poita

There are definitely players on our list we could afford to lose, and about a dozen who we would be desperate to keep. Six months ago I would have said Tayla Harris was critical to our success but, with the form of Zanker and the emergence of Campbell, we almost look better without her. No doubt the AFL will give incentives to the bottom clubs to attract players, but there would need to be significant money involved to get the top players to move. As an aside, I'd definitely be asking Ellie Blackburn if she is happy losing each week, or if she wants to come and play finals at a decent club. She'd have to take a pay cut, but that might not be her key motivation at this time.

Failing to take a genuine midfielder at pick 6 would be the biggest drafting mistake this club has made since the Weideman debacle. If Caddy has the ability to become a big bodied midfielder in the mould of Patrick Cripps, then I'm definitely interested. Otherwise, no thanks.

Turner was a weird selection at the time, and his injuries since haven't helped his case. The club's website lists him as 193cm and 78kg - that is a long way off key position size and he will be 22 before the start of next season. How much size is he going to be able to put on in five months? I'd certainly prefer to move him on, and have a list spot available for a draft slider.

So you're happy having 10 small forwards on the list and no midfield depth? That's bound to end well for us.

If I were any of Spargo, Chandler, Laurie and Moniz-Wakefield, and Melbourne were bringing in McAdam and potentially Billings this trade period, I would be getting my manager to find me a new home as soon as possible. Of course, it's possible that there won't be any interest because none of them are particularly good, but I certainly wouldn't be expecting those four to be playing regularly next year.

Did McAdam approach MFC via his management and say he wanted to play for us, or did we approach McAdam and let him know that we were interested in him? Either way, a future second round pick, which could sit closer to 20 then 40 if we don't get our [censored] together, seems a high price to pay for a 28 year old with 50 AFL games to his name. If Joel Smith stays fit, he'll have played more games by the same age and we know how inconsistent and injury prone he has been.

No wonder West Coast are reigning wooden spooners in both the AFL and AFLW when you read those comments. How pathetic for a senior coach to say that. The sooner the AFLW has an A grade comp and a B grade comp, with promotion and relegation between the two, the better. Then we won't have to waste our time playing against these pissant teams.

This is the biggest concern for me too. I get that you can't move on ten players each year, but we've delisted one rookie this year. You can't tell me that there isn't a single player in the state leagues who would offer more as a third round pick than any of Schache, Laurie or Melksham rehabbing an ACL.

So every other decent team has room in the cap to improve their lists (Coll Schulz, Bris Doedee, Port BZT & Ratagolea), but we're dumping players for chicken feed? There better a bigger payoff to come than has been mooted to date.

So our tough talking has resulted in us getting a future late second round pick that we'll probably pizz away in another bone headed pick swap before the end of trade week. How incredibly brilliant.

How incredibly dumb. The obsession this club has with stupid pick swaps is infuriating. Let's not forget that Bailey Laurie and Sam Weideman were both taken with pick swaps, so it's not even as though we get decent players from them.

Billings would be a clear upgrade on all of Chandler, Spargo and Laurie. I think he fills a need more than McAdam as well. Given the likely cost is probably only a 2023 or 2024 third round, I think it is worth taking the chance.

How does going to the Bulldogs help Harmes get regular midfield time? Surely their midfield is equal to ours, and probably bats deeper. Regardless, we are seriously lacking midfield depth and anyone thinking that Laurie might ever be an AFL midfielder is delirious. Woewodin may get there in a couple of years, and Howes is not an inside mid.

Hopefully Saturday's performance was something we had to get out of our system. The games against North and Brisbane are massive in the context of this season, and the $1M prize money. Collingwood's draw has been extraordinarily easy this year, dodging all of Adelaide, Brisbane and North. Thankfully they are not a great team, but they could win their last four games. Who knows what to make of Brisbane - they are probably a little behind the best teams, but are capable on their day. Adelaide could well win their last four, especially with a home game against North.

Such a disappointing performance for 2.5 quarters. Far too many passengers in such a big game, and some underwhelming coaching as well. Playing down the grandstand wing all day was predictable and played into Adelaide's hands. Our centre square line up didn't work until the last quarter and our defence is too slow and reactive. Zanker was excellent, Goldrick and Mackin worked hard, but not many others played well.

Well done to Deakyn Smith but let's be honest, he is just a serviceable player even at VFL level. 15 touches and 2 tackles a game is hardly setting the world on fire. No wonder Casey finished mid-table if he and Steele were viewed as their best two players for the year.

Regardless of our draft picks, we definitely need a couple of mature bodied midfielders to replace Jordon and Harmes.

Fullarton certainly fills a significant need for the club and presumably will cost very little. Hopefully he is prepared to play as a battering ram in the ruck and up forward, as this seems to be how we want to play. Since others have mentioned it, it is one thing to resign Schache, it is another entirely to have done it any time prior to the end of the trade period, let alone during the footy season. You have to assume they are expecting Brown to move on, although I wouldn't blame him for collecting another year's salary.

Not sure there is much wisdom in us taking a C grade midfielder to give one of our premierships rivals one of the picks they need to fix their significant ruck and defensive issues. Pass, unless he comes as a delisted free agent.

The lure home? Isn't his family home about as far from Adelaide as Mildura is from Melbourne? If he leaves the MFC, it would surely be for reasons other than homesickness.

Huge game clearly. We need to win this to keep our chances of a Victorian grand final in our own hands. If Adelaide jumps us on the ladder, we no longer control our destiny. Not to say we can't win over there, but it would be nice for local fans to be able to attend (if/when we make it).

Good get by the club, hopefully at least one more new face to join the coaching panel.

Rory F'ng Lobb? I wouldn't take him as a delisted free agent on minimum wage, let alone on his current salary. McKay would solve a lot of issues if we could find the salary space.

It bemuses me that we didn't have a contract in front of Melksham when he was fit and firing late in the season, but now that he has done his knee and is unavailable for most of next year, we decide he is a required player. We saw how limited Tomlinson was in his first year back, even with most of a pre season behind him. Melksham won't have that luxury, so it is hard to see him contributing much. By all means keep him around the club, but it seems like a wasted list position to me.

I hope people realise that if we didn't have the Alice Springs game, we'd be given a home game at Marvel instead, just as Collingwood and Richmond have. There are no extra MCG games to be had. And a trip to Geelong likely saves us another interstate trip. I can't believe anyone wants us to be hosting games against WCE at the MCG - we'd be lucky to get 20K at the game. Much better to try and dodge Brisbane and Sydney away, and play WCE and Fremantle at Optus. I thought the players had said they liked our bye schedule. I've certainly never heard the club say that it is a disadvantage to us. Either way if the club wants to be involved in Kings Birthday (Monday) and Anzac Eve (Wednesday), expect some short turnarounds.