Macca

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

The Bombers are a distinct possibility as you'd reckon they'd have the cap space too Originally I thought a deal was near impossible but these days, players end up at a preferred destination. So some sort of deal will be arrived at And then there's always the grievance tribunal lurking in the background Or roll up with a crate of rotten tomatoes

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

Apart from the need to recover both physically & mentally from the horrific injuries he incured, Petracca is going to have to deal with being targeted on the field Physically & verbally, opposition players are going to go after him. Don't forget that knee from Moore came from the side and slightly in front So if he goes up for a mark playing in front opposition players will go after an unprotected area (ribs) That's going to happen again apart from all the tackling and knocks that can occur. There's still a lot of congestion in the sport so gang tackling a player is still quite common (and legal) They're going to make him earn it and it could easily wear him down and make him take the odd short step (that became a trait of Dustin Martin after his kidney injury) It's not like local sport where the opposition might be completely unaware of a players injury history This is the AFL where there's nowhere to hide

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

So in just under 2 days there has been about 1620 posts on the Petracca saga Hands up those who have read every one of the posts in the last 2 days! I've skimmed past the tl_dr as a case of have-to. Keep it brief! I'm still getting my head around the fact that we had 470 pages on the Hogan thread ... that's 11,750 posts (War & Peace anyone?) I'm just about Petracca'd out

They are definitely not (the strength of our position at the trade table) but I don't have a problem with Demon fans being optimistic in a Petracca deal There's also his mental health issues which might mean he could miss a swathe of games (for whoever he plays for) And retiring on medical grounds is also a decent factor (paid out in full?) I'm leaning towards taking what we can get to get him off the books. Face it, what are the chances in Petracca playing for the Demons again?

That's one example but each medical emergency is possibly/probably different from the next. I'll take the conservative view that I can't see how he can pass a medical before the trade window ends Besides all that, is he going to be the same player if and when he returns anyway? Would we willingly take him if it was roles reversed? I'd say a majority on this site alone would say no Most here don't want a fit & firing Houston But a banged up 29yo who can't even go on a light jog and with what seems like a million issues? No thanks Ask your friends and acquaintances about whether they'd want him?

I was being flippant with the whole Casey thing ... it won't come to that but in overseas sport, that sort of thing does happen especially in soccer (although, it's usually the player laying down the tools) And I'd be inclined to believe your work colleague His trade value is totally up in the air with any number of variables at play. So expecting a raft of top end picks is highly questionable In fact, his value might be so low that we just keep him on the books and hope he does the pro thing

His injuries are very real, nothing needs to be exaggerated or over-cooked Right now, he can't even go for a light jog and it's just 6 weeks to the trade window What's alarming is that his heart rate can't go above 100 (for now) During trade week (or beforehand) another suitor may well ask Petracca to go for a medical. How is he going to pass a medical? Now, he may well come good but when? Let's reverse it ... would we as a club pursue a player with these obvious medical issues?

What else could the club have done with Oliver? He goes off the rails with whatever issues he had so that's on Clarrie As for Petracca, I'm in two minds. One part of me just wants to just get rid of the bloke but why give him what he wants? Or possibly burn the $1Million per season and make him see out his contract. Playing at Casey wouldn't do much for Brand Petracca so he'd soon come to the party But do we want the day to day circus to continue? This is why the player nearly always has the upper hand (if they want out) The other glaring issue is Petracca's current fitness and if that lowers his market value. If so, it can't be a high-end sale, more like a fire sale And I'm wondering why more people aren't talking (here) about his ability (or inability) to ever get back to his best. It's a very real issue with regards to getting the proper trade value for Petracca

Close on 650 posts in this thread since about 5pm That's like reading a book but what was the book about? Did we learn anything? So Petracca wanting out was confirmed but can we facilitate a deal? (with a big club) Or do we just stand on principle and not blink until we get the right offer Any club that takes him may well do so without a medical clearance (has that been done before with a high profile player?) And then there's all the salary cap room if we trade Petracca for picks only. That might be $1.2Million next year alone Don't clubs have to spend 100% of their salary cap these days? Brayshaw's salary as well (who is paying that? The League?) That's a lot of cap space (not including the other delistments)

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

We might have to pay McKay a bit more to get him to play with us I'm assuming that Petracca has played his last game for us so have switched to full-on trade mode No time for sentiment, get a deal done* *A lot of deals are done 'in principle' before the trade period (IMV)

Petracca's health and well-being issues lowers his value. He's damaged goods who can't have his heart rate above 100 (for how long) A full pre-season? Not going to happen Right now, he can't even do any light running Will he pass a medical within the next 2 months? (the trade period ends on Oct 16th) Highly doubtful In my view we're not going to get Carlton's first round pick + McKay. It will be a virtual straight swap Wouldn't hurt to throw in an ambit claim of course That's all things considered (keeping it real) Not a fire sale but what club would want to take on all his issues? That's the other side of the story

The sweetener is that we may offer McKay a bit more money on top of his existing contract. Anyone know what he is on at Carlton? And what is Petracca on? $1.2Million per season? Money talks ... follow the money

A complex situation but the answer may well be very simple & straight forward At a guess I reckon those closest to Trac are upset at the club's reaction to Trac's injury in the KB clash and that might be all there is to it If so, surely they can patch up their differences and get on with it But if there's a lot more to it, then a trade is a real option. However, because of the nature of his injury and recovery time*, coupled with his age (29) and length of contract and the amount involved, we may not get back in a trade what we think we should get (that's from a supporters point of view, the club will know what is actually on the table) *Over 2 months later and Trac is not allowed to get his heart rate above 100 beats per minute. That might scare a few suiters off (how is he meant to complete a pre-season and pass a medical?)

Well Trac is the guest speaker next Sunday at the Ringwood RSL ... might be 3.30pm Fifty bucks entrance fee but I'm not sure there is a question time segment But if so, maybe Chris from Camberwell will roll up and ask the obligatory 5 minute question (without drawing breath)