Colm

Ok they can have Kossie if they give us Jackson and Murphy Reid as steak knife’s.

Bottom 8 team? They played finals last year and are currently in the top 4. It was getting to finals and playing an attractive brand of footy that allowed them to bring in Barrass and Battle who regardless of what you think of them had plenty of other suitors, key backs have been massively in demand in recent trade windows They put their name in the hat for every free agent for years before that and couldn’t land any. So they brought in the players I mentioned for a packet chips and made finals with them. The point I was originally making is I see us in a similar spot as the hawks were when Mitchel took over. Bottom 6 and won’t be able to attract big stars so we have to target players that aren’t in other clubs best 22. Like Derksen.

Have to be realistic about our current situation. Hawks were only able to get Battle and Barrass in because they traded well with in the previous two years bring in players that other club didn’t want. The likes of Meek, Amon, Chol, Ginnivan and D’Ambrosio. All brought in for very little. We need to get those sort of trades right and start playing better footy before we can attract bigger name players again.

We might struggle to attract mature players during the next Trade window. He would fill a need and having been already been interested you’d hope we would be in a good position to get the deal done. He’ll be out of contract to I think so would cost FA.

Neale only had 17 disposals and no real impact yesterday. I only saw the second half but it didn’t looked like he was tagged to me. Maybe just out of form. Zorko had 39 at 84% efficiency. Ashcroft has been in great form over the past few weeks. Id put Milkshake on Zorko and let the Kolt run with Ashcroft if nothing else it will be a good learning experience for him. Lions will be much better at Gabby but they were pretty average yesterday I thought. North smashed them in clearances.

I wasn’t having a crack at either of those two players. Such a shame Gus is no longer playing and I hope Clarry sticks around and returns to his former high standards. My point is about cap space, as I understand it as the AFL’s contribution towards Brayshaw’s contract decreases each year and Clarry’s contract increases up to $1.7m. That’s a fair whack of cap space gone for the next few seasons and if Clarry can’t return to his former high standards then we aren’t going to be getting a great return for investment. Having said all that, I had a look at the money clubs are paying other rucks and $900k for Luke isn’t stupid money these days

It’s overs for me, we need to get a books in order so we can attract players out of contract where we don’t need to give up draft capital. Max is on $900k. Now that’s a bargain. Edit- having done a bit of googling it seems $900k is fairly standard for any half decent ruck at the minute with the better paid ones getting as much as $1.3m and TDK report offered $1.7m to go to the Saints.

He’s not player at a level that’s reflects his $900k a year contract. We are already not getting value for money from Clarry and still on the hook for some of Brayshaw’s contract. I don’t think we can afford him unless Freo are willing to pay a chunk which won’t happen.

I don’t really get why everybodies so angry at the media clowns for discussing Clarry. We are discussing Clarry, our captain discussed it and pretty much confirmed there’s something in it. I don’t like any of the clowns that are reporting it so I don’t watch any of it. Feel for Clarry as I think he’s put in a big effort to get back in shape and turn things around and he probably hasn’t got the rewards he thought he would for doing so. Not hard to see why the thoughts of a new start- different fitness program and new ways of doing things might be worth a shot to get his career back on track. Be nice to be earning the coin that he is but I’m sure at times it’s a weight around his neck.

Fans won’t stand for it. Just have a look at Fritter our best goal kicker of our flag era. Not fat at all but certainly doesn’t do a lot of defensive running or get his heart rate to high and maybe that is a factor in his ( usually) quality set shots. But he’s getting some stick for not doing the hard stuff.

Rookie me Central also mention about another dozen players to watch out for. Unfortunately neither of our F/S or academy players get a mention. Early day yet, hopefully Sinnema can have a good run at it over the next few months and hopefully move up the rankings.

I think it’s time for Maysie to get on the Tom McDonald diet and lifestyle if he wants to get another couple of years at the top.

Would love if we got him. He’s probably ahead for the riding start at the minute. Had a great start to his AFL career. Might make sense too. Bolton and Kossie both play a similar role, splitting their time between forward and the middle with licence to roam. Need role players around those types of players not sure Reid is a role player.

Ok folks I think we have all made our points. Can we get back on topic about how good the lad is. Agree with others that his pace seems fine to me. For me he’s a great wing man to have on the opposite wing to Langers. A great target when we are coming out of defence with his height and contested marking and great player to link up with forwards with his kicking ability. Also seems to have great positional awareness and ability to find the ball.

People seem to be annoyed we took our foot of the gas in the last quarter and I get that, but for me the much bigger concern is we only put our foot on the gas in the third. Where was the intensity in the first half ? We were a different side once we decide to have a crack, lift our pressure and put a few tackles in. Prime time slot, amazing pre game ceremony over 70k fans. Apart from KB our biggest game of the year and we only went to proper levels of intensity for one quarter. Are we not fit enough? Or just not interested enough?

Maybe in a small way. It’s mooted that they will get access to Tasmanian players in 2027 before they have a proper selection of picks in 2028. However that’s if everything goes according to plan and they have will have their stadium ready in time ( I think 2030) which is starting to look unlikely.

Bugger I was really hoping Warner would go to Freo , would have made a play for Kossie much more difficult. They also now know what money they can offer Kossie.

I’m guessing our future first pick will be on the trade table again this year so.

I think he’s probably got a fair whack considering it was his first offence. I assume he was told he’s somebody was fighting with his brother and he’s rung out and completely over reacted. Think the judge did well enforcing the curfew as it affects him for the next 3 months. The fact that he has a public profile means much more attention and shame brought to him and his family. If similar footage of Steven May came out would people be as quick to be calling for him to be jailed?! My problem is with Richmond and the AFL. They both should have been much harder on him. 4 game ban- Kossie got 3 for a bump that was a fraction late and a fraction high. Doesn’t seem to add up, the two things aren’t in the same league and doesn’t set a good example for kids. I guess players getting concussion might cost them money. Kids having their lives ruined by a coward punch not so much.

I agree with others that we should put a big front ended offer in front of him. Until Freo know if they will land Chad Warner or not they may not be in a position to make Kossie as big an offer. He’s pure class when he’s up and about, be gutted to lose him.

Interesting stat. Most of the current top ranked players are about the same age as Trac and Clarry would have been when we won the flag. I guess the demands of the modern game catches up on players quicker these days. On the plus side we don’t have to wait as long to have the likes of Kolt, Windsor, XL, Langford and JVR hitting their peak.

100% agree. Forget about Butters, LDU and Allen types for now. We’re no chance. We need to be looking at players that struggle to get a game elsewhere. Like Bedford and JJ when they left is. Hawks failed to bring in the majority of players they targeted for years instead took whoever they could get and developed them. Get that part right and then you can target quality free agents.

I was thinking this as well. We looked a level below the Cats all night. So many tackles didn’t stick, they seem to be far more agile than us and be able to side step tackles at will. Our last quarters have been poor in every game. Geelong looked fitter, stronger and faster.

Sounds to me like Tom Morris has been reading Demonland again.

No I don’t think we will be in the running. But 3 of those club are big Victorian clubs that must have the cap space and capital to make it happen. Worth noting if we are willing to part with Trac. I had been wondering about the Bombers as a destination for him should he want out again this year.