Are they reacting to actual business class or those few seats at the front of the plane with a few extra cms of leg room? Either way a weird thing for another team to complain about. Would be awesome to know which team

Don’t mind the concept but 50k each is a joke. Doesn’t need to be over the top nonsense like the American ones. Just a small gold ring that is unique enough looking to show what it is. Spend 50k on all 23. The value of the ring is worth a fortune for what it is, not for what it’s made of!!!

Not gonna find an ex player hocking their premiership ring for scrap metal. The ring itself would be worth a few hundred grand, even if it was made of aluminium

Why do we even need a 20th team, people can deal with the bye. The AFL are not maximising the tv schedule as it is. 9 games a round still has 2 games on simultaneously. I have not the slightest clue why the AFL doesn’t maximise the time difference in Western Australia on Friday and Saturday nights? They could run a double header every Friday night or have 4 games back to back on a Saturday if they start the later game in Perth. Especially during daylight saving. Why don’t they do this????

As for the 20th team, save that slot for the Northern Territory when they are big enough to support a team. We can deal with the bye round till then

Haha I came here to say the same thing rowdy. Saw the design in the paper and realised the outline of the devils head is very close to the outline of Tasmania. They’ll prob work out something out in the future.
I’m glad they are keeping the state of origin style though, will get more tasmanians behind it

Why on earth is Clarkson supposed to be in hot water, for using an unfriendly word??? Come on, is this even news. Why is anyone reporting on that as any part of a story whatsoever???

I’m more embarrassed that reporters have felt the need to repeat what he said, rather than him having said the words. I would actually expect him to say something quite bad in the situation and am happy his emotions came out! It shows he cares

Cooper Simpson was the bargain of the draft. Him along with Logan morris from Brisbane I’d consider as top 10 talent in most drafts. It was weird that most the phantom drafts had them going about where they got taken in the 30s. It confused the hell out of me. They must have some inside knowledge. It’s easier to see Logan Morris dropping because clubs think he is undersized for a key forward, but Cooper Simpson just looks like he has A grade talent and speed. Yes he is on the short side, but not that small for a midfielder.

I’m surprised also by how many news articles kept saying this was a poor draft. I personally believe this will be one of the best drafts ever for picks outside the top 10. The problem wasn’t that it was a shallow draft, it just didn’t have a defined order after the top 10. There were heaps of talls around the mark and then lots of specialist type players that clubs didn’t know where they would land. I reckon we will almost certainly get 3 or more all Australian over 200cms, I just don’t know which ones yet. Plus heaps of players with massive potential talent littered all the way down to the bottom.

Kade de la rue who I rated highly didn’t even get picked

Good article for the off-season. Well done

Personally I’d swap Jonathan Brown for Ashley Sampi at 6 and swap Mathew Robbins for Shia Bolton at 7, but otherwise the list is pretty good. I know courageous marks deserve a mention, and browns mark was awesome. But as good as they are, they’re still not as impressive as someone jumping on a blokes shoulder without hands, then taking a 2nd jump a foot higher from his shoulders.

Glad you put Walkers mark so high as well. Perhaps one of the biggest robberies ever. I remember there was another robbery when Joe Daniher won, despite being the least impressive of all of the finalists. Can’t remember who he beat, but I remember they showed the face of the bloke who should’ve won at the time and he was shattered

The big deal is they used a $15 million grant of taxpayer money, for what now looks like a clear sham. They started a woman’s team in 2017, 2 years before the grant. No doubt they knew the grant would be coming soon. They then fold the team 4 years later and now have a brand new football training facility in its place. That’s a very short turnaround considering the Covid shutdowns as well. They may be in a fair bit of legitimate trouble here! The fact their social media team are trying to cover it up is basically an admission of guilt as well

Hawthorn is a massive club though. Would be top 3 most supported Victorian club interstate, especially with young people, along with Richmond and Collingwood. Just change Carlton and Richmond to Hawthorn and Essendon, problem solved

It’s not the worst idea, they could’ve just done it better. Just split the opening round. Choose 2 other teams than Richmond and Carlton to travel, then you can still have the big Thursday night game in Melbourne the next week. Could’ve even made it a Friday night blues vs Richmond the next week in that was the format. The remaining 5 games could be 1 in WA, 1 in SA and 3 in Victoria on Friday, Saturday and Sunday

All these hypothetical pick swap ideas for pick 1 havnt been following the draft properly. It’s highly unlikely to move as the only team in the market is North Melbourne and I can’t see a deal getting done. West coast will want picks 2 and 3 plus some, whilst North will only give up 2 and 3 with something coming back.

All these other ideas just won’t be entertained. These Harley Reid not wanting to leave Melbourne rumours look like they’ve been created by other clubs if you look closely. Read any of the articles and you will notice that the statement always read “according to other clubs, Harley Reid does not want to leave Victoria”. According to other clubs, means other clubs who want to draft Harley have told the media he doesn’t want to leave. They want to get him and get him as cheap as possible. Of course they are going to try and create doubt, as I would expect all clubs will do when the timing is right. The interstate clubs would be expected to do the same if a local talent as good as Harley comes along one day. I would think it would’ve specifically been Melbourne who were the most prominent in that rumour. The Dees had a strong draft hand and getting Harley on a cheap 3 year contract, with their current list, means they would’ve been premiership favourites for the next 3 years straight. Unfortunately for the Dees and all the other teams, the AFL has compromised the draft too much and North Melbourne is the only chance.

