What is going on!!??

[BrisGirl]

Mal Michael tonight:- "Either trade me or I will retire" add to that Michael Voss on the verge of retireing and Akermanis going to Melbourne, it feels like everyone is bailing.

....and if Mal has said that, then I am very disappointed.

[Ashli]

Where did you hear that? What? No! I want sources!

[BBFFC]

Please explain: Where did ya hear this?

[BrisGirl]

Opening story on White line fever.......

[danielcanberra]

Poor Mal.

If he goes to another team, he still won't get to lessen his time commitment to the club.

Yes, he has extended family responsibilities.

Remember Matthews telling him that he will play for Lions full time or not at all.

[BrisGirl]

Poor Mal.

If he goes to another team, he still won't get to lessen his time commitment to the club..

Either trade me or I will retire = I don't want to play at Brisbane

If he goes to another club, he has to train, everyday if need be, with the rest of the team and it wouldn't even be up for questioning.

[BBFFC]

Alot of people dont agree with me, but Mal has been very distruptive at the club this year also, he has made remarks on his future, similar to Jason, but jason was persucuted, if this is true Mal doesnt want to be at Brisbane, he is as bad in my mind, yet he has been treated like a hero.

[notting18]

Mal has not publicly bagged the club.. and if he wants out we should just trade him instead of extending the period of our rebuild

[Grimreepah]

Mal has been very distruptive at the club this year also

I agree that he has been disruptive this year and has not been his normal professional self, but I disagree that it is even in the same ballpark as Aker.

[BBFFC]

Mal has not publicly bagged the club.. and if he wants out we should just trade him instead of extending the period of our rebuild

Yes, but jason did not bag the club untill after he had been dropped.
As far as i am concerned they both have been disruptive, at times mal looked like he just didnt care.

Regardless losing them both is sad for our club.

[TheBrownDog]

As I have said a few times already, we really need to part ways with Mal ASAP.

Regardless of whose fault it is, the pure simple fact is that Mal doesnt want to play football for the Brisbane Lions anymore and you could read it plain as day in his body language in the last few rounds.

If we persuade him to stay somehow, we are just going to get a disinterested player eating up 350,000 in our salary cap for next year.

What is the point in keeping him around?

Cut Mal loose, lets get a top 15 draft pick for him and move on.

Strawb will be a gun fullback anyway.

[Ashli]

Who the hell is going to be our full back????

Merrett - not ready and well I still have my doubts on the guy

Roe - Not big enough

Mills - still needs time to develop, not enough experience...

[TheBrownDog]

Merrett is the man Ashlii.

He will never be ready unless we throw him in the deep end. He wont learn much in AFLQ.

Give him a year of getting spanked by the best forwards in the game and he'll be good to go. He already did a fine job on Riewoldt and Hall.

This is what rebuilding years are all about, you cop repeated spankings, but the glimmers of hope for the future make it all worthwhile.

[Grimreepah]

Regardless of whose fault it is, the pure simple fact is that Mal doesnt want to play football for the Brisbane Lions anymore

Exactly.

It seems it is quite clear that Mal wants to go. I have no hard feelings but I don't see the point in trying to convince him to stay.

I am prepared to put faith in Merrett too.

[BrisGirl]

if this is true Mal doesnt want to be at Brisbane, he is as bad in my mind, yet he has been treated like a hero.

Not treated like a hero, he has been treated differently because he doesn't tell the press everything about his business.

Still, it doesn't make it all right. Mal didn't get what he wanted from the Coaching staff with his reduced training days, and has walked out on the Club.

[Ashli]

Merrett is the man Ashlii.

That is what I am worried about...

[Bobby Beecroft]

Exactly.

It seems it is quite clear that Mal wants to go. I have no hard feelings but I don't see the point in trying to convince him to stay.

I am prepared to put faith in Merrett too.

Prepared Reepah, we have no real choice mate .
Lets just get the best we can for Mal if in fact he is going?
Who infact said this on WLF? Was Mal/his manager quoted?

Not that Im doubting you just want to know the source of this story.
If true Chris Jones likely to bring it up on TFS tonight.

[BBFFC]

I agree if Mal doesnt want to be here, and it sure looked like that late in the year, then it will be good for us to part ways.

It is interesting considering what leigh said on the couch the other day.

