The Writing Was/Is on the Wall

[rjay 25,087]

2 minutes ago, Demons11 said:

Brayshaw is a point of difference, outside skill and pace which we have very little of and you want to trade him.

God give me strength

Open your eyes mate..and don't go off half cocked.

He's not fast, he turns the ball over a bit and I don't necessarily want to trade him.

However, I think we need to be open to trades if the right deal comes along.

If you read earlier posts I think the only 2 players that are untouchable are Gawn and Oliver...

You might add Brayshaw to that list.

I was having an adult discussion with 'A F' about this, he thinks we should keep Brayshaw and he maybe right.

We do need to make changes to the composition of the list, last year Port bit the bullet and traded Wingard.

A gutsy move that so far has paid dividends with the kids they brought in.

[dieter 3,325]

It occurred to me this morning - in my wild erratic fancy - that there is a precedent for the drop off this season. Remember 1994, crash 1995, though a soft one.. 1998, crash 1999. 2000, crash 2001. 2002, crash 2003. Most recently there were finals 2006, crash bang 2007.I could go on.

Culture or co-incidence?

[JV7 2,354]

3 hours ago, dieter said:

It occurred to me this morning - in my wild erratic fancy - that there is a precedent for the drop off this season. Remember 1994, crash 1995, though a soft one.. 1998, crash 1999. 2000, crash 2001. 2002, crash 2003. Most recently there were finals 2006, crash bang 2007.I could go on.

Culture or co-incidence?

1998-99 - Upgraded membership to guaranteed grand final tickets 

2002-03 - Upgraded membership to guaranteed grand final tickets 

2018-19 - Upgraded membership to guaranteed grand final tickets 

Never upgrading again. Seems if we are to win one I’m not ment to be there 

[CBDees 3,167]

17 minutes ago, JV7 said:

1998-99 - Upgraded membership to guaranteed grand final tickets 

2002-03 - Upgraded membership to guaranteed grand final tickets 

2018-19 - Upgraded membership to guaranteed grand final tickets 

Never upgrading again. Seems if we are to win one I’m not ment to be there 

I try to never miss a Grand Final. It is the highlight of my football year watching the Pies being beaten on the big stage! 

[John Demonic 5,850]

18 hours ago, DV8 said:

While your at it 'Flemo56'... look at the Demonland banner.

 

We started making some changes late last year,  and what did we do.    We put a recruit in the centre, smack bang... who hadn't even played a game for us.

May has been a major disappointment,  to date.

 

These little things are OUR one percenters,  supporters One percenters,  that WE give out...  sometimes they're undeserved.

 

I think we should alter the banner by the Queens Birthday match... shifting some players. 

So Gawn is front and centre... with Oli Viney, Gus, Nev, Harmes flanking him... And Nev should Never be put outside, alone in the dark.

He deserves much much more,  than be way outside, on the outer.

 

.

May came back so overweight that they had to put him in the middle of the banner.

 

Edited April 26, 2019 by John Demonic

[Clintosaurus 7,861]

I'm watching the game v Adelaide in Alice Springs last year, and the difference has to be fitness and rule changes. We just destroyed them with pinpoint disposal and run, run, run. We looked quick too.

[DV8 2,271]

47 minutes ago, John Demonic said:

May came back so overweight that they had to put him in the middle of the banner.

 

I think, all of us had a thought that  'MAY'  would be the finals piece of our puzzle...

 

IMO, this is how we as a Club continually trip ourselves up.

 

When we are accumulating a decent list, we all get overly optimistic, at the drop of a Two-Up coin.  Then we go out and put a player who hasn't even played for us...  front and centre of our supporters banner.

 

This mind-set sends the wrong message to everyone,  including all of us,  which in-turn feeds our already oversized optimism...  ending up snow-balling.

 

Imo, it's counterproductive,  to be Too optimistic for Our  Melbourne footy club.

We are at our best,  when we are underdogs,  because that's when we are sharpest...  When we feel that we have something to prove.

Edited April 26, 2019 by DV8

[DV8 2,271]

7 hours ago, dieter said:

It occurred to me this morning - in my wild erratic fancy - that there is a precedent for the drop off this season. Remember 1994, crash 1995, though a soft one.. 1998, crash 1999. 2000, crash 2001. 2002, crash 2003. Most recently there were finals 2006, crash bang 2007.I could go on.

Culture or co-incidence?

OFF-field culture.

