Macca

3 points for nearly everyone this week A couple relying on a Bills tomorrow win to get the 3 But it's a must win for the Jets

That's great to see and gratifying (Tracca on the apparatus) The one thing that all A Grade elite players have in common is personal pride ... they want to be the best and ego's do play a part So how are Clarrie, Viney & Tracca going to react to the addition of a couple of top end midfield draft picks who may be on their way to becoming elite? It will be competitive ... full on in fact. Just the way the coach will want it

Yes, it's all but over But what a whirlwind month it has been with regards to Trac & Ollie! Now the story is picks 5 & 9 We are just constantly in the news these days. It used to be only Collingwood that was in the news constantly Not sure if that's good or bad. Keeps us on our toes at least And let's not forget how we were the media darlings for a year from September 2021

Ok, but until 7.30pm Wednesday (I really do not want to lose Clarrie)

This thread has gone quiet ... is it all over @Roost it far? Because of the money, is Clarrie untradeable? Looks that way. A stalemate The pay-cut talk? Just talk? It's time to hit the track, get fit and come out in round 1, full of running Chances are that Trac, Ollie, Viney et al will have some new, talented company in the midfield (2 high-end pick additions) That's exciting for them and us supporters A new day, a new dawn

Same here, Roost it The players & coaching staff will only be looking at tomorrow and they won't be looking back Need a decent run with injuries in so far as having our best players available

Ok, the word is that North have got enough midfielders? So that makes sense If that happens, pick 5 gets us the choice of the best 4 available Mids Pick 9 gives us one of the best 8 (or so) midfielders or do we take the punt on Armstrong? One thing is for sure is that the club knows who we are going after with a plan B and a plan C as part of the overall plan The first part of the plan was getting pick 9 off the Bombers

Ok thanks So next question is when are Armstong or Tauru likely to be picked? Top 5? 6-10? 3-7? If you don't have a good idea, don't worry, as I'm just trying to figure out whether we are all-in on 2 midfielders or maybe making a play for Armstrong or Tauru?

Just a question on the likely top 10 picks from all the phantom drafts How many of the 10 are not midfielders? (disregarding the F/S and Academy picks) I ask the question because can it be assumed that we will pick the best talent available with our 2 picks ... and are they by default, midfielders?

2024 as a season is done with and it's time to look ahead with regards to list management and the draft The club review will hopefully result in creating a clear pathway forward but we might see a few personnel changes with a few off-field positions As always, we are just mere onlookers speculating on what we think might happen

No, nothing like that What is true is you get easily triggered by any sort of optimism So instead of embracing picks 5 & 9 as a great triumph (it is) all you want to do is reference the other issues the club might have Just enjoy the moment like most others are

There's people here who can't get any joy out of 2021 flag because apparently, the GF wasn't played at the MCG Just miserable types and they've all found each on the internet. Affirmation (of sorts) Outside of the net, who would put up with their miserable utterings? The strange thing is that the miserable types have insanely high expectations. That probably explains why they whinge so much

I never quite understood what you were on about with that stuff anyway Back then I was putting a positive slant on the upcoming season and I need a walk in the sun? Were you projecting?

Pffft And my advice to you is to try and get a bit of joy out of the game and your team You pour your misery out on others so what sort of reaction do you think you're going to get? And learn how to talk with people not at them Ridiculing your own supporters wins you no favours And lose the anger

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I got lucky, Gonzo! And many others here were thinking the same way anyway Thought it might have been the Tigers who we'd deal with though Was just trying to read the tea leaves with regards to 2 Notable players possibly being on the move So the insurance policy was bought so in effect, as a result of us securing picks 5 & 9, that strengthens our position for the 2025 off season (if it all works out) We no longer have to be too concerned about falling short in the midfield (in theory) It's a midfielders game these days although the Blues with their mosquito fleet 45 years ago may have been the forerunners The old becomes the new? These days, as we all know, a team can have any number of midfield 'Types' in the 22 ... there's the 4 interchange players, High half forward (Petracca), Wings, Half backs, Defensive forwards (Viney later on?) And Kozzie can be a proper small forward as well as having stints in the middle

Tholstrup goes reasonably hard at the contest and doesn't look around. Doesn't mean he's going to get a lot of the ball (yet) but it's a great start He's not up with the pace of the game but once that happens, he can be a 20+ possession player. So those contests that he gets to will result in him winning the ball more often As a comparison, we could use Morton & Toumpas as examples (both pick 4's) Both were conspicuously absent a lot of the times. Contests were often avoided. Harsh, but true You can disagree, I'm not fussed. So let's agree to disagree, Ryan

I agree We've now got 2 gilt-edged chances to add 2 very good players to the list with the 2 high-end picks If we can find a 3rd, we're going to need a bit of luck but 2 x very good players plus 1 or 2 that end up being starting 22 would be a fantastic result Another smokey like McVee would become the 3rd top player. So out of the other 5 or 6 other players added to the list this off-season, we could unearth a gem All that added to an already talented list (if all fit & firing and playing well)

Their pure value is worth at least 2 first rounders each but their salaries, form and other factors lessens their value Or we just get them going again and keep them. And then play hard ball on a trade for either player None of us have to concern ourselves about handing out the pay packets and I always reckon there's a way to fit it all in (see Geelong) It's like accumulating points for an academy player or father/son. The clubs always seem to find a way Ideal outcome would be drafting 2 gun midfielders with Ollie & Tracca finding their best form and staying Do that and we are right back in the picture, AF

The NFC North is going at 16 & 5! AFC East 8 & 13

Handed over the keys which is not Rodgers fault either. Same deal with the Jets about who has the keys So McCarthy didn't waste Rodgers, he wasted the teams chances As previously stated, under McCarthy, it was all about the passing game The running game was bog average, run defense poor and the secondary wasn't great either It was Rodgers dominating or bust However, one Super Bowl win is better than none but we had loads of chances to at least get to 1 or 2 more SB's. I'm neither bitter or annoyed about it though There's 32 teams so all things being equal, any team has about a 30-1 chance of winning the SB It was a great ride watching Rodgers career. A genuine star But it's a team game

So we give Essendon a few later picks which were of no real use to us, but satisfies the Bombers as they need the points Pick 9 was never going to come easy although I feel we've ended up with a colossal win anyway As @Axis of Bob mentioned, our strategy has been the pointy end of the draft so the later picks are steak knives to us but valuable to the Bombers And as @DeeSpencer indicated, there's still a chance that we might trade a player out with at least something coming back (not likely, but a possibility?)

He could go to the Jets and reunite with Rodgers!

Drafting talls with early picks is often a bit iffy. We missed with the Weid but he showed heaps of promise at under 18 level He had the skills but there was a lack of intensity at AFL level. At junior level some deficiencies just don't show up Drafting mids and trading for KP talent seems to be the go. We did well with Ben Brown but decent experienced KPF's are hard to get hold of Same for tall backs in a general sense. We traded in May, Lever & Tomlinson. You could even count Hibberd in that area

Depends on whether you believe the hype or not. They are a bit young to judge even in their first year or 2 at AFL so any definitive judgements at under 18 level are premature What I look for are signs. So it's Windsor with his pace coupled with decent decision making and disposal skills The same doesn't apply to Kolt as he hasn't adjusted to the pace of the game (yet) but he does get to a lot of contests and there's no short steps either. To me he obviously just needs more time The MC played him in the last 9 games of the year and I read that as them wanting to have a good look at him and give him plenty of game time