RalphiusMaximus

I'm thinking maybe Tapscott would like to go home? Makes it a pretty decent deal for them. Might have to upgrade a later pick for us as well to even it out.

I wonder if Tapscott might be offered as part of the negotiations for Vince and Lyons? Could be an interesting move.

When have they ever? I'd be happy to give Adelaide our second round pick for this guy and Vince.

Nope. There are specific criteria to fulfill to qualify as a free agent. If a player chooses to leave a club before they have met them then the only option open to them is the draft. If Shiel were to walk out on GWS after next season he would need to go back into the draft to find a new club. He might be able to manipulate things to a limited extent by placing a high price on himself in the PSD, but even then chances are he would be snatched up by a club with an early pick and room to move in the salary cap (like us). Personally, I wouldn't mind getting Shiel for pick 2. I'd say it's about right value-wise, although very understandable why GWS want to keep him. Asking for more than pick 2 is like the Bombers trying to get more than pick 22 for Crameri. The price is about right, asking more is just being greedy and won't get them far int he long run. Anyway, the point is that we aren't going to get a better player than him for that price. I highly doubt Dangerfield is going to be offered up for instance. He is a known quantity who meets our requirements exactly, so I say get him if we can. If not, Aish looks to be a pretty damn good footballer with a very nice kick on him, and the word is that there are another couple of lads who are of similar quality from Victoria. We won't suffer too badly if we hang on to the pick for one of those guys.

I was going to mention this as well. Scored 29 out of 30 for kicking accuracy in the draft camp. His only fault was his long off-foot kick was scored a 4/5. He sounds very much like he would be worth a look as a ready-made mid with mature body. We should be able to get him for a fairly late draft pick or PSD.

Totally agree. We seem to have had this notion that the kids we were drafting were ready to go and didn't need any more work, so they basically stayed the same players they were when they were drafted. We may well have picked perfectly good prospects with our top 20 picks and ruined them through our deplorable attempts at player development. The fact that so few of our high picks have succeeded points to more thna simply poor recruiting.

Don't forget his five goals late in the season. Should have had a call-up after that game, but for some reason Craig didn't like him (I still subscribe to the theory that he ran over Neal's cat at some point) and he was left in the reserves.

So now that Dew is out of the picture can we move on to Bassett? The guy has a proven record of building and motivating teams and his Norwood side was strong in pretty much every area we are lacking. Based on what he did with them he'd be almost a perfect fit for us. It's insane that he isn't in it up to his eyeballs already.

It would be nice to break the ice with a nice positive move. Getting a promising young mid into the club is just what we need to liven things up

That's nothing. I know I've talked him up a lot, but I would be really thrilled if we could get Bassett to the club. Even if Roos wants a more known quantity to be the heir apparent, he'd be a huge asset just as a line coach.

Not at all happy to hear the bolded bit. The guy is looking to come into the AFL and he did an amazing job with Norwood. Absolutely negligent of them not to have a serious look at him.

Honestly, I'd very much like to see what a couple of years under Roos would do to these two, but I can see why they are being shopped around. Both have a lot of potential but really haven't shown more than the odd glimpse with us. It may well be another case of a trade being the best choice for both parties.

Actually, I was saying we didn't need him, we were paying too much for him and we were better off putting the time and effort into Fitzpatrick who would play the same role as Pedo but is taller and faster. Pretty sure I hit the nail on the head with that one. Michie on the other hand is pretty much what we need. He's got all the attributes we need and he is desperate to get and keep a spot in the starting 18. Bring him in ASAP.

There was an article earlier today quoting someone at the saints where they listed Fisher, Reiwoldt and Montagna as being untouchable in terms of trades. I noted with great interest that they made no mention of Stevens in that statement. Combining that with the stated goal of getting three first round picks for the upcoming draft I have to wonder if they aren't quietly working on a deal for him. He's one of the few players they have left who would command a first round pick. I'm not sure I'd be happy with us giving up our pick 2 for him, but maybe they could stack things a bit by offering us something to go with him?

THe above is gospel? So you're saying you're definitely Jewish?

He's not a free agent, he doesn't get to nominate a club to go to. If we offer better to the Hawks than pick 28, they are 100% within their rights to deal with us. He's expressed a preference, but nobody is in any way bound to listen to him.

Daisy is a better player than Sylvia with a longer career ahead of him and probably on more money. I wouldn't be surprised if he did get a higher band. The real interest to me is what we get for Sylvia. There was a bit of discussion on Trade Week Radio about this, and they were thinking we should get about what PA got last year for their guys, which would amount to a second round pick. There was a bit of discussion about whether the AFL would be willing to go there given that our second pick will be around 20, as opposed to PA getting picks in the high 30's for their second rounders last year. Personally, I think that this shouldn't come into it at all. This is part of the inbuilt mechanism to help poor clubs get better compo in that their picks in a given round are better and thus their compo is better. I would say that they have Sylvia's value about right as being about the same as Chaplin, so make it a second round pick and don't try to second guess the safeguards that have been built into the system.

Photos from some of the team from their off season activities are up on the MFC site. http://www.melbournefc.com.au/melbourne/news/2013-10-09/off-season-snaps Nice to see that Hogan is off with a few of the younger players in Thailand. Great that he's bonding well. Also interesting that two of the team have pics up relating to training for next season already.

I tend to disagree. They are short-sighted and motivated by short-term goals. They all want to play in next year's GF. They aren't thinking about the full term of their career. They aren't thinking about being the highest paid player at a weaker club vs a young fringe player at a contender. They aren't thinking about the potential rewards if they do make a move to Melbourne and are part of the resurgence of the side and possibly the first flag in 50+ years. They certainly aren't thinking about what it will bring them post-football.

I seem to recall him saying he bleeds red and blue. Does that help at all?

And in two years he'd be free to take up one of those offers if he can get a trade together that we will go for. Otherwise it's back o the draft and best of luck to him.

Actually, the last time the AFL re-wrote the rules after allowing something like this was when Geelong were looking at putting together a third-party package to offer Ablett on top of his playing wage. The AFL declared that although they had approved the multiple deals Carlton had made in the same manner, from this point forward they were going to ban them. This call was made pretty much for the sole purpose of preventing Geelong from keeping Ablett away from GC because they needed the star power to move up there. This really has nothing to do with us, but is a classic example of the AFL pushing their agenda before any considerations of fairness or an even competition. The same applies to the Franklin move. The AFL need Sydney to be a strong marketable side if they are to maintain their toehold in NSW, therefore they will get more room to bend the rules than other clubs might. Ideally they would have liked him to go to GWS, but anywhere in Sydney is a good result for them.

Actually, the last time the AFL re-wrote the rules after allowing something like this was when Geelong were looking at putting together a third-party package to offer Ablett on top of his playing wage. The AFL declared that although they had approved the multiple deals Carlton had made in the same manner, from this point forward they were going to ban them. This call was made pretty much for the sole purpose of preventing Geelong from keeping Ablett away from GC because they needed the star power to move up there. This really has nothing to do with us, but is a classic example of the AFL pushing their agenda before any considerations of fairness or an even competition. The same applies to the Franklin move. The AFL need Sydney to be a strong marketable side if they are to maintain their toehold in NSW, therefore they will get more room to bend the rules than other clubs might. Ideally they would have liked him to go to GWS, but anywhere in Sydney is a good result for them.

Or us. Just because another club shows an interest doesn't mean we're out of the race.

How long until the AFL backflip and declare that in the future long-term deals of this sort will not be allowed?