Wiseblood

Are we doing these ridiculous 'hindsight' sort of posts? Travis Johnstone or Luke Power?

Is this his inside source, or just a gut feeling? Either way it's pretty close to what will probably happen, although I'll be surprised if Viv stays on as a rookie. They may do it in case we get a plethora of injuries and have him as depth.

Absolutely. He and Sloane would be an excellent 1-2 punch with Tex, Eddie and Jenkins up forward. But as you say, it's extremely unlikely and Carlton hold all the cards in terms of a trade.

Not much - he wants to come back to Victoria so he can potentially be the number 1 ruckman of a side (like Richmond, for example). No chance I would have thought of him playing for us.

While I'm not sure how much it means in modern footy, Gibbs' management have quickly come out and rubbished those rumours. It seems he is being linked to Adelaide each year these days, and while he would slot in superbly in their midfield, I can't see it happening now. Not to mention how much it would cost to get it done, and the big contract he has as well.

They are his forte, so to speak. I was someone who was lukewarm to the idea of chasing Motlop, and for largely the reasons that Abe mentioned. However, I don't discount his abilities and the X-factor he would bring to our side. With plenty of hard, in and under types, he would complement that really well. The problem is - how often would he complement it, as opposed to frustrating the hell out of us? I think it's a moot point as the Cats will be looking for a high price, and I don't think he is necessarily worth that. The Cats are apparently keen on getting in more leg speed, yet they are keen to offload their quickest player. That speaks volumes to me.

No doubt it has merit, but why would Lobbe leave Port, where he is languishing in the reserves, to come and play for Melbourne where he would be playing the same role? It just won't happen. If he could play forward then it might be worth discussing, but he can't, so therefore I can't see him coming into calculations at all.

Why don't we suggest Brodie Grundy, then? We don't have great depth in our ruck stocks so maybe we should take a look at him? Lobbe isn't worth discussing - he wants to be a number 1 ruckman and he can't play forward. Won't come into our calculations.

Steven said it, but it was just his opinion. He actually said that Billy didn't know anything about it, but that's because he is back in SA. They have literally taken the info from here and posted it on their FB page. No quotes, no articles, just a few lines of 'inside info.'

Plus it's being said he will seek a role as a number 1 ruckman at his new club, which is a role we don't have on offer.

This is where I begin to disagree. Clearly you watch a bit more local footy than I do, as you have more understanding of the WAFL, SANFL etc, but those two names you mention above are below what we should be aiming for. The same goes for Josh Watts. These guys have done nothing to suggest that they'll make it at AFL level, and I would rather see us take a punt on a kid that we can work with from scratch than those you've mentioned. Luke Lowden completely baffles me - he has failed at 2 clubs, so why would he fill our ruck/fwd need? He wouldn't get near a senior game with us. Your aim is really, really low there. Lots can happen, and I will always give you credit for the thought and time you put into it, but I think you need to raise the bar in terms of the players we need to get into the club. Those mentioned, to me, are not upgrades on what we currently have.

Super, super news. Signed up a year before he needs to, another player who sees a bright future for the club and wants to be a part of it. Love it.

If you were our recruiter then we'd have 77 players on the list. You seem to be 'all for' half of the VFL listed players and any other AFL level player that can't get a run in the seniors. Also, those highlights don't exactly paint him in a great light. It would be fair to argue that he has been behind some quality tall backmen at the Eagles over the last few years, but we don't need blokes at our club who struggle to apply themselves. We need competitors and he clearly isn't one of them.

Cats will want a first rounder, which to me, he isn't worth. He has great talent but only seems to use it once every month. I know we need a bit more outside run, but hopefully we can find it elsewhere.

Really? It's always sad to see certain players go, but you have to make spots on your list each year. Every club makes delistings, it's not something new or foreign. It has nothing to do with loyalty or justice.

Bit of a sheep dog.

I understand that. I always had a soft spot for Jack - he did everything he could for the club, took on the captaincy in our darkest days and was clearly the consummate professional off it as well. I'll always have the highest respect for him. But, in the cold light of day, this is the only way to do it. It was pretty clear that he didn't fit in to our plans going forward and, at the very least, this shouldn't come as a surprise to him or us as supporters. I'm sure he already knew the writing was on the wall. I still think he could contribute to a club somewhere, such as Brisbane, for a few years at least.

Well of course, if Hogan decided to go, then I'd certainly look at Darling and their first round pick. I'd even try and see if we could squeeze someone better than Lamb out of them to go with the deal as well. Lots of water to go under the bridge yet and, as AAC pointed out, there are plenty of KPP's that may want to head home to Perth during this off season.

I'd certainly take a look at him, but I'm not sure if we could come up with a trade that the Eagles would find satisfactory.

All fair points there AAC. I hadn't put a great deal of thought into it, and obviously missed a number of players that they could also pursue that aren't named 'Hogan'.

If this rumour turns out to be true, and I'm skeptical about it at the moment, it seems to be an odd move from an Eagles perspective. He might have had an inconsistent season, but Kennedy is approaching 30 and they don't have a great deal else in terms of key forwards coming through the ranks. Obviously this rumour would also make some Dees fans nervous, as the Eagles being willing to entertain trade offers for Darling might suggest they believe they are in the box seat to lure Hogan west.

Is that Facebook group in direct competition to your own, big fella?

With all due respect to Casey, I would hope that doesn't matter. Making our list decisions and moving forward is far more important in the overall context of our club. But, you may well be right too.

@gwsampso LH - just do it like the above, you don't need the paging part.