Lucifers Hero

Too suspenseful...any chance of progress scores after each round, please?

I didn't realise she has played 302 games of football! In fact I had no idea there was a raft of leagues for women's football. This is an extract of her achievements from a release on mfc website, when she was appointed: Lee has been a longstanding figure in women’s football, both on and off the field. She played 302 games in the Victorian Women’s Football League (VWFL), founded women’s football club VU Western Spurs (formerly Sunshine YCW Spurs/St Albans Spurs) and was VWFL president from 2004 until 2012. Lee actively pushed for AFL Women’s Exhibition Games at the Melbourne Football Club and has driven the club’s women’s football program since 2013. This year, she was included in the AFL Women’s Football Advisory Group, which makes recommendations for the inaugural National Women’s League. The standing ovation is richly deserved.

You were too quick for me MW...was editing it and the spelling probably as you were writing your post. Thanks.

Not surprisingly, Jayden has won the Best Young Player award at the B&F. Its awesome to think what he will be like next year and beyond

At the B&F Bartlett has announced that this sponsorship has been extended Assume details will be announced later. Great news and another step on off-field stability!

If anyone is going to the B&F tonight could you give an occasional update, please. Edit: There will be live twitter updates on the mfc website

On FC last night Caro said the AFL will definitely sanction Whitfield et al but not sure which of 1, 2, 3, you mention will be the 'charge'. Cynical me thinks the AFL will wait till after the finals to announce sanctions - can't deny the kid playing finals, can they???. An announcement on the Sunday before Melbourne Cup should be a suitable day when no one will notice.

I don't really want to buy into the broader issues around EFC deserving pick1/Lions pp but I would like to clarify those two comments. 1. Recently the AFL changed the 'Delisted FA' rule interpretation for EFC to contract top-up players 'free' outside the draft so other clubs cannot draft them and EFC do not have to use any draft picks. Recent suggestions are they will sign 2 to 4 of those players. That one irks a lot of people on here because EFC and the AFL dug their heels in to stop Hibberd coming to us as a 'Delisted FA' forcing a trade yet get 'free kicks' going the other way. 2. In the 2014 draft they did lose rnd 1 and rnd 2 picks but they got an 'end of rnd 1 pick' in return. Still a penalty but not as severe as it looks at first glance. The AFL deemed EFC would get the #1 pick in 2016 if they finish last, so EFC have nicely tanked a few games to make sure that happens. EFC have proudly proclaimed they will play finals in 2017. Also, the AFL has made it easy for EFC to recover their $2m fines by giving them preferential fixtures in terms of family friendly time slots (ie gate revenues), MCG home games vs bigger teams (more gate revenue), prime FTA times (keep sponsors happy and committed) etc. So considering all those AFL maneuverings, one could form a view that the 2013/2014 draft sanctions and the fines have all but been offset.

Not yet. He had surgery last week which suggests he will get a contract so I removed him from the 2016 OOC players in post #38.

I found this from the drafting guru extraordinaire, Emma Quayle: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/afl-clubs-to-get-free-shot-at-multicultural-and-indigenous-rookies-after-this-years-draft-20160727-gqexp2.html Summary: For 2017: "Clubs will be able to add players straight to their list as a category B rookie if they go undrafted, provided they have not already filled their quota of three". ie if another club does not draft the nominated player in either the national and rookie drafts. We have 2 category B rookies. If we get Allsop that will fill our quota of 3 (unless we delist Smith and then have 2 rookie B spots). From 2018, " clubs will need to nominate and bid for their players on draft night using the bidding system that applies to father-son prospects and those from the four northern academies." This means we will be using 'draft points' in 2018 to get the nominated player. So in 2017 the player is a 'freebie' if he is not selected by another club first in one of the drafts. Our zone is South-east Melbourne (Dandenong Stingrays), Alice Springs (NT) Back to young Allsop. Given that Clarrie Choo Choo shot up the drafting ranks last year when he won the Moorish Medal there is every chance that Allsop, being equal 2nd this year, will not get thru to us. If we really want him we can take him with one of our draft picks and add him to the main list.

Jakovich pulls no punches in a scathing attack on Chris Connolly (for criticising the non selection of Lachie Neale) http://www.theage.com.au/afl/west-coast-eagles/eagles-legend-glen-jakovich-hits-out-in-scathing-attack-on-chris-connolly-20160905-gr8wj7.html "That's his opinion, but look, he's a guy that's come from a club where he played and didn't win a lot of games, so he was always involved in a losing culture…He came to Fremantle... then he went back to where it all started. Went to a club and was part of a football department that actually created a losing culture. They actually started throwing games. And what was that called? Tanking. And they got fined from the AFL…And he wants to tell me how to pick an elite team, and he's been involved in tanking and crap clubs all his life? He wouldn't even know how to spell elite." Nasty. Not very becoming of Jakovich. The personal attack on CC aside, I was quite sad to read that as it reminded me of the worst times as a supporter. We will never be allowed to forget the 'non-tanking' era and all those at the club will be tainted by it even tho we were the 'fall-guy'.

Quite telling - a table from the Rich Board challengers on botched recruiting: On the bench are: Heppell, T. Mitchell, Ziebell, J. Lewis. Emergencies: Gunston, Monfries, Shiels. Dr Hiscock: "Why did the club even contemplate a road to nowhere recruiting strategy?" I guess that is easy to say with hindsight but it is hard to understand how they missed all those players. Woeful recruiting!!! Maybe Neil Balme can bring Derek Hine with him from the Pies.

