So now there’s an AFL-mandated meditation process? Bloody Kirk.
But in all seriousness, I hope you’re right yeti. My concern is that the Hogan trade, if it were to happen, might be too late for Melbourne to land May. If Brisbane holds the line on Beams, Collingwood might use the picks offered for him to sweeten the deal with GC17 for May, and then a great deal of the incentive for Melbourne comes off the table.
Hypen, would I trade pick 11 and next year’s first rounder? It’s a tough call. If you look at the list of players taken at pick 11, there’s some great players (Tom Lynch, Toby Greene and Steele Sidebottom, for example) some misses (Gysberts, Vezpremi) and some good players (Menzel, Sheed). Add another pick in the 8-12 range and I think you’re getting to a reasonable price for Hogan. The question is whether Melbourne sees it that way.
Brisbane have taken some hard-line positions on trades, seemingly without getting any heat for it. I can’t see them budging until the last day. Who has the most to lose by Neale staying at Freo next season? I know Bell is making a case for keeping him, but given Neale is an UFA next year and wants out, I think the absence of a deal hurts Freo more. Take pick 5 and something other than a first round pick, and take it early enough to keep other options on the table. I would have liked to have nailed Brisbane on that one, and I imagine Bell would too, but I don’t think we can let ego get in the way of doing a deal.
