Bugger I was hoping the saints would be into McKay
2 Likes
Give it time.
Ross the Toss will be trying to firm up his job in 2027.
St Kilda will be trying to collect the whole set of very average overpaid plodders, chasing that elusive 10th position.
2 Likes
depressing isnāt it. The best rated player we are linked to is prob Marshell from Brissy who played VFL all year
Premiership player.
He would actually make a perfect fit. Clearly got talent, already won his premiership so can afford to go to a bottom team and ride out a rebuild as long as he is getting game time.
Comes to a large club that plays huge games in Melbourne with a very young core to grow with, the coach was your under 18 national champ premiership coach.
We can pay him a truck load of cash.
Brisbane offered him a 3 yr extension, donāt forget that.
22 Likes
Marshall is a lot better than most of the crap on the market
7 Likes
S Marshall - want
R Marshall - do not want
I think we might fk up the paperwork
24 Likes
I thought we learnt our lesson with the Lachie Neale vs Lachie Mcneil.
6 Likes
Would see him join the 4 club player cohort. Alongside some other stars of our game such as big JONO GILES and Tom HICKEY.
Iām still waiting for someone to ever match Dale Kickett who stands alone as a 5 club man.
2 Likes
ANNOUNCE BEN HUDSON
2 Likes
Iāve thought Lobb has been quite serviceable since his shift down back. Wouldnāt be against having a look at him if we paid out McKay. Losing McKay and Ridley in one off season would result in us only have young key backs.
5 Likes
Thatās reasonable. Although Iām not sure actual pick ~20 and say pick 38 is a reasonable deal for Essendon. I think a third party would likely need to be involved.
We arenāt getting a first rounder for Ridleyā¦. Unless we not only give Ridley but also a $20,000 voucher for Epworth Hospital Surgery dept with him!
1 Like
Saints canāt f*cking help themselves.
Just keep loading up on Bang average players, as if more of them, will get them out of the 12-8th position on the ladder.
That club is a sh*t show.
1 Like
on a different tangent, I wonder if clubs will tell highly rated father sons to potentially restrict their availability for certain endeavours.
I donāt know if kids are allowed to do it, but just say he refuses to play the state carnival games( or whatever itās called), and only plays for his under 18ās team.
because theyāve gone to hard to other way to over compensate for the brisbane kids mockery of recent years.
Surely clubs will try and find a way to de value highly rated father sons, considering what carlton and port are going to go through this year.
Donāt even refuse to play just pull up sore in training.
1 Like
You can see it now. The afl will close a loophole next year after Geelong benefit from it.
The āButters ruleā the AFL should introduce to fix a shonky system
September 9, 2026 ā 4:34pm
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It is conceivable that Zak Butters will choose to play for Geelong, and that the Cats will not give up anything ā not even their first draft choice ā for one of the best four or five players in the competition.
The same can happen if Butters nominates the Western Bulldogs, an outcome that will cause fewer howls of indignation from the football public and some rival clubs, even though the scenario isnāt much different ā that of a team around contention picking up a champion without losing any draft capital, nor player of value.
Port Adelaide star Zak Butters.PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES. ARTWORK: NATHAN PERRI
Due to the caprices of the free agency rules, Port Adelaide will find it difficult to source a better deal than pick No.5 for Butters, which is what the Power are entitled to in compensation if they do not match an offer for him.
Last week the dogs were barking, so to speak, that Geelong were in pole position for Butters. But whether he picks the Cats or Bulldogs (it would be staggering if he picked Richmondnow), the Butters and Ben King exits have exposed a serious flaw in the AFLās free agency system.
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The cracks ā and detrimental impact on equalisation in the AFL ā are such that the league must rectify the shonky free agency rules.
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They ought to introduce what I would term āthe Butters ruleā ā an overdue reform to free agency compensation ā after 2026. It is a change that Gold Coast lobbied for after Tom Lynch left the Suns for Richmond, who were then at their zenith and gave up zero for one of the AFLās most valuable players.
