Diamond_Jim

The Perth trip does require a little planning so I don't think it's inappropriate to discuss the logistics now. On form we should dispose of the Hawks but we all have a healthy dose of MFCSS which ties us very securely to mother earth. And of course we could not play as badly as round 4 which really was a disgrace.

Assuming a win on Friday night... (fingers crossed) it will be a marvellous day down at Port Melbourne on Saturday. Burra Burgers and 19 degrees .. what more can one ask for !!

yep it's a question of degree... what if a club makes a wild ball offer for Hogan just like the Dogs did for Boyd say. Match it and then lose who in the years to come along with the acrimony that comes with a wage that is way out of kilter. The giving club doesn't get to match and force a trade. It gets the option to match and see if it can get a trade at that price. You can be assured that the paying club will not trade at that price because the absence of a need to trade has been built into the original offered price. The smart thing is to sign him up now or trade him. Gaff is a perfect example of how a club loses out even if the departing player is an RFA let alone an FA.

Starting to see a glimmer of hope as the road moves from a sheep path to a reasonably defined four wheel drive rut. Go Dees

Should not be overly difficult getting tickets for next week... but a Collingwood v Melbourne preliminary (if it happens) may be a harder task. Should we end up against WCE in a prelim in Perth I have no idea. As an aside have Collingwood done anything special (viewing wise) for their Melbourne fans tonight

Wonderful night.... so proud

yep.. apparently played 6 games for the Casey senior squad and was then delisted at the end of the 2011 season after only one season. Went to Ohio State for 4 years and now playing for one of the top NFL teams. Great story

Former Aussie Rules player Cam Johnston has left fans in awe with an incredible performance on debut for the Philadelphia Eagles. Johnston, who grew up playing Aussie rules and was drafted by the Melbourne Demons in 2011, is battle-hardened for the pressure of the NFL after spending four years punting for Ohio State University in front of home crowds of more than 100,000. https://au.sports.yahoo.com/bazooka-leg-aussie-stuns-america-nfl-debut-042649020.html

not at all unlikely and remember the recipient club needs a lot of salary cap space. I suspect the top clubs are very good at keeping the salaries paid to their bottom 30 players well under control on the basis that they are given a chance to be in a successful club. The simple lesson from all this is that GCS should have traded Lynch last year. They would have got a player and a very good draft pick. That's the lesson we need to appreciate re Hogan albeit he is a restricted free agent. ( The compo will be paltry under the free agency system.)

it's time

in his defence... I did have a look and when you go into the details of what is available GA it says "single seats only." Dod you find more? Mind you AFL members is still showing reasonable availability with an option to purchase two guest passes for level 4 and GA on the night. You would think it would be easy to come out with a simple statement from the AFL updated say twice daily.

Fascinating little exercise The computer result is encouraging http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-04/test-your-afl-finals-predictions-against-modelling/10195136

Little doubt that they will flood our forwardline and rely upon their midfield to cut us up on the rebound. We can either apply forward pressure and maintain ball control or relax the press a little. What we cannot do is bomb the ball to the 30 metre mark and then watch it come sailing back over the defensive press thus putting the likes of Hawkins etc one on one. The problem with our game plan is that it only takes two 15 minute bursts the other way to undo all our good forward work. And of course we need to kick reasonably straight on goals..2 goals 6 and the like for a quarter will kill us. PS: Against WCE our midfielders got caught a few times disposing the ball into the 50 as they were lowering their eyes. Didn't mind this at all because it gave us a chance to reset downfield from the resultant free kick rather than bomb inside the forward 50 and watch the ball come out in an uncontrolled manner. Not sure I put much weight on the GWS game as other than controlled ball movement in the first 15 minutes GWS were not on their game. (Lovely to see the win though.)

The next two games will be Friday and Saturday nights for TV purposes. We have to be playing in Melbourne so I assume it will be Friday against Hawks or Richmond. The other game will be in Melbourne ... Collingwood v (a Sydney based team) or in Perth .. WCE v (a Sydney based team)... as they all play on Saturday this week and particularly because travel is required they will get a Saturday night or if in Perth .. very late afternoon (6pm approx) game

still showing guest passes and general admission available for AFL members as well as reserved seats https://membership.afl.com.au/week-1-qualifying-elimination-final

Agree... looking back to '88 and 2000 those were years in which a number of players had stand out seasons. This group on the other hand are in the main performing to their expected ability. Of course to win one let alone a couple of flags requires Lady Luck to favour us just a little. Happy Fathers Day

The Pies are ripe for the plucking my friend... believe

win on Friday and barrack like hell for Collingwood on the Saturday ... sounds like a plan. Funnily enough I fear Geelong most (MFCSS perhaps) but get past them and who knows. Trust that the coaching brains trust have it worked out as I'm sure the Geelong coaches will have a plan for Oliver and Gawn.

he's now 27 and came across in 2014 ... played for them since 2015. When did he click .. played 11 games in 2016 and 9 in 2017. His career high game is .. wait for it...... against Melbourne in 2018 with 5 goals

actually that can mean less attendances... for example Brisbane and WCE are allocated a number of series tickets which includes the GF. Often these tickets are not used for the lead up games. They should be available for sale on the secondary sites if you hunt around. Traditionally the series ticket game has been the bigger game but the AFL worked out that it can probably get more money by making the less popular game the series game. They would say that it allows more of the participating clubs' fans to attend but my cynical nature says otherwise.

So time is quickly running out for O mac to sign... interesting

Out of curiosity when do the players come out of contract date wise .. is it before or after the trade period Thanks

most would say that two early first rounders would be fair for Hogan so you are valuing Neale at one first rounder. Might be a little low but worth arguing.

Out of interest would a trade of Hogan for Lachie Neale be a fair swap or would we need more?

yeah ... you have to match the dollars.. what makes you think we can match the dollars that a desperate club will throw at him. Freo has way more free salary cap than we have as do many other clubs. We will be in the same position as WCE are with Gaff. Sure they could have matched the Dee's salary offer but no way can they match the North salary offer. That's why WCE are murmuring trade in the sense they want to scare off all the other clubs bar North and make it that much harder (successful v unsuccessful club etc) for Gaff to leave. RFA shifts the balance dramatically in favour of the player. Of course the manager says he'll stay.... his pay day is next year not this year. Our bargaining year is now. Why not sign him up now if he is so certain to stay ?