Lucifers Hero

Listening to JT a pick split is on the cards as he indicated we would take 3-4 players in the draft. We have 3, 8, and 97 which will come in to around the mid 70's. The swaps I mentioned were hypotheticals on how to get an extra high draft pick. Freo have players they want and GCS are ready to deal so if we want an extra high pick they are our best candidates. They have more currency than GWS for picks 3 and 8. And who knows if GCS want a top 10 pick badly enough they may deal 15 and their 2020 mid first round pick #11 for our pick 8. But there are lots of hypotheticals for us and clearly we would only split 3 and/or 8 if we thought the player(s) we preferred were gettable with the new picks. Of course, if Freo were happy to deal 7 and 10 for 3 then we can take 7, 8, 10 to the draft but I doubt Freo would settle for that without something back, hence my hypothetical of trading 8 to GCS for 15 and 20 but it could be 10 to GCS for 15 and one of their 2020 1st round picks. I'm not fussed about dropping spots or draft points. The end game is to get the players we want and build the best list. If we can do that with 3, 8 and 97 great. If we can do that with 7, 10 and 15 or with some other combo, great. I would be very happy with two top 10 and another first round draftee. If we make good choices it would set us up with youth for some years to come as we haven't taken a top 20 player for 3 years and don't have a first round pick in 2020. That is a long time without drafting high end talent. So I see this year as one we can restock our youth. We really have to nail our picks.

They may want him to back up O'Brien and replace Jenkins and Tex who is way past is best. As might we for Gawn/TomMc/Weideman. As an aside, Adelaide have pick 4 and if Freo want Jackson it is more incentive for them to trade 7 and 10 for our 3 and maybe something back. We can get that 'something' by splitting pick 8. GCS are wanting to trade (pick 15 and 20) for a top 10 pick so we could give one of those back to Freo. We get 7,10 and 15 or 20. Freo get Jackson and 15 or 20 which they can use on Henry. Pick 20 is actually very valuable as it is the 1st pick after round 1 and clubs will be going for it if their preferred player isn't picked in the first round. It is what Carlton did last year to get Stocker. Edit: I haven't tried to match the draft points of the pick trade Freo/MFC/GCS as I think the picks (esp 3 and 20) have intrinsic value over and above the theoretical points.

If that is referring to Reilly O'Brien it is legit - he filled in when Jacobs was injured early this season. He became their no 1 ruckman playing 18 games and Jacobs 5. It is the reason the traded Jacobs out.

The Lord of the Manor has arisen from his reverie! Or enforced holiday? Your somewhat weird humour is needed. Welcome back!

While a 5 year contract until 2024 seems high to some, remember that he will be a Restricted Free Agent at the end of 2022 when he can walk to any club and we get a compensation draft pick which would most likely be in round 2: #25 to 40 range!. At least this way we can avoid the FA angst and keep him for 2 years beyond. Our young talent is getting increasingly closer to the UFA date. Salem and Hunt are UFA's at the end of 2021. Petracca and Brayshaw at the end of 2022. Oliver and Weideman in 2023. The challenge for our list management is not only to manage the salary cap for all but to also ensure that our best players do not walk away as FA's right when we need them to contended for finals and premierships. And 2021-2024 is that window! If we need to give them an extra year or two contract terms to achieve that and to lock them in, hey I'm all for it. Especially if we can't give them top dollar.

No worries but I didn't type it all! I 'copy' and 'paste' that section from the website to DL. Happy to help.

If he joins us I'm not at all concerned that he won't be ready to play until well into the season. Hopefully we make finals and that is when we will need him the most. AvB in 2018 is the blue print for patience. He hadn't played for 2 years with an extensive injury history. iirc he played a month at Casey, an AFL game or two at the end of the season and had an excellent finals series. If we get only 8 games like that from Bennell at seasons end it will be fantastic. (Not relevant to this thread but might just say it is so sad that Aaron's injuries have kept him out this year and really hope he gets back soon). Glad to read the reports on the caution (ie due diligence) the club is taking before recruiting Bennell. I would say that as soon as the club and Bennell agree that he will join us, Burgess will have a training program ready for him. They won't wait for him to actually join the club on Dec 3 to get him rehabbing.

