KingDingAling

Good onya Lewis, and well done Brayshaw for playing for us fans. He is playing like a fan. The rest of these mugs aren't having a red hot one.

Put Oliver on the basketballer and let him chase a footballer.

I agree. It would be good to get that deal done soon. Gaff or May would be a suitable target after that - providing their clubs don't match our deals and force a trade. I am not certain we have much currency in trade terms. Tyson may not even land us a second round pick. Who else do we move on that is of value?

Brayshaw is closing in on Oliver. His form is that good. He has sailed past every mid we have bar Oliver. Of course Clayton has the points on the board after putting in multiple seasons of quality, but Brayshaw is bordering on elite. I have been watching him closely and he has better traits than elite players, he moves better, is more aggressive, and is dominant physically (asserts himself on the contest). His kicking lets him down at times, but he used to be a good kick as a junior on both feet (so I would expect that will translate eventually). Whatever it takes to keep Brayshaw it is of most importance. On form he is our best midfielder after Oliver, and even then he is rapidly closing in. I have Brayshaw in my supercoach and have had for sometime, so I watch him more closely than others. I think even Dees fans are sleeping on the Brayshaw.

"But Gaff’s status as a free agent has drawn greater interest this year – free agents can be recruited without a costly trade – although as a restricted free agent, the Eagles would have the option of matching any bid and forcing a trade should he choose to leave". - Sydney Morning Herald.

Its just an opinion piece. Harvey will eventually have to go down the Kane Cornes route (say outrageous sh*t to remain relevant), otherwise he will have to go get a kick in the ams at 45+. Those are his options, but to read between the lines here it is just an article on what Harvey believes may happen. There is no factual basis behind any of what he says - other than Freo need Hogan (which is obvious that Freo need anyone who can kick goals on a consistent basis).

Not massive on Gaff, but he can do what 95% of our list appear incapable of doing, and that is hitting a target. Gaff definitely fits a need. I was leaning towards not trading for him, and ideally we wouldn't, but as the weeks go by, it wouldn't be the worst thing we could do. Thankfully we cannot trade 2 future firsts in a row, so I am confident we cannot stuff up our future (trading future first round picks away for blokes with ACL histories) anymore than we already have. If we do get Gaff and have to trade for him then I suspect it will be because we move on players - which I am 110% fine with (so long as we don't move on Brayshaw).

There is no role for the likes of Bugg or Tyson - because they turn over the ball too much. These guys have been in the system a while now and their skills have actually gotten worse. Thankfully we have drafted guys like Fritsch and Spargo, who can actually use the football. Garlett is also a welcome addition back into the side. We need players who can use the ball and hit targets (which should be a minimum requirement to get a game in our main side). Bugg is a big NO for me. He joins a long line of players we have who get a kick in the VFL but come into our main side and actually make it worse.

Spot on. You were just stating the obvious I thought. Credit to Brayshaw for not hanging up the boots - I would have. Its a dangerous game and repeated head knocks are no good at all. Everything I have read on CTE suggests as much.

I've had Gus in my supercoach for over 2 months. This is just what he does now. Massively underrated player. He will start getting props off the media after tonight - but he has been in great form for a while now. His kicking appeared to have improved a bit tonight which is good

Oliver is too good of an inside mid to take out of the midfield to rest forward too long. He has the cleanest hands of a midfielder I have ever seen. The game is won and lost in the midfield. I understand that teams have to kick goals, but if they aren't on top of the midfield battle those goals will be few and far between. Oliver's best attributes are better utilized in our midfield IMO.

Unlikely he will leave SA, but if he did I would hope we were into him. Polec is AA material this year. He'd need to put in a solid back half of the year but he is massively underrated and has been great this year. When he is on he is up there with Wingard and Gray as Port's most important player. Consistency is there for Polec as well. Be a great get.

Its not the be all and end all. I agree. No player is the be all and end all. We have seen that with Danger leaving Adelaide and Buddy leaving Hawthorn. Brayshaw would be a massive loss for us though. Sure, he has built up his currency, but he is trending upwards at such a rate that it is reasonable to assume he improves next year as well. This kid can seriously play, but more than that, he is doing so off the back of re-adjusting the way he goes about attacking the football. Its pretty impressive. Viney had to do it. Brayshaw is doing it. Those type of guys you don't want to let go. If Brayshaw goes to Freo we would need to be looking at getting a player the quality of Cerra in the deal.

If Murphy seriously wants to come to MFC he would be very high on my list. The only concern would be injuries, but if I could name a couple of players that would improve our side significantly it would be Josh Kelly or Marc Murphy. We are embarrassingly bad by foot. It is the type of embarrassingly bad by foot that I saw when I used to play under 11's football.

Gaff is the type of player we get if West Coast don't match our offer, but not the type of player you trade for when you have nothing. I call him "Seagull" Gaff, as he used to be skirt around the edges of the WACA away from the hard ball. Still, he can actually hit a target, so if he lands at MFC through salary cap space alone he'll be more than welcome.

Bayley "I don't waste a disposal" Fritsch

Just spotted an Essendon supporter. Have seen a few Sydney supporters.

He is looking desperate. When Petracca plays with intent he is noticeable. Absolute bull when he is on.

That was a beautiful kick by Spargo. Kicked off the outside of his foot, its not easy to do.

Tom McDonald is 10 times the better kick up forward than he was down back.

Where is the evidence that ball hit the post? They need it to overturn. To me, it didn't look like they had a view of it.

They are valuable link men if they know their limitations. Stretch and ANB need to handball to a running Salem or Fritsch as much as possible.

Stretch can win me over with this pressure. He has been really good so far.

ANB is such a terrible kick of the football. It is embarrassing to watch. I have no idea how someone who cannot execute the ball at all - can get a game at the highest level. I would think its a minimum requirement. He needs to be a link man instead of being on the end of the play. Hogan is killing it and playing very well. Bayley Fritsch always catches my eye.

Now we have Lever, I think May would be a good get. GC would want too much though. They cannot afford to lose May. Their franchise hinges on being competitive at some point (soon). They need to sign Lynch and keep May.