Undeeterred

12 minutes ago, A F said:

I know a few people have alluded to it already, but I think Mahoney tying May to the Hogan deal at all was really poor strategy. It doesn't matter if he meant we wouldn't have the cash or the picks to get May if the Hogan trade didn't go through. That's not the argument here, but mentioning May at all in trade discussions RE Hogan was poor strategy.

I'm on record has being a huge FD and Mahoney fan. I think what they've been able to do over the past 4 or 5 off seasons has been terrific, but this was foolish messaging that has given the little Fremantle man unnecessary leverage that he wouldn't have otherwise had.

Tend to agree, equally we're putting May in the position where he can't publicly state his intentions in the same way as Hogan isn't, so we're kind of giving him cover to wait it out without being under pressure to go public, and also saving face if it all falls through.

1 hour ago, EnterTheDragon said:

There is method to Bell’s seeming madness. His endgame as drdrake mentioned a few posts back us to get both Hogan and Lobb in the door. Freo have close to the worst forward set up in the competition at present and these two coming in will get the Freo fans very excited. This is the real “feather in cap” Bell wants to exit trade week with, not Lachie Neale. The tough talk about keeping Neale is just bluster. 

The lowball pick 11 and 23 offer for Hogan may have seemed pointless but the tactic there is to frustrate Melbourne and also waste our time, with the aim of softening us up to accept pick 5 & 23 at the death in the final day of trade week. Bell knows we would MUCH prefer picks 5 & 11 for Hogan but he needs to retain pick 11 to secure Lobb from GWS. So he is banking on us growing impatient, getting worried by Wednesday that the whole thing is going to fall through, and just signing off on the 5 & 23 deal. 

As soon as the Neale domino falls Mahoney is going to be faced with a reasonably hard call to make. Accept 5 & 23 for Hogan or reject it and make Jesse play out the final year of his contract. Not sure what I would do personally, it’s a tough one. 

Bell is banking on us tiring of the whole Hogan saga and just being happy to move on, get our man May in with pick 5 going out to Gold Coast, and sucking up the fact that we’ve received unders for a forward we - to be honest - haven’t made a huge effort to retain.

Pugnacious, annoying little [censored] Peter Bell. But he’s no dill.

On the other hand we could completely ruin his life by holding on to Hogan and giving Simmo a call over at the Eagles about a deal for Jesse next year! But would that be in our interests? They will probably have a lot less to offer us than pick 5 & 23. 

I think Freo might have us snookered here.

After all that bluster, posting how strong a position we are in on every single page of the thread, and having the gall to call me jelly-kneed when I proposed pragmatism early on.

Lol at you, my friend.

51 minutes ago, KLV said:

Hogan IS NOT A FREE AGENT NEXT YEAR 

sorry to shout, but haven’t we gone through that several thousand times?

Well yes, hence the reference to going in the draft. At which Freo will have one of the first picks. 

1 hour ago, ProDee said:

I don't often subscribe to the view that a player "owes" a club, and I'm not even sure I do in this instance, but vandenBerg was plucked from the NEAFL and there's no guarantee he'd even be in the AFL system if not for the Dees (rookie draft pick).

I could be wrong and @rpfc may be able to clarify.  I doubt he was on any other club's radar.

Anyway, it's great that he's staying.

I find the 'player owes club' argument hard on the basis that clubs draft players acting in the club's interests. It's isn't as if they're doing someone a favour - they are doing it because they think it will make their football team better. On that basis, I don't think players owe clubs anything just because the club was clever enough and ahead of the curve enough to find a player who was otherwise in relative obscurity.

4 hours ago, EnterTheDragon said:

For them - absolutely!

At least you are consistent, but you are wildly overstating our power here.

Regardless of the posts above from Wrecker, by saying nothing about staying, Jesse is clearly implying he wants to go. 

If we can't do a deal, and he refuses to sign long term, we have a massive distraction contract-wise next year right when we don't need one, along with a player who clearly won't want to be there next year, and who already exhibits poor body language when things go his way.

This is exactly why Gold Coast want to get rid of May. It isn't worth the hassle.

Even if Wrecker is right, a player who is torn is going to have a really hard time properly committing, if Freo refuse to give us a fair deal.

He really has to go now, and we really have to take what we can get, all posturing aside.

5 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

[censored] me Hoges! Hurry up and make a decision!

Do you seriously think he hasn't??

6 hours ago, Older demon said:

Re Jessie's foot injury. I know one of the professional's at the club who were looking after his foot. Let me put to rest those who think he was faking, he very definitely had a crack in the Navicular bone. The club was grateful that it was early on and not a full fracture requiring surgery. Seriously some of the conjecture and conspiracy theories stated are way out of line.

Fairly drastic solution, but ok!

16 minutes ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

As an aside we went thru this little dance with Jesse with his last contract extension.  It was announced on Oct 4 2016, a few days before the trade period started.  I recall learned chat here on DL that he had been given an ultimatum: extend the contract now or we will trade you.  The timing of that contract supports that chat.

I suspect the same thing is happening now, except maybe a tougher stance on extension terms.  Can't imagine the club wanting this little dance to happen every two years.  For the club, for the team, for Jesse he needs to commit for the long haul or he goes.  I really don't think there is a satisfactory middle road here. 

Whoever is driving this speculation, the die is cast in my view. He has to go - there's no way he can sign up to us with any credibility given how long he and the club have let this go on.