Nev is the quintessential quiet achiever on and off the field. The last thing he would expect is awards for his community work. Nev won the club 'Ambassador Award' for his community work last year so he would be short odds to win it again tomorrow night. I reckon he will be very proud to be nominated for the Stynes award given the connection with the club and the great community work example that Jimmy set. Well done for the nomination.

Abe, seriously? For someone they are keen to off load because they have given his sal cap to other players? So you really think we need to give up our 3rd round pick as well to get back their crappy 4th rnd pick? Surely they have no leverage here and if we do that deal we are bending over.

Not sure. I guess if count training, game plan, skills, fitness, recovery etc etc its hard to see how the AFL comply with minimum wage if its a 22 week preseason plus 8 week playing season and $5000 is reduced by Superannuation and Medical insurance. It all adds up to a pittance for the Woman's League players especially when one considers the millions and millions sunk into the GWS and GCS start up. Not sure how development in Western Sydney and Gold Coast differs to development of the Women's League. Second class citizens comes to mind. Just doesn't seem right nor fair.

This made me wonder - presumably the AFL need to abide the 'minimum wage' laws of our country. Hard to see how the $5,000 less costs fulfills these laws.

It is actually worse than that: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/swoop/afl-players-association-rejects-female-pay-proposal-for-new-comp/news-story/006b11c2f8ad1869b47b8b16111c5063 Summary: Players would sign a 22-week contract with pre-season starting in November and the eight-week season kicking off in February. The figures include superannuation payments. So the $5000 comes down by that amount. (9.5%??) Players would have to pay for their own health insurance under the proposal. So the $5000 comes down further by that amount. The AFL’s male players have a “tools of trade” condition in their contracts which requires their club to provide them with three pairs of boots and two pairs of runners...The AFL is yet to commit to this provision in the female contracts. So the $5000 may come down further still. So by rough calcs most of the players (a few marquis and priority players will get more) will get around $3500 for 30 weeks work. Many will end their careers paupers and some with debilitating injuries. They will be playing in the heat of summer with 16 a side and I actually worry if that is sustainable. Hardly sounds an attractive career McLaughlin has defended it, thus: “We’re investing in coaches, conditioning, facilities and starting the league from scratch,” McLachlan said. “The will build from many millions in year one and will be tens of millions of dollars over the next five years.” He said women could command fulltime salaries for playing and related football employment in three to five years. It is beyond me why he expects players, who deliver the entertainment, to wear the cost of starting the league by accepting low pay. And, for Gil to argue about future employment opportunities is a joke as that will only be available to a small proportion of the players who make a name for themselves while playing. The AFLPA has taken up the cause and for once I applaud them for (hopefully) taking a stand.

Crikey, it would be a bit rough to ditch Spencer! As a 2016 FA he could have gone to a club of his choice but re-signed for 2017. Great loyalty without much chance of AFL game time. A good article on ruckmen: http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-07-15/rival-clubs-circling-big-swan-toby-nankervis Nankervis seems to be at the top of everyone's wish list. Longmire's comments are interesting: "I don't think you can have too many ruckmen on your list. It's such a tough job to do throughout the course of the season and you need to have a few...It's proven year after year that you need to have a number of ruckmen that can play senior footy and a couple developing in your reserves..." That suggests 4 ruckman on the list. We are a long, long way short of that. We have Gawn, Spencer, Mitch King (a 19yo with ACL injury and no bulk), and Max King (who can't make it into the Casey team). So we really only have 2 ruckman for the next 2 or 3 years at least. And Spencer may go next year as an FA. Leaving us with 1 AFL ruckman and 1 Reserves ruckman going into 2018. So, I do not think it is Spencer or another recruit. I think it is Spencer and another.

Sorry DH but I just couldn't take that article seriously: No author. Website has no 'Contact Us' info (that I could find). It all looks dodgy to me. The Hogan/Fyfe stuff is just rubbish: 'FOMO' - dead giveaway that it is rubbish.

I was wondering the same thing...Well done for starting thread.

Complements to the commentators on Casey radio. Was very impressed they knew all the player names of both teams. Called the game without the histrionics of most AFL commentators. Also enjoyed their friendly banter about Terlich.

Not sure if you were looking for a response...my thoughts are that Max K seems unable to cement a spot at Casey so is in the Development League a lot. Has been a rookie for a couple of years now so wonder if he will be kept on. Mitch K has an ACL injury and is only 19 with no bulk on him so is a few years away from making the AFL side. Which leaves us only with Spencer who is out of contract next year as an FA. He was an FA this year and signed up for one year which I think was terrific of him knowing he would only get a game if Gawn was injured. So I would put another ruckman very high on our list of priorities, preferably someone who is in their early to mid 20's that can also play forward.

Lots of us! And, all the players who are unlikely or are 50/50 to be re-contracted by MFC, would be keen to impress our coaches and other club recruiters to get a chance at a contract elsewhere.

I think this is why... "In 2013, they traded away their first round pick to secure Jared Polec. In 2014 they spent both their first and second round picks on Paddy Ryder. In 2015, they spent their first rounder and their 2016 second rounder on Charlie Dixon, and shuffled down their 2015 second round pick to get Jimmy Toumpas". http://www.theroar.com.au/2016/09/02/afl-trade-rumours-port-give-hamish-hartlett-a-push/ So no rnd 1 pick over 3 years and only 2, 2nd rnd picks over 4 years. So, little highly rated young blood coming in. Looks a combination of the Lyon/Hardwick model of trading in players when in the 'premiership window', except they misjudged their list and where they are re premiership. I am just so glad we were 'forced' to the draft - I say 'forced' because we were not able to trade in an A-grader we had to take our picks to the draft.