CHF

I believe that Hogan is and will continue to be a good player. I would have liked to see what he could have developed into if he had stayed at MFC for a time. However, I think that the club have done the right thing in trading him and have got a good outcome. That is subjective as I am sure there are a number that could give good arguments otherwise. One thing that is a win for the club is that we will no longer have the annual 9 month period of "will he stay or will he go". That is a huge plus in my book.

I would not put it past Bell to trade 5 to Adelaide himself if he gets it for Neale and then offer us 8 and 23

I thin,kit needs to be kept in mind that the Hogan trade, if it happens did not have to be dependent on the Neale trade as Freo had pick 6 that they could have used to sen d to us as part of the trade. They were greedy and sent it to Port for a range of later picks. Therefore they did not have a low first round to trade with us. It also set up this chain of trades wiating to happen. It should be noted that to date they have not used any of the picks they gained from Port.

They can wait for two years and get him for nothing and pay 6x6

I would suggest that first Freo have to buckle with regard to the Neale deal so that they can get pick 5. if they do fold on that then it would be a significant backdown by them and I could see Bell going aggressively at the hogan deal to get his feathered cap.

No. it has gone a bit quiet. The last I heard was that hogan was happy to play with MFC next season and MFC were happy to have him play with us next season.

I do not understand Freo and their attitude to trading at all. (mind you I don't think I want to) Hogan has 1 year left on his present contract. Asks us if he can explore his options with Freo. MFC agree on the understanding that we would need to get fair value in any trade at this time with Freo. Hogan and Manager meet with Freo. Freo do their due diligence ( I would imagine this would include a clear understanding of Hogan's expectations and those of the MFC) Freo announce that they will no longer be looking at Hogan as they cannot meet MFC trade requirements (no mention of the contract requirements of Hogan and his management and an inference that there may be some unspecified problems) Freo meet with Hogan on Saturday after Bell's announcement that they are no longer interested Been reported that MFC would accept 5, 23 & 30 Given all that I would say that there is not a lot of goodwill between Freo and Hogan and hos management or between Freo and MFC. As negotiating strategies go, Freo's approach is more than very strange.

This reflects 100% with the whispers I have heard.

From the little I have heard over the last day or so it is all but certain that Hogan will play with us next season. The club is comfortable with this and I believe that Hogan and his management have a full understanding of what transpired and do not have a problem with the situation. i don’t think there is any road back from the statements made by Freo with regard to Hogan and Neale. With the personalities involved, I cannot see it happening. if Hogan does play with us next season I would suggest that he is locked in for the next two seasons. He is out of contract at the end of 2019 but will not become a restricted free agent until the end of 2020. I could see it unfolding that we approach him to get him to sign the extra year to take him to RFA. Given Freo’s performance during this draft season, there is no certainty that they will offer anything worthwhile next time around. If that was the case he may have to choose to go to the draft with no certainty of getting where he wants to go. if he stays with Melbourne he has two competitive years to maybe land a flag and two further seasons of development to end up a RFA at 25yo, in his prime with a track record to command a top long term contract from whichever club he walks to and Melbourne take the compensation pick.

It would seem that the whispers I heard a few days ago were correct with regard to the situation within Freo. I had not heard, however, just how badly they were handling the possible trade. If as I heard, they were not 100% committed to making the deal, they should have walked away without making a silly offer that was never going to be accepted. It has done their reputation no good what so ever. From the statement Bell made, the only reason they made the offer was so they could say "well we tried and Melbourne wanted too much". In the broader football world, all the other clubs understand what has transpired. I think Melbourne has been very transparent with the way they have handled the situation. Hogan wanted to explore his options and the club, with a clear understanding of what he has been through over the last few years, agreed to allow him to look around. that agreement came with a clear indication that if he wanted to move, we would need to get fair compensation. This is out in the public forum. What was never stated in public by Hogan or his management is that Hogan wanted to be traded to Freo at this time. I believe that this is significant. Melbourne has come out of this with it's reputation enhanced and this will stand us in good stead in the future, not only with other clubs but also with players. I do not think there will be any further discussion on a possible move to Freo this trade period. It will be very interesting to see what the response is from the club and Hogan in the medium term with regard to a possible contract extension. Do not be surprised if the club gets the May deal done.

This has become very messy but I believe that the fundamentals have not changed. I understand that Hogan is 50/50 about leaving or staying. Freo is 50/50 about making a fair offer or not and MFC is a bit sidelined waiting to see what reasonable offer comes from Freo. The first offer made by them is so far off the mark that I think we may be looking at leaving the table and keeping Hogan for next season. I would have no problem with that. I think in these days there is an expectation from the player that they want the club to act professionally and there is a reciprocal expectation that the club has of the player. It would make for an interesting season to see what comes out of the woodwork by way of a contract extension or possible clubs willing to deal. If no deal is done it may be that Hogan in fed up with the seasonal speculation about his return to Perth and the distraction it provides. it might just push him into making a longer term commitment. It would be good to see what he could produce without this happening each trade season.

If this news is correct, it gels with what I heard. It was Jesse that was not 100%sold on Freo. Game plan, coaching and the immediate future of playing once again for a bottom quarter club.

