He adds energy and a franticness we desperately need.
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I actually agree with you despite what the map shows. And I still think he floated around a bit. Certainly didnāt get in and under that much this year - where he should have been
Perception is a powerful force indeed.
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Adam Tomlinson apparently will not be traded.
Lol Saints.
THere needs to be something enacted that stops clubs approaching contracted players - note I said approaching - to move before the end of their contractā¦and there also needs to be some sort of penalty for clubs offloading contracted players.
Except of course for Geelong and Hawthorn.
In principal I agree but players have the freedom to force trades once their contract has expired irrespective of how long they have been a club.
My opinion is if players have that sort of freedom then I think itās only fair that a club can shop players around.
See bolded bit. I agree with that, but otherwise whatās the point of a contract? Both sides sign them.
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We are increasingly seeing players request moves home in contract and I suspect itās only going to get worse.
Itās not sustainable for the interstate teams and I can see the AFL stepping in again in coming years. I wonāt be shocked to see the ācost of living allowanceā make a come back soon to get players to stay at the club that has drafted them.
The AFL have made a mess of it as usual.
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pass
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lol, he should have retired 2 years previously than he did.
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Bartel seems like a nice bloke and was a champion footballer, but geez he was beyond cooked last year and is delusional if heās serious in that article
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Unlike Kelly. He was COOKED
Finally that inside mid that we were looking for.
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Itās very simplistic to say we got beat by big bodied midfielders, it is a statement of fact that Sydneys midfielders are big bodied, but that was not the sole difference, the fact that sydneys midfield worked harder between the arcs, backwards and forwards, in addition to using their bigger bodies in the contest that made a difference. In my view both Smith and Saad will make a difference in their work rate, Stringer can make a difference, we will have to wait and see how hard he is prepared to work.
Secondly, the biggest difference in that final against Sydney was contested marks in the F50 in favour of Sydney, we got smashed, that again lends itself to pressure up the field, which is about workrate, not in and under big bodies
FWIW
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As evident by our massive drop off in tackle stats in Q2.
Is it in players contracts that they can reject a trade?
Free agency and players options to block trades absolutely can not work together and you could see this building each year.
Even though they should continue to rebuild, FC are doing what theyre meant to do with Gibbs in terms of when a player wants out of contract. It just doesnāt make sense lol
No trade waiver clauses should only be a added to contracts to get negotiations over the line. Fix the ridiculous criteria for what a free agent can and canāt do and theyāll be a happy medium.
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Would rather Mark Mercuri
Late to the party but I disagree that we havenāt addressed midfield in this trade period. All three guys will āhelpā our midfield.
Saad is a premier small back with great run and carry. Will release McGrath into the midfield which is huge. McGrath was always going to move into the midfield but now we have a ready made replacement down back.
Stringer can provide a big body around the contest and wanted to play more midfield minutes. Will be able to rotate through the middle and essentially is an upgrade on Green (who canāt go into the middle). Will be a huge lift around stoppages, particularly in the F50 when he becomes a clearance king.
Smith could be anything in the midfield but also āreleasesā Fantasia to spend more time in the guts. Between Walla, Fanta and Smithā¦ we have 3 speedy jets who can rotate through the middle and HF line with equal effectiveness.
We spent a year debating whether we could āloseā fanta to the middle and still scoreā¦ now we donāt have to fret!
As to the claims we need more āinsideā midsā¦ I would agree but they donāt grow on trees! Getting a B grade inside mid to āfill a needā is what got us into the bog average side we have been for 15+ years. Additionally guys like Parish, Heppell and Zerrett have all worked on their inside clearance game. All three can play the role of extractor. We are still developing Langford and Laverde and will no doubt keep looking for our Watson replacement.
I am 100% confident we have improved our midfield by recruiting SSS and they were all, clearly, the ābestā available in this draft period.
P.S. Rocky does come from Benallaā¦ Benalla Saints still celebrate his birthday!
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i personally think we have not addressed our midfield issues, if you come up against Sydney again they will out muscle us in the midfield, we have been exposed by this twice now.