I'm sitting on the fence with a few of your posts on this thread 6'2-Matt but I have to agree with this one.
More than one commentator has commented on the trend for players to nominate their club of destination in the press even when they are under contract. The tail is wagging the dog.
Forget the name of the pundit but someone was saying that the Lions need to be very very strong with Aish and unless they absolutely get what he is worth (and I'd say that is a top 10 pick) they MUST let him go to the PSD a la Stevens from Port Adelaide in the early 00s. Sure they may lose a player for nothing but it sends a clear message to the playing group as to who is in charge.
As for Cam McCarthy, this is an absolute no brainer. Regardless of what Freo offer he must go nowhere. Let him honour his contract in the twos if need be but the reality is that if they play finals next year and then a GF the year after he'll be more than happy to stay.
It really does re-inforce the need for the Northern Clubs to become home grown and it is for that reason that any further watering down of the academy system in any form needs to be met with a legal response. The Lions should be drafting 3 quality academy kids this years draft (Hipwood, Keays, Chol) but it will take 10 years of a crop like this (i.e. a good one) to get them to the required 75%. And then when they do @@@@s like Eddie will want the system shredded as soon as any of us have any success at all.
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