Fat Tony

TMac looks to be moving pretty well. We know he can be a very good player if he can get his mobility back to what it was. If Tiger Woods can win a major with a fused back, I wouldn’t completely rule out TMac yet.

He played one of the games in Cairns and was hopeless.

That would be in the negotiation. He is clearly on the edge at WCE, who are yet to offer a contract, and he would likely have to move to get a regular game of AFL. My point is it is up to Jetta to consider if he wants to relocate, not the MFC. We need to look after ourselves. However, in saying that, we would be potentially attractive in that he would be a good fit for us and he has family playing at the club.

The MFC is not responsible for where Lewis Jetta sees his life after footy. He fits our needs and, if he were to join, we would pay him for his services.

While adding to our small forwards and outside midfielders are what we need from a list perspective, IMO we need to be selecting the best player available - even if that means we get a ruckman, key forward or inside midfielder. Free agency has shortened the period to build a list, so making sure you hit on your picks is more important than fulfilling needs. Further, as much as I think it is a good strategy to borrow from the future picks, we should be willing to trade back to 2021 if the main targets on our draft board are gone. Particularly if we get a good return from someone who wants to move up the draft.

Think he will make it Dazzle?

Surely Mason Wood gets another go somewhere. I think Lewis Jetta would be a good fit for us.

We will need multiple plans depending on how the draft plays out but I assumed we would only take 2 players. The last trade with the lions indicates we might take more.

Mahoney said this in an interview.

How many picks are you expecting us to take? I assume we have players like Jordon on standby for either a rookie or senior spot depending on what’s left in the draft.

The trade for Brown was very good for us given the cost. And this is coming from someone who has some doubts about if our forward line will fit together next year with too many talls. I think Preuss will be good for GWS and prove to be a negative outcome in terms of a trade. But, he was really insurance for us, so it made sense to let him go. Hannan got a 3 year deal and we did the best we could in terms of return. It will be interesting if he gets a regular game for the Dogs. Bontempelli and English will play forward more next year (with Martin in the ruck) and they are getting another forward in the draft. And they picked up Cody Weightman last year. Isaac Smith would have been a great addition and fit for us, so it was a shame to miss out. It is a bit disappointing we didn't pick Collingwood's pocket for Phillips, Stephenson or Treloar, but we obviously wanted to maintain cap space and trade assets. I think we underestimated how badly the Pies needed to move players on and, in hind sight, we exited out of the race for Phillips and Treloar too early. The pick swaps were slightly negative in terms of points, but obviously fit our strategy going into the draft and managing list sizes. Overall, we started with a pretty weak hand in terms of assets and came out in front. And hopefully being unable to move TMac is a blessing in disguise and he can return to being a very good AFL player.

The club did the right thing looking for a trade but I never thought TMac would find a new home given his contract and the way the game has moved away from key position players. TMac was out of form early in the year and looked to be gradually finding some form against the Tigers and Gold Coast before the eye injury. If he can get some agility back, he can be a good player again, particularly with longer quarters. At worst, he provides a very flexible back up at either end or in the ruck.

I think we are trying to package the picks to the WBD for either #14 or any Dunkley picks this year. The Dogs can only use points for available list spots, so we had to sacrifice points in this trade with Sydney to concentrate the value. We could look to trade #25, #26 and #50 for #8 if that goes in a Dunkley trade.

Any detail on the contract?

And Merrett is a free agent.

Doesn’t Ben Brown solve this as a third option? McKernan makes sense also.

Treloar is a very good player and would add to our side because of his breakaway speed. Even though he will be relatively inexpensive in terms of a trade, it’s probably not a risk I would want us to take. The salary (even after the Pies pay a chunk) and length of his contract are the big worry. He also plays an area where we are already well stocked. Plus he has soft tissue injury history and mental health problems. I get the temptation, but it is a big risk unless the Pies pay a third of the deal.

This deal makes no sense to me unless we get a first round pick because the pies are not in a position to pay TMac.

It has been reported that Buckley told Treloar that senior Filth players wanted him gone, so it seems like he will go somewhere. Hard to see how the Pies get someone to pay his contract and get good picks given they have severed the relationship.

2 years. I like Hunt, so I'm happy with this.

I hope the chatter about a 5 year deal is wrong.

Given we have Gawn, it makes sense to have back up rucks that are on low wages and can play in other positions. McKernan has been inconsistent, but has played some great games and was a bit stiff to be delisted IMO, particularly with Daniher departing. I also like the idea of one year deals, because drafting is going to be especially challenging this year and draftees get two year deals.

The Frawley compensation was our ‘priority pick’.

There’s always 2022 Dazzle!

Potentially could be 2021 1st and TMac for Brown and Polec, with a chunk of TMac’s and Polec’s wages paid by North. As much as first round picks are important, cap space is the most important asset in a world with free agency.