Merrit is all we have, unless something changes as we will be pretty active during trade week.
Merrit will be pretty good in time, obviously noone will replace mal, best fullback of the last 10 years

[TheBrownDog]

Merrett will win a Brownlow at fullback. Just you wait and see.

[BrisGirl]

Not that Im doubting you just want to know the source of this story.
If true Chris Jones likely to bring it up on TFS tonight.

The opening of WLF goes as follows:-

Mal Michael playing in GF, great scenes, then Mal getting his GF medal, then the overstory, Mal wants to be traded or he will retire.

Fox Footy team just spoke of it again, saying alot of Melbourne teams would be after him, who wouldn't.......Hawthorn have already put their hand up....etc.

Haven't seen anything of the footy sites or words coming from Mal's mouth, but fairly damning when two separate Fox shows talk about it like it is a fact.

[danielcanberra]

This is the earlier thread on Mal

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=269583

[konstas_87]

Alot of people dont agree with me, but Mal has been very distruptive at the club this year also, he has made remarks on his future, similar to Jason, but jason was persucuted, if this is true Mal doesnt want to be at Brisbane, he is as bad in my mind, yet he has been treated like a hero.
No i agree with you. Hes not going to be there when we win our next flag, so his only use was stabilisation. But at least if he goes every1 wants to be here, and who knows we may even get something for him.

We really need to get Brad Miller some how, dont know how it could happen but we cant just play 2 kids in the backline all year, theyll get hammered.

[BigCat2]

From Herald Sun:

"Brisbane has told Michael, 29, he's a required player...

"Michael may seek a trade deal, but Brisbane will be reluctant as it is already set to lose a handful of experienced players..."

Stoopid. He might be a required player, but all that means is that he's in the club's plans. If he doesn't want to be part of that plan, we're better off unloading him somewhere and gain some compensation, rather than having him retire straightaway.

[Quigley]

Face it people we are a rebuilding club. The vets are getting out which at the end of the day might help to turn things around quicker. Mel still has value and perhaps we should be thanking him as rather than prolonging our decline he is asking to be moved whilst he still has value and we can get a younger player that will help us rebuild.

I have a lot of faith also that Mills is going to develop into a gun in the back line. Good height and leap and a huge engine. I was generally very happy with his progress as a first year backman. As with all the young guys his skills need some work but he is a natural back and with some time could form a great duo with Merrett. Don't forget when Mal came to Brisbane he had been given up on by Collingwood and essentially he was a punch from behind defender with little or no foot or hand skills. Both Mills and Merrett are at least as good as Mal was when he came here. I am not saying they will end up as good but give them a chance to develop and you could be pleasantly surprised.

[Chasing the Dream]

Who the hell is going to be our full back????

Merrett - not ready and well I still have my doubts on the guy

Roe - Not big enough

Mills - still needs time to develop, not enough experience...

Merrett - Could be an answer, I tend to prefer him down back and go up forward as a change.

Mills - At the pace I see him developing, he should be right in about 2023. Sorry, I am just not a fan. He pulls his shorts up way to high.

Roe - Here Ashli, I challenge you a little. Try and find a picture of Lockett kicking goal number 1300. The little bloke on the mark is Mal Michael.

Try looking at the 2001 GF. The bloke who is about 1/2 the size of Mal Michael 2006 version is in fact Mal Michael 2001 version.

While I may have liked to see Roe get another year behind him before being the number one full back, I wouldn't be too concerned if he was number one next year. Merrett can always back him up if needed.

With an injured knee at the moment, I just hope that he may be pumping weights even as we speak. Well maybe not at 11.15 pm on a Thursday night, but in the morning at least.:D

FWIW, I agree with TBD. Lets trade him now. If there is one team in the league who MIGHT be willing to give a decent draft pick or a good player, then Hawthorn is probably it. They could get someone who could play up back (they only have to be better than Zac Dawson) and we might get a draft pick or a decent youngster in return.

[BigCat2]

Quigley, I think the main issue here is that Mal may no longer want to play for us, or just look disinterested when taking the field. Either of these reasons alone is enough to move the player along. Moody wants one year then out, and I think the club has every reason to want to trade him in a couple of weeks time.

If Mal was committed, I'd definitely want him to stay on next year, even if we're in a rebuilding stage. Sure you could give his spot to a kid, but kids usually develop better with some stability, experience and guidance compared to being thrown straight to the wolves with not much help going their way.

