old55

We keep hearing about him

Will you be MIA for those 12 months and then be reborn like the phoenix (that could be your next user name) Seems like an unfair bet.

4th in BnF - the FD still rate him highly. He has never been elite but is renowned for his hardness, durability and loyalty. Has been relegated out of the starting midfield by elite talent. But he's #1 to step back in if injuries hit. Too good not to be in the 22 even if he has to play a role that doesn't suit him. Legacy will be very similar to David Neitz and will give the games record a shake. Hopefully he goes one better with a flag.

Mahoney, Taylor and no doubt Viney collaborated to engineer a major recruiting coup.

If trading up to enable Taylor to select Oliver and Weed isn't a massive win then we've got a lot to look forward to.

It must be challenging to live with disappointment year on year.

Yes OMac's improvement curve is pretty steep and he seems very coachable. I expect him to take another leap in 2019. Lever in the side will make him better still and we'll either have May or Hogan back there too. I'm excited at the prospects for improvement.

Comparing May and Oscar is not valid. Oscar is 22, the valid comparison is May at 22 in 2014 with Oscar now. Oscar is on a steep improvement curve year on year and will become a very strong all round defender.

I'm feeling content - no lose situation. Trade with Fremantle will happen at a reasonable price and we'll on trade for May. Trade doesn't happen and an exciting experiment with Jesse at CHB in 2019. The dogs may bark but the caravan rolls along.

Related to Jamie Duursma?

Yes total outlier situation when we were bleeding goals. Akin to the last 2 minutes of quarters. It's pulling the emergency cord. The context of the question was using Hogan as starting CHB next year. Are you seriously suggesting that we'll ever start TMac as key back in the future? It's over - he's a key forward. .

Stupidity confirmation. The only time TMac might be in the back 50 is in the last 2 minutes of quarters when we're trying to stop opposition scoring.

I'd like to point out that May is no choir boy either - there's risk in recruiting him. He's not the guaranteed universal panacea. I'm fine with the trade going ahead. But I'm at least equally fine with trying Jesse at CHB next year. It worked for Hurley who had a similar chequered start at a key forward.

It's because Jesse Hogan is our star player and we are much more personally invested in him than Freo fans are. He's reality to us and theory to them.

Yeah OK I get that. Now how does it apply specifically to this thread?

I'm struggling to see the analogy - perhaps you can tease it out for me? Who is God for a start off?

I think that's the missing point. Tries CHB, dominates, likes it. Look I'm happy to do the trade at market value but I'm equally happy to try to salvage the best outcome for the club it it can't happen because Bell's a f'wit.

GC would be rapt with this deal as would MFC if there was a sweetener involved. The only sticking point would be Hogan's willingness - a pretty major sticking point I imagine. Still GC could offer a Buddy style $11m over 9 years deal that may entice.

That's a consistent line of reasoning across the years. It's uncommon and there's a lot to be said for that. My only observation it's not totally objective. You understandably get very excited and salivate at outstanding KPF prospects and build a very high hope and expectation. When that's not met the crash is hard. The pendulum swings a long way the other direction. I'm pretty sure you strongly value objectivity - you've got a bias here. There wasn't much baby with the Watts bathwater, I think there still can be with Hogan. He could find his niche in the backline like Hurley has and dominate for years to come. I'm still sufficiently excited by this prospect.

You've changed your tune. Sure Hogan is open to a trade to Freo when they are offering him a long fat contract. But the fact is, as you at least used to acknowledge, MFC has been in favour of trading him too this time and has been actively courting the idea. It's not all or even mainly Hogan driving IMO. I have no issue with this position of MFC and would be fine if he's traded for reasonable return like 5 + 23 that gets us May and makes us better - and it still could happen. We're lucky to have a surplus of KPF talent, Hogan is the most tradable and saves long term salary cap that enables us to keep our other stars - the FD probably calculated that we can't keep them all. Now Freo have forked this up totally and any resurrection of the trade is totally in their court on our terms. In the absence of this we should actively turn it around to a positive with Hogan staying. That's where we should get around him and play him in the backline in 2019.

I'm a big fan of this idea. I think he is well suited to this role and it is less likely to bring out his sometimes dubious attitude episodes (although I acknowledge it hadn't stopped Rance similarly playing for frees in this role). This whole Hogan trade debacle may yet have a silver lining because it may be the circuit breaker that makes a somewhat left field idea like this possible to execute. Goodwin has shown a willingness to try this type of move e.g. Melkshan forward, TMac forward, but probably needed a catalyst to enable an idea like Hogan back to get traction. It makes sense from a number of angles. The need to improve KP defence as indicated by the interest in May. The over load of KPF as indicated by our willingness to contemplate trading Hogan and amplified by the recruitment of Preuss. I think the FD may have assumed no Hogan when pursuing this trade - not that that is the primary reason. Also final silver lining, surely Hogan is over his flirtation with Freo and may now be willing to commit to our cause if we strongly welcome him back across the board.

Yeah like I said in the first place

Mahoney traded us up to the pick that enabled Taylor to select Oliver.

No Mahoney = No Oliver. Possibly on the way to being greatest ever MFC player.

Umm Greg Denham announced it was on weeks ago.