Wiseblood

One minute Ralph is saying we aren't keen, the next we have birdie's chirping that Saad is off to us if he leaves. Welcome to trade period 2020 everyone!

Going by the info being put out, it sounds like Norf offered more but he's going to Carlton anyway. Another miss for Norf is another win for everyone else, even if he's off to the VISY Blues.

I don't think we need a 'gun' key forward. We just need a forward 6 that work well together. It's probably been our biggest weakness all season. But I don't think we are in the market, or could afford, a gun key forward. To me, someone like Brody Mihocek would be a good option. Runs all day, good set of hands and is a good kick for goal. He can play up the ground while Weid stays closer to home. Jackson as the third tall who can also have an impact at ground level. Then it's Pickett... and two others. Not sure who those are. Is Fritsch too much as a medium forward with those three playing down there? Either way, I just think we need to find the right forward 6 that works within the gameplan.

Reckon Hooker and Hurley might look for new homes as well. Always rated Hooker - a cheap option up forward, or not much of an upgrade these days on Brown?

That sounds about right. If getting Tom off the books allowed us to pursue a different player, or allowed us some more wiggle room in re-signing some of our stars, then I'm not too fussed what we get in return. Would his salary off the books allow us to offer someone like Mihocek a decent deal to switch from the Pies? He would be a great addition to the Weid/Jackson combo.

The problem for Tom IF he wants to be traded, and it's a big if, is that he is half the player he used to be and that he's on a fairly expensive contract. What club out there would take him on? It's not as if he kicked 30 goals this year, then got dropped and wanted to move on. He didn't really play well in any game this season so I can't see clubs knocking down our door. Would the Kangas do it for Polec? I'm not that keen on Polec but it's more a suggestion that we would probably need to take back a contract from another team to make it work.

Love you too, dazzle.

I agree. Dockers will win by 6 goals in a canter from here. Yes I'm insane so leave me alone...

YeAh No WoRrIeS PiCkeT!

I've seen numerous posters get stuck into Lobb - what did he do? I'm only keeping an eye on the scores.

This will get brushed aside by most, but the simply fact is that what you say is true. They have had a dream run with their travel while other clubs, which include us, have been flying all over the country for weeks on end. It plays a small part in the overall outcome of their season.

We don't need trade radio when we've got ET the trade breaker.

They got hidden in the wet in Cairns. Three goals is not game over, but at the same time, you get the feeling that Freo don't have it in them to chase it down. I'd love to be wrong though.

Is that so you can go back to being 'Hogan's Heroes'...?

No, I don't. Trac and Hunt were two of our best players yesterday. Clearly they were switched on, and were not the cause of the Bombers coming back in the last quarter. If half the team were doing it, then fine. That has an impact. But two blokes? Hunt kicked an important goal in the last term and Trac still had an impact, so I really do think this is a total non issue.

I do get it. It was silly. But that's it. Remind them and move on.

Let's be honest here: Those who see the club negatively at the moment will [censored] and moan about it. Those who see the club in a less negative light will shrug it off. Clip them behind the ear for it and move on. I mean, you only need to look at the Herald Sun to see that there are bigger issues in the world right now, such as who Nadia Bartel's 'new man' is....

If he could kick straight he would be pretty much an A grade player for us. But the kicking for goal is a major issue that he needs to address. Kicked 22 goals for the season, but that could have so easily been in the mid 30s. Hopefully he re-signs in the next few weeks.

I'd say the club has done the right thing by him all year. What I mean by that is that we played him early in the season, managed him when we needed to and when we realised that it was going to take longer for him to regain some confidence in his body and build his fitness further, we left him out of the side with an eye to 2021. If he can get through another pre-season then he'll be like a new recruit across our half forward line next season. I hope we give him another year on base money so he can get another crack at it.

Exactly. Nothing to see here with this.

We can ask, but what reason would the Blues have for giving him up? He is one of their best young prospects. I'd say there is no chance they would even consider trading him.

And that something would be standing next to your opponent and whinging for the entire afternoon.

If we get Saad, then hopefully that options up the opportunity for someone like Rivers to get some midfield minutes. That will be as much of a positive as adding Saad to our half back line.

Fair point, although the one thing Weid has improved upon is his ability to at least make a contest and bring the ball to ground. In the past he was just beaten in the air and they would run it out of defence. Obviously he has hit a rough patch, but I still think he is our future up forward.

So I've been able to watch most of the replay (fast forwarded past the Bomber goals - thanks Kayo!) and I'm generally in agreeance with what most people are saying on here. Although I will say that I don't think we played that badly in the first or the third terms, just that our issue of how we use the ball forward of centre, and our options there, reared their ugly heads again. It's something we need to work on over the summer to ensure that we can go from being a mid-table side to a top 6 side. A few things jumped out to me: I think we've potentially found another wingman in Oskar Baker. What I like about him is that he is happy to run both ways - there were a few times where he was deep in defence helping out, and then other times where he was further up the wing as the link in the chain. I still think he needs to build his tank somewhat, but I really think he has a future there for us. I know that Fritsch cops some criticism, some of which is justified, but this bloke is an important cog in our forward line. He knows where to run and he reads the play superbly. If he can fix up his kicking for goal, which I think he should focus on for the entire summer, then he can go from being a B player to an A grade player very quickly. I'm in two minds about Joel Smith. Doesn't get much of it and I still think his general footy IQ is quite low, but he didn't really get beaten in defense today and I think he is beginning to find his feet. Does he get another contract? Time will tell, but he is clearly ahead of Lockhart in that department. Our midfield was terrific and beat theirs quite easily - the one thing we did well was in metres gained. I think we worked hard with our run while the Bombers love mucking around with it. And lastly, our defence continues to be a highlight. I thought they all worked superbly together today, although the Dons have a worse forward line than us. If the Dogs can fall in a heap tomorrow, then we deserve to be in the finals. The Eagles in Perth will be a nightmare task but it's a chance at redemption from 2018. Fingers crossed we get that chance.