Yep, spongey floors and ANZAC Day just aren’t big enough draw cards anymore
What. Walter is struggling to prove how good he is at AFL level. A SECOND rounder will do the job. He is one I would pass on as he has a number of flaws.
Josh Schache took 5-6 years to confirm he was a bust.
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He was soft.
But do they want him? They have an interest but there are at least 2 and maybe 3 players ahead of him in their preference order.
All 3 play outside of Victoria.
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I believe they still want him and probably think they can get him for not much and still possibly get another player in especially a FA
What’s ’not much’? Given the think they presented a magnificent offer to us last year for him and we said ‘no’ what makes them think ‘not much’ will get it done 12 months later and given he is still contracted?! I understand the offer will be lower than last year’s but you don’t go from (in their words) 3 first round picks and a player to ‘not much’ in one year…
If they finish top 4 then it would be this years first rounder (like a pick 15) and a second rounder like a pick 30
I think they start with their first only and try to leverage us on that. Probably end up giving us a second or third as a sweetener.
Also depends if we are serious sellers or not too
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I would trade at around pick 10 in value so pick 15 and a second rounder is not that for off
We won’t blink and Hawks know it. It’ll need to be a serious offer for Merrett or we don’t even bother talking to the Hawks. Two firsts - this year and next - plus a second this year. Remember their two firsts aren’t that great and likely to be high teens or early 20s picks after academy and farther and son picks come in. So the firsts they will have to offer us are fools gold.
lol
His management aren’t dummies.
Do you really think we would be happy to put up with all these charades and distractions next year only for him to walk for pretty much nothing at the end the year. People think things are getting ugly this year, do you really want to go through that again next year.
I definitely will be grabbing the popcorn because in my opinion there is next to zero chance of us being offered 2 firsts for a bloke who will be free in 12 months
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Amazing that some still buy into the Swagger rhetoric.
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Just to play devil’s advocate and say you’re in Hawthorn’s shoes…
Is it better to cough up 2 x first rounders, albeit late ones, and have the certainty of getting him? Or is it better to wait another 12 months and potentially enter a bidding war where there are no roadblocks for the other 16 competing clubs to also get him?
No bidding war required in (another) 12 months as he can walk to his club of choice as an UFA I believe
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That’s what I mean. If there’s no roadblocks for a Collingwood (for example) in terms of having to stump up trade capital to get him in the previous year, from Hawthorn’s perspective there’s greater chance you dont get him.
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No roadblocks as he would be a UFA
But hence why I said it will be a question of who blinks first.
Do the Hawks blink and pony up 2 firsts straight away or
Do Essendon blink and take what they can
Will be fun to watch
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I think a lot of that depends on how they go this year, and how Merrett goes. If they see him as a missing piece, they possibly pull the trigger. But if he’s only a piece that gets them closer, and they know that most of their team is very young, those picks may look a lot better.
And of course, they know we’ll lose him for nothing next year. So, unless they really really want him, why offer the earth? I can only see them wanting him that much if they think he’s a guarantee to get them over the line.
Sorry I don’t think i’ve articulated this well.
Do Hawks pay 2-firsts this year and guarantee themselves Zach, knowing there are other competing clubs that won’t have the means to trade for him (i.e roadblocks for other clubs)
Or do they wait another year where trade capital isn’t necessary to get him for any club, and it becomes an open market for any club to acquire him, and risk losing him that way.
I agree with you that we won’t be getting 2 first round picks; but Hawks’ 1st rounder this year and their 2nd next year (in a hugely compromised draft) should be the minimum. That’s my (hopefully) rational take but what Welsh decides is another thing…