Fat Tony

MELBOURNE Draft picks after trade period: 6, 11, 42, 93 Melbourne has moved their pick 14 to pick 11 during the trade period, giving the club two of the first dozen selections heading into November. The club is considering making a play for pick 1, having shown interest in Harley Reid. However, other clubs are better placed to twist West Coast's arm. If it holds pick 6, Melbourne could consider mid-sized marking forward Nate Caddy, gun onballer Ryley Sanders, hard-running wingman Darcy Wilson, and key defender Ollie Murphy. The Demons also have access to father-son Kynan Brown, a potential late selection.

Do the finals count in this?

I think we would want another late first round or early second round pick.

That looks a bad deal for us. Effectively swapping Curtain plus #11 & F1 for Duursma plus #18. It puts a lot of value of the upgrade.

We would want more than a F1. A good deal might be WCE F1, and pick swaps for F2 & F3 plus #23 in this year's draft.

We played two or three defenders each week this year, so key defenders are only 9-15% of the players in the 23. So I think we have about the right number on the list, especially given there is evidence that Petty and/or JVR can go back. We are better off focusing on drafting high quality players at any position and trading next year to keep the balance in our list. I also don't think you need to plan too far ahead given the amount of player movement these days. We have another window before 2025 if we have an issue. Anyway, it looks like we will not be taking three picks in the draft according to Tim Lamb.

K Turner's kicking looks below the level required IMO. We already have a lot of depth in the key backs plus we are good chance to pick up another tall defender (O'Sullivan or Curtain).

Not sure if means anything on our chances of moving up to get Reid. I assume we will want to slide our pick in the 40s lower and/or give up a future fourth round pick for Billings, as we need to preserve our future second and third round picks in order to be allowed to trade our future first round pick. Picking up Billings might mean that we think Kynan Brown is only worth a rookie pick, as we might not have enough senior list spots.

I think Salem is a high half back only. It is the easiest position on the ground and suits his exceptional ability to read the play and hit targets. He does not have the engine required to play ANB's role or play wing and I don't think he is big enough or quick enough to play inside midfield.

I could see Billings being used off half back if Salem cannot regain form next year.

Chocko will straighten him out 😉

Good news is he is able to play golf after his foot injury.

NRL is playing matches in Las Vegas that weekend.

A premiership in the bush is worth two in the outback!

At $800k, Darling holds negative trade value.

You don’t trade very good players who are under contract at less than their worth unless you get a massive overs. The draft is a lottery and good recruiting teams can find players without premium picks.

Pick #10 and McAdam is not a good trade for Petty anyway. Sure Harry McKay and Dangerfield were Pick #10s, but so were Zach Reid, Lochie O'Brien, Cockatoo, Freeman, Sumner and Gorringe. Petty is a very good player on a good contract (from MFC's point of view). We should hold him unless they pay a king's ransom

Caddy looks like he will be a hybrid forward but could end up developing into an inside midfielder. Jefferson has shown little to suggest he will be an AFL footballer IMO.

Petty has to be the most underrated player in the competition! Any Petty trade significantly reduces our current window while Max and May are still elite AFL players. I would only consider Thilthorpe plus all their first rounders.

Why not just hold him on his current 2 year contract?

I think the deal is fair. Sydney the obvious winners by being able to fill a hole in their side but we came out square.

This is true, but the different ranking of players by clubs means that the benefit of moving up from #14 to #11 is less certain. We might have sold two second round picks to get the same player at #11 as we would have at #14.

I don't like the strategy of burning second round picks to get up the draft order 3 places. I would prefer we trade our second rounders into the future.

The strong lure home is a big pile of cash!