Pirlo

Yep. The one who can kick. Brayshaw and Serong are gun clearance winners in a game where mids need to be good by fit to be truly elite. The difference between them + Fyfe and the three Port boys on Sunday was stark. Similar to why Clarry getting fit won't mean he's back to his best either. The game is moving.

Well clearly Kate doesn't know, which is the issue. If she said "Gary and Simon both rang him daily" then great.

Nobody is saying ANB should not be traded. How difficult would a conversation along the lines of "of course you can go, Alex, but we need to look for maximum value here" have been?

True, but surely we need to address the elephant in the room? There is clearly something in these cultural concerns. We'd all think it if this was happening to another club.

He wouldn't be any more homesick than he was, but he may see this as an opportunity to go. I'm sure many others will.

Perty, Goody and the boys will no doubt back themselves to get things right. Our culture is absolutely great. It is a total coincidence that one of our players is facing four years for a positive test on gameday, another spent all off-season away from the group and didn't fire a shot this season, our best player will do anything to not come back and our most exciting player and most loyal player have apparently decided in the last few weeks they want to go home. I don't think a Pickett trade will eventuate given his management ruled it out last week - more fool them - but how many more will jump off this sinking ship?

Or he's seen how people have responded to Trac and has decided to find a better reason.

The only way they can "get in front of it" is to do what Christian wants them to do and signal their willingness to trade him. I'm no fan of the club's admin at the moment, but it is an impossible hand. Saying "he's 100% staying" didn't work this week.

None of the Vic clubs have the equivalent of JJK on their books. They're rare as hens teeth. Treacy, Amiss, Andrew, Walter, Cadman, Darcy are the closest I can think of.

Yep. They would surely have told him that a deal would be impossible unless he was willing to blow things up over the course of weeks on end. Many of us are so sick of this that we're thinking about the return we could get, two weeks ago that was unthinkable.

His brand has exploded in the years since he signed that contract, thanks to the cooking. Presumably his priorities have changed.

The strategy appears to be to make life as difficult as possible for the club in the following ways: 1. A personal media embargo, including pulling out of an interview last minute 2. All media leaks being done through his management on Sunday and Monday nights, when the footy shows are on 3. Burning relationships with his teammates and hoping the players can apply the burn for him by saying they're not keen to play with him 4. Knowing the club leaders are/should be under pressure and trying to force them to make statements they can't confidently keep to

Once it is published in a newspaper of record, rather than an opinion show, it holds more weight. The Age doesn't publish articles that are pure speculation without labelling them as opinion.

When did they say "as it stands"? I have listened to interviews with all three, and "as it stands" has never once been uttered. Someone raised it on here to try and give them an out, and others have bitten. I admire your support of the club, but what's the point of ignoring anything that makes the club admin look silly.

The rules were changed last year. How hard is it? The AFL were the ones who challenged Maynard getting off in the first place.