Prestia and Bennell. We would then have a bona fide midfield in 2016.

Prestia and Bennell. We would then have a bona fide midfield in 2016.

Let's get it done. Would Howe and our first round clinch the deal? Unlike some Demonlanders, I would like to persist with Fitzy as a versatile KPP rather than trade him out (so we don't regret it like we did with Steph Martin)!

The thing is that Bennell is exactly the type of player we need, lots of pace and bucketloads of skill and X factor.

Imagine him hitting up The Hulk laces out.

I'd take the punt.

Agreed that you can hardly be surprised this has happened to Bennell considering the shithouse culture at Gold Coast.

It was always going to be a nightmare putting that many kids on high salaries in that city.

It's a good thing AFL clubs aren't run by mugs like me. I'd be attempting to broker megadeals like Bennell, Dixon and Prestia for Watts, Howe, 2015 first rounder, 2016 first rounder.

I was thinking Simon Goodwin.

If there's someone at the club who can related to Harley in regards to fighting his demons, overcoming some adversity and working towards redemption, I imagine Goodwin would be the man.

Spot on If you havent read Goodwins book, do yourself a favour. I believe Goodwin will have a tremendous positive influence on all our youngsters. Look at what he did with Hoges. He has the experience with some of the issues these young men are facing. Love Roos but cant wait for Goodwin.

On field Bennell is the exact player we are screaming out for..... Off the field, well he is the type of player that.... who give a flying f***..

Lets chase him hard...

Even Venom Denham reckons we are a shot for him, with Howe going to GC17 as part of the deal.

Get. It. DONE.

Wonder if our 1^st rounder and Howe for Bennell and their end of 1^st round compensation would get over the line?

I'm a bit out of the loop here, but did the Suns say that they will be trading him no matter what or only if the right deal comes along?

Surely they can't expect too much in return if they want him gone.

Harley staying at GC is not an option. He'll be gone regardless.

He could potentially go cheap, but all it takes is for minimum two clubs to buy into the notion that his upside is too great to drive the price up.

I suspect it will happen.

Pick 5, 2016 first rounder and howe for bennell & prestia id be all over.

Howe for Bennell would be perfect. I don't know if GC would take that as a straight swap but Bennell would be far, far more useful to us going forward than Howe would be.

I am assuming that your team assumes that we traded Howe for Prestia?

Or Prestia for our first rounder. Bennell should come cheaper given the baggage and the fact they have stated they want him gone. Otherwise, yeah. Howe and our second rounder.

I'm a bit out of the loop here, but did the Suns say that they will be trading him no matter what or only if the right deal comes along?

Surely they can't expect too much in return if they want him gone.

The suns came out & said "he WILL be traded."

Pick 5, 2016 first rounder and howe for bennell & prestia id be all over.

Too much I'd have thought - only a 2016 2nd rounder would be the preference.

if we can somehow miraculously extract bennell and prestia for 'just' our first rounder this year, our second rounder next year, and howe, i am likely to do cartwheels through the streets.

gc17 would be getting reamed big time on that sort of deal.

I'm indifferent on this. He's a talented player but has lots of baggage.

Does the MFC have the requirement for a player like him at this point in time?

Debatable.

I recall Darling had baggage at the time, and many didn't do their homework.

This kid is a jet. I'd back those in charge now to make the right call.

I hope not. I work in an emergency department so I do see a lot of drug abuse but I don't think it's as widespread as you say.

Big difference between drug abuse and drug use. Drug use is fairly widespread in the demographic we are talking about, drug abuse not so much but still a significant problem.

I recall Darling had baggage at the time, and many didn't do their homework.

This kid is a jet. I'd back those in charge now to make the right call.

Wasn't there a bit of talk that the baggage of Darling had been staged somewhat in order to enable him to drop down to West Coast. Now obviously this would amount to draft tampering, and we know WC are a clean club....

Legality and reality are 2 different things.

I'd also say you're quite content being a sheep if you're so caught up in the legality.

Alcohol is legal and ruins many lives.

Organised criminals are littered throughout big business and politics, although you may fail to recognise them.

I now am getting a better understanding of why you post the way you do on football topics...

Baaa.

If it is everywhere, as you say it is, then wouldn't the sheep be the people using it, not the people against its use?

i'm warming to it

Dont know if this has been reported but from afl.com - I'm not convinced I want to spend 6 on him now, especially considering that they want Howe. He is what we need though - no denying that. And the no [censored] policy went out the window and worked to the tune of 40 goals last year. My addition to this is that he has made it this long in the system. He clearly wants to play afl football or he wouldn't have lasted this long as we have seen with other players. GC / GWS must have been terrible environments to be in (not unlike the MFC). Maybe with the right support, and not being whipped from pillar to post each weekend - things might look up for Harley.

One list manager says despite losing the whip hand, the Suns could still demand a late first-round pick.

There is also a school of thought that clubs would trade a top-10 pick in exchange for Bennell and one of Gold Coast's later picks.

It currently has an end-of-first-round compensation pick and one early in the second round.

They can't keep him, they'd look too stupid.

They can't send him to the PSD - he's not out of contract.

They have to agree to a trade and Harley has to sign off on it.

Pick 6 for Bennell and 19 would value Bennell somewhere around pick 12 I'd say. That's probably the maximum offer.

Our job is to do a thorough background check and to get Bennell to commit to the club as his preference. After that happens we can start the bidding much lower. If other clubs want to make offers for a player who doesn't want to play for them and refuses to be traded too them then good luck to them. We can up the offer to one that placates Gold Coast for a player they have all but effectively sacked.

I'm not trying to be petty like an Essendon staff member, I'm just saying Bennell's value surely can't be sky high and Gold Coast have minimal leverage. I'd hate to use pick 6 given all the risk involved. Bennell averages 15 games a year the last 3 years and hasn't exactly polled huge votes in the Brownlow. I'd usually reserve pick 6's for guys with a much stronger pedigree regardless of off field problems.

If it is everywhere, as you say it is, then wouldn't the sheep be the people using it, not the people against its use?

Nope. The sheep are those who refuse to believe it is prevalent.

It seems that the questions around Bennell have to do with influence.

Gary Ablett jnr is one of the best players ever seen and his influence on games is immense. But it looks like his lack of off-field 'presence' means he has little influence on the sub-group of Gold Coast players who have the oppositie lifestyle to him. It appears the other leaders in the leadership group have also been unable to curb the behaviour of this party lifestyle sub-group. Having said that, I reckon Rocket Eade is going to tear that culture apart over the summer and look out for Gold Coast next year - they could be anything.

So, my question about Bennell would be - will the coaching leadership of Roos, Goodwin & McCartney, and the player leadership of Jones, Dunn, etc... be able to influence Harvey Bennell, or will his lifestyle badly influence players like Garlett, and young blokes like Harmes, hogan, Brayshaw etc...?

And the more I answer the question, the more I think that our leadership personnel can win the influence battle.

So let's recruit him.