Like to see how Richmond would have done in Season 2017 and during the Finals Series without their Priority Pick in Alex Rance.

But as you say Rance had no bearing on them winning the 2017 Grand Final.

As I stated, it's not about the pick delivering success, it's about the pick not meaning a club is destined to stay shit forever because it's grovelling to the AFL.

Having said that, you'll also be aware that Griffen (2004 PP) was part of the trade that got Tom Boyd to the Dogs from GWS at the end of 2014. Richmond also got a first and third round pick for Deledio (2004 PP) in the 2016 trade period.

I guess the slight difference was all previous PPs were handed out due to a black and white rule, which some may see different to this being a "Hey we're shit, and we have no idea on how to get out of it, so any danger we can have some charity?" priority pick.

Priority Pick may not be the panacea but there is only upside. Worst case we have another handy pick we can trade as part of a deal to get one of the supposed A Graders just killing time at a premiership contender waiting to make their way in the offseason to the mighty blues. Best case we draft in 2018's Alex Rance.

The downside of a Priority Pick is some kind of esoteric Pride based Bullshit that harks back to the John Elliott era and frankly, in this day and age I dont understand. The thought that knocking back charity somehow wins us respect baffles me. Who are we getting respect from? The other clubs? I honestly dont think the other clubs would care a jot and who cares what they think anyway. If anything, the more professional among them would probably have a quiet laugh that we turned down a valuable freebie out of some kind of 1930's style pride.

In terms of progress I would take the nation's 19th best talented young kid over a warm fuzzy 'we dont accept charity' bullshit anyday. Could you imagine a struggling corporation like...say...Myers not accepting tax concessions or turning back preferential credit arrangements or not pressing Westfield for the best tenancy deals they can arrange because they dont accept charity? Of course they wouldnt and the CEO would be lynched by the board if they did. My only hope in this is that there is some kind of dirty underhanded deal been struck with AFL house and if Murphy leaves we will be the beneficiaries of some of Ken Wood's best fuzzy logic regarding where our compensation pick might be. (otherwise known as the Frawley rule).

In terms of the Prez, I agree with Frank. He must be the Footy Equivalent of Andrew Carnegie or Steve Jobs behind the scenes. He might not be a former premiership legend or scintilating MC in front of the camera but honestly, we are under siege and looking for leadership. Where are our leaders? Who is standing up? Leadership isnt hiding away waiting for the news cycle to move on! If Trigg was still CEO he would have been on the front foot this week. Where is Liddle? Anything he dopes now is too Liddle too late (sorry couldnt resist).

The scariest thing out of all of this was the crowd at the game. I have never nbeen to a quieter game of footy. I've been to noisier games of local footy. I was lucky enough to be sitting in the Medallion Club on Level 2 at Etihad. I could clearly hear the players talking to each other. Not just screaming for the ball, talking to each other, that's how quiet it was. No crowd, no passion, little support. That is honestly scarier than the performance! (rant Over).

Nothing here that qualifies as "exceptional circumstances" to receive a PP.

How about a 19/103 win/loss record from the last five and a half seasons?

All our own making.

After all, why else would there be !!!!OUTRAGE!!!! if we got a PP?

We were well compensated in picks for Yarran, Bell and Henderson especially when you consider all 3 aren't playing. Bell couldn't get a regular game before his injury, and Henderson looks to have long term issues that has him considering retirement.

#8, #21, #23 and #60 in for the net loss of these guys and #40.

Waite and Betts left by our choice, Thomas coming in as a FA to cancel any Betts compo was our choice.

Nothing here that qualifies as "exceptional circumstances" to receive a PP.

Which is the point I was trying to make yesterday.

What good did it do them for the previous nine years where he was All Australian for three of them and they didn't win one final?

Zero, because the rest of the place was a shambles.

