My current view is that Trac is good enough to help us with our next finals tilt. His age doesn’t bother me, he trains well and if Dangerfield can be an elite forward well into his 30s, Trac can too.

Oliver is the one who IMO the club needs to consider moving on. I’m not confident he can get back to his best as he ages, his worst is worse than Trac, he takes a lot of off field effort to manage and keep in line, and he is taking more of the salary cap.

So if we are to move on from one, IMO it should be Oliver and not Trac.

7 hours ago, Pates said:

Honestly we can't go into next season with both of them. I think Trac has slightly more currency, perhaps a first rounder, Clarry would be a second rounder at best at this stage.

Perhaps a first rounder for Petracca? Seriously? Say it again...he's still in our best 3 players, coming off a shocking injury, plenty of top football left. There seems to be a desire by some here to turn Melbourne into North. Toss away your top end talent for the lottery of the draft. We've lost 6 games this year by under 2 goals. There's a need to consolidate, add and develop. Not commit suicide. FFS.

ps and yes, a new coach. Time is up, sadly.

1 hour ago, titan_uranus said:

My current view is that Trac is good enough to help us with our next finals tilt. His age doesn’t bother me, he trains well and if Dangerfield can be an elite forward well into his 30s, Trac can too.

Oliver is the one who IMO the club needs to consider moving on. I’m not confident he can get back to his best as he ages, his worst is worse than Trac, he takes a lot of off field effort to manage and keep in line, and he is taking more of the salary cap.

So if we are to move on from one, IMO it should be Oliver and not Trac.

I'll second this.

Two things. I think it might serve Clarry well to start afresh and reset.

I think whoever we might garner from allowing Oliver to move on might give us... us... a better return. Honestly just think it's ts a win win all round.

My prediction is both Petracca and Oliver will put in trade requests again.

Buckle up!

7 hours ago, dpositive said:

Hey DD thats a great strategy. Why not give away a few other players so we become completely irrelevant.

Or

Perhaps w could refresh both "great talents' to inspire and lead the rest of the squad to perform to their ability . Place them all in the best positions on the field and opposed to suitable opponents and manage their workloads and fitness to win matches and achive team success. This will also result in individual success.

Delusional.

Oliver has to go, at this stage I'd let him go for a late pick as long as the other club was willing to take on his salary. Send him anywhere just get that contract off our books. Between him and Brayshaw's salary we'll have over $2m tied up in coming years.

Petracca I'm willing to see how he goes after another preseason but I doubt he'll get back to the player he was. If we got a decent offer I'd listen but would never let him walk to the Pies out of principle. Hawks for Chol and their 2nd?

Both senior players and both involved in the Sunday debacle. Neither should continue with us in 2026. Some people still don't see it, but until we put together a group of players to which that level of uncompetitiveness is unacceptable (in actions, not words) then we're on a road to nowhere.

For various reasons neither are good enough overall contributors to help us avoid the disaster that is going to be the next 6 years. We need to come to an agreement with both to parts ways....see if we can somehow limit the damage to 3 or 4 years.

unfortunately, jake niall was right - oliver should have been traded to geelong at the end of last season for a first round pick

he has next to no value now

trac, presumably, might, but i don't think it'll be as high as i would love it to be - perhaps a late first / swap to move higher up the order in the second round or some such

if we look at him and think 'he can't kick' then i imagine every other team would be saying the same

Are either of them in the top 100 in the comp currently.

Oliver has lost the spring in his step and been by passed by younger fitter players.

Trac has lost the passion one has when young and becoming great. I dont blame him after the ugly injury he suffered.

The priblem we have is their contracts.

6 minutes ago, whatwhat say what said:

unfortunately, jake niall was right - oliver should have been traded to geelong at the end of last season for a first round pick

he has next to no value now

Geelong offered us their second rounder and didn't want to take on his entire salary.

Remember their first round pick was tied up in the Smith trade.

There would be riots if we traded Oliver for mid second round pick and were still paying some of his wage.

1 hour ago, titan_uranus said:

My current view is that Trac is good enough to help us with our next finals tilt. His age doesn’t bother me, he trains well and if Dangerfield can be an elite forward well into his 30s, Trac can too.

My main concern with this prospect is that Petracca's set shot goal kicking isn't a patch on Dangerfield's.

10 hours ago, Fromgotowoewodin said:

Untradeable: Gawn, Koz, Langford, Lindsay.

Everyone else is on the block as far as I’m concerned.

Oliver doesn’t look like coming good so if we can get a deal that’s not too painful then cop it.

Trac, only he and the club would know if he’s still feeling the effects of last year’s injury. If he is then maybe we keep him and hope another preseason gets him right. If he’s 100% now then he’s not trying and can go too. The send him forward plan is a myth, terrible ball drop when kicking for goal, kicking one is a fluke.

Turner, Bowey, Langdon and Windsor are also untradeable IMO.

53 minutes ago, Redlagged said:

Perhaps a first rounder for Petracca? Seriously? Say it again...he's still in our best 3 players, coming off a shocking injury, plenty of top football left. There seems to be a desire by some here to turn Melbourne into North. Toss away your top end talent for the lottery of the draft. We've lost 6 games this year by under 2 goals. There's a need to consolidate, add and develop. Not commit suicide. FFS.

ps and yes, a new coach. Time is up, sadly.

