With That Backline and CO13, CP5, MG11 in the midfield and TMac and BBB up forward - we are going to struggle to get into conversations for these players.

34 minutes ago, rpfc said:

With That Backline and CO13, CP5, MG11 in the midfield and TMac and BBB up forward - we are going to struggle to get into conversations for these players.

A good finish this year may change that. Players want flags (and money of course).

They got 99 problems and don't want a wooden spoon or mid table mediocrity to be one!

40 minutes ago, rpfc said:

With That Backline and CO13, CP5, MG11 in the midfield and TMac and BBB up forward - we are going to struggle to get into conversations for these players.

Sounds like a team of droids!!

2 hours ago, Left Foot Snap said:

Sounds like a team of droids!!

Hopefully none of them have bad motivators...

I think adding in Zac would be great but who makes way for him in the middle? 

From a salary cap POV, we will need room for Trac, who will be demanding north of 900K per year but is worth more than that on the open market obviously. 

Zac would command 750-800K minimum and i think teams will be throwing a lot more at him than that. So it will really boil down to how much we can afford to pay and what he is happy to relinquish. It is actually a good problem to have because it will tell you about the players intentions, motivations etc. You just have to look at what is happening at Carlton and the Saints who have traded in heavily - they now have a team of individuals. The Doggies got so lucky with Treloar given that the Pies are paying 300K of his salary but they have one too many stars in that team so i wouldn't be surprised if we saw one or two trades there in the coming year or two. 

Gut feel is that we are dreaming on this one and I would rather focus on developing/securing our existing squat and bringing in youth via the draft. 

3 hours ago, rpfc said:

With That Backline and CO13, CP5, MG11 in the midfield and TMac and BBB up forward - we are going to struggle to get into conversations for these players.

Theoretically yes, but it doesn't seem to work that way in practice. Has there been a single high profile free agent that didn't go to a flag contender with a bunch of highly paid stars? If he nominates us, it will happen.

5 minutes ago, CYB said:

I think adding in Zac would be great but who makes way for him in the middle? 

He's a very, very good player. Not on the level of Oliver or Petracca, but he'd be our third best midfielder and offer a point of difference. He's just about the best kick in the league and would comfortably slot into our midfield rotation. 

Not saying I want him necessarily, but worth having a serious think about. Given our list profile, we might get better bang for our buck chasing a big name key defender in 2-3 years when May starts to slow down (depending on how Petty progresses).

Got to think what happens if the opposition get him too... Imagine Brisb, Tiges, Dogs or Port, with him added. 

Z.Merrett is a gun, and would obviously be handy but has huge interest from clubs, if he decided to leave just to get into the conversation we'd have to pay a huge price, and even then Essendon would match (99% sure he's a RFA) and then we'd have to give up a huge amount to get the deal done. 

if we could pull it off, amazing but this to me screams of stay, or goes to Carlton who try to get him into the PSD as they do with any team that doesn't accept a lowball over. 

He might be just as motivated by success than money you know. 

He first has decide whether he wants to remain at Essendon and then has to make a decision which club has the best chance of a premiership in the next 4 years, the money aspect will then come into play.

I believe we will have the money since Jones will probaly retire which probably frees up 300k and some players may take a paycut to fit in a player of his quality.

Hopefully his old school mates Salem and Hunt can get in his ear, as well as Goody, Melksham and Hibberd, who would have been at the Bombers when Merrett was drafted.

Would complement our midfield mix very nicely, and fill out our midfield.  If the Dogs are one of our main contenders, I reckon their midfield bats 1 or 2 quality mids deeper than ours, and Merrett could help bridge that gap.

I'm hoping we've spread our TPP's with our re-signings this year to give us some play to offer a competitive contract to Merrett, although it's clear that we won't be offering the biggest dollars. If Merrett's not chasing the money (nothing suggests that he is primarily motivated by this), we'd be offering as good an environment as any right now.

2 hours ago, ChaserJ said:

Hopefully his old school mates Salem and Hunt can get in his ear, as well as Goody, Melksham and Hibberd, who would have been at the Bombers when Merrett was drafted.

Would complement our midfield mix very nicely, and fill out our midfield.  If the Dogs are one of our main contenders, I reckon their midfield bats 1 or 2 quality mids deeper than ours, and Merrett could help bridge that gap.

I'm hoping we've spread our TPP's with our re-signings this year to give us some play to offer a competitive contract to Merrett, although it's clear that we won't be offering the biggest dollars. If Merrett's not chasing the money (nothing suggests that he is primarily motivated by this), we'd be offering as good an environment as any right now.

Pretty sure Merrett went to Melbourne Grammar. 

Salem and Hunt definitely didn't. 

5 minutes ago, JimmyGadson said:

Pretty sure Merrett went to Melbourne Grammar. 

Salem and Hunt definitely didn't. 

You’re right. He was in Sandringham squad with those guys, but it was Kelly that was school mates with Salem & Hunt at Brighton.