Gator

There's enough smoke for me, especially from Chook who's known to have contacts within the MFC. You can please yourself.

No, Mahoney said Jesse came to the club and said he'd like to return to Perth if it could be orchestrated.

Tom Browne also inferred there could be off-field issues. But look mate, it doesn't matter what you think of these individuals I don't believe they've simply made things up. They've been told. So, in essence, whether they're flawed individuals or not, it doesn't matter.

Disagree. I should clarify. We're better with both May and Hogan in the team and Weideman at Casey. But as that's not an option I really do think we're structurally far better off with May at FB. I see a flag with May at FB and I can't with Oscar, Frost, and Lever as the key tall defenders. I accept others disagree.

Look, it's not just Nixon questioning Hogan. Karl Langdon has done it and even our own Chook from Perth said he was worried about defamation if he revealed what he knew. Clearly, there are significant off-field issues being discussed about Hogan within the AFL community. Are they true ? Is there substance to them ? I don't know. But it doesn't help our hand at the trade table. But, by all means denigrate anyone who repeats them, as is the want of supporters who don't like such things being said about one of their players. Better to denigrate the person retelling what they hear than think anything like that could possibly be true.

What if Kennedy or Darling get injured ? What if Lynch or Riewoldt get injured ? They happen and you deal with as best you can. When Hogan comes to you and says he wants to explore moving home with one year on his contract only a dope wouldn't try and get the best deal possible. You can't keep players that don't want to be there and you can't make best practice decisions on the basis someone might hypothetically get injured the following year You try and construct a list as best you can to deal with those scenarios..

I can't agree. And I fail to see any profound "objectivity". So Jesse goes to the club and says, "look, my preference is to return to WA if you can get a deal done". We say, "sure, Jesse, but if we can't we're going to play you in defence for the next 5 years". "You'll not only be happy about it you'll also be signing a new long-term deal." "How does that sound ?" "But but I'm a young gun key forward !" "You were, Jesse, you were." I'm not buying what you're selling Old, and I sure as hell don't think Jesse is either. Lever went for picks 10 and 16. Picks 5 and 23 are better than picks 10 and 16, although some of the nuffies might try and argue otherwise. Try and get the deal done. And there's a synergy with pick 23, which a few years back Taylor turned into Frost, Stretch, and Neal-Bullen. I'm very confident Taylor can unearth a 150 game player with pick 23, or potentially even turn it into a lower pick. We'll agree to differ.

Yep. My take is that the club was happy to keep Hogan long-term, but not disappointed when he said he had a preference to return to Perth and specifically to go to the Fremantle Football Club. As you know, the club is bullish about Weideman and Tom has become a revelation as a key forward. Structurally, we're better with May in the 22 than with Hogan. And yes, Hogan could become a quality key back, but I doubt he wants to move to defence. Certainly not long-term. More specifically, I cannot fathom why he'd go to a bottom 4-6 basket-case club, when we're on the precipice of a successful era. It makes me question lots of things about him, including his drive and competitiveness. “I asked him if he wanted to have a chat to Peter Bell and he said, ‘I don’t want to do it’. “He said, ‘I will stay at Geelong or go to West Coast’. But I don’t want to go to a club down the bottom of the ladder because Geelong is a good club. Tim Kelly gets it, as you can see by the quotes above. If Hogan said his preference was to go to Freo, and I don't doubt it to be the case, then my whole view of him has changed. Clearly, he's gone to the Jack Watts school of dedication. And just as clearly, a flag means little to him. I hope he's traded before Wednesday's deadline.

Cool, calm, direct. BS free zone. A first class operator. Ordinary player, gun administrator.

Sometimes ? I see myself as a miserable pr!ck all of the time. I'm grumpy more than a "flogger", but each to their own. I have no idea what will happen, but my preference is for Hogan to go if it will land May. I cannot accept that Hogan wants to leave when we're finally a top 4 club to go to a bottom 4-6 club. He's spent nearly a third of his life in Melbourne and if he was single minded about a flag he wouldn't leave. I reckon I've been one of Hogan's biggest supporters, but when you lose me you lose me. Entering his prime, having done the hard yards, he wants to go to a [censored] club ? Move him on. And posters here want to "get around" him. Please. Gut feel ? Wednesday 8.30pm is a long way away in trade terms. 60/40 purple.

