Adam The God

I'll put my neck out there and say we've got him over the line. Along with Tomlinson and Langdon. No sources, I just don't think Mahoney would have said anything if they weren't already over the line.

It just means we've got those guys over the line. We don't tend to come out and say something and then have it fall over. I hope we've got more up our sleeve as well.

Yep,we'll probably look at him even though I don't rate him at all.

Yeah, you know him well, mate.

There will legitimately be a silver lining if he doesn't come, which is that we force a competitor to pay overs to keep one of theirs. I would suggest we'll pull the trigger pretty quickly on an inferior, but workable option if we don't land him.

Come on, mate. You'd get a go at the local comedy show with this material. First Frost was a superstar, now he's the equivalent of two players? Are you trolling or just using a bit of good old fashioned Demonland hyperbole?

I reckon we'll land him. If what Barrett is saying is true RE: Collingwood's cap, they won't be able to compete with our offer.

Looks like Collingwood went for broke with the salary cap over the last 2-3 years in the hope of snagging a flag and then a core of players recommitting based on that success. If you don't get that success, you're in trouble. And Demonlanders bang on about our cap. I wonder what Collingwood supporters think (yeah, I know, not much).

You mean like Lepp and Hardwick at Richmond? I think it's pretty clear it works well and is pretty industry standard.

Looks great in a Melbourne polo.

Elliott is the better player. Papley is a good player, but reckon we need someone with more zip than Papley. Anyway, he clearly priced himself out of the market and nommed the Blues, so game over.

Papley loves Papley. Wouldn't be surprised if he's asked for very big coin.

He sounds like a Melbourne man alright. Half the posts on Demonland are supremely negative.

Playing his cards close to his chest as usual I'd say.

He's not a genuine winger, an average defender and a worse kick. I'm glad list strategy hasn't been based on sentimentality in this instance. It rarely gets us into a good place.

I wonder what Peter Wright's asking price would be.

Only in the way he moves. Seems a few clocks quicker than Mr Newton.

Reminds me of Ben Newton. ?

I would like to think Mahoney is simply putting out there what is widely known. I wouldn't be surprised to know we're targeting a few others. And we'd want to but that may come out in the splitting of pick 3.

You do have to wonder about McCartney leaving the club. I know in some cases change can be good, but I worry that we've got rid of the wrong bloke and that had we decided to pull the trigger on Goodwin, would Macca still be around? Very highly respected and it's hard not to look at this with concern. Let's hope we get our coaching right in 2020 though.

You and Dazzle really love each other. It's like a primary school crush. You just tease each other a lot.

This is what I'd do. Some of it absolute fantasy and other bits... no, most of it is fantasy, but let's see how we go. FANTASY LIST CHANGES I’d trade Gus to Fremantle for Cerra. I’d trade Viney to Carlton for Weitering. I’d trade pick 3 ideally for Ben King, but that’s too fantastical it seems, so take it to the draft if we can’t trade it for a 19-23 year old like Taranto. Add Langdon and Tomlinson’s run to our midfield and the likes of Elliott to our forward line. The bolded players below would be my 22 for Round 1. KEY BACKS May (full back), Lever (third tall/interceptor), Weitering (second tall), Oscar McDonald MEDIUM/SMALL BACKS Hibberd, Hore, Jetta, Jones, Sparrow, Josh Wagner, Jordon MIDS Gawn, Oliver, Harmes, Petracca, Salem, Cerra, PICK #3, Langdon (wing), Tomlinson (wing), Neal-Bullen (wing/half forward), Kolodjashnij (wing) SMALL/MID FORWARDS Melksham, Fritsch, Hannan, Elliott, Vandenberg, Lockhart, Hunt, Spargo, Smith (defensive forward), Corey Wagner, Oskar Baker (defensive forward), Nietschke (half forward/half back), Bedford KEY FORWARDS Tom McDonald, Petty (swing forward or back), Weideman, Preuss THE THINKING THE BACKS The idea here with these changes would be to have composure and good kickers on the last line of defence (May, Lever and Weitering are all good kicks with composure). I think a player like Weitering would flourish in the system that I think we're going to try and play. I think it was @rjay who suggested today trying Sparrow in the back half. I like that idea. I'd use Jones as our kicker from half back (see early 2017 for this - it worked well on grounds like Marvel), Jetta as the lock down small, while Hibberd and Sparrow are the run-and-guns off half back. Cover provided behind them by our zone defence lead by May and Lever. THE MIDS There's more balance to this midfield with dynamism (Oliver), toughness and accountability (Harmes), x factor (Petracca), good ball use (Salem and Cerra) and gut running (Langdon and Tomlinson). Pick #3 should add speed to this mix and hopefully ball use. A far less predictable mix this and with a strong pre season, we can really build our game around this group. THE FORWARDS I'd be going quite a bit smaller next year. Buck the trend of Richmond this year, we use what they used against the rest of the competition in 2017 and what Collingwood used in 2018, and to a lesser extent Geelong used in early 2019 . Out of necessity, I think we mostly play a brigade of mid-sized players across the arc and rotating deep forward (Melksham, Fritsch and Hannan). All of whom play taller. McDonald plays as the self-less tall (Riewoldt of 2017 role), he runs hard to create space and ensures the forwardline is open, but he presents an option when necessary and he will kick goals. Elliott provides a bit of unpredictable x-factor to compliment Hannan and Fritsch, as well as the likely resting Petracca. Vandenberg is the defensive forward that creates havoc between 35 metres and the arcs with his tackling and pressure game. Petty is the swing man between forward and back, where necessary, depending on the opposition's talls. Make some bold moves like the above, demand hard work right across the field (the forward pressure game & the gut running defensive game) and get our defensive zonal structures right, as well as our stoppage structures, and this side (with a good run with injuries - like Richmond in 2017) can go deep in 2020.

I reckon he'll play better as an interceptor, but with a bit more bulk, he could easily play the Astbury role in time.

Viney should be traded first, but I wouldn't say no to trading Gus if we got the right deal back. We need to balance our midfield a bit more. If we traded Gus to Freo for Cerra (shout out to @Pennant St Dee), we'd have Oliver, Harmes, Petracca, Cerra and Salem supported by the outside run of Langdon and Tomlinson.

Shows how much these guys are paid if he's managed to buy a place in Balmain at the age of 26.