We are ALL so easily pleased with little wins.

We start to talk ourselves up only to fall back down.

 

We as a club  (not the team or list)...  talk cheaply, patting ourselves on the back, just for small wins,  on things insignificant.  This then rubs off on our list...  indeed rubs off on the whole club.

 

We are all too easily pleased with ourselves.  This is our curse.

 

.

[Flemo56 409]

1 hour ago, DV8 said:

OFF-field culture.

We are ALL so easily pleased with little wins.

We start to talk ourselves up only to fall back down.

 

We as a club  (not the team or list)...  talk cheaply, patting ourselves on the back, just for small wins,  on things insignificant.  This then rubs off on our list...  indeed rubs off on the whole club.

 

We are all too easily pleased with ourselves.  This is our curse.

 

.

  Unfortunately we only ever have small wins here and there DV8, then we fug it up the next week or season, so the majority of our supporters don’t no what a winning culture is like and their probably ain’t too many still around too remember the golden era. 

I will never turn my back on the club tho. ?

[Pennant St Dee 13,304]

On 4/21/2019 at 1:35 PM, rjay said:

Don't tell anyone 'Macca' but I think that Carlton may have a better balanced list than ours...just between you and me.

Once they learn to win and maybe change coach they are well positioned going forward.

I'm going to have to lay low, could be strung up for this one.

In the off season I made comment of how I liked the way Carlton had built their list after getting all their KPTs in and had/would focus towards mids in their trades and selections from here.

I was shot down by a few Deelanders who told me Carlton's list was rubbish and they'd be no good once Kruezar, Simpson and Murphy were gone.

I am not all doom and gloom as others seem to be you don't become rubbish overnight and fitness, confidence a few fresh injections and a slight change in game plan will right the ship not saying we'll do a 07 Cats or 17 Tigers but we will learn from this.

Nothing comes without hard work and the % we are off in fitness preparation with Oliver, Viney, Tmac, AVB, May, Jetta, Lever, Melksham is huge with our game plan. The ripple effect has impacted others on the list in terms of confidence and whilst we don't have much speed it looks a lot worse when we turining it over and lacking the ability to currently run 2 ways

[DV8 2,271]

1 minute ago, Flemo56 said:

  Unfortunately we only ever have small wins here and there DV8, then we fug it up the next week or season, so the majority of our supporters don’t no what a winning culture is like and their probably ain’t too many still around too remember the golden era. 

I will never turn my back on the club tho. ?

And nor will I,  'F56'.

Our job is to pass on what it is,  we think will help.

 

Our club continually gets ahead of itself.  Off-Field,  from the stands, and imo, Boards...  across the past 50+ years.

We get 3/4trs of the way there building a team...  and we're all convinced we've arrived already.

 

Premature Exaltation.

.

[Pennant St Dee 13,304]

9 hours ago, rjay said:

Open your eyes mate..and don't go off half cocked.

He's not fast, he turns the ball over a bit and I don't necessarily want to trade him.

However, I think we need to be open to trades if the right deal comes along.

If you read earlier posts I think the only 2 players that are untouchable are Gawn and Oliver...

You might add Brayshaw to that list.

I was having an adult discussion with 'A F' about this, he thinks we should keep Brayshaw and he maybe right.

We do need to make changes to the composition of the list, last year Port bit the bullet and traded Wingard.

A gutsy move that so far has paid dividends with the kids they brought in.

I hear you wouldn't like to trade him but Cerra is a good kid and Langdon is developing his disposal which along with his running power will push his price up

[YesitwasaWin4theAges 6,708]

9 hours ago, dieter said:

It occurred to me this morning - in my wild erratic fancy - that there is a precedent for the drop off this season. Remember 1994, crash 1995, though a soft one.. 1998, crash 1999. 2000, crash 2001. 2002, crash 2003. Most recently there were finals 2006, crash bang 2007.I could go on.

Culture or co-incidence?

I had the same thought last week, i think its just a co-incidence tho.

[rjay 25,087]

On 3/24/2019 at 3:31 PM, rjay said:

Tommy Mac worries me, he's had a good season as a forward but has been very average as of late.

History shows he had a really good season and a bit as a defender then dropped off dramatically.

Let's hope it's just an aberration and he's up and firing again soon but the trend is remarkably similar.

Is Tommy getting ahead of himself or have the opposition worked him?

Great to scratch out a win on the weekend...beats losing.

