pantaloons

Hyde, It's Thorp's assumed value that's at question here. Green can safely be put in the pick 15-20 bracket. Thorp? I couldn't spot him out of a line-up. I assume you watch the Box Hill Hawks most weeks? Most of us here are just making assumptions about him. With only 1 game in 2 years as a sample, he could turn out to be Riewoldt or Molan. If he's going to be the sort of player Hawthorn think he is then I doubt he'd be traded at all. He is however biding his time in the VFL while opportunities exist elsewhere.

Yep, but a club spending pick 1 on a player who won't sign just to spite him? A lose-lose.

Welcome to Demonland, Dermie.

Green for Thorp straight up? Hawthorn know what they will be getting with Green. 20+ possessions, a nice left foot, pretty courageous, can kick goals. He can fill Crawford's spot for the next 3-4 years and help Hawthorn immediately. Hawthorn still have a number of kids in the queue who can't get a game. My main question is, how good will Thorp be? Is he likely to be a gun key forward, or another James Cook or Brent Williams? I really haven't seen any of Thorp at work, but I understand he was a high draft pick only a couple of years ago.

No worries, Beetle. You can keep that image to yourself though!!

You can't do that, Beetle. Once he goes into the PSD, he nominates his price.

Keep the info/rumours coming, Nudge. Great stuff. Some of your finest work since 'Hey Dad'. As for some of the murmurings in this thread, any talk of Farren Ray alarms me. We're trying to rid ourselves of hacks and get into the market for picks, not do the opposite. If Mitch Thorp's unavailable, then I'd be wanting Hawthorn's 16. Boyle's body is a timebomb.

Any club can bid on a father son player. In Ayce (incidentally, why condemn a newborn to a lifetime of boganity with that name?) Cordy's case, St. Kilda bid with their first round selection, which meant that the Dogs had to use their next lowest pick on him to trump St. Kilda.

As much as we'd love to have a club champion back in the fold, we don't have the money to be splashing around on assistant coaches. I doubt he'd be on peanuts at Adelaide.

Quick! Where do we sign?

From today's Hun: http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl...9-19742,00.html This was interesting: One scenario would have the Eagles allowing Seaby to go to the Demons, with an agreement that West Australian star Nicholas Naitanui would be left for West Coast to snap up with pick No. 2. So Seaby for pick 67, and an assurance that the Demons will "pass" on Naitanui. If we're happy to have Seaby on the list, then you're not going to get a better deal than that.

Congrats to Bruce. I had Green winning by 1 vote over Bruce, so the result doesn't surprise me. Nor does the mindless attack on Bruce here. Is it really such a crime for Bruce to have won the Bluey? He's been a very good player for the club over 9 seasons. Aside from Green, or McLean (who played half a season), who would we rather have won it? Puul Wheatley? He wouldn't get a spot on the lists of most AFL clubs (but should have finished higher, incidentally). No one else was anywhere near it. If you want farcical, look at Clint Bartram's placing, or that somehow Michael Newton picked up 4 votes.

Whatever happens, this won't have any bearing on the MFC. By trading Steven King, Geelong was able to get rid of a contracted player that they wanted off the books, without delisting him. The fact that they got a pick they were never going to use was inconsequential, as they wanted the cap relief. We're in a situation where even if half the ruckmen in the comp suddenly came down with rabies and Jeff White was thrust into high demand, we're not going to gain a pick we'll actually use. If they were contracted, you'd take whatever pick you could get for them.

Sorry to nitpick, but a safety is not a desired result. If you concede a safety, you not only cough up two points, but you lose possession as well, as you have to kick the ball back to the opposition after the restart.

If Melbourne is looking to trade a valued pick in 19 for Armitage, I assume they'll restructure his contract. With Armitage being a Queensland boy, you wouldn't want him to walk to GC17 after giving up a good pick for him.

I can't see the problem at all with rushing so many behinds. It's very old-school of the media to pick on a new tactic they deem uncouth. Rushing behinds allows the defensive team to escape a situation they fell could lead to an oposition goal, but at the same tiem gifts their opponents a point. Had Geelong stormed back to win the game, Hawthorn supporters might be looking back on those rushed behinds differently, but with a 4+ goal lead, rushing behinds was the method Hawthorn believed would not give Geelong a sniff in each of those situations. Look at other sports. Teams are not simply willing to allow their opponents back into a contest in order to continue to play an aesthetically pleasing brand. Taking a knee at the end of American football games, dribbling down the clock in basketball, Iran-style injury faking and tonking the ball the length of the pitch in soccer, cricket sides (including and often led by, Australisa) bowling short for long periods of time to stymie batting sides' scoring, he list goes on. Boo hoo. If Geelong didn't like the tactics so much, then they should have changed their setup for the Hawthorn kickouts. Or better still, not completely choked on the big stage. Adding 3 points for a rushed behind is near sacreligious. We don't need another slot in the scoreboard. It's a fundamental change to teh game we can thoroughly do without.

Given that Kerr is contracted and that the Eagles were bent over royally by Carlton last year, I doubt they'll be willing to do the Blues any favours this time around.

Any one of 38 players in Travis Varcoe's position. Would have become the next Clay Sampson had they won yesterday.

For those who are interested in trudging down memory lane for a painful two hours, the 2000 Grand Final is being shown on Foxtel's footy marathon at 11.30 tonight on Channel 501. I haven't seen it since that dreadful day, but I'll record it tonight and have a look for the first time in eight years. I'm sure for an instant that part of me will wonder if we can win the replay. While the day still conjures up sorry memories, the 2000 Grand Final was the closest we've come to winning a flag in my lifetime, even if it wasn't our best chance, and I'll be keen to see the side run out there.

That may be so, Nudge, but we use those excuses on our own 2003 draftees. We don't need another.

I'm barracking for a good game. This has been the worst finals series since 1969. If the Grand Final is a thrashing, the 2008 finals series could well go down as the worst finals series of all time.

We already have Simon Buckley to fill the role of lightning quick, unskilled, bewildered footballer. Off to Freo with him.

How does this make the team better? We finished dead last, and we've got threads here about trading away our two best players for magic beans. Sure, everyone can be traded, but if we don't get the trading right now and get bent over completely, you might as well shut the club down.

I think you need to drink more milk.

That's it, Addam. They've both kicked 5 goals in a Grand Final.