Ted Lasso

Sounds like the decisions was between Smith and Oscar and we've gone with Smith.

This is gunna come down to price, if North are willing to pay a portion of his Salary and accept a later pick, i suspect Polec will be a Demon in 2021. i'm sure we've got a price in our head and if they're willing to meet us, great, if not. we've got other options as well

I agree Red, it does feel like a swap of those two players presents on the surface as advantageous for both parties, not sure if it'd involve picks or anything as well. but they need a ruckman, we need a forward ruck, there is some logic to a swap being presented

I'd prefer hang on to ANB and trial him as a full time winger next season, he's got the endurance and running capacity to be a really dangerous endurance link up option for both attacking and defensive plays. his kicking is a tiny bit suspect, but i think he is improving in that space a bit as well.

No, i am okay with Issac Smith because he plays a role we lack, Heath Shaw would be taking the spot of a Trent Rivers which is obviously bad

Bombers seriously keen on him. but as you said not really someone we need, though we should look at all good players who become options.

For those on here who have met Jack, this seems like a ridiculous thing to say, because he's a great and selfless person. but he's not a selfless player, he tries to be but the way he impacts the midfield takes away from everyone else in there. it's no conincidence the best our midfield has looked in a long time was our 2018 finals run with Oliver, Harmes and Brayshaw as the 3 main mids. Pace, Spread, inside/outside, system, defense and attack. IMO that's our starting 3 mids with Petracca rotating through

I agree, and i hope we're not looking to sign a key forward for the sake of ticking that box. in 2018 Tmac looked like one of the better key forwards going around. that's not that long ago and he's young enough to re-discover that form.

Let's not totally rule out Tmac re-discovering some sort of form with a full pre season and injury free run. at this stage i think he is a better option than Peter Wright

Giants and Swans interested so far but i expect that to grow quite a bit. definitely a few clubs that would love him I would be setting the price high and making clubs pay up if they'd like him. he's contracted

Facts remain that we need on field leadeship, and leadership in general so i am not opposed to bringing in veteran players who can provide that on the proviso it's a reasonable assumption that the player would be in our best 22 for their specific position most likely for the duration of their contract. if you're talking about a 2 year deal, on low money, i feel like Smith would be good enough to hold that wing position for 2021 for sure.

i've heard we are open to trading an inside midfielder, for a starting best 22 outside midfielder to improve team balance, this is something the club has put out there openly. they've basically said come at us with an offer. as well as talking to outside midfielders on their own. for the Gus fans on here i'd suspect we aren't going to accept any trade that doesn't result in us getting either a strong draft pick, or a good player in return. It sounds like Jared Polec is one we think is realistic if North can re-join planet earth and be a bit more understanding of the fact if you shove a bloke out the door you don't really have the leverage to demand much in return.

Such a shame, i was really excited to see what he could have produced with a full pre-season. definitely felt like he contributed something to the club. can't do much when the player pulls a stunt like this though

North are desperate to get him and Brown off the books, even if it means paying a portion of their salary. I'd offer a 3rd rounder and i bet they'd take it.

A few blokes working out how to chase and tackle and bring the same effort week to week would make a difference.

Brandon Matera just delisted by the dockers. has played some good footy at times, has speed, knows where the goals are and we could pick him up for nothing. worth a look?

I would take him. i understand the concern but for a rookie salary, he would provide good depth, with significant upside. i think as a team we should always be looking at opportunities to bring in guys with minimal risk and significant upside potential. we're not talking about a guy we'd have to pay anything for. a token late pick, on hardly any money, and a guy who's best footy would defintiely be in our best 22. I'd still pursue a gun forward as well, but if a 4th round pick was between McCartin, and a total spitball rookie with little chance of making it, i'd take a punt on McCartin with a 1 year deal.

I bet he's still pretty [censored] about the captaincy being taken off of him. the leadership turnover we've had in the past 2-3 years has been way too much but that's also a hallmark of Goody. too many changes.

I'm sure we'd be chatting to Polec and North to work out what's going on but my opinion is that he's an icing on the cake type player, and would really add to our best 22 as an attacking weapon that we really lack. for me the only serious concern i have about pursuing him is the price tag, if North are willing to pay some of his salary and it's no more than a third round pick, i would absolutely be recruiting him. It's poor by North though, being seen as publicly pushing guys out the door i think puts you in a position where you really have to just take what you can get. On this i'd also be keen to have a chat to Shaun Higgins, beautiful kick and we could really use the on field leadership. it sounds like he's a long way down the path with Geelong, but potentially we could talk him into it.

I'm really torn on this one. under Goody we don't play a style that suits him. Brown is more of a lead up forward and we're looking to get it in deep and either mark it or bring it to ground. BUT, he'd still take the best defender, encourage the mids to lower their eyes and take a heap of pressure off Sam Weideman

Petracca did have concerns about his role at the end of last year, thought he should have been playing more midfield time. turns out he was right and it was addressed. This is one area where i'll give Goody credit. he listened to Trac, put him with Oliver during the pre season and told him to build his tank and training standards. Trac responded and now he's won a Bluey, will probably be AA and a better than sneaky chance at the brownlow.

Would definintely want North to pay a chunk of his contract

Not sure the game style is the issue here Binman, what i'm hearing suggests it's a lot more to do with people in key positions and some of the decisions they're making, and the way they're handling people and sensitive situations.

Teams come knocking for Clayton every year, last time he was OOC North offered him a huge deal and he didn't even really consider it apparently. I think the frustration with the players is real though, i've heard that a few of our really important players are asking questions of the club about it's direction. I've always heard Goody isn't as well liked as it seems on the outside so could be really interesting times ahead.

Heard today that Essendope have some interest in Jack Viney now as well. if he went there i feel we could match the offer and ask for Saad in return. It does seem like the longer this drags on the more teams are starting to think maybe he is gettable. it's difficult to tell if he is considering leaving or if we're just pretty happy for him to do so.