Wiseblood

Good changes - keeps the team fresh, Michie goes to half back, Nibbler to play through the middle and half forward while we get to see Weed and Hogan in the same forward line with Watts as the third tall. No complaints from me.

No thanks. He is a forward and nothing else. If we are to bring in another tall it would be a forward/ruck to give Gawn some support.

He shouldn't be coaching then. If they palm off their first rounder for Prestia, after all they've said about the mistakes they've made in the past, then they are stupider than I give them credit for.

I don't think we have much to fear there, Steve. The club seem to rate him highly and he was even in the discussion of being a replacement for Garlett, and he's only had a few games back in the VFL. They know his quality and they know what he can bring to the side. I can't see him going anywhere, and certainly not for Hibberd.

It's a good point dazzle, although they may be able to hold on to that pick and trade a later first rounder if they move on someone like Deledio. What if GWS, North or the Bulldogs, for example, believe he is the X-Factor to get them into a Grand Final, then they may cough up their first rounder in the teens to get him (Deledio), which the Tigers flip to GC for Prestia. I hope GC dig their heals in a demand a high price. Make them squirm.

Salem strikes me as the perfect winger, playing on the opposite side to Stretch. Both are calm under pressure, use the ball well and run to the right positions. Hunt may also push up into that role as well. I think Vince and Melksham may play that veteran, half back role for us which will release some of those players to have a spot further up the field.

The Prestia of 2 years ago would have been super exciting. The Prestia of 2016? Not so much. I still think he can be a very good player, but clearly he has some issues with his knee that he needs to overcome before he can contribute to a side consistently again.

Look, if we miss out on Hibberd I'll be a little disappointed. You can never have enough quality players on your list, and Hibberd is certainly one of them. Good user of the footy, strong in the contest and he is a competitor. These are the traits that Roos and the FD have gotten in to the club over the last few years, and he would fit the mould very well. On the flip side, I think the last 2 months has shown how far we've come as a footy club, and how settled our list is beginning to look. Do we need Hibberd off a half back flank? It would be nice, but the emergence of Hunt, and the improvement from Josh Wagner, shows that it's not a big need right now. Our back six is improving each week and, with the addition of Melksham as well, I don't think it will hurt the club in the short or long term if we miss out. We still need to continually add quality players to our list, and I'm sure the club is looking at all options, but missing out on someone like Hibberd is not going to be the end of the world!

You have a crack at others for providing info as well. Swings and roundabouts, my old mate.

So, in essence, Prestia is a mercenary chasing a buck? Because if we didn't go cold on him, that's the only reason he joins Richmond.

I reckon it was us that went cold on him.

Has he chosen Richmond because they were the only club interested in him? It feels like no one else has been that keen on him, which speaks volumes about his price and the injury concerns. If we've done our due diligence and believe that money is better spent elsewhere, then kudos to our club for that. An injury prone, overpaid midfielder isn't taking the Tigers to the finals, and giving up a high draft pick to do it only stuffs them further. It's classic Richmond.

I rarely have inside info on anything, but one thing I do know is that we never spoke to Varcoe at any stage. The moment the ball started rolling with Clark we were always focused on making Lumumba part of that deal.

That's great, but do they play the same position as Garlett? To me, none of ANB, Newton, Trengove etc. play a similar role to the one Garlett gives us. Kennedy and JKH are the two that come to mind. I would have thought Kennedy would still be ahead as he is still playing some good footy for Casey, but JKH may not necessarily be too far behind in playing that high half forward role.

Is he worth that? If he was 26-27 then I think that's fair, but at 29 and with an aging body it feels like we would be overpaying to get him. But then, maybe I'm just being a little bit biased in looking for the best deal for us.

I thought you might have mis-read it. I'm thick, but not THAT thick.

How so?

I always had a soft spot for Daniel Bell. Had the worst peripheral vision ever, but I'll never forget his BOG game on Scott Welsh that day at the 'G. He played a blinder!

As I said LH, his second half of the year has been underwhelming. No argument there. In fact, it hasn't helped that the team becomes very Hogan centric when he is there and that he has worked further up the ground to get his possessions. I would disagree the players that are around the same age and development - Patton and Boyd are two that come to mind - have gone ahead of him. He will need to get more confidence in his kicking for goal, and he still makes the odd poor decision with ball in hand, but we KNOW how good he is. It's not as if he hasn't played good footy already and we are still waiting for it to click. This is a kid who has put over 80 goals on the board in 2 seasons for a side that has, up until recently, struggled mightily in attack. I have no doubt he'll fix up these issues sooner rather than later.

A 20 year old key forward with 39 goals is not delivering? Sheesh. His second half of the year has been underwhelming, there is no doubt about that. Whether he is carrying a few niggles, or just totally down on confidence, we aren't seeing the Hogan of last year or of early 2016. But, he's a kid. They ALL have these periods and, as you say, we need to cut him some slack. To suggest he isn't 'delivering' is disappointing and short sighted to say the least.

When we were 8 goals to 1 up you could just see Roo and Brereton begging and hoping for them to come back. Derwayne is just as bad when he commentates our game, a comeback would be 'massive' in his books.

I remember hearing that and thinking it was Ricciuto at first, then realised there was no chance as he was actively rooting for Port to win. I was hoping it was you mate!

It will still take a mammoth effort to get there, but how good would it be to face Geelong with a legit chance of making it? I'll be a nervous wreck. Regardless of the outcome, it holds us in good stead for 2017 and we can look forward to seeing our boys put in another strong off season in anticipation of finals football.

Also, full marks to the Melbourne supporter who was cheering right near the Foxtel mic throughout the game. Loved every minute of it.

So now that Oscar has proven him wrong, we can only assume that picket has tried to move on to something else to take the focus off that thread? Nice try. Edit - and, just for the record, Hogan will sort himself out. He's 20. Josh Kennedy had the same problems and he's going fine now. We get ourselves worked up over nothing.