pantaloons

I wouldn't lose any sleep over it, Jack. You can exchange "walked out" to "I'm going to walk out before I'm delisted by the wooden spooners in an attempt to salvage an opportunity to get picked up in the PSD." I'll actually be happy for him if it comes off. Again, if true, surely he's got a team to go to.

This is all obviously speculation until its confirmed, but if true, then if he's "walking out" I assume he's got somewhere to go. You wouldn't normally leave in the vague hope that someone will draft you. In any event, if true, it makes the decisions on the culling of the last uncontracted players just slightly easier. I think he was in trouble anyway.

Thanks so much for putting this together. Watching the video helped encapsulate for me how much of a contribution the club has made to my life, even just as a supporter. Stirring stuff, well done.

Yep. I thought of the Baltimore Ravens as soon as I saw Adelaide's new logo. Woeful. The NFL has in the past been quite lenient with NRL teams blatantly ripping off their mascots and logos. The Canberra Raiders, Gold Coast Titans and Brisbane Broncos for starters not only had the cheek to use some pretty random mascots that belonged to NFL teams, but they hardly changed the original Oakland, Tennessee and Denver logos either. With that said, I'd expect nothing said to Adelaide for their ordinary effort.

Indeed: http://twitter.com/Whitey927 TRADE NEWS: Melbourne confirms serious interest in Luke Ball. The Demons will aim to convince him to come through the pre-season draft

Good times. Surely it's now either Melbourne or St. Kilda for Ball. We'd have more cap space than any other club. It wouldn't surprise me to see him patch things up with the Saints between now and the PSD though.

That's it. I want to see our fifth pick higher than 34, and there's plenty of scope to do that, by packaging picks, possibly with a player of delisting potential that has been talked about in the papers this week. That, coupled with Luke Ball not going to Collingwood, would make for a great trade week!

Thanks classy, didn't realise about 28. Not sure if Geelong would accept that straight up, but should go close.

What's fair compensation for Geelong now? Sydney has thrown away pick 22 in the Seaby deal, which would have been a fair swap. 38 won't be good enough and 14's a bit rich. Mumford and 33 for pick 14?

Yes, but it buys them time. Bradshaw will buy them a couple of years with a key forward, during which they can look to buy another one in true Carlton fashion.

I'm quite disappointed that Carlton have managed to land a legitimate key forward out of the Fevola deal, not mention a decent midfielder. The nasty part of me had hoped they'd be left stranded with picks or smaller types. Having Bradshaw up forward striaghtens them up.

You know, I'd love to get him without giving up pick 18. One way to do this is via the PSD. That way also incurs a fair bit of shafting of Geelong and I don't know how good that is for the future trading between the clubs, but is the cheapest way for now! The other is to package 34 plus one of or a combination of pick 50 and a player such as Buckley or another we've looked at in the trading forum. I'd say the Cats will be more keen on our picks than our players, but Buckley's pace may be of some interest.

The question is, are you willing to drive out to Ken's to get it?

To continue the analogy, my extent of pizza knowledge is limited to the eating part!

In essence, you're right. It doesn't happen all the time, but every year there's a side that can't afford what a player is asking for or being offered by another club, thinks/hopes they can do a deal or re-sign the player during trade week but in the end can't. I'd at least like Melbourne to be actively pursuing Mumford, in his ear for the rest of the week, and either have him via trade or as a likely PSD candidate.

The Dees are not the only club in Melbourne. If you lived in Maribyrnong and worked for Ken's Pizza Joint in Cranbourne, but discovered you could ply your exquisite pizza-making skills at Graeme's Pizza Parlour in Parkville, one of nine pizza places in Melbourne, that would have to factor into your decision. Plus, Graeme's was offering you more money and a faster opportunity to participate in the International Pizza-Making Championships. You loved most of the people back at Ken's, but the place was a bit run-down, the air conditioning was stuffed, the boss yelled at you, the oven was often broken and Ken wasn't able to renovate for another 4-6 years. Time for a change.

I was thinking about this yesterday Morton, and I came to the other conclusion. If Mumsy ends up in the PSD and is the best option in there, I see no reason at all why we wouldn't take him. He's young enough to be a part of our future success, and realistically, none of our ruckmen are world beaters. Get into him I say.

Yep, thanks M9. You're never going to please everyone regarding training location, but the closer you are to the city, the more chance you'll have. Good luck to Brock at Carlton. Hopefully the Fev gets traded so his passes will be bouncing off the chests of Fisher and Yarran.

And by the same token, doesn't trading pick 50 for absolutely nothing disadvantage us? When Melbourne and Carlton look to sign off on what is an absolutely fair deal, I'd be staggered if Melbourne caved in and gave up a useful bargaining chip for trading for the rest of the week. If we throw pick 50 in, we're significantly decreasing our chances of bettering pick 34. As I said before, pick 27 may be too high for the 34 + 50 upgrade, but its certainly in the range I'd be looking at. That's worth pursuing far more though than chucking something to Carlton for nothing.

I have to agree with Old and Nasher completely here. Like most, I've interpreted the Stephen Icke interview as typical Carlton scum buffoonery, but perhaps they're not looking to completely shaft a club they've agreed to a deal with, and instead wish to add to the deal in a way that is mutually beneficial, given their draft pick situation. Under Old's proposal, Carlton's draft situation moves from this: 27, 43, 59, 75 to this: 34, 43, 50, 59, 66 While their second round pick decreases by 7, this is offset by the gaining of two extra picks, their third pick moving up nine spaces and their fourth pick moving up 16, while their fifth pick is now of some use. The gaining of extra picks gives Carlton some wiggle room in further trades as well. I'm keen for Melbourne to package 34 and 50 for a pick between 26 and 32, and while 27 may be a bit rich, we're certainly not going to simply throw pick 50 into a deal that has already been agreed to because Carlton are detestable swine. We most likely won't use pick 50, but it should still come in handy for a pick upgrade or minor deal so I wouldn't be losing it for nothing.

Do we really want this, Redleg? If we drove Alwyn's price up last year, and they drove Aaron's up today, I'd rather leave it at that rather than have the Montagues and Capulets obliterating each other's salary caps in the future every time someone comes out of contract.

Nice work, KD. Congrats to the club on getting pen to paper on this one. Another big name going would have been damaging. I do feel for the club on this one. I imagine they've overpayed for him and they've certainly given him a year more than I'd have liked. These additional factors you've mentioned have certainly played a part, as has the potential for disastrous PR with another fan-favourite bolting. As youami mentioned, I hope its very much a front-ended contract.

Essendon must be absolutely laughing at this point. Worst case scenario for them is that Davey re-signs with Melbourne on a contract that the Dons have helped pump up well beyond his worth. If they get him, it'll possibly be for pick 10 + manure. If we rate Davey's value as somewhere a little better than pick 10, then if he leaves I'd rather not see us acquire pick 10 + (insert rubbish player's name here). I'd prefer Davey + pick 18 or 34 for pick 10 and a good player who will be a part of the side in the 2013-2016 period. Actually, it doesn't have to unfold like that, as long as we're not adding dud players or late draft picks to make up the difference between Davey and pick 10.

So is the best deal for the Dogs pick 18, or pick 27 and a brown paper bag?

Geelong are going ok if that list represents the talent they have to shed for salary cap purposes. No loss, with the exception of Wocjinski and the retiring Harley.