DeeSpencer

He's a genuine big body in the midfield. That could be handy. But there's only so many spots in there and we need classy guys who win the ball around the ground not just those who block it up at stoppages. I like the idea of Jones, Vince, Viney and Tyson with rotations from Brayshaw, Vanders, Petracca etc. If Ellis-Yolmen can't hold down a spot in the team playing most of his minutes forward then I don't know that he's worth getting. Bernie could play wing or half back but then we are taking a class player away from the ball and requiring on lesser types to get the footy to him. One of Hawthorn's big advantages is that Hodge, Mitchell and Lewis are around the ball so much and use it so well. They have a luxury that we certainly don't but barring a couple of exceptions they just don't pick players who can't use the ball well and instead back in their good ball users to win their share. It might be wise for us to do the same.

Doesn't make us better but on 2015 form Howe and Toumpas are replaceable and then we get Kennedy in for some competition for a half forward spot and Melksham and Bugg for the half back/midfield spots. One of the things Mahoney said that resonated to me was that we have a lot of players capable of having better years next year than they did this year. I'd love to be trading for a gun 2nd forward and gun midfielder to fill gaps. But given that's unlikely I'll take trading guys who might want to leave for decent young players who will help push the competition. Bringing these guys in should help the development of the list as a whole. Then it's a matter of drafting more talent for us to really improve the quality. If we haven't given up our best draft picks to bring these guys in then that gives us a chance to get more quality talent.

SeaHawks got away with one today. Can't believe the refs either didn't know the rule or didn't review that. Had to do one or the other. The Hawks defense still looks amazing but without Lynch at least the O line doesn't do enough to help Wilson or the run game. For the life of me I can't work out the Jimmy Graham trade.

Out: Howe and Toumpas Use the currency acquired to bring: In: Melksham, Kennedy, Bugg Keep our first 3 picks in the draft. Work out if we are going to pay out Jones and Terlich and draft either a 4th rounder/PSD, pick up a delisted player or add extra rookies. I'd say that would be a reasonable result for this trade period.

Yep I'd say that's about right. We aren't in a position to do 2 for 1 deals. We need quantity of good young players as much as quality. It gives you depth, it drives competition, creates better development environment etc. If we are to give Howe up for a 9 spot upgrade we need a 2nd useful pick in there as well. Personally though, I doubt Freo will be interested in Howe. They need to go hard for McCarthy and seal the deal.

Tom-ato

Ralph adding Bugg to the list we are interested in and I've heard it is reasonable info. I'm not a huge fan but he's another in the 'better than Matt Jones or Terlich column'. Brings some hardness and could play lock down small defender, tagger or defensive forward.

He's nowhere near tall enough to 2nd ruck. He might just be as tall as Dawes but he plays smaller if that's possible. His best footy is leading up at the ball as a 3rd tall but he's had a bad couple of years when he should've been cementing his place in the team. I'd be worried he lacks the skills and versatility for the way footy is progressing to players who can have more well rounded games.

Interesting thread. If there is a position where we should be interested in a bit of mature depth then I think super fit outside running mid is probably the one.

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When he's on he's actually half decent. But if he turns it over early his confidence drops and all of a sudden he doesn't even seem to run hard or contribute in any way. Terrible tackler as well. Free kick or broken tackle every time. He's had a chance at an AFL career as a mature ager and doesn't seem to have strength or elite endurance. He's just a middle of the road athlete which really shits me. If you're given the rare as anything chance you should at least be a training machine like a Magner. Of the 9 games he played he did really important roles against the Dogs and Cats in big wins, played well against North and from memory actually did ok in his first game of the year in the Hawks belting. Unfortunately his other 5 games were full of gross ineptitude and so bad that he was dropped after each one of them! That's pretty embarassing.

Just read this on the website and went to see if others had picked up on it. There's a few issues. But there's also the solution and the catch 22 of the situation. You can say it's poor management but how do we know that the bench weren't trying to get him off. What I believe clubs use is a special digital team board that goes green, yellow and red for when a player needs to rotate. I think the 7 defenders often rotate 1 by 1 and so you have to make sure each if going off before they hit the red time. But getting off isn't easy if the ball is trapped down the backline. There's a few things we can do to prevent a repeat of this type injury: 1) Add versatility with more wingman capable of playing half back and therefore greater rotations. Lumumba, Stretch, Grimes, Howe are all to varying degrees capable of swapping between the spots. Rotate backs closer to goal for more rest ie. swap Jetta and Salem after they've had a spell 2) Rest young players when they are sore earlier. We took too long to rest Salem and then Brayshaw and Harmes later in the year 3). Score more ourselves! The hawks forwards were likely interchanging as they goaled and as they lined up for goal. It's easy to do that when you're winning. When the ball is locked in your backline the natural reaction is to man up and man the mark, not go sprinting to the bench. 4). Get fitter! Salem was run of his legs by fit mature players. He'll build his base over time. I'm sure the fitness staff know this. I think Roosy said when it happened that Salem was about due for a rest which is a real shame. He'll get fitter with time and no doubt we are hopefully adding better and more versatile players. With it cut down to 90 players it will require longer stints on the ground for both sides which might help us. But still if we score more and get the game on our terms it will be easier to interchange post goals instead of being caught in general play. If you swap 4 players at once you only get 22.5 changes so I think you'll most happen after goals these days anyway.

