Please no to Dawes. Clearly with the Dogs offer of a late first and a second round pick Dawes is massively overpriced and that's without considering who else we would need to move to get Dawes into the club. As has just about everybody else been overpriced on the free agency and trade market thus far -- Sharrod Wellingham for a first round draft pick? Angus Monfries to a 4-year contract? Q-Stick for a $300,000 per year contract?
Rather than playing a game of "which blade of grass is greener on the other side?" how about we take this trade/free agency period as a blessing in disguise. Yes, our list was poorly managed. However, from where I sit I think I'd rather sit out of this year's trade period with the overpriced potential targets and get involved in the action next year when the clubs that pushed the cash in the opening era of free agency and those who thought that they were cashing in on selling draft picks (West Coast) in the so-called "first non-compromised National Draft in three years" and compensation picks (Geelong) for non-guaranteed returns (Wellingham, Caddy, etc.) suffer from buyers remorse and don't have the room in their cap space to compete with the likes of Carlton as we clear a lot of cap room next year.
Would you not rather be able to capitalize in 12 months with a better crop of free agents hitting the market than this year where the big name fish have been a kid who has yet to prove himself (Caddy), a veteran coming off two poor (by his standard years (Goddard), a sniper (Wellingham) and a guy with a history of concussion in an era where the science behind concussion has come to the forefront (Tippett)?
Let's give this year's "premiership contender" a real opportunity in 2013 with a (hopefully) healthy year or at the least a healthier year than this one. Lets also give Mick Malthouse a year to sort through the list to find out who he believes are the keepers, the bargaining chips and the easy delistees.