Pates

I think his point is that loyalty on both ends doesn’t exist as much as it once did. If we are happy to shop players around as pieces of commodities isn’t it fair that the players do the same when they may get the best value for themselves?

This is exactly why I have reservations about our desire to get him. Admittedly he is playing in a pathetically bad team but even Chip managed to hold his own when we were crap. I just don’t see what others are seeing.

I guess my ultimate thing is that I just don’t rate May as highly as a lot of others seem to. He’s at the top end of our age range and has been good but hardly an out an out star. I truly question whether bringing him in rounds out our team, particularly as at the other end Weiderman is still unproven. May would be a good get, nothing more. Jesse is a proven forward with limitless potential, I would take him any day of the week over May wherever we played him.

One question is have to ask is why would a player want to go to a club that is seemingly already treating him like a chump before he even arrives. If I was Jesse I’d tell them to bugger off and never call again after the crap they’ve pulled this trade period. I would also hope that Jesse himself would feel in some way indebted to the club for the way we have managed him the last few years and tell Freo to give us fair compensation for him.

Freo will be laughing if all they have to give up is pick 5, especially if they hold out on Neale and get more. I understand the outcome base idea but does that mean we just forget about the investment that we’ve placed in him? Personally I’d rather us hold onto him than take pick 5 (traded onto GC for May). He is higher quality than May and that should bloody well be compensated.

Under for me but I would be a lot more accepting of it given Jason Taylor’s track record. I also feel like that would kind of equate to an equivalent of a middle range 1st rounder so falls inside the range of what we were asking.

I’ll be disgusted if we fold for pick 5. The add ons of two second rounders, which was mooted earlier is fair to me. But jeez I really hope those rumours are BS.

No it's not, and it won't happen.

“A Hogan trade is not dead in the water, but it appears Melbourne will have to buckle first” Why the hell should we buckle? He’s the best young KPF to come on the market for years and we want proper compensation for him, plus he’s contracted. That plus the “smell a rat” line has just added bizarreness to an already weird trade discussion.

I confess that for me that would be a lot closer to what I would be comfortable with us accepting, especially given Jason Taylor’s track record thus far. But this whole contract talk confuses me, surely the way it works is prospective club makes offer/deal with player, player confirms he would be happy to move under those terms, and then the two clubs negotiate a trade.

Surely you would think before they entered into trade negotiations with Melbourne that they would had the contract drawn up and decided upon. How is it they could possibly enter negotiations and still be deciding on length and $$$?!

I think it’s telling that the media chatter has moved on from Hogan, I feel like if the deal was still on the cards there’d be mentions of it but it appears to me that both clubs have moved on.

This is what it comes back to for me with all the talk of him moving to defence. You can throw all the critiques about his game all you like but his raw data has him tracking as an absolute elite player by the time he reaches his prime. Why does it have to be him that we push into defence? Why not try Weiderman? Or swing Tom back there at times when it ain’t firing for him? Or using Preuss to drop into the hole. I’m not sold that May is the answer to our problems, rather I saw him as the club merely trying to get value out of a potential trade for losing Jesse.

So there bloody well should. I also agree with you that it's likely that Freo/Bell would offer that rather than 5 + 14. Perhaps maybe we could do 5 + 14 + 30 for Hogan and next years 1st round selection.

Don’t hold your breathe, until trade period is over it’ll keep ticking over.

The Jesse goes missing against the top teams argument is a chicken or the egg argument. We were beaten in those games in the midfield (except the first Geelong game where he played well), so does it stand to reason that in order for him to have a good game that the midfield is able to deliver it better into him and the other forwards to maximise their opportunities? I’m not denying his lower output against better opposition but it’s like pointing out that Weids had a bad game vs WC in the prelim final, of course he did! The midfield was pantsed so he never got any opportunity. One thing I feel he needs to work on is staying in the contest longer against better teams, he seems to give up a bit (at least body language wise) when the good teams are able to set up denying him good one on one opportunities. But here’s the good news, he’s still young so he can keep working on these things and I truly believe that at some point in his career (whether it’s with us or someone else) he will clearly be the best KP forward.

Paywall, can someone breakdown the main points of this article?

I can’t imagine Jesse and his manager entering into amy kind of handshake agreement with these idiots after their antics this period, they’ve got zero credibility.

This supposed Gold Coast trade I suspect is a load of ?. His only reason for requesting a trade was homesickness and we were dealing with May for a possible deal following Hogan’s move west. He will not go to the Gold Coast. The only possible way I see Jesse in Freo colours is that if another club gets involved in order to satisfy our desire for picks/May (GC could be involved as one of the clubs). But for now I’m assuming Jesse will continue being a Demon and we have every right to tell Freo to bugger off with any negotiations.

They have nothing to hold themselves accountable to, so they can quote whispers in the footy world and get away with it. It then spreads like wildfire.

It seems a lot of people are determined to have his mindset as either staying or going. It is possible to be in two minds, particularly when there’s the go home factor/family vs the team you’ve started with and is more likely for success. I’m comfortable with the fact he requested to Melbourne he be allowed to explore his options. As many have said the club, while ideally wanting to hold onto Jesse, saw it as a chance to get value for him and address a need. But he’s also been mature through this process totally understanding that we wanted a fair trade for him and that he’d be happy to stay with us. What has changed is that now that the club that has been courting him has botched this deal I’d like the club to push him to sign an extension. This speculation is a distraction and it’s something we don’t need. I have zero animosity towards Jesse and the club and the fans need to get around him rather than belittle him.

What’s interesting to hear is that even though statistically Hogan ranks above any of the best forwards at his age so many fans of other clubs don’t rate him. I understand his low output this year vs the better teams but his raw numbers are still something to behold. How so many fans don’t see him being worth pick 5 + 23 (or more imo) is beyond me. I know there are still people on here convinced he’s still being traded this period, I just don’t see how it happens with the way Freo have conducted themselves in these negotiations. Once this all wraps up (and we’re getting into 2019) I would love to hear from either Jesse or his manager to know what they’ve thought of Bell/Freo’s conduct.

Only if you want it to be, it’s the world of professional sport. If he’s a proper professional he’ll come back fit and firing for 2019, I’m willing to cut him some slack but it’s not hard to see who’s going to take the mantle of whipping boy next year should he (as it appears) remain a Demon.

I think a lot of people are forgetting this, when Lever was playing our backline was very settled and working well. We had to experiment a number of times before we got a mix that could work ok but if wasn’t the same. When Lever comes back we will have an intercept defender that can control the backline, Frost also came on in leaps and bounds while I have faith that OMac will continue to improve. While I would’ve liked us to get May I don’t see it as the end of the world.

Whatever happens with him staying with us for the very least next year Goodwin and Co need to sit down with him so everything can get out in the open. Tell him where/how we are going to use him next year, talk to him about his importance to our desire for a flag, and tell him we want him long term.