Pates

If he’s played forward we can get 35+ goals out of him there. I think for us to be successful next year we don’t necessarily need to have one key target that is a guarantee to kick 50, we need a wider spread with Petracca, Hannan, and Weids kicking around 30+, and TMac and Fritch tipping 40. All are capable of those numbers. From there we need some midfields getting amongst it as well as suddenly we can get back to being one of the most attacking teams in the comp.

I’d like to see him move back again, with Frost gone we’re looking slow back there and he can be valuable in breaking the lines. It’s about getting his decision making right when he does that. But truthfully I don’t know if he’s in the 22, I see him in the best 25 for sure and he might be one that is a bit in and out of the side. And it could come down to not being sure where he fits, if we’re able to get there likes of AvB, Hannan, and Fritch regularly in the team then I’m not sure there’s space for Hunt.

I agree mate, who have we got rid of in recent years who have truly come back to bite us. Howe is the only one that springs to mind, but one of the reasons he left was because he wanted to play forward along with large $$$ and longer contract. He went to the pies, failed as a forward and the Buckley “reinvented him” as an intercept defender. Hogan might well reach his potential if his foot gets right. Watts has done little to have me worried at Port (apart from him playing his best game against us). Dunn we delisted and he did well at the Pies for a period. Going quite a way back we lost Frawley but were well compensated. I can’t recall anyone else really.

I hope their front loading of Martin’s contract screws them over from any chance of getting anyone else over the next couple of years. Blue bagger wankers.

Sounds like he’s accepted responsibility for his poor year with coming back in not good shape, this pre-season you can’t knock his attitude. He’s doing everything he can to make sure he plays an important role for us next year, good stuff!

True, though I kinda understand them wanting to draw a bit of a line in the sand sort of thing with Martin. They've been pillaged a lot and they wanted to play a bit of hardball for once. It's a bit moot though if they've got so much concessions that it doesn't mean they're losing out. I would love the Dees to come out and play some funny buggers with Carlton by saying we have the cap space for Martin, hold onto a space on the list into the PSD as well. Apart from Martin would there be any PSD potentials for us?

I don’t like using the surgeries and injuries as an excuse, Richmond, Sydney, Geelong, WC etc have been backing up multiple years of finals. What I will say is it’s folly to dismiss it completely as a strong contributing factor. My worry has been that the club will look to the injuries and just say “oh well we’ll be back next year with better player fitness”. 2020 shapes as a massively important year for the club, a good time to get someone with Burgess’s credentials on board.

I totally agree, I think the media is always looking for the feel good story to come to fruition, where he plays the best footy ever in tribute to his father and looks up at the sky when he kicks the match winning goal. Obviously people are masters of their own destiny but it's hard to argue that his personal development from the age of 17 was disruptive, unusual, and emotionally difficult. As for the money side of things my understanding is that he's on slightly less that what he potentially stood to earn at Melbourne. When we traded him out I think the club saw the writing on the walls that his injury troubles were going to continue and that what was best for both club and player was to get him home. He's now Freo's problem but I still wish him well.

Whatever way you look at it it's sad. I hope he's able to get his body right and play some good footy in the future. Right now I'd say the trade is sitting at a 0-0 draw given May's injury troubles.

Oh I'm not at all unhappy about the try before you buy scenario, I think we've actually got ourselves into a no lose situation with this to be honest. What I was referring to was that the rules of the off-season prohibit him from training with a club prior to a certain date even if the club and player have already agreed to the terms of the rookie category he'll be on.

That seems really silly, I mean if club and player have agreed on a course of action then why not cut to the chase? That said I’m sure he will meet with our medicos who will monitor the program I’m sure he’s been given. For me I think the club has handled this really well, it’s a mixture of risk and prudence. We’ve taken a punt on him, given him another chance but we’ve done our due diligence and haven’t rushed into anything. Welcome to wearing Red and Blue Harley!

I gotta say for the rumoured coin he’s asking for I would be passing on him. I don’t know if Melbourne is playing games with Carlton, almost trying to rule themselves out publicly so Martin doesn’t nominate a stupid amount of money and then we swoop. I’d say I’m 50/50 on him, if we get him then great. I won’t lose any sleep if we pass on him though.

