We should be quietly 'expressing interest' in every Carlton player who will be coming out of contract in the next couple of years.

Not because I think we need any of Marchbank, Martin, Owies or Silvagni or even Cerra, but because both Weitering and De Koning come into free agent status at the end of 2025 and Carlton already have four of the AFL's highest paid players and have paid overs in salary to acquire a few others in recent years (Martin, Cerra leading that list) so the squeeze is on and it is the responsibility of every club to limit Carlton in every possible way!

That said, the serious targets I'd want to sneak out of the Blues would be De Koning, Weitering (I'm constantly shocked he is still only 26) and on a lower scale I think Brodie Kemp is starting to show he's got a bright career ahead.

More immediately, as much as Lukosius might be a little happier now he is actually playing in something resembling his best position again, I still think he would be interested in a move and that we should be interested in using him as a wide-patrol CHF to make our inside 50s a little less slimy.

I would kill for Weitering

Combo of Lever and May

Weitering and TDK will not be leaving Princes Park, they are aiming for a flag in Navy Blue.

Martin and Marchbank might be off loaded when all the sums are done, both quite talented but simply haven't had enough time actually playing with repeated injury setbacks.

31 minutes ago, No. 31 said:

Weitering and TDK will not be leaving Princes Park, they are aiming for a flag in Navy Blue.

Martin and Marchbank might be off loaded when all the sums are done, both quite talented but simply haven't had enough time actually playing with repeated injury setbacks.

Nobody will leave Carlton right now unless they are pushed. The year is 1st genuine year of premiership  window. 

42 minutes ago, Gawndy the Great said:

Nobody will leave Carlton right now unless they are pushed. The year is 1st genuine year of premiership  window. 

their premiership window has been open for at least 5 years imo

they just kept stuffing up, but banking those sweet, sweet early picks as a result

they remind me so much of us in 2021. but i think the bloods are better than any competition that we ran into that year

6 minutes ago, whatwhat say what said:

their premiership window has been open for at least 5 years imo

I would say it is year 1. This is the first time in a very long time that the Blues are a realistic contender. It is a good age profile of players and the club behind the scenes finally has its house in order. Very good drafting and trading in the last couple of seasons as well. That mythical 'window' should be open for several years to come ... 

Carlton's spine is as good as anybody's. They are right in the premiership hunt.

Let’s aim for POSSIBLE options to discuss not dream wish list players like LDU, Weitering or Holmes. 

This may be an off topic post but I overheard a Filth supporter at work saying that Petracca should go to Collingwood because after all he grew up as a Collingwood supporter. I am pretty sure that Petraccas opinion and sentiment towards the filth is much different now than it was 15 years ago.

11 hours ago, MrFreeze said:

Yep let's trade Oliver 1 year into a 7 year deal during a career worst year and terrible pre season. Thanks Corns and Morris.

I think the idea was to NOT get triggered on this thread 🤣

I think we should go to the draft this year with as much draft capital as possible. Hopefully we can bring in one or two UFA,s too. 
We probably need to go hard at next years draft too before we start trading top picks for players. That’s 2 years to add to our crop of young players and one to target more mature players through trading before the Tassie team enters starts in 2027. 
I remember being super impressed with Richmond’s recruitment in 21. A year after their last flag and they went to the draft with 5 picks inside the top 30. A year later they added Hopper and Taranto. But look where they are now. I don’t know if they over estimated the quality on their list and the 5 they picked certainly have really starred so far. But it goes to show how difficult it can be to get these things right. 

8 hours ago, No. 31 said:

I would say it is year 1. This is the first time in a very long time that the Blues are a realistic contender. It is a good age profile of players and the club behind the scenes finally has its house in order. Very good drafting and trading in the last couple of seasons as well. That mythical 'window' should be open for several years to come ... 

I reckon they’ve been in the window since 2022, but choked their end to 2022 and then flailed around in early-2023. The bones of the list are the same.

I am confident if their 2022-23 formline was ours, Demonland would consider those years to be failures when we should have been contending. 

56 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

I reckon they’ve been in the window since 2022, but choked their end to 2022 and then flailed around in early-2023. The bones of the list are the same.

I am confident if their 2022-23 formline was ours, Demonland would consider those years to be failures when we should have been contending. 

We still had the likes of Lachie O'Brien, Lachie Plowman playing regularly in 2022 (both delisted). No Blues supporters regarded us as being in the 'window', I can assure you of that ... only late last season expectations began to rise. There has been some good list management in recent times that have brought in the likes of the Holland Brothers, Acres, Cincotta, Boyd and Cowan. The 'bottom' rung of players in the list is definitely better now and there is some genuine depth.

Why are we talking about Carlton?  Screw Carlton.  This is a MELBOURNE board.

