Adam The God

Wow, the Liverpool press was seriously intense. The best it's been since the back end of Suarez's final season. If we could defend, we'd push Man City for the league, but we still managed to concede to ten men.

Was at a wedding, so missed it. That's massive. Leicester have really come thumping back to earth.

Massive if Manc's drop this game. Particularly as it's at home.

I've seen every match. We're travelling better than I thought we would and was surprised we didn't buy more. I love Klopp though.

That Burnley loss was hopeless though. We've got no answer when sides park the bus. Just as we did under BR. Offensively we look ominous, but we're still very vulnerable at the back. They need to invest in central defenders and a decent holding midfielder, otherwise just let the Chinese buy them out. A great win against Chelsea though, who looked pretty limp for the majority of the match. Liverpool will struggle against Man U, bceause JM will park the bus and play counter and we won't be able to play through them.

If Melksham can cement a best 22 spot, all of a sudden we start to look pretty good. We've lacked pace and run for quite a while, but all of a sudden we'll have Melksham, Hunt, Stretch, Kent and Harmes that could play off half back. I like it.

Occasionally Marvel willl hit the mark. I agree with Guardians and would add Ant Man to that too. I was very surprised by how good that was, but not Deadpool. Deadpool felt like it was a movie that thought it was extremely bold and fresh, but gee, it was disappointingly conventional and obvious. Not to mention Reynolds simply channelling Jim Carrey as Ace Ventura for two hours. The opening title sequence was a nice try, if not once again feeling like they thought the film was fresher than it actually was. That sequence did remind me a little of Watchman though, which I think in terms of modern action films based on graphic novels, it's pretty hard to surpass, directorially and substance-wise.

Our list is in such a place that we don't need to bring in a heap of stars, because hopefully they're on our list already. So it's about reasonably cheap options to fill the remaining list gaps. Hibberd is this. A Brent Harvey is also this. Fills a need and comes relatively cheaply. We need good ball users. Salem, Watts... who else? I would have said Vince but he's become a butcher. Hibberd is strong in the contest and a damaging kick. He will fit our system perfectly. A second rounder is a sensible price. We move on to strengthening other areas of our list.

You're a bit of a wet blanket at the moment, Dante. Calm down, please. Thank you.

Wow. So Salem is a better player than both of those guys? Well, we just disagree on that score then. For the record, I'm not suggesting Salem for either of these guys, I'm just saying there would be a scenario where I would trade him.

Because unlike many Demonlanders, I know it will take more than just steak knives to get something of worth. Salem has worth. As I've said a number of times, I would only trade Christian in the event we managed to land someone better than Salem.

We need someone to be that person right now though. We need someone who our younger players can learn off. Dangerfield and Selwood both had these role models. Whilst it's important to maintain the integrity of our young list, it's also vital that we do everything we can to ensure success. It'll be interesting to see if we become more aggressive with our trading and FA strategy now that Roosy has gone. Think Longmire and co at Sydney with Buddy and Tippett (without the cap compromisation that this led to). After yesterday's shamozzle, I'd be targeting Brent Harvey, Tom Mitchell and Dion Prestia. I'd consider most options, but I'd try to frontload any contracts out the wahzoo. There would only be a couple of players I'd trade and it'd have to be for the right price. Salem, Kent, ANB would be three guys I'd consider if we could land top notch leaders in the 25-28 age bracket and I'd put our 2017 first rounder out there too. It's certainly not panic stations on the back of one horrendous loss in Round 23, but it should signal that aggressive, yet shrewd list management is still needed to ensure our pieces are in place to best attack the finals in 2017. With our current leadership group, I hold little hope they'd be able to stand up in a final. We need players that can swing momentum in a game and stand up when it counts.

My point was they're all coming through at the same time. Fast forward 8 years into the future...

Agreed. We'll also (hopefully) be in an even stronger position to lure a good young player with the promise of finals and something more.

I think this is the key to sustained success. We can't just put all our chips on this one generation coming through now in Tyson, Viney, Hogan, Weideman, Oliver, Petracca, Brayshaw, Hunt and Salem (wow, I love writing that). We need to continue nailing these 3rd and 4th rounders and our first rounders when we have them. This will keep us up the top even after these guys have retired. What might break all this is your last sentence. If we continue to trade away our first rounders for experienced players there's the danger of becoming North, so we have to find a balance somewhere in there.

No, the bare minimum, mate. But I agree. We need to fill the void of experience on our list over the next 2-3 off seasons, whilst also keep developing 3-4 young kids down at Casey. I'd also say we're looking for players in that 23-27 age bracket as well as the 25-28 age bracket.

You mean like Grant Birchall, Matt Suckling and even Isaac Smith?

The only reason I would entertain a trade for Salem (and as I've said in the past it'd have to be for a Brad Crouch type) is his inability to get on the field. Whether it be hamstring or thyroid-related injuries.

You're probably right by insinuating we wouldn't be looking at Essendon players if we didn't have Goodwin, but the fact remains that we are. Why is this? Because Goodwin knows them intimately and understands what they will bring to his team in 2017 and beyond.

Nope. Can't see it happening. IMO, we'd only entertain a trade for Salem if it was for a player of equal or higher capacity. Hibberd is an important acquisition as a role player, but in time, if he can stay fit, Christian will be a much better player.

If we go by Jude Bolton's recent article, he discussed Roos' philosophy being anchored around the players working through situations going against them, rather than falling back on the coach. That would be about giving the players 'empowerment' to change momentum in games and take control themselves. I'd say this is what it was all about and has been throughout Roos' tenure.

And Richmond might just do it again with Prestia.

Dangerfield, like Judd and Ablett before him, is wallpapering serious midfield deficiencies at his club. I'd prefer to go after a star in the making who will conceivably cost us less, ie Brad Crouch.

That says everything about our poor our club has been and not how good Roos has been. However, he has been terrific since coming in. That record is an inditement on our footy club.

If he's stupid he will. Geelong have an average midfield with two stars in it. Hawthorn will get nowhere unless they start to replace their bookends.