On that performance I agree with Clarkson that both teams are not much chop at the moment and probably going nowhere.

...but we did show a few good signs albeit against average opposition like the Swans game.

One of the big individual questions for me is...what is it with Tommy Mc?

He had that good period as a defender and looked like being one of the better KPD in the game then dropped right off to where he was close to heading back to Casey.

Now he's doing the same as a forward...even the couple of grabs he took out on his own on Saturday didn't look sure into his hands and his previous ability at kicking the set shot goal is gone.

Any ideas? it can't be injury surely. Even if his foot/feet give him trouble it doesn't explain his hands.

Maybe better bring in Dr Phil.

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,909]

19 minutes ago, rjay said:

Great to scratch out a win on the weekend...beats losing.

On that performance I agree with Clarkson that both teams are not much chop at the moment and probably going nowhere.

...but we did show a few good signs albeit against average opposition like the Swans game.

One of the big individual questions for me is...what is it with Tommy Mc?

He had that good period as a defender and looked like being one of the better KPD in the game then dropped right off to where he was close to heading back to Casey.

Now he's doing the same as a forward...even the couple of grabs he took out on his own on Saturday didn't look sure into his hands and his previous ability at kicking the set shot goal is gone.

Any ideas? it can't be injury surely. Even if his foot/feet give him trouble it doesn't explain his hands.

Maybe better bring in Dr Phil.

Tom McDonald played his second half against the Hawks much more like he played last year with strong overhead marks. Hopefully that's what he needed to be switched on for the rest of the year. What a difference one half of football can make. If he had played the second half of Saturday's game like he had the first, I suspect he would have been playing at Casey next week. 

[rjay 25,087]

On 3/24/2019 at 3:31 PM, rjay said:

You're right 'Goody', it's no reason to overreact but that's now 4 poor games in a row.

That's a trend.

I think we can now put some things into perspective and act to fix what we can.

From my post after the JLT games...

"A lot of people wanting to put things into perspective from my readings....

...so here's my perspective.

We're not good enough to cruise through preseason games just yet...if these games are meant to tweak the game plan and fine tune for the first game then heaven help us.

That was a dogs breakfast.

No amount of perspective can change that."

In another post earlier in the year I also said that our continued improvement will be harder this year.

We've been on a steady upward climb and logic would see us drop off a bit somewhere.

Is this the year we drop back a bit? do we miss finals?

A bit early to call but on the evidence of the last 4 games we've got work to do.

I think our list is overrated by the media and of course us fans...there are holes and I'm sure the FD know this.

We lack quality small forwards, Jeffy is the only class one we have and he's super flakey...

Spargo is not up to it yet and I don't think he has the tricks to ever be. At his size he needs them big time.

ANB can fill a role but at the moment that's what all our small forwards are trying to do...he must hit the scoreboard to hold his place.

We had Sparrow in there yesterday for his first game and at least he put some pressure on but he's not a small forward.

Hunt's been tried but he's not one either.

So our small forwards are about pressure but none bring scoreboard pressure except Jeffy at times.

Our defence..Frost, should have been delisted.

Omac...the experiment is over. Time to put development into Petty alongside May & Lever.

Hibberd hasn't been the player he was in 2017, he's drifting by and not working anywhere near hard enough.

We miss Lever big time but I think we overpaid for him, one of those draft kids running around now adding a bit of class could have been handy.

Tommy Mac worries me, he's had a good season as a forward but has been very average as of late.

History shows he had a really good season and a bit as a defender then dropped off dramatically.

Let's hope it's just an aberration and he's up and firing again soon but the trend is remarkably similar.

Is Tommy getting ahead of himself or have the opposition worked him?

A big call but maybe Tommy could do with some Casey time with his brother.

Weid is a kid and he will get a bit more time. Expect him to be up and down but he needs to work harder when down.

Trac...undecided on him. I get the feeling he will never be the player we wanted but still be a good player. Just not a great one.

It's time to deliver young Trac, no more teasing.

The mids are a good group but they are believing their own publicity.

Thanks Gary Lyon, we all know Oliver is a star but he doesn't need to drink his own bathwater and he has recently.

Time for them to grow up and also time for Max to focus on his game, he's being pushed around too easily.

You're a big boy Max and you don't need everyone to like you.

Outside run, yeah we all know that. KK may provide some if he gets back to early career form but there's no guarantee there.

