mo64

I don't mind some of the suggestions. But you were complaining about senior players holding back the development of young players at Casey. Jack Newnes would be a classic example of just that. He got the flick from St. Kilda, can't get a game at the Blues, but you think he could be in our best 22. Personally I prefer JJ as our wingman, and see how Howes and Woey develop.

If another club is willing to take a punt on Tomlinson, I'd be happy for us to move him and open up some salary cap room. Post ACL, Tomlinson hasn't looked good as a 1-1 defender or as a mobile intercept defender. Moving forward, Turner looks like far better depth. If we have any intentions of playing Petty forward, we'd keep Tomlinson.

Oops, I'm confusing De Konning with Kolodjashnij. It was Kolo who looked out of his depth in the final against us.

I agree with what you're saying, but it will need a change of philosophy from our coaches and match committee. Our reluctance to drop out of form players, or rest banged up players, meant that in form VFL players like Chandler and JVR were not rewarded. Sam De Konning looked out of his depth at times last year, but the Cats persisted with him. I feel we missed an opportunity to blood JVR this year.

What about his time in Humble Pie?

In the off season I saw him in a pub with Joel Smith and Fritsch, so he still has mates at the club.

Bit rough that only one kid gets a footy.

Last night's game was a blueprint on how to beat us. When the Swans moved the ball quickly and avoided kicking long, they dominated. Once they tired, the Pies were able to run the ball and they dominated. We got found out by both these teams. I can't imagine having both Grundy and Gawn on the ground in the 2nd half of games will solve the issues we faced this year. We need to change things up and become more mobile. I wouldn't bet on Grundy being mobile at his age and post injuries.

Pot calling kettle black.

Correct. Blues had Cerra well before season's end. We made a late play but never a chance.

I forgot Steven Pitt. I still think he should have been a late inclusion in the 2000 GF instead of Ben Beams.

Grundy is under contract, and the Pies want him gone. That's the definition of a player they do not need. And Grundy is nothing like Jackson. Jackson can sprint forward of the contest, which is something that Grundy cannot. Under Buckley, it was easy for Grundy to accumulate possessions. The only thing they have in common is that neither are good contested marks.

How do we fit Grundy, Gunston and McKay under our salary cap? We might have allocated some cap space for Jackson, but who knows whether that was used for Gus. If we think that Brown and T Mac are on their last legs next year, why bring on more aging players like Grundy and Gunston, who have both had long term injuries in the past 2 years. I'd go all in for McKay, take a fly on Gunston as an UFA, and get a cheap Meek as part of Jackson deal.

And John Dellamarta

There's a difference between being a better player and a better option. There are more reasons for Meek being the better option than there are for Grundy.

Agree. Butters is a very good footballer, but is best suited as an on-baller. He doesn't replace Kozzie .

Getting Gunston makes perfect sense, but it makes no sense re-signing Melksham if that was the case. And the only key forward that GNF is alluding to, who would get demonlanders knickers in a knot is Taylor Walker.

We do know. If Grundy's contract was back ended, the Pies wouldn't have had to salary dump last year. Grundy's salary was the primary reason.

That's a bit simplistic. You still need team balance, so having 2 pure ruckmen on the ground for large percentages may not help us win. It made sense with Jackson, because he's more of an on-baller than a traditional ruckman. But if you want to give our explosive mids more rest, you should be looking at Spargo and Sparrow, who average between 65-70% game time, which is the lowest in our side.

TBH, I wouldn't trust Colin Young. He was trying to get both Bobby Hill and Lobb to break their contracts last year. I don't blame Bell for standing his ground. At the moment, everything is in the favour of the players/managers. Good to see a club stand it's ground. Having said that, the Lobb trade is interesting. With the development of JUH and Sam Darcy, I reckon the Dogs have gone cold on Lobb, and are only interested if it's a salary dump. They've probably offered a token pick, which doesn't give Freo any reason to trade Lobb.

Grundy is not on $600-$700 a year going forward, and if he was, Collingwood isn't handing over a pick for us to take on his contract. And I don't see how Grundy makes us better. The 4 remaining teams in the finals have got there with either a 2nd string or a journeyman ruckman. Having a dominant ruckman isn't a prerequisite for success.

GWS and Richmond have a fair bit going on.

All you have to do is ring up Trade Radio, and the rumour will gather some legs.

Good pick up by North, and a smart decision by Logue. I'm thinking North's 2nd round pick or priority pick will get the trade done, with maybe a late pick swap North's way.

Sounds great in theory, but there are so many ways to work around it. How do you stop a Zoom meeting? Player managers have clients amongst multiple clubs. So whilst re-negotiating a contract with player x, they could be discussing a move to that club for player y. It's been said many times that a lot of the player movements are locked in well before the season ends. Then it comes down to negotiating a trade.