Giants smash Suns

I have to agree with your thoughts Dal and Rick - I'd be excited to see a Suns outfit that cherry picked the best state leaguers under say 26 and dropped 6 of them into the mix If they stripped back some of these kids with the 'chosen one' mentality that comes from being a highly touted draft pick and gave the opportunity to guys with real hunger to play - well, probably getting a bit caught up in it, but attitude is the thing that has crippled the Suns and Lions in recent years and I think these players need a bit of perspective shone on their careers

Slightly older, physically mature players would bring a lot of professionalism to the list, the drive and attitude that would come from five or six blokes who might've thought they missed their chance would be massive, a lot better to get those blokes that will be thankful for the opportunity than more second tier players from afl clubs who will be resentful that they are there.

Agree with Dal. Stripping back won’t work. Get some senior players in around 24-27. Roll the dice with them. If they fail, get some more next year. Rinse and repeat. Within 5 years they’ll be challenging, but more importantly, within 2 they’ll be competitive. Once you’re competitive, then you can start bolstering. If the Suns were competitive, I doubt the conversation surrounding Lynch leaving would be there.

They definitely should be scouting the WAFL for 21-24's who are the B&F's for their clubs. Schloithe would be a good pick. They'd certainly be bolstered with Banfield and either of Kelly or Ryan on their books this year and should be putting plenty of homework into it for next year.

Schloithe should of been a lock for gcs, plenty of great talent in the wafl that would transition easily and provide the bigger bodies they need. Even if lynch leaves its not a panic as they have 2mt peter even if he's neafl entrenched atm.

I'd be worried if they did go for a scorched earth policy. It shows a lack of imagination and capability. What they should do is go for more mature WAFL/VFL/SANFL targets with their later picks, ala Freo did in 2008/09/10. They need more mature bodies and heads to help the younger ones develop in a sensible trajectory. Having the amount of youth run out against a top rung side like the Giants is just asking for trouble and most coaching panels try to save that degree of greenness for lower/younger opposition. Going on the road and having 8 or more u21's run out against that higher ranked opposition tends to get you battered from pillar to post. Here's a sample from last season and this of sides who have done that: -----------------------------------------------------------No..--Losing -------------------Team-----------Opponent------u21's--Margin-------Venue R17:2017:----Brisbane-------Richmond---------9------ -31 ---- Etihad R19:2017:----Brisbane-------West Coast-------8------ -68 ---- Domain R19:2017:----Carlton---------Geelong-----------9------ -65 ---- Etihad R23:2017:----Gold Coast----Port Adelaide----8------ -115 ---- Adelaide O R5:2017:------Carlton---------Port Adelaide---10------ -90 ---- Adelaide O

I think you'll find that was just the Suns CEO that said that.

Any chance you could you explain to me, in detail, how AFL distribution works?

1. I'm not that worried about junior numbers, hundreds of excellent athletes coming through the ranks. The money is a big factor in that, certainly for kids who are genuine talents identified early. 2. It's not so much that it can't support 2 teams as it is that 2 teams was unnecessary - there is absolutely zero care factor behind the Suns/Lions derby and there never will be any, even if they wound up playing each other in a final the supporters of one club would just jump behind the other for next week. That being said, they have 2 now - they are going to have make this work so I guess I will just say if they don't do something to fix the player market they will never see any improvement. 3/4/5 - Agreed. I have noticed I'm not the only one who's realised that the AFL has set up a nice cosy protected socialist working paradise, Jake Niall made the same comment in the piece Ryan mentioned today in his article. Interesting that this view seems to be gathering strength - I daresay the players and coaches need to be sat down and told if they want their meal ticket to continue there's a few things they need to consider when making their trade decisions.

Disney is going to pull its movies from Netflix soon and start its own streaming service, marvel stadium could just be start as Disney is creating a ESPN streaming service.

at the end of this season for the QLD clubs at least. Both need to go to the trade table and get 2-3 experienced heads in if they want to have a hope of being competitive next year, and I think the AFL should really start to dangle some extra cash in front of players and grease the wheels a bit. If Matthew Lloyd is to be believed Dew is apparently going to go scorched earth on the ruins of the list and clear out anyone who doesn't have the right culture - which begs the question what Eade was doing, I think a bit like Malthouse he had to keep making short term selection plays to try and keep his job because the Suns overrated their list. Anyways. The Suns are going to be even worse next year I'd say Harbrow, Rischitelli and Rosa are all gone and maybe Hanley as well. Plus Lynch. They should look to trade players like Peter Wright and anyone else that another club might find useful - and then sign anyone they can lay their hands on from a successful club. At this stage I think it's not so much the individual players that are important as to the quantity - if the Suns could shake 5-6 first teamers of some sort, B graders, whatever - out of some of the better performing clubs I think that sort of mass culture injection would be really helpful. I don't see how they're going to get any better by the draft. It will not happen that these local talents will grow to the same heights as kids coming through Victorian junior footy, not unassisted anyway More money please - I think the evidence we need it is now clear and incontrovertible, the Lions and Suns are just absolutely awful. And they are not getting better. QLD footy for the last few years has felt a bit like groundskeeper willy in this clip https://youtu.be/0K0iE8iH1Jw?t=104

The arguments (mainly from Victoria) are the same given when the eagles, bears, Adelaide, freo and port joined and let's not forget the merger of the bears and lions was going to create a 10 year dynasty.

