5 2 first rounders- preferably in the top 10 if HWSNBN (II) ends up being traded We'll get a 2nd rounder for ANB And the 2nd rounder due from Sydney could somehow be moved up Swap next year's 1st round pick for another club's 1st round pick (this season) I'd just load up on mids with maybe 1 or 2 picks for particular positions What could be an issue is filling our salary cap with Gus and the other person's salary no longer on the books We need to add lots of young talent to the list. We've got enough experience, enough small forwards, plenty of HBF's and our bigs should be ok although another decent KPF (allowing Petty to go back) would be ideal

There's actually a heap of NFL fans on the site as over the years I've seen plenty comment on NFL on the footy boards But I don't want to be bothering people too much as most would be aware that we have a NFL thread and could come in and comment anytime (and not necessarily join in on the tipping comp) But the beauty of the tipping comp is it's simplicity with only 3 tips needed. It's quick all round For me, it would only get a bit cumbersome if had about 25+ participants (and that's not likely) And the original concept was to just keep the thread ticking along as a lot of the sporting threads tend to go very quiet for whatever reason (cricket & soccer threads especially) Anyway, your Cowboys should be amongst it again, Betters, but I'm just catching up with the NFL news

Let's say we got 2 top 10 picks for Petracca and managed to move pick 5 up to pick 3 If we could get them, would you be happy with say, O'Sullivan, Reid & Lalor

Who are the top 8 midfielders likely to be drafted within the top 20 picks (not including Academy picks) I ask the question because if we end up with 3 picks* inside the top 20, will we draft 3 midfielders? (Brayshaw and possibly Petracca will need to be replaced) Also, In 2015 we managed to move our pick 6 up to pick 3 (Oliver) ... might we do something similar? There's probably more than a few (like myself) who know very little about draft prospects *We could snare at least a couple of first round picks for Petracca if a trade results

@Gorgoroth @Go the Biff @DeeSpencer @titan_uranus @Clintosaurus @JV7 @Dee Zephyr @Dr. Gonzo @DemonDave @BDA @layzie @Dappa Dan The old gang, the old crew! One season ends (Demons) and then another season begins Opening game is Friday week 10.20am Ravens @ Chiefs Friday 6th Sept Tipping comp should be a goer again with one notable change to the format Pick 2 out of 3 = 1 point (A change put forward by Gorg which we'll go with unless we have any objections) Pick 3 from 3 = 3 points Bonus weeks (Double Points) Weeks 5, 9, 13, 17 & 18 Bonus Point - Applies if you are the sole (3 from 3) winner in any given week For those new to the thread wishing to join in on the tipping comp, all you have to do is put forward 3 Road winners each week. Pick 3 from 3 - 3 points awarded, 2 from 3 - 1 point awarded So what are the talking points? I'm just catching up but will post up some links to some videos & feature articles soon enough. Or if anyone sees anything of note, post up the link The Week 1 lines are out! And there is a Friday night game as well as Thursday Night, that's different And needless to say, a tough start

Here's what the numbers tell us (so far) Optimists 52.63% (1-3 years) Pessimists 39.47% (7-10+ years) Realists 7.90% (4-5 years) That's about the usual type ratio on Demonland The Pessimists vs the Optimists with the realists rarely heard from My guess is 3 to 5 years

Haaland's 3rd goal is sublime but centimetre perfect

A new season, 2 games in and Haaland scores a hat trick! Some things never change

(Roughly) ... A 25 point win to Freo gets the Cats up to 2nd spot on the ladder Cats vs Port or Port vs Cats in a QF Still a bit to play out

Viney could slot into a role as a defensive forward or even as a small forward And we don't have to wait until his last contracted season to play him up forward either Petracca played that high half-forward role in 2019 (IIRC he did not warm to that role) so a few of our best players are adaptable. Not sure that Clarrie is anything more than a ball-magnet central midfielder but at his best, he's one of the best in that role Max forward in his last year or 2? Well, I wouldn't say he can't do it and our policy has often been to play 2 rucks (Gawn rucking with Jackson forward worked well) Gawn can ruck in the front 3rd as well if it came to that The A graders & elite get long term deals as a matter of course. It's just the way it works And most supporters adore their stars so there wouldn't be too many not being happy with Gawn & Viney extending Much like Flower, Barassi and co, we'll miss them when they're gone

These long term deals are something that folks just need to get used to In overseas sports all the clubs would have to write-off money owed from time to time. A delistment contingency factor so to speak And as a lot more money flows into the clubs in the AFL, the same thing will happen. List management is not a perfect science as the players and managers are more often than not, looking to maximise the dollars heading their way So if it's every club from time to time (and it will be), what's the big deal? That's why the practice of front ending contracts softens the blow We might get stuck with a player or 2 from time to time (Ben Brown for instance) but the consequence of not being stuck with a player is that you might miss the opportunity of having that player at all So Gawn signs on for an extra 2 years but what if a club (with nothing to lose) offered Max an extra 3 or 4 years? We could then lose Max. Ditto for Viney And make no mistake, we've all got a price and players will leave for money. The loyalty factor is a factor but not limitless Dustin Martin is a good example of the to & fro. Years ago he held out for more money and at least 2 clubs were offerening long term deals with big money involved ... in the end, Richmond paid him what he wanted Money well spent As is often said, 'follow the money'

Here's my top 10 for the EPL season Man City (too many quality players) Arsenal (will push Man City again) Liverpool (interesting watch post Klopp) Aston Villa (underrated but keep performing) Chelsea (very big squad, perhaps too big) Man Utd (the dark horse) Tottenham (away at the big clubs could be a challenge) Newcastle (will win a lot of home games) Brighton (could finish higher if augurs well) West Ham (a knockout hope) Nearest the pin wins the prize* (if anyone else here cares to have a go at it) *There's no prize

I can recall Yallop keeping occasionally when injury intervened but keeper/batsman Wayne Phillips played 27 tests for Australia He had the gloves most of the time but not always ... and he did open the batting for Australia but again, he didn't always open the batting I'll ask a mate who might know or someone here might know for sure, TD And apart from Whiteman, Cameron Bancroft was a specialist keeper who also, of course, is an opening batsman (but he seems to be on the outer with regards to selection)