Some other sources: The AFL website with updates as games are played: Demons Fixture Demons extract from full fixture: 2020 Fixture: MELBOURNE Round 1: West Coast at Optus Stadium, Sunday March 22 at 6.20pm (Away) Round 2: GWS at MCG, Saturday March 28 at 1.45pm (Home) Round 3: Fremantle at MCG, Sunday April 5 at 1.10pm (Home) Round 4: St Kilda at Marvel Stadium, Sunday April 12 at 4.40pm (Away) Round 5: Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium, Saturday April 18 at 1.10pm (Away) Round 6: Richmond at MCG, Friday April 24 at 7.50pm (Home) Round 7: Essendon at MCG, Sunday May 3 at 3.20pm (Away) Round 8: Port Adelaide at MCG, Sunday May 10 at 3.20pm Round 9: Adelaide at TIO Traeger Park, Sunday May 17 at 3.20pm (Home) Round 10: Western Bulldogs at MCG, Sunday May 24 at 1.10pm (Home) Round 11: Hawthorn at MCG, Friday May 29 at 7.50pm (Away) Round 12: Collingwood at MCG, Monday June 8 at 3.20pm (Home) Round 13: BYE Round 14: Brisbane at The Gabba, Friday June 19 at 7.50pm (Away) Round 15: Gold Coast at MCG, Saturday June 27 at 1.45pm (Home) Round 16: Fremantle at Optus Stadium, Sunday July 5 at 5.20pm (Away) Round 17: St Kilda at MCG, Saturday July 11 at 1.45pm (Home) Round 18: Adelaide at Adelaide Oval, Sunday July 19 at 4.40pm (Away) Round 19: Geelong at GMHBA Stadium, Saturday July 25 at 4.35pm (Away) Round 20: Sydney at MCG, Sunday August 2 at 3.20pm (Home) Round 21: Collingwood at MCG, Saturday August 8 at 1.45pm (Away) Round 22: Carlton at MCG, Saturday August 15 at 1.45pm (Home) Round 23: North Melbourne at Blundstone Arena, Date and Time TBC (Away) Just copy and paste it into a Word or Excel document if you want a paper copy.

If Cornes doesn't think other clubs would offer Harmes a 4-year deal when his contract ends in 2020 then he doesn't understand how good and how valuable Harmes is. I have little doubt other clubs came knocking for his signature at trade time. We have closed the door on them with this contract. I'm guessing other club interest is a reason he got the 4 year extension. I'm also guessing he will be on good coin. Harmes said “It took a little while, but we got there in the end – both parties are happy,” You don't come 3rd in the Bluey in a Prelim year and back it up with 4th the next and be prepared to accept small change after the so called 'big' name and 'lesser' name imports have been paid. I don't usually get fixated about player salaries but if the figures mooted for Langford and Tomlinson are anything to go by then Harmes would be well within his rights to want to be in that range. And, just for the record those two received 5 year and 4 year contracts respectively. If Cornes checked I'm sure he would find these medium term contracts commonplace now and not just for the 'household name' players he mentioned.

Currently we have 5 senior list spots and no 'A' Rookie spots. Taylor has said we will take 3-4 picks at the draft leaving a 1 or 2 senior spots. There are lots of ways picks 3, 8, and 97 (which will come into the mid 70's on draft night) can result in 3 to 4 draftees. The last 1 or 2 spots can be left vacant, filled via DFA's or via SSP (ie how we recruited Lockhart). atm we don't have a Rookie spot for Bennell, if he joins, so he would come straight onto the list or make a current Rookie upgraded to create a Rookie spot for him. Either way he joining means we would have a max of 1 senior spot. On that basis I'm not sure we will take a DFA at this stage and wait for Bennell to decide and perhaps keep a spot for the SSP.

Interesting that Stretch is mooted to play in the SANFL if not picked up. Not sure if that is a complete list of FA's available but Jay K-H not mentioned so maybe he won't continue his football career. iirc he did some acting before being drafted. Wish them both well in whatever they decide to do with their lives.

That is tough on the Gold Coast to have the 3rd hardest. And Richmond get off fairly lightly again as they did in 2019. Even easier than Carlton.

I think our season and our reputation will rest on rounds 3 to 11 as we play 2019 low or middle of the ladder teams (excl Rich rnd 6). And 8 of the first 12 games are at the G. If there was ever a time to establish ourselves at the G and make it our fortress, this is it!! Beating WCE and GWS would be a dream start and sets up our season. Even if we don't beat them we can easily be 8W/4L by the bye. At the bye we will know whether we will pushing up hill to make the finals or heading for top 4. An early call - I'm tipping we will be on our way to make the top 4. If we are 7/5 or better our confidence will be up and players fresh after playing only one game in the three weeks between round 10 and round 14. Go Dees!!

That is chicken feed exposure to a sponsor. And does nothing for improved memberships. Of the 3 games in round 20-22 only the Sydney game will be FTA.