For depth players Newton is an above average ball user and a decent enough ball winner. Michie is an above average ball winner and a decent enough user. But both of them have below average speed and endurance. Both are now 23. It's crunch time this preseason for them and if they have that Daniel Cross desire to give it all they might surprise us next year. If they don't then they'll be decent enough depth.

Looks like a bloke who will dominate local footy but not get a kick at AFL level. Very Tapscott like

Straight swap for Toumpas. It's meh, but I'll probably take it. Left footer and speed at least gives us something different. Still torching it at VFL level just can't adapt to AFL yet (and maybe never).

Hibberd's the one to watch here. Nicely sized defender with an accurate kick who's predicted 15-45 draft pick. Always worth watching a Rioli as well.

If your recruiters and most other recruiters are saying it's not a strong draft it's a bit silly to ignore the advice on the hope that they will find the diamond in the rough. It's a bit silly to ask a recruiter to use a pick they don't want to use. The recruiters said that the 2010 and 2011 drafts would be shallow due to GC and GWS. They said the 2006 draft would be full of great talls They said the 2012 draft would be pretty consistent in to the 2nd round and tail off after the first 40 picks All those look to be true. It can become a self fulfilling prophecy with clubs taking less live picks but I'd be inclined to believe the recruiters on this one. Watching Vic Metro in the carnival the lack of stand out talent was alarming and Metro produce a heave portion of the players from the draft most years. If the kids just aren't there it's going to impact the overall strength.

Maybe the issue isn't that we don't want him but that he doesn't want us. If that's the case there's no point being desperate. I'd love to have him, but I don't Hogan, Brayshaw, Petracca etc going off the rails either. If the consensus is that we aren't ready to bring in a bad apple in then I can understand that.

I don't see how Melksham helps fix our depth. He might help give us more competition for spots next year but depth is a long term issue that requires long term solutions. You have to keep drafting and developing well for years to get a good squad of players which then provides depth. If we are giving up anything more valuable than a 3rd round pick for Melksham, and the contract indicates we might be keen to do that, then we need Melksham to be part of the best 22 and a consistent player who has the skills to feature in a finals team. If we wanted depth for depth sake we could pursue delisted players or late round pick trades.

Howe frustrates me a lot but we don't have a need for cap space any time soon and we still have an abysmal overall talent level. To get rid of one of our most talented players (even if inconsistent) because of niggling over price and to not get talent back in return would be a massive failure. If Howe genuinely wants to stay and is committed to the coaches then I'd suggest we bend the salary structure a bit and keep him. If we want to move him on that's fine and I get we need to play the trade game. But we better have either a decent draft pick or someone of quality lined up to replace him.

I thought the Steelers might be ok without Ben for 4 weeks, but vs Ravens, at Chargers, vs Cardinals at Chiefs is absolutely brutal. Then when he gets back it's SeaHawks, Colts and Denver (plus Oakland) and Divisional games to finish the year. They'll need to win at least 1 if not 2 of the 4 (if it is 4 weeks) to keep on pace.

Bears season is done so tossing up between the Bengals and Bills for my new AFC team to support for the rest of the year. That said holding the Seahawks to 6 at half time is a big step forward for the bears dreadful defense. Tank well enough and get a new QB and maybe we might turn it around quickly. Rebuilding in the NFL is even scarier than rebuilding in the AFL! Thinking of having a sneaky bet on the cardinals to win the AFC West. They haven't beaten much but are red hot right now and they seem a well balanced team.

I with titan. Colts Steelers Broncos Trying to stick with my theory of backing the best QB's to get it done on the road. But also worried that Luck and Manning might not be the best QB's right now!

He panics too much as a defender. His best position is forward, whether he's AFL quality or fringe quality I don't know. He's probably a touch better than Dawes and Pedersen as a 2nd key forward but I don't think he can ruck any better than those 2 can. Then it's matter of whether we can play 2 rucks and 2 forwards or 1 ruck and 3 genuine tall forwards. Not many clubs do. North and Freo do. Whilst West Coast and Hawthorn usually play Darling and Gunston respectively as those mobile 3rd tall options. I'd rather surround Hogan with a good 2nd ruck and a good medium sized player. Schoenmakers is neither of those types.

We can't attract an A grader and we surely have plenty to attract a young gun and bring in someone of Schoenmakers quality.