DeeSpencer

I believe they have to have as many list spots as picks they take in to the draft. So you can’t have picks 30, 35,45 and then 50, 51, 52, 53, 54 etc all adding points but only 4 list spots. I think teams can get around it a bit by redrafting some of their own players or taking extra rookies. Swans might be keen to trade their first but probably won’t offer up any discount for the rights to it. I doubt we do it because I think we’ll need an even spread of 2nds and 3rds to get the quality depth in

Different types of players. Johnstone is more defensive and contested, Lockhart plays higher up the ground and gets more of the ball. No issue having 2 smaller defenders developing on the list if they are both wanted. We've got the list spots to balance the list with a number of needs type picks but also to take some developmental prospects no matter what position they play.

Very ambitious thinking. I reckon to get 4 and 5 from Freo we'd have to give up something pretty solid. I can't remember a player ever being traded for 2 blue chip pieces like that. Even the Judd deal had Josh Kennedy devalued from a true blue chipper to more of a gamble on his upside. Lever's deal last year relied on both of our first rounders not being the real top line picks. Beams was pick 5 and 25. Burgoyne, Treloar had the Pies planning on improvement and getting a 2nd rounder back I just can't remember a deal of two super high picks. 1 player = 1 blue chip piece. Similarly Gold Coast have May contracted for another year and the chance at some juicy AFL free agency compensation. We have to get inside pick 10 I think, even if we get more than just May for it. From all reports the King's have flat out told GC to stay away. Maybe they draft both of them and hope that works. I'm not so sure. And if we draft them there's a good chance they both need 3 years and 30 AFL games of finding their feet footy which doesn't help us. I actually think the best case scenario is 5 and 10 for Hogan. 1 of those picks goes to May. 1 goes to the draft if no one wants it. The 2019 first rounder could be moved forward in to this years draft and maybe split in to a few pieces. The Eagles traded their future first with the Suns for a raft of 2nd round picks. I'm not sure another club would be that stupid but it would be a way to really beef up the depth of our list and solve some needs. I get the appeal of landing a Josh Kelly but drafting one high quality kid early and then some mid round picks for another Spargo and Fritsch could really set the list up. Then we turn to free agency. We'd all like Josh Kelly but I'd settle for taking a heap of talent in this years draft to make sure we're stocked in the years to come and then landing Chad Wingard as a free agent next year.

I get the feeling you could sign with Freo on the basis that if things don't improve next year you won't have to worry about playing under Lyon after that.

Did anyone see Richmond or Collingwood challenging for a flag? Forward line - Ben Brown, Ziebell, Simpkin, Mason Wood and some assorted smalls, far from the worst Backline - Tarrant, big Majak, Thompson, Wright, Macmillan, McDonald, Marley Williams - that's not bad Midfield - Goldy might have a couple of years left. Cunnington and Higgins are A graders. Gaff joins them. Polec on the wing. Lots of depth with Ahern, Anderson, Dumont, Hall. Might be missing a true superstar but weren't the Eagles? Richmond might be a super team next year, they were pretty close this year, otherwise there won't be anyone at the heights Geelong, Sydney or Hawthorn have been recently. No reason North can't finish top 4. I'd love to play for a big club at the MCG most weeks. But I doubt the Pies wanted him, the Tigers couldn't fit him in, the Hawks might be more stuck in no mans land than the Roos and if Melbourne offered me 750k and had to trade for me compared to 1.1-1.2M at the Roos sadly I'd go the Roos.

I think Lever will roam around at CHB, May will anchor the backline at full back and we will pick the 3rd tall defender to lock down depending on opponent. Or even go without a 3rd tall and back Hibberd and Jetta in. Against a side like the Pies that would mean either Frost or Joel Smith to play on De Goey. Against the Eagles that would mean Oscar to take the resting ruckman. From Mahoney's comments yesterday I don't expect Lever to be rushed back in so with or without May there will be plenty of chances for guys to play.

Which Hogan are you watching? I see a guy who goes the short sideways option instead of pulling the trigger inside 50. And the stats say 59.5% kicking efficiency this year which is below Tyson and Brayshaw. May was the Suns 5th more efficient kick. In a better side he'll either be able to play it safe and not waste the ball and/or take the game on more.

