I'm not talking about Bribane's finals chances, I personally think they're as good for the spoon as we are, but the secret to building a competitive side is making sure as many of your draft picks count as possible. If Sherman or Rischitelli had have been top 5 picks, no one would be questioning their selection, they are just class players and a real bonus for Brisbane that they were taken in the later rounds. I agree with you that class ultimately counts for all, but when Bachar Houli lasts until the 4th round, the draft is still a long way from being a system where quality is assured by the value of the pick.

I want picks one and three because we're not going to get this chance again.

Adding three top 20 picks and another second round pick acquired in a trade would give us a better group of kids than the Hawks. You can get good kids late if you're lucky, but the odds of that are diminishing each year with recruiting becoming more of a science.

I will see it as a missed opportunity if we finish on 4 and half or five wins at the end of the year.

if we get 6 wins and come 3rd-4th last then sack the board.

double disadvantage ???

]
The Richitellis Shermans of this world will only take you so far without the Gibbs/Walkers/Murphys of this world.


Thats how it goes....

You need winners and champions and then a supporting cast.
I was critical with the use of our second round on Grigg cos i wouldnt be picking up flankers.Id be using picks to pick players up who can play in key positions and the guts before i start looking for a hff..
Having said that... we used our early picks on future guns in Walker/Murphy/Kennedy and Gibbs.. which would make it easier for the others coming through along side of them.

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There would be no shortage of players who would play with a gun list like ours of that was to happen.. who would be out of contract this year?
Much easier to recruit a good player with a stable board and a gun list going places..

This year should set us up beautifuly.

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Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

It really is a case of screwing the system that screws you here. One more year of a bottom finish we can stomach. But only one more. We get two top 3 picks, a gun player in the PSD, and hopefully another gun player from using pick 1 in the PSD as a threat. After that our list will be set to dominate the competition for 10 years.

Personally, I don't think tanking is the issue here, as I don't think that realistically the Club is going to tank, especially with Pagan's job on the line. The only conceivable issue might be come round 22, if we have won 4 games, then they might play all the young kids (although if that were the case, I suspect Pagan would already be GAWN, but I don't think that a team ever goes out there to lose a game.

The issue as I see it is whether we are better off winning 4 games or less. No doubt, 2 top 3 picks plus another top 20 pick would give us a list with top 4 and Premiership potential, whereas where we sit now, we may bot get to that level...unless a lot of the second tier players really take off.

The flip side is whether the Club could cope with it. We all saw how last season's poor infield performance impacted on the Club, and membership, can we afford another season like that? I guess Pratt's arrival makes it more possible to cope with such a scenario.

My issues, as it has been for the lasdt few years, is not about whether the team will tank, it's whether, as a supporter, I want the team to win or not. The last thing we need is to win 5, or even 6 games...crap season, no PP. If we were to win 7+, then at least there is genuine progress being made. Problem is, as Synbad says, does that leave us with the talent on the list to win a flag?

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Mens sana in corpore sano.

Bring back the laurel wreath logo!!!

Synbad my concern is the talk of tanking at this stage of the year. Its stupid. Yes I can see the merit of PP but what happens after 7 years near the top - we are in the same boat again potentially. And yes I agree it should not be about Pagan. We are a team, not a collective of individuals.

My thoughts on Pagan are so the record is clear. I never wanted him but now we have him and the opportunity exists to see what he can do now, lets do it.

I would like to see the kids played, and I mean played not get splinters on the pine. However I would also like to see the current crop apart from a few (Gibbs) given time at the Ants to develop physically before being thrown to the lions. Let Russell and co from the past few drafts get the game time and the experience they need and deserve.

However come the end of the year and we finish low again dont hang the gut if he has done these things.

I'll barrack for each and every game to be a win

same as last year
because I am sane enought o understand

that what I barrack for has no impact on the outcome.

The club will finish where they finish

and then I'll look at that and decide what i think

but my thinking

matters little

the real question is

does the board sit down and say to the football department

we want four wins, any more and you're gone!

or does the football department approach the board and say

hey listen the plans working, we just need to win 4 or less this year and we are set, we have your permission?

I actually think we'll only win 3 or 4 - the kids are still kids and the other teams are coming from having to rebuild bits of their list. They are closer to finals than us (though not to winning a flag I feel)

we are starting from scratch (by the time we are ready how many of those on the list pre 2001 will still be in our starting 22?

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This type of slight is alien in the more cultured part of the world - Walsh. Its up there with mad dogs, Englishmen and the midday sun!

Can't wait to lure another gun player with the #1 PSD pick

dont be so negative.. we will have loads of room in the salary cap next season to go shopping.

kouta and lappin have to be replaced...

If we finish last for 4 wins or less I would be spewing. Had enough of this crap. The President spoke about wanting 10th spot in the Herald-Sun last Sunday and with the list now we have that's fair enough. This is a better list than 2004 when we won 10 games. We won't win as low as 4 games anyway as, if that was the case, Denis would be out the door mid-season, or earlier. With a decent coach the players respect, more wins wouild come.

What, you mean like 'St Kilda' excitement?! If thats the case, I'd rather not... watch them miss their chance this year and miss the boat with the best young team on the field...

Regardless, tanking isn't a view taken by any team, especially this year... anybody even mentioning it at this stage is a Grade A Spanka...

And, with all due respect - another year of Pagan focused on development will result in Pagan... even playing kids for experience and finishing bottom 3 will result in him going - and this is for a guy that said it would be this long *5 years* to get back track...

Go for the kill, the 8 is highly unlikely but still a possibility *see the inherent optimism in me? * Build a winning culture in the team, give the guys a taste of victory - we have the players capable of winning more than 4 games this year - why not run some kids as well but go for the win, every quarter, every match...

...or we can just stack the team with kids, kill the confidence that Pagan and Co has taken so long to restore and get another No. 1 draft pick to join a team that is ingrained with losing...

one more year at the bottom to set us up for 10 years make no mistake

If any of Fev, Ackland, Murphy or Thornton go down with injury and miss a fair whack of the season, then I think we'd be a pretty good chance of qualifying for another PP.

For what it's worth, you obviously can't play for one. And getting some further development into our young players has to be the priority. However, I agree with those who say it would really set up our list for the next 10 years.

Tanking doesn't come into it. I don't think we are good enough to win 8 - 10 games. We are also very vulnerable to injury, particularly echoing what Stefchook has said.

By the end of the 2007 draft we should have our list back to square 1.

Teague, Bannister, McLaren, Kouta, Saddington, and maybe 1 or 2 others to be replaced by another handful of kids, and hopefully we can nail a big name at the pre season draft.

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Get comfortable being uncomfortable

tanking to score gun kids sounds good now, but how do we fit them all under the cap in 6-7 years time?

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@cecil_anderson

If we have that problem in 6-7 years time Cecil, I'll be a very happy man.

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Mens sana in corpore sano.

Bring back the laurel wreath logo!!!

very true mate. My point is tho, that there is always gonna be little issues like this. Only time will tell whether the club has headed in the right direction.

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@cecil_anderson