I’m a full blown draft nerd and have followed religiously for 20 years. The 3 best draft age players I’ve seen are Izak Rankine, Jack Lukosius and Harley Reid. Rankine was the best player but not the best prospect being a small forward / midfielder. Jack Lukosius was a better looking version of Nick Riewoldt, but tall forwards are the easiest players to miss on at the top of the draft. Lukosius running and game style though meant he was the safest tall forward pick ever.

Then you’ve got Harley Reid who is the typical player every club needs. He is a competitive beast and always beats his direct opponent. He is the Petracca, Dusty, Dangerfield, Judd type player which is generally the most effective / valuable player in the comp. He has been the best player at every level in almost every game he has played for the last few years, including against afl listed players in the VFL. So for that he is the best prospect I’ve seen come through in 21 years I’ve been watching closely.

Curtin is a very good reliable player. He doesn’t make many mistakes and is very clean. I’d have home between pick 5 and 7 right now. His ceiling could be bontempelli but he could also turn out to be just a regular good player. I’d liken him closest to Jack Scrimshaw, a player I personally rated really high. Was just after the bont won the premiership and he played with a similar style. Scrimshaw had very good skills and played out the backline just like curtin.

Scrimshaw is still a good player but inconsistent. So this is where the dilemma comes in. Curtin is potentially an excellent player, whilst Harley Reid is already an excellent player. Curtin could potentially be bont but also could be scrimshaw. Harley Reid is already Dusty. Right now I would take 1 x Harley Reid over 2x maybe even 3x Daniel curtins. I know over time that is likely to be a bad call, but right now that’s what I’d do. It’s like a game show, what’s behind door number 3 type situation. You know you can take a star now or 3 potential stars???

So anyway this talk of trading for pick 2 and 14 is nonsense. Pick 14 turns into pick 20 or 21 in this draft so that is just insanely stupid. West coast will not even entertain an offer less than 2 and 3 and still won’t accept that. Logically taking the 3rd and 4th best player (after Jed Walter bid) should be better then just taking the best player, but that’s where we are at. Right now Harley Reid is Dustin Martin and the rest are just potentially good players. West coast will ask for 2 + 3 + North future first. North won’t accept that, so I don’t see any way the trade gets done

About 99% of those walk up MCC members will be Collingwood supporters. Brisbane may have a lucky few old Fitzroy supporters who kept their memberships going, they certainly won’t have any Brisbane Bears MCC members. This is what is so corrupt about that deal being made. Victorian fans will always get a chance to see their team play.

For this year the walk up rule is fair enough as Collingwood earned the right to host it. But when an interstate team is the higher ranked team and playing a Victorian team, every single one of those walk up tickets should be allocated to the interstate teams supporters. The MCC has to cop this and it should’ve been written into the contract to begin with. Perhaps if they actually let anyone from another state be part of that corrupt secret meeting then it would’ve been

So true. My mate and his family have been MCC members basically since he was born. I know he attended 1990 when he was 6. They have 4 tickets and all just nominate that they support 4 different clubs, despite all of them being Melbourne supporters. I don’t think his sister even follows footy. My mate has been to like 20 grand finals now. They also scalp off the spare tickets they get each year (mostly to friends at least) but for over a $1000 each. Pays for their memberships. I love my mate, but these are the people who don’t need to keep attending grand finals of teams they don’t support.

Not 1 single mention in the article of the MCC. Why??

Surely this is a bigger story??

Why did The Collingwood president, 2 people from the MCC, and the Victorian premier, sit in a room with Gill and decide that the game will be played here for the rest of our lives. They came up with the rules. They are the ones who decided that they get all the tickets. Take it up with Eddie. He had no right to be part of that decision, that not only unfairly benefits his team, but affects every fan in the rest of the country. Why were no other teams represented, why were no other states represented??? This is a national competition.

I’m not a fan of the MCG deal but I still don’t mind the grand final being played there. What needs to happen though is a renegotiation of the contract. If an interstate team wins the right to host vs a Victorian team, then the interstate teams members should be rewarded with 10000 of the MCC member seats. That’s just fair. It’s also brilliant for the state of Victoria as an extra 10000 tourists will bring millions of dollars into the state.

Gold Coast and Gws wouldn’t even sell out those extra tickets, so it will only ever make a difference when either Adelaide, Port, Sydney, Brisbane, west coast or Freo finish above one of the 10 Victorian teams. Victorian fans can always get a hold of tickets some other way so they will always have the home ground advantage. At least this rule will even it up a little.

The Collingwood president had no right to be at the meeting when they made that deal, as it advantages Collingwood outrageously well. So much so, that the other clubs may have a legal right to have the whole contract torn up.

