Red and Blue realist

I think what you and Axis are getting to is spot on, I think the Gawn/LJ combo used properly could be great. Instead of the Blicavs model I'd be instead looking at Gawn being used as more a ruck/CHB therefore staying as that intercepting/intimidating tall when teams try to move out of our forward 50, while LJ could take all Fwd50 and mid center ruck duels, while being able to move between the arcs with freedom when we're bringing the ball back out of defensive 50. We then anchors Weid closer to goal, so we've always got something to kick too, only allowing him out of the forward 70 when either ruck is on the bench, that should ensure all his contests are in a dangerous position, as you said the key is having forwards who crumb, chase and tackle around Weid, while also having defenders with speed to help if the ball gets over Gawn (we're fortunate to have May and Lever who already know when to hold their ground and when to go). And this is why I don't think we need Brown, he might replace Weids role, but wouldn't offer when LJ does, which is where I think we'll do best.

No not available at all, and GWS would be stupid to even consider trading him. He is still on a rookies wage and with their salary cap they'd be trying to ship off those after pay rises (such as Hately, O'Halloran, Caldwell etc.) as compared to one of their lowest cost players.

The Hawks had only 8 guys who played 15 or more games for the season, of those only Hardwick and O'Brien didn't make the top 7 of their B&F, neither of those guys would get near our team. He was just as ordinary with the Hawks as what he was with us, he just managed to play more games there than most. I'm still very happy we got rid of him.

We scored over 88 points 4 times this season, 3 of those weid and LJ played in, and in 4 of the 5 games they played together at least one of them kicked multiple goals. Where we fall down is midfield goals, tracs right up there but the rest are way below average

I wouldn't be at all surprised if we had a crack at him, we would have watched him very closely as a junior as I think it's been said we would have taken him if the Saints didn't. He's a delisted free agent so we wouldn't need to trade and could put him on the minimum wage.

One of Langdon's biggest skills is holding ground and not getting sucked into every contest, it's what good wingman do, always there for the release or as you say run into space. It'd be better to try and teach a forward flanker those skills rather than an inside mid, but again it's more something that should come naturally to someone and the way Hannan plays as a forward shows he might at least have the running to space covered.

Caldwell is rated higher and a bit more of an inside player, so we'd have to throw something else in. I thought O'Halloran would be a more realist straight swap, and offers a bit more speed (less polish) and is pretty tough. He could easily sit in an inside/outside role, not sure if he could be a pure wingman though. Calwell is probably more likely to end up as an inside mid, which we've got heaps of, he'd probably go for a first rounder. Plus O'Halloran is managed by Trac's brother, and I'm guessing but there's every chance he could be managing Trac when he's contract comes around in 2 years, so be nice to start working with him early.

GWS are the only one of those 2 clubs with something decent to give, I'd be asking for O'Halloran who's got a fair bit of upside and is not just an inside mid, he's quick and tough but could easily play an inside/out role. We'd then free up a bit of cap space and maybe chase Peter Wright who from memory was a better junior ruck than forward, so could be more than just a handy back up but also play forward.

Someone on BF suggested we were into McKay and after the Carlton folk took the bait they started talking about a swap for Oliver, seemed like it was a few 14 year olds trying to be heros and McClure has shown where he gets his news

Good luck to them all! According to footywire we've still got another 20 guys out of contract, I'd say the rest might be waiting for list sizes etc. to be determined first. Obviously Fritter, Viney, Hibberd and a few others will be playing AFL, but there's still be 12 or so who could be a little nervous.

He's had 2 really big games that inflate his figures, but in his last 20 games has only kicked 10 goals. While he's got some speed, I feel like he's a bit of a poor man's ANB, who happened to play 2 great games. He really looked great in early 2018, but hasn't been up to is since.

This isn't entirely correct, unless you have insider information?? The baby was lost after he'd already played in the first 8 games of the season, when they (as a family) were already in the Qld hub. They have a toddler but aren't actually due until into next year. His form was the reason he was dropped, while being dropped a few days after losing a baby and wanting to play might have caused some issues, he was dropped because he was very ordinary before that. Personally I don't think we need him, while he's definitely gettable and could give us 30-40 goals, our biggest forward issue is not a gun tall (Weid and LJ can be that), it's the mid-forward connection, get that right and we score another 2 goals a game and match it with the highest scoring teams.

Not an issue for us at all - Clarry, Trac, Gus, Langdon, Lever and Weid (amongst others) are all under 25 and JL, Kossie and Rivers all looked good this year. I'd be more worried if I followed the Crows, Hawks, Nth or Sydney, all finished bottom 4 and had no players selected. They haven't got the same level of talent in the 23 - 28 age bracket as what we've got.

Plus they are paying way overs for McGovern as well. Lot of outlay for not much between the 3 of them.