Firstly, I don't understand the question. Secondly, why do you care ?

This "two firsts" is a crock of $%#^. 5 and 23 is better than 16 and 17, which are "two firsts". And it's better than 11 and 16. Thankfully, the smart people at the club will be assessing any offer on its merits and what it can be turned into and they won't be mindlessly humming in their head "two firsts", "two firsts".

So what ?

I don't like to always use the draft pick value system to make a point, but pick 5 is very valuable, especially in this draft. Gibbs was picks 10 and 16, which on a value basis is less than 5 and 23. But yes, I get your point. Things can't always be exactly how you want them and sometimes you make decisions based on net gain and your prospects as a footy club.

I haven't put thought into it. Unlike some, I don't get too hung up on draft picks and who won a trade and who didn't. Hawthorn haven't had a top 10 draft pick for about 13 years. We have our ducks aligned and for me May completes the team. Others don't agree. Great.

I like driven winners. The fact that Hogan wants to go to a bottom club and leave his mates and a chance of real success makes me question his character and competitiveness. You disagree. Marvelous.

I'm still not convinced it's over, but if it is so be it. I'm left with the feeling that Hogan really is a strange unit. He came to the Dees at our lowest ebb. He sat in the stands and saw 2013. He's seen us evolve and grow into a prelim team and just when we're on the precipice of long-term success he wants to go to a bottom 6 team during his prime years. Not only is Hogan a strange cat I wonder if he's as thick as a brick. I wonder what drives him. Maybe he's not the competitive beast I'd hoped for. Clearly, he doesn't crave a flag. If 5 and 23 is on the table between now and Wednesday I'd personally do the deal. Unlike some others I think May would structurally make us complete and almost the flag favourite in 2019. I've been a massive Hogan fan, but he seems NQR to me.

You need to retrain how your brain works. Tyson is purely an inside mid. He's behind Oliver, Viney, Brayshaw, and Harmes, which is why he was pushed out to a wing. If we had a decent outside runner he wouldn't have been playing finals. Kolodjashnij will make life even tougher next year. If Gawn goes down we're cactus. Being able to secure a young ruck entering his prime years is a massive coup. We couldn't get better insurance.

Of course. If Hogan goes we draft another potential key forward. We may do that if he stays. Most clubs don't have McDonald/Weideman let alone Hogan/McDonald/Weideman. West Coast don't win the flag if Kennedy or Darling go down. You need a little luck to win a flag. If one of your key forwards gets injured at the wrong time you in all likelihood don't win the flag. It is what it is.

Unlike @DeeSpencer I don't think it's a tactically smart offer. Unless, of course, Melbourne are fools and I don't think they are. It's never smart in a negotiation to make an offer that the vendor doesn't even need to consider. Never make an offer that is so easily dismissed it doesn't warrant thought. You may think it's clever, but it's not and it invariably weakens your position.

The view that the club should wait one more year for May and get him for free doesn't wash with me. Firstly, there's no guarantee he'll still want the Dees in a year's time. Things change. Secondly, I want to win the flag in 2019. We're right in the window to win and May improves our chances. Improve the list. Improve the balance of the best 22. And do it now.

If we get 5 and 11 I'd personally offer pick 11 and Frost. Frost will become somewhat superfluous with May and Lever back in 2019 along with a developing Petty. Some supporters love Frost, but I'd do the deal if it kept pick 5. And how many picks to the Suns need ? They need mature players, not pick after pick of kids that may leave in 3 years. But I doubt my scenario will happen.

How many 21 year old key forwards have been best on ground in a final ? I don't know why so many doubt Weideman. He's going to be a star. He's certainly a few years away from his peak, but he'll be very good in 2019.

Melbourne will trade pick 5 for May. I'm looking forward to the meltdowns.

I'd argue that a dogmatic ruthless approach is the club's decision to basically push Hogan out the door to better balance the list in its quest for a premiership in 2019. I'll wait to see the end trade and then form a conclusion as to how well we negotiated.