Current picks are 23, 53, 59. One or two of these will need to go for Kalani White.

We hold all of our future picks, but only our 2026 holds any potential value. The 2027 draft will be destroyed by Tasmania.

Struggling to see how we get any deals done for players unless we lose a few.

Would Gold Coast take a punt on Oliver, swap for Flanders?

2 hours ago, DeeZone said:

Not sure where you are getting your info Garbo but up to R16 player ratings for 2025 were 1- Max 2- Oliver 3- Petracca 4- Bowey 5- Salem 6- Pickett 7- May. So people like Me base our writings on actual statistics not emotions and hubris and I thought disrespect.

Appreciate that but stats can be misleading. Where’s Melksham currently rated over the last 5 weeks?

7 minutes ago, seventyfour said:

Current picks are 23, 53, 59. One or two of these will need to go for Kalani White.

We hold all of our future picks, but only our 2026 holds any potential value. The 2027 draft will be destroyed by Tasmania.

Struggling to see how we get any deals done for players unless we lose a few.

Would Gold Coast take a punt on Oliver, swap for Flanders?

Worpel is a free agent. Derksen would be a late pick given GWS haven't even played him.

Then we also have future picks from 2026 and 2027 we can trade.

2 hours ago, DeeZone said:

Not sure where you are getting your info Garbo but up to R16 player ratings for 2025 were 1- Max 2- Oliver 3- Petracca 4- Bowey 5- Salem 6- Pickett 7- May. So people like Me base our writings on actual statistics not emotions and hubris and I thought disrespect.

Our 2nd ranked player in the stats player rankings is a tagger, no wonder we've only won 5 games this year.

Happy to release Oliver if it means we'll be getting in a Warpol or Flanders who both aren't on absurd money commensurate with output.

1 hour ago, DeeZone said:

Not sure where you are getting your info Garbo but up to R16 player ratings for 2025 were 1- Max 2- Oliver 3- Petracca 4- Bowey 5- Salem 6- Pickett 7- May. So people like Me base our writings on actual statistics not emotions and hubris and I thought disrespect.

Even if player ratings were a valid metric they would only be valid in comparing players playing the same role, obviously a player who is on ball all game is going to have a higher rating than someone who in some other role like a small fwd it doesn’t mean that player is empirically better or contributing more to the teams success. To show the absurdity of using player ratings Ed Richard’s is ranked number 1 in the afl while Nick Daicos ist even in the top 20 in fact Daicos isn’t even the pies number one player by these rankings, but I doubt anyone would dispute he’s not there best player if not the best player in the afl and certainly ahead of Ed Richard’s and despite both also playing as midfielders. Let’s see end of year where he sits in the b and f as I’ll be surprised if he’s inside the top 10 let alone top 5

it would be surprising if some players were not traded out after 4 underachieving seasons since the flag to improve our draft and player trade capital. Issue is what trade value do these players have?

Pretty sure Hardwick has shot down the Flanders rumours. Don't think Jacko is coming. And Browne is apparently close to re-signing at GWS.

Bit of a nothing article, really

Edited July 11Jul 11 by Mickey

26 minutes ago, Mickey said:

Pretty sure Hardwick has shot down the Flanders rumours. Don't think Jacko is coming. And Browne is apparently close to re-signing at GWS.

Bit of a nothing article, really

Trade articles are one of the biggest click generators in the media....

Have been told this by a mate in the industry.

How badly do we need a Thilthorpe type?

On 11/07/2025 at 13:50, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Happy to release Oliver if it means we'll be getting in a Warpol or Flanders who both aren't on absurd money commensurate with output.

Wild we’re even having convos like this!

Does anyone think that Kalani White is going to be as good as Jackson (Freo)? If we cannot get Jackson back then should be targeting S.Darcy from Freo ?

We don't seem to have a lot of draft currency at the moment. I can see us trading Oliver only if he accepts a pay reduction , Lever , one of Spargo or Sparrow or Chandler and Fritsch . Possibility we could trade Salem ands Petty.

Just throwing out some names for discussion that are on the periphery of their current teams best 22 or FAs.

Key Defenders

Wade Derkson

Leek Aleer

Judd Busslinger

Key Forwards

Mitch Lewis

Harry McKay (if earlier rumours of being tradeable are true)

Oscar Allen (FA) unlikely but doesn't hurt to have a crack pending medical on knee

Max Gruzewski (more third tall type)

Midfielders

James Worpel (RFA)

Mitch Knevitt

Jye Clark

James Leake

Angus Sheldrick

Darcy Parish

Ben Hobbs

Cooper Simpson

Ed Allen

Sam Marshall (may struggle to see a future in the Lions midfield with more academy players coming)

Elijah Tsatis (kicking skills more than questionable)

Wingers

Ryan Angwin

Campbell Chesser

Small/medium Defenders

Brandon Starcevich (RFA)

Oliver Florent

Jakob Ryan

Seamus Mitchell (DFA)

Small/medium Forwards

Callum Brown

Will McLachlan

Jesse Dattoli (big fan, contracted but if homesick we should be in his ear)

Phoenix Gothard

Zane Duursma

Brayden George (injury prone)

Rucks

Ned Moyle

Will Green

Toby Conway

Ned Reeves

6 minutes ago, Random Task said:

Just throwing out some names for discussion that are on the periphery of their current teams best 22 or FAs.

