stevethemanjordan

Sure it doesn't, but West Coast were under immense pressure early and those two still stood up. May is a must. Physically imposing key backs are a must.

Just a quick reminder that Oscar and Frost will not be premiership defenders in the same side.

Probably not necessary given what he's gone through, mate. Even if this trade eventuates, I imagine most on here will always hold a soft spot for him.

Hogan to Gold Coast? Is that what I read? Massive lols.

The question should be around what will give us the best shot at a flag in the next 5 years? Not whether or not a first rounder is 'overs'. Why do posters keep missing this? Again. We were one win away from a grand final. We are not in a rebuilding phase so the obsession with draft picks needs to stop. May is seriously undersold on demonland, like many opposition players which shouldn't surprise me. He is exactly what we need and the fact that we had a meeting with the guy should give a fairly good indication as to our interest in him.

I watched a handful of Eastern games last year in which Cerra featured. He was unbelievable. A step above the rest in just about every facet. Agree we should ask the question.

Honestly, the talk of overs for someone who would help us immensely in the next 4+ years is embarrassing. We made a [censored] prelim. May is the body shape we miss in our back six. Someone who can out-body an opponent and allow for Lever to do what he does best. Neither on of Oscar or Frost are capable of using their bodies in the way that will allow for Lever to play his natural game. May is it. We need the guy. One of Oscar and Frost to play the second key tall, preferably Oscar for his composure with ball in hand and ability to keep things simple. Sydney had Grundy for years playing that role so well because he is a rock and is so good with his body. He's not tall and he's not that skilled. It allowed for Rampe to play his position perfectly. Adelaide the same with Talia and Hartigan which enabled Lever to have an unbelievable second year as an intercept specialist. We've got to provide an environment where our players can play to their strength and at the moment our backline is a bit of 'make it up as you go'.

I understand all of what you're saying, but I disagree. Hogan has the potential to be a generational player. May is 27 years old, Langdon doesn't fill any need unless you're talking about the fact that he shares an inability to use the ball along with some others on our list. And pick 18? Go and look up the list of players taken at that pick. It's quality over quantity in this case. We're not a basket case anymore. You're being too easy. Imagine what Essendon would ask for? If this is real, we need to take a hard stance.

I'd like to remind posters that we gave up two first round picks for Lever. Think about this for a minute. Hogan has a greater body of work than Lever. He also has good knees. It's two first rounders min, and we better stick fat if this entire shambles is true.

Well firstly Zac Langdon is a former 56 draft pick. He wasn't injured in his draft year. That means there are knocks on him and if you watch him, you'll see there are. Hogan would have gone 1 or 2 in his draft year if not for the mini draft but he is clearly more valuable than that given his output to date. Two first round picks in exchange for hogan and a pick would be ideal. We exchange the worse one for May and maybe bundle a third rounder to get a second round pick back. And we hit the draft with the other unless we have something else in mind. Simples. We get May and head to the draft with a top 10 pick as well as a second rounder.

That's one of the worst hypotheticals I've heard and I'd be mortified if we were to entertain anything close to that. Langdon? I really don't understand the crush many have on him. Yeh he's quick, cool. But he is far from classy and he doesn't use the ball well. Two things we are dying for. The only way we'll allow Hogan to leave this year is if we end up with a sweet arse deal. And the deal you've just outlined is hideous.

Some supporters on this forum are far too caught up in the world of draft picks thanks to years of having only the national draft to look forward to. It's a brainwashing of sorts. I'd like to remind some that we just made prelim final and carried 9 players into that game who are under 22/23. That's not including Hogan and Lever. Whether we get May or not, the point is that we're now at a stage where we may have to pay slight 'overs' for players who will have an impact for us in the short term. The lens needs to be changed now given our list demographic and the fact that we're clearly in the flag window. And if posters think Steven May wouldn't be that important, you've got rocks in your heads. Go back and watch Frost and McDonald in the prelim. Whilst I'm not blaming the loss on them, it's more than clear that when we don't win the midfield battle, we are extremely vulnerable having those two play in the same side. We need a mature-aged, strong bodied key defender. Not only for performance but to instil confidence and belief in our entire back half. Every side in the top 8 this year had at least one strong-bodied and aggressive key defender. Collingwood lost Dunn and watch what Kennedy will do to them at the G this Saturday if the midfield battle is even.

This is your best ever post, well done.

If we land Preuss and May, we'll be officially the most physically intimidating side going into next year. It'll be [censored] awesome.

Bit more info?

He was, I wasn't.

As he always was, developing nicely.

