No trades does not a consistent team make

[paper_rival]

Commentators all like "Sydney are the 4th best team in the comp"
I don't know if that's true though.
Is it just lack of skills and cohesion letting us down? or are cracks starting to show in an ageing team banned from trading?
Discuss!

[Bloodthirsty]

WHY DOESN'T THE CLUB TAKE THE AFL TO COURT? WHY DON'T THEY DO SOMETHING? WE ARE DEAD FOR YEARS IF THEY DON'T. I WON'T BE WATCHING IF THEY CAN'T STAND UP FOR THEMSELVES.

[paper_rival]

i am v happy someone else is compelled to USE ALL CAPS
IT IS NEEDED

[redsox]

Because the club may have something to hide.

Too greedy chasing free agents and back loading contracts.

Jetta will go for nothing and rucks and defence are just going and won't be replaced with players of their former calibre.

Mitchell and some of the other "up and comers" look ordinary under the pump at the moment

Premiership window. Closed.

So bloodthirsty can clear the schedule with the rest of the bandwagon jumpers. True believers hang in there. Or learn the way to spotless.

[Nico]

Spotless. Isn't that the Evans family caterers at AFL venues, or is that Fitzpatrick's venues.

[aguy]

Hang in there true believers. I am only a relatively recent member ( 6 years now) but I am Here for the long haul

[Cardinal]

Lucky the Hawks didn't panic like this at 4 and 4.

[Bexl]

Lucky the Hawks didn't panic like this at 4 and 4.

but some of their supporters might have though.

[Ludwig]

As much as I agree that the trade restrictions were totally unjustified, it is a different matter whether they had any significant effect on our team. I have yet to hear a single realistic trade, other than the Patfull one, that we might be blocked from making. The reality is that even if we could have signed Patfull, he is a 30 yo medium defender that plays a lot like Laidler, but has a proven record. He probably would have kept Laidler out of our side and I'm not sure that Patfull is playing any better than Laidler this year. In any case, it would not be of any great significance.

As for 2015, we can still trade in players in the 350 k range, which is probably about what Teg and Reg are getting. If we were looking for another key defender, Rance would have been nice, but he's not available and we couldn't afford his salary anyway. Generally speaking, any player that could improve our team via a trade is probably beyond our reach more because of the COLA phase out and salary cap issues than direct trade restrictions imposed by the league.

There's no point in looking outside the club for reasons for our current poor performances. Next year the trade ban and COLA issues will have reached their conclusion and we can then move forward in normal manner. We always new the COLA was going to end someday and there would be some consequences, so there's little point to keep going on about it.

[Bexl]

As much as I agree that the trade restrictions were totally unjustified, it is a different matter whether they had any significant effect on our team. I have yet to hear a single realistic trade, other than the Patfull one, that we might be blocked from making. The reality is that even if we could have signed Patfull, he is a 30 yo medium defender that plays a lot like Laidler, but has a proven record. He probably would have kept Laidler out of our side and I'm not sure that Patfull is playing any better than Laidler this year. In any case, it would not be of any great significance.

As for 2015, we can still trade in players in the 350 k range, which is probably about what Teg and Reg are getting. If we were looking for another key defender, Rance would have been nice, but he's not available and we couldn't afford his salary anyway. Generally speaking, any player that could improve our team via a trade is probably beyond our reach more because of the COLA phase out and salary cap issues than direct trade restrictions imposed by the league.

There's no point in looking outside the club for reasons for our current poor performances. Next year the trade ban and COLA issues will have reached their conclusion and we can then move forward in normal manner. We always new the COLA was going to end someday and there would be some consequences, so there's little point to keep going on about it.

On the subject of moving on, Heeney and Mills used to battle with each other as too who was playing and training better. Mills is supposed to be better or at least higher rated so when we get both of them in our team that would be pretty good going on how Heeney has started off with us.

[Bloodthirsty]

Because the club may have something to hide.

Too greedy chasing free agents and back loading contracts.

Jetta will go for nothing and rucks and defence are just going and won't be replaced with players of their former calibre.

