Lucifers Hero

Just looked at Hind's wiki page. He was drafted by Saints from Ess VFL team so he will probably take their offer unless we have offered overs.

Can't see the attraction. Mature age recruit who has played about 20 game in two years. I would rather Neal Bullen, of whom I am not a fan.

Rapt with that. I really want Oscar to find a new home. He has more to offer.

Can't say I agree. We re-contracted Tom in 2018, his FA year when several clubs were pretty keen on him. So the club had to go some way to meeting the market so I'm not overly critical of the $, especially if it was part of a back-ended deal (not saying it was). What concerned me more was the 4 years (apparently without triggers) knowing that he missed the first part of 2018 after double ankle surgery and had subsequently injured his toe.

Pies have said they won't be 'going down that path' of taking TMac. But they have Cox on the table (Sydney have some interest) so terribly short of tall fwds. They are chasing Gunston but it sounds like it will be hard to pry him out of Hawks. It seems mfc will pay a fair chunk of his salary so wonder when the deadline is close and Pies are short of talls if they will take him.

And Ess has so many trades in train and playing a tough 'poker-face-you-blink-first' game by asking the world on outbound Saad/Fantasia and low balling inbound Wright/Caldwell then refusing to budge. Not to mention they are trying to get Dunkley. It ties up Carlton, Port, GCS, GWS and WBD. Not to mention some small side deals they might have eg Hind at Saints and maybe TMac at mfc. A domino involving Ess needs to fall soon. Of all the teams to be the bottleneck Ess is the worst one to wait on to move.

I'd think all clubs do this to some degree. They know that the TPP has increases built into it. Back loading is the equivalent of investment 'ponzi schemes' (Eventually you can't pay what is outstanding and the whole thing collapses. Works great in growing markets but it can quickly go into reverse). Covid related TPP reductions has brought those plans undone. Collingwood's problems seem linked to the Beam's trade, apparently at Eddie's behest and the arrival of a new List Manager whose experience was as a player manager so may not be too adept at balancing the numbers.

SEN reporting that Ess have made an approach. Reportedly we are prepared to pay more of TMac's salary than GCS are of Wright's. Sam Edmund said the TMac move could just be a ploy to get Wright from GCS on the cheap. Ess had offered GCS a future 4th round pick for Wright so can't imagine we would get much more. But at least we would have the list spot and some sal cap relief. Can't say I trust Ess and they have had plenty of time to make a move so wouldn't get too excited.

I was answering a poster's question as to who we had from SA that Adelaide might be chasing. And as I said I wouldn't want to lose Petty but do we have more than a handful of players who are 'untradeable'? Winning awards, being in contract or in the leadership group is no barrier to being traded: Dunkley (premiership player, VC), Stevenson (won Rising Star), TMcDonald (ex leadership group), Hogan (won rising star) etc etc etc There may be other reasons such players get traded but their achievements aren't a barrier.

fwiw ANB, Petty and Sparrow are all from SA. Wouldn't like to lose Petty for a variety of reasons but none will be the difference of winning a flag in the next few years so all tradeable. If anything comes of a trade with Adelaide hope we drive as hard a deal as they did with Lever.

Can't say BB. All I can say is I wouldn't make it up, not even for a 'rumours' thread. Not my style.

With so many NGA, F/S and Academy players touted to go in the top 20 a lot of mid/high 2nd round picks will be used to match the bids. Every chance that pick #43 will become somewhere around the mid-30's. So a good swap from #53 to #43 shrinking to #35 +/-.

Using Harmes as run-with and drift forward is consistent with Pert's comments that coaches need to maximise the strengths and attributes of our existing players. My translation: stop playing them out of position. I'm not surprised about the culture of 'different rules for 'different players'. I've heard this several times from outside sources in recent years. And it was something fairly obvious to many DL's especially when it came to team selections.

meh...