Being out of the early picks in the last 2 drafts has hurt and we need to pick some more talent.

Fritsch is class but is only a fringe player at the moment so he needs to give us more this year.

A side note to yesterday...they were up and about.

Did anyone notice how many players ran to Sparrow when he kicked his first AFL goal in his first game? not enough for my liking.

We weren't up for it.

So the question remains...the writing was on the wall for yesterdays game. Is it on the wall going forward?

Will we drop off this year?

 

 

 

I just wanted to readdress some of the issues I made after the first game, and in fact at different stages through the preseason.

I think they're worth looking at again now that we have come full circle back to West Coast.

We were due to drop off at some stage.

Since Roos came on board we had improved our position on the ladder every year, so that was 5 years of steady improvement.

Why the drop off this year?

Injury has been an issue for sure. The preseason operations, lack of preseason for key players, the run of injuries during the season has been unfortunate.

Our coach is in his 3rd year, this is his big lesson year. He either sinks or swims in how he handles this...his reaction to the Prelim loss unfortunately let our players off the hook. We didn't play our brand was a poor answer.

My source tells me the players didn't come back in great shape and really thought they were better than they actually are. Making the finals for them was a huge pass mark, wining a few cause for celebration.

Goody needed to get them in on the Monday and go through that game whilst it was still top of mind. They needed to know they had achieved nothing...just made up the numbers and it wasn't good enough.

They wiped out the gains of making and wining a couple of finals with that performance against a real team.

A good experienced coach wouldn't have fallen for this one but as I say it's part of Goodwin's apprenticeship. Let's hope he learns from it.

So far he hasn't done much to change things up but I think at the end of this season he will face his Thompson, Buckley, Hardwick moment. He will lose some control and we will appoint new people to the FD, if not we're going nowhere.

List management; we improved our defensive stocks but at a high cost. I think we over paid for May and Lever. Not getting any value for them on the park just makes things worse.

We have deficiencies with our small forwards and leg speed in general that weren't addressed. The punt on KK to add a bit of class to the team has so far been a bust.

Tommy Mac hasn't produced up to expectation to date...will he be able to turn it on? or is he where he was as a defender a few years back and just barely holding his place in the team.

If you can do it once surely you can do it again but what is the mental switch that will get Tommy up and running and can Goody find it.

I don't like our midfield with Viney and Oliver in at centre bounces together. I much prefer Brayshaw to Viney as I think they work better together. I don't like to see Brayshaw sitting out of the wing, he's being wasted and is better value than Viney.

 Viney is see ball/get ball and really need to smarten his game up. Should never have been made captain so early in his career. Another novice coaching error.

Oliver is getting a lot of ball but wasteful at the moment and he's much better than this. Is it him, is it game plan, is it teammates not getting to better positions...probably a bit of everything.

Max is not holding his grabs and needs to. He's dropped off just enough to make a bit of a difference, he's been worked out a bit.

Trac is treading water...I don't think his form has been as poor as others say but he has a lot more that he needs to give. I think he may be being over coached and needs to be let loose, have his shots from outside 50, have a good run in the guts...

Now for Frosty...

Frost has been ok, I'm a Frost knocker but concede he is at least worth a place on the list (not a good call by me) & has played some good games and is good depth.

Stanley was a great athlete very average footballer a few years back and has turned the corner so maybe there is some hope for Frosty, we can certainly use his athleticism... but I shudder every time he tries to take on a dinky little pass or to cross the ball, please keep it simple Frosty.

So we head back to Perth...would be a mammoth effort to win this one, I don't think we can do it but stranger things have happened.

I will be looking for improved form from Tommy, see him lead up at the ball and hold a few marks, kick straight.

Has Baker got something to work with, I didn't think so but he did a couple of nice things last week that showed some promise. Maybe he can make it, if he's half the player of that other redheaded Qld Brownlow winner he will be ok.

I want to see Trac come out of his shell and just play footy. I want to see Viney do the team things, Clayton get back his great vision and decision making.

I want to see Viney do the team things and be a real captain.

I would like to see Brayshaw back in the middle.

I want to know if Petty can make it, my observation is he might be a little too slow.

I would like to see us change up the game plan...more of the same would be insanity.

...and to my poor mate on here who thinks I'm being too negative, well I think I'm trying to take an objective view and take my fans glasses off.

Just make some observations from the cheap seats...

