MadAsHell

Yep, three good servants of the club who gave their all during a very difficult time. Really feel for Grimey as you know how much he loved the club.

Casey B&F is Thursday night I think, so possibly Friday or into Monday,

I'm not against trading ANB, but not just for the sake of it like Dunn or Garland. Unless we can get an early 3rd Round Pick or a player that we think would specifically help our list eg Nathan Vardy (ruck/forward) then I'd rather hold onto him. The kids come 5th in the VFL B&F in his 2nd year, so we've clearly got something to work with.

Michie (Rookie), Max King (rookie), Terlich, Newton, Matt Jones, Pedersen, Dawes = delist Grimes = walk as free agent Dunn, Garland = trade for what we can get Hogan traded in worst case scenario and Nibbler if we get offered something good for him Wagner upgraded White to get a 3rd year on rookie list & Smith a 2nd year So that gives us 7 senior list vacancies (if Hogan & Nibbler stay) & 3 rookie list spots. Would allow us to trade in Hibberd and possibly one more experienced player, 4 picks at the draft and maybe a DFA. Or someone like Matt Jones may in fact get a 1 year extension.

The unfortunate thing with him being a WA boy and the Wizard playing over 100 games for both the Dees & Dockers is that one suspects Freo will have the inside lane.

From what i've seen of him, he seems to mainly shift between half back with short stints on a wing. Would love to see what he's capable of forward, but suspect he'll either be groomed for the Garland role or as a tall wingman. Or maybe both?

Given there's still restrictions on what the banned players can and can't do, he may not be allowed to officially name a club he wants to go to. Who knows?

I suspect Harmes will be moved back to Half forward and rotate through the midfied. Think he only went to half back this year due to injuries to H & Salem, Melksham's suspension & Garland's form etc. Vince I reckon will become our run with player in the midfield as Oliver, Brayshaw, Petracca etc start to take more responsability and touch wood Trengove gets back to full fitness. Hunt may also be moved onto a wing, but that's TBC. Given the above, I think White should be retained for at least one more year. Have a read back over the Casey player reports from Plapp each week. He seems a very big fan of White.

Maybe he knows of someone coming in?

DELIST Dawes, Matt Jones, Terlich, Newton, Michie, Max King FREE AGENT WALK Grimes TRADE OUT Garland PROMOTE Wagner TRADE IN Hibberd plus two others. Nathan Vardy & Tom Lamb my ideal targets. NATIONAL DRAFT Two picks ROOKIE DRAFT Three Picks

Matt Jones could be in the gun. Pedersen has been put in for early surgery which suggests he's safe. And i suspect White will get a 3rd rookie year going by Plapp's weekly write ups of his performances.

Shifty?

70K a year less at Essendon. They offered a trigger clause to activate a 4th year.

Garland & Pick 27 to Gold Coast Pick 22 to Essendon Hibberd to Melbourne With Gold Coasts departures they'll be a bit lighter on in the midfield and may want to move Kolodjashnij in there. That would then free up the 3rd tall defender slot who can also play small when needed. Garland fots this build, and for an experienced player who's been in another clubs leadership group, Gold Coast may be willing to fall 5 spots in the 2nd round given the amount of picks they have?

What's this about Chris Heffernan?

I thought his 2004 was ok. 2003 & 2005 he was horrendous!

Not that i'm in favour of it, but would the club dare trade Salem and Pick 26/27 for Hibberd & Pick 19?

We didn't use any picks to get Lumumba, it was a straight playet swap. Clark to Cats, Varcoe to Pies, Lumumba to us. Has to be seen as a tick as Clark was never going to play for us again.

The only way that's true is if Essendon were offering him 655K a year for 4, as what I heard from a very good source was that Melbourne's offer is only 70K a year more.

Good on Gold Coast for making that type of play i say. Freo would have to seriously consider it. Would allow them to probably land McCarthy, Lobb, Brad Hill and probably still have a 1st Round Pick to use.

100% agree DC. They need to get back to each of the grounds having their own unique traits. Sydney & Adelaide used to turn sideways by days 4 & 5, the Melbourne pitch usef to die as the match went on and stay really low. Hobart was usually the flattest of the wickets, while Perth & Brisbane always had extra bounce and pace. How they can get back to producing these types of wickets with drop in's I don't know? But it needs to be looked at. The OX on radio the other day (tounge in cheek) suggested that they do away with the centre of excellence in Canberra and open up two campuses. One in Humpty Doo NT, to replicate the conditions of the subcontinent with dust pitches, and one on King Island Tasmania to replicate the UK.

http://www.news.com.au/sport/cricket/australia-must-pick-spinspecialist-batsmen-and-bowlers-for-subcontintental-tours-writes-ben-dorries/news-story/d19cb23bd7d413174e0047f79639f938 I'm glad to see this has finally been raised in the media.

They may not pass the no d!ck head policy.

Well after this disaster, one of the things that needs to happen, is they need to make a call on the Mitch Marsh at 6 & Nevill at 7 combo. Both have now played between 15 - 20 tests and have a combined batting average of under 45. Our batting is too brittle as it is, we can't afford to carry both. They either need to back Marsh in and sacrifice the keeping quality a bit by recalling Wade to improve our batting, or they keep Nevill due to his clean keeping and they give an all rounder like Stoinis a go or recall Jo Burns and send Shaun Marsh back to the middle order. This would require both Smith & Warner bowling extra overs to make up for no all rounder. Ontop of this, it may be time to call time on Adam Voges career and rebuild a bit. Bring in a younger batsman like Handscomb or Head and see if we can properly develop a young batsman.

AFL have already said if Geelong host a final, that it wont be at Skilled. All things going well the elimination final will be Geelong v Melbourne at the G on a Sunday afternoon.