For many years Mal was the rock upon which our defense was built. We could trust him to take the opposition's best forward week in week out and back him to win most of those duels. That's a huge confidence booster for the other defenders around him.

But if Mal wants out, then hopefully we can trade him to get some compensation.

[Grimreepah]

Face it people we are a rebuilding club. The vets are getting out which at the end of the day might help to turn things around quicker. Mel still has value and perhaps we should be thanking him as rather than prolonging our decline he is asking to be moved whilst he still has value and we can get a younger player that will help us rebuild.

I have a lot of faith also that Mills is going to develop into a gun in the back line. Good height and leap and a huge engine. I was generally very happy with his progress as a first year backman. As with all the young guys his skills need some work but he is a natural back and with some time could form a great duo with Merrett. Don't forget when Mal came to Brisbane he had been given up on by Collingwood and essentially he was a punch from behind defender with little or no foot or hand skills. Both Mills and Merrett are at least as good as Mal was when he came here. I am not saying they will end up as good but give them a chance to develop and you could be pleasantly surprised.

I agree that Merrett and Mills have shown that they are likely types. The problem is they have played I think 7 games in defence between them. Some players take to it very quickly, and Merrett looked very much at home playing on a couple of the best players going around in Riewoldt and Hall. But what if it doesn't pan out? Lack of form, injuries, suspensions and who do we fall back on?

Roe and Garner would be the back up and both of them need more than 1 preseason in the gym to be able to hold down a key position spot IMO. It would be interesting if we drafted Mitch Thorp, would he go in ahead of Roe and Garner, because he is probably more physically ready.

[BigCat2]

Hopefully they'll trade Lance Franklin to us in return for Mal.

Mal = 3 premierships
Franklin = 0 premierships
Therefore Mal > Franklin ;)


If you asked the club what would be the ideal situation they'd want, they would say for Mal to stay and committed to playing with us next year. This doesn't look like happening, so we'll have to settle for a worse option, that is trading him away.

[BigCat2]

I agree that Merrett and Mills have shown that they are likely types. The problem is they have played I think 7 games in defence between them. Some players take to it very quickly, and Merrett looked very much at home playing on a couple of the best players going around in Riewoldt and Hall. But what if it doesn't pan out? Lack of form, injuries, suspensions and who do we fall back on?

Roe and Garner would be the back up and both of them need more than 1 preseason in the gym to be able to hold down a key position spot IMO. It would be interesting if we drafted Mitch Thorp, would he go in ahead of Roe and Garner, because he is probably more physically ready.

When Mal goes, our most experienced key defender will be Bradshaw (that's assuming he doesn't jump ship also). :rolleyes:

I'm all for drafting Thorp at the moment, with the aim of playing him in a key defensive post in a few years time. Merrett, Mills, Roe, Garner and Thorp. That's 5 prospects there, but I don't think that's too many. Already we need to replace both Leppa and possibly Mal, and I'd say there are far more KPP duds than KPP guns. You can't just have 2-3 options and hope they all turn out ok.

[Chasing the Dream]

When Mal goes, our most experienced key defender will be Bradshaw (that's assuming he doesn't jump ship also). :rolleyes:

I'm all for drafting Thorp at the moment, with the aim of playing him in a key defensive post in a few years time. Merrett, Mills, Roe, Garner and Thorp. That's 5 prospects there, but I don't think that's too many. Already we need to replace both Leppa and possibly Mal, and I'd say there are far more KPP duds than KPP guns. You can't just have 2-3 options and hope they all turn out ok.

Call me mad, but I would be playing Hadley at CHB.

Same height as Leppa, and it might me less taxing on the knees than onball. I have honestly thought this even before the injuries that he would replace Leppa.

It would leave Bradshaw to play up forward and Roe and Merrett to tag team at full back if needed. Bradshaw and Merrett would be able to switch if needed and to me there at least looks to be some flexibility there.

I would also be keen to see Garner progress injury free.

[BigCat2]

I was quite surprised when I found out that Hadley is 190cm, that's only 1cm less than Leppa.

Originally the plan was for Richard to succeed Vossy as the midfield general, and as long the coaches and match committee don't consider his knee as being a permanent thing, I think that might still be their plan.

Good food for thought though, thinking outside the square.

If Beau can stay fit and play some matches, then I guess it's possible for Charman to play in the forward line, allowing Bradshaw to swing into defense. That'd be a last resort though, because then you'd be playing two gun players out of position, even though they're capable of filling those positions.

