Ted Lasso

The situation isn't anything like Howe last year, Jesse has been in talks for a while now and to the point numbers and years are a part of it, he's been shown a vision of the future, i am firmly of the belief, Jesse has an offer on the table and he and his manager simply want to see improvement before he signs away the next 5-7 years of his career, which is absolutely fair enough just watch him train and you'll see he's totally invested in the club, he wants to be part of it. Putting talks on hold is simply to quiet the speculation of Jesse signing in the very near future so he can make a calm and calculated decision in his own time, but i have no doubt he will sign on.

No they didn't, at all.. O'Rourke was expected to go to Richmond at around pick 9 and Plowman no early then six but potentially outside the top 10, they simply wanted to keep mates together to avoid the go home factor Imagine if they had Whitfield, Wines and Stringer with those three picks now.

I reckon Jake's ban is going to push Salem's move to the midfield back an extra year.

The Giants recruiting imo has been every bit as bad as MFC or Carlton, SOS is talked about as some recruiting genius but if you look over the players he has picked, a lot haven't come on at all or have been traded and the % of successful choices for top 20 selections is so low it's scary. Especially when you consider a lot of those picks like Boyd and Whitfield were seen as obvious choices, so basically all others have failed

Anyone else see a bit of Chris Judd in the way Oliver plays? strong at the contest but that bit of explosive pace as well

LH, i reckon it'll be three years, sounds like Jesse's manager is very conscious of salaries going up and the demand for his client and doesn't want him to miss the boat on more money if he can help it It's disgusting how desperate reporters seem to be for him to leave, but unfortunately for them i think all roads lead to the top for us. Have a dockers supporting mate who even said they don't think Jesse will be leaving Melbourne any time soon, Dockers are far more concerned with luring Macarthey and Hooker at the end of this year

His manager has also stated, multiple times that if Jesse were to be delisted, he'd stay in Melbourne. and Jesse is an extremely loyal dude who fully understands the investement and faith the club has shown him only small thing I have heard that worries me is that the extension might not be for as long as some are hoping.

Woa...

I really think he is just not super confident with the media yet so probably sticking very close to what the coaches are telling him, no pressure, just develop your footy. i personally reckon he'll play about 10 games this year, i reckon the weid might be looked after a bit, so he can develop his body

I just think he and his manager are playing it perfectly, the longer it goes the more his stocks rise, get his client the best possible deal to secure his financial future and his career at a club where he is happy, which i think will be the MFC

Did you offer him a pen so he can sign his new contract?

Absolutely! should be a good game either way! best defense vs best offense :D

What makes you say that?

Going against the grain and tipping the Broncos, i think a universal sporting law seems to be that a strong defense will help you win big games, they were able to beat the Patriots who i thought would win the superbowl, so if they managed that, i see no reason they can't topple the Panthers.

A rule change suggestion that had been thrown around a while ago was the possibility of introducing 1 franchise player per team and being able to pay that player outside the normal salary cap, that'd be handy right now.

100% agreed and i personally am extremely confident

Nathan Jones struggles with a tag and that is something he desperately needs to work on, i personally think he's a better player than cotchin but for him to go to the next level he needs to close the gap between games he is tagged in and games he isn't, find a way to have more of an impact when he's being closely watched.

The kid can seriously play.

certainly not suggesting we make him captain anytime soon, but i think the race for next captain after chunk is wide open with the favourites imo being TMAC, Hogan Viney and Brayshaw after Hogan signs his 8 year deal we will have all the time in the world to make him skipper

Jesse is captain material for sure, he doesn't settle, drives his own standards

As difficult as it is, i try and view the rebuild as only really starting under Roos, in his 2 years so far we have gone from 2 wins 58% to 7 wins, which should have been more like 10 a really strong core of talent that looks like taking us forward, slowly winning back respect and i think we can play finals next year if everything plays out perfectly injury wise.

It's not just the six tackles per game, it's the fact they're brutal, you see when jack viney or gus brayshaw hit someone, they take a bit to get up, Oliver rattles the opposition, not someone anyone wants to line up against. Oliver, Jones, Viney, Brayshaw, Petracca, Trengove, all love a hard tackle, bring on 2016

I remember reading somewhere that of inside mids something like 83% of the top endeds end up being quality players and with key forwards, and outside mids the % is more like 30-40

if we play finals next years first rounder might only be pick 12, so we've given that up for a mid and a key forward now that we can develop I reckon the club feels we have the young core now, it's time to develop them and start to climb at a serious rate.

I personally see a Luke Parker clone when i look at Oliver.