Wiseblood

You suspect correctly! Really like it at the moment. It sounds Tool enough without being too similar to previous records. You can hear the influence on past albums throughout, though. Very happy with it!

I'm not sure who I'd nominate. From what we can gather there aren't exactly a heap on the market this off season, so I'd be looking at the state leagues (VFL, SANFL, WAFL etc) to see if we can unearth someone who can come in and fill a role. I'd be looking for someone with some serious pace, though. I think the players we've tried down there (Lockhart, Spargo, C Wagner etc) lack that 'spark' to play there and strike fear into their opponents. We might have to get creative to do it.

I can't argue the fact that he performed better than any of our small forwards, or forwards in general, this season. The above stat speaks for itself. However: Take the 12 goals he kicked against GC out and he kicked 25 for the year. 6 times last season he went goalless in a game, with four of those times against finals sides for this season. He did kick 3 goals against the Lions, but his other two bags of three came against North and the Saints, both of which we know are out of the eight. So, to me, the bloke has lost a bit of his 'magic' and his ability to hit the scoreboard consistently. As a club we need a long term solution to the small forward problem. I don't see Eddie as it, and I think we need to get a little more creative with our picks and potential trades to fill that gap at the feet of our tall forwards.

Agreed Moonie. We need a good small forward, but you get the feeling Eddie is past it. Can still produce some magical goals, but they are few and far between now. He has lost a step of pace and that has allowed mid size backmen to take him out of the game all too often.

IF... It's Damian Barrett writing an article THEN... I don't give a stuff.

I agree, rjay. And if Bedford ends up being someone who contributes to the best 22, he is at least 2-3 years away from doing so.

I wonder how many times you can say 'happy go luckies' over the course of the off season? You'll probably do it more times than you actually engage in worthwhile discussion.

So managing the cap to help us re-sign Oliver, Brayshaw, Gawn, Salem, Melksham, Tom Mac, Petracca etc isn't good use of the cap? Poor use of the cap would be signing up these 'underperforming' players to 4-5 year deals, like the Blues did years ago. We haven't done any of that. If players don't perform to the correct levels then we have the flexibility to move them on sooner rather than later. It would also be poor use of the cap if we had to move someone like Oliver on because we didn't have the cap room to do so, because of the other reason I've mentioned above. We've done neither. Not every player can perform well or to expectations at all times, and we both know that we had a large amount of injuries to contend with as well that played a role in use finishing 17th (but not the only reason of course).

I'm talking about signing the players we currently have. Having room to get others has been a bonus. And the argument isn't list management. It's how we've used the salary cap, which we've done well when you consider the fact that all our younger and important players have signed on with minimal fuss over the last few years. That's just simple fact.

Why? Because we showed one player the door to get another? You can't see far enough ahead to understand that the recruitment of May, and the loss of Hogan, would have been looked at from a long term point of view, not just from one salary cap in 2019. We also picked up Jake Lever on a 'fat' contract and didn't lose anyone doing it either, just like Lynch. You're kidding yourself here. The fact we've signed up all the players we wanted to in the past 3-4 years, and that we can also now recruit further players to the list, is proof of good salary cap management.

Absolutely. We might have stunk it up on field this year, but off field we've been terrific in this regard for a while now.

What part of retaining players allows you to totally overlook the fact that, apart from Hogan (who had a desire to go home anyway), we have signed up every other player who is crucial to our list? I love how you focus on Hogan but ignore how we've signed Gawn, Tom Mac, Viney, Oliver, Petracca, Gus, Salem etc to contracts while still being able to recruit the players we want. To me, Mahoney has done a stellar job and Hogan was a different one. He indicated a desire to go home and, when the Steven May opportunity presented itself, we went for it. Nothing wrong with that.

Have we had a key backman who hasn't played up forward in the last decade? Rivers, Chip, Garland, Tom Mac etc have all spent time forward, or become forwards, in their time at the club. Makes sense I guess for May to do the same.

I would agree in part that we need cover, but do you think Keath is leaving Adelaide to just be 'cover'? I doubt it.

Is it just me, or does it seem to make little sense going after Keath if we've got May, Lever and a re-signed Frost on our books? Keath will only come for senior footy and I'm not sure he gets it ahead of those three.

Mahoney has been pretty good over the years with how we manage the salary cap, so you would assume that this would continue for the next few years. I feel like the club plans for years in advance, as evidence with us being able to bring in recruits on good money while still retaining the young players on our list. As you say, Lewis comes off the books and Jones takes a much lower deal, which frees up room with some of it going to Langdon (for whatever it is he gets). Proof will be in the pudding of course, but I feel comfortable with where we are at salary cap wise.

I'd do that... but it sounds like Hill is a fair way down the track with the Saints, who are throwing large amounts of cash at him to get him to sign. I can understand that with Jack Steven potentially going down to Geelong, but it also means it prices us out of the market. Langdon will have to do, but I'm happy with that.

Let's be honest - most players for peanuts could be considered a good option. Getting someone in for a nothing pick is a win-win.

This is probably too much to ask, but if we add Langdon to one wing, I'd love to see KK have a great pre-season and slot into the other. I think it has the capacity (nothing is guaranteed of course) to vastly improve our side moving forward. I know there are plenty of questions around Kolo, and that's fair, but the kid has shown he can play, and getting him through a pre-season will be a big positive for the club.

You never know really. Would a Western Bulldogs, or even a St. Kilda, be knocking on his door? Gold Coast could certainly use him too. His job on Ben Brown in the final round is proof of his ability, even though he is still prone to the odd brain fade which seems to be a prerequisite of playing for the club.

Me too. He showed genuine improvement this year and, as the third tall (with May and Lever) he could be a real asset in the backline. More than deserving of a new contract.

I feel as though we've dealt with Gold Coast well over the years, so I see no reason why if the PSD came up that we couldn't come to some sort of agreement with them.

And I'll agree re: the price. If he came super cheap then I can't complain. If he fails then we've lost nothing, and if he nails a second or third tall spot down for us, then we've gained plenty. I just have a feeling the FD won't be looking at talls in this trade period, but then I know nothing and could be totally wrong!

I was about to type in here that I felt Corey Wagner had the ability to hit the scoreboard a little, and was thus worth persisting with for another season, but then I looked it up and he only kicked 6. I feel like he kicked way more than that. Regardless, finding ourselves a pure small forward who can crumb a pack, kick a goal and put some pressure on is a massive need for our side. We might need to get creative in finding one, but hopefully we can do it.