CHF

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.

Once again I am confident we have the game to beat WC. We did it a few weeks ago in the home and away round over there and that will give us confidence to do so again. Kennedy available this time around and Darling fit for possibly the whole game will give them a lift up forward but our defence has surprised and is looking the goods even without Lever. The key yo our defence getting the job done will be the pressure and 4 quarter work our midfield do if we can run and exert frantic pressure on the ball and ball carrier then we can drive turnovers and mistakes. As with last time around we need to drive the midfield to the way we want the game played. Have them chasing us and the ball. We will also need to have better control of the last kick into the forward 50 than we had against Hawthorn. In the forward 50 we have the fire power in our talls to really trouble the WC defence. we also have some really good pressure forwards to keep the ball in and drive forward half turnovers. I am expecting a close game the whole way through and hope we can set up the win and and take a place in the GF with a last quarter.

Hmmmm sleeps I fell 900 sohrt.

Now for a 1000 beers to celebrate

Go boys!!!

I will second that. He is full of it.

an hour to go to the bounce. Sitting on the other side of the world on a morning that is a perfect reflection of the day in Melbourne. Mid to high teens and sunny. Wish I was there rather than here. Will watch the build up and then the game live on my 27" monitor. Not really a substitute for being there. Go Dees. Confident we have the game to win it. We just need to bring it on the night.

Yep n-w Europe

Confident we have the game to win this one. Excited to see what unfolds. Game starts just before noon my time so when the game is over I will have a nice long afternoon and evening to celebrate. Dees by 28

It would be tough for the selectors to make an argument to change anyone from last week. Only exception I see is if someone has pulled up sore.

Interesting to note that to date in the season we have now beaten 3 top 8 sides and all in the last three games. Collingwood on the other hand have just beaten one, us, back in June. have not seem much made of this.

These three are more pit ponies than Four Horsemen

Viney is just back from a number of weeks on the sidelines still has a way to go to replace Harmes as one of the horsemen. I still have a confident smile when i see footage of Max, Clarrie, Harmes and Brayshaw walking back for a center bounce chatting together.