Thomas is 26, and if not us he would have ended up somewhere else ie Hawthorn. He'd checked out long ago.

They would have got the 1st rounder regardless.

Also all very well to say "trade a pick in the 20s for #12, but that would have taken losing a required player (ie Yazz, not a Boots or Lucas) to do so...

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"They're [REDACTED]'

Thomas is Murph's age and both had injury plagued seasons. I'd be happy if the club picked up Murph on the same deal as Thomas. Saying Thomas is past his best is saying Murph has too. Don't believe that.

Collingwood are having just 2 picks, yet you've spent the last month telling everyone they are the kings of the off-season.

Lost Thomas, lost Shaw, lost Paine, 2nd and 3rounders gone for White, Armstrong and Karnezis clogging up 2 spots on the list, but will now dominate the next 10 years by having 2 1st picks to our 1?...

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"They're [REDACTED]'

Murphy hasn't had the injuries Thomas has and we aren't paying overs to get him. Its about List balance. I would have no issue getting Thomas if we were ready to challenge. Maybe MM thinks we are?

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#NewBlues beginning 25th August 2015

Nice to get some debate going.

Where is the Pies list compared to ours? They wanted to get rid of Shaw and had no issue trading Paine who sat in the reserves all year. Thomas went via FA and they got an important pick for him.

I would swap all our picks for 2 inside Top 10 plus Adams & maybe White.

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#NewBlues beginning 25th August 2015

Granted they've had different injuries, but both have been severely restricted the past two seasons de to injuries. Still think Thomas has some great footy ahead of him. No coincidence his form dissipated (before his injuries mid 2012) when Mick left. He checked out of Collingwood a long time ago.

No issue with that. How pick 20 & Yarran for Pick 6?

Personally I would jump at it.

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#NewBlues beginning 25th August 2015

The question is Em what is he bringing to us? Let's say he has 2-3 years left as an A Grade player. Can we win a flag in that time?

Also, by signing him to a huge contract will 1 or 2 others be lost in the next few years because of this, did it stop us picking up another good player or will we be restricted chasing anyone else?

It's not just about the individual player it's about the entire list.

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#NewBlues beginning 25th August 2015

Pick #6? It's just a number again.

Put a name to it...2005 Dowler?...2006 Thorp?...2007 Myers?...2008 Yarran?...........Yes, Yarran.

I know it was Yarran and I'm happy to give him back. There have been some poor picks but the trend is getting better. I would be very happy with a Freeman, Bontempelli or a Scharenberg. This year I believe Pick 6 will be a star. Not worried about previous years.

Mind you given our previous recruiting I could easily be wrong.

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#NewBlues beginning 25th August 2015

Which two of our players the equivalent of Thomas and Shaw would you also throw in?

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"They're [REDACTED]'

Where's the Pies list at? Can't answer that as I'm not sure they even know.

Trading Thomas, Shaw, Wellingham and Dawes for picks is fine if you are taking a long term view, but then bringing in Hudson, Lynch, Young, Russell, Armstrong, Karnezis, White plus losing a second and third rounder is like doing a complete 180.

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"They're [REDACTED]'

So it's a given that all of Freeman, Bontempelli and Scharenberg will be better than Yarran and who we would have picked up at #20.

Why would this selection be any different to other years selections? Who is to guarantee that one of those boys won't go down the 2009 #6 in Gary Rohan?
For every Chad Wingard (who should have been selected #2) there are many that just don't come with as much gold as seemed to be the case before being drafted.

It's a pretty tough gig this AFL business isn't it?

No guarantees Harks but you need to play the odds and you need to keep regenerating.

We lack depth and class. We need some more and better kids coming through. The fact we have gone into the draft with the lowest number of picks in the past 3-4 years is starting to bite.

Too many average players, too many older recycled players and too much money spent on individuals.

We need to understand we cannot buy our way out of trouble anymore. We need to be smarter.

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#NewBlues beginning 25th August 2015

It's all a matter of balance isn't it?

We keep adding players but we tend to forget subtracting them as they get older.
By the time some of last years and this years draftees pick up some pace, players Swan, Ball, Maxwell will be gone.
Will the incoming be better than the outgoing? Maybe but far from certainly.

Collingwood's age profile looks good but will the quality be there?

Maybe we did play the odds this year. Do we here know that we didn't? We're not really sure are we but it feels good to pretend.

You said you didn't want to talk about the past so I'm fine with that. What did we do that was so wrong this year? All for facts so let's lay them out.

Last year could be okay. Menzel looks classy, Graham should be good and Temay still yet to be tested.

The issue is again it's three players. Not going to take you forward. We have a lot of very average players on our list.

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#NewBlues beginning 25th August 2015

Last year was shit having our hands tied, but we weren't going to talk about the past.

What did we do wrong this year?

Fact 1:
Fact 2:
Fact 3:
Fact 4:
Fact 5:





Next 10 inches reserved for more facts...............

How can we have facts when nothing has come to fruition yet? This is based on opinion. Mine!

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#NewBlues beginning 25th August 2015

Of course........I keep forgetting because the force of opinion feels like fact......It's just opinions.......all good......carry on.