At this time of year there are a series of narratives the commentators are looking to play out. If you watched our first game, the first quarter played beautifully into the narrative they were looking for; Saints are a rabble who are diving towards the bottom, Dogs have had their time in the wildern...

Patrick Smith in today's Australian reports that the AFL are looking to bring forward the next media rights deal in order to finance the buy out of Etihad. They see ending the inequitable stadium deals as the greatest impediment to closing the gap between rich and poor clubs. Smith reports that nego...

It may be a year too late but the long time rumour on this site that James Frawley will head to the home of his uncle is a step closer to possible today with the news that he has put contract talks on hold until he "sees the direction of the club". Expect a year of intense speculation. htt...

Apparently the 4 games now earn the Hawks $3.5 mill a season plus the losses they don't make from 4 poorly attended home games in Melbourne plus income from Tasmanian memberships Financially, in retrospect, a no brainer. I guess we have to remember that the context at the time was that we felt we'd ...

In today's Age, Jake Niall writes a thought provoking piece on 4 key decisions which have seen the off field fortunes of St KIlda and Hawthorn diverge in the years since they were struggling co-tenants at Waverley in the late 90s. He argues that Hawthorn have made 4 savvy decisions which have turned...

I was speaking with a former umpire recently and asked him who were the scariest players he'd umpired. He said that there were plenty of scary players but only one player he was actually scared of. Robbie Muir. No-one knew what he was going to do next. He said that Yabbie Jeans even enlisted the sup...

Interesting to me that while The Age runs an article this morning detailing Jolly's criticism of Buckley including this quote: ''Just the excuses he gave me in that meeting were all bulls*** and that was the hardest thing to stomach, that he was a coward, really. We had a problem. He had an issue wi...

I read Quigley's mock draft and rate him as a good judge. He had Dunstan at 9 and says: Luke Dunstan DOB 29/1/95 Ht 184 Wt 83 Dunstan and Scharenberg with the driving forces in SA team which won the Champs this year and is probably not getting the attention he deserves. He was the SA capt and was th...

Payouts with a confidentiality clause are sometimes structured with a number of payments over time. The final payment is made when confidentiality has been kept for a certain period of time.

The Etihad deal I believe came about as the AFL forced us to leave VFL Park against our wishes, and was I believe a not negotiable deal. I’m a little fuzzy on this but my memory is that the clubs who were playing out of VFL Park were encouraged by the AFL to find alternative deals. I think that we ...

Hopefully the Prez who again says nothing, will learn. Mr. Right never had any idea. You know I don't think he does say nothing. Admittedly he doesn't dish the dirt on Watters but I think that the message is very clear. The review identified deficiencies and structures were put into place (or exist...

Saintly has just started a new thread with a link to an 'Age' interview with Peter Summers. http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/saints-on-right-track-summers-20131103-2wuvl.html Worth a read. Summers attempts to paint this whole episode in terms of bring in a new structure. No great detail given b...

Nice work from the Pres. Back on the front foot after a poor performance last week. And moving to take the personalities out of it is very wise. I'm tipping we'll hear a lot more about 'the structure' over the next month or so.

Well played sir.

Mind you Paul Roos did have a bit to say when Ross left (I think the phrase was "His position had become untenable") and was roundly criticized on this sight for what was read to be sticking up for his mate.

I've got a lot of time for Dermie as a match day analyst; reads the game unfolding as few others can. On other matters, I don't particularly rate him and he's deeply conflicted in this current debate. Nevertheless, he did say something yesterday that is worthy of some thought. He took a dig at the l...

I've got a lot of time for Dermie as a match day analyst; reads the game unfolding as few others can. On other matters, I don't particularly rate him and he's deeply conflicted in this current debate. Nevertheless, he did say something yesterday that is worthy of some thought. He took a dig at the l...

SENsaintsational wrote:

plugger66 wrote:

SaintPav wrote:jesus..

He is to old to coach.

Too hard to nail down for an interview too.

Has made unexpected comebacks before

Emma Quayle writes in today's "Age" of a rapidly developing trend for young players recruited interstate to accept a short contract and then go home. She says: "They're growing up now in the world of free agency, watching older teammates take greater control of their own destinies and...

Brisbane screwed in that deal. Not sure that works in our favour!

Grrrrr wrote:Anyway, who knows what GWS is thinking? For all we know they may pass Tom Boyd altogether and we pick him up at 3 ...

What a shame Buddy didn't go to GWS. There would have been every chance they might have passed over Boyd then.

Puts paid to the suggestion by some that the club would be happy to sell off any senior players with currency to bring in new talent. One of the strongest themes for me was the responsibility and centrality of the passing on of standards from senior players to younger players. There may be one or tw...

I was watching the Port v Bombers games. And they have 10-12 middle sized blokes who are basically all midfielders. They always have 3 or 4 or 5 blokes at the contest. The key in this day and age is to outnumber the opposition at the contest when you can. I think that's the point Con; it's about be...

When Ratten was sacked he mused that he hoped his successor would be judged by the same criteria he'd been judged by. If Mick were Brett, he'd be looking for another job by Sept.

Is there a connection between the sacking and the resignation of the president last week?

Perhaps he was a dissenting voice?

I watched a VFL game for the first time in a while last weekend. Here was footy as I remembered it and as I learned to love it. Not hard to build a case for taking up the support of a local club.