GWS and GC will not be going anywhere - the AFL has the money and any money they spend is probably extra they received on record media rights. They also now own a billion $ plus asset in docklands - they own it!! There are always teams at the bottom, if they are expansion teams in non heartland areas which in GC case is debateable as there is a fair amount of support for footy every man and his dog calls for them to be wound up, the AFL will ride out any calls for them to be culled.

Definitely a win for the majority of fans you'd think and make it more accessible to a broader selection of casual viewers too. The streaming service might also encourage further innovations to the coverage production as well.

But, But.... the AFL and their propaganda nutbags told us that the Suns & GWS would be playing in the GF after 5 years.

Definitely. AFL on Netflix would be awesome.

that'd be great, we all have Netflix and foxtel is a waste of money besides footy.

Highlights many an issue for the game overall, in no particular order: 1. Size and Depth of Aussie Rules. The AFL is not as big as they claim it to be and it is being dominated at junior level participation by football amongst a number of other sports. I suspect that the top level Executives already know this and you would hope that they are doing all that they can to address the supply issue of quality footballers coming into the AFL. 2. PaulD relentlessly bangs on about the state of Queensland not being able to support two AFL teams. If a state of 5M people, 3M of which live in SEQ between Sunshine Coast-Brisbane-Gold Coast cannot support two teams then there is a massive problem for the game in this country. The Brisbane Lions squandered their triple premiership winning years through a number of acts of incompetence, including but not limited to, hanging on to aging stars far beyond their best years, not setting up an Elite Training and Administration Facility (which is now still two years away), incurring debt, Brendan Fevola trade, appointment of Voss then Leppa as Senior Coaches with no experience etc. It was the Lions own fault that they overestimated their position in the AFL landscape in 2009 prior to the launch of the Suns in 2011. While the Lions were busy descending into the abyss the Suns themselves squandered their entry into the AFL appointing a rookie coach, signing a bloke who had not played high level AFL on $1M a year for “marketing purposes”, deplorable draft picking in 2010 and 2011, terrible mature age signings from other Clubs bar Gary Ablett Jr, having Travis Auld poached by AFL HQ at Docklands and basically failing to instill any sense of professionalism at the Club while the AFL waited for the Queensland State Government to building the Carrara Sports Precinct 6 years into their AFL journey. Almost like a perfect storm of stupidity, incompetence and lack of business savvy in one swoop at a time when the AFL would of wanted at least one of these Clubs to be aiming for the 8. All this has currently left the AFL Clubs in Queensland as permanent residents of the bottom 4 of the AFL and it won’t get better anytime soon as you cannot rush football maturity into players. The above must also be viewed in the cold harsh reality that Brisbane, and to some extent Gold Coast, is Rugby League Territory. Think of the saturation coverage of AFL in Melbourne and then you get the idea of what strangle hold the NRL has up here. Over the time that the Lions and Suns have been embarrassing themselves on field the Maroons have dominated State of Origin, the Cowboys and Broncos played each other in a Grand Final in 2015 (Cowboys winning), the Cowboys made another Grand Final in 2017 (lost to the Storm), the Broncos are always competing for finals etc. Other side note of interest - The Brisbane Roar have won 3 Grand Finals since the Suns joined the AFL and the Reds won the Super Rugby title in 2011 3. Player Veto on Trades. This will ensure that historically big and popular Clubs in the heartland cities of Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth will always continue to be first choice for any player that wants to play on the big stage, in front of big crowds in prime time fixtures (Easter Monday, ANZAC Day, Dreamtime at the ‘G etc.) while also getting high levels of recognition and adoration from the general public. Not sure what the solution is here because forcing players to be at a club or in a city they don’t want to be is highly unlikely to produce a good outcome for player or Club. I think Mattican notes above that if you can’t get footballers to stay living and playing Queensland with all the lifestyle and weather advantages that we enjoy up here then good luck retaining anyone in Tasmania, Canberra, Northern Territory or anywhere else outside of where the AFL Clubs are currently located. Australia has 5 metro areas of note with everything else considered regional and the 18 Clubs are already in those five metros or very close by (Geelong and Gold Coast). 4. Money. The AFL has a lot of it, which is no secret and it is regularly brought up the level of money being spent on the Suns, Lions and Giants each year. This is usually done by overlooking the large sums spent over many decades on Clubs like St. Kilda, Western Bulldogs, Melbourne and North Melbourne but it is disregarded because they are Melbourne based Clubs. If the AFL want to lessen the amount of money being spent on Clubs in Queensland and NSW then they should be actively helping these Clubs rather than simply throwing money at them and pretending that all is fine because they have their dots on a map where they want them. If the AFL wants 18 Clubs then we must accept that there will always be Clubs that struggle at times, however the AFL would be rightly worried that Brisbane, Gold Coast, Carlton seem to constantly be average. Carlton’s saving grace is a huge history in the VFL with plenty of members and support. 5. Salary Floor. This needs to be flexible to Clubs towards the bottom of the ladder. There is no way known that the Lions or Suns (or Blues) should be spending 95% of the Salary Cap on their players when you compare ability and output against a quality Club like Richmond or West Coast. I noted in another thread it will be a long second half of the season for the bottom teams and so it has begun, however cudos to both Fremantle and Essendon for getting wins (although they won’t be in the finals mix).

Player retention is the number 1 issue for the Queensland clubs and if the AFL want to give proper impetus to the game's standing as a national code, they would be best placed telling the Eddie cohort where to go and implementing a salary cap driven solution for the Lions and Suns (I'd include the Giants in there too) as soon as possible.

If things keep going the way they are, a streaming service like Netflix will be primed to offer big money to take over a portion of the rights deal in the next few years you'd think.