Lord Nev

Where’s Tiger Dan Butler at? Can confirm Dan Butler is meeting with his management today to discuss his future. If he gets an offer from elsewhere, he might be off. AFL trade news blog with Tom Morris

Apparently "popped his head into Melbourne Football Club" yesterday. Herald Sun reporting it and saying it was a catch up with a mate rather than an official facilities tour. Interesting choice of venue though.

They don't have TVs in the hotel?

You said Petracca would get us a pick between 8-15. You then went on to talk about how Petracca hasn't finished top 10 in the Bluey. Now you're saying pick 8 is too expensive for a 25 year old 2 x All-Australian and reigning BnF winner.

Direct source please. And not a reporter because you've already said their opinions don't count.

Yeah, I'm gonna tap out now. Have a good one.

Guess 'depth' is one of those words everyone has a different interpretation on. Happy to agree to disagree, seems a common thing in footy! To me, if you've played senior games you're depth. Coming in when there's injuries is almost the definition of depth really. Can understand where you and others are coming from, it's just different to how I see it I guess.

Merely talking about him as depth. Would have played more than just the 2 games if he wasn't injured IMO, but even still, breaking through for senior games in your first year qualifies you as being listed as 'depth' in my books.

You're welcome to post a media report that says he's chosen Melbourne. Trying to have a grown up conversation with you Matsuo, would appreciate if you did the same.

Sparrow debuted in his first year, then missed the second half of the year with injury.

Injured. I-N-J-U-R-E-D.

No, I didn't. Read it again, and this time read it properly, especially noting the "we also have..."

Don't think it's "plainly ridiculous" to suggest a player who broke through for a couple of games before injury in his first year can be considered depth.

Neither of the scenarios I listed are ones I would want to do, but I'm putting forward some realistic options that aren't just about what I think, if that makes sense? I like the ambition, but realistically we won't get that much done in the trade period. It's generally one 'big' trade and a few little pick swaps etc. Hill has already ruled out the Dees too.

The problem is that none of them are capable as outside players. It's not just the number of them, it's that they're just not versatile. Maybe it's something that can change, but it hasn't even looked close to doing that so far, and playing Gus on the outside this year was a horrible failure. Personally I'd trade Viney before Gus if we had to trade one, but I just can't see it happening and trying to be somewhat realistic. I'm not sure 18 year olds are the answer to our speed, endurance and skill issues. The latter two especially generally take a time to develop at AFL level. I'm all for splitting the pick this year and GWS seem to be the front runner, though don't discount North or Port who potentially may look to maximise their separate picks. Not that they're trades I'm keen on, but hypothetically we could also look at: Picks 3 and 39 for Picks 8, 26 and Higgins (North). Pick 3 for 10, 27 and Amon (Port). Judging by the industry commentary around it's not considered a great draft at this stage, especially after the first 2 picks, so need to consider that with our thought process as well. And in saying that, there's also the potential we look to split our picks between drafts, trading pick 3 for a first rounder from this year and next.

I'm not saying it HAS to be Brayshaw. To me he just seems the most likely out of Viney, Harmes, Oliver and he to be traded, and one that holds a reasonably high value even after a poor year. As much as many people try to put forward the scenarios, we won't be able to trade any combination of our depth players to get a high quality outside player back. Even once we lock in Langdon, we still have the issue of trying to fit 4 players into 3 spots. I'm not sure how we solve that given we didn't see any improvement in the disposal or running work of Viney, Oliver and Gus, and I don't think Harmes to the backline is something we're going to roll with next year.

I'm glad you listed all our wing depth in your above post too... But you're right, doesn't seem like outside players are very important in the AFL now hey? ?‍♂️ We're ranked 4th in contested possessions. 14th for uncontested possessions. It's not hard to work out what our weakness is.

“Maybe it’s what needed to happen for us to improve. It’s been lineal improvement year on year for four to five years now. This year we took a hit, a big one, but one that makes everyone internally reflect and get a true indication on what it is going to take to get to the level we long for. “I’m positive we will find our way back.” Jones signs on for 2020

I reckon we could get those players without losing Brayshaw as it stands. Definitely seems like there's a decent chance we'll split our pick though, there's at least 3 clubs who could come to that party IMO.

Yeah for sure, ideally we bring in players to compliment them without losing them. Hoping Mahoney can get back to his circa-2015 form when he was ahead of the pack in a lot ways at trade time. Feels like as big an offseason for him as it is for the club.

There was a story going around today where Barrett was saying that Carlton were considering making a big money offer for a contracted gun midfielder. First name I thought of was Gus, but that's probably mainly due to my MFC bias. Hard to know their comparative values after this year. I'm not saying we trade away whomever has the most value, I'm just saying if we want something good we have to provide value, so I think we could get a high quality outside mid for a Viney trade, but really it's academic as I just couldn't imagine the club ever trading him. I'm harsh on them, and certain aspects of their game, but I'm a fan of both Viney and Gus. I don't want to trade either, but I'm trying to look at it coldly and find ways to improve our deficiencies. I haven't followed it super closely, but from what I've heard said it's not a fantastic draft so I wouldn't be super keen on trading players just for picks that we then take to the draft.

Personally that's what I would do if we had to trade one of them. I think both will probably be with us next year though.

Oliver, Viney, Harmes and Brayshaw is how many inside mids we have in our 22 usually. We also have Sparrow, Jones, Petracca & vB as players who can play that role proficiently. Whom do we have playing the outside role? JKH? ANB? Stretch? As you mentioned, they are not the answer, which means we don't really have anyone capable of playing it well, so as far as balance goes we have about 8 players for the inside mid role and 0 for the outside role. When Oliver, Viney, Harmes and Brayshaw are all picked, which was nearly every game this year, which one plays the outside role? We're ranked 3rd in clearance differential this year, despite our horrid performance, so 'winning the aggot' is not an issue at all, the issue is how we use it and our ability to spread and make space. And it shouldn't really have to be stated, but we're not going to be bringing in high quality outside players who answer our problems in return for trading the depth players you mentioned. The crux of this thread is that you have to trade quality to get quality.

Fair enough, and as mentioned you can have a look at some of the things that have already happened for proof that I'm at least not making things up. Not saying I'll get everything right by any stretch, but I try to only post things that seem legit. I'm not trying to make it seem like I'm an insider or connected or anything of the like, just have a couple of mates who sometimes pass on info that has often been correct in the past. I'll cop my whack for the inevitable times I'll get things wrong.