Diamond_Jim

LH well argued but I would be concerned that your plan renders the coach too powerful. In fact the coach is already too powerful by virtue of contracts and pay levels (see Goodwin). I see the Football GM as a manager responsible for the medium to long term on field success of the club. It is the job of that person to put in place all the necessary systems to support on field success in the medium as well as the short term. Coaches are more concerned with short term success. Goodwin in 2021 is a perfect example. The dynamic between the GM and the coach is one area I think is evolving. I am not sure where the balance should be. Interesting debate to have and I would be glad to hear how this dynamic is managed in other professional sports starting with NRL and then looking overseas.

why would it be any better? Serious question 2020 we had no injuries and we had several wins under 10 points against lesser clubs. Not once did we beat a club that was better than us at the time except St Kilda and that was by a point. Membership drops by the biggest margin of any club. Chairman tells the players they are soft and the list goes on. We have a non performing forward who is in our top five paid players (T Mac), we have sold the farm for an ok at best backman (Lever) and we've thrown money at a journeyman such as Tomlinson. Sure we might luck a turn around but objectively the prognosis is not great with the present coach and gameplan.

I suggest a set of wireless earbuds programmed with every distractive noise you can think of. The aim is to completely zone out everything and kick. Can't do much harm. Plus study every ground and work out how far you can lead to the pocket before substantially reducing your accuracy. Let's face it he only needs to turn one of those behinds each week into a goal and he's a top ten goalkicker. Pity he can't practice at the MCG but we just have to be smarter with some of our training

When are clubs going to be forced to get a real alternative strip !! https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/cats-leave-jumper-clash-in-afl-s-court-20201004-p561wc.html Geelong has placed the ball squarely in the AFL's court over the prospect of a Cats-Collingwood final being marred by a uniform clash for the second straight year.

Excellent news....now for Luke J

Agree Saints remind me of the 1987/88 demons. Some very good players and lots of solid contributors many of them journeymen. Thinking back our bottom 6 in '87 were probably pretty solid.

Jealous is an understatement. A question for the experts...did the King twins play in the same under age sides as they grew up? Must have been interesting to see which one played full forward.

It's tough but no more travel. They now move to Brisbane and will stay there.

Waking up to the cold realisation that Pies could win the flag. Geelong... 50/50 Brisbane...why not Port or Richmond (slight underdogs) Pies were fortunate with their accuracy last night but there were few players who had a quiet night. Grundy, Pendlebury and De Goey.

Red Cordial comes to mind

Hipwood 92 games Weideman 44 games Weideman was better in 2020 but he needs to get a wriggle on.

From the Age.... Two regional Victorians who tried to enter Melbourne to go to a strip club which was not open have been fined by police. The men were stopped and fined at a checkpoint in the Macedon Ranges, after they entered a “Stage 4 restricted area to ‘attend a strip club’ only to arrive in Melbourne and realise no such premises were open”, a Victoria Police spokesman said. ?

Saints v Dogs The two teams most would pick as the weakest in the 8. (Perhaps Pies would give them a run). What luck to play each other. Dogs for mine by around 12 points with lots of behinds kicked by both teams

Cannot understand the excitement here. Have a read of Older Demons excellent post which explains that this is mainly about cutting 3 odd million from the coaching and support staff budget. It could have the consequence of causing a bit of a merry go round which could bring Yze to us but that would not be its main aim.

spin it Gil Outside the shopping mall-sized food, gaming and football facility of the Southport Sharks, Queensland's strongest local Australian rules football club, three teenage boys and a girl, dressed casually in Queensland-style with shorts and T-shirts, were unaware that the AFL had relocated to their corner of the country. "No, we don't know anything about it," said the girl. https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/does-queensland-care-about-the-afl-finals-20201002-p561cx.html reminds me of when I asked a group of young NT football players about what they thought of the MFC in NT. Who... they replied !!

Add Port in there as well. It's time for a change !!

He's been a non contributor for 2 seasons. You have a lot more faith than I do. TBH I doubt there's a place for him beyond next year if Luke J develops as we hope.

Maybe some other would take him at $300k in the hope of salvage but unfortunately I think we're stuck with him. If Viney gets 5 years........ grrrrrrrrrrr

If he was out of contract we all know what the answer would be. How to salvage value is the conundrum. My gut says trade with an offer to pay half salary and hope we can get a second rounder in return.

The first week of finals is probably my favourite week. Four quality games is just about perfect for the armchair fan especially when they are played in different States under different conditions.

Port supporters can sometimes be akin to Pies supporters on steroids. Hawkins was Fritsched....forced to lead deep into the pockets. Other than the easy one he missed the others were hard shots. Stanley and KJ missed easy ones as well Motlop !!

The suggestion is a playing coach type role. Sounds like a contrived attempt to get him to 300. In normal circumstances I can see the emotional merit but unfortunately not now.

Four(?) years for Jack and another year for Jones.... I suppose it makes sense but I think both are a year too long. When list sizes are reduced and salary caps are tight few players if any IMO should get more than three years

Interesting if there is a 3 year clause given that the money in Europe if someone offered him a deal would be much higher. FWIW I suspect anyone if they wanted to could have walked away from an AFL contract in 2020 as the requirement to work in an interstate hub was outside the terms of the contract. For 2021 it could be different. Of course contracts for personal services are rarely enforced other than toplace the departee on gardening leave. That might not be good for MFC as we could have to pay both him and his replacement. Might be able to sue the Crows for inducing a breach of contract but who knows. The recent situation with Messi and Barcelona is fascinating.

Lists reducing...salary caps dropping and we're offering an aged Hawthorn player 2-3 years Please tell me no