Wiseblood

One of the journos on twitter mentioned it. His deal with Port is lesser than the one he would have gotten from the Crows, so it's highly likely they get a late second round compo instead of late in the first round.

Sounds like the Cats will only get Pick 34 as compensation, which will not be enough for them to snare Watts, and I doubt it will help much in their pursuit of GAJ. Quite nice to see them squirm a little bit to be honest.

Every club is open to a trade if it presents itself - the point binman is trying to make is that we are not actively looking for anything and we're happy to go to the draft from here (outside of landing Balic and trading Watts) Lewis was the exception to the rule last year, but the chances of something cropping up again are slim.

This has nothing to do with us. I don't know why I can't comment on another club without it somehow relating to the one I support and what we're doing. Port don't have a huge amount of depth and they're soft when the pressure is on. That's just fact, regardless of what we do.

I'd be interested in Schache if the Lions were happy with a second round pick, but I doubt we're all that keen. We've got Weideman waiting in the wings to play alongside Hogan, plus the addition of Lever means there is a higher chance of Tom McDonald playing forward as well.

Who says I'm patronising? Just my opinion. Rockliff is a good addition but neither Watts nor Motlop do anything to improve that soft underbelly. Plus they haven't gotten Motlop or Watts yet.

Big call. They still have a very soft underbelly and they don't have great depth either. A few injuries and they're in trouble.

Nice try, Bobby. We know what you really meant.

The other priority for us could very well be what is happening with Jack Watts. I'd say that is higher up our list than Balic right now. I'd say it's as simple as that.

I'm talking about players, not actual kids. I didn't think I'd need to explain that.

I'll be interested to see if that's enough, as Mahoney has stated we want an early second rounder, and I don't see that one as early. Maybe Watts and a 4th round pick for Picks 29 and 33? Wishful thinking probably, but I don't see us folding for Pick 29 on it's own.

Forget the banner Sarge, fix up your notifcations!

Rubbish comparison and you know it. Oliver is a kid who needed to learn a lesson. Not only did he learn from it, he smashed it on the track and we've seen the benefits of that. Jack is a 9 year veteran who still needs struggles for consistency in many facets of his game, both on and off field, when he should be setting the example for the kids.

I agree, although this year it wouldn't surprise me if Watts and Balic are our last bits of business. I'd love something else to pop up, but I'd be happy to stick with what we have and go to the draft this time around.

Super article here on the trade if you can get past the paywall: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/more-news/melbourne-secures-star-defender-jake-lever-in-trade-with-adelaide/news-story/478b76c2d2f380b5c10dc191f2b54af5 Basically says we've done very well, while also discussing some areas of the trade that some would be concerned about as well. The line at the end sums it up for me - the time for early picks for us is over, and we need to add to our list to make a tilt at a flag. Jake Lever pushes us in the right direction in this regard in a big way.

Pathetic post. Seriously, I have no idea how supporters can come to this conclusion. The kid is no superstar, but he does his job week in, week out and is only scratching the surface of what he can be. If he continues to play a role behind Jake Lever then he'll be everything we've wanted him to be.

I'd still do that deal every day of the week if we got back to the end of 2013. His 3 years from '14-'16 were excellent and he totally embraced the club and what his role within it was. Worth Pick 23 when you factor in what we needed at the time. We didn't have the freedom to fart around, we needed someone like him, so we got on the front foot and made the deal.

So would I, but in the end he only has himself to blame.

Of course you do, but clearly Watts couldn't do it with any sort of consistency. So we'll look elsewhere to fill those voids.

Jason Taylor did the scouting, but Mahoney orchestrated the trade that got us the pick to select him.

If they turn out to be good. This is why it's hard to judge as there are so many variables involved.

I must be watching a different player, but I wouldn't classify Salem as a 'marshmellow in one on one contests'. He's anything but.

What you've failed to acknowledge is that with the first two deals, they were deals more out of necessity than trying to get a good deal. When Roos began we needed to add some class, and experience to our side as quickly as possible - the first two deals allowed us to get Vince, who was brilliant, add a guy like Tyson to the list who was already in the system and then add a young player who we could develop. Roos didn't want to keep many of those picks as the club didn't have the time to develop them all. We needed some bigger bodies who were ready to go from day one. Both Vince and Tyson gave us that. The Melksham deal is a break even for me, while it's way too early to call anything on the Lever deal. And this also ignored the Hibberd deal, which we won, and the deal that allowed us to land our reigning best and fairest winner. All in all, I think you're talking out of your back pocket on this one, mate.

Posters like @Nasher, @stevethemanjordan and @ProDee are three of many who have summed this up superbly. We've just added the best young defender in the league to our list who is a proven commodity. He instantly makes us better, and he not only beings on field talent but off field leadership as well. I couldn't be happier to have him in our side and I trust Taylor to pull a few diamonds out of the rough to add to our list, much like he did we Hannan this year. Onwards and upwards!

A huge no from me. Menzel might kick goals but his defensive pressure and willingness to chase are horrendous, and we know how important that is these days. You know something is wrong when a club is letting a 40 goal a year player go for nothing.