Teams placed higher on the ladder, either top six or top eight, should be compelled to give up their first draft choice when gaining a tier one restricted free agent, such as Butters or King. The question is whether the pick should be handed to the club losing the free agent, or ā better yet ā if the pick vanishes completely.
The free agency rules give massive incentives for teams down the ladder, like Port (15th), not to force trades. And when the predator club is high on the ladder, as with Geelong and even the Dogs, the system is loaded in their favour.
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This is not a shot at Geelong, who are increasingly viewed with cynicism by their opponents. Should the Cats land Butters and someone else of value (plus Toby Greene) without being required to give up anything for the Port champ, they will be working within a flawed set of rules, not breaking them.
Hawthorn are likely to gain King and Zach Merrett, when snaring one ought to make the other harder than a camel passing through the eye of a needle. Again, within the rules.
Ben King is a free agent and wants to play for Hawthorn next season.AFL PHOTOS
Hereās an explanation of how and why the AFL needs to make a change:
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Should Butters opt for Geelong, the Catsā first draft pick will be no higher than 14 and more likely beyond 16 this year.
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Port need draft picks to pick up the standout player in the draft, their academy recruit Dougie Cochrane, who is short odds to be bid on at pick No.1 by Essendon; if they have picks four and five, Port will not only cover the bid for Cochrane, they will slide to a respectable pick inside 20.
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Gold Coast are in a somewhat similar position in their dealings with Hawthorn, who are about to grab King as a free agent. The Suns can match and force a trade, but the Hawks ā who can win the flag this year ā wonāt have any picks on offer that are nearly as attractive to the Suns as pick No.7, their compensation if they let King walk, unimpeded, without a trade.
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Port had been on record saying that they would match any deal for Butters. The Suns made similar threats about King. Well, the sands have shifted since then because both of those clubs finished low enough to gain better compensation than the destination clubs can offer.
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Tasmaniaās entry into the competition simply compounds the situation, since the Devils will swallow much of the 2027 draft; future picks will be as devalued as the Iranian rial.
Why would Port or Gold Coast bother matching offers and forcing trades for Butters and King, unless they can prise a good player out of those teams in return?
4:41
Hird āupsetā at leak over Dons meeting
James Hird reacts to it being revealed heās been approached to meet with Essendon over a possible role.
The potential for the predator clubs to make dodgy side deals is obvious to everyone, and the AFL would be wise to put out one of those memos before the trade period, warning that deals must be ācommercialā and that they are willing to block trades that appear to, um, letās say unduly ācompensateā the club that loses the free agent.
How would a hypothetical side deal work?
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Geelong, for argumentās sake, get Butters without Port matching the offer. Port have pick No.5. Then, mysteriously, thereās a secondary deal between those clubs (or a creative three-way), in which Port gains another player or picks cheaply.
The AFL would be watching closely, one would hope.
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Rival clubs have a heightened awareness of such dealings ā and are already whingeing privately about the prospect of Butters getting to the Cats or Dogs at zero cost, perhaps with a side salad that purports to be a separate meal.
It is not feasible, as has been proposed in the past, for the top four/top eight teams to be barred from top end (restricted) free agents. This would be a restraint of trade and the AFL Playersā Association wonāt cop it.
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But the AFL can reform the compensation along the lines I propose: That for those contending teams, near the top (six at minimum), there is a price for landing a free agent gun, and that is your first draft choice. If that pick vanishes, then the draft is less compromised for the other teams.
The gun players arenāt choosing the stragglers. If you believe in equalisation, free agency reform is the final frontier.
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3 Likes
I will be throwing the contents of these concerns into the mix with my new plan Iām working on to bring back equalisation as best possible while also keeping all the variables which currently exist.
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That would last a week
1 Like
Free Agency was introduced to help bottom teams get players without giving up picks. Instead itās been exploited by top level teams.
Therefore if you finish top 8 you cannot sign anyone as free agent. Must be trade only.
Bottom sides can pay 10-15% of contract for first 1-2 years outside of cap. Allow them to overpay for free agents early as away of enticing them to bottom teams.
7 Likes
