John Demonic

An interesting quote in terms of being the philosophical ethos of the great Melbourne odd/even year Curse. I mean thank god the pies beat us in round 23 2017 and blessed us with a month off and the subsequent bangin' 2018 finals. In all seriousness though, absolutely zero to be read into puff pieces like these. Just glad he's sticking around, as he's one of our best players to watch and despite what some have said, is one of our elite-trending players that has continued to improve year on year.

You have to laugh... I really hope this sort of stuff burns in the guts of the players and next year we come out breathing fire.

Because flakey players like Sidebottom go missing I might add!

We would've won 5 of them to be precise. And North Melbourne and Brisbane would've merged in 2004 after a lack of premiership success.

Crying from the weight of carrying the Pies when both games were on the line.

Well we can lose, if our forward line is trash next year.

@Demonland Easiest photoshop job ever today with the swap of Elliott's head onto Jones body? ?

Ross Lyon and Fyfe to the Dees for every pick we have ?

Nah, it's Mr Freeze

Hot!! thread label in 3, 2, 1.. “If you think you are too small to make a difference, try starting a trade rumour on bigfooty"

We'd have them over a barrel and should be asking for more than just King for 2. King + Ah Chee with a late pick going back to them. Or if Frost goes, we could ask for Sam Day. Or if we could somehow use next years picks and get Izak Rankine with King... ?

I'm not convinced Frost can be coached to be anything more than he currently is, which means he cannot play on a wing, he cannot play up forward or on the ball. He's a defender. A very handy defender, but if he was traded for another key position defender, we haven't lost rebound out of defence, we've lost a player that can keep Brown to 2 goals and limit Hawkins impact in a final quarter - which we would want to replace with another player. If we want rebound out of defence, we should be looking at players than can rotate between wing, midfield and half back, or even half forward, players with skill by foot primarily, and just enough pace to evade a tackle. Players that have the tank to gut run up and down the G and help out their key position defenders who hold the fort/outer rim of press

I'm just suggesting that if Frost were to leave, we wouldn't be seeking a key position defender to replace him with elite burst out of defence (edit: as a key criteria), it would be primarily as a man on man defender, an ability to spoil and a level of skill that he can at least hit a target more times than not by foot. You look for elite speed from your half back flankers like Saad, McKenna, Johanissen.

He's 198cm, new to the game and building attributes. If we recruited him, i think we'd be doing it as a utility backman that can hold down defence and go 3rd man up. I don't think we are seeking a key position defender to sprint out of defence and provide us run, it's just a unique 'bonus' quirk of Frosts game, which can also be one of his and our vulnerabilities when it's turned over. Salem's skill and disposal out of defence helps us find a target and rebound with more care and patience, nothing has changed and you can expect him to have as big an impact next year as he did in 2018 imo.

Frosts job is as a 1st or 2nd KPD stopper. Why is it that his 'bonus' attribute of elite speed suddenly is an essential aspect of our back 6 going forward? Other clubs don't demand it of their stoppers. Don't we have Hibberd, Salem and Lever (KK, Wagner etc) as rebounding runners/kickers? If you want more speed out of defence, replace Hibberd. Try Jason Johannisen. If you want a reliable KPD to help May, recruit a KPD primarily to Stop (Like we were apparently reported to be doing with Keath)

Darling Darling stand by for some riddles

Why don't we trade pick 3/player to GCS for King/2nd, and then let them to the pick splitting with GWS. Might save us some man hours to do other stuff lol

Our Tommy boy

Yeah. Nothing is turning me off more than this talk of pick 12 and 14 or whatever it is. We should be looking to go into the draft with pick 5-10 AND acquiring 12 and 14. If we're wanting to 'rebuild our elite youth quota' - Port's rising star near miss and only elite draftee was Rozee who was pick 5. They didn't think Dursma & Butters would suffice, nor should we with our equivalent 12/14. Which means we might want to trade out a player as well as splitting pick 3, to acquire that high a series of picks.

Better options that we're probably not in the race for. Varcoe is an improvement on ANB, JKH, Wagner and any of our mid-late pick new draftees that are 2 games from being dropped. Varcoe with his pace and skill, even at his age, is a genuine upgrade on half the list.

Tory Dickson from the Dogs is a UFA. Most accurate player in history. Was shuffled out of the team and missed the final. Josh bruce next year should put him very much on the outer. Could be a decent 3rd tall lead up forward if he's still got it in him at 32 next year. Kicked 24 from 17 games. If you're still playing well, age shouldn't be a barrier. He certainly wouldn't be starved of opportunities with our inside 50's. Give him two years? (We really shouldnt be having this conversation, when the accurate Sam Lloyd would've been worth recruiting to the Dees the year before)

What we don't currently have is Brayshaw's 2018 form and there seems to be an assumption that he will return to it next year. I'm sceptical and see Wines as an immediate upgrade, both in terms of his centre clearance work and his ability to deliver it into the forward line more often, or an ability to play up rotating at half forward with Tracc in middle. Who has the higher ceiling is debatable, but they're similar players at the same age, although Wines would add more experience and more leadership qualities. If he became available, why not jump on the opportunity and trade one for the other and freshen up the midfield dynamic we currently have and not go into next year assuming everything will click back into gear if we add Langdon and pick 3. As I said above, it's a horizontal trade move, so it's not absolutely necessary. We don't need Wines, but there could be benefits if it's trading away the potential for another poor Brayshaw year.

2-3 players can include Wines (and we can include our first round draft pick next year for outside speed). If we're getting Langdon. If we're in the hunt for Tomlinson and acquire him: Then who else? Of course, much remains to be seen about who we're chasing come trade week. However ponder this: If Brayshaw has a poor year next year, and Wines stays and has a big year. which potential trade do you think we will have rued not pursuing? Of course Wines is not an immediate need, but there's such a thing as jumping on an opportunity that arises too.

It's more a case of the imagination operating on 'what if' scenario's, it's the whole point of the trade board really. I mean, if you've got better things to do...

With the downturn in memberships next year and a fixture that will reward us for the mediocrity, maybe it makes business sense to actually bring in a big name signing, even if he's a type of player we are already filled with. Langdon, Tomlinson just may not cut it. I wouldn't trade out firsts of course, or split them, as I think the pick 3 player will also be a new signing that puts bums on seats early next year as we turn up to see how they perform.