Midfield Woes: Instant fix

Baltic seemed aker levels of arrogant pre draft

Draft another Parish.

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Balic would be not a bad option and wouldn’t cost the Earth. He will be back in Victoria next year, just a matter of which club

Well, I’ll tell ya what.
They should trade Schache for two 1st rounders.
Then, they should trade those two 1st rounders for four 1st rounders.
And then, I reckon they could probably get eight 1st rounders for those four.

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And then they can trade all the draft picks for Jeager O’Meara

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Don’t understand the remarks about Schache being poor. I watched him a fair bit last year in a poor Brisbane team and I thought he looked like a future star without dominating. I can definitely see why he went at pick 2 and I think it would be a huge shame if Brisbane didn’t get anything near value for him. Honestly Brisbane has been raped like no other.

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I don’t think we will look at trading as again (unless we have a sparkling second half of the year) I don’t think we are a very attractive destination but if we were too I’d be very keen on a high quality inside midfielder under 25. Watson, Howlet, Hocking, Bird and Goddard are all either at the end or not good enough. Which leaves us pretty light on for a big guy that can win some inside ball, bullock, tackle… we are pretty reliant on Myers and a developing Langford, neither of which fill me with confidence. The Saints have done well adding Stevens and Steel for very little (their whole list build as been super impressive) so this is where I’d be focusing on. We obviously have other holes, ruck, attacking HB and outside mid but this is the main one imo.

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Marco Paparone is a big midfielder for cheap/free?

It’s because if you haven’t kicked a bag of ten by the time you turn 20 you just aren’t any good!

I agree, looks a future star!

Wouldn’t sell the farm for him though.

Yeah, I don’t know about this old chestnut.
So who in Melbourne, in your opinion, are ‘a very attractive destination’?
Dogs - who can’t fit anymore expensive talent in? A flailing whoreforn?
The Saints may look better than us atm, but that’s about it. All other local teams would be on par at best.

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He’s 27 probably won’t be around when we challenge for a flag next. need a young mid like Hopper or Setterfield to come through with the likes of Heppell,Merrett,Parish etc.

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Hardly an old chestnut. The scandal has left an indelible scar on our identity as a football club and it’s still pretty raw. What’s the first thing people think of when you say Essendon? Anzac Day, 16 premierships or drug cheats?
We need to redefine ourselves as a club let alone a team. 2017 is the first step, “our comeback story” this is the year we start our journey to define who we are post saga, what we stand for, our trademark, our brand. This is a massive task and it takes time.

Then there is the question of whether we are an attractive team, will players and managers see us as a contender in the short to medium term (which they need too). At the moment that’s impossible to answer as it’s hard for us to understand where we are. If we have an exciting second half of the year based largely on our young players we may well look a more attractive prospect but we are a long way behind teams that are well into their build - St Kilda, Melbourne, Footscray.

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I really don’t see it that way, and disagree strongly.
Media will perpetuate whatever sells. Opposition supporters love to hate. And that’s it.
Players see things differently. That chapter is over. They play footy. They don’t have to sell papers or get clicks, and they don’t have to live vicariously through their supported team. They play footy, make a good living hopefully, and do it for passion/ambition/companionship/money whatever. The big bad SAGA means nothing to other team’s players now. It’s a monster in the minds of those who don’t actually play, in my opinion. When deciding on a new team, a player would consider a multitude of things - location, team mates, coach, facilities, potential - but not THE SAGA. That’s an issue for those involved, and for us supporters.

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Other players and mangers would be aware just how much pain was caused during the saga, that stuff doesn’t just get forgotten (Paul Conners anybody). I’m not saying it will haunt us forever but new facilities and a big supporter base doesnt clean the stain. If Nat Fyfe had an equally good offer from Melb, St Kilda or Essendon and he felt they were on par on all the elements that make up his decision making I’d suggest he’d prefer to not go to the club that get sledged every week for being drug cheats. But maybe that’s just me.

And I reckon if that was the case… all things equal other than history… he’d be honoured to play for a great club like Essendon. That’s just me.

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I prefer your view.

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Now the saga is over I don’t see it as factor in trading anymore. Sure during it was a huge red flag. However, now it is all about the list and whether a potential player sees there is a good team there. Honestly with the young kids coming through I think things will change.

Premiership coach. Best facilities in land. Big melb club who plays in the big games. $$$ available.

And then only need to look at team from Hookers age down to see that we would be an exciting destination.

On the assumption we lost all of - Watson, Stanton, Goddard*, Kelly*, Baguley*, Hocking & Howlett (all won’t happen) — huge amount of $$ freed up.

B: McNeice Ambrose Brown
HB: … ? … Hurley McGrath
C: Colyer Heppell … ??
HF: Fantasia Daniher TIPPA
F: Stewart Hooker Green
R: Leuey Zaka Zerrett

B: Myers Langford McKenna ???

? - Johanissen
?? - Jones
??? - Hopper

With LAV, Gleeson (prob get traded), Francis, Redman, Begley, Draper and co pushing up. And Hartley, Belly, Bird etc still in reserve.

If no big name player chooses us in the next 2 years what then?

‘we didn’t want anyone that was available?’

Biggest factor in ‘landng’ anyone is how our current youth develop and how well placed we are for success in the medium (2-4 years). For the record, I’m of the view are better off from a list balance perspective hitting up the Zak Jones’ of the world rather than the salary swallowers.

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