Moneyball?

[John Wren]

lonergan.

[think positive]

Who knows pick 5 might end up being better than both of them.

And let's be honest here,the Lions just got plain lucky with these two.They only got Christiansen because he(allegedly) slept with his team mate's wife and had to get out of Geelong,while Beams wanted to be with his sick father and take a bucket load of cash as well.It's not as if they wanted to be there because the Lions have such a great team culture.

Funny allegation.
But you make some good points.

It's certainly doing the rounds, heard it more than just here

[E]

I think Buckley watches Moneyball every night before bed. We have so many flawed diamonds and he just wants more and more.

Read the book. Most people who've watched the movie have the premise wrong or misunderstand it. It's not just about getting cheap under appreciated skills.

It was also pioneered by a guy who had about a quarter of the budget that his opposition has to spend on players (and for the record, every team he has ever built has been a dud in the playoffs, including THIS YEAR'S VERSION).

Salary cap leagues dont adopt moneyball. In the US, the secret to success in salary cap leagues like football is to get a small group of absolute elite talent (and pay them market rates when their talents are clearly above talent - hodge, Lewis, Mitchell, Roughhead, Franklin anyone????). Then put cheap but effective role players to execute the game plan that a team has. And then, hope you get a few super players on rookie contracts when players tend to be cheaper.

[E]

I'm not an advocate of prescribed numbers of A, B, C graders being required to get a team to a GF. Be nice to have 8 or more A graders but they then chew a significant amount of the TPP pool and then by necessity you have to have more C graders because that's what you can afford.

What is then the tipping point in the balance of A, B, and C graders? Saints 2010 a case in point. Too many C graders to get the ultimate prize. What if you didn't have to use any C graders?

ironically, it was one of their A-graders who screwed up the chance to kick the winning goal with the last kick of the game that would have delivered the flag and proven your point incorrect......

[Piethagoras' Theorem]

Christensen A grade? I just spat out my alphabet soup!

Funnily enough, it spelt, BULLSHIT!

I buy the ones in uppercase

I once vomited a steak that looked like Jesus - but that's another story.

Impressive. Please don't tell me it went in well done and came out medium rare. That would just freak me out