Macca

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

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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

Well Kolt is certainly not a natural forward and our depth is no longer strong enough that he won't be picked in the team when applicable In fact, we're down to 2 x A grade players and the rest are either on their way up or have regressed 2 examples are Petty & Lever. Neither impact games and both are on very good coin. Fritsch is another and Rivers just wastes his disposals King will have his work cut out trying to put a winning combination together Could be a long season ahead and we'll need to be very patient

You sound like you've chucked it in Get over your wonder boy, Petracca. He's not going to be captain and he'll almost certainly be playing elsewhere Have a good cry about it, if it helps

Playing at the back of the midfield (holding midfielder) is not that far removed from the HBF where Rivers started off. It wouldn't be that foreign for the lad Rivers disposal from half back seemed to be much better than when he disposes of the ball as a mid It's as if he freezes trying to look for targets ... and of course, long bombs were such a part of our game plan for so long that many of our mids were just programmed into hoofing it forward

Losing McVee creates a re-shuffle and Windsor was played at half back before sanity prevailed and he was moved to the wing/midfield And if we assume that Oliver & Petracca find new clubs, how will we use Viney? It only seems like yesterday that we were trying Jack in other roles (forward?) but we're probably going to need his experience and attack on the ball at the stoppages. Go again, Jack (given the circumstances) As much as Oliver was an issue, he did accumulate 264 contested possessions & 121 clearances for the 2025 season Langford, Lindsay, Windsor & Kolt* still need to be nurtured along as mids Sparrow needs to double his output and step up to the plate And Rivers could be asked to take on a Gus type role across the back of the midfield (needs to get more physical for that role though) Kozzie is the mid/forward and we might draft or recruit another mid And Harry, if we can get him *Give Kolt midfield minutes to see if he can cut it

Yep, that's the thing. It almost certainly won't be with the MFC But I'll be disappointed if we don't get much back in return

Well I reckon Oliver will put his head down and return to his best. What has happened to him is a monumental wake up call He'll bounce back but it almost certainly won't be for the MFC* I see his best as extracting the ball 30 times, hitting 20 targets by hand and learning how to hit 10 targets by foot (which is what he did in the last game against the Pies) He's just got to get his head right and get physically fit. At a new club, that's entirely possible and he is only a 28yo ... in theory, he's got 6 or 7 years left By the way, it won't annoy me if he plays well elsewhere, that's pro sports It's what we get in return that interests me. And despite what we've been told, we need to push hard for a decent trade *unless it is for the MFC, if a deal can't be reached

Hasn't Lindsay been earmarked to take on the HBF role? Salem? And even though Rivers wins his fair share of midfield possessions, in my view, he's better suited off a HBF where he can use his dash & daring (and hit up targets?🤞) But someone here (might have been DS) mentioned that some teams are going with 3 rebounders out of defence these days So yeah, Harry Oliver, picked at #19 in last year's draft, might fit the bill, AF (plus pick 34, thank you)

Ok, but we'll have their pick #34 as the clincher I'd like to see JT weave his magic with a few 2nd rounders No more fringe NQR's ... let's see if we can develop a few more 18yo's

All along I reckon us paying a big proportion of his salary buys us a decent draft pick $3.5Million for pick #13 I still believe he can play some great football and if GWS believe that as well, they might pay up