Adam Thomson

[Punchy Demons]

I think he would be a handy pick up. Thomson will be 22 at the beginning of next season. He is hard as nails - in an under midfielder with mongrel. Has the abilty to get his hands on the ball & give us first use. Has done pretty well with limited games given to him whilst at Port. Dominates at SANFL level as shown in yesterdays final for Sturt.

38 possessions, 12 clearances and 2 goals.

By all reports he wants to be traded & some port supporters are saying that he is worth only a 4th round selection. Not sure of his current contarct status but possibly could snaffle him via PSD.

 

[The Dr]

From the sounds of him, I don't think he's what we need.

A 'tough, in and under' midfielder? I think we've got that covered in Brock, Jones, Maloney, Junior and even Valenti.

If he was super quick and highly skilled, then perhaps.

We need quality talls and quick, sikly mids, probably kids developed through the draft.

 

[Bartram_Class]

Pace please.

Be better for us to go after a Tenace or similar.

 

[tribey]

By all reports he wants to be traded & some port supporters are saying that he is worth only a 4th round selection. Not sure of his current contarct status but possibly could snaffle him via PSD.

No, he is potentially elite and should be worth the first rounder he was drafted with, but with Williams' treatment of him and his lack of opportunities to justify a higher value realistically the best we could hope for is a third rounder - especially as he is off-contract and has requested a move.

 

[woe31]

From the sounds of him, I don't think he's what we need.

A 'tough, in and under' midfielder? I think we've got that covered in Brock, Jones, Maloney, Junior and even Valenti.

If he was super quick and highly skilled, then perhaps.

We need quality talls and quick, sikly mids, probably kids developed through the draft.

Having said that, Moloney and Valenti are both big question marks at this stage and Junior will likely be gone in 12 months. This may soon become an area of need and a 21-22 year old with a pedigree like Thomson may not be available.

 

[The Dr]

Having said that, Moloney and Valenti are both big question marks at this stage and Junior will likely be gone in 12 months. This may soon become an area of need and a 21-22 year old with a pedigree like Thomson may not be available.

True, but our most glaring deficiencies for the immediate to medium-term future are KP forwards and pacy, skilful outside mids.

 

[woe31]

True, but our most glaring deficiencies for the immediate to medium-term future are KP forwards and pacy, skilful outside mids.

Agreed, which I think we will adress through the draft. If we can land Thompson for Bell and a 4th rounder (purely an example, not to suggest this as a trade) and use our first four picks on:

2 x KPF (Watts? McKernan?)
1 x pacy, skilled midfielder (Blease? Zaharakis?)
1 x Ruckman (Redden? Roughead?)

I think we'd have done very well.

 

[The Dr]

Agreed, which I think we will adress through the draft. If we can land Thompson for Bell and a 4th rounder (purely an example, not to suggest this as a trade) and use our first four picks on:

2 x KPF (Watts? McKernan?)
1 x pacy, skilled midfielder (Blease? Zaharakis?) Hopefully Sidebottom can sneak to our 17 pick.
1 x Ruckman (Redden? Roughead?)

I think we'd have done very well.

I see where you're coming from. Added Sidebottom into the outide mid mix.

But re swapping Bell for Thompson, as much as Bell sucked at times this year, I do hold hope for him and would rather keep him. Hopefully he can rediscover his 2007 form. I'd only get rid of him if we got him for a fairly high pick in the draft.

I'd maybe be keen take a chance on that other fella that's been mentioned on our board - Grima (?) as a potential 3rd tall to Robbo and Miller while Watts develops (assuming we take him).

 

[woe31]

I see where you're coming from. Added Sidebottom into the outide mid mix.

But re swapping Bell for Thompson, as much as Bell sucked at times this year, I do hold hope for him and would rather keep him. Hopefully he can rediscover his 2007 form. I'd only get rid of him if we got him for a fairly high pick in the draft.

I'd maybe be keen take a chance on that other fella that's been mentioned on our board - Grima (?) as a potential 3rd tall to Robbo and Miller while Watts develops (assuming we take him).

Sidebottom would be fantastic, but those that appear to be in the know on these boards all rank him well inside the top 10 so I'm not going to get my hopes up.

I'm right there with you in regards to Bell. Has so much going for him, but the Johnson hit seems to have been a catalyst for a big drop off in form. While I'm not one to give up on a player on the back of one bad season and would love to see him retained and get back to his old form, I'd be surprised if his name isn't mentioned to see what we can get in return for him.

I also like the look of Grima and think we'd do well to have him do a pre-season with us to better evaluate him.

 

[cannons]

Sidebottom would be fantastic, but those that appear to be in the know on these boards all rank him well inside the top 10 so I'm not going to get my hopes up.

I'm right there with you in regards to Bell. Has so much going for him, but the Johnson hit seems to have been a catalyst for a big drop off in form. While I'm not one to give up on a player on the back of one bad season and would love to see him retained and get back to his old form, I'd be surprised if his name isn't mentioned to see what we can get in return for him.

I also like the look of Grima and think we'd do well to have him do a pre-season with us to better evaluate him.

I agree on all counts.

Sidebottom would be great, but he won't fall to our second pick. Blease may, but it's no certainty.

I would like to retain Bell, despite his weaknesses he is very good in most areas of the game and has good physical attributes, so I would hang on to him.

As for Grima, that's a good suggestion too. He seems to have some things going for him in an area where Melbourne is really low on depth and talent.