Always hard to rate mature age players but I thought Lockhart looked a natural at half back and a quick skilled rebounding flanker is certainly a need. Lewis clearly doesn't have much left. Salem or Lever might move in to that spot but there will be an opening for a guy who can run the ball out. Apart from Hunt we don't have anyone else on the list to take over that role. Stretch and JKH are wing/half forward types. KK I get the feeling reading between the lines will be targeted to play wing at least initially. Fritsch can do it but is more the type to mark and kick rather than really run the lines, as is Wagner. Joel Smith isn't that skilled type either. Dion Johnstone seems more of a lock down defender at least at this stage, if he ever makes it at all. Lockhart played midfield and forward in Casey finals because that's where they were short on talent. His half back games that I saw were much better. I hope they were hiding him from recruiters and rounding his game as well. They said when they recruited Tim Smith and Fritsch that they would've picked them for Melbourne if available. There were times earlier this year when Lewis needed a kick up the backside that I would've picked Lockhart.

Go watch the grand final where 194cm Tom Barrass gives Mason Cox a bath. 10cm can easily be made up jumping with 1 arm to punch compared to 2 arms to mark. And that's even before you get in to positioning, body work and reading the play.

Here's one from left field: I wonder if we pay a good chunk of his wage if the Giants would take him back. If they lose Shiel, Lobb and Setterfield they'll need depth and Dom's best mate Tomlinson is still up there. If a bottom team wanted him by now I think they would've put their hand up to get him. The Giants might yet again have more draft picks than they need and could give us a better one than any other side would offer if we give them a depth player in return for salary. It's certainly a call I'd be making to find out.

I hope not. I don't think Salem is a great endurance runner. Moving him on to the wing could result in more hamstring trouble. He reads the play beautifully at half back, makes excellent decisions, wins contests on the ground, defends more than capably against the right opponents and his kicking should only improve if he's encouraged to back himself and flatten the ball out. As Lewis goes out of the side Salem will only get more important at half back. KK I think they'll try on the wings because he has the height to kick it to 1 on 1, has a long penetrative kick suited to kick inside 50 or over the top, ran a 10.10 3km time trial and the wing will give him more space to get on to his left.

125 votes in 17 games. 7.4 votes a game 1.8 per coach. So more weeks than not the coaches thought Tyson was either not doing his role at all or just meeting the baseline standards.

125 best and fairest votes in only 7 games. Had he played the full 25 games he would've finished 5th. I'm not going to crunch the per game average on every player but it's fair to say Melksham, Viney, Brayshaw, T Mc would've finished ahead of him but one way or another he'd be in the top dozen. Unless the coaches were just feeling sorry for him or thought he had a few unsustainable games I don't see how he's not very highly rated by the coaches.

Interesting. My major takeaways: 1. Hogan out, May in has to be at least 70% I think. And they must feel confident that they'll land May. Sounds like they had him lined up as a major target post 2019 season. 2. Preuss is either not a lock or they are willing to negotiate hard with North to get him for a good price. I wonder who the other options are? 3. They know they need more outside class and pace. Lots of mentions of balancing the list. Think it takes more than just Kade Kolo to achieve that, very keen to see who else is on the target list.

Barlow can only play 1 position on the ground - inside mid. We currently have: Oliver, Viney, Brayshaw, Harmes, Jones, Tyson, Vanders, Maynard and Petracca who can do that. 9 guys for 4 spots. 2 might be about to leave which would still have us at 7 guys for 4 spots. If we lose Vanders and Tyson without getting a midfielder with some inside ability back then we probably look for a ready made replacement but I'd take Corey Wagner or some other state league player who can play some different roles as well and has some upside. Even just drafting an 18 year old midfielder in the 2nd or 3rd round you can potentially get some games out of them in a depth role as early as year 1 and if not then by year 2 when Jones is either moved on or can't be considered a midfield chance. We should be looking for a dominant VFL midfielder to sign for Casey so they have a respectable captain and week to week presence in the side. Casey needs that, Melbourne don't.

Port tried that last year, got them absolutely nowhere. It's a work place as well as a cut throat list management business. There's value in having guys who have been around for a while, know the coaches, know the game plan, gel well with team mates and don't need extra resources diverted to them. Carlton and GC are taking 5 of the best mature players out of the system. Delistings from another teams rarely work out, they've been cut for a reason. Jetta and Pedersen are two guys we've got a heap of games out of that I thought should've been let go years before they became important players. It's a low strike rate but so is taking late round rookies or delisted players from other sides.

I thought his first half of the year when Viney was out was really strong and I expect him to poll pretty well in the B+F over that time. Tackles, goals, clearances, low clangers. Once he was relegated to the wing he struggled and particularly in the finals when he wasn't given any time or space. He's certainly fringe heading in to next year but I'm actually keen to see how he goes and where he plays. Time for him to strip a bit of weight and embrace an outside role be it wing, half back or half forward.

His first 10 games or so were great but he hasn't been able to replicate them as he's struggled with injuries. If we miss May then sure yep I'd be keen.

