RalphiusMaximus

Doggies want Boyd.

Pick 3 for Frost and Shiel. They can then on-trade 3 to the doggies to get Griffin over the line. Everyone is happy.

LOL. You could be right there. I saw it as second pick in the draft but the other was makes sense. Still far too much for a rookie who isn't a starter for them unless there are injuries.

Two sides to this I think. One, Roos isn't a huge fan of drafting talls, particularly with high picks. Two, Roos has a very good track record of bringing talls on to be very handy role-players if not more. Which of these factors is going to have more influence?

If we want Brayshaw then we can't trade pick 2. Looking at what the experts are saying, you can basically throw a blanket over him, Petracca and Mccartin as far as ability goes. Any of the three could go at one. As it stands we know that GWS are sold on Petracca, and we THINK the Saints want to go tall. If we trade out pick 2, that brings another variable into the mix. Who knows what they would do with it? We could well see Petracca go at one and Brayshaw at two before we get a shot at him.

Agreed. Not that we're short on talls, we just struggle to get them playing. I still have hope for Fitz though.

I'd give them pick 3 for Frost and Shiel. Think they'd go for that?

Apparently GWS have asked for pick 2 for Frost. Good to know they have a sense of humour about things. http://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/sam-grimley-seeks-trade-from-hawthorn-for-greater-afl-opportunities-elsewhere/story-fndv8os9-1227084283712

The thing to remember with Garlett is that he produced his best football alongside Betts. Once he lost his partner he went to pieces. He doesn't seem to have coped very well with being the primary small forward. What we hope here is that playing him up the ground he'll get more room to move and use his speed to set up scores rather than kick the goals himself.

I have to wonder if Frawley has really thought this through. He says he wants a flag, but he's gone to a team that looks to be nearing the end of its window. They are still being carried by the 30+ brigade amd while the youth look good, they don't look ro be in the same league. Can they really win another one with this list?

What are the odds of the Demons offering him one more year? Highly doubtful, but he does have the attributes Roos has repeatedly pointed tp as lacking in our side.

There has been a lot of chat about O'Rourke and Jaksch both being seen at Seaford meeting with the Saints. I wonder if they're looking at a package deal to get both players for pick 1 and something? Maybe the Saints first two picks? That would give the GWS a very nice position in this draft and get the saints the tall they need and a pretty good quality mid. Might also make it harder for us to do a deal for pick 3 (assuming we get it) with GWS if they already have pick 1 in the bag.

Honestly, I think that's better value than I was expecting. He's not a star by any means, but a solid B-grader and certainly adds some depth and attack to the midfield.

Lots of talk about swapping Clark for Varcoe at the moment.

Smedts was a first round pick as well. Pick 15 in fact. If you look at their respective contributions and reputations it's actually a pretty even trade. He can't be a FA of any sort. This has been well and truly established. He's either trade bait or going to the draft.

Wild speculation/deduction to follow: Stef Martin's last season with the club there were rumours about how unhappy he was, including that he'd had a very nasty break up. This would have been in 2012. Mitch Clark arrived at the club in 2012. By the end of that season Stef had asked to be traded and took himself off to Queensland. Can we put two and two together here?

Panos was always better than Cook.

He was the U18 AA Full Forward a few years ago, rookied by the Bulldogs as he's a bit small to be an AFL key forward and never really took to it. My impression of him was that he was a lead-mark-goal player who didn't really have many other tricks. I'm surprised that he's managed to make the transition to a midfielder given that assessment. I just didn't think he'd have the agility or mental speed to be effective in that situation. I'd be very happy to be proven wrong.

I'd be willing to give a rookie spot for him. He certainly fits as a mid who can kick goals. The article mentions a number of clubs are looking at him, so I guess it's a matter of what they are willing to pay to get him. Also quite interesting that they keep referring to him as 6'2" at 191cm. I'd have called that 6'3" and a bit, but then I actually know what an inch is in cm.

Liam Jones is a tease of the highest order. He did nothing for most of the VFL final and ended with 4-5 goals. He's not up to is at AFL level.

Let's not forget the Jetta incident.

I'm hoping for a really good game. I think Sydney will win, but I really don't care that much.

I do find it interesting that he hasn't been cut yet. Is that because they think he has trade value or are they considering offering him one more year to see if he can get his act together?

I think it's an excellent thing that he's speaking to a number of clubs like this. It gives us some semblance of bargaining power. If we can get a bit of a bidding war going between the Hawks, Cats and Pies then we stand a shot of getting a decent return, although not what we've spent on him by any stretch. As someone mentioned a few pages back, the absolute best would be if he were to name several clubs he would be happy to go to and let us deal as we see fit.

That's a slightly worse deal than the one we did for Tyson. Still not a terrible result. I'm loving the rumours folks. Keep 'em coming.