Diamond_Jim

As an aside Oscar McDonald went to St Pats Ballarat and got a perfect VCE score. Seems like he was a whiz at maths http://www.mailtimes.com.au/story/1556848/wimmera-students-rewarded-for-vce-scores/ Hope he is finding time for some serious Uni study

And that is probably why Adelaide want to offload him. At that price he needs to be in the top 5-10 midfielders in the game. Memories of MFC and Woewodin spring to mind. Seriously if he is on that kind of money there has to something going on at Port which begs the question .... could it be that they have already committed to pay more to one of their stars... who knows ..... but interesting

That was due to all the finals being one state one game finals and included a derby in Sydney and two Victorian teams at the MCG. It was always going to be a record

Two players who would have gone top 5 in the same period while the Swans were top 4. By the way the Swans still have father son access from the South Melbourne days as do Brisbane with Fitzroy (so they do not suffer there.) Sorry that is a huge leg up in the scheme of things. (albeit small in comparison to what GWS and GCS were gifted.)

and we beat Hawthorn.... but it doesn't fill me with hope after losing to ..... you know who they all were !!

A question for KC or any other close to Casey please. Does the MFC have any input into who Casey selects to make up its the Casey list of players? Although Casey listed players are able to be drafted by any club it seems to me a possible way of grooming some late developers to play the kind of football the MFC is implementing. Appreciate there are rookie spots and the like already there but this may offer just another (albeit) small advantage.

ANB couldn't hold in his place in an underperforming midfield. Trengrove might come good. Bugg .... who knows. Lumumba ?? Is that enough spots?

52 years without a flag including stints of 23 years and 10 years between a finals appearance will do that to you.

I thought he played okay but he didn't set the world alight. That said I think he has something to offer. Left field idea... why not take both Dal Santo and Harvey on 1+1 deals ........ we are so bereft of senior talent that they cannot help but balance the list. You could even manage the two of them game number wise to maximise their combined input. To those who say they are list cloggers..... I cannot see who they are keeping out and it is only for one possibly two years. We need to do something to get us out of the clubs around 6-12.

Just following up on Dante's post. With the mini draft GWS had four top picks of 17 year olds which they were required to trade for players/picks from other clubs. All were traded for picks. So while some say we got Hogan from this process .... yes we did but equally GWS got yet another top ten pick. So GWS continued to benefit. The reality is that those who designed the system did not envisage how it could be manipulated to form the "monolith" it is increasingly becoming. Let's say Shaw retires.... all GWS have to do is look at the top five or so teams and say here is a high first round draft pick for a 28-29 year old player. Which one of your top five would say no. Same goes even more for the lower ranked clubs who are looking to "rebuild".

No thank you still a project player...... hope he stands the game on its head but we need a little more certainty at this stage. On that note what did you all think of the Kangaroos departing Fab Four ? I still like Harvey followed by Dal Santo... and Thompson (yes I know he is a Crow) was no slouch

Had trouble finding the quote but very similar was forthcoming from a sermon given before the Duke of Marlborough https://books.google.com.my/books?id=XQ43AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA33&lpg=PA33&dq=May+the+pox+descend+upon+them&source=bl&ots=ZMRgiMgSKw&sig=QOBS2P0B6tII7e-JCHPEd5B5BtE&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=May the pox descend upon them&f=false From what I can gather from the surrounding text it was a wish that the pox would fall on the wealthy so that they would give a little more. Quite apposite in the case of GWS..... may a pox be on both their houses !!

You have to admire North. They have survived when many other clubs facing similar challenges including I hate to say the MFC may have folded. (For that reason I have been jealous of them.) I just sense however that ... 4 in one go....may be a bridge too far Good Luck Roos

two of his marks were from kicks that fell short.... i got the impression it was luck rather than good judgement from the TV. Would love him to take a game apart.

I like that..... I can remember pinching my brother's suit... if we both wanted to go out to the dance together ..there was trouble Yes to you younger ones.. you had to wear a suit to get into the Crock and the Berg !!

Early days admittedly but looking like a regulation win to the Crows. Crows v Swans might be interesting next week

You are so right. The AFL thought that the draft picks would be traded for players and that is what Gold Coast did and thus the GC early picks were spread around. GWS instead used a combination of exercising the picks and trading their picks for future picks. Their NQR players such as Tyson they then traded on for even more picks. Finally as their youngsters got into their third and fourth seasons they topped up with a few veterans of quality (NB none in the super star category). I think the average AFL supporter will put up with one GWS premiership but if they dominate watch the big boys cry. Of course all of the post VFL clubs have won one or more flags (except for Freo who has got close and Gold Coast) but in most cases we could accept it because to some degree those clubs had put in the hard yards. Not so with GWS. The article also talks about the fact that they have almost an extra $2million a year in salary cap concessions until 2019 !!

It is worth remembering that in 2015 draft (four years after their debut) GWS still had three picks in the top 18 (the first round). Only one of them (Jacob Hopper) played today. To make it worse here is an article from a few years back which reports they entered their second year with 25 first round draft picks on their team. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/rivals-tip-juggernaut-as-greater-western-sydney-amasses-top-draft-picks/story-fnejogoj-1226492961889 And of course as a result of the Treloar trade they now have a pick in this years draft at pick 7 along with their own. I am sure someone will do the math but I can count 30 first round picks without even trying !!!!

As an aside do you remember the game at the MCG against GWS where they had the rent a cheer squad of the five or six people dressed as orange bananas. It was hilarious until we got thrashed by them that day giving the GWS their first win at the MCG and the bananas lots to cheer about.

Just thought I might bump this up. Frankly I did not give them much chance this year but after the way they put the Swans away (31 scoring shots to 20 so it should have been worse than the 36 point thrashing) who knows

Could be the first interstate final where the home crowd is outnumbered by the interstate visitors. I'm sure the doggies supporters would travel up.... perhaps less sure about the Hawthorn supporters

In the context of three years the irony is that they can stay around on lower salaries , rack up a premiership medal and then still have 3-5 years at another club on top dollar. Or GWS can do another Treloar... trade one or two for another pick in the top 5.

And to think.... GWS will improve over the next 3-5 years !!

Sydney V GWS Hard to see this game with the stadium half in sun and shade. When in the sun the colours are hard to pick ..... the AFL need to have a think about their product !!

Only saw Tom Mc Namara after I posted the link. At pick 66 I am prepared to forgive the selectors for that one ! Tom McNamara (born 29 April 1990) is an Australian rules footballer who played in the Australian Football League (AFL). Taken at pick number 66 by the Melbourne Demons in the 2007 AFL National Draft, McNamara plays as a tall defender. He was recruited from South Adelaide, and was an AIS/AFL Academy graduate. He was the youngest player selected in the draft.[1] McNamara made his debut in 2009 and played three games for the season, but at the end of the following season, having failed to play a game in 2010, McNamara was delisted by Melbourne. He was, however, subsequently redrafted by the Demons in the Rookie Draft, only months later.[2] McNamara played only one senior match in 2011 and was again delisted at season's end. Just had a look at 2008.... at least with Watts at 1 and Jetta at 51, we got two out of 5 which is probably a pass in the world of drafting. Not sure what mark I would give 2009..... Scully, Trengrove etc but it does have Gawn at 34 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_AFL_draft#2009_national_draft