Radar Detector

JKH needs to show a bit also.

I wasn't specifically directing my comment at you, there are several who have blatantly questioned the credibility of information provided by Generation Dee and others. But understand that people like GD and GNF are in a no win situation - either provide their sources and be pilloried for breaching confidence or don't and be declared trolls. Even if the information is completely valid. The only time the poster is cut any kind of slack is in the unlikely event that one of the whispers they hear come to fruition at which point they become an all-knowing oracle. It is completely binary and completely ridiculous. I don't want to derail the thread any further but IMO these threads should be a place where posters with access to information feel free to share it. Accusations of trolling don't help the cause and those that don't enjoy reading the rumours should leave the rest of us alone to enjoy the theatre of it all.

I have no issue with doubters. I have an issue with people calling into question the credibility of posters who post rumours on rumour threads. The whole point is that many or most of the potential discussions will not come to fruition but people are interested to hear what deals the club may be discussing behind the scenes anyway. I agree with the general tone of your comments on personal attacks and abusive behaviour in other threads.

For those of you who continue to attack other posters over their credibility or lack thereof in trade rumours threads, please sod off and leave the rest of us in peace. There are plenty of us who enjoy the rumours comfortable in the knowledge that most of them will not eventuate. Discouraging people from posting what they hear is both unnecessary and frankly, annoying as these trade threads would be utterly boring if people didn't post what they hear. So to Generation Dee, GNF, Abe, Chook in Perth et al, please continue to provide your info. Sometimes the journey can be just as fun as the destination.

Hopefully not. It was blindingly obvious early in the season and confirmed later in the season that Frost is much more valuable as a defender than a forward.

Everybody knows that every club makes mistakes. And it is much easier to make these 'mistakes' when you have a list stacked with talent and can't give enough opportunity to all the guns on your list. Hawthorn weren't about to play Kennedy just because of his name and nor should they have. At that stage they rated others higher on exposed form. Having said that, he has become a great player and would walk into their starting midfield now. Calling it a 'blunder' though is a bit of an over the top characterisation IMO and I doubt there would be many Hawks officials, coaches or supporters that lose too much sleep over it three flags later. I am much more concerned about our recruiting and trading mistakes because they lead us further away from ultimate success. It just feels like sometimes we feel the need to pick at any minor fault in other clubs to make us feel better about ourselves and it can seem a bit petty and bitter. I hate the Hawks as much as the next guy but I don't see the point in focusing on something like this. Just celebrate Kennedy for the great success and wonderful player he has become and leave it at that.

Ultimately, who cares? I dream of the day when we win 4 flags in 8 seasons and can lament one trade failure. I really don't understand the point of the thread...

Clubs constantly have to actively assess their list in terms of both talent and mix. In that context I don't think it's a blunder at all. He left for opportunity and the Hawks already had a stacked midfield including Mitchell, Hodge, Lewis, Sewell, Burgoyne plus a bunch of others rotating through including Rioli, Bateman, Shiels etc. It's almost the perfect balance of midfielders so it's not like Kennedy's departure left a gaping hole. Even in hindsight, it's hard to imagine the Hawks being any better over the journey if he had stayed.

Herein lies the problem. There are only a handful of guys across the league that do this role well consistently. And none of their clubs will let them go. Vickery's best football is worthy of a spot in our best 22. He is a better pure forward than Dawes or Pederson and would still have finished top 4 in our goal kicking even this year. He is also ruckman height and capable of winning a few taps which none of our current forwards do well. Is he the second coming of Paul Salmon? No. Would he make our team better? Probably.

Steven Armstrong > Robbie Flower So many idiots.

Have you forgotten Tom Gillies?

It's like watching the senior sides play. We are so much more scrappy with our skills. Oliver the exception.

Grimes' lack of awareness and decision making even being exposed at this level. Made some absolute howlers.

Casey not getting much reward for some great tackling

I'd say last year it was clearly Geelong first. Otherwise, totally agree.

This is my biggest issue. I don't think we're in the same place as a few years ago when we recruited Daniel Cross to bring leadership to a rabble. We are breeding young competitors and leaders capable of taking this club a long way. Harvey would definitely be best 22 next year at this stage, but is winning one or two extra games at the expense of unearthing another young gem really the go? In any event, we already have Melksham and Hibberd likely to come in next year and Salem and Brayshaw who barely played. Those two guys might be released into Harvey style wing-half forward roles if Melksham and Hibberd can hold down spots at half back. I'd rather punt on them.

In saying that the above reflects on these clubs as a "destination", you're assuming all else to be basically equal. We don't know who is or was seriously chasing any of these players, how much $$ has been offered by others etc. You can't really use this info in isolation. The repeated instances of high profile players going to big vic clubs like Hawthorn, Collingwood and Geelong when it's been known that others have tabled big money offers is a better indication of who the destination clubs are. There aren't too many.

Fool's gold. This guy's best years are so far behind him it's ridiculous. His body is toast and not in any way similar to Menzel who had multiple recurrences of the same injury.

The ability to move the ball quickly doesn't require supreme leg speed. It requires superior execution of basic skills like kicking and handballing. Geelong's premiership sides moved the ball quicker than anyone with barely a speedster among them. The best way to improve our speed would be to really sharpen our skills over summer. We are still a long way off the top teams in this area.

They were already banned from participating in the first 2 rounds of 2 successive drafts...

That is not what he said. There is a spectrum of outcomes between richly rewarded and poorly done by. I suggest they have been neither. They got what is probably a fair punishment overall but you can't keep meting out a new punishment every year.

Getting rewarded after being fined, banned from competing in a finals series they qualified for and excluded from the first two rounds of two separate drafts...

Yeah similar, although I haven't ventured down for a little while now

Clearly my maths was a bit off

He's 251 behind Goldstein's record from last year (24 games). 3rd on the hitouts/game behind Goldstein and Sandilands (both 2015) Updated for poor maths