bing181

Perhaps. It could also smack of Freo being not as into Hogan as everyone thinks they are ... could be the salary, could be concerns about the foot, could be ... well, anything. Perhaps from their side, they're just not that desperate.

Freo don't even have Pick 5 for the moment, and given how they're approaching negotiations with us, there's a decent chance that the Neale trade won't go through. In any case, there's no way we'd ever be getting 5 + 11, best we could manage given what's available would be 11 + next year's first - though is there some technical issue which means that Freo can't trade their next year's first round pick?

Also a mistake that was a major factor in them winning a grand final.

Freo on a hiding to nothing here. They need a low first or decent second round pick to get Lobb, but hard to see where it's going to come from, as neither we (Hogan) nor Brisbane (Neale) have one. You'd think that neither our second rounder (36) or Brisbane's (32) wouldn't be enough for GWS. Complicated.

May won't be available as FA. Either he'll come to us or the Pies, or he'll re-sign a long-term deal at GC. The May situation has come up for the same reason the Hogan one has: clubs don't want players hanging round for a year till their contract runs out or they become FA. If they won't commit long-term, they're let go.

Explore all avenues/test the water?

Which just goes to show the importance of team-wide defence.

Not sure I'd be calling them "skills".

or hysterical 13 year old schoolboys. FMD.

Maybe there are no FA's we're interested in.

And i'll just throw in a sexist slur.

Looks like the foot is healing well.

"Whatever his decision is, we'll support that."

To be fair, he finished 11th, 1 vote behind Lewis. All he had to do for the games he missed was to be out there for that to have been reversed.

He was 1 vote behind Lewis in 11th, after missing the last few games. Churlish.

Yes. And I have a fast fibre as well. Typical for anything in terms of video that comes through AFL.

Seeing we want 2 of their players, yes ...

As opposed to the macho posturing school of negotiation.

Once again, we won't be keeping players against their interest. It's not in anybody's interest, including ours, to do so.

We're not going to be doing that. If Hogan wants to go, a way will be found for him to go. You don't keep players against their wishes, even moreso when family/personal factors play a part.

Exactly. I wouldn't be sure that we can even get May, plenty of Essendon and Pies supporters out there convinced that he's signing for them.

This is just speculation. From what the players and staff say, that would appear to not be the case. I don't think we can ignore the personal journey he's been on for the last couple of years: father, cancer, then a succession of serious injuries. Perhaps he feels like he needs to restart from a clean slate, and if that's the case, hard to argue with.

Sorry to see Jesse go, but understand and it is what it is. 2 first rounders, a bit of haggling lower down, take it. Equally, not sure how the lower picks is going to work, because Freo seem to have traded most of theirs, and after pick 5 their next is currently 77 so ...? The only issue here is whether we can get May. Plenty seem to be assuming that that's what's going to happen, but it has to be made to work for all concerned first. Plenty of Pies supporters adamant that he's chosen them, and in any case, reports are (grain of salt ...) that May is after a 5 year deal and on good coin.

It was more what he didn't say, basic theme was "if he goes, we won't hold it against him". Good speaker, you can see why they went so hard for him. Leadership material.

Yes, a few clubs have big holes in their draft options (e.g., Freo with 5 ... and then 77, Saints with 5 and then 57). Trading away your future draft picks is all well and good, but then you end up with no draft picks. Could be some horse-trading for picks.