I'll agree with your comments on trading back into the draft and opening the chequebook for genuine good players.
I even agree with your comments on the McGoverns. When they play us, we make them look better than they really are.
Beating Adelaide? Carlton? Brisbane? Of those, we play Adelaide at the craypot but I see them as clear favourites , especially after Roly has put the shutters. Carlton is a 50 / 50 at best as they've put in some credible performances recently and have won games against the same teams we won games against. They are not that bad and being an away game, they're a good chance.
Brisbane? We'll go in favourites because Brisbane travel poorly but again, they haven't been all that bad recently.
We could easily lose all 3, especially if we put in the kind of performance we put in for the first 3 quarters against Collingwood and some of our other recent games.