Wiseblood

Great logic. We need key backs so we'll trade away the ones we have. Brilliant.

This will happen each time he comes out of contract while Nathan is still playing and Zak is with the Swans. It will either happen or it will end up like the Swallow boys.

All good points there Abe. The market will also determine our interest - if clubs are flinging around silly money then we may need to rethink our approach. I don't want to a club that pays overs and sets that precedent for the players who are already there. We aren't a Manchester United who can throw around money and it doesn't matter. However, we do need some further quality on the list, so if May is happy to play for us and it's for the right price then sign him up. I just don't want us to go overboard and we find it hard to sign some of our younger players going forward.

That's the only thing that doesn't sit well with me either. We do have a decision to make, though, in terms of addressing a few needs. Do we go for a potential star in May, or do we look to fill with someone like a Marcus Adams - a bigger player from the VFL/SANFL/WAFL through the draft, or even picking up someone on the cheap? We probably say it every year, but it's a crucial off season for us. There is still plenty of water to go under the bridge but we have some gaps to fill and we may need to get a little creative in doing it.

No doubt we should chase him. I'm always a little skittish when it comes to trading high draft picks, but I think we're in a position now where our list is young enough that we can add these types of players and not miss a beat. Other clubs will be interested, but I know we would have the salary cap room and the obvious position down back for him that we might be able to coax him down. Hopefully the club are right into him at the minute.

You wouldn't be knocking them if they supported your argument. For what it's worth, Oscar has been just okay this year, but he was giving away serious size and height to Brown this weekend and there's not a whole lot he can do about it. Would I rather someone else in the side? Probably but, as you say, there isn't anyone else.

We don't need to. Our forward line is not the issue, we have a great spread of goal kickers. I'd rather Hogan kick 3 and we kick 16 as a side than him kicking 6 of 10.

If the Saints really thought that moving him on would be beneficial for both parties, then they should do it at the end of this year while he stock is still high enough to get something good in return. Another year of what he is doing and you would suggest not too many teams would be knocking their door down to get him.

Rampe is great but I don't think he fills a need for us either. Another key back would be handy, so I could understand an interest in Allir Allir.

He doesn't, and that's probably the reason why we won't chase him. Considering most on Demonland want us to recruit another 5 mature ruckmen over the off season in case we have 6 of them go down in successive rounds, I'd assume that's where our priorities will lie.

I remember this discussion coming up in the past and many were dead against it. How times change. For the record he does little for me and isn't exactly the type of player we need right now, but his form has improved this year so if he keeps that up he may be worth a cursory look.

If we are to chase someone like Shiel, then I hope we do it as quietly as possible. I cringe each time I see how North go about their business by basically throwing huge bucks and contracts at anyone who will listen. It's pathetic, really. If we are looking to chase a big fish then I hope we don't allow it to be played out in the media.

Let's go full stupid and send Oliver to Adelaide for Lever. Don't settle for being a little outrageous, just send yourself right over the edge.

There's no reason why we can't have both - landing a midfielder with a second/third rounder that can be a good player for us isn't out of the question. If Lever was available then he should be our priority.

He's worth a look, for sure. Very, very good player. Will he leave the Crows? I'm not convinced, but we should at least ask the question.

Is that Clint resurrecting a thread where he can be negative in it? I'm so surprised... This is off topic, but I find this week and last week sum up your posting, Clint. When we were up and about last week you had literally nothing to add. You tried to be negative but got shot down, then you basically disappeared. This week you're all over the place as we didn't play as well and you thrive on the opportunity to be negative. It's no co-incidence and it's such a shame that you see the bad before the good. It's a horrible way to support a club, but I guess that's not up to me.

He did. The only player left on our list from that period.

It's certainly another feather in the cap for Jason Taylor, but kudos to everyone else at the club for still having him ready to play, even after he arrived at the club with a shoulder injury. To manage his load and development from there to yesterday is a terrific effort for all involved and we reaped the rewards big time.

I agree, but I think it might be in a few season's time. Something tells me that opposition teams will really aim to clamp down on Hunt's running capacity, and it may take a little time for him to make the adjustment. Last season he was a totally unknown quantity. He won't have that going for him next year. I'm happy to be wrong, and I don't necessarily believe he won't impact games like he did last year, just that he won't get a free run at it like he got for us in 2016.

Great result. The deal is fair and, while it leaves us without any early picks, it's good to see other posters realising that our first rounder from this draft is Weideman. Adding Lewis, Hibberd and the return of Melksham makes this a terrific trade period for us. Add in the fact we have signed up all our young players and the future looks bright.

The beauty of recruiting someone like Hibberd is the knock on effect - you can take the short, simplistic view that we've just gained another 'half back flanker'. We know that Hibberd is a very good half back flanker, for a start, and it gives us more options. With his recruitment, it can allow other guys like Hunt and Salem to play further up the field and use their weapons (kicking and speed respectively) where it can be more damaging than before. Hibberd is terrific one on one, is a very good kick and is cool under pressure. Not to mention he brings further experience to our backline, something we are still short of. But feel free to be underwhelmed. Some supporters are never happy.

Should have ended the discussion there, bing. But then we all knew it would fall on deaf ears.

Yeah, I should have clarified further that I don't want us to do it every year. I just think we're at a good stage where some extra experience will really help us moving forward and it seems like the right time to do it. Next year, in what they are saying is a strong draft, it would be good to hold on to the picks unless a good, young player becomes available.

Absolutely. We will still have picks in the draft and, as you say, we got Jayden late in the draft. We've been very good getting players in the third and fourth round, so I'm sure we will have some picks there. I just think we can use our higher picks to get in some of that experienced talent to go with what we have.