So in relation to us, in the last three years we've added

#1, #10, #12 #23 in 2015 + your mate a former #3
#5, #25 + look to have nailed bargains in Williamson and Macreadie + added a former #4 in Pickett and #6 in Marcbank in 2016
#3, #10 and #30 + a former pick #13 in Kennedy, and first rounders in Garlett and Lang.
This year we are sitting on #1, #20 and #26.
In addition to #12 in Docherty and #13 in Cripps who were already at the club.

I'm excluding Murphy and Kreuzer due to age.

Firstly I'm 100% behind the process, as to have any chance of sustained success we needed to build through multiple drafts, which has been covered thoroughly.

So. IF we have the right people in place. Board, Coaches, Development Coaches, Medical Staff, Recruiters, List Managers, High Performance, Strength and Conditioning etc etc, then there is enough to work with as these guys mature and we continue to add.

IF we don't have the right people in place, then adding another end of first round pick will make zero difference as it did to Richmond for 9 years, as I'm sure the difference in Rance of 2008-2016 to the one in 2017 didn't elevate them from basket case to Premiers.

Give a man a draft pick and you feed him for a day; teach a man to how to use a draft pick and you feed him for a lifetime.

Dear Donstuie,

In what is a very important week in the history of Carlton Football Club, there are a number of milestones I wanted to reach out to members and publicly acknowledge.

First of all, after nearly seven years as Head of Football at the Carlton Football Club, Andrew McKay has today informed staff and the playing group that 2018 will be his final season at Carlton.

Macca was appointed to the position in October 2011 after six years working with the AFL in various roles including AFL Game Analysis Manager and Chairman of the AFL Match Review Panel.

In his time at Ikon Park on the Executive Team, he has overseen the management of the football department with the coaching panel and playing groups as well as the High-Performance Department.

Macca first joined Carlton as a player in 1993 through to 2003 including the 1995 premiership and is a former captain and Life Member.

Amongst several significant achievements in his time as Head of Football, the Blues’ former premiership player also successfully managed the implementation and integration of the AFLW program at the Club through its historic inception in the AFL in 2016.

In my short time at Carlton, I have been lucky enough to see firsthand the great impact Macca has had on the club through his tireless work ethic, his strong relationships and his passion for Carlton. He is a Carlton person through and through.

His experience and measured approach will be missed, but we understand Andrew’s decision in wanting to explore other opportunities and after seven seasons in the Head of Football role, he departs with our very best wishes.

I'd like to thank Andrew, his wife Sam and children Charlie, Abby and Sophie for all that they have contributed to Carlton.

The Club will commence its recruitment process for a replacement immediately.

I'd also like to congratulate Kade Simpson on his wonderful career, a career that will this week see "Simmo" become just the fifth Carlton player to play 300 games. He joins some of the greatest players in Carlton's history in John Nicholls, Bruce Doull, Craig Bradley and Stephen Silvagni as the only players to reach the 300-game milestone. I would urge all Carlton members to make an extra special effort to get along to the MCG on Saturday to support Simmo and his teammates in what is a very important day for our football club.

First year player, Paddy Dow, who has been dubbed Paddy ‘Wow’ by his teammates, was yesterday recognised with a Rising Star nomination and we couldn’t be prouder. Hailing from a fruit farm near Swan Hill, Paddy amassed 20-possessions in the game against Collingwood on the weekend and there’s no doubt we’ll come to see more of this action from our number three draft pick.

Members were also the first to hear on Thursday afternoon that Charlie Curnow has put pen to paper on a contract extension and will remain at Carlton for at least the next five years. Charlie is one of the most exciting young talents in the AFL and we look forward to watching his continued development in the navy blue. We were also excited to confirm the re-signing's of AFLW players, including our captain Bri Davey, Darcy Vescio, Jess and Sarah Hosking, Tayla Harris and Nicola Stevens.

After a long search that spanned the entire country, we also announced in the last few days the appointment of Nicole Graves into the newly created role of General Manager – Women’s Football. That appointment rounds out a complete re-structure of the women's football program with Nicole now overseeing Daniel Harford (AFLW) and Shannon McFerran (VFLW), our two new coaches in the women's program.

