The Taciturn Demon

Let's hope, at the end, we're not lying on a table eviscerated and emasculated.

I do too. Yes, Petracca has become a little bit iffy in certain contests - but I think that got a bit overdone in 2025 and didn't massively affect his football. His balance and ability to extract a ball from a contest or scrimmage, and then use his power to break into space, is as good as it ever was, which is absolutely first rate. His kicking is a problem, but I bet it's not anywhere near as bad a problem in an up-and-about Gold Coast side as it was in a flat, in-a-rut Melbourne side. I REALLY want us to get Humphrey in this trade, but I don't expect it to instantly look like a stunning result for us.

Exactly. If that's something he values, there's a hardly a better option than the club that's about to lose a first-picked pure midfielder and midfielder-forward, and will very soon have to reckon with another staple pure midfielder's decline.

Most definitely. But Humphrey would almost certainly find himself getting even less time in the middle in this situation. If that's a concern for him, Melbourne begins to make more sense.

That's interesting. Would have thought money was really the only thing we had to offer apart from being based in Victoria and a very clear way for the trade to happen.

Very good to hear.

Just heard the Adelaide list bloke say they certainly wouldn't trade their first pick for Callum Ah Chee, which is Pick 15 and will be significantly lower after the academy nonsense. Am I overrating him or is Pick 15 (down to the low teens) entirely fair?

If we're still really keen on him (and our interest isn't just born of a desperate desire to get a player for Petracca), like how he's progressed since his draft year, and he fits in well with how King sees us playing, we absolutely should.

I think that's fair - if the prime motivation is a move back home plus success, Melbourne in 2026 is a hard sell. My hope is that, as with Lever, those at the Demons who loved Humphrey in his draft year, stayed in touch with him. Obviously, that doesn't guarantee anything, but at the very least it demonstrates how keen we were and remain, and means we're not suddenly contacting him out of the blue at a moment of convenience for us. From there, we need to hope the pragmatism of his manager kicks in and he's told - "Melbourne love you, will pay you extremely well, and have the trade capital to make this happen easily right now."

We're about to have an enormous release of pressure on the salary cap.

He really is. We should tell Humphrey you can: A) Come to Melbourne and play under a solid citizen. B) Stay at Gold Coast and play under a sovereign citizen.

Stupid money is fine as long as the decision makers hold him in high regard.

Two years. That's good. He's as honest as a footballer can be. If his body's in OK nick, this is a good signing.

Understatement. One of the most bizarre top 5 finishes in a B&F I've seen in my 35 years supporting the club.

True. But there are several with the surname Humprhey's, and I think that's where there may be some confusion.

Humphrey in his first press conference in a red and blue polo: "They had me at 'HELLOOOOO'!"* * If anyone gets this extremely deep cut, I'll be chuffed.

This is the hard bit. I'm the same. Moreso with Petracca, who has now done this twice in a row. But getting picks in THIS draft or some uninspiring B-grader will be more than deflating. I'm going to be optimistic once again, against my better judgement, and suggest that the club could not possibly so incompetent that they would publicly declare their willingness for both Petracca and Oliver to seek a trade and not be EXTREMELY confident of getting something really good in return. The other plausible possibility I see is not incompetence, but simply that King has observed from an opposition coaches' box, done his homework, spoken to the right people, and decided Petracca and Oliver need to go no matter what. He's basically starting again, with just the single, now ageing out-and-out star (Gawn), the young A-grader (Pickett) and - let's be honest - just as many promising kids as all the other clubs. This would fly in the face of the whole talk about him being enthusiastic about the list, but that could easily be something they consider necessary PR. I would hope that if this is the option, we're looking at several picks in the first round and that Jason Taylor is confident of landing a couple of beauties, in spite of all the talk that this draft is a shocker. I guess the third possibility is that the list is FAR better than I, and many others, think, and that King feels he can bring a modern edge to the gameplan and have the team, minus troublesome champions, competing again very soon.

I'm not an optimist when it comes to the Demons, but I think Flanders choosing St Kilda is a positive. It removes any complications: we want Bailey Humphrey, and have since his draft year - we have a champion who wants to play for Gold Coast. We've made it clear we'll only trade him on our terms. Our terms must include Humphrey.

Just mentioned on the other AFLW thread I reckon I missed a fair bit watching the game basically at ground level, so apologies for what may be some inaccurate assessments: Chaplin Fitzsimon McNamara Harris Paxman Ebert

Good win. I reckon Essendon are better than average. They challenged us in the second half and we were steady. Maeve Chaplin has always been a favourite of mine, but my goodness she's gone to another level again. Looks extremely fit as well. Big thanks to Megan Fitzsimon who, at the end of the game, gave a signed footy to my daughter who is super shy and would have been hard to spot among the swarm of kids at the fence. It absolutely made her night. She can't stop talking about it. Out of interest, on the TV, did Hanks look like she had a good game? Seemed slightly quiet, but it was hard to tell on the fence at Princes Park. Great ground, but you really need to squint when the ball's on the opposite wing.

In the eyes of most, I'd think. They deliberately traded into last year's draft knowing it was a cracker. Ideally they would have kept a pick in the 20s but they got two really good players. They've now made it clear Oliver and Petracca are tradeable in a year where the draft is below average or worse, and heavily compromised. They have to get at least one really good players back.

We know Jason Taylor loved Humphrey. We know he'd fit well in our team. (He'd for well into most teams.) We've made it clear we won't give up Petracca unless we love the real. Clearly, GC doesn't want to lose him, but who cares? We should go as hard as we can for him.

Exactly. The most uninteresting commentator going round. Completely incoherent and unworthy of any serious attention.

Geeze. If the club doesn't quickly shut this down, you have to assume we're in total rebuild mode. What a time to be starting again.

Interesting about McVee.