[captain_obscure]

Assuming that this news is correct and that Mal will be traded, do people think that we will get value for him? Other clubs will be aware of his desire to leave and may be a little more reluctant to give up quality in return. Probably worth a first rounder but i'm worried that we may not get it.

Also, do people now think that the Lions should look a little closer at Brett Thornton? Reasonably experienced backman who is still young and would be coming into his prime when the rest of the resurgent Lions do (hopefully not too long) and could move onto a second or third forward as Merrett/Mills?Thorp develop, would also allow Roe to move onto secondary forwards and provide some rebond off half back. We will obviously be fairly active during trade week already, should we consider on-trading something we receive (possibly from the Aker trade or Moody) for Thornton?

[BigCat2]

Good idea about Thornton, he's obviously someone the club will be looking at.

Losing pretty much all your key defenders in one go is going to have a big impact. The club could do worse than acquiring a quality backman with some experience to provide some direction for the developing players.

Apart from Thornton, we might also look at Leigh Brown, Brad Miller and even Graham Polak.

[Grimreepah]

I would be playing Hadley at CHB.

Mal (190cm) and Leppa (191cm) are on the short side but they make up for it with a good vertical leap. The question marks I have over Hadley are his size, his overhead marking/spoiling abilities and his vertical leap.

Assuming that this news is correct and that Mal will be traded, do people think that we will get value for him?

Can't expect too much. My guess would be a pick around 25 in this draft.

Also do people now think that the Lions should look a little closer at Brett Thornton?

Thornton is not really a key position player and is only doing so as a fill in at Carlton. I see him more as a third tall defender.

[Quigley]

Quigley, I think the main issue here is that Mal may no longer want to play for us, or just look disinterested when taking the field. Either of these reasons alone is enough to move the player along. Moody wants one year then out, and I think the club has every reason to want to trade him in a couple of weeks time.

If Mal was committed, I'd definitely want him to stay on next year, even if we're in a rebuilding stage. Sure you could give his spot to a kid, but kids usually develop better with some stability, experience and guidance compared to being thrown straight to the wolves with not much help going their way.

For many years Mal was the rock upon which our defense was built. We could trust him to take the opposition's best forward week in week out and back him to win most of those duels. That's a huge confidence booster for the other defenders around him.

But if Mal wants out, then hopefully we can trade him to get some compensation.
I agree and I disagree BigCat. If Mal's heart is in it he is a great role model for the younger guys. He also takes the pressure off and gives them time to develop. Generally teams don't develop as quickly if they are getting belted every week.

That being said for the last third of the year his heart wasn't in it so much so that for the last three weeks of the season it was Merrett who was taking the tough assignments and winning the battles. I was at the Sydney match and watched the battle with Hall and I was really impressed. Hall went after the kid with the physical stuff and it didn't ruffle him at all or move him for that matter, he lead him up the ground and Merrett covered it well (a big weakness of Mal btw) and he tried to outmuscle him in marking contests and Merrett was there with the punch every time. If Mal comes back it will be as a mentor to the young guys and I think you will see more and more them taking the tough assignments. Not because Mal couldn't do it but because Matthews wants to bring the young guys on.

BTW did anyone else think that Mal with his fade out might have cost himself the long awaited all-Australian. You know he is a sentimental favourite given he has never won one and for the first two thirds of the year I thought he was the best full back going around for a team under enormous pressure at the back. The competition wasn't that strong this year and if he had held his form to the end I think he might have won.

[Bobby Beecroft]

Can't expect too much. My guess would be a pick around 25 in this draft.


If thats the worse case scenario & throw in a pick around 20 for Aker.
4 picks in the in the top 25 sounds OK, as worse case scenario.
Never know may get better for either of the two.

[captain_obscure]

Miller - would love to get him but seriously doubt it will happen especially given his late season form, also IMO he plays his best footy as a lead up half forward, not a backman (think a bigger Ryan O'Keefe) as evidenced by his final v Freo (he was at CHF i think but found his way up the ground a fair bit.)

Polak - I actually think he may be worth a punt, understand he has off-field issues but is definately talented, IMO the Lions no nonsense culture and strong leadership could pull him into line. Definately a better option than Travis Gaspar as has been thrown around recently.

