Ron Burgundy

I'm super happy with Oliver. The upside seems enormous - he seems the type of player who'll be really exciting to watch crashing into packs, winning the pill and then applying the high octane after burners around the park. I think Essendon have also done well in landing Parish who'll also turn out to be a really good AFL player.

Looks like a good bloke.

I'd be absolutely stoked with Parish and Oliver. Would be very happy with Parish and Curnow though too.

If being a bull is the only prerequisite to being an elite junior AFL midfielder, draft an NRL player. Parish though just has to be number 3. For an AFL club.

I've always thought 25 for Melksham was a good trade. In isolation. That it formed pat of a grand scheme of list improvement plays during the trade period made it even sweeter. That we gamed Essendon all along and then ultimately managed to nail them on pick 3 (which presumably we'll spend on Parish whom they wanted all along) makes it simply unreal. This club is now competent. We gamed all other clubs - except perhaps GWS and GCS, each of whom may very well have been in the tent on what we were doing all along.

Heard from a couple of people that Essendon were/are hoping to land Parish. They're pretty annoyed that we managed to land pick 3.

He looks like Prince Valiant.

Like his attack on the ball. Seems like a bit of a live wire - kind of makes things happen. And I like the fact that he's a country boy. Son of a shearer - they're tough blokes. The club will put meat on that frame.

They all sound like superstars this time of year.

I think this is a really astute trade for us. I'm pleased with it. People here are not placing sufficient regard to the fact that Goodwin and McCartney genuinely know what he's like as a player and a person. They've worked with him. In short, he's not some speccy draft prospect who's been observed by some dude having watched a few hours of TAC Cup football. They also know what this list needs and where the gaps are. And yep, he's not Selwood or Dangerfield, but neither of those players were gettable targets for this club. So that's largely irrelevant. Welcome aboard Jake.

Melksham, Bugg and Kennedy will all be very good additions too.

Suspect some other trades will eventuate too. Not necessarily 'big fish', but players that will improve our overall list. Roos has repeatedly stated that we will be very active this trade period.

Spot on. He will be a good pick up.

Seems relevant to the Melksham thread.

It concerns me slightly that Port are into Toumpas. They identify and nurture midfield talent as well as any club - and they obviously know Toumpas from his playing days in Adelaide. Perhaps he is still going to be the player we hoped he would be when he was drafted - just not with the MFC.

Very happy to recruit Ziebell as well.

Need to be a very good runner these days too. No engine = no future.

As Roos says, don't believe everything you read in the press - there's a lot of noise. I reckon Goodwin and McCartney have a fair idea of what this bloke's worth - and, clearly, they also know what they want in players going forward and they know how to assess a good footballer from a bad one.

If it's for a second round pick, I'm content with this trade. He'll improve our list, slightly. Still praying for a Prestia, O'Meara or Bennell though.

Absolutely agree. Hope we keep Watts. And Garland.

'Sun' of a gun. O'Meara would be fantastic. I've also heard that Howe's manager's been an opportunistic [censored] in his negotiations with the club. Perhaps Howe's only just starting to work this out.

Hope/trust we have more elite midfield targets than Melksham. That said, would happily have him at the Dees for the right deal.

Ironic that we apparently would've picked Melksham with pick 11 in 2009 (which we used on Gysberts) given that Essendon picked Melksham with pick 10. I'll back Simon Goodwin's judgement on this one.

On the basis of those photos, it think he'd be more likely to request a trade to some hick football team in Arkansas ...

Think I'll back Goodwin's judgement on this one. He's always struck me as a very good player.