2 hours ago, No10 said:

We can keep Trac. It’s simple.

No we can't. It would be toxic for the playing group and undermine everything King and Guerra have been saying.

For better or worse Trac is gone. Sure, we have to go through the motions (the offer needs to turn our heads etc. etc.), but the reality is we'll end up accepting whatever we have to.

Yes, [censored] situation, but it is what it is.

Can see why Gold Coast would not trade Humphrey under any circumstances.

It would be the equivalent of us trying to acquire a high quality veteran in Cripps or Neale in exchange for Langford who has potential to be one of the best MFC players for the last 30 years. It would be a pointless and counter intuitive trade from the Suns IMO.

Whether we continue negotiations with Humphrey off the table remains to be seen, but I’m assuming it will.

1 hour ago, bing181 said:

No we can't. It would be toxic for the playing group and undermine everything King and Guerra have been saying.

For better or worse Trac is gone. Sure, we have to go through the motions (the offer needs to turn our heads etc. etc.), but the reality is we'll end up accepting whatever we have to.

Yes, [censored] situation, but it is what it is.

Trac is an AFL star. If Suns refuse to trade Humphrey, that’s a choice and a rejection of Trac. And like any star it will be a shock to him.

Having something to prove is a powerful motivator. King and Guerra will be more than happy to keep a motivated Trac.

All that said. I’ve no doubt Suns will trade Humphrey in a heartbeat. It’s Humphrey agreeing to come to us that’s the issue.

1 minute ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Can see why Gold Coast would not trade Humphrey under any circumstances.

It would be the equivalent of us trying to acquire a high quality veteran in Cripps or Neale in exchange for Langford who has potential to be one of the best MFC players for the last 30 years. It would be a pointless and counter intuitive trade from the Suns IMO.

Whether we continue negotiations with Humphrey off the table remains to be seen, but I’m assuming it will.

Melbourne FC and Suns are very different clubs at very different stages

2 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

And coming off a year/preseason where he was building up his tank after his injuries last year. I have no doubt Petracca will return to his best next season.

Had some solid games but I reckon he was biding his time somewhat in patches. Looked frustrated / dissinterested in plenty of other matches with patches of this same dissinterest when he was sometimes on and firing. Possibly partially a fitness issue which might explain some of it.

Did remind me a little of LJ's 2022 year though.

His ego / sensitivity / entitlement level also appears to have grown pretty large since the unfortunate incident.

Are we sure we want someone going around whose heart is not truly in it and not fully committed...for a second year running?

His general 'i don't wanna be here' vibe also can't be great for team mates moral surely?

Edited October 4, 2025Oct 4 by Demon Dynasty

8 minutes ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Can see why Gold Coast would not trade Humphrey under any circumstances.

It would be the equivalent of us trying to acquire a high quality veteran in Cripps or Neale in exchange for Langford who has potential to be one of the best MFC players for the last 30 years. It would be a pointless and counter intuitive trade from the Suns IMO.

Whether we continue negotiations with Humphrey off the table remains to be seen, but I’m assuming it will.

While I do agree, the only thing that might be in our favour is that the Suns are in win now mode and a player like Trac could be the difference between them winning a flag in the next few years or not

Yes Humphrey is going to be a star but he’s still a few years off his peak - are the Suns willing to lose out on Trac if we play hardball and say it’s Humphrey or no deal?

Reckon anyone who thinks the Suns would release Humphrey has rox in their heads (happy to be proven wrong)

The trade will get done with picks like every other trade

3 minutes ago, adonski said:

Reckon anyone who thinks the Suns would release Humphrey has rox in their heads (happy to be proven wrong)

The trade will get done with picks like every other trade

Reckon about 1% of Dees fans will be happy if we only get picks for Trac IF Humphrey does request a trade

Will be a terrible start for Guerra and King given the public stance around Petracca

Just now, demoncat said:

Reckon about 1% of Dees fans will be happy if we only get picks for Trac IF Humphrey does request a trade

Will be a terrible start for Guerra and King given the public stance around Petracca

Two first round picks (one being pick 7) would be a fantastic result for a 30 year old, anyone disappointed with that needs to take the red and blue goggles off

Humphrey is a flight risk. Always has been.

When he’s OOC he will have 17 suitors and GC won’t be getting a Trac in return for him.

So you either take the risk that you can win a flag with him while contracted without Trac, or you jump at the opportunity to grab a proven star that will bring a lot of attention and value to your club, as well as help you win a flag.

It’s a risk either way for the Suns. But Dimma has to decide if Trac is more valuable to him now than Humphrey is in 3 years, when he may or may not be able to convince him to stay.

