Turner

at the very least it woulda made him more apealling to rivals

the only difference between smith and phillips/polec is flags, and that doesn't say anything really about the player coz realistically and i know its not completely the case but they could carry anyone to a flag during those years such was the dominance so why would we not target someone younger and hungrier than just the paycheck signing.

if you put tomlinson (Key defender as he's being played therefore judged) and langdon on every other clubs lists i think it is at least a 50:50 split probably even less that they feature in that clubs top 10 players, thats just the facts. yes they're solid contributors, yes langdon had a really good year but they dont stand out any more than any other player going around statistically or in an eye test higgins this year and then pressure is on ANB, spargo, bedford, potentially chandler to earn a deal beyond next year before we throw some cash at tippa to get him off the sinking ship that is essendon and quinton narkle on two years wouldn't need much coin just wants a chance to prove himself initially and earn the right to ask for some money, would rotate really nicely with trac OR we look internally and give harmes first crack at that role and melky gets one last chance to play it seeing as he's contracted but ideally wouldn't see out the season there even favouring a genuine small and give fritsch that freedom

lever and langdon wouldn't even be top 9 players in their position across the competition tbh, same goes for salem and brayshaw so theyre all comfortably B's at best. and langdon has had one like noteworthy season but if he backs it up again i'd scale him up hibbo is a C coz he could easily be out of the team by round 8 who knows, age can catch up to you at any time definitely a C going into next season as a veteran and consistant performer week in week out without ever starring tomlinson couldn't get a game for half the season, doesn't have a best position and if ur saying top 10-18 well thats half one teams list, thats not B grade in the competition. harmes couldn't get a game for us, due to coaching and poor management but still, hard to argue he'd walk into a couple of the other sides in the comp preuss has 18 games in 6 years in the system, hardly screams B, could easily flop we dont actually know, especially if they sign Sav as well i agree its a pretty limited scale, but its a good way to break top talent away from the pack pretty simply and we do have a pack thats too full

i have a sneaky suspicion hannan deal could be a late one after we've accrued enough points to trade into their first round pick through our other deals. but we could also flip such a pick for a phillips/higgins type which is more valuable than jong. + given no one has seen much of this draft class u have a better chance of getting a good slider at 57 than in previous years, if u look at it optomistically

RATING THE LIST A-grade: Gawn B: Brayshaw, Fritsch, Lever, May, T. McDonald, Melksham, Oliver, Petracca, Salem, Viney, Weideman C: Baker, Brown, Hannan, Harmes, Hibberd, Hore, Hunt, Jetta, Jones, Kolodjashnij, Langdon, Lockhart, O. McDonald, Neal-Bullen, Preuss, Smith, Tomlinson, Vandenberg Developing (with A-B grade potential): Jackson, Pickett, Rivers Developing: Bedford, Bradtke, Chandler, Jordan, Nietschke, Petty, Spargo, Sparrow WHAT THE RATINGS MEAN: A-grade: Elite player on any AFL list B: Top 10-18 player on most lists C: An 18-30 player on a list Developing: Aged 21 or under imo TMac/Melk --> C May, Petracca --> A Petty --> Dev (A/B) pretty hard to argue with the rest

dunkley was actually a wise choice at the time, he was in form playing as an overager and the club took the chance to get an extra 6 months development and experience at the level into him given he was likely to be selected at the end of season in the drafts by someone, yes it didn't work out but u can see the thought process and u can't fault it realistically

cat b will definitely be staying around, possibly shrunk from 2 spots to 1 tho, too successful with the irish guys, cox, keath, blic off the top of my head and also is outside the TPP so doesn't get affected by that, surprised he hasnt signed on yet but i guess they'll wait and do a big group announcement in the next wave and just slide him in as it's not the most exciting news. considering the year it was there's no reason to scratch him off and replace him in the B spot as theres been no alternatives to scout out

don't play him

you already know if they sign KDunkley to entice Josh he'll be delisted after year 1 and it'll have made no difference to anything except he's further away from finals and a flag than if he stayed at the kennell, plus the late season ACL to mclean means theres room for him at HF at the dogs who were also rumoured to be in some pretty strong conversation with big Mason to support english so he won't have to play griggruck

they should have tried this mid season when omac was crap and tomlinson wasnt in the side, they missed a chance and now they just have to offload him, time to move on

plays his best footy as an inside mid, not what were after at all, vanders doesnt need more mates in rehab

would we rather higgins this year or hold off for tippungwuti next year OR both (:

it;d be rude to be called the pinball wizard and not create this much waffle in one post! pinnacle pinballing

i played with sauce and i gotta say he didn't stand out during his draft year, hasn't really dominated a game yet and probably lucky to not get dropped more often, hes been tried at HB, wing and small forward (giving me poor mans hunt vibes and i dont like hunt), surprised he went as high as he did (i think the name helped a lot) and i would probably steer clear, theres better alternatives out there.

so rumour mill has gone pretty quiet on Nibbler after earlier rumours of dockers/crom interest also interesting no rivals have come out re hunt given he's still ooc with the promise of a certain role i definitely expected one more resigning announcement pre trade period - hibbo, bedford, jordon, bradtke seem pretty straight forward extensions that will happen regardless of list sizes and structures and you'd imagine they can all be negotiated with a *dependant on total budget cut clause* as i imagine most deals are atm.

this time next year im telling ya, i can see us making a big play for tippa as well as josh kelly/zerrett

i wonder if egg-smith is looking for opportunity at the top level, stuck behind many at tigerland, along with higgins/aarts maybe tom langdon to join his brother too?

mcdonald-tipungwuti and a KD

for mine its between ronke, higgins and aarts. two tigers will be on minimal wage and didnt get a look in when it mattered most this season. aarts in particular as a late starter will want some security, we could offer two years vs richmonds 1 and suddenly its a deal. higgins too would want to maximise his contract length given his brain bleed so if there were any complications down the road he would be safe but i do think he's over them and it won't come back to haunt him.

we have Oliver, Petracca, Viney as our starting midfield, it is completely possible for Brayshaw and Harmes to also be in the side. it means sparrow has to bide his time and jones and vanders don't get a look in. I also think harmes is more than capable of playing melkshams HF role, he can take a screamer, hes kicked bags and he loves the tackle

says who?

i'd imagine its pretty on the money tbh, crows desperate for pick 2, they have the cap space coz they have no one earning ridiculous money, those two boys dunstan and webster get to potentially play senior footy and return to home state and brouch gets the money he wants. all looks pretty straight forward to me

Skinner didnt play well at all in his games this year and wooler couldn't crack a game this year when they had a revolving door of tall forwards so i think its checks all round. target witherden and let them keep minge even if birchall retires

u don't need to be replaced to be able to play as of a couple years back, only applies to cat b rookies, now u get to add players to ur list to replace long term injuries and inactives hence why we signed dunkley in the mid season draft. cat a rookies can play from the get go