Collingwood won the right to host this year so all is fair for this year. Craig Kelly the current Collingwood CEO is now asking for more tickets to be allocated to fans of each side, which is good for all of us.

Melbourne can keep the Grand Final, just let us attend it if our team makes it, and especially if they deserve to host it.

They were a lot better than a 3 game winning team this season. Threw the game against Sydney with the interchange infringement (probabaly should be getting stripped of draft picks for that one).
Have one of the best young forwards in the game in Larkey. Have one of the best players in the game in LDU (he is about to explode over the next few years). Have in my opinion, the most promising young player in the game in George wardlaw. Then also have the very impressive rising star in Sheezel who just won the best and fairest in his 1st year. Add that to a whole bunch of incredibly good young players plus would’ve been getting pick 2, 3, 15 without any concessions anyway. They had a heap of good teams on the ropes this year to only to go down by a small margin in last quarter.
I would’ve tipped them to push for finals next year regardless and enjoy a long run of success at the top without any concessions. I think the AFL made a mistake here and needs to stop compromising the draft

The president of Collingwood managed a deal to assure the grand final is held at Collingwoods home ground for 42 years. Take it up with him

This is the greatest irony in history. The world truly is balancing itself out.
To all those Collingwood supporters who havnt got their tickets…….. it hurts doesn’t it. Hang on to this feeling and then spare a thought for every single non Victorian supporter in the country. Your club President sat down with the Victorian Premier, 2 members of the MCC and the AFL CEO and decided that the Grand final will be held at your home ground for the next 40 years. 40 YEARS!!!!! LONGER THEN SOME PEOPLE READING THIS WILL EVEN BE ALIVE.

That was your club president. The Collingwood club president who gave that feeling you have now, to every other human being in the country. Even when a deadly pandemic means the grand final can’t be played there for 2 years, you now get it at your home ground for 42 years? It’s the most corrupt sporting contract that’s ever been signed in this country. Don’t stress though you will still be able to get a hold of some of the other 74000 tickets, as you will next year and the year after that.

I’ve tried to get to my teams in the grand final every time they’ve made it and never got a chance. The best chance I had was the last one, when I needed to pay over $5000 for 6 flights, which included going through Bali. I was still about to do it. The only thing that stopped me was that the only ticket I could a hold of was $1500, but I had to sit on my own. It was the closest chance I ever got to see my team play in a grand final, despite being a member for nearly 30 years and a former member of the cheer squad.

Collingwood please lobby your own man Eddie and get that contract renegotiated so more fans from both teams can watch the game. Please please, it’s good for all of us. The MCC members have no need to see their 16th grand final

Very good draft with potential superstars. At the moment I rate Wardlaw as most likely to be the best out of these. Some of these have higher ceilings, but if Wardlaws hammies hold up, he will almost certainly be in the top handful of players in the game

All depends on the compo North receive. If they get band 1 compo for Mackay and also access to sanders, then that pick 5 turns into pick 9 after Walter and Ethan Read bids. At least getting Gold Coast pick will help, as at the moment the top 8 are the elite. Even your future 1st is worth squat as adding Harley Reid to Melbournes list instantly makes them premiership favourites and that pick will almost certainly end up in the 20s. So the current 4 and 5 turns into 8 and 9, plus future 1st in the 20s. There is no way they will accept that for Harley Reid

The only way it could get done is to trade with North for pick 2, using the current pick 4 and 5 North would likely give back a later round pick to balance it out. Even with that it all depends how much west coast rate curtin. Right now it’s wishful thinking though. No matter what happens, you will be needing to trade out of both this years and next years draft to get Harley Reid. All you can do is hope for no compo picks for north as those picks become a lot more valuable a few spots down

And also overturn the round 10 game when north Melbourne threw the game against Sydney with the interchange infringement in last minute. Adelaide would literally already be in the 8 and only need to beat west coast to play finals

Imagine if North Melbourne had not thrown that game vs Sydney in round 10 with the interchange infringement. This round could’ve been one of the best win and your in final rounds ever

Sydney would’ve needed to beat the dees to make finals which would’ve been hard.
Essendon would’ve had to beat Collingwood
GWS would’ve had to beat Carlton
Then in all likelihood, the Dogs vs Geelong would have been a “win and your in” game

Gotta feel for Adelaide. Got screwed over twice. By goal umpire last week and the North Melbourne coaching staff in Round 10

Also Luke Davies Uniacke bruised his toe surfing, yeah righto.

Star player has an accident at the beach blablablah.

The AFL should be sending a doctor to his house and 5aking off his shoe to check if they’re lying.

Mate check my comment under the video of footy classified talking about Luke Davies uniacke injury. I’ll write the whole thing up again on here in an hour or 2. Please write another article drawing attention to the interchange infringement in the last minute of the game in round 10 north vs Sydney. It’s affected the entire season as I think it’s the most blatant interference on a result from tanking ever.

Absolutely disgraceful and nobody is talking about it. GWS , Geelong, Richmond, Essendon and Adelaide supporters should be hammering these boards with angry comments as their teams have every right to be playing in September over Sydney.

There should be very serious investigation into that game