Adam The God

There just seems to be such a momentum with Lewis to Melbourne that I'd take it to the bank that he's ours now, irrespective of photoshopping or no photoshopping of their membership visual assets.

Yeah, they've built their list amazingly well without the access to talent that we've had. They've obviously drafted well, developed well and Richardson's a top coach. Not sure his game style will take them all the way though. Take Riewoldt out of that forwardline and it's an inexperienced one. He makes them far more unpredictable, but he won't be around forever. I think they're marginally ahead of us because Riewoldt and Montagna have stuck around as long as they have. If Armitage goes, I reckon that'll weaken them significantly, as he gives their younger guys and Stevens a good chop out in the middle. Depends who they replace him with though.

I think it's much needed. Stevens is class. Acres looks like a prospect, but they do lack the class we seem to have in Oliver, Salem, Brayshaw and Petracca.

Fair enough.

Doesn't look like Hill to me, but I could be wrong.

Doesn't look like Brad Hill to me...

Demonland is enough for me.

He does too, doesn't he? Very interesting, indeed.

I'd be keeping Frost. His standing height is about the only thing about to prevent the Danhier's, Lynch's, Wright's and Moore's of the world. I don't think we will, but I'd be disappointed if we traded Frost.

FTR, I'm not asking too much specificity on Chook's sources. I trust his MFC sources as he's consistently delivered. But to say Brisbane know nothing about it suggests either he's trying to pour cold water on it from Melbourne's end or he knows someone at the Brisbane end.

No what?

So you have sources at Brisbane now? I thought your footy sources were inside the MFC.

We'll be trying to get this deal done ASAP, as it may well be holding up other deals that we want to do now. The Hibberd one in particular.

Pretty much gone missing since spamming DL with negativity for an afternoon. Seemed to coincide with the Lewis deal breaking in the media.

Just amend it RE: sources.

There are a few kinks in his game that I'd want to iron out if I was the FD, but certainly completely underrated in these parts. For mine, he needs to be a far more damaging with the ball in hand from midfield. He can kick goals, he can rack up possessions, but if those possessions aren't really to the advantage of team mates or the team, then he's another Nathan Jones prior to Roos coming on board.

That's what I've heard. My old man knows him and said to me as soon as Fagan went to Brisbane, how would Clarko go without his minder.

Trading in a big fish allows all our medium fish to develop faster into big fish.

Exactly.

Yep, great point. And Salem. Then you layer your midfield with fast outside ball users in Hunt and Stretch. I'd be targeting one more of these runners at the end of 2017 too. That could be the big fish. I'd be after a slightly younger Isaac Smith.

Brayshaw and Petracca aren't exactly mugs in the physicality stakes either. That midfield has a really good balance of ball-winning-ability, youth and experience. And what have we heard for the past 12 months? "Building from the contest out". Adding Lewis and Rockliff simply adds to the much-needed experience in our engine room. And who says we won't be able to get back into next year's first round if we really want to? People need to start trusting our FD. They have pulled some seriously amazing moves in the past 2-3 years.

I reckon if all of this comes to fruition, we should be aiming for between 5th-8th. Come the end of 2017, if we achieve that goal, I'll back our FD to land a big fish and go into 2018 with the aim of the top 4 and anything is possible in 2018. Given we started our rebuild under Roos in 2014, that's an incredible turn around. Just on Rockliff. If anyone believes Jones, Viney and (fingers crossed) Lewis would put up with any shenanigans from Rockliff, they're sorely mistaken. So I don't see anything wrong with this deal. In fact, it excites the hell out of me.

El oh el.

Jones, Viney, Tmac, Lewis, Gawn and Jetta for mine. Yep, agreed. I reckon he would have steadied us in the Essendon game too, when we hit the front with 10 minutes to go.

If we can get the Hibberd and Lewis deals done and maintain both second rounders (2016 and 2017), we may approach someone like GWS and swap a first rounder in 2016 for two second rounders.