He's definitely going.

8 hours ago, Dr.D said:

the infamous 4276. im just wondering of thats the plan and if i should start looking at the under 18 draftees

Depends. Are you Jason Taylor?

5 minutes ago, Rocky said:

no problems for me.. and i'm watching from an island in the north aegean!

 

Surely you have something better to do!!

1 minute ago, Satyriconhome said:

Not me girls, somewhere else tonight, prior important commitment, following the comedy on here

Can't be that important.

6 minutes ago, Neil Crompton said:

Interesting to note that this thread started in mid July when some pseudo jurno had the audacity to write that he thought Hogan would be gone at the end of the year. Our members jumped all over him - typified by this comment by our DL Administrator:

“This isn't even a rumour. It is an unfounded and uninformed opinion from an irrelevant ex-footballer.”

Did he really know something back then, or was he just shooting the breeze?

Given we've had the same discussion pretty every year, I wouldn't get too excited about whichever journalist it was and their credibility.

I could have written that article.

6 minutes ago, Fifty-5 said:

Posters need to realise that the points deal to get Port's 9 and 10 is 4 AND 22 that Freo get from Brisbane for Neale.

The talk of us trading just pick 4 or even 5 for 9 +10 is fantasyland.  It's really not that hard to look up the points table.

Also 5 + 10 for Hogan values him much higher than 4 + 22 for Neale.

Points mean nothing to us.

If Port want to get up to 4, they will trade 9 and 10. Simple as that. They don't care about how many points are in the balance.

1 hour ago, Nasher said:

Hey, in addition to being bombarded with gambling ads on TV and social media, I can get it on Demonland too! Sweet!

Also I love how this industry refers to itself as a “market”. LOL

So shut it down then!

Bit rough to dump the poor barstad for a prelim, then make him show up and do this. WTF has he done to them??

1 minute ago, jumbo returns said:

That's the issue - not sure

Kent over Hannan? Garlett over Spargo? Bugg?

Would love to find a small forward like Cripps or Ryan

Quite - they don't grow on trees obviously. I think Bugg and Garlett and Kent were so far gone by now that they didn't really have a choice. And the formula has been a winning one...

23 minutes ago, jumbo returns said:

The selection of Spargo and Hannah puzzles me

Oh well, I've got 6 months to get over it

Just out of interest, who would you have had instead of them?

9 minutes ago, beelzebub said:

How's the bit about a team that COULD NOT SCORE A GOAL IN A WHOLE HALF OF FOOTBALL sound ? 

Just wondering. Sounds marvee to me ( not )

That's a record you can wear with pride yeah ?

'Blip of a failure'. 

Can't you read? Just wondering.

Enjoy spending the entire summer wallowing in one game, rather than getting some perspecitve.

1 minute ago, beelzebub said:

Is it really nonsense though to highlight that 'impressive' stat ?

Yes. And unbalanced. It's entirely boring when someone has an agenda, and is on the lookout for anything to push that agenda.

Jones was rubbish yesterday. But he's not on his own there.

13 minutes ago, beelzebub said:

You marvelously ignore the salient point he made to have a go at the messenger ? lol

Bowled middle stump

If he didn't cherry pick all the time it would be fine. Where's he been for a month ? Anyone can pick out and post unbalanced nonsense.  

6 hours ago, Sir Why You Little said:

Don’t speak on my behalf and take things out of context. 

“You are only as good as your last performance...”

Sorry, you are right on this bit.

On our last performance, we are a top-4 side stacked with 20-24 year old up and coming superstars, missing two of its most important structural players, who hit a physical and emotional brick wall after a run of huge games, bringing us to the finals for the first time in 12 years, and who were overawed by a big game but who will learn and grow and naturally overcome yesterday's blip of a failure.

Sounds quite good to me.

6 hours ago, Sir Why You Little said:

Don’t speak on my behalf and take things out of context. 

“You are only as good as your last performance...”

He's not speaking on your behalf. He's telling someone else, who said you were on the right track, that you're not. Which is pretty usual fare for you.

2 hours ago, Deemania since 56 said:

Clarrie is a man who retains his words; he does not mouth off - a keen observer happy out of the immediacy of the verbal limelight, most of the time. He knows something and keeps it to himself. His words come out as actions of the field, and in communications with his teammates onfield, between bursts. If Clarrie says: '...we got this...', we had better believe it. 

Random thought, from a mate: 'OMac has been practising goal kicking at some depth and has done very well at it. Possibly, TMac to CHB, OMac to FFwd. Whadya reckon?'

 

Um, he had a shouting match with a Carlton fan in the crowd last (?) year... Not sure that statement is entirely correct.

1 hour ago, Dee Zephyr said:

We just ran into Razor and his buddies. Told Nicholls to keep walking, we only wanted a photo with Razor. Believe it or not, he said our boys have got this. No idea what this means.

You should have made sure he couldn't.

44 minutes ago, Petraccattack said:

The Eagles have played one game in 4 weeks.  Same as Richmond.  The bye before the finals has become a killer for top 4 teams that win in week 1.

Too many weeks off is a BAD thing.  Must take advantage today.. The Eagles will not be match hardened, much like the Tigers last night.

This.

Combined with the fact that this is a total free kick for us, with absolutely nothing to lose.

We're on today I reckon.

Except for Nicholls, that AFL-infiltrated spy, trying to bump us out.