Dr. Gonzo

I like Petterd but I'd probably take that trade. Gotta make sure you dont unsettle the playing group when using players like commodities for sale though.

Not for 2 compo picks though. Not only would we lose the compo but GC would gain them which we have to bear in mind as well. Could we get 2 players next year at around pick 15 in addition to Viney that would be a better gain than getting Caddy?

I don't think the contract is the issue, we have salary cap space to burn and his contract would be heavily front-loaded so as not to compromise our list management. The issue is is he worth pick 12 for us? I think the answer is a resounding yes.

Yes of course, I meant that if this trade happens Bate would be one spot gone, didn't mean he would be delisted.

Would we offer anything for Hooker? He's a decent KP defender isn't he? Maybe we could get involved in a 3-way trade. We need someone to take the gorilla forwards/resting ruckman still. Martin may be able to fill that role now that we have Clark up forward but just a thought. If not is there anyone else on Essendon's list we would want who they might give up for a compo pick? (obviously not Hurley, Heppell etc)

Would love to land this kid but not at any price. Wouldn't want to give up 2 compo picks which has been touted, would rather keep them for next year. 1 compo pick and a player (Warnock, Spencer?) would be a great result.

If it was a player thats another spot on our list we have to make room for. Who else can we delist? Bate, Warnock, Maric, Wona? Spencer? Another thought - it was said Bate would take a pay cut to go to the Dogs - how does his contract work for next year (he has one more year with us) and does it affect our salary cap?

So any news on this kid? Is he a chance to go to another Vic club (us, Tigers, North?) or is it Bombers or bust?

I also think Bate may not fit in all that well with our playing group. No evidence to base this on just speculation. I remember a game earlier in the year when Green had Bate open in the goalsquare and didn't handball it to him kicking the goal himself. Bate was down on confidence (in & out fo the team) and loooked pretty disappointed the captain didn't give him a freebie. Only a minor thing and maybe nothing in it but I just thought there could be some issues there.

Let him go, take pick 39 and move on. No point holding the guy to ransom he obviously wants out.

Would love it if we could snare him from under the nose of Essendon as well, would make it even sweeter. Would be great to get him but wouldn't be the end of the world if we couldn't.

Reckon we might start off with a game interstate next year, can't remember the last time this happened off the top of my head.

He'll go to the PSD because he knows he will get to Freo that way. He wouldn't nominate if he thought GWS would pick him up.

Exactly. Disappointed? Sure but I'm not slashing my wrists over this. At the end of the day we did the best we could and as you say if not for the go-home factor he'd be with us now. We still have a massive stash in our salary cap and free agency comes in next year I say we start plotting who we want now and work on them throughout all of next year.

And then they'd laugh at you.

Yeah not long ago at all. Only 3 months in fact.

Ha, would do that in a heart beat, doubt it's true though. What people have to remember when saying we are paying "overs" is that it is all relative. Clark is what we need to plug a hole in our side that has troubled us since Neitz retired. He is also in our age bracket. Is it worth giving 12 & compo to get him considering we know we have Viney coming next year plus another compo pick to use? You can only stockpile draft picks/young kids for so long and if we lose out on an extra kid (compo pick) and land a player who can a plug a hole then I reckon we've done extremely well. That being said I reckon Clark will still say he wants to go to Freo but you can't fault us for trying our damnedest.

Remember in all this Brisbane are trying to land Tippett from the crows. 16 & 20 are worthless to them if it won't land them Tippett but 12 should do the trick (+ compo?)

Yes but even if he goes to Freo we have put a spanner in the works. Let's say he has his heart set on WA but Brisbane wants more than pick 16. In we step with pick 12 and say to the Dockers "what have you got?" we could end up with pick 16 or 20 plus a player, question is who do we want from Freo?

Clark isn't that good but Martin is coming into his own and more versatile? I don't think we'll get Clark and offering Martin was purely a hypothetical but Clark is easily a better and more natural player than Martin. Easily.

Yeah pretty disappointed the Saints were able to snatch Saad for next to nothing when we could really use a crumbing small forward.

Taking it as a purely hypothetical I don't see a problem with the suggestion. I doubt it will happen though as Martin was only recently re-signed as pointed out by others. It may free us up to play Martin down back though. He played there with some success in his first season and would assist Frawley, Rivers and Garland take on the monster forward lines. His kicking may be a worry though as he can butcher it so may be a liability in defense.

Why do you say that? I wouldn't hold my breath on us getting him (due to him watning to head back to WA) but woudln't say its a foregone conclusion either. If Clark is out of the picture I would like to see us make a play for Lisle though. Don't know much about him but he has size and has apparently shown something in the VFL. Could do worse than take a punt on him, remember he was only drafted 3 years ago.

Exactly. Martin showed definite improvement this year but still needs to improve further if he is to become a pivotal player. Will his improvement continue? It's hard to say. We may end up holding onto him another few years and he doesn't get any better than he showed this year. He is an athlete trying to play football whereas I see Clark as a pure footballer. Sometimes you have to take a punt and I would take the risk that Martin played at his top level this year and won't improve much beyond that therefore its best to trade him now while his currency is at its peak rather than try to offload him in a couple of years when we wouldn't get much for him. Also I think Martin can only really play in the ruck. I don't see him as a forward as he doesn't have the natural kjicking technique or read of the game. He may be able to go down back to take on the gorillas like Cloke and the resting ruckman as this is one position I still think we need to fill. However if not I would be more than happy to trade him if it meant getting in Clark considering we still have Jamar and Gawn as rucks with Spencer as a back-up.

Yes.