Jay Clark provides an update on Harley Bennell Seems they all feel we’re the front runners without saying he’s over the line. Between us and Geelong, always wary of Geelong in these situations, they’ve got a good record of getting players they want.

It feels like we've seen it happen to almost every other club (Saints being the only one I can't really think of), we've seen lots of players come back from adversity or a significant life event (whether or not it was self inflicted) and become valuable contributers to the teams success. I would dearly love to see that happen with us and Bennell.

Good stuff mate, not doubting your sources and always happy to get solid mail in at DLand!

I'm not sure if anyone here can shed some light into how good your mail has been in the past but it sounds positive from our end if true.

Can't say that surprises me TGR, not meaning any offence. But you're both of the critical viewpoints on things rather than focusing on what it right, though I would say you stick your head out more than he does. He seems to tread in the hindsight category where you actually make statements in advance. I know you were extremely critical of the club's actions on the Lever trade (fwiw I was unhappy that we folded to Adelaide's demands as well). Which players have left us recently that have come back to bite us? I can't really think of any. We might get a little bit of Frost-bite (?) but I'd say that's the only one I'm concerned with right now.

I remember that, completely stuffed us (literally), by the final Sydney match at the at the G (after playing WC in Perth) our players were dead on their feet and had nothing to give. I also agree agree with how you want to look at round one, do you want it mid-late year when the players don't have much to give or at the start when both team have all the preparation they need. Plus history shows that finals teams from the previous year tend to start slower than non finals teams. We have a good record there and I see it as a crack at us getting our season off to a flyer. It's just the time of the match that sucks.

May was relatively reliable at getting out on the park at GC. The problems arose when he returned to the club underdone which forced him to try to play catch up and eventually went to far. He owes us for 2019. People have differing opinions regarding his on field leadership, some didn't like him getting stuck into Frost. I didn't mind it, we'd had an awful year and players were doing their own thing at times. Someone needed to stand up and say, no more!

This settles it for me then, we definitely made the right decision! ? EDIT: Adding my two cents May and Lever were need based trades, Lever in particular was being courted by lots of clubs and at the times was considered one of the best prospects as a long term defender. We got unlucky with him injuring his knee and it's completely stuff his time so far with us. BUT when he's been out there you can see why we got him. He reads the ball extremely well and with a full pre-season under his belt will be massive to our prospects of improving. May we all know what happened with him, and he should be doing everythng in his power to pay back the club for essentially a lost year because of his poor fitness base when returning to the club. Again though when he got out on the park you could see he's quality. He's got probably another 2-3 years of top quality footy in him which is what the club considers to be our prime window of opportunity. Those two playing together could be the difference for us. As for Harmes as mentioned above given his age bracken it's likely he was being courted by other clubs with long term offers on the table. If Port had poached him next year on a 4 year deal I bet you he would've been gushing praise. But Cornes himself is all about negative press though, it seems rare for him to praise a decision by any club instead sinking the boots into teams with hindsight statements.

Also seems to have a record of tight contests there (that we mostly come out the loser sadly), but I went down there with mates a few years ago and we had a really good time. Nice town, the ground atmosphere wise it pretty dead but it's still kinda cool getting back to a local footy style feel.

I don't know whether mental issues is the right wording but he's had a history of poor judgement with partying and alcohol. I'd also be willing to bet he'd be on a strike for illicit drugs given his history. But what has changed now is that he has a partner and a child with her that seems to be a very stabalising influence, plus he knows this might well be his last chance to resurrect his career so motivation wise it's all there in front of him.

True, mind you our record at docklands isn't half bad now! But yeah I get your point, gives us a bonus game at our home. I think it's just a frustrating thing that we never seem to get a home game against them.

I dunno, I even made the bold prediction it would be against one of the Bombers, Blues or Pies! ?

Seeing his ranking of Harmes proved to me that commentators look at clubs in isolation of who they think they should be watching. Harmes had a dip like most of the list but he was still a B+ and easily one of our better performers. 5 years might seem like a lot but he's worked hard to get where he is and being a Dee through and through he'll be stoked he's tied to us for the foreseeable future.