Originally Posted by
liz
Like GWS, who've lost Smith and look like losing Kennedy, while Johnson has retired. Sure, he was past it but he still played most of their games last year.
Or Adelaide, who've lost Lever and probably Cameron, and haven't brought anyone in.
Or Geelong, who've lost Motlop, may lose Lang and Menzel, and have lost Lonergan and Mackie to retirement, while their only 'in' looks like being a bloke whose barely played in two seasons and is 33. He may be brilliant for them, or he may spend more time in rehab than out on the field.
Or Richmond, who've been as quiet as we have thus far.
Only Port and Essendon have really splashed out with any results so far. It's hard to know what impact Port's acquisitions will have because I couldn't really make them out in 2017. The gap between their best (beating up on weaker teams) and their worst (rarely being competitive against the better sides - I'm going to ignore their victory against us in r1 given we weren't a "better team" at that point in the season). I think they'll improve, especially with the addition of Rockliff, but they've lost Trengove and Impey who were both pretty decent players.
Essendon have only managed to get one of their mooted trades done thus far. I think they'll complete the Saad trade but it's hard to see how they'll jag Stringer. Even if they do, they've not really addressed their putrid onball division and have lost Watson to retirement.
The reality is, very few teams have done much so far this trade period, and while a few surprises may fall out towards the end of the season, I suspect most clubs will land up not being that active. There aren't really many prized targets on the market. All those garnering the headlines have question marks over them. I think Saad is the most attractive of all players moving, and I'd loved it if we'd been in the market. But we never were, given his move is driven by a desire to be closer to his family in Melbourne. And he's probably going to a club that is already reasonably well served in the position he plays yet has glaring weaknesses elsewhere.
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