Mitchell and some of the other "up and comers" look ordinary under the pump at the moment

Premiership window. Closed.

So bloodthirsty can clear the schedule with the rest of the bandwagon jumpers. True believers hang in there. Or learn the way to spotless.

Ahh here we go. The predicable response: "bandwagon blah blah blah". Right after you surmised that your team may be cheats. So, you will just sit on your ass and watch football no matter what? No matter what the conduct of the people you support, devoid of any standards whatsoever?

If 'belief' is just believing in stuff based on nothing at all, like, say, a fool, then no, I'm not a believer. I recognise sport for the entertainment it is, and discern my involvement accordingly based on a variety of factors at any given time, with no thought given whatsoever to the opinions of others. Pretty much the exact opposite of someone on a bandwagon.

[paper_rival]

As much as I agree that the trade restrictions were totally unjustified, it is a different matter whether they had any significant effect on our team. I have yet to hear a single realistic trade, other than the Patfull one, that we might be blocked from making. The reality is that even if we could have signed Patfull, he is a 30 yo medium defender that plays a lot like Laidler, but has a proven record. He probably would have kept Laidler out of our side and I'm not sure that Patfull is playing any better than Laidler this year. In any case, it would not be of any great significance.

As for 2015, we can still trade in players in the 350 k range, which is probably about what Teg and Reg are getting. If we were looking for another key defender, Rance would have been nice, but he's not available and we couldn't afford his salary anyway. Generally speaking, any player that could improve our team via a trade is probably beyond our reach more because of the COLA phase out and salary cap issues than direct trade restrictions imposed by the league.

There's no point in looking outside the club for reasons for our current poor performances. Next year the trade ban and COLA issues will have reached their conclusion and we can then move forward in normal manner. We always new the COLA was going to end someday and there would be some consequences, so there's little point to keep going on about it.

Always a balanced point of view, Ludwig

[mcs]

As much as I agree that the trade restrictions were totally unjustified, it is a different matter whether they had any significant effect on our team. I have yet to hear a single realistic trade, other than the Patfull one, that we might be blocked from making. The reality is that even if we could have signed Patfull, he is a 30 yo medium defender that plays a lot like Laidler, but has a proven record. He probably would have kept Laidler out of our side and I'm not sure that Patfull is playing any better than Laidler this year. In any case, it would not be of any great significance.

As for 2015, we can still trade in players in the 350 k range, which is probably about what Teg and Reg are getting. If we were looking for another key defender, Rance would have been nice, but he's not available and we couldn't afford his salary anyway. Generally speaking, any player that could improve our team via a trade is probably beyond our reach more because of the COLA phase out and salary cap issues than direct trade restrictions imposed by the league.

There's no point in looking outside the club for reasons for our current poor performances. Next year the trade ban and COLA issues will have reached their conclusion and we can then move forward in normal manner. We always new the COLA was going to end someday and there would be some consequences, so there's little point to keep going on about it.

As harmful as the trade restrictions may be proving to be (this year especially), surely it will leave us in a fairly strong position potentially at the end of 2016. It is what it is sadly - it is ridiculous policy from the AFL, but they have clearly shown in recent years that they are like a political party - reactive to the latest fads going around. We will see it again at the end of the season when they come up with a bunch of changes to try and combat 'congestion', when proper application of the proper rules (in particular the HTB rule) would solve the issue without major rule changes.

[mcs]

Because the club may have something to hide.

Too greedy chasing free agents and back loading contracts.

Jetta will go for nothing and rucks and defence are just going and won't be replaced with players of their former calibre.

Mitchell and some of the other "up and comers" look ordinary under the pump at the moment

Premiership window. Closed.

So bloodthirsty can clear the schedule with the rest of the bandwagon jumpers. True believers hang in there. Or learn the way to spotless.

Nice rant redsox.......

What precisely has Mitchell done recently to show he is 'under the pump' - or are you like Longmire, who seems to point the finger at him the first time anything goes wrong (what a ridiculous decision to make him sub yesterday).

[barry]

Since the trade ban story broke, just before the grand final, we have never been the same since. I think the injustice of it has killed morale on and off the field.