Nicole will sit on the Club’s Executive team, as will Daniel Giese, the Club’s new General Manager of Consumer Business. Daniel spent five years at Richmond as their Membership Manager, where he was instrumental in their membership growth, overseeing five consecutive club membership records. More recently, he has been the Consumer Director at the Melbourne Storm, where he has helped grow membership by about 60% in his three years there.

From an AFL on-field perspective, we would like to have won more games in 2018. We are however buoyed by the continued improvement and emergence of the likes of Charlie Curnow, Paddy Dow, Lochie O'Brien, Harry McKay and Zac Fischer, who have all shown improvement throughout the first half of the season. It's exciting to think about the potential of these players once they have another couple of pre-seasons under their belt. A number of our younger players are also coming off severely interrupted pre-seasons and we are confident the likes of Sam Petrevski Seton, Caleb Marchbank, Matthew Kennedy and Darcy Lang will all show improvement in the second half of the year.

We are currently experiencing the compounding effect of three years of significant list change and we will now look to take a more balanced approach to list management, particularly over the next two years as we look to attract players from other clubs as well as continuing to bring in the best available young talent at the draft.

I think it's also important to note the contribution of some of our injured players, who whilst injured for the majority of the season, have continued to drive a strong culture around the Club both on and off the field. Sam Docherty and Marc Murphy have been particularly influential. Marc Murphy's contract situation is obviously important to our members and what I can assure all our members of is that we want Marc to stay - he is the Captain of our Club and a very important leader both on and off the field. We do however understand and accept the fact that free agency provides players with options, so we will continue to give Marc the time he needs to consider such an important decision.

Off the field, our Board and administration continue to build the foundations of a strong sustainable football club. Additional investments into coaching, development, recruiting and list management have been made possible by an all-time Club membership record of almost 54,000 members. We sincerely thank each and every one of our members. We exist for, and because of, our members and we will never take your support for granted.

Our Carlton in Business program now has more than 100 businesses involved and is the envy of other clubs. Carlton in Business provides the vehicle from which we can integrate our Carlton network, cultivating long-term mutually beneficial relationships that generate real business opportunities for Carlton in Business members.

The additional investments into recruiting and list management will become even more important in light of the likelihood that the AFL will introduce a range of new innovations around trading of live picks on draft night. We are confident that our significantly bolstered recruiting and list management team are well placed to take advantage of the changing landscape.

We also continue discussions with the Federal Government, highlighting to them the exciting opportunity that exists to turn Ikon Park into the home of AFLW. With $20m already generously provided by the State Government, we are now looking for the necessary federal support to finalise the plans for the re-development of the existing Pratt Stand, adding a range of facilities that will ensure our female athletes have facilities equivalent to their male counterparts. We are confident that the Federal Government will also see the benefit that a re-developed Ikon Park can provide to gender equality and female sport in general.

On the topic of gender equality, we were proud to recently announce MC Labour as the Major Partner of Carlton Respects, our nationally recognised community program. Some members may have already noticed MC Labour's support of the Carlton Respects program, through the advertising that appears on the Club's media backdrop. We thank Marc and Cath Lunedei who are long term supporters of the Carlton Football Club, for the support they have provided our Carlton Respects program.

In closing I would like to take the opportunity to once again thank our members for their unwavering loyalty and support. We are a proud football club with a rich history and a very exciting future, a future that we are in complete control of. I look forward to seeing you all at the footy this week to celebrate one of Carlton's all-time greats as Simmo plays his 300th.

Go Blues!

Cain Liddle
Chief Executive
Member ID: 21499500

He left by choice and I’m really not sure Betts wouldn’t have gone either way. It’s always easy to say id have stayed for xyz when you’re gone

I believe Betts when he said he would have stayed. He was being paid unders.

https://twitter.com/CarltonFC/status/1015164449601122305

Perhaps the best example of financial mis-management led by McKay. He could have kept Betts - to the best of my knowledge it was ~$50k that made the difference.

And yet we went and handed out multi-year contracts to dead wood.