whatwhat say what

mitch cleary on 3aw reckons the dogs are the favourites to get him but no one will know for certain until an announcement is made

according to my crows supporting cousin who is a teacher in sa - teaching contracts for 2018 have not been offered as yet might be different for a private school of course

joel garner sounds like a likely sort

$800k a year for Lever is a bargain

very harsh on frost. has been playing as #1 key defender in the #9 defensive side has the speed and strength to play on the best forwards in the game, and takes the game on going the other way

$4m over 5 years is not a huge amount for a 21 year old key back who looks like becoming one of the best defenders in the competition if the dogs are offering that sort of money, either they're not keeping jj or two or three of boyd, the elder, murphy and morris must be retiring...or both jj wants $800k himself, and there has been some talk that essendon might be keen...three way deal in the offing?

agreed, he has improved markedly since being made to earn his spot and having his role changed - he's much more damaging as a negating player up the ground than as a half-back flank

can't see higgins falling as low as 13 either. scouts i speak to rate him the best 'pure mid' behind uniak in the draft. and i 100% agree re fogerty - he's a half back swooper, not a mid

Yeah, I am presuming he'll stay, too Let's go get GW$' Kelly!

O Mac was magnificent today I honestly think Lever would make us a better side...but where does he fit in? 2x Macs and Frost, plus Hibberd and Jetta, then rebound in Hunt and Salem, plus Lewis, Vince and Jones rotating through defensively...how does Lever fit in?

Robbing Peter to pay Paul

Crows supporters super confident Lever is going nowhere; just waiting for cba to be settled Those doubting the value of Weed need their heads read; key position talls are pretty rare these days, look at the value and desire for Schache as an example...plus Weed is going nowhere seeing as he recently signed til end of 2019 and will be a huge part of our forward structure in coming years

arguably one of his best five games for the club...and he could very well be dropped due to team balance next week if gawn or spencer come back in

sounds ideal for a zone defence to me

lever, in a heartbeat. kid is all class

at this stage here's what i'd be doing in terms of list management strategy for existing list: salem - must retain neal-bullen - hopefully signed to a new deal vince - i just wonder...will he retire? otherwise a year contract i guess joel smith - upgraded off rookie list kent - i reckon he might be put up for trade and someone will want him harmes - someone will want him i reckon but i hope we keep him vandenberg - he's talented but his body isn't made for football; dropped off list jkh - put up for trade or potentially downgraded to rookie list / dropped off list spencer - depends on whether we trade for a ruck or just keep him as insurance or he might want to give it away or give somewhere else a go lumumba - retired (obviously) trengove - retired hulett - dropped off list kennedy - dropped off list* white - dropped off rookie list keilty - dropped off rookie list *although it would seem kennedy is contracted so i guess he stays; needs to get a game and show something soon, so he needs a bit of luck to go his way and so far anb, bugg and kent are all ahead of him

what was the injury? i gave up watching he was looking very, very good when i was tho

word i have heard is it's closer to an average of $750k per annum over the course of the three years, so slightly over $2.25m total value, not the reported $2m over three

I think the push for may is that each year you want to add something that becomes a 'best 22' automatic. See Hibberd, Michael and Lewis, Jordan in 2017. I think Hannan, Mitch could well be the same - but he was a speculative pick; another Jason Taylor masterstroke. Would May be best 22 for us? 100%. But if Maclure is right and he is about to sign up at GC17 (which he really should, as he's their skipper plus Ablett is leaving and thus clearing a lot of cap space for them) then we have to look elsewhere. Our tall defenders are T Mac, Frost, O Mac, Keilty with Garland, J Smith, Hibberd at a pinch - but really they're more rebounders. None are overly tall nor capable of particularly strong one-on-one contests...but all have strengths / weaknesses. A best 22 key defender would be a fantastic addition to the side - May, Lever, Trengove - and is something most fans are baying for in 2018. I'm definitely keen on Trengove as a free agent personally.

The other advantage of Trengove (over May) is his flexibility whereby he can play in the ruck and also pinch-hit up forward as required. I'm definitely warming to getting him as a free agent and holding onto our first round pick rather than giving anything up for May / Lever, as much as I love Lever. You'd expect they'd all be on similar $$ but getting Trengove would cost us nada in terms of giving anything up (other than the cap space) to get him in.

Neither Lever or May have the height to match the modern 200cm+ mobile key forwards - fortunately our zone defensive style is the key to guarding those monster talls. I'll take either tbh I find it hard to fathom the captain of a side walking out on his side - but such is the nature of modern footy I guess

Josh Begley was taken with pick 29, which became 31.

He's a great addition to the team

jake = woogie but generally speaking his 'mail' is better than most

MCG suits sides with height and particularly dominant ruckman. At the moment we have neither.