Wiseblood

Who are they? Marchbank and... ? Remember, you can't predict the future.

Great, but even those 4 you mentioned have fared far better than those other 3 young 'talents' that I mentioned. Carlton have attracted nobody of note in years.

Nice cherry picking. The players I mentioned - Whiley, Jaksch and Liam Jones, have been at Carlton for a few years. You cherry picked Melksham and Kennedy, who have been at the club for 1 year and deserve a little more time, while Lumumba has been struck down by concussion issues (and even then, his few games this year far surpassed anything the three I mentioned did this year). I'll give you Dawes. And who says we had to do a lot of work to get these players?

They are going places, no doubt about it, but who have they attracted to the club in recent years? They got Boyd with a huge contract offer, but they haven't exactly done a super job at the trade table. To be fair, they haven't been the most active club either, but I haven't seen any big name players, or mid tier players for that matter, nominating them as their club of choice.

I'd disagree with the talent part. How many of their players have worked out? Kerridge and Wright were picked up as delisted free agents, while other players they got in like Whiley, Jaksch and Liam Jones have all been absolutely terrible. The players we have attracted to the club have fared far, far better.

The only club, outside of Geelong and Whorethorn, that rival us as a destination club in Victoria are the Pies. Snaffling some handy players like Treloar, Adams and Jesse White (heh) put them at least on par with us. Having said all that, we've landed a variety of players over the last few years, all of which were extremely impressed and excited by the direction of the club. Not only that but we've signed, outside of Hogan, ALL the players we wanted to re-sign at the club, another indication of the direction and the fact that players want to be here.

The article that someone linked to earlier today said that the Lions would be looking for a first round pick, at least, if they were to give him up. We don't have one, which means our chances of getting him are very, very small. Still, he would be handy to have in the red and blue; I just don't see it happening.

He keeps coming up, but it seems totally media driven at the moment. Not much else to suggest they would trade him. However, it does seem the Lions will do something major with a key player in their side - at the moment that looks to be Hanley, if they can find a taker who will part with a first round pick. They need to tear it all down and start again.

It only served to prove, to me, that he adds more to a side at the age of 38 than Dean Kent does at the age of 22. I hate the little fella, but he would definitely add something good to our side if he decided it's where he wanted to play next year.

Suggestion number two: 'Gun Control'.

I don't think it goes that way - we say second rounder, they say fourth, we meet in the middle at a third. Won't take that long to get there, plus if Dunn indicates that he wants to go then I'm sure the discussions will begin prior to trade week.

Why are you against us doing some negotiating with them over picks?

I think a pick suits us better as well. Outside of Rockliff, Zorko and possibly Martin, there isn't a whole heap of quality up there at the minute. Those guys mentioned are worth more than Dunn and nothing else interests me. A pick is the way to go. And I agree - a fresh start for Dunny would be a good move for all involved.

While I don't think it's ridiculous, I think that starting there is not out of the question. We're more likely to get a third rounder for him, but why start there? It's a negotiation after all. Better to start above what you expect and negotiate from there.

To be fair, he did say 'start at' their second round pick.

If that were to be the case, who do you think the club would be looking at? There isn't much quality up there at the minute. Plus I still think that if we can talk them in to a second round pick then we take it, as it will be a direct replacement for the one we lose for Hibberd.

Someone may correct me on this, but I believe Tom Petroro is Jason Dover's boss, so I think he would know something of what was going on.

I was going to say the same thing. None of the 'official' sources are running with the story at all. I'd say it's rubbish.

So we've also got players like Tyson, Stretch, VandenBerg, Salem and Weideman who are OOC in 2017. Do we need to cut our losses on those guys as well? None of them have signed on the dotted line as yet, so maybe someone like Stretch wants to go back to SA? Let's not risk it, eh? I get that it's slightly different with Hogan, but gee, if we took that attitude with all of our players we would be trading them all out of the club while they still had a year to run on their deals. We signed EVERYONE we wanted to in 2016, and there is no reason to believe we can't do the same in 2017 either.

True, but that wasn't necessarily my point. It's more that, because Casey has had a good year, we seemingly want most of their senior players on our list. We have a thread for Kielty, McInerny and now Ferreira, plus others have spoken in other threads about Tim Smith and Angus Scott. I think we're just getting a little carried away with their form. I'm stoked they've had a good year, but I think the discussion around them has been a little over the top.

So Casey plays a good game on TV and suddenly we want to add most of their players to our list? Let's just settle down a little here. Some of their players go alright but there is a steep jump to AFL level. One minute we want Kielty, then we are interested in Tim Smith, now we are talking about this bloke? I think we can set our sights a little higher than this.

No, but the strong money is on Chris Fagan at the minute. Okay.

I'd love him, but it says the Lions want a pick in the Top 10 for him. So that would rule us out I'd say.

You were spot on with their interest, mate. Well done! I agree - Pick 38 is more likely, but could we talk them into Pick 20? I doubt it, but stranger things have happened.