Don't think so. Of our TEN Sunday games a max of 4 are in the FTA time slot, if Ch7 schedule all the Sunday 3.20 games. That is really horrible for sponsors. We have no Thursday or Saturday night games so no sponsor exposure there either. The extra game at the G for losing Darwin will really cost as we lose the NT money and will be lucky to break even on the replacement game at the G, as they are are all against low drawing or i/state sides. Hawks is a big club but their fans don't go to ho-hum games. Also, I don't see this as a draw that will attract many new members. In fact we may struggle to keep those that we have. Other than Rich and Coll there are very few Home games in the 'must-go-to-as-it-will-be-a-ripper' category. As an aside, losing Darwin has not benefited us at all from a travelling view as go i/state 7 times. So we still have 3 long haul flights: 2 to Perth and 1 to Alice. I'm pretty sure the NT games have counted as 2 long-haul games. Next year the Darwin trip has been replaced with an additional trip to Perth. iirc correctly we don't usually travel i/state 7 times (6 away + Alice).

LOL. I don't think there any Harmes bashers on DL, well not that I've noticed. Any bashers will do well to keep any nit-picking off this thread. Harmes is the epitome of the demon player that we all love. Will be a demon for life: lifelong supporter; one-club player.

Updated for Harmes signing a 5 year deal. He will be 29 at the end of this contract. Has all the makings of a Demon for life. Lifelong supporter. And hopefully a one-club player! He is right on the cusp of 'peak afl player' with 5 pre-seasons and 91 games. Look forward to a great year from him.

Quite right F5 - an oversight on my part. Not many picks are used after #100. Perhaps if #97 comes in to around #75 and the next one comes in again we may get the 4th pick in there. Perhaps it depends on who is available late in the draft. If no reasonable prospects we keep a spot open for the SSP (Harley Bennell) or a DFA (Harley Bennell) .

Love the James Harmes story. Started as a rookie for the team he loved and grew up barracking for. In his early days he said he knew he was on the fringe of 'best 22'. Well young man, you have come a very long way since. Play any role your team asks: tagger, midfielder, inside/outside, defender. Love the way he plays and absolutely rapt he has re-signed. Not many players get 5 year contracts at the dees - shows how highly the club thinks of him (and that a few clubs came calling at trade time!).

Summary of the interview (paraphrasing): Pick swap with North – looked at next year’s draft which is compromised: 30% of top 30 tied to someone else. Look at the DVI but deal needs to advantage both clubs. We had a bit of interest in pick 3 during the trade period as it effectively becomes the first live pick. Pick 97 is expected to come in significantly. Lots of chats with other list managers re how draft/pick swap scenarios might play out. Had two days with list management and day one they went thru top 20 to 30 players. On second day they looked at the next 25. We are looking to use 3 to 4 picks in the draft (LH note: we only have 3 right now so maybe a split is on the cards). Re picks3: Have 3 players in line for pick 3. Luke Jackson is in that mix. We’ve done a lot of work on him. Don’t see him only as a ruckman and could start his career as a forward. Hayden Young in the mix. Had a bit to improve and has done that. Excellent decision maker and execution. At pick 3, you choose best available. Don’t outsmart yourself! Pick 3 won’t necessarily influence what happens at 8. Tom Green in the mix for pick 3 (LH note: sounds like we rate him highly and would bid for him) Pick 8 -lots of good players around that pick: Taylor mentioned Kemp, Robertson. Interviewer mentioned Ash, Serong. (LH note: my impression was Weightman not in the mix at that stage). Harley Bennell: Shown resilience. Long process to go. (LH note: Taylor didn’t sound excited but then he is quite laid back) On 2018: Some things didn’t go our way. Some mistakes were made. Players are smarting from last year. Proof will be in the pudding. SSP and mid-year draft dilutes the mature age draft pool. Petty is going to be a very good long term AFL player. Taylor excited about what Spargo and Fritsch can do. Players are in the club a fair bit and on their toes, as they should be.Feels eligibility for NGA and other academies could be scrutinised more. E&OE

He isn't going into a draft. He said he wants to nominate the club he goes to. Given he was being asked about meeting with the Dees he had to be positive about what the opportunities might be. Having said that he sounded genuine and focused. Cautiously optimistic!

I wonder if Brad Hill has helped get him to interview with the Saints. Competition for Harley heating up so some way to go yet.

Very honest but naive of Paddy to say on radio that he fudged his concussion tests. AFL to investigate. Paddy and Concussion Big roll of the dice for his well being to fugde them at all. He is a young guy desperate to play football. Its not an excuse for his poor judgement but better advice on the importance of the tests was required.

Thursday night games are almost as good as Friday nights for PR and sponsors as they are stand-alone FTA. Hopefully if we don't get Friday nights we get a few Thursdays.

Anyone else think that is a really boring Round 1 fixture...