 

 

[Skin Deeamond 339]

On 4/26/2019 at 6:16 PM, Pennant St Dee said:

In the off season I made comment of how I liked the way Carlton had built their list after getting all their KPTs in and had/would focus towards mids in their trades and selections from here.

I was shot down by a few Deelanders who told me Carlton's list was rubbish and they'd be no good once Kruezar, Simpson and Murphy were gone.

I am not all doom and gloom as others seem to be you don't become rubbish overnight and fitness, confidence a few fresh injections and a slight change in game plan will right the ship not saying we'll do a 07 Cats or 17 Tigers but we will learn from this.

Nothing comes without hard work and the % we are off in fitness preparation with Oliver, Viney, Tmac, AVB, May, Jetta, Lever, Melksham is huge with our game plan. The ripple effect has impacted others on the list in terms of confidence and whilst we don't have much speed it looks a lot worse when we turining it over and lacking the ability to currently run 2 ways

Carlton is rubbish

[Macca 17,032]

On 05/06/2019 at 9:46 AM, rjay said:

Any ideas? it can't be injury surely. Even if his foot/feet give him trouble it doesn't explain his hands.

All things are often connected rjay ... foot injuries can upset your balance and confidence so marking can be affected. 

T-Mac is not moving to his marks in the same way and he often looks proppy.  Time probably fixes things. 

Trengove is a good example - all parts of his game were affected because of that debilitating foot injury.  And he was never the same player afterwards. 

Back injuries are the worst ... a likely end of career injury for the most part.  Especially for key forwards.

Until T-Mac can move freely again he'll be sub par.  I have seen the same thing happen at suburban level a stack of times.  I had acute achilles tendonitus in both feet for close on 10 years and I survived on muscle memory alone!  And trust me,  simple tasks became very difficult.

And it is not an excuse either ... it's a reason.  We all want him to be back at his best but we're going to have to be patient.

[old dee 23,871]

1 minute ago, Macca said:

All things are often connected rjay ... foot injuries can upset your balance and confidence so marking can be affected. 

T-Mac is not moving to his marks in the same way and he often looks proppy.  Time probably fixes things. 

Trengove is a good example - all parts of his game were affected because of that debilitating foot injury.  And he was never the same player afterwards. 

Back injuries are the worst ... a likely end of career injury for the most part.  Especially for key forwards.

Until T-Mac can move freely again he'll be sub par.  I have seen the same thing happen at suburban level a stack of times.  I had acute achilles tendonitus in both feet for close on 10 years and I survived on muscle memory alone!  And trust me,  simple tasks became very difficult.

And it is not an excuse either ... it's a reason.  We all want him to be back at his best but we're going to have to be patient.

Think 2020 Macca

[old dee 23,871]

36 minutes ago, Stormy Dee said:

Carlton is rubbish

Carlton are better than they look in 2019. They have been hit with injuries this year, their kids are playing well just short of senior players at present.

Sound familiar ?

[rjay 25,087]

24 minutes ago, Macca said:

All things are often connected rjay ... foot injuries can upset your balance and confidence so marking can be affected. 

T-Mac is not moving to his marks in the same way and he often looks proppy.  Time probably fixes things. 

Trengove is a good example - all parts of his game were affected because of that debilitating foot injury.  And he was never the same player afterwards. 

Back injuries are the worst ... a likely end of career injury for the most part.  Especially for key forwards.

Until T-Mac can move freely again he'll be sub par.  I have seen the same thing happen at suburban level a stack of times.  I had acute achilles tendonitus in both feet for close on 10 years and I survived on muscle memory alone!  And trust me,  simple tasks became very difficult.

And it is not an excuse either ... it's a reason.  We all want him to be back at his best but we're going to have to be patient.

It's a good call 'Macca'...

It might also explain his kicking, he couldn't miss last year but struggling to hit the side of a barn this year with his set shots.

[Macca 17,032]

1 minute ago, rjay said:

It's a good call 'Macca'...

It might also explain his kicking, he couldn't miss last year but struggling to hit the side of a barn this year with his set shots.

And that doesn't happen without good reason ... he is our No.1 forward now and whilst he did well in Hogan's absence last year,  the other clubs have done their homework on Tom in the off-season. 

Weideman not coming on means that it is now easier to cut Tom out of the game. 

Tom is a good no.2 or no.3 but being no.1 brings with it a lot more attention. 

On top of all that,  he is not moving freely at all.