I am hesitant to post this as it is very different from what has already been posted. I have heard, from half a world away a couple of very interesting whispers with regard to Freo, MFC and Hogan. _ Melbourne prepared to deal if Hogan is happy moving and if they get the asking price. _ Hogan is not 100% sold on Freo. Not confident posting what I heard as it may get this place in trouble. _ Hogan and Freo both feel this is the last best chance to get him to move clubs but there is uncertainty both ways between Freo and Hogan. _ MFC sitting quietly waiting to see what they need to do but will not sit without a decision any longer that tomorrow. There are too many other things that nee to get done. My take on what I have heard, assuming it is correct, is that I am leaning towards Hogan staying another year and looking at another 1 year extension. I do not believe player or either club wants to go through this again next year.

What exactly is entailed in "a tour of their facilities"? Walk in the door.... Shake hands.... Listen to the welcome speech/sales pitch.... Smile at the receptionist..... Look at the different rooms while the real estate salesman tells you what you are looking at..... Shake hands with more smiling people.... Have a coffee and a chat about the decor..... Smile at the receptionist on the way out ... Shake hands..... Out into the sunshine for a quick smoke..... There has to be more to it than that.......

Now I may be missing something but I do not understand what is going on with the club this trade/draft period. With the de-listing of Dion Johnstone it means we have 8 open spaces on the list at the moment. There is talk about Hogan, VDB, Tyson and Kent moving off the other clubs. If just two of these move, then it will mean we have 10 spots to fill and picks 33, 43, 51 & 87. We have asked if we could trade next year’s first round as well. These figures just do not add up. 10 spaces and 4 picks between 33 and 87. If, say, Kent and VDB move we may get back a second and third rounder at best. The holes are not going to be filled by free agents knocking the door down. The ones that are out there look to be committed, and not to us. If Hogan does not move and get us a couple of early first round selections, we are in trouble. We would not have the currency to look at trading for others such as May. We may pick up KK (sorry do not know to spell his name let alone say it) but from where we sit now, that would be it. 10 spaces to fill and a hand full of chook feed to do it with. Looking at this I would say that we are very pro moving Hogan on to Freo.

I get the feeling that there is a lot in play for the club this trade/draft season. We must have had some pretty solid commitments from players or clubs that they will trade with us if we have opened up so many spaces on our list and are willing to look at possible trades for Hogan, Tyson, Kent and VDB. After all, we do not have any early picks in the draft at present. I do not see much in the way of free agents looking at us.

Had a chat with a mate of mine that is close to the club and this whole situation is very fluid. Club will support whatever direction Hogan will decide upon as long as they get fair compo if he is open to a move. Current thinking is that Hogan will also support the club getting fair compo if that is the case. It is far from certain that he will be open to a trade this season. Possible outcomes: Open to a trade as long as there is fair compo. Stays put and extends contract till RFA.

it would seem that one of Harmes, Brayshaw, Oliver or Gawn will miss out on the top 3.

sorry DD....I just saw your post after I had posted.... Great Minds.

If I am correct that is a glass of Margret River red he is holding.... Damn! I knew he was gone!

as noted in my post....."looks like a done deal to the Tiges"

Let me see, a good outcome for the trade/draft period, given our present list situation for me would be the following: Delist/retired - Vince Balic Pedersen King McKenna Bugg Filipovic Free agency – in - Gaff - would also like to have a crack at Lynch but that looks like a done deal to the Tiges Trade in – May and KK for a top 10 pick and a pick 2nd/3rd round (Note: if we do not land May do we look at Shiel and Finlayson from GWS to use our early draft position from the move of Hogan?) Preuss – 2nd/3rd round? Trade out – Hogan - Get back two top 10 picks and cap space to accommodate Gaff and possibly one other ‘name’ recruit Kent – Get back a 2nd/3rd round AVB – not sure he will go but may get a 2nd/3rd round So, already 7 out the door with 3 more (Hogan, Kent & AVB) possible. That is 10 spaces on the list that can be sorted out between the senior list and the rookie list as required. 4 coming back via the trades above but I suspect one more in addition to the above. That would leave 6 spaces with us holding a first round and a few 2nd and 3rd round selection. This is going to be a very interesting draft/trade period for the Dees. Will be interesting to see the washup come the end of it all.

I would have liked to see him on the park more in the last couple of seasons. When he is fit he has the ability to play very good footy. The club obviously see value in him as he was not delisted. Their task now is to see what value he has in a trade to the Saints and to maximize it. We have had two retirements in Vince and Balic, and we have delisted 5 out of contract players, with the exit of Kent that will leave 8 spaces open on the senior and rookie list. Around 20% turnover of the list after a successful season seems like a large turnover to me. It will be an interesting trade draft period. There must be some very clear planning in place for the next month or so that the club is keeping very tight lipped about.

I think these are good sound decisions so far. I will be interested to see how we are looking to cover the ruck situation and if we structure the list to cover the position in the short to medium term. Getting Preuss would make life easier for next season and I could see us looking at a couple of young possible rucks to develop.

Watching first half in bed at home in Belgium. Shower and getting breakfast ready at halftime then watching second half with coffee.