John Demonic

Fair enough. And ill rightly cop criticism for the harshness of my post But let me just surmise that maybe Gaff is not the type of person that will thrive with the weight of $1.1m/yr expectations on his shoulders all the while adapting to a new environment. That might be a factor in him being indecisive currently. Time to let this one play out, happy to be wrong.

Ablett was the malicious one there with the push. Funny how the "greatest" players sulk when they lose a contest fairly like buddy on davis this year.

"Told to stay away" Interesting turn of phrase. Something feels off about this whole Gaff scenario. I know he's going through a lot, but to be completely shattered as your teammates win a premiership seemed pretty self absorbed. Couldnt put the chin up and put on a smile and be happy for teammates like nic nat? I know im playing the DL cliche of disliking those who turn us down, but Gaff has seemed like a very odd and brittle indecisive person this past week.

It doesnt even serve the club to talk him down though. Maybe if we let these false observations fester, a nuffie like Sticks Kernahan will pressure his list manager to pick him up with a high pick. One can dream..

My source says Hogan cant make his mind up, so has agreed to a joint custody arrangment for 5 years. Round 1-14 at Freo for 400K. Round 15-GF at Melbourne for 500k

Maybe we can recruit Steele Sidebottom then for a late pick!

Do we tell Gaff to bugger off as Jesse's cap space is unavailable for 1 more year too?

I mean, with the pick 50'ish we get with Kent. If list space available and we have not recruited any small forwards

I wonder if we can get Lonie with pick 50ish, or a swap. Seems out of favour with Richo but showed glimpses of his scintillating crumbing when played.

I can see freo fans using this to argue unders on Jesse, like the dolts last year who thought it justified us paying unders for (or not recruiting) Lever

Sounded more like a cacophony of grunts

Not playing at bad team automatically means you're no good? How simplistic. clubs make mistakes all the time in preferencing too much youth or too much age with decent players getting squeezed out. Look above for reasons. Great clubman, ready to go player that adds depth (more ready than a late pick). We're in the window to add little pieces that give us some options to play with. Comes far cheaper than mayne. In the event of our club using cap space on two elite recruits and losing players to other clubs, we may need one or two patchwork players on 2 year contracts. If barlow dominates at casey then he's in with or ahead of hunt, jkh, wagner, stretch in getting an opportunity in seniors isnt he?

Mayne was one of Collingwoods best on GF day. Bit of redemption for the [censored] he'd got from afl world.

Tyson & Kent for Jack Billings.

Yeah, confident in the club to acquire what it needs or can get done, they have the big picture in mind. I just think DL'ers expecting a a first round picks and elite recruits like Gaff & May might be a little disappointed. Priority might be having the cap space and picks to get both recruits, rather than acquiring what people think is fair for Hogan.

Bumping my Q: If we need Hogans salary off the books because an elite mid nominates us, then we dont have all the leverage with Freo as we dont want to hold hogan for a year, correct? We want the trade done quickly so long as it satisfies in providing the picks we can use on other trades. I wouldnt expect the club to pursue overs, only what it needs which may include unders to get it done, only so we can make sure the S.May + elite mid deals happen at a minimum. Thoughts?

You want our club to be captained by clingy Tex Walker?

And with that we've shown freo our hand. We need the cap space now to get gaff, so will take slight unders for hogan just to get it done to focus on the deal ie we dont want to play hard ball and keep Hogan for 1 year. I wont be suprised if the club considers Gaff and May alone a win. If we get anything above those 2 ie another first round pick, id be very suprised. Additional Q. What if WCE match? We would have to give something correct? Wont it be the freo trade leftovers after a May pick up?

I reckon youre partially correct. We hold the whip, but things seem to have now progressed towards there being plenty at stake for us too to get a trade done easily. If freo catch wind that we're waiting on it to acquire Gaff& May, then its feasible that we will settle for pick 5 and 9 or 10. They have the time issue to call a bluff and we have a significant deal on the cards that will mean we have zero interest in keeping him a year and need the cap relief.

Youve got a feeling that every player mentioned on this board will be ours?! Prepare for disappointment

Pretty much why we drafted Petty. Striking while the iron is hot on a player who we assessed as much better than the pick we got him with. He either develops in a few years into a Lever who stays in our back 6, or becomes a tradeable asset that nets us some high picks. But I digress. The point is to take an opportunity that presents as it might not come again.

I think people are confusing frosts main assett (burst of speed) as anything more than icing on a cake for a kpd. May is a much more rounded defender, and OMAC is or will be too on a developmental curve. We can recruit speed elsewhere with our half back flanks/wings

We havent played close to as good as both clubs today. With all due respect, that is delusional. We would have gone to water under the pressure of the eagles tall marking forwards or pies 5 goal start. We look amazing when everything is going our way, and took some big steps towards curbing the infuence of a team when it's not. But we're a year off staning up under pressure of a big game. A free ride into the grand final? What a massive disservice to a club that has overcome a stacked compo towards mcg teams. Richmond pre prelim were neck and neck with pies at 3/4 time, and overran a team 2 rotations down -they also were smashed interstate all year . Had nowhere near as much unity and confidence in their system as both gf finalists with backs against wall. Level at 3/4 time, showed massive effort for both clubs to go goal for goal and to end in a small margin. But monumental to come down from 5 goals, backing the system to grind away methodically.

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If the Pies win for Buckley, it will be an amazing feraltale