Key Defenders

Wade Derkson

Leek Aleer

Judd Busslinger

Key Forwards

Mitch Lewis

Harry McKay (if earlier rumours of being tradeable are true)

Oscar Allen (FA) unlikely but doesn't hurt to have a crack pending medical on knee

Max Gruzewski (more third tall type)

Midfielders

James Worpel (RFA)

Mitch Knevitt

Jye Clark

James Leake

Angus Sheldrick

Darcy Parish

Ben Hobbs

Cooper Simpson

Ed Allen

Sam Marshall (may struggle to see a future in the Lions midfield with more academy players coming)

Elijah Tsatis (kicking skills more than questionable)

Wingers

Ryan Angwin

Campbell Chesser

Small/medium Defenders

Brandon Starcevich (RFA)

Oliver Florent

Jakob Ryan

Seamus Mitchell (DFA)

Small/medium Forwards

Callum Brown

Will McLachlan

Jesse Dattoli (big fan, contracted but if homesick we should be in his ear)

Phoenix Gothard

Zane Duursma

Brayden George (injury prone)

Rucks

Ned Moyle

Will Green

Toby Conway

Ned Reeves

Thanks RT, I’m not up with all current players like I once was, so this is interesting

Xavier O’Halloran is a name that’s going under the radar, OOC, don’t mind him, would go past a few and boost midfield stocks

2 hours ago, Redleg said:

How badly do we need a Thilthorpe type?

Who doesn’t!?

2 hours ago, Redleg said:

How badly do we need a Thilthorpe type?

We do need a focal point, but i fear that we dont really get a good gauge of JVR given our dismal inside delivery. It is thwarting his development and ruining his confidence. Also - behind door no 2 - is Carlton with arguably the best 1,2 combo in the league. They have similar issues to us and we are witnessing their downfall from grace.

Watched a bit of the hawks v bombers vfl game today. Some nice tall forwards in there.

Liam McMahon

Kayle Gerreyn

Max Ramsden

Also liked the look of Henry Hustwaite in this game. I haven’t watched many hawks vfl games so might be a one off I’m not sure!

1 hour ago, The Panglossian said:

Who doesn’t!?

The Crows.

48 minutes ago, GS_1905 said:

We do need a focal point, but i fear that we dont really get a good gauge of JVR given our dismal inside delivery. It is thwarting his development and ruining his confidence. Also - behind door no 2 - is Carlton with arguably the best 1,2 combo in the league. They have similar issues to us and we are witnessing their downfall from grace.

Fristch, Pickett and Melksham are all in the top 60 players in the league for marks inside 50 per game.

Petty is 110

Jvr is 140

Im not suggesting for one minute our delivery is good, but this is where the biggest underperformance has been by a long way. Fwiw Turner was in the top 25 or so before Simom says he is a defender. We need a KPF who can reliably clunk a few.

Edited July 12Jul 12 by Jjrogan

Really like Darcy Jones of GWS. Smart, speedy and great disposal. Exactly what we need but probably not available

I read somewhere that Worpel is going to Geelong.

Either way, he's a questionable kick and we have an oversupply of those.

I wonder if we will offer Hardie and Yze (Casey) a contract?

On 10/07/2025 at 10:25, spirit of norm smith said:

CODE SPORTS

Melbourne’s senior players have some currency but it would be a big call to trade leaders like Jake Lever, Jack Viney and Steven May.

Lever will be 30 by round 1 next year but was dropped this year as he battles ankle concerns.

May will be 34 in January next year and has averaged 2.7 intercept marks a year but also had a poor year by his lofty standards.

Bayley Fritsch is contracted for next year and would have suitors but said earlier in the year he wanted to play out his career at Melbourne.

Clayton Oliver might have to take a $200,000 pay cut per year to be a trade prospect but even then the Demons might have to pay up to $500,000 of his salary for a club to take the rest of his $1 million wage off the books given a deal of up to $1.7m by 2030.

In terms of senior players you'd have to shop about

Lever (Turners role now)

May (get Petty back there asap + Derksen coming in in TMacs place)

Sparrow/Langdon - no room for them both and Viney at HF and you aren't trading the VC

Spargo - i actually want to know the stats on times mentioned in best players / games played at AFL level

Oliver - hurts coz he was a star but writing is on the wall now and its Langford / Rivers spot

Hore/Billings/McAdam/Henderson/Culley/Fullarton all signed as mature agers in the last 24 months and have been busts coulda been 6 kids

On 12/07/2025 at 16:26, Random Task said:

Just throwing out some names for discussion that are on the periphery of their current teams best 22 or FAs.

Key Defenders

Wade Derkson, Leek Aleer, Judd Busslinger - like your list

Key Forwards

Mitch Lewis, Oscar Allen (FA) - no injuries

Harry McKay, Max Gruzewski - yes

Midfielders

James Worpel (RFA), Mitch Knevitt, Jye Clark, Angus Sheldrick, Darcy Parish, Ben Hobbs, Ed Allen, Elijah Tsatis - no, dont offer more or different than current crop

James Leake - dunno enough

Cooper Simpson - Half back, havent seen enough would have to be DFA

Sam Marshall - optimistic after 12 months

Wingers

Ryan Angwin - not ahead of Lindsay/Windsor

Campbell Chesser - no

Small/medium Defenders

Brandon Starcevich (RFA), Oliver Florent, Jakob Ryan, Seamus Mitchell (DFA) - at the right price you'd be ok with having a look

Small/medium Forwards

Callum Brown - another AJ?

Will McLachlan - yes

Phoenix Gothard, Jesse Dattoli - first year players

Brayden George, Zane Duursma -no

Rucks

Ned Moyle, Will Green, Ned Reeves -3 different options but we do need something

Toby Conway - body issues

thought id throw my 2 cents in

On 11/07/2025 at 11:50, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Happy to release Oliver if it means we'll be getting in a Warpol or Flanders who both aren't on absurd money commensurate with output.

I think the problem is either/both are only coming to us if the money is absurd