The gall of Essendon: Maneuvered Brisbane to ensure they got pick #7 for Daniher Are demanding # 8 from Carlton for Saad. Won't give anything back. LOL are furious Carlton want to split 8 for 2 later 1 st. Are demanding a 1st round pick from Port for Fantasia. Good Luck. BUT only prepared to give: a future 4th round pick for Wright. a future 2nd round pick for Caldwell. GWS think he is worth a top 10 pick I know they are ambits but they usually get more than they deserve because clubs can't be bothered haggling over the fringes. Hope Bulldogs take them to the cleaners with a Dunkley deal

We have gone up 10 spots this year and down 20+ spots next year... I'm guessing they want #43 to finish off the Hannan, Preuss or Brown deal. I hope we don't give 43 to Ess for Phillips. They are making crazy demands on clubs while not willing to give anything themselves. One way traffic.

It was good that Pert joined the hub full-time when they went to Queensland. He sat in meetings, went to training etc etc. Very valuable insight into how the off-field work translates (or doesn't) to on-field performance. Pert made some interesting comments (@11.00min) when asked about Goodwin. He said there was a lot of support for him, he was very good 1:1 and a good teacher. He then talked of the need to win finals not how Geelong or Richmond do but by making the most of the strengths and attributes of the players we have. Hudson asked him if this was not already happening. Good question Huddo! Pert didn't directly answer the question but talked about the coaching challenge and focus ahead. It is coaching 101 to have a game plan that suits the talents available not the other way round. It was Roos' mantra from the start of his career. Somewhere along the way, I feel Goodwin lost sight of that. I and others on here have lamented that Goodwin has a game plan he wants to play but doesn't have the players for that style. Having listened to the interview several times I thought Pert was saying the same thing. Pert has set Goodwin the challenge to focus on a game style this preseason, that brings out the best in the players we have and makes the most of their strengths and their attributes. To me that focus appears to be the foundation of our current list management decisions (which is as it should be) and puts Mahoney's comments about using existing players for the wing role into a broader context. I hope that Goodwin rises to the occasion and look forward to what the game plan looks like. And hopefully he settles it and the players into it, in the preseason so that we don't have the major changes during next season. We all saw it this year: 'chaos' then 'control' then 'chaos' again then a mixture. We aren't Geelong and we aren't Richmond so I really like the focus Pert is asking for. How refreshing it would be to have a consistent game plan, consistent team selections and consistent implementation with everyone on the same page.

Tom Morris is reporting he could be at Hawthorn by COB today. Not a surprise as Mahoney sound like we were out of the running. Looking more likely we will go down the 'home-grown' path for our other wingman.

Not gloomy. While our case load has been minuscule in comparison, here in Melbourne we understand some of what you describe with the lockdown conditions. Best wishes to you and yours, bing.

So you want to hang him for poor disposal in a practice match on a windy day when he was just 23 y.o in a team that couldn't defend, contest or attack...ok... I'm not saying his disposal skills were good but they weren't as bad as people make out. And I'm not saying he is a walk up starting 22. But if he is with us he deserves the right and the respect to fight for a spot.

iirc the main reason we moved him fwd was because Hogan and Watts were injured and we had no tall fwds. About the same time Max was injured and Pederson, our back up fwd, was in the ruck. The back half turnovers in 2018/2019 don't rest with Tom as he didn't play in defence. If he stays we will need to make the best of the situation. imv the 3rd tall position is between Smith, TMc Donald and Petty. If Tom earns his spot back I have no problem him playing in defence. Our back 6 is much much stronger now than in 2017 - 2019.

Very sloppy if that is the case.

Richo is shown as 'Director of Coaching' as part of Goodwin's staff. Yet the job description says General Manager of AFL Football Performance in which case Goodwin reports to Richardson who in turn reports to Pert. Confusing...

His past as a defender isn't a good reference point. From 2012 to 2015 our defensive was a sieve and Tom had little support. And he really didn't have much chance to 'learn his craft'. Frawley was there but he lost interest at some point and then left. 2016 our defence tightened a bit. 2017 we experimented with a high zone and the ball sailed over everyone's head. He was then needed on the fwd line where he stayed. Our defence personnel and strategy is vastly different now. So imv we could only judge how Tom would fare their if he had the chance to do so. Let me say though that I prefer Tom goes because it will be best for all. But some perspective is useful rather than righting him off. Nor should we expect him to restructure his package. It isn't his fault the club offered the contract they did or if they didn't structure it to manage the risks at the back end.

The pressure will be on. The Age is reporting it is a one year deal with triggers for a second. Not an ideal situation in which to turn around form and reputation. Hope he can do it, not just for his career but for him and his well being.