Valid point, but the other 2 depth players the Eagles had were Schofield and Vardy replacing Shepherd Nic Nat, that kind of depth makes sense to keep as they are difficult players to replace. Sheed was a young player with a lot of upside who Simpson dropped to work on a few things - most likely his disposal and two way running, I'm not sure there was ever talk of trading him last year. I see him more like Angus Brayshaw, getting dropped a few times and coming back better. If Gaff was staying at the Eagles now they'd probably be looking to trade out one of their mids to keep him. Probably Masten. It's not that we just give him away but we work out who's coming in and going out and if he has value.

They'd get free agent compensation the next year. He'd also get no cash. I doubt that will happen. Easier for him to go through the motions, get paid whatever it is he's currently getting paid and then find an injury around mid year like Lynch did. Or he might end up playing forward similar to Frawley. I think the Suns are willing to trade. I also think May would be lucky to get a contract big enough to trigger more than a mid first round compensation pick next year unless the AFL are very generous - and they've given the Suns enough this year that they don't need to be. I'm confident Pick 10 will do it.

Was it Maynard's 15 disposals tagging Ablett, 18 disposals on debut playing wing and half forward against the Giants or the copious times he had 25+ touches in the VFL in his first season of footy in years that convinced you he can't find the footy? There's also no way you could describe Tyson's ball use as reasonably well. Maynard has a lot of work to do but he has the one thing Tyson is very unlikely to ever get back - the athleticism to play AFL. The quick burst basketball steps are needed to compete in tight, Dom doesn't have it, so they play him on a wing, but that's even worse because if he's beaten on the outside guys can run passed him. Plus now he's required to hit his targets more by getting the ball in space and his kicking this year was abysmal. Tyson is depth, and if you can get something back for depth and bring in what you need then it's an easy decision

Cox killed Oscar as a forward, that's why we need a full back who can beat him like Barrass did. Not convinced Grundy did anything different than what he always does - cheat in the ruck with terrible technique and copious holding, then follow up excellently at ground level before mostly shanking kicks. Weideman wasn't playing then was he? He looked really good in the ruck to me, I'd put him in against Grundy where he can follow up at ground level, then use Gawn to destroy Cox. The two rucks can work but what the Eagles really did well was drag Gawn and Grundy way away from the ball and then kick away from them. They can do that because their key defenders and key forwards are so strong in the air they don't need aerial support. We go the other way and want to use Max as a target or defender as much as possible. The remaining Eagles did enough to get allow Lycett and Vardy to drag Grundy away, if the Pies mids were on top Grundy would've been in play. It also relies on excellent forward pressure from the other forwards and especially the talls. The Eagles get a lot of pressure from Kennedy and Darling. Weideman looks ok in that regard and can improve as he gets fitter and stronger. T Mc has his limitations but always keeps chasing. Will they be good enough to chase and cover for a ruck up forward? I'm not sure.

Damaging to who? He runs hard to get the ball and he has clean reliable hands over head and in traffic. That's a useful player even if unsuited to the wing. Oliver, Viney, Brayshaw and Harmes are the starting mids, but we can cover them with Petracca, Vanders (if he stays), Nath Jones (short term next year should be young enough to provide some inside midfield cover), Maynard - who's both overrated and underrated on here but can play if given a chance and even ANB or Salem if required. Plus inside mid is the easiest position to pick up a state league or delisted player.

Not sure Kent moving affects Tyson. Vanders does and so does the ability to land KK and potentially 1 more ready to play outside mid. If we Vanders goes and we find 2 replacements then Tyson goes. If Vanders stay and we add KK then Tyson goes as well. He might have value now. After next season barring improvements or change in position I can't see him having any trade value. So if we can cash in on his value now we should. Anything top 40 in the draft or of similar value would be enough to me.

That's probably true, but watching the GF has me thinking you don't need to be a great team to win it. You just have to get in the right spot - ideally top 4, with the right game plan and enough talent and have it go your way. The Eagles have some guns - a great line up of talls, a bit of polish on the flanks and some quality mids. But they also had Masten on a wing, young Cole down back, LeCras who's way past it forward, Venables who they limited to 55% game time and all the guys I mentioned are locks in their 22 and better than the emergencies. Pies are a bit the same with Greenwood, Mayne, Aish etc. One way to spin that is get the stars in and find the depth when you need it, but I also think the opposite applies where you need players who might be lacking in multiple areas but can just do enough to stay in the game. Vanders speed, size and hardness makes him the right kind of bottom of the 22 player the way teams are going these days. It's very hard to assemble a list of 25 better than him.