Leigh Brown - Kangaroos fans seem want to get rid of him but from what I've seen he looks reasonable, very experienced and reasonably young still.

Of the 4 options I think Miller is the best player but Thornton the best fit as a defender. What does everyone else think?

[BigCat2]

Well Hawthorn's 2nd round is #24, so that looks pretty close...

I still have a sneaky feeling though that Sheeds will give us one of 18 or 20 as part of the Aker trade.

And yes Quigly I do agree with Merrett being given the tough assignments.

However, imagine if Mal wasn't there, and we're playing St Kilda. You've got Merrett to cover Riewoldt, and nobody for Fraser. Strawb could also have an off-night, and those 2 may kick 15 between them. Having a tried and proven key defender is still vital.

[BigCat2]

Polak is a distinct possibility if the club is interested in him, as we'll have Moody to trade to Freo. Freo has a surplus of KPPs but could certainly do with a fast outside mid/winger type.

Brad Miller is probably a required player at Melbourne now after his late season form. Also having 2 Millers in the team would be too confusing. :D

Leigh Brown could be handy, but I'm just struggling to see how we might go about trading for him without giving away premium draft picks, unless a 3rd club was involved.

I haven't seen Thornton play much, so I won't comment on him.

[Quigley]

Well Hawthorn's 2nd round is #24, so that looks pretty close...

I still have a sneaky feeling though that Sheeds will give us one of 18 or 20 as part of the Aker trade.

And yes Quigly I do agree with Merrett being given the tough assignments.

However, imagine if Mal wasn't there, and we're playing St Kilda. You've got Merrett to cover Riewoldt, and nobody for Fraser. Strawb could also have an off-night, and those 2 may kick 15 between them. Having a tried and proven key defender is still vital.
True there would be some ugly nights in the back line next year if Mal is not there. To lose Mal and Leppa was always going to be next to impossible to cover in the short term.

[BigCat2]

To lose Mal and Leppa was always going to be next to impossible to cover in the short term.

That's very true. I don't think the club could have ever anticipated neither of them being there at the start of 2007. We did draft the likes of Mills, but didn't think they'd be ready for a couple of years yet. In a way I'm glad that Mills only got a few games - young KPPs should be allowed time and less pressure to develop.

[Tas]

Leigh Brown - Kangaroos fans seem want to get rid of him but from what I've seen he looks reasonable, very experienced and reasonably young still.

He has not been popular in BF (this year) and he struggled for form this year although it is hard to shine as a defender when you are getting comprehensively beaten all over the park and the ball is rifling in at warp 10 into your defensive 50.

I think a problem with Brown is more to do with bad coaching, his development has been handled poorly in my opinion. He just hasn't had the number of games at FB to be a fantastic full back from the word go, he had some very good years for us across half back and was our best defender in 2004, in 2005 he was moved to FB due to having nobody else and he was very good at first, just struggled against the big name full forwards.

His main weakness as a fullback is he is far too focused on the player and doesn't read the play as it comes in, that is where the very experienced full forwards have exploited him. This in my opinion is a failure of the coaching department more than the player.

As far as I know he is still contracted player and I would prefer we keep him, we got Hay so he could play FB so I don't think Brown was pushed as hard in learning the gig at full back over last pre-season, that would probably change this year. He is just not popular among the fickle supporters as Petrie and Perry have shown more promise in defense this year as key defenders and we still have Watt and maybe Hay will return and be able to play football.

They are under the delusion that you can just cut any player that is not a superstar and you will automatically replace them with someone better. Fantasy land stuff.

[captain_obscure]

While we are discussing possible replacements as backmen is it also worth considering Jaymie Graham from WC? Looks the goods as a young KPP. There has been some talk of Troy Selwood wanting to head to WC, doubt it's true but if it is, could it be worth trying to get Graham? We would probably have to give up a pick too as KPP are rarer than midfielders.

[Quigley]

That's very true. I don't think the club could have ever anticipated neither of them being there at the start of 2007. We did draft the likes of Mills, but didn't think they'd be ready for a couple of years yet. In a way I'm glad that Mills only got a few games - young KPPs should be allowed time and less pressure to develop.
That being said I was a bit surprised the match committee didn't give him a game at some stage at the end of the season. He was always down as being a good contributor in the Suncoast match reports.

