Our main issues we need to target in trade week are the obvious ones people have pointed out for most of the season already.
1. Outside mid - Smith is an A-grader, Hendo just squeezes into B-grader, Cameron may end up as a winger but IMO ATM he is more likely to be a forward flanker playing a similar role to Lynch. Motlop surely should be number one priority as he appears to be attainable. Bennell would be ideal, but I really can't see him coming here. Wilson and Hampton probably fit in this category as well, and one or both of them would be great additions to our list. We keep saying we want speed for this position, and I agree with this sentiment, however I think Aish and Scharenberg probably fit in here as well in the form of ball carriers, handball receivers. Will Wilson step up next year? Will he even be on the list?
2. Key defender - while I see Hartigan is improving, he'll never be a star. If we can get a ready made KPD, IMO Hartigan is out of the team. Carlisle must be the number one target in this area. Henderson appears to be locked in at Geelong, but that doesn't mean we still couldn't convince him otherwise, esp if Danger stays. Talia - Carlisle - Lever - Brown - Laird would be our defence for the next 10 years.
3. Key forward - JJ has improved consistently this season and has developed his contested marking considerably. But he's still not a pack crasher, and never will be. Tex isn't that sort of player either, and looks very out of place when he tries to do it. I maintain my stance that JJ is a tall small forward with a good leap. Dixon is a pack crashing contested marking beast, he's a completely different player to JJ. IMO all three can play in a side along with Lynch. JJ and Dixon stay at home, Tex roams around the 50m line, Lynch is the high half forward along with Cameron, who both stray forward/back depending on the play. Eddie sits at Dixon and JJ's feet. With the calibre we have at ground level and JJ's ability to rove, another tall forward will not make us top heavy, and will make us almost impossible to contain (assuming we continue the mid ability we currently have). Not a single defence will have the capability to shut down three genuine talls in Walker, Jenkins and Dixon. It also removes the need for an extra ruck with Dixon and JJ as back ups.
I'm not suggesting how we could get these guys, just saying that they're three places we should be looking.
I also want to touch on draft pick value this year. I've said it before but I think it slipped through the gaps a bit. The most value we can get for draft picks this year will be through Sydney, GWS and Brisbane having multiple F/S & academy picks to draft. The AFL has put a value on draft picks in a year where otherwise they'd be worth much less. Given Cal Twomey has listed all of Ben Keays and Eric Hipwood (Brisbane), Josh Dunkley and Callum Mills (Sydney, though Dunkley is unlikely to nominate as a F/S) and Matthew Kennedy and Jacob Hopper (GWS) in the top 25, they will all be at a premium due to clubs willing to pay more for the limited talent available, and also to make the destination clubs pay more for their star juniors.
Brisbane will benefit from more second round picks, GWS and Sydney will be after first round picks to ensure they have adequate numbers to pick these kids up. The player we could pick up in an open draft at, say, pick 29, is likely to not be as good a player as what we can pull out of a GWS, while pick 29 will be used to pay the price of Hopper and Kennedy. Everyone wins.