Lord Travis

IF we wind up with pick 5, who would we be targeting? Who are the best midfielders with good pace, agility and disposal? Rankine looks the pick of the bunch, but won't last until 5 and will likely head home to SA if drafted by a non-SA club.

Previous few off-seasons have been good. Trading up and landing guys like Hibberd, Melksham and Lever is perfect recruiting. This off-season he's talked the talk so far, but we're yet to see any real results. Resigning Vanders was a success. Tyson for Pruess was a neutral trade with no real winners or losers foreseeable yet. It will all come down to the Hogan/May/Kola deals as to whether we can rate this period a success like the past few.

Preferably. There’s too much in this thread to catch up on. Given Freos statement, is this now don’t and dusted or do we believe there’s is more to play out and it’s just an unprofessional and lame bluff? Can we get May without the Hogan trade? I doubt GC would give him up unless it was for a top 10 lick considering he’s a free agent in a years time and they’d get better compo then.

Ricky Nixon weighing in now?! That guy is the sediment at the bottom of a sewerage plant. Absolute scum of the earth. Why is he being allowed oxygen still?? If Hogan stays, hopefully he signs on long term. He’s a gun forward and the best result for us is retaining him and locking him in.

Bell has the intelligence of a dropped cumquat. He's an utter dipsh*t and it's both laughable and terrifying he is employed in his position. Hopefully someone around him talks some sense into him so he doesn't destroy that already pathetic waste of a club further. Their list is in real trouble, and he's not doing them any favors at present.

5+11, then trading one for May would be a decent. The worry I have is Freo will give up 11 for Lobb, so we'll only get 5+second rounder for Hogan. Net result needs to be getting May and take a first rounder to draft. Anything less than that would be unacceptable.

Great result! He’s worth far more to us than he would’ve been in a trade. He definitely set a competitive tone for us upon his return late in the year and will help Viney and co keep up the hardness and intensity around the ball for years to come. Here’s hoping he now has a clean run with injury and we get to enjoy watching him!

I haven't seen enough of Tucker to make an informed decision, but people on here are seriously underrating Ed Langdon. He just finished 4th in their BnF and is exactly what we need - run. He runs both ways too, better than most of our mids. He'd slot straight into our best 22 on a wing and is on par with someone like Salem at this stage. He is a clear level above ANB, Hannan etc. He'd cost a late first round pick-early second round pick in his own right. He's not steak knives. Having said that, I'd be disappointed if we didn't wind up with a first round pick you use at the draft from this trade. Yes we'll need to use one to trade in May, but pick 5/6 is too much for May. We should be going to draft with pick 5/6 and trading pick 14 or so for May. May is a decent fullback, but not a world beater like he is being made out as by some on here and in the media. In fact his past 1-2 years have been poor-average. A few years ago he was very good, but has dropped off and wouldn't be in the top 5 full backs at present. I'd be angry if the club traded a top 10 pick for him.

Financially yes, but we’d have nothing to trade to get May. We need first rounders, presumably from the Hogan trade, to bring May across.

100% this. Just hope we aren’t getting screwed over. I thought we overpaid for Lever, and I want us to get good compensation for losing the best young forward in the game!

He’s still deciding.

So no further news today, and Jesse is reportedly enjoying himself in Bali. Either it's been done behind closed doors out of the public eye, or he's stuffing both clubs around. The fact he toured Freo's facilities shows his lack of commitment to us, and for that reason I think it's best we try to move him on and get the best deal possible.

No progress on the Hogan front today. There's still no word if he's requested a trade or not. We've had a hypothetical discussion with Freo, which may mean it's been organised behind closed doors already, but until Neale is traded to Brisbane we probably won't see any progress as Freo need that first rounder to satisfy a trade for Hogan.

Hogan is more valuable, as he’s obviously a more talented player. I think he means Lobb has actually committed to them so he is now their primary concern, as opposed to a player who can’t make up his mind and is constantly stuffing everyone around. The fact he’s touring their facilities etc shows he’s got one foot out the door already and isn’t properly committed to us anymore.

We can't land May if we don't trade Hogan and get first round picks. While we have our 2019 first round pick still, we are not allowed to trade it due to the rule of not having used a first round pick at draft for 4 years. That means we need picks, as we have to go to draft next season (with pick 18 ). You'd hope there is an official announce from Hogan or his management very soon, as it's now trade week and we need to get the ball rolling if this is actually going to happen. No use dragging it out getting the trade done at the last hour, as we need to use the compensation we get for losing him to land May etc.

Re: Gaff, we might be a chance here just quietly...

Weird to see that footage and make all this stuff sprouted become a reality. I knew it was happening, but seeing that and having that moment was strange! We'll get something good in return for him. If we get 2 first rounder, we trade one for May and take the other to the draft. If we get Brayshaw and first rounder, do we still trade the first rounder for May and opt out of the first round for the 4th year running?

Do us a favour and choose JKH next ?

Gaff's manager said on Trade Radio today it's between West Coast and North. When asked if it was only those clubs, he said "yes.". We've asked, we've been told no, and now his manager says West Coast or North. There's no way we come close to matching Norths offer of 1.2 million a year for 5-6 years. Probably time to shut this thread down. The club has clearly sent their focus elsewhere since, hopefully on Shiel?

How is that talent? He laid a front on bump and got suspended for 5 weeks. Nothing talented about laying a bump to an unprotected player going for the ball. That's cowardly. He let his team down by sitting in the stands for 5 weeks instead of being out there when they needed him. Don't get me wrong, I like when players are tough, but crossing the line and getting yourself suspended for long periods of time means you're nothing but a burden to your teammates and your club. Hopefully he's learnt from that mistake and his bad tribunal record... On Hogan, he's gone. 100%. Mahoney could've played a straight bat and said required player etc. instead he starting listing reasons why it it's happening/might be happening. If he was sticking around, he'd have shot that down instead of starting to soften the blow. He's 100% gone. A shame to lose a young star heading into his prime, but we'll get good compensation and may become a better team for it.

Bartlett is under-appreciated by the Melbourne faithful I feel. PJ gets all the kudos, and it's more than well deserved, but don't underestimate Bartletts input and stability in turning the ship around.

The trade seems to be 2 first rounders, with one then ontraded for May.

30 disposal 5 goal game no good? He’s clearly got talent, but he hasn’t been able to put it together consistently yet. Wouldn’t be a bad get IMO

The club will be prepared either way. While it would suck if a budding superstar wanted to leave, it’s not going to be the end of the world. We’ve proven we can be competitive without him, and we would be able to extract a lot of value from trading him. Obviously I’d prefer him to stay as he’s a young star with some seriously good footy ahead of him, but it won’t be the end of the world if he leaves.

Less. He won’t be a free agent, and we then lose the leverage of him being a contracted player. If we believe he will leave when his contract ends, we’re better off trading him now while he holds more value.