Lord Neville X Flash

I am not arguing that he is a free agent... just saying why people may assume he is. People on demonland get so salty over the littlest things.

Probably because the way the story is being reported, i've heard trade radio say freo may hold off a year and then Hogan can walk from melbourne.

Is he not a restricted free agent at then end of 2019?

Freo offer pick 5. Melbourne apologise to Hogan and say we are happy to let you go but freo are low balling us. We have a crack at the flag with Hogan in 2019, telling him it's only one more year until he's a free agent. In the meantime, collingwood has no bargining chips for May, nor does Hawthorn, so May probably stays at GC for another year. At the end of 2019, Hogan might leave, or maybe we convinced him to stay. Further May becomes a free agent and there is 0 chance he stays at GC. So we can pick up May for free and have a chance at retaining Hogan. We also come out looking like the good guys, as freo are the ones not willing to pay his worth. Furthermore, Kennedy may retire so WC become a big player. We hold the chips here, for once. Hogan is not at odds with the club at all, and if he had to play one more year here, he would suck it up and even possibly enjoy it.

Maybe Pick 5 and 2 x second rounders for May, Hall and Kolo.

I haven't seen hall's name mentioned much here. I know north are reported as his team of choice, but i think he would fit in well at melbourne. His criticisms are that he is such an outside attacking player, and may not defend or contest hard enough. I feel like we have such a contested team that we may be able to absorb these downsides, similar to the way Sydney and West Coast were able to cover for Lewis Jetta's deficiencies in the contest/defensively.

We need to keep AVB desperately

Best 22 Depth Jetta Frost Hibbard Tall Defenders: King (6), Omac, Kolo Lever Salem Medium Defenders: Hunt, J.Smith, Wagner, Petty Gawn Oliver Harmes Ruck: Preuss Gus Viney Fritsch Inside Mids: Barlow, Maynard Outside Mids: B.Smith (5), Stretch, Baker, JKH Trac Weed Vanders Tall Fwd: T.Smith ANB Tmac Melksham Small Fwd: Garlett B: Jones, Lewis, Spargo, Hannan. This is my best 22 and depth, assuming we get Barlow and Kolo, and keep Vanders. (Also assuming we don't get May and go to the draft with pick 5 &6) If we lose Vanders, and don't get a mature inside mid then we are relying on Maynard to fill any injuries. No disrespect to the kid, but he hasn't shown much at AFL level yet. Re Petracca: i think he needs to be a forward now that Hogan is going, he adds a third marking option and some x-factor to our forward line. If not Barlow i think we still need some strong mids playing in our VFL that could come in if needed.

Wouldn't read too much into that, Lewis Jetta came second last one year, and he looks like one of the fastest players in the league during games. Half of the runners are probably hung over.

Worst part about the Mayne deal was that they paid him 400k+, we would pay barlow 100k.

We are all on the same page when it comes to our need for a speedy outside mid who uses the ball well. It looks like Gaff is not coming, and KK is apprently more of a back flanker. Is there any possibility of reinventing one of our players as an outside mid. Hannan - Tackles well, very fast, ball use and decision making pretty good. if his fitness is good enough, he could turn into a quality outside runner Fritsch - I think he may have played some games as a winger. I was surprised that we played tyson on the wing instead of fritsch in the prelim. A friend of mine suggested his fitness may not be good enough to run through the middle. If he has a big preseason, maybe he turns into a silky outsider. He's apparently very quick. Hunt - A long shot, but if he has a huge preseason, and comes on in leaps and bounds its not out of the realms of possibility. His poor ball use may be problematic. Garlett - The longest of long shots, but stranger things have happened. Would need to get his mental game right. But maybe he could play like lewis jetta.

I think we two mature aged players, from state leagues or other clubs, to fill in those back-up mid roles. I like Barlow, but there may be better options, especially in the state leagues.. another Tim Kelly would be nice

Pick 5, 6 and Hunt for pick 1?