Edited October 4, 2025Oct 4 by Jaded No More

3 minutes ago, adonski said:

Two first round picks (one being pick 7) would be a fantastic result for a 30 year old, anyone disappointed with that needs to take the red and blue goggles off

I’ll keep my goggles on then 🤣

But seriously those are [censored] picks in a [censored] draft and my sense from the recent Lamb interview is that we have no intention of trying to get back into it

Edited October 4, 2025Oct 4 by demoncat

Just now, demoncat said:

I’ll keep my goggles on then 🤣

But seriously those are [censored] picks in a [censored] draft and my sense from the recent Lamb interview is that we have no intention of trying to get pack into it

Lamb's comments read more as justification for trading away this years pick given how compromised it is due to the academy kids and the like (which is a fair comment), rather than him necessarily potting the quality of it

Every draft is a strong draft if you pick right, every draft is a weak one if you pick wrong 🧘‍♂️

Important to remember we traded IN to the 2020 draft

2 hours ago, bing181 said:

No we can't. It would be toxic for the playing group and undermine everything King and Guerra have been saying.

For better or worse Trac is gone. Sure, we have to go through the motions (the offer needs to turn our heads etc. etc.), but the reality is we'll end up accepting whatever we have to.

Yes, [censored] situation, but it is what it is.

In what way would it undermine everything King and Guerra have been saying?

The club has said publicly and privately they are not trading Petracca for picks alone.

Yet people keep saying that is what we will do.

How spineless do you think we are?

Edited October 4, 2025Oct 4 by Jaded No More

Just now, Jaded No More said:

The club he said publicly and privately they are not trading Petracca for picks alone.

Yet people keep saying that is what we will do.

How spineless do you think we are?

I've got a bridge to sell you

1 minute ago, Jaded No More said:

The club has said publicly and privately they are not trading Petracca for picks alone.

Yet people keep saying that is what we will do.

How spineless do you think we are?

Very.

12 minutes ago, demoncat said:

While I do agree, the only thing that might be in our favour is that the Suns are in win now mode and a player like Trac could be the difference between them winning a flag in the next few years or not

Yes Humphrey is going to be a star but he’s still a few years off his peak - are the Suns willing to lose out on Trac if we play hardball and say it’s Humphrey or no deal?

Agree with your point.

However can you actually see the Dees walking away from negotiations if Humphrey is off the table? I cant.

We’re renowned to be very fair and collaborative to deal with at trade week and our trades never go down to the last second of deadline night.

Unfortunately I see this as a picks only package coming back our way and I hope I’m wrong.

7 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

Humphrey is a flight risk. Always has been.

When he’s OOC he will have 17 suitors and GC won’t be getting a Trac in return for him.

So you either take the risk that you can win a flag with him while contracted without Trac, or you jump at the opportunity to grab a proven star that will bring a lot of attention and value to your club, as well as help you win a flag.

It’s a risk either way for the Suns. But Dimma has to decide if Trac is more valuable to him now than Humphrey is in 3 years, when he may or may not be able to convince him to stay.

This and add the fact that the GC have their academy churning out top 10 and 20 picks every year. If TDK is worth $1.7mill the we’re going to have to pony up some serious coin. It’d be some welcome news that’s for sure.

Just now, Roost it far said:

This and add the fact that the GC have their academy churning out top 10 and 20 picks every year. If TDK is worth $1.7mill the we’re going to have to pony up some serious coin. It’d be some welcome news that’s for sure.

The good news is that with Trac’s salary gone and half of Clarry’s gone, money is absolutely not going to be why Humphrey says no thanks.

The biggest hurdle here is getting him to ask for a trade to us. If we can get that, the deal with work out.

15 minutes ago, adonski said:

Reckon anyone who thinks the Suns would release Humphrey has rox in their heads (happy to be proven wrong)

The trade will get done with picks like every other trade

Another bummer is tightening the academy bidding and lowering the value of lesser picks means we can’t send them 3 second rounders for another one of their firsts tho.

Probably get one early pick and one later first with some junk the other way.

6 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

The club has said publicly and privately they are not trading Petracca for picks alone.

Yet people keep saying that is what we will do.

How spineless do you think we are?

Spineless? Not sure.

But capable of extracting the best possible price? I have no confidence at all. None in Lamb, none in our club’s current vibe, none.

Maybe in a year when King’s been able to embed himself on the culture of the group and/or we have a stable training ground situation. And/or someone other than Tim Lamb is our list manager.

33 minutes ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Can see why Gold Coast would not trade Humphrey under any circumstances.

It would be the equivalent of us trying to acquire a high quality veteran in Cripps or Neale in exchange for Langford who has potential to be one of the best MFC players for the last 30 years. It would be a pointless and counter intuitive trade from the Suns IMO.

Whether we continue negotiations with Humphrey off the table remains to be seen, but I’m assuming it will.

Not really, because this comparison implies that our list is in the same spot as the Suns.

They have entered the premiership window. We are resetting for 2027-2028ish.

Trac helps Suns win next year. Humphrey has his mid and likely forward minutes reduced by Trac.

They let him go because it lands them Trac and it's not like the Suns don't continually have access to elite talent through their academy.

TRACC FOR THE FUN LOVIN BEAR OR NO FRIGGEN DEAL

I would think that we need a ‘head turning deal ‘ as previously stated . To expect less would create a rather nasty precedent of us being complete draft pushovers.

Will GC even need Humphrey in 3 years time? If these kids are that good and they have more coming in every year via the academy, he might have been squeezed out like Flanders.