From Warnocks point of view, why would he want to stay at Freo and be a second string ruckman to the big Aaron, when according to plenty of people who are supposed to know, he could be 1st choice at a number of other teams. From his point of view why would he want to stay here?

Why would he want to go to Melbourne - it seems they're a long way from any knid of success.
Once Robbie has developed some more and is fully fit, he and Sandi will both get a lot of game time, with one resting up forward, while the other rucks, he won't necessarily play second fiddle to Sandi. And why not stay with Sandi to learn more from him - they are pretty much the same size, with not many others in the comp as tall.

I have never seen Naitanui play, but I noticed his ability has only been questioned since Tank West Eagles seemed to have laid their cards on the table that they wanted Rich and as such the other bloke is now no good!

Well they have to run down Naitanui's ability, otherwise someone might ask a question about why they went for the white haired Subiaco lad first.

Of course there is the Jeff White option. Melbourne just takes Robbie with their first choice and doesn't lose any other draft picks. They will still have a concession pick at number 17 annd 19.

Having gone the Jeff White option once, do you seriously think Melbourne would go it again?

I mean, they'd run the risk of ending up with another Jeff White.

Out of contract = no bargaining power if the team he is going to is going to finish last and has first pick anyway. Or have I misunderstood the situation.

You're assuming Robbie is a bastard, in which case he's going to want as much money as he can get, in which case he might decide to shop himself around to all the Melbourne clubs andor price himself too high and drift through to a club with some sort of bank balance, in which case Melbourne are going to want to try and trade first.

I'd suggest there are several clubs working on Powerpoint presentations with even more transitions and better clip art. The scuttlebutt is that Collingwood have bought a laser pointer.

Shopping for the best wage packet doesn't make him a bastard.

Early in his career, out of contract, in demand, home and AFL brother in Victoria. Realistically, if it were me, I wouldn't reject Freo out of hand, but they'd have to put together some pretty darn fancy multimedia to convince me that they were the employer of choice. And if another club's animations were better, I wouldn't feel obliged to stay at Freo just because Freo didn't get the exchange they wanted for me.

The cut and thrust of list management.

How old is he? 21? 22? That makes him Gen Y, right?

In my experience, he'll chase the dollars. Mercenaries the lot of them.

This is funny.

http://www.watoday.c...ock-wooed-to-stay-at-freo-20080818-3xlz.html

"I have not really seen him back with Melbourne, it is probably none of my business."

Tim Clarke and I have differing ideas about the words woo and urge.

but he did go for 'dual teammate' instead of two-time team-mate.

Reading that article, it sounds as though Campbell simply didn't want to be wude and talk out of turn. So polite, these Kiwis.

The way I see it is that if Warnock decides that he wants to go home, Freo's best option is to get an offer for him from a Melbourne team that has a better chance of playing finals. Hopefully this will entice him to consider other teams and Melbourne would need to try and trade for him. The dogs and collingwood could do with him. Richmond has put their hand up but that doesn't help us much.

Am I the only one who was expecting to see a picture of Barra in the Story Tools stuff at the bottom of that link

If it comes down to the animations within Powerpoint presentations then we are stuffed. I refer, of course, to the woeful animation that has appeared on the big screen after each of our three home wins this year. A worse effort I have never seen.

I'm not convinced Robbie will leave let alone follow the foot steps of that mummy's boy White. If he does decide to go home then we are in a very good position to get some very good players in return.

The saints and tigers both need a ruckman and will be keen to get their hands on him. A 1st round pick is certainly what freo will be asking for and will put the pressure on melbourne to match them. I personally would be happy with Warnock and a 2nd or 3rd rd pick for melbournes 1st pick. We could pick up Rich and Ziebell while picking up a ruckman if necessary with a later pick. Sandi has proven this season he can go it alone while Kepler and Happy are more than capable of contesting the ruck and damaging the opposition around the ground. Connelly needs a year or two to get bigger but could be a very good ruckman in time.

Natanui has been severely overated from the start of the year in regards to his position as a top draft pick. He is possibly a top 10 pick but it would not surprise me if he fell lower. His athletic ability is fantastic, he can run and he can jump. Beyond that their are massive question marks. His kicking is shocking with hospital passes aplenty. He doesn't read the play well and does not know how to position himself around contests and the ground in general.

Trouble is, Biz, Robbie could walk into Melbourne as part of the Pre-Season Draft as their #1 pick and we could get nothing for him.

If he wants to head back to Victoria, I hope he wants to head to any club but Melbourne and then the clubs will be forced to trade to secure him onto their lists.

If I was in someone's shoes at Melbourne, I'd be working hard to get Warnock without losing the first pick.

I'm not, though... so I content myself with sitting back and considering teh developing rivalry twixt us and them.

If he does go, I hope they take the surgery back.