Bonkers

How is that slanted towards the MFC? In that scenario we are giving up a first rounder for Hill who is a second round pick based on a trade 2 years ago. They'd want to offer up a higher quality player than Hill if they want our first round next year. The price for Hogan should be 2 high first rounders alone. There's no reason to give a first rounder to them for a player like Hill. If they want to throw in Hill offer them a second round pick and exchange of later picks in their favour or don't do the deal. In any case I doubt Hill would be involved in the deal.

Brad Hill left Hawthorn 2 seasons ago for pick 23. Freo would want to throw in more than that to get the deal over the line.

Oliver is in the top 5 for afl player ratings, top 10 SuperCoach, top 10 afl coaches association and probably top 10 in the Brownlow in a year he's been playing with 2 busted shoulders. He is on track to be ranked 1-3 in the afl player ratings if his form continues and he keeps relatively injury free.

I'd be surprised if we accepted pick 75. We gave up pick 66 for Harley Balic and pick 54 for Viv Michie both of those players had barely any runs on the board at AFL level. Based on those trades and the contract offered to him by the saints I'd say Kent is worth a pick in the 30s or 40s despite his injury record.

He was 3rd in the count until his injury. That rates him only behind Oliver and Gawn and they are both top 10 players in the comp. Outside of Hogan there aren't too many 50 goal a year forwards in the AFL. What would we have to pay to trade for one? I'm tipping every other club would be asking for the equivalent to the Treloar trade for someone of Jesse's proven ability and age.

Exactly. We are in a strong bargaining position regardless. The only way we don't get what we want is to cave in, or Hogan chooses to go to the draft next year, which will not happen and hasn't happened since Luke Ball. We will get 2 first rounders this year or next year if Hogan wants to go to Freo and we stick to our guns.

West Coast were good in the 2nd quarter not just the last half. But it's ok to have different opinions.

It was a game of two styles. While the pressure was high and the game was scrappy Collingwood got on top in the first quarter because it suited their style and speed of play. To West Coasts credit once they were able to make it 50/50 and stem the tide in the midfield they slowed the game down and started possessing the ball. Collingwood were then restricted in their scoring and whenever they tried to move the ball forward they rarely had a marking option which made it very hard for them to score. Cox was not really that effective apart from a couple of marks due to the body pressure put on him which Richmond were not able to do for whatever reason last week. In the 3rd and 4th quarter the Eagles aerial dominance took over the game and they really should have been further in front at the final siren. Their marking and size prevented Collingowood moving the ball out of defence often and it allowed WC to have repeat 50 entries without actually putting it on the score board. It also nullified Collingwoods forward pressure as their marking in the back half stopped te ball from hitting the deck as much and took Collingwoods ground level players out of the game. When transitioning the ball I think I counted around 4 or 5 contested marks for Darling in the 3rd quarter alone after he has a bad first half. This allowed WC to play a kicking or positional game. It was a good example of how to nullify a teams run and pressure.

In all fairness we have no idea if it is indeed a side business or not. For all we know the business could be the only thing bringing in money for his Mother/Family, or it could be a multi-million dollar business etc etc. His priorities are his family and his long term employment prospects (football and private sector). The Swans may offer him 3 years and the MFC only offer 1, he can move close to his family and business. What would you do? It's not that hard to understand really.

Eagles by 5 points NS: Yeo FG: Jack Darling

So if he was more talented he would be ok. It's not anything to do with his mental capacity?

Sounds a bit over the top and dramatic to me. That is based purely on speculation and what if rather than the reality of Gaff being a quality player in the AFL for half a decade. He stuffed up on one occasion and most people will move on from it. If he's mature enough he will move on as well. It's interesting that you compare him to Bugg. Did you ever consider that Bugg is just not up to it as a an AFL footballer and therefore we moved past him being selected in the side after we improved and moved past him? If you are going to compare him to others why don't you compare him to players such as Brereton, Lockett and Diesel Williams? Probably because it doesn't suit your argument right?

Agreed. If they are that keen on him just pay him overs on a shorter term deal via free agency and ask him to take a cut on the next contract. We'll have a truck load of cash if hogan leaves.

I'd hope the club is looking to bring in a free agent or 2. The only one I am aware of that is any good is Gaff and the rumour is he may be off to North. I'm not sure if there are any others worth looking at, other d'landers may have more info? If Hogan goes then the deal probably turns into 3 or 4 draft picks that we on trade for players we have already earmarked or we then use them in the draft(not desired).

He's asking for mega dollars and to ask for that coin you need to be a top 10-20 player in the Comp to justify your wage. We are better off chasing better value elsewhere or paying for real quality. Gaff at 900k might be worth it for example.

Whilst Omac has improved and has become dependable to a certain extent, I think it's debatable if he's ever going to be a quality lock down defender against the bigger tall forwards. Ben Brown, Hawkins, Buddy, Kennedy all get a hold of him on a lead or in a one on one too often, hence why Frost became so important to us during the latter part of the year due to his size and speed. I think people are kidding themselves to assume May wouldn't improve the side. He is definitely an upgrade on OMac. When Lever comes back into the side our backline should be sorted for around 5 years with Lever and May at FB and CHB respectively with either OMac or Frost playing alongside them. Collingwood and Hawthorn are chasing him if you believe the rumours and they are top 4 rivals. They are both seeking a replacement for Dunn and Frawley respectively. If we obtain May we weaken their future prospects and improve ours in the process by picking up May. If we can get May for a mid first rounder or less you'd be pretty happy. There aren't too many other KPD options out there to improve our backline at the moment and he would definitely help reduce the bleeding that's been happening when we aren't controlling the midfield on our off days.

You mean like GAJ going to Gold Coast and Buddy to Sydney? It's pretty simple if he wants to go it's a money or lifestyle choice, nothing to do with us. If he wants to go then we cash in now while we can get something for him. He's doing us a favour IMO by letting us know now before he becomes a free agent.

Probably because she makes things up.

Although this is a blow, it can also be used to set up the side for a long time. We managed ok without Hogan while he was injured. The cap space freed up by his departure would allow us to go after someone like Gaff as well as May and still have room left over as well as a high pick(s) in a potential super draft. This could be a good thing for our overall list.

This also happened to Collingwood in their final at Optus. It's not just a coincidence.

The club has made some good trade deals in the last few years but we really need to start nailing free agency if we want to make a serious tilt at a flag.

Yeh I have no idea to be honest. I'm just repeating what I have read. https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/amp.theage.com.au/sport/afl/demons-meet-with-steven-may-bombers-also-show-interest-20180920-p504xe.html

It was reported that he met with Melbourne on his own initiative late last week to sound out his options.

I'm leaning towards west coast as well. They will apply body pressure to Cox and I doubt he will have the same impact he did this weekend because of it. Kennedy & Darling got a hold of the Pies a couple of weeks ago. I don't see a reason it won't happen again. In saying all this Collingwood have a great midfield and Grundy will most likely do his job. Should be a cracking game.

Pretty much spot on. We still need to add better running midfielders and higher quality small forwards. Yesterday inside 50s were pretty much equal however we got scored heavily against. Inside 50 efficiency is an issue whilst defending and attacking. Our key defensive stocks yesterday looked barely a pass mark. But that isn't helped when the pressure being applied in the midfield is not upto scratch. Our skills and decision making moving the ball forward are another area we are seriously lacking. This has been highlighted numerous times throughout the finals when we have won and also during the season when dominating a game but still losing.