Tall Timber

While it's not left-field in name, I'm still confident the big fish target is Prestia.

His reliable, strong hands overhead were a highlight of mine this season. We could move the ball forward when tied up in defence because of him.

He hasn't re-signed yet, and for that he can walk. Most of our defenders are expendable anyway - with all due respect.

And they can have him. Oscar Mac offers more.

Interesting that the coaches opted for Hooker and not Hurley from the Dons like many junkyard scribes have. He was widely tipped to win their B&F - and did. Also agree with Tuohy's selection but putting bias aside I think Mitchell's stiff not to have Bernie's spot. In summary, tonight's a crock.

What, the one-eyed incest-ridden Adelaide citizen ?? Yeah nah.Beelzebub has a very interesting point BTW.

C'mon people - we're just trade fodder to push real deals through at the best possible price.

Exactly. And we don't have that good system nor do we have a good enough list yet.

That's the long and short behind our chances to get him this year. For the record, they're zilch. Get over it and move on. There are other players we're pursuing with vigour this time and, like Dangerfield last year, in with a decent shot to nab them.

I don't think we will ever see a footballer like him again.

I'm a self-confessed cynic, and I want to why a player of his (supposed) caliber would be pushed out.

It's no surprise we'll be rumoured to have interest in every player on the market, and some fringe players perhaps not on the market. Fact is we will, because despite our improvements we still hold more than half a [censored] list. I don't care where you were drafted or which club you came from. If you can get it plenty, use it properly, play both ways and last a whole game then you're a candidate to join the MFC. And none of the names currently being mentioned + available should be given a second thought.

Jordie was a future 300-gamer according to Connolly. Had some tremendous performances as a tagger. Obviously he was no Liam Picken though.

Of course they will be, and so they should. In 2 years they'll have lost all their leaders and sure as [censored] don't want to replace them with rookies.

He says a lot of things, like his appraisal of Toumpas, but I digress ... Carey's development of football in recent years has been quite remarkable. Extra-curricular activity (especially sport) will be the great legacy Phil de Young leaves on the school. My time as a student (read: player) there was during the very early stages of rebuilding - where footy was digging itself out of a complete shambles. Interestingly, of the class you mention the school rated Macrae ahead by the length of the Flemington straight.

Carey boy !! Same class as Macrae. Viney will make something of him.

Get a strong feeling our off-season targets boil down to Prestia or nothing. You put him in a starting midfield with Petracca, Brayshaw, Viney, Jones, VdB and Vince and you have a healthy balance of experience at both ends of the scale, and A-grade talent. It's an imposing group equal if not superior to GWS, which would have us genuinely pressing for a top 8 finish. If Todd Viney did meet with Clayton then I think he would've been the only Suns player discussed.

How long did you spend typing that up, CB ?? Hopelessly unfunny. Get a life.

It beats talking Melksham.

That's purely speculative and not what I meant by 'break the bank'. Bennell is worth $700,000 a season - Treloar money - and we won't have to reach that deep into our budget given the circumstances.

I can play too. Just not very well. What's your point ? He's lethal going for goal but averages 1/2 a game, and doesn't make up for it in the disposal or tackle count. So what is his talent ? Looking slack-jawed ? He's a list-clogger.

People say the correlation between Bennell's exile from Australian underage touring squad and what's happened this year makes him bad medicine. All I see is a bit of a DH, like Hodge and Franklin and Swan and err ... a lot of Hawks and Pies when they won flags. Gold Coast are a bit of a joke. A newbie franchise with no idea how to operate as a football club (look at the McKenna debacle) so I don't care for Bennell's few disciplinary mishaps in his first year. Then there's the division between bible-bashers and happy-go-lucky party boys which would never end well, and it took one hand grenade (Hunt - his housemate no less) to set them off. Bennell wasn't the only naughty boy up there, just the poster boy - and made an easy target by Gold Coast when he flicked that cigarette butt. Get a grip, Gold Coast.

How anyone can be so dismissive of a player like Bennell, with his stats, is mind-boggling. I'm glad so many of you aren't managing the list. We have two proficient midfielders with a third (Viney) on the way through and Petracca, Brayshaw and VdB to come. That's not nearly enough. More importantly none of the above are goal-kicking mids, which are rolled-gold property in Premiership circles. Melbourne should at least have a good, hard think about it. If they go all in, I'll back them in. He's worth our 1st-round and Howe for a 2nd-round or whatever's been mentioned - baggage or no baggage. If he fails, it's one spot on a list that didn't break the bank. Cut our losses and move on.

'Desperate' is quite apt. For 23 disposals and over a goal a game (since when have we had a prolific ball winner who kicks goals ??) we'd need to take on some baggage. Is it worth taking the risk ? My answer, carefully, would be yes.

I don't think we're doubting Jake can play, Steve. I think we're just petrified of paying overs for him - myself included. As a Melbourne supporter, blind faith is pretty [censored] hard to do.