He got a big bump in the scoring chain that led to hunts goal in the last. Took the hit and got the handball away, he played his role perfectly yesterday

I can see clubs holding onto a veteran, if they show they have decent attributes to help the team off the field. With the soft cap being reduced it might be better for a team to have part of a coaches role fall under the players salary cap. Chunk has spent the last couple of games on the bench, so I'm sure the club is at least exploring what value he would bring in that regard. So keeping him on the playing list might not be a bad idea, much like Lewis was in his last year and the Hawks are doing with Silk. As long as his training standards are very high and he continues to drive the group, this could work out well for both the club and Jones.

I don't mind the idea of Charlie going back, but like the Dogs play Daniel, as an undersized half back flank, not the small lock down defender some have described him as on here. Spargo is also excellent at reading the play, I always wonder why the smallest bloke on the field (Daniel) often marks on his own, but it's all because he reads the play so well and positions himself early, but he can only do this because he's not played hard up against a man. This is probably easier in the Dogs defensive set up as compared to t total zone like we do. I'm glad he's getting recognition on her for his ball use and outside of Trac I'm sure there's no-one else in the team the forwards would like kicking the ball into them.

Depending on the weather I'd be tempted to go a little taller against the bombers, they've looked terrible against the taller forwards lately, Dixon and Hawkins have not just kicked a few but made them look nervous each time the ball went in. The Weid/LJ/TMac combo wasn't great early in the year but maybe with the more mobile Brown (and against his old team) this is worth a shot. I'd be bringing in LJ, Hibberd and Lockhart while the outs are Hunt, Jetta (looked injured) and Baker (yes he just played his best game, but it was a toss up between him and AVB and AVBs continual pressure gets in over Baker's 2 opportunistic goals.)

Only issue is I can't spot many of the defenders - May, Lever, Hibbo, Salem, Nev, Rivers etc. are not in that photo, so maybe it was just the mids & forwards, so might give an clue but nothing definite either. Add those guys in and Harmes and it's a squad of around 24 which would be about right.

Still have to pay him, and with Danger, Hawkins, Duncan etc. they can't have a huge amount of cap - at least not to the level to pay the comps highest earner this year. I know Ablett will be gone and Selwood is on less, but I'd say (guess work) they'd be fairly close to their cap, and still have Tuohy, Stanley, Parfitt and Rohan, who are best 22 plus guys like Taylor, Narkle and Cockatoo among those out of contract.

I don't think Geelong has either the currency (picks/players) or coin to go after Cameron, who I think will stay, they'll be linked as they are the closet location to his home town (still a fair way away though), and the fact he likes fishing etc. We only need to say we are going to match the offer, much like Adelaide did with Danger, and then work on getting the best deal. Again I think Jack will stay, but just throwing up a hypothetical if he did say he wants out.

I like Viney and don't want him to go, but hypothetically if he came to the conclusion he wanted out then this is what I'd be trying to do. He's a RFA, so I'd be telling him we're going to match and then look to trade with Geelong, in a similar way they did for Danger. They are pretty good at that sort of stuff. Currently Geelong have draft picks 11 (from GC), 14 (from WC) and their own at 15. So I'd propose we trade Viney along with the Hawks 2nd this year and our 1st next year for picks 14 & 15 plus their 2nd and either Narkle or Cockatoo. Essentially it'd be Viney, pick 22 and next years 1st for 14, 15 & 34 plus either Narkle or Cockatoo. We get more than what we would from the compo formula for Viney (I'd say he'd be end of 1st, which is 20 depending on other deals), but have to make a bet on next year, then get in a player who would suit our needs but seems surplus to Geelong, while giving up them a significant upgrade in the 2nd round this year. We then wouldn't be impacted if we go after Williams.

Your point was very badly made then, if you want Harmes back we'll then I think he'd need to come into the mid mix where of course he'd get more possessions than off HB. I don't think Harmes could play as a forward pressure player, while he's good at tagging the best mids, this is because his attacking mindset kicks in and he goes ball hunting. Whereas ANB knows his role is to tackle and pressure the ball exiting defense, not high stat stuff, but I'm sure coaches love players who sacrifice stats to play the team role.

I'd be bringing in LJ (if fit), Hibberd (if fit), and Lockhart while my outs would be Nev, Brown and Hunt. Smith goes to Stringer, Tominlison to Daniher, allowing May/Lever to provide the support. I'd try and put Fritsch on Saad and make him go deep forward as much as possible, then have Melksham on Ridley, really kill off the attack from their defensive 50.

Using actual statistical evidence you are completely wrong, given ANBs role is to play as a pressure forward, he has more tackles, score involvements, one percenters, goal assists and of course has kicked 5 goals straight (to 2.2). Throwing up stats to compare players who play in a different spot on the ground is just used to have a pot shot at a player and very lazy, I'm sure you'll use ANBs lack of hit outs compared to Gawn to call for his axing next.