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The problem isn't salary cap. At all. The problem is finding a club prepared to trade with us. We can't offer them cash! I doubt if our first rounder would cut the mustard for what we want-- throwing in fringe players 'as a sweetener' never does much to improve the deal because fringe players can be as much a drain on the new club as a boon for it.
We might have to give up something big. Seriously big. Remember that other clubs care for our promising players in the 2nds about as much as we care for theirs (Currie is a rare exception, but we ain't trading our future).
I'm talking Adam Goodes sort of big. And yes, he could be an extremely good specialist forward; but if we can get a 23 year old extremely good specialist forward for him, that's a win. [Awaits rotten fruit being thrown.]
I really can't see who else we have that has the required value, who is tradeable. JBolt is playing super footy right now, but at his age he couldn't possibly be more than a 2nd rounder (nor a direct swap for a quality proven KPP forward). ROK? We've been down that road too recently-- we'd surely be embarrassed to try it again. McVeigh for a KPP forward would be a classic example of selling Peter to pay Paul-- given our paucity of top-shelf outside midfielders, he should be regarded as untouchable. Even if objectively a good trade were offered for our other 2 class youngsters-- Bird and Vespa-- auctioning off that sort of player is just a bad look for the club and its supporters. It carries the smell that there's something wrong at the club for them to be thrown out (or want to get out).
The other alternative is to effectively look to trade up into the youth of the 2007/8 drafts, if we're not satisfied with what we're going to get with our first pick in 2009. That is to say, offering our first rounder for someone like Ryan Schoenmakers. No idea whether Hawthorn would even consider it.
If we don't get anyone in the world of trades, which remains a possibility, then in 2010 I vote for Grundy at FF and White at CHF. The pockets and flanks look after themselves (Vespa is the only permanent small forward, and otherwise Goodes, Moore, JBolt, McVeigh etc rotate through the pockets and flanks just like now.) Grundy is a classic lead-mark-kick FF; old-fashioned I know, but if done well it still works. Just ask Fev. And White is still raw, but he has the physical strength to hold his line in a contest, and keep the ball in the area to give crumbers and stoppage-specialists a chance. Which is the bare minimum we need in a CHF.
Johnston to play only after consistently kicking bags in the 2s, and playing at least half a dozen games in a row without injury. And even then, he is the 3rd marking option; not first or second. Playfair is a depth player to cover for injuries at best. Sorry, what did you say? Oh, the irony.
We might have to give up something big. Seriously big. Remember that other clubs care for our promising players in the 2nds about as much as we care for theirs (Currie is a rare exception, but we ain't trading our future).
I'm talking Adam Goodes sort of big. And yes, he could be an extremely good specialist forward; but if we can get a 23 year old extremely good specialist forward for him, that's a win. [Awaits rotten fruit being thrown.]
I really can't see who else we have that has the required value, who is tradeable. JBolt is playing super footy right now, but at his age he couldn't possibly be more than a 2nd rounder (nor a direct swap for a quality proven KPP forward). ROK? We've been down that road too recently-- we'd surely be embarrassed to try it again. McVeigh for a KPP forward would be a classic example of selling Peter to pay Paul-- given our paucity of top-shelf outside midfielders, he should be regarded as untouchable. Even if objectively a good trade were offered for our other 2 class youngsters-- Bird and Vespa-- auctioning off that sort of player is just a bad look for the club and its supporters. It carries the smell that there's something wrong at the club for them to be thrown out (or want to get out).
The other alternative is to effectively look to trade up into the youth of the 2007/8 drafts, if we're not satisfied with what we're going to get with our first pick in 2009. That is to say, offering our first rounder for someone like Ryan Schoenmakers. No idea whether Hawthorn would even consider it.
If we don't get anyone in the world of trades, which remains a possibility, then in 2010 I vote for Grundy at FF and White at CHF. The pockets and flanks look after themselves (Vespa is the only permanent small forward, and otherwise Goodes, Moore, JBolt, McVeigh etc rotate through the pockets and flanks just like now.) Grundy is a classic lead-mark-kick FF; old-fashioned I know, but if done well it still works. Just ask Fev. And White is still raw, but he has the physical strength to hold his line in a contest, and keep the ball in the area to give crumbers and stoppage-specialists a chance. Which is the bare minimum we need in a CHF.
Johnston to play only after consistently kicking bags in the 2s, and playing at least half a dozen games in a row without injury. And even then, he is the 3rd marking option; not first or second. Playfair is a depth player to cover for injuries at best. Sorry, what did you say? Oh, the irony.
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