Wiseblood

Where?

If Lachie Weller is worth Pick 4,then Hogan is worth that and much more.

And those posters, myself included, were going by the fact there was no proof. All signs were that he was happy, so why would we trade him? Now that there is more info it changes things. That info is still unconfirmed, but there is potentially more legit stuff now.

If we are open to it, knowing he can't leave as an unrestricted free agent next season, then we will play hard ball. If Freo can get a high pick alone for Lachie Weller, then you would expect we get more than that. Their first pick and a young player (Brayshaw, for example), where we then trade the pick on to GC for May might make sense.

I'll wait for confirmation from Jesse or the club, but it seems where there is smoke, there may be fire. Again, the Sun article stated that he hadn't asked to be traded, so I'll be interested to see how this unfolds.

That's fair, but he never said Hogan had agreed to a deal. Just that Freo were going to offer him a massive deal and that they think they can get him, which is the same news we have heard for two years now. The other article ran with his news and then claimed he agreed to a deal,which is not what Denham said. It will snowball from here.

Best of luck to Buggy. He was going okay until he punched Mills. He was never the same player, or probably rated as highly by the FD, ever again.

It's a disgrace, to be honest. No quotes, no proof, nothing.

And you're welcome to be sucked in by it. And if you don't think these publications are trying to get people to subscribe then I don't know what to tell you.

No, I don't. If you read the article, or looked at what others posted, then you'll realise that it's predicated on nothing more than Freo potentially making a big offer. Nothing more, nothing less. That's click bait. It's also behind a paywall so people sign up to read it. Again, that's click bait in its purest form. Come up with a big headline based on nothing to suck people in.

The Denham article is total click bait. Freo seem to make a huge offer every year, yet Hogan has stayed. Why would things change now, especially with us coming in to our premiership window and him being very settled in Victoria? Plus Freo are garbage. I know WA is his home town but he has said that he feels more and more at home in Victoria every year. Freo might make the offer, but I can easily see Hogan turning it down and signing a new four year deal with us.

I'm going to pretend this post doesn't exist...

Tom Mitchell will get 40 votes going by this early start.

Bob - sane posters know what he brings to the table and acknowledge how good he can be. If he wasn't struck down by injury he would have kicked 50 goals this year and he can form the sort of 1-2 punch with T Mac that most other clubs could only dream of having. Thankfully the club knows this as well. There is no need to get sucked in by those who can't see past their nose (and no, Moonie, I'm not including you in that!)

James Harmes for me. Not only was he able to curb some of the best players in the game, but he also found his own footy and was damaging when going the other way. He has turned into a very important part of our side and his improvement has been a joy to watch. Jack Viney a very close second.

Just like we could care less about your hairdresser saying we choked. It works both ways.

There is one aspect that stands out to me about 2019 and beyond that holds us in good stead. If you consider that players don't really begin to peak until their mid 20s, we have a large amount of the current senior side who have plenty of improvement still to come. Petracca, Hogan, Lever, Oliver, Brayshaw, Oscar, Harmes, ANB, Salem, Viney, Spargo etc are all still young and, through hard work, can improve even further. It's not as if we have an aging list that just had their last hurrah. This is only the beginning. Outside of Jones and Lewis, our oldest player was Hibberd at 28. Melksham, Frost, Tom Mac, Gawn etc are all in their mid 20s and have lots of good footy left in them. Also, we have others like Fritsch, Hunt, Petty and Keilty who still have plenty to offer going forward too. The loss was tough, but the future looks terrific. Don't let one performance in hostile territory cloud that over the summer.

I'm thinking of keeping a tally. I'm predicting he'll hit triple figures before Christmas.

All good stuff, Red. I readily accept and admit that, as a team, we still have areas for improvement and we have some big decisions to make. Preuss would most certainly help, but can we fit him in the side? He would spend 80% of his time forward, so can he be effective enough there to get a run? I'd love to see Hunt have a huge pre-season and get his confidence back. In fact, I think releasing him from the half back line and getting him on a wing where he can use his pace would be the best thing for him. Also, I have faith that, even without a first round pick, that we can still find some gems in the draft. I wouldn't be against another handy player from the state leagues (like we've found with Fristch and Hannan) who can contribute straight away, while also looking to add a good, young player as well. What we cannot do is forget the month prior to yesterday's game. We won two hotly contested finals in front of 90,000 people and did so while playing some ripping footy. That is what I hang my hate on. The Eagles mugged us yesterday and we had no answer for it - we need to get better in this regard for sure, but like Round 23 last year, we've shown we can grow and learn from those experiences. Yesterday will not be any different.

I agree on Tyson, PD. I don't see him as a best 22 player. I think the club will actively look to trade him in the off season if we can get something decent. I've seen the rumour that we offered him to North for Preuss but they were not interested. A late second/early third might be the best we can do. I think Frost and Oscar, while not playing their best games, were not helped at all by the midfield. Time and time again Kennedy took marks on the lead from kicks that had minimal pressure on them. Frost and Oscar can't do a whole lot about that. Their second halves of the season give me cause for optimism more than this game would have me worried. The other thing I agree links to both Jones and Tyson - they aren't wingers long term for us. Hopefully Billy Stretch can return well from his injury and someone like Hunt, or even Baker, can have very strong pre-seasons and put their hands up to be consistent players in the senior side. Overall, I think a big pre-season will go along way to having us take the next step, much like we did this year. There is still lots of improvement in the side and I'm bullish about our chances in 2019.

Jesus Christ. Everyone, you've been warned. SWYL is going to go on about this for six months. He will find any way he can to push this agenda in any thread he can get his mits on. To the others, I'm looking forward to thoughtful, insightful discussion on the club moving forward that doesn't go round and round in circles.

You go with that first line all the time. No one is speaking for you, those are the things you said. If you don't like it, don't type it. And you love a good cliche as well. This has been our best season in almost two decades. We are heading in the right direction, regardless of yesterday's result. I look at the season, not one game like you do.

SWYL is wide of the mark. He's stuck with the old Melbourne and, as Paul Roos wrote about today, that old Melbourne is dead, regardless of the result today. Natural improvement will continue to be a key thing for the club. So many of the kids have plenty of improvement left, and as a young side who are clearly hungry for success, natural improvement will help us stay ahead of the pack. Sure, other clubs will trade in a few players and so forth, but that doesn't always equal success. Look at the Bombers and Port. Both traded in plenty of established players and both missed the finals. Seeing our list continue to grow and improve will be important. And what big changes do we need? Alright, we put in a stinker, but we just played in a Prelim Final. You could argue we over achieved a little this season. We had two 'beltings' early in the season against Hawthorn and Richmond - we then went on to win six in a row. The Pies knocked us over easily on QB, yet we recovered enough to finish fifth. The old Melbourne might have found it difficult, but we can only self flagellate with the past for so long. This is a new side, not one holding on to what happened in 1981.

I said to my wife that, with a few of those early shots, we needed a goal. It would have settled the nerves and we could have gotten down to business. As it happens we didn't kick a goal and the Eagles strangled us around the contest. The rest is history.

I won't argue that his game was well below the standard he set for himself over the last month. What I am disappointed in is how quick the people who want to sink the boots in are just as quick to ignore him when he plays really well and provides the leadership we've been after. Spencer is obviously the worst as he wants his thread to stick, so he won't jump in here to praise his efforts, he just gives the impression that he's sitting in the corner, waiting for him to stuff up so he can pop his head out. It's poor. But, again, I won't argue that he played poorly today. But as you say, others were just as bad.