[Deemania since 56 6,716]

On 4/21/2019 at 2:41 PM, DV8 said:

Delay Lever...  delay May,  and get him started on a major fitness regime`... Now.!

Start playing kids with some speed... and rotate them every 2 games...  and do not allow them to get false big heads.

 

Don't start,  playing last years footy from now on...  or we will lose out again,  and get no-where.  We are low on ladder...  do not put up politically-correct wins, now 2019 is shot.

 

Hit this years draft & trade period,  'running'...   we need some top-line running skilled kids.   No trading out of our better draft picks.

Look to trade-out for needs...anyone who is not an elite-runner,  and committed to being elite-fitness.

The severity of what you suggest is fully justified - supporters need to see a change in capability, skills and real footballing intensity. To achieve this, these processes could even go further to up-skill those regulars (the majority of players) who are happy to lag and ascend to a weekly selection at limited cost to their effort. 

[Little Goffy 14,639]

24 minutes ago, old dee said:

Carlton are better than they look in 2019. They have been hit with injuries this year, their kids are playing well just short of senior players at present.

Sound familiar ?

Carlton may yet brew up something respectable, even dangerous. It looks like they've got a No.1 pick exactly right this time, and adding such a complete midfielder to their mix makes a huge difference. Right now they could do with an extra big body or two to take some of the contested pummeling, but overall their existing young midfield quartet (Cripps, Walsh, Dow, Petrevski-Seton) has real potential. I'd argue they need to bring that up to six instead of four, with the extra two being chunky types. As we all know, all too well, it is much easier to find solid, hard-working extractors than it is to find dynamic users.

They recruited their talls first on the obvious theory that talls take longer to develop and they wanted everyone peaking at the same time. Injury (defence) and form (attack) issues have certainly proved that right, but the structure is there. I really think they could rise again to their heady heights of a few years ago, where they were successful also-rans in a couple of finals series.

Meanwhile, I think Melbourne are two fit key defenders, a couple of in-form tall forwards, and slightly improved kicking effectiveness short of being the dominant team of the competition.

Can we make those things happen in time to salvage 2019? From where we are right now, all it takes is six players finding their way to their best.

(Lever at his best) + (May at his best) + (McDonald at his best) + (Weideman at his best) + (Brayshaw at his best) + (Viney at his best)

= Monster winning streak and premiership favourite.

It is a lot to ask, but also not much to ask, in the grand scheme of things.

[John Demonic 5,850]

On 4/26/2019 at 1:55 AM, rjay said:

Open your eyes mate..and don't go off half cocked.

He's not fast, he turns the ball over a bit and I don't necessarily want to trade him.

However, I think we need to be open to trades if the right deal comes along.

If you read earlier posts I think the only 2 players that are untouchable are Gawn and Oliver...

You might add Brayshaw to that list.

I was having an adult discussion with 'A F' about this, he thinks we should keep Brayshaw and he maybe right.

We do need to make changes to the composition of the list, last year Port bit the bullet and traded Wingard.

A gutsy move that so far has paid dividends with the kids they brought in.

I'm so glad someone else is saying this too. The media line that we have too many of the same types is no coincidence and has ramifications on our playing style. We need to make a big trade move this year to acquire an outside running mid with speed and burst if we're not getting a Free agent. It's plainly obvious that Viney is also off limits for cultural and leadership reasons moreso than talent reasons. So it would be between Brayshaw, Petracca and Harmes. But Petracca has a very high ceiling and is not worth trading for what we'd get I think.

I've said in a trade thread a few weeks that in terms of a forecasted ceiling, Harmes may be at his highest point of value right now given he is a late pick and you'd pick Brayshaw to improve far more. But as it stands he's being played in the middle as a priority over Brayshaw who has again been moved to a position that doesn't suit his natural abilities. So I think if this continues then Brayshaw would probably be the most open to a trade at the end of the year and Harmes seems more in the Viney mould of limited ability, but would be kept for a mix of reasons that include being a barometer for the team right now re run and momentum. if I was Freo list manager with Langdon or Cerra wanting a trade, i would be looking at a player like Harmes and thinking back to 2 years ago and where he was at, I would be reticent to trade for him without more coming back. Brayshaw as a pick 3 is going to provide the best trade value out there right now in us attaining an elite running mid.

Edit: And I'd keep Salem over Brayshaw. This year more so than any other has shown the reasons for that.

 

Edited May 17, 2019 by John Demonic