17 minutes ago, No. 31 said:

We still had the likes of Lachie O'Brien, Lachie Plowman playing regularly in 2022 (both delisted). No Blues supporters regarded us as being in the 'window', I can assure you of that ... only late last season expectations began to rise. There has been some good list management in recent times that have brought in the likes of the Holland Brothers, Acres, Cincotta, Boyd and Cowan. The 'bottom' rung of players in the list is definitely better now and there is some genuine depth.

mfc had frost and o mac as our defensive lynchpins in 2018 and still made a qualifying final

when you've got cripps, weitering, curnow, mckay, and walsh as yr core five from 2019 onwards, you should have been a regular finals side

baggers underperformed for years before finally turning it around and performing to expectation in the back half of 2023

Edited June 25, 2024Jun 25 by whatwhat say what

24 minutes ago, No. 31 said:

We still had the likes of Lachie O'Brien, Lachie Plowman playing regularly in 2022 (both delisted). No Blues supporters regarded us as being in the 'window', I can assure you of that ... only late last season expectations began to rise. There has been some good list management in recent times that have brought in the likes of the Holland Brothers, Acres, Cincotta, Boyd and Cowan. The 'bottom' rung of players in the list is definitely better now and there is some genuine depth.

I suspect that’s a result of your previous years of disappointment. Much like Melbourne fans, it’s hard to seriously believe you’re contending after a long period of struggling. But IMO you should have been winning finals in 2022 and top 4 in 2023.

Ultimately doesn’t matter much now. In 2024 you’re IMO the 2 seed very clearly and you have a list most sides would kill for. 

38 minutes ago, No. 31 said:

We still had the likes of Lachie O'Brien, Lachie Plowman playing regularly in 2022 (both delisted). No Blues supporters regarded us as being in the 'window', I can assure you of that ... only late last season expectations began to rise. There has been some good list management in recent times that have brought in the likes of the Holland Brothers, Acres, Cincotta, Boyd and Cowan. The 'bottom' rung of players in the list is definitely better now and there is some genuine depth.

Not sure about no blues supporters having them in the so called window then, I know plenty of them and they all thought you were.

the Weitering/Curnow/McKay draft is pretty special, it's ultra dissapointing considering we could have drafted either of the latter two and took Sam Weideman instead. 

If we drafted Charlie Curnow instead, i believe we'd have 3 flags in a row right now and be going for 4. 

4 minutes ago, Ted Lasso said:

the Weitering/Curnow/McKay draft is pretty special, it's ultra dissapointing considering we could have drafted either of the latter two and took Sam Weideman instead. 

If we drafted Charlie Curnow instead, i believe we'd have 3 flags in a row right now and be going for 4. 

The benefits of hindsight Ted.  

There were question marks on Charlie's attitude (subsequently caught drink driving in his rookie year and far more time on the sidelines than he should have had with his knee because he wouldn't commit to his rehab properly).  

He was always a talent, but it wasn't clear whether he'd be a tall mid or a shorter KPP.  Carlton took the gamble and it's paid off, but it hasn't delivered a premiership yet and he'd want a better finals series this year or the comparisons with Gary Rohan will come. 

When you looked at Weid as a package you could understand why he was so attractive as a KPF prospect, he just couldn't get the last bit of the puzzle to fit.

6 minutes ago, grazman said:

The benefits of hindsight Ted.  

There were question marks on Charlie's attitude (subsequently caught drink driving in his rookie year and far more time on the sidelines than he should have had with his knee because he wouldn't commit to his rehab properly).  

He was always a talent, but it wasn't clear whether he'd be a tall mid or a shorter KPP.  Carlton took the gamble and it's paid off, but it hasn't delivered a premiership yet and he'd want a better finals series this year or the comparisons with Gary Rohan will come. 

When you looked at Weid as a package you could understand why he was so attractive as a KPF prospect, he just couldn't get the last bit of the puzzle to fit.

Sadly i think Weid just lacks the bit of animal you need to be a successful key forward. 

10 minutes ago, Ted Lasso said:

Sadly i think Weid just lacks the bit of animal you need to be a successful key forward. 

And that was one of the qualities we were led to believe he had, an aggressive streak when he went for the ball.

 

Edited June 25, 2024Jun 25 by Redleg

8 minutes ago, Ted Lasso said:

Sadly i think Weid just lacks the bit of animal you need to be a successful key forward. 

just like Schache and Fullerton!

26 minutes ago, Ted Lasso said:

the Weitering/Curnow/McKay draft is pretty special, it's ultra dissapointing considering we could have drafted either of the latter two and took Sam Weideman instead. 

If we drafted Charlie Curnow instead, i believe we'd have 3 flags in a row right now and be going for 4. 

Yep it’s the one pick that unfortunately had a lasting effect. Sam is battling away in the VFL while Charlie and Harry are arguably the 2 best forwards in the comp.

I would look at Jack Silvagni. I know he is coming off a knee injury but I like his versatility as a forward, midfielder and second ruck.

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2024/06/25/the-speculation-surrounding-st-kilda-ruckman-and-the-club-that-should-be/

Tom Morris reporting that Rowan Marshal is not all that happy at Saints.

I know the duel ruck set up with Grundy didn't work and has left some people scarred, but Ro-Mo is a genuine fwd threat and can play that role, as well as giving Max a very good chop out in the ruck.

Will cost a lot to get him, but could it be worth it?