I tell you what I was hoping to see was Mills get a call up to play as a tagger on Goodes or Reiwoldt. Unorthodox but it would have been interesting. The kid had one of the best 3k times every by a key position player (3rd overall) as well a top ten shuttle so you have to figure he can run with players like that. He also has the size and a great leap (2nd last year) so he could have caused those players problems around the ground. If they had run them to full forward it would have caused him problems but it would also have taken their run away which is one of their major weapons.

[Bobby Beecroft]

Polak is a distinct possibility if the club is interested in him, as we'll have Moody to trade to Freo. Freo has a surplus of KPPs but could certainly do with a fast outside mid/winger type.


Scott Thornton - Dockers a possibility

Rumour on the Draft Board he has been told he maybe surplus to requirements. The games I have seen him pay he has been quite impressive. If Moody is adament on going back could do worse than have a look at this kid. Is a Victorian so there likely would be a few down here chasing him.

[BigCat2]

While we are discussing possible replacements as backmen is it also worth considering Jaymie Graham from WC? Looks the goods as a young KPP. There has been some talk of Troy Selwood wanting to head to WC, doubt it's true but if it is, could it be worth trying to get Graham? We would probably have to give up a pick too as KPP are rarer than midfielders.

It's highly unlikely that Troy and Adam Selwood will ever play in the same team. They are just too competitive.

They went to different schools and played different underage teams because they wanted to be away from each other and carve their own identity. Folks who suggest that Adam will come here or Troy will go WCE are probably also the ones suggesting that we get Sam Power just because he's "Luke's brother".

Players from the same family actually end up splitting more than coming together. The only case I can recall of joining are obviously Chris and Brad, while splitting is more common, like the Roccas.

[captain_obscure]

I agree and think it is unlikely that either Selwood will go anywhere, but i do like the look of Jaymie Graham, however seriously doubt WCE will be willing to give him up or that he'd be likely to move.

[BigCat2]

Scott Thornton - Dockers a possibility

Rumour on the Draft Board he has been told he maybe surplus to requirements. The games I have seen him pay he has been quite impressive. If Moody is adament on going back could do worse than have a look at this kid. Is a Victorian so there likely would be a few down here chasing him.

Don't really know much about Thornton, except that he's 2 years older than Polak. Which player out of Polak & Thornton do you think will be less risky?

And that player profile photo on the Freo website for Thornton is horrible. Needs something to be done about the hairstyle urgently. :p

[Chasing the Dream]

Don't really know much about Thornton, except that he's 2 years older than Polak. Which player out of Polak & Thornton do you think will be less risky?

And that player profile photo on the Freo website for Thornton is horrible. Needs something to be done about the hairstyle urgently. :p

Polak is a hack that has more baggage than Paris Hilton on a round the world trip.

Stay away from him is our best plan of attack. He has been unable to get a game at Freo, and I dont want him here.

[skilts]

Do I detect a pattern here? We seem to have gone from having blokes who were prepared to play for less, to stay at the club, to a situation where nobody wants to play for us under any circumstances.

I find it very comforting that the fault lies entirely with the individual players for this situation, and not anyone in the administration. It seems we're handling this situation almost as well as we did the non-compliance with the salary cap administrative requirements.

BTW, in the unlikely event that Aker is proven correct, and the leak in the club was an assistant coach, whom do you think will deliver the apology?

Oh, and I like the fact that we've been broadcasting how we're going down the gurgler to the tune of a couple of mill. this year.

Back to important things - Merrett will never be a full-back. He doesn't have the brains.

[BigCat2]

I find it very comforting that the fault lies entirely with the individual players for this situation, and not anyone in the administration.

I had to read that a few times to make sure you didn't hide any sarcasm in there. ;)

[BigCat2]

Polak is a hack that has more baggage than Paris Hilton on a round the world trip.

Stay away from him is our best plan of attack. He has been unable to get a game at Freo, and I dont want him here.

What about Thornton? Would he be a ready-made stop gap solution for our key defensive posts? If so, then it'd be a win for us, because even though Moody might still have much room for improvement, he's more dispensable at this stage.

[skilts]

I had to read that a few times to make sure you didn't hide any sarcasm in there. ;)

I'm so pleased I didn't hide any sarcasm.

[Dr Pea P.I]

This is what rebuilding years are all about, you cop repeated spankings, but the glimmers of hope for the future make it all worthwhile.