Appreciate what you're saying but we have got to stop using close losses as a measure for success.

11 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

Geelong offered us their second rounder and didn't want to take on his entire salary.

Remember their first round pick was tied up in the Smith trade.

There would be riots if we traded Oliver for mid second round pick and were still paying some of his wage.

i thought they were offering their future first, i.e. this year's first rounder (which could end up being in the late 20s)

i agree, fwiw - not worth trading him for that

3 minutes ago, whatwhat say what said:

i thought they were offering their future first, i.e. this year's first rounder (which could end up being in the late 20s)

i agree, fwiw - not worth trading him for that

A future first in this year's middling draft would be just as bad, especially given Geelong were never missing finals this season.

The reality is that the draft is a gamble. The chances of ending up with someone as good as Oliver even in his current form, is very low, unless it's a great draft and you have a strong hand.

To throw away good players, even if they are not as good as they once were, for a gamble at the draft, is not the solution to climbing back up the ladder.

Put it another way, if Trac or Clarry played for another club, and we could get them for a second round or a late first round pick, we would jump at the opportunity right?

Edited 15 hours ago15 hr by Jaded No More

9 minutes ago, Adam The God said:

Turner, Bowey, Langdon and Windsor are also untradeable IMO.

Turner & Bowey probably - would take a deal for Ed and Windsor is a maybe, does good things but can also have some shockers

22 minutes ago, gs77 said:

My main concern with this prospect is that Petracca's set shot goal kicking isn't a patch on Dangerfield's.

Dangerfields goalkicking was always his Achilles heel too.

Edited 15 hours ago15 hr by Dr. Gonzo

6 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

Put it another way, if Trac or Clarry played for another club, and we could get them for a second round or a late first round pick, we would jump at the opportunity right?

not for $1.3 rising to $1.7m a year by the time they're in their mid 30s we wouldn't

oliver is playing like a vfl plodder and trac kicks the ball like he's never held a footy in his life

8 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

A future first in this year's middling draft would be just as bad, especially given Geelong were never missing finals this season.

The reality is that the draft is a gamble. The chances of ending up with someone as good as Oliver even in his current form, is very low, unless it's a great draft and you have a strong hand.

To throw away good players, even if they are not as good as they once were, for a gamble at the draft, is not the solution to climbing back up the ladder.

Put it another way, if Trac or Clarry played for another club, and we could get them for a second round or a late first round pick, we would jump at the opportunity right?

With Oliver, it's not about what we get pickwise it's about getting his contract off the books. Gives us $1.5m to throw at another player/FA.

20 minutes ago, Adam The God said:

Turner, Bowey, Langdon and Windsor are also untradeable IMO.

Genuinely not having a go - interested in your reasoning. Why Langdon?

I would keep them both if we have a coach for next year.

If we continue with our current setup then we should offload them both as we are basically giving up on the season already

2 minutes ago, The Taciturn Demon said:

Genuinely not having a go - interested in your reasoning. Why Langdon?

Because Langdon is an elite winger.

We will never receive the value we perceive we deserve in a trade for these two, but we are hamstrung by their huge contracts. IMO Oliver or Trac would play a very high level of football at a team that lacks a big body mid i.e., Geelong/Crows/North/Saints/Dons/Rich. But, it's time to make the tough call on one of them. Short term pain for long term gain, getting one of them off the books means we have cap space to retain talent and attract free agents AND allows Rivers/Langford genuine midfield minutes. If this means paying part of their salary or trading for cheap, it is what it is.

2 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

With Oliver, it's not about what we get pickwise it's about getting his contract off the books. Gives us $1.5m to throw at another player/FA.

Agree with the first bit.

On the second bit, I don't think we're going to be able to lure any external players here for some time. We are going to struggle to sell the idea of joining up with anyone who was on the field on Sunday to a competitive person (and those are who we need). We already struggled with this coming off a premiership when the lack of genuine competitiveness in our playing group wasn't yet outwardly clear to everyone (though opposition players probably already knew it). Things can change quickly I guess, but I think our only way to re-build is going to be through the draft.

8 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

With Oliver, it's not about what we get pickwise it's about getting his contract off the books. Gives us $1.5m to throw at another player/FA.

Has his contract stopped us getting another player or signing our own stars like Kosi?

Where did supporters get the idea that we have salary cap issues?

Was it the Houston chase? the fact we are talking to Reid's manager? that we tried luring McKay out of Carlton for 2 years?

10 hours ago, Fromgotowoewodin said:

Untradeable: Gawn, Koz, Langford, Lindsay.

Everyone else is on the block as far as I’m concerned.

Oliver doesn’t look like coming good so if we can get a deal that’s not too painful then cop it.

Trac, only he and the club would know if he’s still feeling the effects of last year’s injury. If he is then maybe we keep him and hope another preseason gets him right. If he’s 100% now then he’s not trying and can go too. The send him forward plan is a myth, terrible ball drop when kicking for goal, kicking one is a fluke.

On Petracca, as opposed to butchering kicks inside 50? At least he's a good contested mark and maybe he can score 1.1 on average and may be good enough as a HF, he can still support the midfield. Maybe 60 - 40 split between HF and Midfield.