2 minutes ago, Fritta and Turner said:

Any key forwards kicking around

Allen, handy but expensive 

Jamara, handy but elusive 

I’d be moving earth to get Butters but I’ll bet that he’s Pies bound. I’d also be sounding out Harley Reid, I mean why wouldn’t we?

Edited March 25Mar 25 by Roost it far

 

11 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

 

Bummer….

6 minutes ago, Roost it far said:

Allen, handy but expensive 

Jamara, handy but elusive 

I’d be moving earth to get Butters but I’ll bet that he’s Pies bound. I’d also be sounding out Harley Reid, I mean why wouldn’t we?

I reckon we have kept tabs on Butters for a while. Pies are appealing, but they need some amazing list management to stay relevant. Their age profile is woeful and some of their players are showing bad signs. They should be 1-2.

22 minutes ago, GS_1905 said:

I reckon we have kept tabs on Butters for a while. Pies are appealing, but they need some amazing list management to stay relevant. Their age profile is woeful and some of their players are showing bad signs. They should be 1-2.

I think the Pies could bottom out and quickly skip back past us. They never have trouble attracting players and will forever be a destination club.

If we go full rebuild mode, it could well be the death of the club. With an aging supporter base and a gameplan that is not attractive for the next generation, things could get very dark, very quickly.

To win games now and in the foreseeable future, we are more reliant than ever on Trac/Gawn/May being fit and heavily involved.

By the end of 2027 I doubt we have any of those three playing, without even considering Clarry & Pickett.

 

16 minutes ago, BW511 said:

I think the Pies could bottom out and quickly skip back past us. They never have trouble attracting players and will forever be a destination club.

If we go full rebuild mode, it could well be the death of the club. With an aging supporter base and a gameplan that is not attractive for the next generation, things could get very dark, very quickly.

To win games now and in the foreseeable future, we are more reliant than ever on Trac/Gawn/May being fit and heavily involved.

By the end of 2027 I doubt we have any of those three playing, without even considering Clarry & Pickett.

 

Our top 10 young players are miles ahead of the Pies. Savvy recruiting, player trades and pick swaps when Tassie come in will see us stay thereabouts.

Forget the big fish that will completely cook the salary cap for years.

We need players that can kick like Amon, Dambrosio, Coleman, Miers etc

Players that won't cost a fortune.

It was the bedrock of the successful Hawks era and Mitchell is rolling out the playbook again.

Look at Lindsay in his 2 games - fabulous kicker of the footy. If only we could get Viney to handball to a running Lindsay and stop kicking himself we'd be much better

Unfortunately we have midfielders who are terrible kicks.

And what currency do we have for trading?

6 minutes ago, Fritta and Turner said:

And what currency do we have for trading?

2026 first round and 2027 first round, plus all the other picks.

We need to get creative this year and next and go hard at ready made players who can impact. 

Edited March 26Mar 26 by DistrACTION Jackson

41 minutes ago, Roost it far said:

Our top 10 young players are miles ahead of the Pies. Savvy recruiting, player trades and pick swaps when Tassie come in will see us stay thereabouts.

Its the mid 20s bracket that is worrying. We will be void of leadership once Gawn, Viney, May retire. Lever is a bit meh and hasnt been really performing since '21/22.

Talentwise, you'd expect the likes of Windsor, Langford, Lindsay, McVee to have close to 100 games by the time all of the over 30's retire. 

56 minutes ago, GS_1905 said:

Its the mid 20s bracket that is worrying. We will be void of leadership once Gawn, Viney, May retire. Lever is a bit meh and hasnt been really performing since '21/22.

Talentwise, you'd expect the likes of Windsor, Langford, Lindsay, McVee to have close to 100 games by the time all of the over 30's retire. 

Petracca if we want him to stay will play to at least 35-36. Personally I’d make him captain at years end IF the players were in. Oliver will likely do the same. Lever’s got good legs in him  so I think we’ll be ok for leadership. Players coming in now will have some or all of Petracca, Oliver, Lever, Sparrow, Langdon etc for half their careers and guys like Windsor, Lindsay, Langford have plenty of leadership capacity. We just need to keep getting up the draft board and trade and recruit where possible. Personally I think we’re in a strong position. If the team falls over this year I’d expect Goodwin to leave but if we can win a final or 4 who knows.

39 minutes ago, Roost it far said:

Petracca if we want him to stay will play to at least 35-36. Personally I’d make him captain at years end IF the players were in. Oliver will likely do the same. Lever’s got good legs in him  so I think we’ll be ok for leadership. Players coming in now will have some or all of Petracca, Oliver, Lever, Sparrow, Langdon etc for half their careers and guys like Windsor, Lindsay, Langford have plenty of leadership capacity. We just need to keep getting up the draft board and trade and recruit where possible. Personally I think we’re in a strong position. If the team falls over this year I’d expect Goodwin to leave but if we can win a final or 4 who knows.

