Adam The God

Interesting OP, mate. This works for me now, but if the MFC was still at the foot of the ladder what would we say about this? I'd want the #1 pick to be the biggest carrot. If a team could combine their points to outbid that pick, I wonder how this would undermine equalisation. I guess in theory teams could trade the #1 pick now too. Maybe it's a new paradigm I just need to get my head around? Equalisation is always at the forefront of these discussions for me, because as we know, everyone is not on an even playing field.

Staggering that you'd want to move Lever anywhere else but back. Each to their own, but I'm extremely confident we'll be playing Lever permanently back.

Closest to the pin this one, I reckon. I'd probably have Hannan ahead of ANB in that forward pocket, but it doesn't matter too much. They may as well be. I've always been a fan of Tyson, but I worry about his spot next season. Unless he can cement a spot as a pure mid (which would have to be ahead of probably Jones), I don't see him being versatile enough for modern footy. He doesn't have pace and his kicking isn't a weapon. It'll be an interesting year for Dom. Can he elevate his game or will he become trade bait at the end of 2018?

No one's praising Clive Waterhouse Coopers though. ?

I know he's played in some ordinary teams, but they are mightily disappointing stats for a #1 pick.

It really isn't a massive call. Watts plays a third tall role. TMac will play second KPP, rotating forward with Hogan. If anything TMac's form up forward allowed us to go after Lever.

Let's see.

My strategy as our FD would be to try and package 2-3 second rounders together for a single first rounder. I'd put the first rounder on the table and shake some trees and see what falls out. If it's Gaff or Schache, both these guys fill a need for us. If we don't get something we like, I'd take the pick to the draft.

Endurance is king.

Luke played for the Bulldogs...

Both... possibly?

I'd do it too. Low risk, high reward. No brainer.

Too early to say IMO. Give him another two years. Next year will be interesting.

Trade week and now 'trade fortnight' always seems like prolonged [censored]-teasing to me. Can we have a left field trade already, please? Urgh. So boring.

Has anyone watched the video of Mahoney on the MFC website discussing the Balic trade? He says, "we've probably got other priorities at the moment, both clubs [Melbourne and Fremantle], so we think, um, we'll be able to move on that [the Balic trade] probably a bit later". I'm not sure there's another way of interpreting that other than to say we're clearly working on another deal(s) before we turn our attention to the Balic trade. It really boggles the mind sometimes how people interpret what they hear in the media. Either people don't listen or they simply hear what they want to hear.

Problem is most of those guys aren't up to it. And you've got Kent in the side.

Vanders isn't good enough to play midfield IMO. He's a serviceable half forward on occasion though.

IMO you need 8-10 better than C grade midfielders in a modern AFL midfield. You have to allow for injuries (we were nowhere when Viney and Jones went down in the space of two weeks) and form dips. Petracca plays better midfield minutes when he's allowed to play mostly as a forward. Brayshaw plays better midfield minutes when he's allowed to play mostly as a half back. ANB is a cusp C grader and isn't in the same class as the majority of our other mids. Vince and Lewis are almost done and mostly play half back. Maynard is yet to prove himself at AFL level. One good game is not enough to base your list strategy on. Balic... I think we need 1, perhaps two more best 22 mids. Of course, you're leaving out Tyson, who I rate as a great accumulator and extractor, but I can't see how he fits into the team next year with our emphasis on being able to play forward or back as well as in the midfield. He is too slow to play forward and isn't a good enough kick to play back. So we have some holes in our midfield.

Because our midfield still lacks depth. It'll be interesting to see if there's anything in this rumour from @Siren.

How's that for a spine too? Elite talents in every area of the field, all in the same age bracket. It's a bit insane really. If Salem and Gus reach close to their potential, we are going to have a scary amount of elite talent. That's not even including the support crew of Hunt, Hibberd, Jetta and even Jones and Tyson. Very exciting. And all pretty much down to this current FD. The one some are [censored] on.

Is this your suggestion or what you've heard? I actually don't mind Nicholls as a back up, bit of a log though.

Wow. I'd expect better from you, mate. Let's just say we disagree. We gave up second rounders in order to fill needs. It's been covered in the Lever thread, but picks are so speculative, even the top 10 picks, let alone picks in the mid 20s.

Pity Dean Kent hasn't seemed to attract any interest. I'd take a 3rd or 4th rounder and run. His lack of defensive pressure and general hardness doesn't suit the bash and crash Goody wants to play.

You really think the MFC didn't have a word in his ear about that? You're pretty naive if you missed that.

On the contrary, I'm sure he's getting a reputation for being someone who 'deals fair' and if ever karma was actually a thing, it'd be in AFL trading stakes. What goes around comes around. I can understand why some MFC supporters miss the obvious here though. Hope in the draft is about all we had for close to a decade.