Gator

Clearly I rate Hogan more than you. We can agree to differ.

Nick Bowen reporting on Twitter Gaff is in the process of telling the appropriate people he's staying. Story up soon on AFL.COM.AU

In an injury interrupted year last year Hogan kicked 3 against both Port (finalist) and the eventual premier Richmond. Key forwards reach their peak at 26, not 23. It's self-serving nonsense to suggest Hogan can't perform against top 8 teams.

At the end of the day it matters little. He's either read the writing on the wall or the club has been very honest at his exit meeting. What's the difference ?

It's obvious Tyson has been told by the club to check out other options. Tyson isn't driving this. When your club suggests you seek out other possibilities it makes it pretty hard to stay. His manager will be doing all in his power to get a reasonable deal elsewhere.

Harmes is only going to get better. Imagine training all summer with the inside mids. Jones is ordinary out on a wing. I think 2019 could be his last. I'd be amazed if 2020 isn't. Tyson is hopeless out on a wing. I'm happy for Tyson to stay as depth on the inside, but if I'm Tyson I'm not staying. But if Tyson is a stupid person he may be happy to.

Hate to be in the trenches with old Cell.

I think things have shifted.

I disagree on Melbourne's desire. In my view it's crystal clear that Melbourne are driving this. They could easily quash any talk of a trade, but it feels like to me the Dees are almost encouraging Hogan to explore his options. They've decided May is the missing piece that could secure a flag in 2019, they rate McDonald and Weideman as a forward combination, and think they can get adequate compensation from Freo. Just my take, but I think Melbourne are more 60-70% in their desire to do a deal on Hogan.

My take is that May wants the Dees, but can't show his hand until Hogan confirms he's seeking a trade to Freo. We'll know nothing about May's intentions until we know Hogan's.

As already pointed out to you, Jones was pushed out to a wing from round 16 onwards. Tyson can't replace a player in the "guts" if said player isn't playing in the guts.

Sure, but if you saw the post I quoted, and I assume you did, there's an inherent lack of trust or faith that the outcomes will be satisfactory. Why you and others seemingly feel this way is beyond me.

Why you and others don't have faith in Mahoney, Taylor, Viney, and co. is beyond me.

So your educated guess is that the outcome we will want is a pick we can use on May and perhaps a player such as another A. Brayshaw ? Or Cerra ?

Firstly, we don't know who will end up having the better career when it comes to Angus and Petracca and secondly no conclusions could be drawn between Andrew and Cerra even if we could. It's an irrelevant observation with no answer.

Either or.

I'd happily take Cerra off their hands, but what's wrong with a first round draft pick ? What's wrong with a combination of players (May, Kolodashnij, Preuss, etc.) and a quality pick ?

We have the whip hand and really should drive a hard bargain on Hogan. We're in the premiership window and if don't get what we need we keep him. Pick 5 and a future first would also be reasonable.

Good. Keep turning the list over.

Yeah, what would he know.

His manager stated "he won't be going to Melbourne because he doesn't like the role they have in mind for him". It's cut and dried - and over. But by all means, hang on to whatever you want to.

Melbourne haven't been in the hunt for weeks. I reported what his manager said, but for some reason people want to hold on to ill-considered hope that is predicated by nothing more than their imagination.

He's really torn. He's happy to stay at West Coast, but is under significant family pressure to come home. Connors' comment was that if he stays his family may be lukewarm towards him for a month, but they'll get over it. I suspect he'll come back and it will most certainly be to North, but it's not an easy decision for him.

Look, if it was actually funny ...

He's a genuine talent, but there's one thing I don't know enough about - his heart. If he has commitment and determination he'll be a great get. If he has attributes I associate with pea-hearts like Jack Watts then he won't. At this stage, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt, because I've heard nothing that leads me to believe he's a half-dedicated footballer.