5 star statement Brown Dog!!! Got to say, i laughed at the expression, but is sooooooooooooooooo true. Plain, simple and true. It is the only way and the best way to learn and progress.

[Quigley]

Do I detect a pattern here? We seem to have gone from having blokes who were prepared to play for less, to stay at the club, to a situation where nobody wants to play for us under any circumstances.

I find it very comforting that the fault lies entirely with the individual players for this situation, and not anyone in the administration. It seems we're handling this situation almost as well as we did the non-compliance with the salary cap administrative requirements.

BTW, in the unlikely event that Aker is proven correct, and the leak in the club was an assistant coach, whom do you think will deliver the apology?

Oh, and I like the fact that we've been broadcasting how we're going down the gurgler to the tune of a couple of mill. this year.

Back to important things - Merrett will never be a full-back. He doesn't have the brains.
Lets face it Skilts we didn't attract top free agents when we were winning premierships and it is certainly much harder to attract players when you are at the bottom. This is hardly the administrators fault. On the loss I am not too worried given that the new club should be running at full steam next year and that should increase the revenue into the club by a fair bit.

On the admin side thought one thing that I do think is interesting is the way premierships seem to follow Andrew Ireland around.

[skilts]

Lets face it Skilts we didn't attract top free agents when we were winning premierships and it is certainly much harder to attract players when you are at the bottom. This is hardly the administrators fault. On the loss I am not too worried given that the new club should be running at full steam next year and that should increase the revenue into the club by a fair bit.

On the admin side thought one thing that I do think is interesting is the way premierships seem to follow Andrew Ireland around.

I agree, it's difficult to attract players to Brisbane. Keeping the ones we've got could stand to rise up the list of priorities though.

[John]

Do I detect a pattern here? We seem to have gone from having blokes who were prepared to play for less, to stay at the club, to a situation where nobody wants to play for us under any circumstances.

I find it very comforting that the fault lies entirely with the individual players for this situation, and not anyone in the administration. It seems we're handling this situation almost as well as we did the non-compliance with the salary cap administrative requirements.

BTW, in the unlikely event that Aker is proven correct, and the leak in the club was an assistant coach, whom do you think will deliver the apology?

Oh, and I like the fact that we've been broadcasting how we're going down the gurgler to the tune of a couple of mill. this year.

Back to important things - Merrett will never be a full-back. He doesn't have the brains.

Glad you said unlikely event because he hasnever been backward in coming forward so why say it now?

[John]

I agree, it's difficult to attract players to Brisbane. Keeping the ones we've got could stand to rise up the list of priorities though.

The other reality is that though they do not know it they are a fickle crowd in Brisbane.

[Bobby Beecroft]

Don't really know much about Thornton, except that he's 2 years older than Polak. Which player out of Polak & Thornton do you think will be less risky?

And that player profile photo on the Freo website for Thornton is horrible. Needs something to be done about the hairstyle urgently. :p

Polak would be the greater risk for off-field reasons.
Yeah him next to Big Red would be an unattractive backline.

Thornton would be a ready made player for us. Could slot straight into a KPP in the back half. Has a bit of those go go gadget arms Fletcher like, & isn't afraid to create by running forward.

I must admit I was a bit suprised when I saw his name come up, as I said have been impressive at times. Interesting to see some of the Freo mobs reaction. Pretty much all believe he has talent but they seem keen on Moody.

[pinkus maximus]

Just on Thornton,his name was brought up on the draft board by an eagle supporter who AFAIK has no inside info

If you want a KPP stay away from fanta pants,he is 192 cm but he has a bowel condition which prevents him from putting on weight. He either plays on the 3rd tall or crumbing foward,and is being groomed as Parkers replacement. If he hadnt of dislocated his collarbone against you guys he would have played every game this season

Polak on the other hand is wanted by the club but the papers here are saying that his management are trying to convince him to leave

[BigCat2]

I've thought about Mal a bit more, and wondered about the club's position that they won't compromise to agree on a reduced training schedule. I wondered if they were being too tough.

I now realise that the thing which is bothering the club and many supporters is not actually the request for reduced training itself, but rather his commitment. If his heart isn't really in it, we'd really have to seriously consider whether it's worth playing the bloke, even if he's somebody of Silvagni's talent.

I'm also doubting whether any clubs will want to pick him up. The only candidates are the ones with room to move in the salary cap, but I'm afraid that nobody is going to offer a high draft pick for him.