I think some of the damage done by Trac was irrevocable - enough to tarnish his reputation permanently as a candidate for captaincy. The only trait i like about him, is that he is a solid trainer and professional athlete - he will set good examples for the young team members if he stays, but that is not enough to be a captain of the club - just what i expect from every senior player. He doesn't have the humility or perspective to be a captain of the club, even if after everything that happened in the off season, he remains committed and loyal to the club, his actions at the time, spoke to a level of immaturity and self-interest. Can he overcome this? Certainly, anything is possible, but he is no spring-chicken and at 29 i doubt he has the capacity to change his ways. its a harsh take I know. But he chose to pile on the club, when it was on its knees. That to me is forever unforgivable. I'm mindful that I've been bashing on Trac recently, so this will be the last I mention it.

Edited March 26Mar 26 by GS_1905

2 hours ago, Roost it far said:

Our top 10 young players are miles ahead of the Pies. Savvy recruiting, player trades and pick swaps when Tassie come in will see us stay thereabouts.

I doubt the Pies care about that. 

They have been ‘too old’ for years and it’s not stopped them yet

We are in danger of becoming very St Kilda like 

Edited March 26Mar 26 by BW511

20 minutes ago, GS_1905 said:

I think some of the damage done by Trac was irrevocable - enough to tarnish his reputation permanently as a candidate for captaincy. The only trait i like about him, is that he is a solid trainer and professional athlete - he will set good examples for the young team members if he stays, but that is not enough to be a captain of the club - just what i expect from every senior player. He doesn't have the humility or perspective to be a captain of the club, even if after everything that happened in the off season, he remains committed and loyal to the club, his actions at the time, spoke to a level of immaturity and self-interest. Can he overcome this? Certainly, anything is possible, but he is no spring-chicken and at 29 i doubt he has the capacity to change his ways. its a harsh take I know. But he chose to pile on the club, when it was on its knees. That to me is forever unforgivable. I'm mindful that I've been bashing on Trac recently, so this will be the last I mention it.

100% agree and he will never be a captain because of it. Great player and we must empathise with a very serious injury but what he did was unforgiveable to us as a brand. 

Now McKay is out for personal reasons lucky the rumoured trade of Oliver for McKay never came to pass, we probably would have got the blame for it 

5 hours ago, DistrACTION Jackson said:

I think the club need to get guys like Trac and Gawn involved in discussions with players, like Geelong have done in the past.

Only way to get past these issues are for them to give their opinions to incoming players and why they think it will be great place to play.

Farmland is hard to find in metropolitan Melbourne so the next best thing would be Tracs  kitchen

Just now, Dee Viney Intervention said:

Farmland is hard to find in metropolitan Melbourne so the next best thing would be Tracs  kitchen

Guest appearances on the cooking show.... good idea

4 hours ago, Roost it far said:

Jamara, handy but elusive 

 

i would stay away from this bloke with a 10 ft pole, very talented too many personal issues the last thing we need atm

4 hours ago, Roost it far said:

Allen, handy but expensive 

Jamara, handy but elusive 

I’d be moving earth to get Butters but I’ll bet that he’s Pies bound. I’d also be sounding out Harley Reid, I mean why wouldn’t we?

Reid for Oliver

Warner likely to stay at Sydney according to Cal.

Might mean Freo and West Coast focus their attention on Kozzie (my thoughts). If Kozzie was to go then West Coast entering the race could open the door for us to target Reid.

 

Rivals tipped to pursue "clinical finisher"

Melbourne mercurial forward Bayley Fritsch has been named as one to watch throughout 2025 as his future at the Demons has been thrown up in the air.

Edited March 26Mar 26 by Heart Beats True
Added context

1 hour ago, BW511 said:

I doubt the Pies care about that. 

They have been ‘too old’ for years and it’s not stopped them yet

We are in danger of becoming very St Kilda like 

They weren’t ’that’ old in 2023 but they really are now and they have brought in zero young talent since then. They still rely on Sidebottom, Howe, Pendlebury etc who are now seriously ancient and will be in big trouble in a year or two regardless of their ability to recruit from other clubs. It costs a lot of cap space to recruit good players from other sides (for example see what Perryman is on, absurd) and most players are quite loyal. It is not a sustainable method. I will enjoy their demise. 

22 minutes ago, Nascent said:

Warner likely to stay at Sydney according to Cal.

Might mean Freo and West Coast focus their attention on Kozzie (my thoughts). If Kozzie was to go then West Coast entering the race could open the door for us to target Reid.

 

This is the only way we should even contemplate trading Kozzy in the next two years. He is way too important to us.

I’m obviously on the keep Kozzy train but if he wants to leave then I’d be happy if it included getting Reid to us. 

I hope Miles Bergman is on our radar if Farrell is re-signing.

Hes a solid half-back/wingman and would add depth in our 24/25/26 year old age gap we have at the moment.