I agree, but I have a gut feel we will get him.

I have agut feel we won't

Have always thought it was Carlton with Freo next

If he does not stay at the Pies

I have agut feel we won't

Have always thought it was Carlton with Freo next

If he does not stay at the Pies

Certainly the Hogan situation plays havoc with the gut, as do some of Malthouse's comments!

Are there any other FA forwards we could possibly be looking at? I have seen the list but cant recall anyone jumping out at me

for over 30 years and every Premiership side or close contender has had at least 1 power forward and 1 or 2 others who played a rolein the forward line. Meth Coast of 05/06 had such a good midfield they were the only ones without a genuine power forward, Ash Hansen was the best of a bad bunch.

Good post and spot on i reckon. Didn't Quentin Lynch play for Wet Coke in 05/06? He was ok in that role so that gives them 2, with Hansen

Are there any other FA forwards we could possibly be looking at? I have seen the list but cant recall anyone jumping out at me

They are re-signing rapidly.

Montagna, Goddard, and Cloke would be the few left that are very enticing.

If we get Boak it might cost Pick 4.

If we get Caddy it might cost Pick 13.

If we get a FA it won't cost a pick.

You've got to remember as well, I think, that many contenders also have an abundance of midfielders who kick goals.

That's true but i reckon a big reason for this is that the big fellas, if they don't mark, consistently (and more importantly perhaps in a predicable way and spot) bring the ball to ground, allowing the midfielders to hit packs front and center and crumb).

Also with the decent big fellas bringing the ball to ground there are more stoppages again bringing the mids into play (goals from stoppages have been key to Colls success in the last few years.

Finally, having backs super focused on stopping the big marking forwards and the fact they are often doubled team brings mids who are resting or floating up forward into the game (Swan and Pendlebury come to mind)

We need good players. We have a boatload of Salary Cap money that we HAVE TO SPEND.

The way some of you are talking about Cloke you would think our list is in a lot better shape than it is.

Could you be a bit more precise as to how much a boatload is or are you just guessing?

I don't think you have a clue as to how much room we will have left in the salary cap next year.

People need to realise we have set ourselves up for FA. That means protecting players we want to keep and chasing players we want. That and the fact we have a young team are the reasons we have been front loading contracts

To spend near 15% of our salary cap on one player seems more than a little stupid. In fact it seems totally F*&^^% ridiculous.

Cloke ain't that good.

Could you be a bit more precise as to how much a boatload is or are you just guessing?

I don't think you have a clue as to how much room we will have left in the salary cap next year.

My understanding is that the salary cap is $9.139 million next year. If we were paying 92.5%, as per this year, that's $8.45 mil.

Just bumping it up to 100% gives us almost $700k.

I know how simplistic that is, given we are signing new contracts which presumably take account of this, but I reckon ballpark it would be pretty close, especially given Green and probably Moloney's wages will be freed up too.

Good post and spot on i reckon. Didn't Quentin Lynch play for Wet Coke in 05/06? He was ok in that role so that gives them 2, with Hansen

Lynch had a decent year in 06 but talk about silver service take your pick lace out from Kerr, Cousins, Judd, Banfield, Stenglein, Braun. Gardy played in the forward line in 2005 and probably kicked Meth Coast out of it.

Could you be a bit more precise as to how much a boatload is or are you just guessing?

I don't think you have a clue as to how much room we will have left in the salary cap next year.

The new CBA says that you MUST spend $8.7m next year (the cap is $9.14).

We have only 22 players contracted right now for next year.

Without knowing exactly what people are on I think it is an open secret that we have quite a bit of room in the cap...

My understanding is that the salary cap is $9.139 million next year. If we were paying 92.5%, as per this year, that's $8.45 mil.

Just bumping it up to 100% gives us almost $700k.

I know how simplistic that is, given we are signing new contracts which presumably take account of this, but I reckon ballpark it would be pretty close, especially given Green and probably Moloney's wages will be freed up too.

Minimum is 95% in the new CBA.

Minimum is 95% in the new CBA.

Right - didn't know that.

Nevertheless, regardless of what the minimum is, there will be a big gap between the '2012 Actual' and '2013 Possible' numbers...

I agree, but I have a gut feel we will get him.

I'm actually the opposite, I have a gut feel we won't and he will go to either Carlton or GWS (Richmond/Adelaide as outside chances).

From what I am hearing I don't believe we are into Cloke.

From what I am hearing, there are a lot of people on here that talk up what they know, but actually have nothing to back it up.

From what I am hearing, there are a lot of people on here that talk up what they know, but actually have nothing to back it up.

Yeah, but you quickly pick up the posters who wouldn't say they know something unless they know something.

From what I am hearing, there are a lot of people on here that talk up what they know, but actually have nothing to back it up.

I would believe Redleg Moonshadow.

He does not make predictions all that often.

But he does have a very good strike rate.

Are there any other FA forwards we could possibly be looking at? I have seen the list but cant recall anyone jumping out at me

This article suggested we were into Quentin Lynch. Not sure whether talks have stalled or not, but in the event that we secure Hogan, Q would be a good rental for a year or two. I certainly think we need at least one more team orientated big man up forward to support Mitch.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/141723/default.aspx

It's also worth remembering that in situations like these, things can change very quickly, and sometimes in a surprising way.

It's also worth remembering that in situations like these, things can change very quickly, and sometimes in a surprising way.

Mark Neeld's doing a good job now?

It's also worth remembering that in situations like these, things can change very quickly, and sometimes in a surprising way.

We know that from last year think it was the Thursday night Mitch said thanks but no thanks to our offer, without public knowledge Neeld & others flew to Brisbane while papers were writing Mitch to Freo pages then some stage on the Saturday night I saw a post on Demonland confirming Mitch had agreed to sign for Dees

We know that from last year think it was the Thursday night Mitch said thanks but no thanks to our offer, without public knowledge Neeld & others flew to Brisbane while papers were writing Mitch to Freo pages then some stage on the Saturday night I saw a post on Demonland confirming Mitch had agreed to sign for Dees

I think I saw the same PSD

However what is really sad is that the two of us have nothing better to do than be on Demonland on a saturday night in the off season.

We need lives mate

Maybe it was something I ate, but my gut feel has moved in the direction that Cloke will stay a pie - MFC food is too fresh, CFC food is too rich, and interstate food not edible.

Cloke is gone if the pies are are shopping around for a gap fill forward in lynch or fev. If reports are true that we are after hogan then we are out of the race. My rock hard gut feel is the giants learnt from the mistakes of scully and have had cloke all along

Carlton losing to the Suns could throw a spanner in the works for him coming to Melb.

I'm optimistic that his connection with Neeld and Leigh Brown could get him to us.