I personally disagree, in the prelim we gave our defenders 0 chance by turning it over in literally the worst spots on the ground. We made it through to the prelim without our number 1 defender in lever. Plus Omac and Frost will continue to improve, i'm particularly optimistic that lever and the best of Omac/Frost can hold down the key positions. We got destroyed by hawkins that one game, but he was getting perfect delivery, kicking it over his head and from the boundary. I think our team structure/game plan and mental maturity is our area of most improvement. We still need to develop the true ruthless winning habits that the great sides have. I don't think May is the key to our success, i'd rather continue to secure this dynasty by going to the draft, we are in a position to compete for the next 5-8 years IMO.

KK more important than may for mine. Jetta Frost Hibbo Salem Lever KK Omac, Hunt, Smith, Wagner, Petty all improving in the VFL, vying for an opportunity. I'd be super happy with this backline, plus get in pick 5&6 in the "best draft in two decades". Plus with no Hogan and May we will have enough cap space to have a real crack at Gaff or Kelly.

Melbourne may be making freo sweat to ensure we get pick 5 & 6

Again, im actually not trying to convince people to get Barlow, its reasonable to not want him.. But you arguing that he doesn't compliment our 22, which is not the point. I see him playing in big games if Jones (over 30) and Viney (injury prone) go down, on top of Kent, AVB and Tyson leaving; We are in the grand final window and we need a really solid top 28-30 players, our best back-up inside mid at this point will be Maynard..

Agreed, but we don't even need to offer him 2 years, we can offer him 1.

Depth, we are losing Kent and possibly AVB and Tyson. Barlow is a proven player that will take up minimal cap space. He's fills the gap when we are down a midfielder or 3. I'm not saying get him 100%, but its an option that carries 0 risk, we would be choosing him over a 6th round 18 year old.. and only for 1 year

Dom Tyson 2018 Avg: 20 disposals, 0.12 goals, 2.76 tackles, 3.82 marks - playing on the wing Michael Barlow- playing on the wing 2018 avg: 26 disposals, 0.3 goals, 2.7 tackles, 7 marks

Yes, but he is likely going to leave for more opportunity. FYI https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-trade-news-michael-barlow-would-be-a-smart-recruit-says-matt-de-boer/news-story/cab1e130535f6595908bbe4d8b1d59c1 Barlow suffered Bell's palsy at the start of the year, and then came into the NEAFL for 8 weeks were he averaged over 40 touches, then came into the AFL side and got 35 against geelong were they lost by 100. It might not be the right option, but i feel like most people here aren't being objective, but rather going off their pre-concieved notion that he is washed up. I think he would be more value for a 1 year contract compared to a draftee pick 70-80.

Michael Barlow is desperate to continue playing AFL. He only played 3 games for 2018, avg 26 disposals. His last game he racked up 35, with 9 marks and 5 tackles, playing out of position in the worst team in the league. I'm not suggesting he will be best 22, but he could add some good depth and we could pay him next to nothing. By all accounts he has an elite work ethic, and has crafted a career for himself the hard way. He could provide really strong leadership to the younger players, and the VFL players. Similar to the way Oliver followed Billy stretch and learned how to work hard, Barlow could offer the same leadership. Finally, with Tyson probably on the way out, we are a little thin for back up mids. If a couple of Oliver, Viney, Gus, Harmes, Jones go down, Barlow would be a good back up. Our list is so young, i think we could benefit from bringing in 1 veteran to compliment 3-5 draftees.

I see him as a depth player, so when we have a full team he will probably be in the VFL. But we will inevitably have some injuries, and in those cases he would be a good back-up pressure fwd. However, he may recapture his best form as well, and be a best 22 player again. But i think a good depth player is more realistic.

Garlett hasn't lost his speed, with Bugg, Kent and possibly AVB going out i think we need him for our depth in the forward line. He could have a really strong pre-season, and play 11 good games for us

i feel like everyone has been very specific when talking about picks...