I'm really not sure why posters are so convinced Gaff is off to North. Polec is about to go there on enormous money so I find it extremely difficult to believe North would pay another bucket-load to a similar outside running player? It really doesn't make any sense to me from a list management pov. Not that it means much, but I happened to bump into Gaff last week playing golf at Camberwell. I had a chat to him and told him I hoped to see him running around in our colours next year, to which he responded; "I've got a bit to think about over the next few weeks." My feeling is that we're still very much in the frame. My brother played school footy with him and has said he's a very honest kid who was a big dees fan growing up as most are aware. His father hasn't been well either which is obviously a massive factor in his decision. Players go home to play at their club of choice sometimes even if it's for less money. Jeremy Howe for instance took less to go to Collingwood over the Gold Coast to play under Buckley who was his favourite player as a kid. I'm still confident.

No, obviously not. He is a young and developing player. However, it's the only line we have that lacks depth, quality and experience. And it's remained that way since Dunn left. Frost, Keilty and Petty are not depth yet as we saw with Petty. Two of them are untried and Frost is a mistake ridden athlete who is the furthest thing from the word 'consistency' one could think of. The fact we don't have a mature body with either experience at AFL level or the level under is a serious oversight by Goodwin and the recruiting team. You look at Weideman VS Oscar McDonald and compare the way in which they've been handled over their careers. One has been made to play out of necessity rather than form. The other one is in his third year and has been dropped again after one poor game due to depth and talent. Weideman was a top end pick. Oscar a pick in the 50's. It doesn't make sense to me. It should be our priority over the off season along with diversifying our midfield mix. You get rid of Frost, Tyson and Bugg over the off season and bring in May, Gaff and a half forward who is quick, skilled and pressures and watch our team transform.

Give Frost a chance? He's been given a chance in almost every position possible on the football field. Unfortunately for him, (and fortunately for us watching) his weaknesses won't allow him to be a consistent AFL player.

Nah, don't need em. Ask Goody. I arksed him. He only plays inside mids on the wings like Tyson and Harmes and it's the same with half forwards. ANB and Petracca. Ball use, composure and speed is overrated. He thinks it, not me.

Pretty sure Roos said this when he first took over in 2014, which is why Daniel Cross was brought over. But cool to know Goodwin is saying that it's still not ingrained in our players 4 years later... On a serious note, that kind of a response is an absolute cop out. How obvious is it to see that if you play a super aggressive zone as a defensive unit, you're going to need to be an extremely skilled side through the midfield and forward line? We are the third easiest team to score against once the ball is inside 50. We just let St Kilda of 2018 kick a score of 119 against us. 119. Do something Goodwin.

Trading up is naturally the preferred scenario in any draft, if feasible. And drafts are ALWAYS important. Rather than suggest ludicrous sideways trades of young potential stars in Hogan and Petracca like the posts above have entertained, I'd rather look at who would be considered 'excess' of what we already have and who could net us value. The most obvious of which to me would be Tyson, Frost, Bugg, Stretch, (romanticism aside) and Kent. List upgrades are always important and from a list needs point of view, we're in clear need of players who will bring a set of skills that we need. Adding youth is obviously always paramount for the sustained success of a club as well. Tyson (as an example) packaged with pick 31 could net us something of great value if a Carlton, Essendon or Gold Coast were to bite. Goodwin concerns me with his stubbornness. His unwaveringly commitment in playing certain players out of position completely stifles our ability to hit the scoreboard against strong opposition sides who apply pressure. Whether that's players inside mids like ANB or Tyson as half-forwards or on the wings. Hogan as a permanent key forward. Vince and Lewis in the same backline. Etc. I can see our potential, but to me our team balance is still a way off. We have this mantra of playing 'tough' Melbourne footy and have recruited players who can play that way. But clearly in doing so we've neglected a skill and composure component and have lost run with Hunt's injury and our abundance of inside type players who play in other areas of the ground doesn't help our cause.

Incredible resume, huge get.

Both Petracca and Brayshaw have had to face some adversity early on which has most obviously had an impact on their development as players. I don't really care for comparing them at this stage. Gus had his breakout couple of games for us this year and Trac has shown glimpses of what he's capable of. As long as we continue to nurture and educate these boys, they will both be big time contributors for the MFC. Trac missed all of his first year and Gus pretty much missed all of last year. It put them both back. The exciting thing in my eyes is that they're both so untapped along with some other players and we're still sitting 5th at the halfway point. As I've said a number of times, greater consistency in performance will come once these guys reach 80-100 games. And from then on it'll be a hell of a watch if we can keep our core together.