Adam The God

Yep, time to get some new glasses. Hibberd is a much better player than Vandenberg is and positionally much more important to our mix than the former. Vandenberg is probably the worst AFL handballer I have ever seen. I'd love to see how many of his handballs actually go to the proper advantage of team mates. And he's not a great kick either. He can bob up and kick a few goals and is tough at it, but Hibberd is defensively sound, close to an elite kick that is also penetrating and is also tough at it. The guy I was thinking Lewis would be the perfect mentor for is Salem. I see them as both having very similar attributes. I'd like to see a bit more physicality from Christian, like we saw in his first year.

Brown plays KP, not ruck. I'd certainly look at him if we could get him for a second or third rounder. A bit more experience for our defence, but does have some injury history. If our docs pass him for fitness, I'd take a punt for a lowish cost.

Which is why I don't like that Steve had to get him to even hint at his sources. Ask via PM, otherwise it may well be that we don't get those nuggets for much longer from Abe's sources. I can also concur. I trust him more than I trust any other poster when it comes to breaking news. This is just rubbish, Tony. Hannebery, Jack, Kennedy and Mitchell were all slow in Sydney's midfield. The Bulldogs midfield isn't particularly quick either. And then you have Hawthorn's midfield that won three flags in a row. This is just patently untrue. It's possible. It's also possible that the FD are the ones that changed their mind after the Mitchell deal had been settled.

Exactly. All of a sudden our top 4 mids are Jones, Viney, Tyson, Lewis. That's massive. And a very decent starting midfield. Not pacey, but a good mixture of youth and experience. These guys would then be supported by Oliver, Brayshaw and Petracca. How anyone can say this is beyond me. The single biggest factor in many of our losses in 2016 was a lack of experience. We are talking about adding a 264-game, four-time premiership player, AA and BnF winner with 2 years left. Some Melbourne supporters are never happy. If they're anything like a lot of Hawthorn supporters, they might just jump back on the Melbourne bandwagon. And this is a problem our young players used to experience. Pressure on their shoulders to perform immediately. When you chuck out two premiership legends for a bag of peanuts before their use-by-date, supporters have a right to expect instant results.

Let's be honest. He'd be keeping guys like Bugg, Harmes or Vandenberg out of the team. There's no two ways about it. He's a massive, massive upgrade on those guys. Anyone who thinks he isn't, doesn't know football.

People may say Lewis is 30, he's at the end of his career etc etc, which is true, but there's know denying now that externally, perceptions of our club have changed. Thank you PJ and co. I reckon if we continue our upward trajectory next year, we're a real chance to land a big fish at the end of 2017.

Yep. Well played again, MFC. Where's Osilik?

Agreed. And O'Meara struggles to get on the park.

I'll say it again. This all happened after the little man's minder got the Brisbane job. It's going to be fun watching Clarko implode over the next few years. And I don't mind being smug about it. If I was working at the MFC FD, I'd be staying tight-lipped until the deal is done, so as nothing can blow back in our face if a deal doesn't go down.

Let's hope someone sells the farm for him. Anything to weaken our opposition.

Right. I don't think my brain's working today. Haha.

I know we were getting close, Doctor. The plan wasn't to go further, although his wife's tweet does allude to what I've heard.

Go on...? You mean Vanders to Hawthorn in exchange for Lewis?

I have it on two relatively good sources that it's not Goldstein being blindsided by North, but a bit of friction within the North playing group. I'll leave it at that. Massive news though. I wonder if they weren't on the way down whether Goldstein would be seeking a trade or whether North would even let him entertain it.

That is interesting. Vanders for Hibberd. Things would be looking good if we could keep both 2nd rounders (2016 and 2017) in play and grab Lewis for a 3rd or 4th rounder (Hawthorn can't expect more than that given they dished off their BnF for pick 88).

Not negative at all. Limited player. Would be happy to keep, but if he nets us a 2nd or 3rd rounder, I'd take it.

You're nothing like your username sake. He was a front foot sort of guy. You are possibly one of the most negative posters I've come across. Come on, Walt. Dream a bit.

Maybe he'll take $500k and play at his spiritual home?

We have Frost and Hunt that help our speed. We just need to add another and we'll be sitting pretty. But the important point you make RABF is that speed of ball movement does not rely on the having pace. It's kicking skills. Salem, Hibberd and even Wagner IMO strengthen this area.

That's been happening in the AFL for a while though. Only have to watch the trade feature video on the AFL website on our Woey trade in 2002. That was for salary cap relief too.

Still, I'm going to watch that space.

Just on this, I know you're joking, but has anyone heard that Heeney is exploring his options? Hence the Swans now looking to extend his contract. Should be interesting.

Exactly. With the minder gone, expect more of this from Clarkson over the next 2-3 years.

The first part of Viney's season was terrific and then he faded badly when other teams worked him out and he picked up a few injuries. Tyson started slowly and by the end of the year was our best player behind Gawn IMO. Neither player strung together a consistent season, but I'd argue Tyson was more consistent.

Gee Tyson gets a bad wrap around these parts. As if Viney isn't just as inconsistent if not more so than Dom.